Guaranteed Cabin NOT Guaranteed?

This should generate some responses from the RCCL alumni. I read the following post(s) on the Carnival board and was looking to see if anyone has ever heard of this happening with RCCL or should I chalk it up to ‘fake news’. I was one of many that got bumped off the Mariner TA but there was compensation and I hopped on the Carnival Horizon

For anyone considering RCL in the future be aware of their policies, in Australia a couple who were due to fly out this Friday to join the VOS on its return from Singapore to Sydney and were notified yesterday that the cruise is overbooked and their guaranteed cabin is cancelled ...after a day of trying to get an answer, this was RCL’s reply...never heard of Carnival overbooking a cruise ship and cancelling peoples long awaited holiday....I have advised them to contact our Department of Fair Trading as they are selling a cabin which they no longer intend to provide ...I know many of you have had the Mariner of the Seas cancelled so this just proves to me that RCL are not an ethical company ...I am gutted for them as its no mean feat for an older couple to fly to a foreign country to join a cruise then have the wool pulled out from under your feet 4 days before you are due to leave

For everyone following the overbooking story.......

Miami HQ just called and confirmed that they can and do cancel people's cruises who have a "guaranteed" stateroom all the time and in some cases it is done on the actual day of embarkation. RC have an algorithm to determine who gets cancelled. The cruises are always oversold because they get cancellations. I said what difference does that make as they keep the money but he said they miss out on revenue from drinks etc. They are going to offer a certificate for another cruise however it is less the gratuities, port taxes etc. so not sure how much they will miss out on. Of course they are still down $2000 + for the insurance and hotel and want nothing to do with RC now anyway. And this morning to rub salt into the wound they got this email. What a joke

I believe there was one report of someone on RC with a guarantee that was told they were bumped a few months back. I don't recall the final outcome of that situation.

Yes, we have seen this reported before on this forum. Rare situation though. Probably their awful IT systems allowing more people to book than available cabins

That was very unfortunate. I thought “guarantee” cabin means an assured cabin.

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A few years ago NCL oversold inside cabins on the Gem going to Canada, New England. I already had a cabin, was not a gtd, and they offered to refund all my money, was 6 weeks before embarkation, plus give me a credit of $1,080 to be used on a cruise in the next 12 months. We took it and so did at least 5 other people in the roll call. We got bumped off the Mariner TA and booked a gtd inside, all they had left, from Carnival from Barcelona to NYC next May. We will be spending 2 nights in Barcelona after the Mariner Dubai to Barcelona, cannot imagine being told our guaranteed cabins were not really guaranteed. We are counting on not having to fly next May, will have too much luggage, would cost even more.

A few years ago NCL oversold inside cabins on the Gem going to Canada, New England. I already had a cabin, was not a gtd, and they offered to refund all my money, was 6 weeks before embarkation, plus give me a credit of $1,080 to be used on a cruise in the next 12 months. We took it and so did at least 5 other people in the roll call. We got bumped off the Mariner TA and booked a gtd inside, all they had left, from Carnival from Barcelona to NYC next May. We will be spending 2 nights in Barcelona after the Mariner Dubai to Barcelona, cannot imagine being told our guaranteed cabins were not really guaranteed. We are counting on not having to fly next May, will have too much luggage, would cost even more.

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Yes, this particular case has caused some concern here downunder. The details provided by a poster, the couple's daughter, (on FB) seemed to be a misunderstanding of some sort, but the poster came back a number of times with updates (including the RCI response the OP posted here), &, yes it seems that the ship was overbooked and their reservation (fully paid) was cancelled about a week from sailing, and just a few days before they departed Australia for Singapore. Seems that they were offered a refund & reimbursement for their one-way flight, and their Travel Ins will cover the pre-booked accomm in Singapore etc, but what they are out, in addition to the disappointment of missing their trip, was the huge premium they paid for the travel insurance, reported as A$1500 due to their age (80+).

People have requested clarification from RC on this, particularly in regards to the guarantee category, as it appears from RC reply that it was the guarantee aspect of their booking that put them in jeopardy of being bumped. This is news to many of us, as it seems a guarantee is anything but.

