Our cruise is allegedly overbooked..how does it happen?

We are booked on Silhouette Jan 26 2018..great ship & great itin.Can't wait!

Recently learned there's a small group booked plus a very large group, plus the rest of us.

Cruise is now removed from sale listings, but still appears on our My Cruises list. TAs have been advised the ship is sold out, but no wait list established. We and a roll call member were told it is OVERBOOKED.

X assures it is not chartered and our long standing booked res will be honored and eventually the sailing will return on the listings.

We are wondering how this can happen? (more common these days?)

How will X resolve overbooking? Will they bump non group res and if so how do they decide...and when? We booked early so we paid less.,will they dump us for someone who paid more? Do those who booked a specific stateroom take preference over those with just a category guarantee?

Hope it gets resolved without bumping but in view of recent bump isues...these questions do come to mind..despite assurances we are all OK.....Sort of takes away some of the joyful anticipation.

Since they can't assign two different parties to the same cabin, my guess is that if it really is overbooked, it would be with as of yet unassigned guarantees. If anyone were to be "bumped" they would be the most likely.

That being said, given your sailing isn't until next Jan I can't imagine there is anything to worry about. There will probably be many cancellations before then - especially once final payment time comes around. It will all work itself out.

Mike

This happened to my sister last year on another cruise line. They were booked on an August Alaska cruise, but very close to their cruise they were phoned by the cruise line and offered a very attractive deal to postpone their cruise to two weeks later. It seems that at the last minute some large group wanted to book the cruise my sister was on.

My sister accepted the offer, but in the meantime the weather turned much colder for the later cruise. My brother-in-law said in retrospect he wasn't so sure that the OBC, other perks and cabin upgrade they were given was worth changing their plans and airline tickets, but I don't know what they could have done if the cruise line had no room for them. I also wonder if they could have held out for an even more attractive deal.

Since the cruise is in 2018, I wouldn't think it's really overbooked. Since there are two groups onboard, I'm sure the group TA's are holding rooms. This is in addition to rooms normally held by TA. I find it hard to believe that a ship is overbooked prior to final payment. As there is no way to tell how many cabins will go back into inventory after final payment.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The main problem in my mind is that passengers in the U.S can book multiple cruises, then decide at final payment which they will cancel. The cruise company is ' covering themselves' by taking more bookings than they have capacity for, so that they won't loose out financially.

This scenario wouldn't happen in U.K, as we loose our deposit if we have to cancel.

It's about time all customers were treated equally.

Sorry to say but if this cruise is showing sold out so far in advance it has been chartered - not overbooked. Don't cancel yet but hold out for whatever compensation they will offer you. But I really think you need to plan for not being on this cruise :(

I have had two separate cruises cancelled because the ship was either sold or chartered. On both occasions they showed sold out around a month before the company (RC in both cases) actually admitted it. I realise it's not 'quite' the same company but just advise you to be prepared for the worst - but I hope it works out for the best and it's not the case.

A couple of years ago when we did a TA on the Eclipse a similar thing occurred . We were going to do 2 TA's , one east bound in the spring and a west bound in the fall . That way we could fly one way and cruise the other . But when we went to book the west bound cruise it was full more than a year in advance ! About a month before the fall cruise sail sail it mysteriously became open ! Unfortunately , we had already cancelled the return leg of our flight , thinking that the ship was full .

Last September we had a Med cruise on the Silhouette with a very large group on board and for a while the price kept going up, we had booked a year ahead, then it showed sold out for a while and then after final payment the price dropped dramaticly and we got a "free" upgrade to Aqua. Things are not always what they seem to be....

When groups book, they usually block out a group of rooms for the group for a set period of time. Look again in a few months and I bet you'll see many room available

I would be trying to find out exactly what "groups" there will be.

Some larger groups will can take up pool area, show venues, etc.

Is your ship going to the Caribbean? If so, I found the group booking shown below:

http://www.cruise-eta.com/event/motorcycle-cruise-126-204-2018/

Is your ship going to the Caribbean? If so, I found the group booking shown below:

 

http://www.cruise-eta.com/event/motorcycle-cruise-126-204-2018/

We've been on a motorcycle cruise before ... it was actually a fun group and not all that large. I would say it was 100 or so. But, have also booked a cruise that was chartered and they canceled our reservation about 9 months before the sailing. This might end up being a large group and I would rather not cruise with any one large group. But, as mentioned, hold onto your sailing ... and just have a back up plan in mind. You might get an offer to move to a different sailing. We did and so glad we took it. Some on our roll call were ticked off ... we were happy with our benefits moving to another sailing and had an amazing time. I am aware not everyone is quite that flexible ... glad we were.

We've been on a motorcycle cruise before ... it was actually a fun group and not all that large. I would say it was 100 or so. But, have also booked a cruise that was chartered and they canceled our reservation about 9 months before the sailing. This might end up being a large group and I would rather not cruise with any one large group. But, as mentioned, hold onto your sailing ... and just have a back up plan in mind. You might get an offer to move to a different sailing. We did and so glad we took it. Some on our roll call were ticked off ... we were happy with our benefits moving to another sailing and had an amazing time. I am aware not everyone is quite that flexible ... glad we were.

This is not my cruise, I just found the information and was posting it as an 'FYI."

This is not my cruise, I just found the information and was posting it as an 'FYI."

Oh yes ...I gathered. As much for the OP as for anyone. thanks for taking the time to post!

I've been booked on this cruise for over a year and watched it slowly fill up. It's a great itinerary spanning over 2 weekends. Looking forward to it. Not surprised others feel same way!

Thanks all for your contributions to this inquiry..,

we know abt the cycle group..no problem....

Also located possible charity cruise....

But the Cruise salesperson on board said (not to us) it was large Greek group...no idea if that meant Greek people, greek fratetnity..only a large group..

Really annoying being in the dark,..would not want a frat cruise but love the itin, ship and our price. We will hold our space, hoping large group shrinks....and we are not bumped..tiring quickly of the booking stresses, after many happy yrs of cruising,,,,,

When groups book, they usually block out a group of rooms for the group for a set period of time. Look again in a few months and I bet you'll see many room available

I am also on this cruise, and have had my booking since May/2016. I am also a travel agent, and back in February/2016, any unsold group space being held by travel agents had to be returned to Celebrity. This situation also happened with our 2/20/17 Equinox cruise. It was an 11 night sailing to New Orleans for 2 nights during Mardi Gras. About 3-4 months after its release, it was selling so well, any unsold group inventory needed to be returned to Celebrity. The ship was never listed as not available or sold out, just very high pricing. I think when final payment rolls around, there will be cabins open up. Many people will change their mind just before final payment. Only time will tell.

Our cruise on Equinox disappeared for several months as there was a charter and they weren't sure which weeks they wanted. Three cruises were impacted. Finally the week after our cruise end was selected and our itinerary modified to accommodate the now selected dates. As a result our cruise wasn't heavily sold as no one had been able to see it during the 'decision' period and a few weeks before final payment some great deals came out. If the dates had been our cruise dates then we would have been dumped as the charter wanted the whole ship.

Our cruise on Equinox disappeared for several months as there was a charter and they weren't sure which weeks they wanted. Three cruises were impacted. Finally the week after our cruise end was selected and our itinerary modified to accommodate the now selected dates. As a result our cruise wasn't heavily sold as no one had been able to see it during the 'decision' period and a few weeks before final payment some great deals came out. If the dates had been our cruise dates then we would have been dumped as the charter wanted the whole ship.

The Equinox scenario in the Med was an annual occurrence as Atlantis chartered it most years, prior to her move to the Caribbean. I think our plans were altered 2 or 3 years in a row because of chartering. It looks like Reflection has now taken her place as I recently read a post stating she'd been chartered for next August (2018) and some pax were looking for alternative sailings.

Yes. Our cruise was in August. Clearly popular for charters. And also by Atlantis.

The main problem in my mind is that passengers in the U.S can book multiple cruises, then decide at final payment which they will cancel. The cruise company is ' covering themselves' by taking more bookings than they have capacity for, so that they won't loose out financially.

This scenario wouldn't happen in U.K, as we loose our deposit if we have to cancel.

It's about time all customers were treated equally.

This was exactly my thought. The ability to cancel without any financial loss impacts in other ways too. I looked at a cruise, and the cabin category I wanted was booked out. So I chose what I could from those available only for the exact cabin I would have liked to suddenly become available months later when someone changed their mind. As offers and perks had changed in the meantime I would have had to cancel, lose my deposit, and re-book to change the booking.

I really do not understand how a cruise company can ever know whether a cabin is actually sold or not. It may simply be 'booked' while the customer continues looking elsewhere before making a final decision. It must be a business nightmare to have to second guess what all their customers, from the areas where the deposit is refundable, are actually going to do. I am not sure this happens in other industries.

I would like to know that when I pay a non-refundable deposit and choose my cabin that I have a contract with the company to deliver what I have paid for. I understand there are reasons, out of their control, that may cause cancellations and I am happy with that, but overbooking is not out of their control.

I am on this cruise with 2 other cabins. We all had balcony guarantees and all were given cabin number in the guarantee category a month after booking.

I have my air already booked.

I think, if Celebrity is going to kick us off this cruise, they probably will do it before final payments then they only have to give us back our deposits.

I am on this cruise with 2 other cabins. We all had balcony guarantees and all were given cabin number in the guarantee category a month after booking.

 

I have my air already booked.

 

I think, if Celebrity is going to kick us off this cruise, they probably will do it before final payments then they only have to give us back our deposits.

We are also booked on this cruise. If this was to happen we would be truly frustrated and annoyed. Just offering to refund deposits is not ok. Especially if you have airfare booked. Refunding deposits is not much use when you have airfare booked from Australia and plans made a year in advance.

We are also booked on this cruise. If this was to happen we would be truly frustrated and annoyed. Just offering to refund deposits is not ok. Especially if you have airfare booked. Refunding deposits is not much use when you have airfare booked from Australia and plans made a year in advance.

I agree. While not from Australia, our air is over $700pp and we also prepaid hotel. To add insult to injury, we are b2b with the Eclipse Feb.4. So if we are bumped, Celebrity will have to make good on all our extra expenses.

After booking our Celebrity cruise next January, I found out there are 2 charters on board. We have a group of 10 cabins. I would assume we would not be affected since we are a group too but time will tell.