Question re booking with placeholder

[Cinderella94]

We are planning to book our second cruise on Thursday. We want the December 5 2026 sailing on the Destiny, with the two stops at Castaway and one at Lighthouse. We need two adjoining rooms (and we’d really like to book verandahs).

We have a placeholder from our first cruise, but we cannot use it online because the placeholder is for two rooms. This means we need to call to book. We’ve never called to book before, and I know wait times will be long. Should we be worried about all available rooms that we want selling out while we are on hold? Is it possible/wise to book online without our placeholder, wait a number of days until the rush of phone calls has died down, and then call and ask the CM to cancel and rebook using the placeholder? Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[SnowWhite2]

I’m confused. You need to book two verandah rooms. You have a placeholder for two rooms. Why can’t you use it on line? I thought the system was set up to let you use the placeholders on line now. I’ve never had placeholders with this new system. Any light you can shed on the process is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Cinderella94]

I’m confused. You need to book two verandah rooms. You have a placeholder for two rooms. Why can’t you use it on line? I thought the system was set up to let you use the placeholders on line now. I’ve never had placeholders with this new system. Any light you can shed on the process is appreciated.

Thanks!

You can only book with a placeholder online if the placeholder is for one room. I see our placeholder in our account, but there is no “modify” button and it says I need to call to make changes. It’s really annoying.

 

[Flossbolna]

Considering the ship being made up of about 80% (or more) verandah rooms I think your chances are very good to get what you want even with calling. Even if you did book The staterooms online, it’s not guaranteed that the CM will be able to grab these exact rooms when cancelling that booking and booking your placeholder. If younger picky about a specific room category however, your strategy might work.

Early December is traditionally not a time when cruises sell out quickly, often these cruises get discounted, but new ship and three island stops might make it more attractive.

I think since most people can book online, wait times shouldn‘t be too outrageous on Silver booking day.

 

[Mommb]

The chance of all adjoining veranda rooms being booked 15 months in advance of early December 2026 is slim. Remember, if you are waiting on hold, so is everyone else who calls in. If you want connected and not just adjoining rooms (that is, rooms with a connecting door, not just next to each other) that will be slightly more likely to be unavailable, but should still be no problem this far in advance during the school year.

You can check room availablility online while you are on hold. In the unlikely event you see very few rooms still available, you could snag them and try rebooking with the placeholders later. As Flossbolna said, there is a risk that the exact rooms you book will not be available for rebooking.

Even if all pairs of veranda rooms do fill, there is a significant chance some will be cancelled over the next few days, so you could call in next week to book.

 

[Cinderella94]

The chance of all adjoining veranda rooms being booked 15 months in advance of early December 2026 is slim. Remember, if you are waiting on hold, so is everyone else who calls in. If you want connected and not just adjoining rooms (that is, rooms with a connecting door, not just next to each other) that will be slightly more likely to be unavailable, but should still be no problem this far in advance during the school year.

You can check room availablility online while you are on hold. In the unlikely event you see very few rooms still available, you could snag them and try rebooking with the placeholders later. As Flossbolna said, there is a risk that the exact rooms you book will not be available for rebooking.

Even if all pairs of veranda rooms do fill, there is a significant chance some will be cancelled over the next few days, so you could call in next week to book.

Oops, thank you for pointing that out - I did mean connecting rooms! But this is all very helpful, thank you all!!