So How Many Rooms Do You Think Are on Hold for Hawaii?

[southerngirl528]

Aloha all!

So..... first off I am very happy I got my Hawaii 10 nt. booked first thing yesterday! Second, I looked about an hour ago and the availability is SCARCE. Very surprisingly so. I know the previous Hawaii sailings in 2012 and 2015 did not sell out to the point there were some good deals online closer to sail dates and I heard there were great CM rates. So I'm surprised just HOW booked the 10 night is right now on Day 2!

For you experts, how many rooms do you think are on hold by "tire-kickers", that will come back into inventory over the next couple of days or so? Does anyone recall if the opening days for the previous Hawaii sailings were this super charged?? Just hoping all those folks that can't yet book but WANT to, will have decent inventory to choose from.

 

[lorimay]

I think a bunch will be released, but only time will tell.

I emailed yesterday about booking a 6A with a whitewall instead of plexiglass.
I very nice woman called me back today and moved us up to a 5C, but its a GTY. So rooms are very limited.
I am happy with a GTY, as long as I can sit on the verandah and see the ocean through the glass.

 

[southerngirl528]

I think a bunch will be released, but only time will tell.

I emailed yesterday about booking a 6A with a whitewall instead of plexiglass.
I very nice woman called me back today and moved us up to a 5C, but its a GTY. So rooms are very limited.
I am happy with a GTY, as long as I can sit on the verandah and see the ocean through the glass.

Happy you got a timely response to your email! And happy you're all booked! Yay!!! It surely will be most interesting to see how many rooms get tossed back into inventory.

For me, I had enough interest to just BOOK, put down the deposit (thankfully less than normal deposit since I was booking my OBB! ). I would think there are those like you & me that really, really WANT to go that will slap down the bucks to secure the Hawaii cruise, and because it's SO far out, there's plenty of time to cancel w/o penalty. I just feel badly for those that cannot yet book but want to......

 

[Dug720]

There could be some on hold, but given how people have been clamoring for this route and the prices were not absolutely ridiculous, I'm guessing that less were only holds than on a normal release.

 

[gilsan]

Aloha all!

So..... first off I am very happy I got my Hawaii 10 nt. booked first thing yesterday! Second, I looked about an hour ago and the availability is SCARCE. Very surprisingly so. I know the previous Hawaii sailings in 2012 and 2015 did not sell out to the point there were some good deals online closer to sail dates and I heard there were great CM rates. So I'm surprised just HOW booked the 10 night is right now on Day 2!

For you experts, how many rooms do you think are on hold by "tire-kickers", that will come back into inventory over the next couple of days or so? Does anyone recall if the opening days for the previous Hawaii sailings were this super charged?? Just hoping all those folks that can't yet book but WANT to, will have decent inventory to choose from.

They seem to have opened up a bunch of categories as GTY's. I am sure DCL is counting on a number of people to change their minds over the next 19 months. I wish DCL did their releases differently it creates such a feeding frenzy. People are booking in case they want to go to get the best price because if you wait the price could have doubled.

 

[lorimay]

There could be some on hold, but given how people have been clamoring for this route and the prices were not absolutely ridiculous, I'm guessing that less were only holds than on a normal release.

Yes, the prices were not too bad at all.
We paid $5,900 in 2015 for a 5B without a OBB and just a few hundred more this time, plus the OBB discount.

 

[southerngirl528]

I wish DCL did their releases differently it creates such a feeding frenzy. People are booking in case they want to go to get the best price because if you wait the price could have doubled.

For the most part, I surely agree with you, especially on the "book now for best price" thing. I'm not sure how DCL could release new dates very differently. I know if it was only ONE release date it would truly be utter chaos. I can only imagine the web server crashing with the horrendous number of folks trying to book. I do think parsing it out the way they do now certainly gives a BIG nod to their loyalty program, giving those that have cruised the most the biggest perk in booking. And that seems fair to me. There probably is a better way, I just don't know what it would be. And I KNOW I would hate for it to be a lottery like DVC did for the turn of the millennium. That was awful.

 

[fitnessmouse]

I know the first Hawaii cruise in 2012 was ‘sold out’ in the first day(s). Then they announced the later one for fall and a lot of people jumped ship and in the end DCL had trouble filling the ship

 

[gilsan]

For the most part, I surely agree with you, especially on the "book now for best price" thing. I'm not sure how DCL could release new dates very differently. I know if it was only ONE release date it would truly be utter chaos. I can only imagine the web server crashing with the horrendous number of folks trying to book. I do think parsing it out the way they do now certainly gives a BIG nod to their loyalty program, giving those that have cruised the most the biggest perk in booking. And that seems fair to me. There probably is a better way, I just don't know what it would be. And I KNOW I would hate for it to be a lottery like DVC did for the turn of the millennium. That was awful.

I agree about the levels especially since I am gold it is really the best perk until you reach platinum, but I wish there wasn't the feeling that if you don't book when they open you are going to pay too much. I would prefer to book 6 months to a year out instead of 19 months out. If the prices were a mid-range at the opening and would go up and down depending on the number of bookings over time would be better. Instead, you know the price at the opening is as low as it will be and it is just going to go up from this date forward, and you end up with a lot of speculative booking.

 

[gilsan]

I know the first Hawaii cruise in 2012 was ‘sold out’ in the first day(s). Then they announced the later one for fall and a lot of people jumped ship and in the end DCL had trouble filling the ship

I think that based on the fact the cruises are close to selling out there is a good chance they will be offered in the fall of 2020 as well.

