How do you tell if a cruise is sold out?

Your best bet is to go to one of the on-line sites (cruise.com is excellent) and try to make a reservation for your cruise. You'll see the availability (or non-availability) of accommodations in every category, stateroom by stateroom. If your sail date isn't listed, it's a sellout.



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It may be a little-known fact, but like airlines, cruise lines sometimes overbook their ships. Cruise lines strive to sail full but know some passengers will always cancel at the last minute. As a result, cruise lines sometimes overbook ships so that they can still sail full if people cancel late in the game.

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Most Cruise Lines' websites provide information regarding the cruise schedule and the availability of cabins. You can also check the dates and capacity of the ship to get a better sense of how full it is.

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Starting the online booking process is your best bet at getting a glimpse of how many cabins are available. Sites like Costco Travel and Best Price Cruises do a good job of showing full deck plans with available cabins, though you'll need to manually check all the categories and decks for available rooms.

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If a cruise is filling up quickly, the company has no reason to release a sale to entice customers. But if a cruise's departure date is fast approaching and the ship is only partially booked, prices will drop, and complimentary add-ons will increase, resulting in some happy customers.

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According to an extensive study that followed price drops in the cruise industry, Thursdays may be the best day to book a cruise. Prices associated with travel are always in flux due to supply and demand, so the prices of a cruise can change daily. Prices could spike on a Wednesday and drop, well, on a Thursday.

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To fill vacant cabins, a cruise line might slash fares. Offers for last-minute cheap cruises come out after everyone who booked in advance makes their final payment, which, depending on the line and itinerary, could be 60 to 90 days before embarkation.

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The only way to figure out how many rooms are left on any particular cruise is to do a mock booking.

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Most cruise lines have port agents stationed in the port area to assist if your ship has left without you. In cases when cruisers are late returning to the vessel, the ship's crew will often remove the passengers' essential items -- passports, cell phones and medication -- from the ship to leave with the port agents.

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Cruising in 2023 is mostly back to normal following the pandemic-induced changes implemented across the industry in 2021 and 2022. Pre-cruise testing has been almost entirely abolished, ships are sailing at full capacity, and new ships are being constructed.

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With its full fleet sailing as of May, Carnival Cruise Line is helping lead the comeback for Carnival Corporation. The brand is expected to operate at 110 percent occupancy for the all-important summer season, according to Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation.

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Most cruise lines are now operating at full capacity, with the age of Covid restrictions in the rear view mirror.

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Cruise travel agencies commonly buy blocks of cabins on the most popular cruises, often at a discount. Even when a ship is listed as sold out, there may still be an agency that has group cabin space available. Finding the agency that has the cabin you want, however, can be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

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Travel advisors Demand for cruising is very high. I would always recommend booking early and working with a travel advisor, he says. While there are lots of new ships, they often fill up quickly since travelers are eager to try out the latest and greatest the cruise lines have to offer.

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Midship staterooms on the lowest passenger deck are the most excellent spot to be on a cruise ship in this instance because you don't feel the vessel sway as much.

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Midship staterooms on the lowest passenger deck are the most excellent spot to be on a cruise ship in this instance because you don't feel the vessel sway as much.

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Many regular cruise rooms, also called cabins or staterooms, can sleep up to four people. All rooms have two twin beds that can be pushed together to form a queen or king; additional sleeping spots might be a pullout sofa or upper bunks that fold down or pull down from the wall or ceiling.

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Book two rooms. No way around it. There are no rooms set up for 6. Once they get to their cabin, they can sleep however they wish but they will have to get two rooms.

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A select few cruise lines do offer standard staterooms that will accommodate five passengers, and this is going to be the most affordable option for families trying to work within a budget. However, as a standard cabin the square footage is, standard, so there will be no additional space for a larger group.

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Prices, for instance, can't be negotiated. While some cruise lines, particularly river cruise lines, may give you a set discount, most ocean lines expect you to sell your group space at the current prevailing rate (though that can include any current promotions).

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While there is not a clear winner across all of the categories, Carnival, MSC and Royal Caribbean offer the lowest prices for those wanting to cruise. These costs were compared solely on the cruise fare, which does include complimentary dining venues as well as most of the onboard activities and entertainment.

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There's No Best Day to Book Cruise lines generally release their lowest fares when itinerary schedules are first published, and then run sales every so often to encourage bookings. As cabins fill up, the prices go up.

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