advice requested for last-minute cruise--please help!

[Mick W]

Hello, my extended family is traveling on a Carnival cruise in 2 weeks.  I didn't book the cruise because I thought I couldn't go--but now I can go on that cruise!  Unfortunately, the cruise appears to be sold out.  Does anyone have advice on seeking a last-minute cruise?  Does anyone have any travel agent recommendations?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you very much!

[sparks1093]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. We cannot recommend travel agents on this forum. Not sure what advice in particular you are looking for. If it is to find a way to get a cabin on a sold out sailing I can think of little that would help (some travel agents might have a block of cabins that they are holding for a particular sailing but with all of the travel agents in the world finding them might be like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack). You might check some of the larger online ones. If you call Carnival they might have a waiting list that you can be put on in case someone cancels at the last minute, but I would think that, too, might be a long shot. As for general advice on waiting til the last minute it is possible with less popular sailings to find one and book it, but your choice of cabins is going to be limited and may not meet your needs. 

[pe4all]

Another thing you can do is see if one of the cabins has occupancy for one more.  Sometimes a double is really a triple, and if they don't mind you "crashing" on their sofa bed, that may work.  Or the cabin may have a pulldown from the wall.  We have had cabins for 3 that were really for 3, and 2 that were really for 3.  Maybe you can be added to one of the extended family cabins. Good luck!

[carol louise]

As pe4all mentions, the fact of the ship being fully booked does not necessarily mean every possible berth is taken. Ask your extended family members to check the deck plans on Carnival’s website to see exactly the capacity of their particular cabins. If any couple is booked just the two of them in a cabin that can accommodate 3 or 4 passengers—and are willing to share the space with you—they could ask their travel agent or Carnival to add you to the booking and pay the 3rd-person fee.

 

At the same time, as sparks1093 suggests, call Carnival to see if there is a waiting list to grab any last-minute cancellations.

[Drazil65]

Call Carnival and see what they can do.

[havanadaydreaming]

double down on calling carnival.   

[nwcruiselover]

One more suggestion is to check Carnival’s website several times a day looking for a cabin that becomes available because of a last minute cancellation.  If you see one, grab it right away because it won’t last long.

[skrufy]

1 hour ago, nwcruiselover said:

One more suggestion is to check Carnival’s website several times a day looking for a cabin that becomes available because of a last minute cancellation.  If you see one, grab it right away because it won’t last long.

I have seen cruises sold out on Carnival and other booking sites have the same cruise open for booking. So my suggestion is to search all sites that offer cruises, you might get lucky.

[crzndeb]

Sold out can also mean they have reached life boat capacity.

[jimbo5544]

Look at the roll calls and post there, both here on CC and on FB (search for it).

[1025cruise]

If you are looking to cruise in 2 weeks, this is a holiday cruise and a school vacation cruise. You're probably out of luck.

[DallasGuy75219]

4 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

Sold out can also mean they have reached life boat capacity.

Exactly. It's fine to check if family members have an unused berth, but Carnival's answer may still be "no" because not every ship has the lifeboat capacity for every single berth plus the extra capacity required by SOLAS. 

 

Just because a family member has an unused berth doesn't mean their muster station (which is tied to their cabin location) or the entire ship isn't already at lifeboat capacity.

[DallasGuy75219]

7 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

If it is to find a way to get a cabin on a sold out sailing I can think of little that would help (some travel agents might have a block of cabins that they are holding for a particular sailing but with all of the travel agents in the world finding them might be like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack). You might check some of the larger online ones.

By this point, 2 weeks before sailing, Carnival has long ago taken back any unsold cabins that travel agents may have been holding.

[sparks1093]

7 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

By this point, 2 weeks before sailing, Carnival has long ago taken back any unsold cabins that travel agents may have been holding.

I figured that would be case which is why might was italicized. 🙂

[jimbo5544]

7 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I figured that would be case which is why might was italicized. 🙂

There are cabins that free up late from time to time.  Kind of a crap shoot.  We had one 2 days before our most recent Horizon sailing.  Grabbed it right up.

Edited December 11, 2023 by jimbo5544

[mz-s]

7 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

There are cabins that free up late from time to time.  Kind of a crap shoot.  We had one 2 days before our most recent Horizon sailing.  Grabbed it right up.

 

How do you know those were rooms released by a TA and not a last minute cancellation for example?

[DallasGuy75219]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

How do you know those were rooms released by a TA and not a last minute cancellation for example?

They couldn't have been released by a TA because the cruise lines won't let TAs hold unsold cabins that close to sailing.

[jimbo5544]

19 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

How do you know those were rooms released by a TA and not a last minute cancellation for example?

These were WAY to late to be released, just kept checking and it was a late cancel

Edited December 12, 2023 by jimbo5544

[Essiesmom]

Your major problem is that you appear to be looking to book as a solo.  If you try a mock booking for 2, you might find availability.  Reduce it to one and there are no cabins that meet your criteria, no matter what category you want.