 

[lklgoodman]

For the most part, I surely agree with you, especially on the "book now for best price" thing. I'm not sure how DCL could release new dates very differently. I know if it was only ONE release date it would truly be utter chaos. I can only imagine the web server crashing with the horrendous number of folks trying to book. I do think parsing it out the way they do now certainly gives a BIG nod to their loyalty program, giving those that have cruised the most the biggest perk in booking. And that seems fair to me. There probably is a better way, I just don't know what it would be. And I KNOW I would hate for it to be a lottery like DVC did for the turn of the millennium. That was awful.

Agree with the above except for one thing that I wish Disney would do differently. I only wished that the website would let everyone see the prices of the cruises before your actual booking date. I really appreciate all the hard work the mods and other posters on here do with putting the prices for all the different cruises, at least that gives me an idea.

 

[lanejudy]

I know the previous Hawaii sailings in 2012 and 2015 did not sell out to the point there were some good deals online closer to sail dates

Actually, if I recall the previous Hawaii sailings DID sell quite well at first. However, whether those were "holds" that released or more likely people just changed their minds and canceled. Booking 12-18 months out many people hope to be able to take a cruise, but as the date draws closer and life gets in the way a 14-15 night cruise sometimes can't fit into people's schedules. Jobs change, home life changes, finances change... and cancellations occur.

To answer the thread-title question -- there are probably quite a few bookings on-hold. However, I don't necessarily expect them to drop and high availability later this week or next. I suspect it will occur more gradually over time.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[FSU Girl]

If a lot are on hold and get released and the sold out cruise turns into a lot of bookings, will that cause the price to decrease? If it does go down would we just call Disney to adjust our cruise to the new price? Or will it not matter if the ship because fully available the price will stay as it is?

 

[MelSpees]

If a lot are on hold and get released and the sold out cruise turns into a lot of bookings, will that cause the price to decrease? If it does go down would we just call Disney to adjust our cruise to the new price? Or will it not matter if the ship because fully available the price will stay as it is?

The price will stay the same and probably go up. The only possibility it would go down is if there is a big drop in reservations so that they're having trouble filling the ship. Then they might do GT rates, but that would be closer to the sail date.

 

[Dug720]

The price will stay the same and probably go up. The only possibility it would go down is if there is a big drop in reservations so that they're having trouble filling the ship. Then they might do GT rates, but that would be closer to the sail date.

And would be new bookings only - so you would have to cancel what you have and book the *GT paying in full at the time of booking. Those are also nonrefundable fares

 

[FSU Girl]

The price will stay the same and probably go up. The only possibility it would go down is if there is a big drop in reservations so that they're having trouble filling the ship. Then they might do GT rates, but that would be closer to the sail date.

Gotcha, thanks!

 

[southerngirl528]

I agree about the levels especially since I am gold it is really the best perk until you reach platinum, but I wish there wasn't the feeling that if you don't book when they open you are going to pay too much. I would prefer to book 6 months to a year out instead of 19 months out. If the prices were a mid-range at the opening and would go up and down depending on the number of bookings over time would be better. Instead, you know the price at the opening is as low as it will be and it is just going to go up from this date forward, and you end up with a lot of speculative booking.

Agree that booking so far out can be a problem for some for certain. For others, it allows us to block our calendars and plan accordingly.

Agree with the above except for one thing that I wish Disney would do differently. I only wished that the website would let everyone see the prices of the cruises before your actual booking date.

THIS. I wonder if they don't because they adjust the prices as rooms sell, even as we saw yesterday. I wouldn't' want THAT job.

Re: not knowing prices ahead, I can tell you I found this particularly stressful as a platinum CC because I had NO idea what the prices would be ahead of time. At ALL. So it was wait, get up early enough to be logged on well before the phones opened and hope for decent prices. The fact that AquaDame started those threads to track requests for prices and quotes for everyone was AWESOME! And those like dcassetta and redsox (and others, too many to mention, but those were the names I personally saw the most) who took LOTS and lots of their own time to check on various categories, party mixes, itineraries and to post the pricing breakdowns, was amazing. Great work to all those that helped so much with that so the gold, silver and newbies could know what the prices were looking like!

 

[southerngirl528]

Actually, if I recall the previous Hawaii sailings DID sell quite well at first. However, whether those were "holds" that released or more likely people just changed their minds and canceled.

That's good to know, lanejudy. This is the very first time I've booked on opening day. Or even remotely close to it for that matter so I have NO idea how it went in the past. Thanks!

It's anecdotal, but I know with the 2012 Hawaii sailings, I talked to a couple while onboard the Sept. 2012 sailing, that said the DH had stalked the website and a few months out found a really great price for an OV on deck 2. I cannot recall the price but remember thinking it was a VERY good price. And I know that CM rates were offered for the Hawaii sailings both in 2012 and in 2015. So it will be interesting to see how it pans out.

 

[disneylove69]

Hawaii is so expensive. I can do a Europen cruise cheaper

 

[gilsan]

Hawaii is so expensive. I can do a Europen cruise cheaper

I thought Hawaii was well priced. We have a 7 night cruise of Northern Europe booked on opening day for gold. We paid $240 more for Europe per adult than we did for the 10 night Hawaii cruise.