Offload unsold cabins

[cruiseanon32]

NCL must have a process to sell cabins at the last minute. Often a sailing is sold out only days before the sail date whereas there was ample availability two weeks earlier.

[tandc2019]

6 minutes ago, cruiseanon32 said:

NCL must have a process to sell cabins at the last minute. Often a sailing is sold out only days before the sail date whereas there was ample availability two weeks earlier.

I've seen last minute cruise deals in the newspaper before...

[ziggyuk]

32 minutes ago, cruiseanon32 said:

NCL must have a process to sell cabins at the last minute. Often a sailing is sold out only days before the sail date whereas there was ample availability two weeks earlier.

The upgrade program takes care of everything above inside, they then have a bunch of insides they can knock out at a discount.

[cruiseanon32]

47 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

The upgrade program takes care of everything above inside, they then have a bunch of insides they can knock out at a discount.

Makes sense, so best cabins to buy last minute are ocean view and inside.

[Starry Eyes]

2 hours ago, cruiseanon32 said:

NCL must have a process to sell cabins at the last minute. Often a sailing is sold out only days before the sail date whereas there was ample availability two weeks earlier.

Ah, how do you know there is ample availability two weeks earlier?  Is it because there are multiple cabins available for selection?  You may be correct, and that may indicate plenty of availability, but there is another possibility. There could be a substantial number of people who booked guarantee cabins that have not been assigned; once those are assigned, the number of cabin that seem to be available to book to drop dramatically.  With the upgrade program, this is especially true of unassigned inside gty bookings; NCL wait to assign these at the end when all the bidding upgrades are done.  Meanwhile, none of us know how many unassigned gty bookings NCL is holding...it could be a few; it could be a lot...so they know the availability situation and we do not.  Nevertheless, unless you want an inside cabin, with the bidding program, you can be sure that if there are any empty cabins at 48 hrs, they will surely be inside cabins.

 

Also, in addition to general discounting, free/discounted cruises can be offered to casino guests to fill cabins on undersold cruises.

 

 

[cruiseanon32]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

Ah, how do you know there is ample availability two weeks earlier?  Is it because there are multiple cabins available for selection?  You may be correct, and that may indicate plenty of availability, but there is another possibility. There could be a substantial number of people who booked guarantee cabins that have not been assigned; once those are assigned, the number of cabin that seem to be available to book to drop dramatically.  With the upgrade program, this is especially true of unassigned inside gty bookings; NCL wait to assign these at the end when all the bidding upgrades are done.  Meanwhile, none of us know how many unassigned gty bookings NCL is holding...it could be a few; it could be a lot...so they know the availability situation and we do not.  Nevertheless, unless you want an inside cabin, with the bidding program, you can be sure that if there are any empty cabins at 48 hrs, they will surely be inside cabins.

 

Also, in addition to general discounting, free/discounted cruises can be offered to casino guests to fill cabins on undersold cruises.

 

 

Very informative, thank you!

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

Also, in addition to general discounting, free/discounted cruises can be offered to casino guests to fill cabins on undersold cruises.

Casino guests are offered rooms on every cruise, not because there are unfilled cabins.  We have been on cruises where 20% of the adult passengers onboard are sailing free or at a discounted rate from the casino, booked long before sailing date. The "casino" handles bookings made directly with NCL Casinos at Sea, bookings from "free cruise" certificates given out by land-based casinos, and discounted cruises from land-base casinos. 

[ray98]

You cannot know the true availability without knowing the guarantee pool.

[Markanddonna]

There are also NCL partners in the airline and travel industry who have access to incredible pricing in the final few weeks.  We mere mortals need to be related to those folks to get these super bargains.

 

[Sweetnspicy]

My best friend is a flight attendant and she is always texting me about last minute deals that pop up on her travel perks website. I wish we lived closer to Miami because those are the cheapest deals! 

[joeyancho]

18 hours ago, tandc2019 said:

I've seen last minute cruise deals in the newspaper before...

What is a newspaper?  Lol

[tandc2019]

2 minutes ago, joeyancho said:

What is a newspaper?  Lol

It's like a website, but on paper.  😂

 

The trade off is that you have to go to a store and pay for it in exchange for no pop-ups and annoying banner ads.

 

 

[cruiseanon32]

2 hours ago, tandc2019 said:

It's like a website, but on paper.  😂

 

The trade off is that you have to go to a store and pay for it in exchange for no pop-ups and annoying banner ads.

 

 

and the content, in most instances, is refreshingly reliable.