Spare cabins

[Not a username2]

What happens if there is a huge amount of rooms still available on a cruise? Do they upgrade people or leave them be?

I notice on the cruise I'll be leaving in 1.5 months it's only 2/3, if that, full.

[Denny01]

What cruise are you on that is that open?

 

Den

[wrk2cruise]

They use the MoveUp program to generate revenue from upgrades.  With 1.5 months to go they can still move a lot of cabins.

[Muffinz]

yes it's interesting.... we are cruising in April (Auckland to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga) and last year it was all but sold out, with only a handful of inside cabins available at a ridiculous price..... then suddenly 2 weeks ago there were at least 30 balcony staterooms that had become available and the prices had also come right down....

Final payment was due 2 weeks ago so maybe some people just cancelled and that's why there were suddenly all these cabins available?

[TeaBag]

They put the cruise on Exciting deals which come out on Tuesdays. 

[varoo]

They also may offer them to locals (people living near the departure port) at a reduced price.

 

[jelayne]

Also they donate them to charities for auction and also to Blue  chip players.  In the end the ship will sail full.

[chemmo]

I spoke briefly once to a couple who said they had only paid for taxes on their cruises (several lines) for years...They spent most evenings in the casino and had access to the the Retreat lounge. 

 

They also indicated they didn’t pay for hotels either.

 

As someone you can never remember the rules of games and on 50/50 chances invariably looses I think I had better continue to save for my next cruise...

 

OP, you could manage a good deal on the move up program...Are there any rooms available in a higher category you would be interested in paying a bit more for?

 

[upwarduk]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

OP, you could manage a good deal on the move up program...Are there any rooms available in a higher category you would be interested in paying a bit more for?

Only trouble with that is that you have to take what you are given, you can’t choose a room in a desirable location.

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

Only trouble with that is that you have to take what you are given, you can’t choose a room in a desirable location.

 

Very true...

[4774Papa]

4 hours ago, chemmo said:

I spoke briefly once to a couple who said they had only paid for taxes on their cruises (several lines) for years...They spent most evenings in the casino and had access to the the Retreat lounge. 

 

They also indicated they didn’t pay for hotels either.

 

As someone you can never remember the rules of games and on 50/50 chances invariably looses I think I had better continue to save for my next cruise...

 

OP, you could manage a good deal on the move up program...Are there any rooms available in a higher category you would be interested in paying a bit more for?

 

Spending time in the casio=paying via another way

[Bruin Steve]

Most cruises sail, basically, full.  The cruise lines have ways of filling cabins. Often, you'll see last-minute "fire sale" deals...but often, those deals are secret or almost secret...For example, you will only see them if you log on for some special category--resident of a certain state, military or senior discount, for example...They will also offer deals to people on certain "lists" they keep for such purposes...or through certain travel agents.  For example, I know of at least one travel agent who only markets to people within the travel industry--and their deals are at a significant discount

 

After that, they will also give away cabins to known "high roller" gamblers.

 

And, they have standby free or deeply discounted deals for employees of the cruise line (I know a former Princess VP who use to wait around for cruises to go partly unsold, then, at some point--usually a week or two to go-- they'd give him the cruise free).

 

Then, also remember that they sell a lot of bookings as "Guarantees"...They often hold a lot of these until close to the end, then jockey bookings around and assign the guarantees--and many previously "unsold"--really just unassigned cabins disappear immediately.  The combination of "Guarantee" bookings and MoveUp offers gives them a lot of flexibility to fill up cabins and squeeze the most out of those remaining unassigned cabins.

 

And, yes, when all else fails, if they haven't sold some cabins and they have run out of MoveUp offers, they MAY move some people up for free....They did it for us last Christmas/New Year's (2018/19) on Millennium--We were told of our free upgrade at the pier.  But I don't think they have many of these go out often...You have to be extremely lucky...

[upwarduk]

 

They did it for us last Christmas/New Year's (2018/19) on Millennium--We were told of our free upgrade at the pier.  But I don't think they have many of these go out often...You have to be extremely lucky...

 

Didn’t ‘Move Up’ start after this date?

[Bruin Steve]

11 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Didn’t ‘Move Up’ start after this date?

 

NO...We were offered it on that cruise...But I thought the asking prices were outrageous...

Heck, it started WAY before that...Just for proof, here's a link to a thread on THIS forum started in April 2018 about the MoveUp system: