I am trying to book a pre-cruise seven-night trip at the Rome Marriott in October 2009. Because of the way Marriott releases bookings, I could only book the first three nights at first. The following week, when more nights were released, I attempted to book the full week. The first night was only available as an "Anytime" booking, so I reserved the final four nights to make the full week. (I also booked a six-night stay if this doesn't work, but I would prefer to stay the entire week.)

I called Marriott to combine the two reservations, to get a seven-night stay for 150,000 points. The 3 and 4-night separate reservations take a total of 200,000 points. Marriott said they cannot do this because there are only Anytime points available for some of the nights, and I would have to keep it as two separate reservations.

Does anyone know, if I were to cancel both reservations and immediately try to reserve it as a seven-night, if the standard nights would possibly be available online? I know someone else may book it before I complete the process, but once a booking is released is it available immediately?

Thanks for any help you can give me.