Majesty of Seas - how often do suites get cancelled at last minute?

[Tampaite]

I called RC twice so far inquiring about availability of suites on Majesty of Seas. Online it shows, none are available and RC customer service said none are available and I can't get on any wait-list to be notified if one becomes available - the only way to know is to call them everyday. I booked my cruise online on RC website.

Question - on cruise ships, do you see last minute cancellations? how often does that happen? I would assume since most of the cost paid is non-refundable, there would be very few cancellations unless there is an emergency situation.

Should I keep calling 2x a week or take chances on-the-day of the cruise and then inquire during embarkation? and would they be cheaper on-the-day of the cruise as opposed to 1-2 weeks out?

Can some share their experience booking a suite or any other rooms during embarkation and how much you had to pay?

[twangster]

On other ships when I've booked a suite I've paid a healthy price to do so.  One way or another, I will make it on board.  As you've suggested, emergencies happen, but short of a suite guest having an emergency, its unlikely someone just won't show up.  Not even for balcony cabins, or ocean view or inside.  Most folks book a cruise fully intending to take it.  

It never hurts to ask, all they can say is no.  However if someone is going to get an upgrade its most likely going to be someone with a high level of Crown and Anchor status which is understandable, reward frequent guests.  What's your C&A level?

[Tampaite]

1 minute ago, twangster said:

What's you C&A level?

Starting at the bottom!

[twangster]

I was there last October so I understand.  Royal Caribbean has a healthy following of dedicated cruisers - Loyal to Royal.  High ranking C&A guests will be on your ship.  They've sailed a lot, they know the routine, they'll be asking too.  I'd plan on sailing in the cabin booked, but it never hurts to ask.    

[DocLC]

Given that deposits on suites are no longer refundable, my guess is that it is far less common than in the past. However, stuff does happen after final payment, so it's always possible.

[monctonguy]

Ditto to the above post....

Royal has found ways to cut out many games that were being played and a way to firm up their bottom line even further.

[Tampaite]

3 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

Ditto to the above post....

Royal has found ways to cut out many games that were being played and a way to firm up their bottom line even further.

You seem to imply that games were nefarious and costing RC money - how is that even possible?

[monctonguy]

There have been posts here as well on other sites about how people were booking rooms through promo's, on board incentives etc and then cancelling them or not completing the booking.....

 

Also, Royal changed their last min booking policy  a year or so ago saying they would NOT offer last min deals or sales or incentives to book empty cabins...they would rather charge more to those that have booked and sail with empty cabins.....

 

These are just 2 general examples.....

[JLMoran]

24 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

There have been posts here as well on other sites about how people were booking rooms through promo's, on board incentives etc and then cancelling them or not completing the booking.....

To be a little more specific, those people would book 4 or 5 cruises at one time, all in a suite, and then decide last minute which one they actually wanted to go on and cancel the rest a couple of days before final payment was due. This left Royal holding the bag on multiple suites across multiple ships that they now needed to try and fill, leading to those last minute deals the day after final cancellation, along with greatly reduced revenue on those rooms.

So Royal started the new policy this year that suites now require a non-refundable deposit and also incur a change fee of $100 per person for canceling the booking or moving it to another ship or date. Net effect is to seriously cool those casual suite bookings and make sure many more of them are locked in when bought. I'm sure there will be some who keep on playing the game, simply because they're well enough off that losing a few thousand dollars in deposits and change fees doesn't even register as a blip on their radar. But most people looking to book a suite will now be kept honest.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Interesting conversation I had with an agent recently...they were encouraging me to keep calling back if I wanted an upgrade. I mentioned the with the new NRD policy that people likely weren't going to cancel as much. He was very chatty and proceeded to tell me that I would be surprised to know that many people still cancel at the last minute for whatever reasons. He also mentioned often they have people cancelling just before the sail date so asking at the pier is ok too.  I'm not reading too much into it but there is still hope. If you have time then keep checking. It never hurts to ask or call.

[Tampaite]

1 hour ago, monctonguy said:

There have been posts here as well on other sites about how people were booking rooms through promo's, on board incentives etc and then cancelling them or not completing the booking.....

Also, Royal changed their last min booking policy  a year or so ago saying they would NOT offer last min deals or sales or incentives to book empty cabins...they would rather charge more to those that have booked and sail with empty cabins.....

