overbooked Crown: WHY?

[johno95]

we were on the Crown Princess 10/20/07 (repo)

result: overbooked

 

now we are on the same ship: 12/1/07

result: overbooked

 

does Princess have a problem in their booking, or are they cheap and want to fill every room, or what? :eek:

[sunsurf]

oh no!!! What do you mean overbooked? What happened??

[chasetf]

we were on the Crown Princess 10/20/07 (repo)

result: overbooked

 

now we are on the same ship: 12/1/07

result: overbooked

 

does Princess have a problem in their booking, or are they cheap and want to fill every room, or what? :eek:

My guess is they want to fill every room..... just like the airlines want to fill every seat. So what does that mean..... overbooked ..... were folks left at the port or they had to strike some deals. I have never hear of folks left on the port... but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

[dforeigner]

Standard industry practice started by the airlines in order to get more revenue. Statistically speaking, not everyone shows up for their cruise, flight, hotel stay, etc. Not 100% accurate but it works for the industry.

 

Maybe some of the TA on this board can add some additional information.

[willysgrandma]

Were you waitlisted when you booked or did you have a room assigned?

 

That ship is very popular and almost always sells out.

[johno95]

for both aforementioned sailings, passengers successfully booked a room. then got a phone call:

 

We will give you XYZ on your next Princess Cruise if you please don't show up at the ship in 3 days."

 

-------------

 

this is much different than being fully booked. but not all totally booked sailings overbook.

[texreno]

The same thing happened to several of our roll call members on our Grand Princess last April. Just as Johno95 stated, three or more days prior to our sailing they were contacted by Princess and offered a great deal on a future sailing. After a quick survey it seem to be mainly couples traveling alone who did not have their bookings tied to another couple or group that Princess contacted.

[Pam in CA]

for both aforementioned sailings, passengers successfully booked a room. then got a phone call:

 

We will give you XYZ on your next Princess Cruise if you please don't show up at the ship in 3 days."

 

-------------

 

this is much different than being fully booked. but not all totally booked sailings overbook.

This happens surprisingly frequently, particularly for very popular sailings. Princess will just keep calling people and sweeten the deal until they get people to change and the cabins they need to accommodate everyone who's booked.

[BruceMuzz]

All the cruise line are overbooking inorder to ensure maximum occupancy.

We know that nearly every cruise has a 1% no-show or last minute cancellation rate.

For a 1500+ cabin ship like Crown Princess, that means that an average 15 cabins will not show up for a variety of good and bad reasons.

 

But every now and then, everyone decides to show up for the cruise. When a lower than usual number of people cancel in the few days before a cruise, the company tries to buy off a few passengers to avoid an overbooked ship at sailing time.

 

Are the cruise lines being cheap? No.

But the passengers are.

 

The American cruising public tells us that they want the cheapest cruises possible.

We can raise the fares now, or we can take every step (including overbooking) to maximize revenues and keep the fares lower.

 

Anybody care to vote on which path we should take???

[wasup254]

My mom is trying to get on the 12-1 cruise. We have a secured booking(husband and I). My mom is waitlisted at #12, now she has moved to #6(today)...in order for her to move up 6 spots, did Princess call the other 11 ahead of her and some dropped out, or did they secure cabins for those people? I think they called and "cleaned" up the waitlist..

 

If the ship is overbooked then tomorrow is the day we might see her move up??? I would think overbooked and waitlisted are two separate issues. they are not going to call someone with a solid booking to get to cancel, to place waitlisted people on the cruise...

 

We were told being #6 doesnt look good as the day of the cruise approaches

 

 

Marlene

[Cruisin' Chick]

The day before our first Princess cruise in 2003 we found a message on our answering machine offering us a full refund and an upgrade to a balcony (from an inside) if we postponed for a few weeks. So it's nothing new. We didn't take them up on their offer for several reasons, but I imagine somebody did. If the cruiseine is having problems finding takers, they keep upping the ante.

[chasetf]

My mom is trying to get on the 12-1 cruise. We have a secured booking(husband and I). My mom is waitlisted at #12, now she has moved to #6(today)...in order for her to move up 6 spots, did Princess call the other 11 ahead of her and some dropped out, or did they secure cabins for those people? I think they called and "cleaned" up the waitlist..

 

If the ship is overbooked then tomorrow is the day we might see her move up??? I would think overbooked and waitlisted are two separate issues. they are not going to call someone with a solid booking to get to cancel, to place waitlisted people on the cruise... We were told being #6 doesnt look good as the day of the cruise approaches Marlene

With the overbooking situation the OP describes is different from the waitlist your mom is on. The overbooked folks have guaranteed bookings so the cruise line is obligated to get them a cabin because they are "on" the ship. Someone on waitlist is not yet "on" the ship and have to hope all the guarantees get cabins assigned and then others continue to cancel.

 

But.... seeing as your cruise is well under the final payment date, it is unlikely people will cancel seeing as final payments have been made and the penalties are high to cancel.

[ancldaca]

This all reminds me of a Thanksgiving flight I took several years back. I volunteered to give up my seat and made out like a bandit ($500 voucher for a $180 purchased flight).

 

As another volunteer passenger from that flight and I were in the shuttle bus to the hotel, he told me that he was retired and purposely booked on peak flights. If they needed volunteers he would do so and use the vouchers for other flights; if not, he still got to his destination when he wanted to go to in the first place.

 

I remember that the $500 voucher I got turned into a total of 4 flights for me as I ended up volunteering on one other flight down the road. Escentially flew for "free" to Miami for a whole year.

 

I wonder to what extend this goes on in cruising as well? Surely certain sailings are automatic sell-outs like special holidays, etc. If you have the ability to change last minute, what category of cabin is most likely to get you called? Mini's and balcony I figure...

