Stateroom Availability as an Indicator

[gotomu212]

Although there are lots of diehard fans here (myself included) I was wondering if others were still booking/keeping September/October reservations and was playing around on Disneys site. The random cruises I picked had TONS of availability. One cruise in September still had at least 80% of their veranda rooms to book (you have to play detective a little since rooms of different categories are next to each other and may not show available under one category but pop up when you pick the next). I didnt look at any past PIF- and there could be people with GTY that are unaccounted for, but the picture I saw showed low demand.

If you’re someone wondering if you cruise may go forward in the near future, a look at availability might provide some clues (or might now who knows but it’s interesting while trying to pass the time)

 

[T & R]

had at least 80% of their veranda rooms to book

That’s not a good sign

 

[serene56]

I am looking at end of August 2021 and see 4 cabins available

 

[Barbydoll8]

I think it depends on the ship/cruise. I'm booked on the Fantasy 3rd week in August w/ 2 days at Castaway Cay. I did this search just a few weeks ago and there weren't a whole lot of open rooms. My PIF date for this cruise is 6/10. I'm paid and plan on still going.

 

[LunaMini]

We have a non refundable cruise booked for 18th September and are hopeful to cruise (our first time) but we also understand that there is a good chance we will be cancelled.
If it‘s sailing and we can get there (we’re in the UK) we’ll be there. I truly hope we don’t lose all our money though...

 

[gotomu212]

I am looking at end of August 2021 and see 4 cabins available

I consider the numbers for 2021 as wild guesses right now and very soft since there’s zero risk for most people to hold on to their reservations as they can cancel by PIF and get a full refund. That’s always been hard with DCL, especially on the unique cruises that sometimes went from almost sold out to OGT/VGT within weeks of PIF.

 

[gotomu212]

I think it depends on the ship/cruise. I'm booked on the Fantasy 3rd week in August w/ 2 days at Castaway Cay. I did this search just a few weeks ago and there weren't a whole lot of open rooms. My PIF date for this cruise is 6/10. I'm paid and plan on still going.

Is it the Aug 25th one? I just looked at that one and there are 216 verandah cabins showing available (weirdly I kept getting 8 results on every deck for mid/forward/aft- like 22 different times. For example aft delux showed 8 available on every deck 5-10 as did mid and mid and aft for regular veradahs) which makes me think that’s all they were showing max 8 returns per deck section. There are 901 verandah staterooms on the fantasy and I didnt include concierage. So there’s a lot of availability right now (and maybe hey plan to sail with 50% capacity), but that would be considered a ghost ship under normal circumstances.

 

[serene56]

Is it the Aug 25th one? I just looked at that one and there are 216 verandah cabins showing available (weirdly I kept getting 8 results on every deck for mid/forward/aft- like 22 different times. For example aft delux showed 8 available on every deck 5-10 as did mid and mid and aft for regular veradahs) which makes me think that’s all they were showing max 8 returns per deck section. There are 901 verandah staterooms on the fantasy and I didnt include concierage. So there’s a lot of availability right now (and maybe hey plan to sail with 50% capacity), but that would be considered a ghost ship under normal circumstances.

Where do you see available cabins? I’m looking for 2021 and it’s only giving me options of two cabins. Disney site. But when I go to Expedia it gives me a ton

 

[mmackeymouse]

Is it the Aug 25th one? I just looked at that one and there are 216 verandah cabins showing available (weirdly I kept getting 8 results on every deck for mid/forward/aft- like 22 different times. For example aft delux showed 8 available on every deck 5-10 as did mid and mid and aft for regular veradahs) which makes me think that’s all they were showing max 8 returns per deck section. There are 901 verandah staterooms on the fantasy and I didnt include concierage. So there’s a lot of availability right now (and maybe hey plan to sail with 50% capacity), but that would be considered a ghost ship under normal circumstances.

Same I got a ton of 8s.

Not sure how many GTY accounts for. Got 286 staterooms open on my cruise, but I am sure GTY counts for quite a bit.

 

[gotomu212]

Where do you see available cabins? I’m looking for 2021 and it’s only giving me options of two cabins. Disney site. But when I go to Expedia it gives me a ton

Im talking about 2020 not 2021 in my post, but which dates and ship were you looking for? I’m happy to help and see tons of openings for Aug 2021 too On Disney’s reservation site. What type of stateroom were you looking at (interior, ocean view, verandah)?

 

[Barbydoll8]

Is it the Aug 25th one? I just looked at that one and there are 216 verandah cabins showing available (weirdly I kept getting 8 results on every deck for mid/forward/aft- like 22 different times. For example aft delux showed 8 available on every deck 5-10 as did mid and mid and aft for regular veradahs) which makes me think that’s all they were showing max 8 returns per deck section. There are 901 verandah staterooms on the fantasy and I didnt include concierage. So there’s a lot of availability right now (and maybe hey plan to sail with 50% capacity), but that would be considered a ghost ship under normal circumstances.

Yep and I can't say I'm not unhappy about a "ghost ship" I'm sure many people cancelled since I searched a few weeks ago with the PIF date approaching. We'll see if it cancels. If it does, well then we'll use the credit towards something else. I have a dummy cruise booked from a Jan 2020 sailing I could use it on.