Sorry but I still don't understand how these are "games" as you called.

If people book thro' promos or incentives and then cancelled - they lost their incentives unless RC was refunding their incentives which I highly doubt.

Also, regarding last minute booking - just like airlines, we know that cruise lines are profitable with only 70% occupancy and anything more than that, is pure gravy so in either of the examples I don't see how anyone is playing games and affecting the bottom-line unless am missing something.

Anyway, we went slightly off-topic, my only concern was if there were suite cancellations, booking NOW would be comparatively lower compared to while during embarkation. 

 

[BrianAlt]

You also used to get OBC by booking on board.  So you could get a lot of OBC by simply booking cruises.  OBC for booking suites was significantly higher. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

11 minutes ago, Tampaite said:

 

Anyway, we went slightly off-topic, my only concern was if there were suite cancellations, booking NOW would be comparatively lower compared to while during embarkation. 

 

Not necessarily. Depends if you want to risk it or not and how committed you are to watching prices.

To give you a example, we were initially booked into a balcony cabin for our cruise on Harmony. I watch prices daily so a few months later I noticed the the JS had dropped a bit. Still more than what I paid for the balcony but low enough to make me want to make the switch.  We stayed with that JS for a while and put down our final payment and everything. Then, about 6 weeks prior to sailing, the price on a GS dropped drastically. And by that I mean over $1000/person from what it was previously going for. I jumped on it right away. After that I kept watching and it went back up again. And the GS that popped up at that point were not available before. So read into that however you want...cancellations, TA releasing their blocks,etc. Who knows. 

I've also read many posts here and on CC of people getting offered an uograde just prior to sailing for a steal of a deal. But like @twangster mentioned those usually go to your upper level C&A people. And those upgrades are usually up one category from what you have booked. So from inside to ocean view, OV to balcony, balcony to JS etc.

So there is no real rhyme or reason to it. The best advice I can give is that you should book what you cannot see yourself going below. And then watch frequently so that you know the prices well enough to recognize a deal when it does come along. 

For our Anthem cruise in March that is what I've done. I know that we want at least a JS so we currently have a FJ booked. I know the prices for higher level suites and I check several times a day so if a drop comes along I will jump on it then.

Hope that helps.

[Orange Crush]

It's probably still worth checking periodically.  I don't remember the exact date the non-refundable deposit program was rolled out, but if somebody booked before the implementation date and the final payment date hasn't happened yet, they can still cancel their reservation without any consequences.

Try one of the online travel sites to check availability yourself so you don't have to keep calling.  If you luck out and see one open up, jump on it immediately!

Although, if you're past the final payment date, it's probably a done deal.  Nobody's cancelling outside of emergencies.

*It's also worth noting that the Majesty is a smaller ship and there are no regular balcony staterooms.  It's ocean view or junior suite with nothing in between.  Good chances that all the people in the suites actually want them . . .

[monctonguy]

yeah, I could get into detailed explanations and all the ins and outs...but I don't have the time or desire to do that right now......

 

Take it from someone who has been watching cruise prices and sales for 4 years and booked many cruises and had to change some at times for various reasons, it used to be real easy and cheap and benefits with booking on board and getting credit which may have been worth more than the deposit required etc....

 

And with my flexible vacation schedule, not to mention high air fares here in Canada, cheap last min deals when I could get a reasonably price flight to match was how I was able to take about 50% of my cruises. If you look at my list of cruises....you can see that my frequency of cruising co-insides pretty close to when Royal changed their policy.

 

As for last min deals.....sorry, but I don't know a lot of companies that blatantly say they would rather sail/fly/book empty and keep their prices high, then lower them close to the sail date to try and fill them. I understand that obviously selling them for a higher amount is their desire, but to come out and kinda rub that in their customers faces I felt was pretty pompous and callous and very much high and mighty.

[Tampaite]

10/30 - Update. Called RC customer service, no suites available.

However, price to upgrade 1 interior room to Oceanview jumped to $300 and it was slightly lower at the time of booking. I was hoping for a price increase of about $100ish so will wait for another week and call them.

[Tampaite]

11/01 - Update. Called RC customer service, no suites available.

However, price to upgrade 1 interior room to Oceanview came down to $200. Still holding out for $100ish.

Will the price be cheaper on the day of the sail? Am assuming it would be unless RC wants those cabins empty when we set sail.