[clevelandrocks1r]

we were on the Crown Princess 10/20/07 (repo)

result: overbooked

 

now we are on the same ship: 12/1/07

result: overbooked

 

does Princess have a problem in their booking, or are they cheap and want to fill every room, or what? :eek:

John & Nancy:

 

I see you are on the 12/1 Crown Cruise. If you are interested, we are having a Meet and Greet on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Skywalker's (deck 18 aft). We have about 80 CC members attending. Please join us!

 

Sandi & Rich

[clevelandrocks1r]

we were on the Crown Princess 10/20/07 (repo)

result: overbooked

 

now we are on the same ship: 12/1/07

result: overbooked

 

does Princess have a problem in their booking, or are they cheap and want to fill every room, or what? :eek:

 

Are you on the 12/1/07 sailing or have they moved you to another date? If you are on the 12/1 sailing, we have a meet & greet scheduled from 11am - noon on Sunday in Skywalkers lounge. we have about 75 members signed up for it. If interested, please put a post on the roll call site.

 

Thanks,

 

Rich & Sandi

[johno95]

Bruce, I don't agree with you at all. you missed my point. i am not sure that all lines overbook to this extent.

 

Princess is overbooking (like an airline) expecting people to cancel by the last week. not enough pax cancel.

 

what they are doing is fine, but it makes me curious, that's all. one can always refuse their offer.

 

do all cruise llines overbook to this extent? do airlines ask if anyone wants to get off the plane TO THIS EXTENT? (I am talking two sailings in a row.)

 

All the cruise line are overbooking inorder to ensure maximum occupancy.

[johno95]

we got the same exact offer. was it just two people?

 

...on our answering machine offering us a full refund and an upgrade to a balcony (from an inside) if we postponed for a few weeks. So it's nothing new.

[wrp96]

do all cruise llines overbook to this extent? do airlines ask if anyone wants to get off the plane TO THIS EXTENT? (I am talking two sailings in a row.)

 

Princess is about the only major cruiseline I've seen frequent mentions of overbooked cruises. I've seen occasional mention of it on HAL, but rarely do you see mention of it on the Carnival, RCCL, or NCL boards (I'm not saying it doesn't happen on those lines but I've only seen mention of it once on the RCCL boards since I've joined CC).

 

Airlines, though, overbook all the time. In fact, thanks to overbooking by the airlines, my trip to Maui in January is the first time I've purchased a plane ticket in 2 years. On President's Day weekend, I allowed myself to be bumped from 4 different flights paying for several trips (and could've continued bumping but needed to get home to work).

[willysgrandma]

Bruce, I don't agree with you at all. you missed my point. i am not sure that all lines overbook to this extent.

 

Princess is overbooking (like an airline) expecting people to cancel by the last week. not enough pax cancel.

 

what they are doing is fine, but it makes me curious, that's all. one can always refuse their offer.

 

do all cruise llines overbook to this extent? do airlines ask if anyone wants to get off the plane TO THIS EXTENT? (I am talking two sailings in a row.)

 

In our experience selling cruises, Princess does do this more than other lines.

[wasup254]

On the message board roll call for 12-1, a passenger just posted that they were called and asked to cancel and rebook and that they are now going 12-15....I think that they truly are having issues with overbooks and that makes the waitlist people even more hopeless, as they have more passengers that made full payment and dont have a cabin assignment...so they are a priority...

 

I have not gotten a call, asked husband and he said NO way we are going friday

 

Marlene

[prray]

My husband and I are number 3 on the waitlist for the Dec. 1 booking. If I understand correctly, they are oversold and we won't be getting on? We live in Puerto Rico(where the cruise leaves from) and could drive to the dock the day of....does any one know if this is worth it at this point or what are odds are?

[wasup254]

we are #1...on the 12-1 also...we just got off the phone with a rep from Princess and she is is overbooked and they are calling people to cancel and rebook for a later date..

 

She said even at #1 we are in a very unsure place....she said to watch for email about an opening as that is how they will notify us...

 

 

We leave Friday, we have a cabin, Mom is supposed to leave Saturday.. she has not packed yet, but I think if we dont get an answer by tomorrow..we will cancel her out...as she is frail and doenst need to be trying to figure out how to do all she would need to do before she leaves

[BJS]

But.... seeing as your cruise is well under the final payment date, it is unlikely people will cancel seeing as final payments have been made and the penalties are high to cancel.

We have had to cancel twice after final payment for medical reasons ( 6 weeks and 1 week before the cruise) so it does happen but sounds like those on the waitlist for this cruise also have a disadvantage because the cruise is overbooked.

 

 

.

[rdsqrl]

I'm not sure I understand the angst here: so what if they overbook? I've never heard of anyone being left behind at the pier, so obviously Princess does manage to find enough takers for a later cruise to accommodate everyone who's booked. And meanwhile the system rewards those who are able to be flexible without at the same time punishing anyone, and the resultant game of musical cabins is what keeps those random visits from the upgrade fairy coming our way.

[wasup254]

Looks like a rainy forecast for us..not sure if all the islands are rainy but alot of rain near san Juan..

 

My mom is #1 on the waitlist but seeing that they are overbooked we are very very unsure if we will get that call or email...I think that they called the people on the waitlist and they dsaid no, I dont think they had 11 cabins open up so she moved up to #1....

 

I did speak to a rep at Princess and she was very nice and said that she would like to see her get on and even said she would be watching today and she gave me her phone number in Santa Clara and extension...even gave me her hours, she said it was not her dept(she was glad for that) LOL....I guess that dept is vey very busy making calls to make room...

 

Marlene