Cruise availability: How to spot sold-out cruises easily (2024)

Should I book my cruise early or late in 2020? Is the Carnival Liberty cruise ship still available? When to book a cruise to Mexico? Is it already too late to book a 3-day cruise? These are common cruise questions that often stay unanswered.

Cruise availability: How to spot sold-out cruises easily (1)

To help you find the best cruise opportunities and understand when is the right time to book a cruise, we rely on data. We analyzed over 40 000 US cruises in the past years to help answer your questions and built a real-time cruise availability feature to save your time, money and energy during your cruise search.

  1. Our real-time cruise availability feature: What is it and how does it work?
  2. When will your cruise be sold-out? Our key findings
  3. How to profit from Cruisewatch cruise vacancy feature

Our real-time cruise availability feature: What is it and how does it work?

Our real time cruise availability feature or cruise vacancy prediction feature is the first and only service out there that helps you check if your preferred cruise is and will remain available in the next few weeks. In other words, if you are worried about booking your cruise too late or too early, this is the perfect service for you as it gives you recommendations about the right time to book your cruise. But how does it work, you wonder?

This added feature is based on the analysis of a massive data pool collected over the years, allowing our Artificial Intelligence to use machine and deep learning to not only process thousands of cruise deals, ships, and cabins daily, but also predict their sell-out probability very accurately and in real time.

By combining the power of big data, AI and machine learning, we made our model predict which cruise ships, sailings and cabin types are already very likely to sell out within the next 10 weeks! So get a pen and paper, save your notes, your time and your money.

When will your cruise be sold-out? Our key findings

When it comes to sailing, one thing is to findthe best cruise destination, so you can explore the most beautiful places that the world has to offer. But to find your dream cruise, you also need to take into account whatthe best cruise lines and cruise ships out there have to offer.

Once you have completed that search, it is now time to book. And wouldn't life be so much easier if you knew exactly the best time to book your cruise? To guide you, here is a ranking predicting the current top destinations, cruise lines, cruise ships and cabin types that are soon to be sold-out, based on data from the past 3 months.

Cruise destinations availability prediction

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It is no surprise that the most attractive cruise destinations are booked very fast. According to our results, about 50% of all cruises that are likely to be sold out are sailing to... the Caribbean. This region is very popular, and right behind it are cruises to the Orient, to South America, and to the Mediterranean Sea.

If you are worried about missing out, you can check out the best cruise deals to the Caribbean, the Orient, South Americaand the Mediterranean Sea that are still available for booking.

Cruise lines and cruise ships availability prediction

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World brands like MSC Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines or Royal Caribbean are among the cruise lines that will sell out in the upcoming weeks.

Accordingly, MSC Grandiosa, Carnival Imagination or Pride of America are in the top ten of ships with sailings at cabin level that will likely sell out within the next weeks.
As a consequence, not only are these cruise lines and ships popular, many of them come out with their best deals when itineraries first go on sale, and then raise their prices as the ships sell out. Make sure to check their terms and conditions before booking too.

But you don't have to endure that when trying to aboard your preferred ship. Check out MSC Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines or Princess Cruises and ships that are still available for booking.

Cabin type availability prediction

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Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not always the suites that sell out in advance: Interior cabins have the highest probability of being sold out, followed closely by suites and finally with less probability, ocean view, and balcony.

CRUISE VACANCY PREDICTION

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How to profit from Cruisewatch cruise vacancy feature

We built this feature to help you optimize your cruise search. Combined with our AI-based price prediction service, use it to gain more control in making informed decisions and find the perfect sailing for your next cruise vacation. Here is how to use it in a few simple steps :

  1. Start your cruise search in the “find a cruise” tab

  2. Set up a price alert to get the best cruise deals on your preferred cruise by touching the alert bell.

  3. When opening the details of your cruise, scroll down to see the price details. This gives you information about price fluctuation history, allowing you to determine when to book at the best price. Below the price details you can find the vacancy prediction feature which automatically gives you real-time recommendations about your booking.

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You are now prepared to set sail, cruiser! Share this tip with other cruise enthusiasts by clicking the social media buttons at the top of the page. For more tips about planning your next cruise check out the below recommendations.

Published on February 18, 2020.

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Cruise availability: How to spot sold-out cruises easily (2024)

FAQs

Cruise availability: How to spot sold-out cruises easily? ›

Before your cruise departs, you can head online and recreate your booking. This will tell you whether certain cabin categories are sold out, as well as a rough estimate of how many rooms are available within each.

