Do suites always sell out first?

[mfs2k]

 

"Beyond" departing Port Liberty, NJ 10/26/22

9 night repositioning Southern Caribbean ending in FLL (Ports: Bermuda, Aruba, Curacao)

 

All cabin categories are available except "The Retreat" suite categories which are sold out with 9 1/2 months to go. 

 

Is it typical for suites to sell out first on a new ship?  I would have expected more demand with lower category cabins. 

 

Is this Covid related? 

Are there far fewer suites than other cabin categories?

Do you think they listed all the suites as available to book or are they holding some back?

What's your experience? 

 

[danceswithphones]

Suites sell out quickly. Especially RS and above. I try to book as soon as the bookings open. Otherwise, they are all gone. I booked an EV on the Beyond a year in advance and it was the last one available. All other RS and above were gone. 

[Cruise a holic]

I agree that the "big" suites sell out quickly most often.  Their are only a limited amount of them.  Sky Suites are much more available and easier to get.  But for the best locations book asap.  You can always change cabins and depending upon your TA, if the price drops before final payment, you can call and get the lowered price.

[rmalbers]

They didn't used to but with all the FCC out there the dynamics have changed.

[mac_tlc]

There are so few RS and above and that is a very popular itinerary -- brand new ship, first US sailing. Not surprising they are gone so quickly. 

 

mac_tlc

[mfs2k]

13 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

But for the best locations book asap.  You can always change cabins and depending upon your TA, if the price drops before final payment, you can call and get the lowered price.

 

How do you take advantage of price drops if the category you're booked in is sold out?

[TeeRick]

People used to like to book suites as soon as possible for the best available price.  As they become less available the price goes up.

[JFontaine]

I'm a bit surprised that the top suites are gone. New ship, yes, but not a very interesting itinerary. The iconic suites were probably $75,000 each. My guess is the top suites were never put on sale, and are on hold for VIPs, etc , and could be released later. Sky suites would be a different story, but likely covid capacity controlled. 

[Jeremiah1212]

Suites across the fleet sell quickly. There are a lot of factors involved in that one. First cruise to the US, unique repo itinerary and stops in Bermuda and Aruba/Curacao. FCC's and lack of traveling in general seems to be driving people to spend potentially more on vacations than they would have in the past. It's also 8 months out and people are hoping COVID and all things related have subsided by then. 

[danceswithphones]

Just now, TeeRick said:

People used to like to book suites as soon as possible for the best available price.

Celebrity knows what the market will bear on RS and above. These are expensive but we like to eat in the room and RS and above have a dining table. We had all meals delivered to the room on our last two sailings in a PH. 

[TeeRick]

3 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Suites across the fleet sell quickly. There are a lot of factors involved in that one. First cruise to the US, unique repo itinerary and stops in Bermuda and Aruba/Curacao. FCC's and lack of traveling in general seems to be driving people to spend potentially more on vacations than they would have in the past. It's also 8 months out and people are hoping COVID and all things related have subsided by then. 

Some people also want to be first to experience The Retreat on BEYOND.  

[Jim_Iain]

20 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

How do you take advantage of price drops if the category you're booked in is sold out?

Just keep looking daily hand when one pops up at a lower price put a hold on it and call in.   I did it recently.   You will often see many suites as well as other cabins open up closer to final payment date. 

[mfs2k]

8 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just keep looking daily hand when one pops up at a lower price put a hold on it and call in.   I did it recently.   You will often see many suites as well as other cabins open up closer to final payment date. 

good advice.  Thx.

[ExArkie]

13 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just keep looking daily hand when one pops up at a lower price put a hold on it and call in.   I did it recently.   You will often see many suites as well as other cabins open up closer to final payment date. 

Just to clarify: If the category is sold out, the price would not be shown on a search, correct? Your approach is valid if there is a suite in the category that becomes available after the category has been listed as sold out.

 

For example, if I booked the last available Celebrity Suite, such that the category is now sold out, and continued to check prices on a daily basis, the search just show that the Celebrity Suite category was "Sold Out" and not display prices. However, if someone who had previously booked a Celebrity Suite cancels and that suite is put back in the inventory for sale, then it is possible to see a price drop and rebook.

 

Is that what you were talking about, or did I miss something? (I have been know to miss things before...but usually not more than five or six times a day.)

[danceswithphones]

2 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

did I miss something

A couple of times, I booked a lesser suite on Princess and saved money by haunting the sailing date for available suites. I was able to essentially rebook at a better rate, closer to sailing day, by upgrading to a better suite at a rate far cheaper than it would have been on my original booking date. Ended up in an Owner's Suite on my last Princess sailing. 

