Ship ‘Reserve List’

[GSPG]

I can imagine, particularly on the larger ships with more people on board that rooms become available very last minute as guests have had to cancel through illness, death in the family etc.

 

If a cruise wasn’t being advertised now as it was full up, but you really wanted to go on it, would P&O offer those rooms away if anyone was interested in them very last minute?

 

Has anyone heard of a ‘reserve list’ for very late cancellations? 

[Eglesbrech]

No personally I have never heard of it recently.
 

Many years ago there used to be last minute cruise availability as in people literally at the dock with a packed suitcase and passport waiting to see. Given all the security and advance checking now the manifests close earlier.

 

I can’t say that P&O ever do this but I do know that other lines are now taking to over booking on the basis that someone will cancel for the reasons you describe. If they need to they give a generous sweetener for people to cancel at the very last minutes move to another cruise. 

[molecrochip]

40 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

No personally I have never heard of it recently.
 

Many years ago there used to be last minute cruise availability as in people literally at the dock with a packed suitcase and passport waiting to see. Given all the security and advance checking now the manifests close earlier.

 

I can’t say that P&O ever do this but I do know that other lines are now taking to over booking on the basis that someone will cancel for the reasons you describe. If they need to they give a generous sweetener for people to cancel at the very last minutes move to another cruise. 

Who is overbooking? I don’t believe that’s happening in the U.K.

 

if you’re talking about selling cruises to 103% of capacity then that’s a different thing.

[Eglesbrech]

3 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Who is overbooking? I don’t believe that’s happening in the U.K.

 

if you’re talking about selling cruises to 103% of capacity then that’s a different thing.

I didn’t say it was just in the U.K.. I also made it clear it was not P&O.

 

My last cruise in May on Princess. Numerous reports of calls to passengers 2 days before sailing to move to another cruise which some accepted and others did not. Reported as overbooking (personally I had assumed it was related to the dry dock but that’s not what was reported by those contacted).

 

Reports of certain grades also overbooked which result in free upgrades, which I’m sure no one objects to 😀.

 

What happens to the 3% if 103% is booked and they all appear?

 

 

[molecrochip]

Princess don’t overbook by plan. It’s not possible in the system as everyone has to be allocated to an open cabin.

 

It’s likely that more contractors than planned needed to remain onboard post dry dock and this therefore reduced available cabins.

 

You deal with it by upgrades, downgrades then cancellations.

 

As for the 103% thing…. Capacity is calculated based on lower berths only. 2 people in a cabin with two lower and two upper berths is 100% capacity. Therefore 4 people in that cabin is 200% capacity. This often leads to capacity > 100%. It’s still less than the maximum physical number of passengers though.

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Princess don’t overbook by plan. It’s not possible in the system as everyone has to be allocated to an open cabin.

 

It’s likely that more contractors than planned needed to remain onboard post dry dock and this therefore reduced available cabins.

 

You deal with it by upgrades, downgrades then cancellations.

 

As for the 103% thing…. Capacity is calculated based on lower berths only. 2 people in a cabin with two lower and two upper berths is 100% capacity. Therefore 4 people in that cabin is 200% capacity. This often leads to capacity > 100%. It’s still less than the maximum physical number of passengers though.

I give way to and acknowledge your greater knowledge of the process and software.
 

How does that work for guarantees?
 

As I said my assumption was a dry dock issue, unfortunately that’s not the impression customers were left with or posted about on social media so perhaps a failure of appropriate communication?

[Winifred 22]

3 hours ago, GSPG said:

I can imagine, particularly on the larger ships with more people on board that rooms become available very last minute as guests have had to cancel through illness, death in the family etc.

 

If a cruise wasn’t being advertised now as it was full up, but you really wanted to go on it, would P&O offer those rooms away if anyone was interested in them very last minute?

 

Has anyone heard of a ‘reserve list’ for very late cancellations? 

If there were free cabins available  then the booking would be reopened and you would see availability online. 

[molecrochip]

1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

I give way to and acknowledge your greater knowledge of the process and software.
 

How does that work for guarantees?
 

As I said my assumption was a dry dock issue, unfortunately that’s not the impression customers were left with or posted about on social media so perhaps a failure of appropriate communication?

Say there are 10 balcony cabins and 5 mini suites left. 15 in total. You book a specific balcony cabin and the overall balcony count reduces to 9. Now there are 14 left.

 

Next someone books a balcony guarantee, the system doesn’t restrict balcony cabins, it restricts the total of balcony and higher that can be sold to 13.

 

If 9 more people come along and book specific balcony cabins, then you’ve sold all 10 balconies plus a guarantee cabin against 15 cabins of balcony or higher. But that’s fine because someone gets an upgrade!

 

As for the reason given to those bounced to another cruise, explaining you still have dry dock contractors on board makes it sound like the ship isn’t ready to sail. Overbooking makes it sound like you’re too busy/popular. It’s the lesser of two evils.

[Yorkypete]

3 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Who is overbooking? I don’t believe that’s happening in the U.K.

 

if you’re talking about selling cruises to 103% of capacity then that’s a different thing.

!00% is full. If they sell to 103% then they are overbooking by 3% are they not?

[GSPG]

1 hour ago, Winifred 22 said:

If there were free cabins available  then the booking would be reopened and you would see availability online. 

Can’t say I’ve seen too many cruises that go back online with just a few days to go, and that’s probably the period my examples were for?

Edited June 19, 2023 by GSPG

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

!00% is full. If they sell to 103% then they are overbooking by 3% are they not?

DID you not read Moleys post, capacity is measured against lower berths  so any 3 or 4 berth cabins that are full will push the number of passengers beyond 100% capacity.

 

 

 

[Yorkypete]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

DID you not read Moleys post, capacity is measured against lower berths  so any 3 or 4 berth cabins that are full will push the number of passengers beyond 100% capacity.

 

 

 

The old maxim..100% is a maximum..full. This must linclude any cabins berths etc. it does not matter what they are. If one berth is available then they are not 100% full. They cannot ever be 103% full as that is overloaded.

 

[molecrochip]

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

The old maxim..100% is a maximum..full. This must linclude any cabins berths etc. it does not matter what they are. If one berth is available then they are not 100% full. They cannot ever be 103% full as that is overloaded.

 

No, the industry standard is 100% full is a passenger count equal to the total number of lower berths.

 

The reason is simple, all financials are done based on lower berths. I’m no lying when I say that the expectation is for certain ships to average over 100% of ‘available lower berths’ for the entire year.

Edited June 19, 2023 by molecrochip