How Do Ships Fill Up So Quickly???

[Vinnyv20032003]

Hi!

 

I have been following European sailings for August and September and seem to be amazed. I am a travel agent and have access to the Polar booking system and some of these sailings go from having several categories available to nearly selling out in a matter of a few days.

 

Can any travel agent explain to me what the room status means? It seems 9 means there are plenty of rooms left, W waitlist and C means closed. Am I on the right track? How does a category go from 9 to 1 overnight when it's been available for months?

 

Thank you

[VMax1700]

According to another thread here its because of drunk Europeans getting bargain basement prices!

:D

[Love the beach]

according to another thread here its because of drunk europeans getting bargain basement prices!

:d

 

lol!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

According to another thread here its because of drunk Europeans getting bargain basement prices!

:D

 

Love it!!

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

Did you buy a flame retartent suit

[Krazy Kruizers]

Chances are HAL did a "quick" sale in the area where the ship will be embarking passengers.

I can remember years ago when one of our PanAmerican cruises -- 21 days round trip out of San Diego was not selling. About 3 weeks before our cruise date, suddenly cabins filled up quickly. When we got on the ship I asked questions. HAL did a great sale -- advertising only in CA.

[PathfinderEss]

According to another thread here its because of drunk Europeans getting bargain basement prices!

:D

 

Hi

 

Did you buy a flame retartent suit

 

I'd be buying several.:D:D:D

[whogo]

When I see all the cabins suddenly disappear I assume the cruise line just assigned all the guarantee cabins.

[ANSalberg]

When I see all the cabins suddenly disappear I assume the cruise line just assigned all the guarantee cabins.

 

Not necessarily; We got a Viking River Cruise booklet - For NEXT autumn. I think it showed maybe 3 current/fall2014 cruises full. We've NEVER taken one [ HAL is our Fav line/SEA cruises] but this one looked interesting to us because of WW11 history - From Rumania to Amsterdam. We had wanted the reverse; Am to Ru -NONE were available!!!!!! So we got the last cabin in a northwest bound. This is for September 2015!!!!!We booked on the DAY the booklet arrived! Last week!

Anne/Longmont

[SilvertoGold]

Not necessarily; We got a Viking River Cruise booklet - For NEXT autumn. I think it showed maybe 3 current/fall2014 cruises full. We've NEVER taken one [ HAL is our Fav line/SEA cruises] but this one looked interesting to us because of WW11 history - From Rumania to Amsterdam. We had wanted the reverse; Am to Ru -NONE were available!!!!!! So we got the last cabin in a northwest bound. This is for September 2015!!!!!We booked on the DAY the booklet arrived! Last week!

Anne/Longmont

 

River cruises sail tiny ships, no wonder they sell out fast. Maybe your mail delivery is slower than some.

 

Nice that you can take this cruise, one way or the other!

[ighten]

Not necessarily; We got a Viking River Cruise booklet - For NEXT autumn. I think it showed maybe 3 current/fall2014 cruises full. We've NEVER taken one [ HAL is our Fav line/SEA cruises] but this one looked interesting to us because of WW11 history - From Rumania to Amsterdam. We had wanted the reverse; Am to Ru -NONE were available!!!!!! So we got the last cabin in a northwest bound. This is for September 2015!!!!!We booked on the DAY the booklet arrived! Last week!

Anne/Longmont

 

I think Viking email out new availability to previous cruisers first followed by subscribers - as they get a lot of repeat bookings and the boats are small they do tend to sell out quickly as they offer quite big discounts on early bookings (at least in Europe anyway)

[navybankerteacher]

When I see all the cabins suddenly disappear I assume the cruise line just assigned all the guarantee cabins.

 

Exactly - as long as there is just one cabin unsold, and many unassigned because they have been sold as guarantees, the line can offer virtually all spaces as being available because the last buyer still has the ability to pick from all categories which remain unassigned.

 

When someone buys that last cabin, all availability immediately dries up.

[MaisonRose]

Is there any way you can find out real time inventory or is it as tricky as it seems?

I want to do a last minute booking for transatlantic on Nov. 1. Last year, after paying a seemingly high price for a cabin, same ship, I met people who last minute paid hundreds less. They weren't Barcelona locals, either, they were from wide spread locales.

Is there a formula around the final payment date that anyone has discovered?

Any advice?

[ighten]

IGLU.com sometimes seems to show how many rooms are available and the discounted price though to be honest I have never got a good deal out of them; even when they say last few rooms and special price it still seems to be cheaper to book direct