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When is a Cruise Truly "Sold Out" ?


WAAAYTOOO

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Why is it that I will go to check on availability of a cruise one day it will show the cruise as "sold out" and then I will go back later and there will be LOTS of rooms available - ANYthing but sold out ?

 

That happened to me very recently. I was looking to see what was left unsold on my Christmas cruise on the Grandeur and it showed SOLD OUT in every stateroom category. Of course, that left me with the impression that the ship was, in fact, sold out. I went back and checked (as I do EVERY day) and suddenly there are rooms in EVERY category showing available. I'll bet there are over 100 cabins available on that cruise right now but last week it was showing SOLD OUT !

 

I find this completely confusing.

 

So when is a cruise truly "Sold Out" ? Do travel agencies "reserve" a bunch of rooms and then release them back to the cruise line if they can't sell them ? ...and why would a TA do that when they cannot discount the cruise anyway ??

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There can be a couple of reasons why this is happening. 

 

1.  If I go to the RCI website and book a cabin, that cabin is now pulled from inventory. 

It gives me a couple of days to make my down payment. 

If I never make the down payment, that cabin is placed back into inventory. 

 

2.  TA's will hold cabin space for groups - all the time. 

If deposits are not placed on the cabins within the allotted time, the cabins are returned 

to RCI and end up back in the inventory and are available to book. 

 

3.  During the time of final payment you may see cabins come available that have been previously unavailable. 

Passengers have up until the time of final payment to decide if they are indeed going to commit to the cruise.  

If they decide not to cruise, the cabin is released to the inventory. 

 

And this releasing of cabins (as in #3 above) is actually happening all the time, but it is seen more right at the time of final 

payment, because it is [pay up or let it go] time! 

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