How to find out if a cruise is sold out? ›

In such situations, SoldOutShips.com is very helpful. At any given time, this online service lists dozens of cruise sailings that appear to be sold out, giving travelers the opportunity to find cabins no one else has. Consumers simply review the listings, and then request a custom quote on any sailing.

Do cruise ships usually sell out? ›

Of course, not every cruise will sell out, nor are they all that big. As a rule of thumb, travelers should expect full ships during summer months and popular holiday and school break travel periods.

How to find out what cabins are available on a cruise? ›

Just click the button Availability on any of the cruise description pages and you will immediately see the available categories on your selected cruise from the cruise line reservation system. With another click, the available cabins will even be displayed in the deck plan!

Do cruise ships restock at every port? ›

They have purveyors at every port they call on. These are ship chandlers. They can restock as needed and receive fresh product. Every cruise line has contracts with purveyors and can restock anything they may need.

How many days out can you book a cruise? ›

Generally speaking, you can book most cruises 18-24 months in advance. Cruise lines will release itineraries through a certain date a few times per year; the exact date can vary by destination.

Do cruises go on sale often? ›

Beyond holiday periods such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Labor Day when there may be some flash sales, January and February are particularly good times to book a cruise, as the first two months of the year are considered “wave season” in the cruising industry.

How do cruise ships fill up unsold cabins? ›

In some cases, cruise lines may even rent out the cabins to other passengers who are looking for an upgrade or additional space. Cruise lines also often partner with travel agencies and tour operators in order to fill their unsold cabins with last-minute travelers looking for a great deal on a vacation package.

What happens to unsold cabins on cruise ships? ›

Secondly, the remaining unsold cabins will be then given to travel agencies or internet agencies to sell because they always have the ability to move the capacity. There might be flash sales, of which you can deduce that the cruise ship is trying to see unsold cabins.

How far ahead should you book a cruise? ›

If your schedule allows, book at least six to 12 months in advance for a trip in May or September, when kids are in school, or outside of the holiday season. The peak months of June, July, and August, and late November and late December are usually more expensive.

What is the best room to stay in on a cruise ship? ›

If you're looking for extra space, a suite is one of the best rooms on a cruise ship to book. In suites, you'll find that the sleeping and living spaces are separated. Some suites even have multiple bedrooms, making them ideal for families or groups of friends.

Do cruise lines put rooms on sale closer to the sail date? ›

No cruise line in the world offers discounts on a cabin AFTER the departure date. The ship has already DEPARTED…as in, it's sailing away, it's already at sea. Now, it's certainly common for a cruise line to offer discounts on unsold cabins just PRIOR to departure.

What side of cruise ship do you want to be on? ›

To catch sunsets, you'll want to be on the port side on northbound cruises and starboard on southbound cruises. If seeing the sunset from your cruise is a priority, ensure that your dinner time doesn't conflict with the sunset. Cruise operators will often publish the sunrise and sunset times along your route.

Are cruise ships always fully booked? ›

Of course, however, some sailings do not get completely booked. And even if they are, unfortunately, last-minute cancellations do happen. Every cruise line, whether it's Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or Disney, aims to sell out every cabin they can, as they do not make any money if the cabin is completely empty.

Do cruise ships usually fill up? ›

With a goal of more than 100 percent occupancy on every sailing (meaning the number of passengers onboard is equal to or higher than the double-occupancy capacity of the ship), cruise lines have a variety of tactics for filling empty cabins -- most of which can result in deep savings for cruisers in the know.

Are cruise ships back to full capacity now? ›

As the CDC eliminates its COVID-related cruising requirements, several companies—including Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Virgin Voyages—have dropped their pandemic-era capacity restrictions.

Can you check the status of a cruise? ›

Websites such as CruiseMapper, Marine Vessel, Cruising Earth and ShipCruises offer live ship location tracking, speed, position, itinerary information and even the weather conditions of the ship's route.

How do I find out how many cruises I have on Carnival? ›

To see the number of cruise days (points) you currently have on your VIFP profile, simply log into your profile, located at https://www.carnival.com/BookedGuest. Once logged in, click on 'Your Name' to load your VIFP profile and then click on 'My Cruises'.

How do you know if a cruise is all-inclusive? ›

In most cases, all inclusive cruise packages are ones that allow you to pay one price for the accommodations, meals, most non-alcoholic beverages. It also covers onboard entertainment as well as taxes and port fees. Depending on how you booked your cruise, it may also include airfare and hotel reservations.

Are all cruises full board? ›

While some cruise lines advertise their packages as all-inclusive, most cruises are not truly all-inclusive holidays. Most cruise fares cover the basics, such as meals and accommodations, but guests may have to pay extra for certain activities, drinks, and dining options.

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