[CalTexCruiser]

As an example of how popular the high level suites are, for our Feb 2023 NZ cruise, we were lucky to be able to book the last Royal Suite on the Eclipse back in May 2021, about 21 months before the sail date.

[leaveitallbehind]

There are customers who prefer and can afford suites and will always sail in them, regardless of cost or itinerary.  With the ratio on board any given ship of suites to standard staterooms a very low number, they tend to book quickly on most itineraries.  In part it is due I would think to early booking fares but would also be a factor of supply and availability - those who want to sail in suites will book them early to be sure they can get their preferred choice.

 

In my experience, at least with RCCL / Celebrity, this has been the case for quite a long time on most ships and itineraries.

[Lastdance]

I have quite a few suites booked; most were booked the first day the cruises opened because I want a certain category that sells out quickly.  SV's also sell quite fast.  I like to pair the two on a b2b and save a few bucks for the next time.  Beyond has a fantastic Retreat area, so I certainly jumped onboard with a TA/suite.  Yes, Covid has created a lot of disposable income ready to plop down on a cruise.  

Edited February 7, 2022 by Lastdance

[Denny01]

And the TransAtlantic itineraries are very popular cruises for booking Suites, all of them, because of the large number of sea days involved. I’ve never booked a suite, but going on a TA, Rome to FLL, in Oct on the Edge and booked a Sky Suite. There are none left. 

 

Den

[mfs2k]

4 hours ago, Denny01 said:

And the TransAtlantic itineraries are very popular cruises for booking Suites, all of them, because of the large number of sea days involved. I’ve never booked a suite, but going on a TA, Rome to FLL, in Oct on the Edge and booked a Sky Suite. There are none left. 

 

Den

that sounds amazing.  How many nights? 

[Denny01]

 

24 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

that sounds amazing.  How many nights? 

TA’s go for 12-14 days usually. Our’s is in Oct ‘22 from Rome to FLL 14N. Stops in Corsica, Palma Spain, Cartagena Spain, Gibraltar UK, then 6 days at sea calling into Bermuda then 2 days at sea and into FLL.

 

So you can see why we stepped up this time. Of course, I Now worry about us never going back to standard SR’s! But I think we’ll save the Retreat for special lower-port cruises or even Caribbean cruises where we spend less time going into a port anyway. 

 

We’ve done 4 TA’s and just love them. Spend some time in the Euro port areas, then on the ship and off we go! We are lucky living in Florida. I rent a car in FLL and drive back home…..of course the Fla Panhandle is a 9+hr drive, just as far as Atlanta almost! But this way, we can buy a bit more in ports and not worry about packing it to fly home. Neat all around. 

 

Den

[Dolebludger]

Before the pandemic, we noticed that the best suites with the most perks sold out first, and the cheapest inside cabins also sold out first. This may be different now, as more customers want more perks and service and fewer lines and crowds, so the lowest cabins don’t seem to get much love.  We want.AI and great service. If we can’t afford it, we stay home.but now with so many larger ships sailing at around 50% capacity and with major lines including more perks for all, we may  rethink our strategy. 

[George C]

Celebrity has such great suite perks that would warrant them selling out, question that high end suites sell out first . On my edge cruise in July one of the two penthouse suites was available to the very end and we did a move up to get it the week before sailing and they said it was empty the week before.

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, Denny01 said:

 

TA’s go for 12-14 days usually. Our’s is in Oct ‘22 from Rome to FLL 14N. Stops in Corsica, Palma Spain, Cartagena Spain, Gibraltar UK, then 6 days at sea calling into Bermuda then 2 days at sea and into FLL.

 

So you can see why we stepped up this time. Of course, I Now worry about us never going back to standard SR’s! But I think we’ll save the Retreat for special lower-port cruises or even Caribbean cruises where we spend less time going into a port anyway. 

 

We’ve done 4 TA’s and just love them. Spend some time in the Euro port areas, then on the ship and off we go! We are lucky living in Florida. I rent a car in FLL and drive back home…..of course the Fla Panhandle is a 9+hr drive, just as far as Atlanta almost! But this way, we can buy a bit more in ports and not worry about packing it to fly home. Neat all around. 

 

Den

Solid plan, I plan to do the same on a TA with 2-3 years, I’m just south of Atlanta, and want a car to bring home purchases..

[TravelingCircusof5]

On 2/7/2022 at 10:45 AM, TeeRick said:

Some people also want to be first to experience The Retreat on BEYOND.  

When do the ships usually sell out? I was exploring how many suites were left for a Beyond March ‘23 sailing- almost under 90 days out now, and it looks like there are like 60+ suites left. I was very surprised! I got an SV and there are none of those left. 
Does this mean we will probably have an uncrowded ship? Or is there a rush of last minute bookings?