Question about Panama Canal Sep 2014

[princessmommyx3]

I have had my eye on the Sep 2014 Panama Canal sailing for a while now and was planning on booking it while on board next week. I noticed today that EVERY verandah room is sold out. Does this seem strange to anyone else, and does anyone have a possible explanation for it? The May 2014 Panama Canal still has almost every room category available, and I have heard (though not sure if it is true) that the Panama Canal sailing are almost never full. This just seems really strange to me and I am also disappointed as I really wanted a verandah to watch us pass through the canal.

 

[Meghatron]

I have had my eye on the Sep 2014 Panama Canal sailing for a while now and was planning on booking it while on board next week. I noticed today that EVERY verandah room is sold out. Does this seem strange to anyone else, and does anyone have a possible explanation for it? The May 2014 Panama Canal still has almost every room category available, and I have heard (though not sure if it is true) that the Panama Canal sailing are almost never full. This just seems really strange to me and I am also disappointed as I really wanted a verandah to watch us pass through the canal.

They play with inventory a lot. The same thing happened for months before the WBPC this year. Just keep checking.

Sent from my Tricorder using DISBoards

 

[jrabbit]

I can understand why a veranda on the PC cruise would be handy. Able to go back to your room and sit / rest on the veranda and still see the canal slide by.

on our last transit, we spent the first half (up hill) of the cruise on deck 10, watching the workings of the locks and getting the views from up on high. The second half (going down) we spent on deck 4 aft, near the doors so we could access either side of the ship easily.

 

[ggfred32]

We have this cruise booked,and our TA told me that Disney releases rooms at 9pm each night that have been on hold for TA's in the day and the deposit hasn't been put down on them. I don't know what time zone that would be, but I saw that yesterday there were no verandah rooms, and today there were, and we snagged one from our Cat 9a. She said it will do this all the way up to cruise time, so just keep checking. You can always book something at a lower category and then upgrade as it becomes available.

 

[jjje]

I'm on that cruise and I just checked to see if I could modify my reservation to get a verandah room and it looks like there are several different categories of them available. Good luck!

 

[princessmommyx3]

I'm on that cruise and I just checked to see if I could modify my reservation to get a verandah room and it looks like there are several different categories of them available. Good luck!

Yes, I saw that today there are some available even though there were not any yesterday. Weird. But, the price jumped about $400 per person from the prices that were showing a few days ago. I guess I will have to keep my fingers crossed that there will still be one available when I get on board Saturday.

 

[jjje]

I check the prices nearly every day and they seem to bump up and down rather frequently. Fingers crossed it works out for you.

 

[ravensilverlight]

The inventory fluctuated nearly every day for the WBPC last May. It drove everyone nuts, especially those of us waiting for gty assignments. In the end, we sailed with empty rooms in every category. The ship was only about 2/3 full, as I recall. Plus there was a different mix of cruisers. We had less than 250 kids on board! (Grownup time in the kids clubs! Woohoo!)

We're currently holding out for the gty rates to see the canal again next year. Best cruise we've ever had! Enjoy!

 

[princessmommyx3]

The inventory fluctuated nearly every day for the WBPC last May. It drove everyone nuts, especially those of us waiting for gty assignments. In the end, we sailed with empty rooms in every category. The ship was only about 2/3 full, as I recall. Plus there was a different mix of cruisers. We had less than 250 kids on board! (Grownup time in the kids clubs! Woohoo!)

We're currently holding out for the gty rates to see the canal again next year. Best cruise we've ever had! Enjoy!

Thanks for the info. Even though it seems strange, I guess it is normal after all! I really hope to be on this cruise. We have 3 kids who will be 4, 8 & 9 at that time but we homeschool so don't have to worry about the longer cruises and school schedules. I had heard about the very small number of kids on these cruises and this was one of the things I am really excited about. After doing a kids sail free earlier this year (which didn't help us any because we were in a Cat T and the discount doesn't apply to those) I am excited for my kids to experience a much less crowded (in terms of kids, at least) ship where they can swim whenever they want and enjoy the club more. They had a great time, but there were SO many kids that the pools were "kid soup" almost all of the times and the clubs were just packed! I have 3 daughters who are on the shy/reserved side so that was a little intimidating for them.

Thanks again!

 

[davidls]

I have had my eye on the Sep 2014 Panama Canal sailing for a while now and was planning on booking it while on board next week. I noticed today that EVERY verandah room is sold out. Does this seem strange to anyone else, and does anyone have a possible explanation for it? The May 2014 Panama Canal still has almost every room category available, and I have heard (though not sure if it is true) that the Panama Canal sailing are almost never full. This just seems really strange to me and I am also disappointed as I really wanted a verandah to watch us pass through the canal.

When you do book this cruise be sure to check out our 2014 Panama Canal cruise thread. Like jjje, I too am booked on this cruise. We have a fun group there, and you can join in and help us count down until we sail!!!

 

[moosecrouse]

Couldnt the OP make the reservation to insure the verandah & then reshop the cruise onboard for the 10% discount &OBC?

 

[princessmommyx3]

Couldnt the OP make the reservation to insure the verandah & then reshop the cruise onboard for the 10% discount &OBC?

Yes, that was my original plan but when I talked to my TA about it she said that I would not be able to cancel the first reservation on the ship, that I would have to wait and cancel it when I got back. And she said that there was no guarantee that the room would be returned to inventory once I cancelled it (not sure why). So, I could not book the exact same room on board with the discount. I will probably just book another category on board (if there are no Cat 4s available) and then just watch and hopefully one would eventually pop up and I could transfer the reservation. I'm not sure if that is possible since there are 5 of us and I would need to book 2 room at first and then transfer 2 rooms to one room but I will just ask on board.

I realize I might not have this problem if I was not using a TA but the DU on board credit will be $400-$500 and I just cannot turn that down.

 

[neg58]

The inventory fluctuated nearly every day for the WBPC last May. It drove everyone nuts, especially those of us waiting for gty assignments. In the end, we sailed with empty rooms in every category. The ship was only about 2/3 full, as I recall. Plus there was a different mix of cruisers. We had less than 250 kids on board! (Grownup time in the kids clubs! Woohoo!)

We're currently holding out for the gty rates to see the canal again next year. Best cruise we've ever had! Enjoy!

I don't think that is correct. There were no verandah rooms available at all at sailing. There were a few, even a few suites, but they were quickly gone at check in/upgrades. In fact, one guy who I think was a TA took the last 7 verandas and there was a collective sigh at the supervisor's desk line. They only had deck 2 for ocean view, and I think there might have been some inside cabins available.

Just because the ship is only 2/3 full doesn't mean there are 1/3 of the cabins available. There weren't many children, but usually children are the 3rd or 4th travelers in a cabin.


Nancy

 

[ravensilverlight]

I don't think that is correct. There were no verandah rooms available at all at sailing. There were a few, even a few suites, but they were quickly gone at check in/upgrades. In fact, one guy who I think was a TA took the last 7 verandas and there was a collective sigh at the supervisor's desk line. They only had deck 2 for ocean view, and I think there might have been some inside cabins available.

Just because the ship is only 2/3 full doesn't mean there are 1/3 of the cabins available. There weren't many children, but usually children are the 3rd or 4th travelers in a cabin.

Nancy

I should have been more specific...I know on the day of sailing there were rooms in every category, even concierge. Many, if not all, were taken with upgrades at the port-I know quite a few of those who scored great deals! I actually saw the post on fb from the first person in line to upgrade when I was at the airport and was completely jealous because I knew they'd be long gone by the time I got there. :'( But that was the work schedule...sigh