Random last minute cancellations question

[badinnplaid]

I have a random question. We've been looking at going on a sailing in late September but had not booked yet as we were waiting to confirm we'd be able to take off work. We were hoping to use a placeholder cruise we have that would give us the 10% off, and we were planning to book an oceanview room, but since we first started looking, the category we were hoping to book is no longer available and all that's available are guarantees or a higher category we don't really want to pay for.

So my question is if there are last-minute cancellations in the category we were previously looking at, would those go back into the inventory or would they just keep those for guarantee assignments? Basically we're trying to make the call on whether to just book the guarantee room and forgo the 10% discount, or wait to see if the lower category rooms pop up again and book with the discount (which based on previous pricing would be saving us several hundred dollars under the guarantee).

Any insights are appreciated!

 

[lanejudy]

So my question is if there are last-minute cancellations in the category we were previously looking at, would those go back into the inventory or would they just keep those for guarantee assignments?

Maybe. It really all depends on how DCL wants to handle it.

But when you say a "guarantee" room -- do you mean a restricted-fare guarantee, what is often referred to as "OGT" (oceanview guarantee)? Or a regular fare where you select a specific category but allow DCL to assign the stateroom? I ask because the former likely is a greater discount than your placeholder (though it comes with restrictions), and the latter should allow you to use your placeholder even though you don't select the stateroom.

Keep in mind that cruise pricing is dynamic, and the more staterooms are booked the higher the fare goes. So I would NOT expect any inventory returned through cancellation to have the prior pricing.

 

[badinnplaid]

Maybe. It really all depends on how DCL wants to handle it.

But when you say a "guarantee" room -- do you mean a restricted-fare guarantee, what is often referred to as "OGT" (oceanview guarantee)? Or a regular fare where you select a specific category but allow DCL to assign the stateroom? I ask because the former likely is a greater discount than your placeholder (though it comes with restrictions), and the latter should allow you to use your placeholder even though you don't select the stateroom.

Keep in mind that cruise pricing is dynamic, and the more staterooms are booked the higher the fare goes. So I would NOT expect any inventory returned through cancellation to have the prior pricing.

Huh--interesting. I think it's the latter, but I'm not sure how to confirm. It doesn't say restricted-fare specifically--it just lists several categories all labeled "Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom - Guaranteed."

I assumed I couldn't use the placeholder for it, but maybe that's not the case? The room we were looking at (when we could select the stateroom) was priced almost identically to these "Guaranteed" ones. So calculating the 10% off of it, it seemed like a no brainer to go that route since we'd at least be able to pick the room (even though there were only like 2 available--they seemed like okay locations). But if I can pretty much get the same rate and just let them choose the room, that would work fine for us.

 

[auntlynne]

This would be a VGT (V for Verandah; they also offer IGT and OGT - interior and oceanview). Pay entire fare on booking. No changes allowed.



This is a GTY - Guaranteed cabin in the category you select (or better). Standard payment and cancellation fees apply.