 

[BritneyBelle]

We have a non refundable cruise booked for 18th September and are hopeful to cruise (our first time) but we also understand that there is a good chance we will be cancelled.
If it‘s sailing and we can get there (we’re in the UK) we’ll be there. I truly hope we don’t lose all our money though...

Based on past experience I would say not to worry about loosing your money. Disney has been great with guests who can’t get there due to travel restrictions, and if it gets cancelled they’ll refund you. Not the best outcome but at least you don’t need to worry about the financial side of it

 

[LunaMini]

Based on past experience I would say not to worry about loosing your money. Disney has been great with guests who can’t get there due to travel restrictions, and if it gets cancelled they’ll refund you. Not the best outcome but at least you don’t need to worry about the financial side of it

Thanks, that’s interesting. We upgraded to concierge when we lost 2 Paris trips for special occasions and it was pointed out it was non refundable (we’re now past PIF) so I just assumed that unless Disney cancel that we would likely be out of pocket by over £3000. I’d be happy with a move to another cruise to be fair, rather than a refund

 

[BritneyBelle]

Thanks, that’s interesting. We upgraded to concierge when we lost 2 Paris trips for special occasions and it was pointed out it was non refundable (we’re now past PIF) so I just assumed that unless Disney cancel that we would likely be out of pocket by over £3000. I’d be happy with a move to another cruise to be fair, rather than a refund

If you can’t go because of travel restrictions, and not you deciding you’re not comfortable/don’t want to Disney should let you move it to a new sailing no problem. And, just saying, if the first cast member you talk to won’t let you try calling back. They’re notorious for “if you don’t like the answer call back and you’ll get a different one.”

 

[LunaMini]

If you can’t go because of travel restrictions, and not you deciding you’re not comfortable/don’t want to Disney should let you move it to a new sailing no problem. And, just saying, if the first cast member you talk to won’t let you try calling back. They’re notorious for “if you don’t like the answer call back and you’ll get a different one.”

Thank you so much! If we can get there and it’s sailing we’ll be there!

 

[gotomu212]

Yep and I can't say I'm not unhappy about a "ghost ship" I'm sure many people cancelled since I searched a few weeks ago with the PIF date approaching. We'll see if it cancels. If it does, well then we'll use the credit towards something else. I have a dummy cruise booked from a Jan 2020 sailing I could use it on.

That’s interesting though that a few weeks ago you were showing little availability and now there’s tons. That kind of supports my theory that in the near term a lot of these reservations are extremely soft and people are cancelling last minute. That makes it so much harder for Disney to plan I’m sure.

 

[MomOTwins]

We have had several new people join our social media cruise for our Aug 14 cruise on the Dream in the past couple weeks--I expect because the discount 25% off VGT rates are pretty awesome (I myself am paying sticker price, but oh well). Might be a sign they are trying to generate enough interest to get going in August but I don't want to get my hopes up.

 

[misssue23]

We have had several new people join our social media cruise for our Aug 14 cruise on the Dream in the past couple weeks--I expect because the discount 25% off VGT rates are pretty awesome (I myself am paying sticker price, but oh well). Might be a sign they are trying to generate enough interest to get going in August but I don't want to get my hopes up.

My family is on that cruise... We actually canceled our reservation and booked an OGT rate because it was $600 cheaper than the rate that we had with our placeholder. I just checked the same cruise today and I didn't see any more restricted rates, only the standard GTY.

 

[MomOTwins]

My family is on that cruise... We actually canceled our reservation and booked an OGT rate because it was $600 cheaper than the rate that we had with our placeholder. I just checked the same cruise today and I didn't see any more restricted rates, only the standard GTY.

Hi fellow cruiser! Hope we get to sail. I never actually searched for the discount for myself for it because we are a family of 5 so never can use the *GT rates but the Dis discount listing still show it available for our cruise so maybe they pulled the discount today or could be it is only available now for certain party sizes. If they pulled the discount, I hope it is because they have sold enough rooms and not because they are planning to cancel

 

[iannovich]

weirdly I kept getting 8 results on every deck for mid/forward/aft- like 22 different times... which makes me think that’s all they were showing max 8 returns per deck section.

I think you're right about the DCL site setting a limit as to how many cabins they return in the search. I never saw more than 8 in any category when I was looking at different sailings across various dates. From that, I decided that when it returned less than 8, I could trust the number to reflect the true number of remaining cabins for that deck/category. NCL does the same thing, (displaying 15 max if I recall). I have a trick for figuring out the true number with them (to gauge my chances of scoring a cheaper upgrade through their bidding system), but the trick doesn't work with DCL, unfortunately.

I did notice that most of the Restricted availability is gone now for the specials. In fact while we were considering a specific date it disappeared, so we quickly booked it on the next sailing. Today that one is gone too.

Also the price of the remaining cabins seems to have increased. Or, more likely, since the restricted rate cabins are gone, we're now seeing the 'unrestricted' rates." I'm hoping that seeing the Restricted cabins gone and the higher rate on the remaining cabins is a good sign that they're getting the traction that they're looking for, and selling those cabins. I'll check back from time to time and see if those 8's turn into lower numbers...