There was a report a little while back about overbooking and subsequent bumping of passengers on a Princess cruise out of Auckland, NZ, but the reports on that, from one of the 'bumpees', was that Princess were asking for volunteers to not sail & kept upping the ante in terms of compensation until they got enough people to agree.

We have often booked guarantees, so am keeping a close eye on this.

I’m waiting for an assignment from a gty cabin now. All the other times, it was done in less than 2 days. It’s been 4 days now and the category we have the gty in has been sold out for 2 days. I’m getting nervous. We book this cruise every year for our anniversary. We better get a cabin.....

Gwen [emoji3]

I’m waiting for an assignment from a gty cabin now. All the other times, it was done in less than 2 days. It’s been 4 days now and the category we have the gty in has been sold out for 2 days. I’m getting nervous. We book this cruise every year for our anniversary. We better get a cabin.....

 

Gwen [emoji3]

Just because a category appears to be sold out does not mean that you cannot get it.

Yes, this particular case has caused some concern here downunder. The details provided by a poster, the couple's daughter, (on FB) seemed to be a misunderstanding of some sort, but the poster came back a number of times with updates (including the RCI response the OP posted here), &, yes it seems that the ship was overbooked and their reservation (fully paid) was cancelled about a week from sailing, and just a few days before they departed Australia for Singapore. Seems that they were offered a refund & reimbursement for their one-way flight, and their Travel Ins will cover the pre-booked accomm in Singapore etc, but what they are out, in addition to the disappointment of missing their trip, was the huge premium they paid for the travel insurance, reported as A$1500 due to their age (80+).

 

People have requested clarification from RC on this, particularly in regards to the guarantee category, as it appears from RC reply that it was the guarantee aspect of their booking that put them in jeopardy of being bumped. This is news to many of us, as it seems a guarantee is anything but.

 

There was a report a little while back about overbooking and subsequent bumping of passengers on a Princess cruise out of Auckland, NZ, but the reports on that, from one of the 'bumpees', was that Princess were asking for volunteers to not sail & kept upping the ante in terms of compensation until they got enough people to agree.

 

We have often booked guarantees, so am keeping a close eye on this.

It seems Princess just keep upping their “move over” offers till they have enough cabins, I always ussumed the other lines just did the same thing.

I know ships need to maximise revenue but can’t believe that they don’t keep a few cabins 8n reserve each cruise to allow for this sort of situation AND cabins that have “issues”.

But airlines do the same, overbook then “BUMP”.

One day someone will take them on. If Australian law prevailed the lines would have a problem, I think.

What i find ironic is we have all been told not every room needs to be occupied for a cruise to meet its quota. So why overbook available rooms

Depending on the price, we book a guarantee most every time it is offered. A few years ago, we had a cruise that was apparently overbooked and we were not yet assigned the cabin. According to the roll call, seems RCCL called passengers to offer them a sweet deal for them to take a cruise on a different ship or a week later. It is my understanding that they called folks who lived close to port.

Enough took the deal so that all the guaranteed or overbooked passengers had a cabin.

M

So why overbook available rooms

Because like the airlines, they count on cancellations happening.

Probably their awful IT systems allowing more people to book than available cabins

This is not an IT thing - they are doing this on purpose, with the expectation that some will cancel.

It seems Princess just keep upping their “move over” offers till they have enough cabins, I always ussumed the other lines just did the same thing.

They do. We have some reports here of people being made offers to "volunteer" off the ship (just like on flights). RCI ups the offer enough till someone takes them up on it. In the case of the OP story, RCI screwed up and didn't buy off people soon enough to avoid having to bump someone. As the OP story points out and has been reported here, the bumps (which are very rare) are likely to happen a few days out and not at the pier.

This should generate some responses from the RCCL alumni. I read the following post(s) on the Carnival board and was looking to see if anyone has ever heard of this happening with RCCL or should I chalk it up to ‘fake news’. I was one of many that got bumped off the Mariner TA but there was compensation and I hopped on the Carnival Horizon

 

For anyone considering RCL in the future be aware of their policies, in Australia a couple who were due to fly out this Friday to join the VOS on its return from Singapore to Sydney and were notified yesterday that the cruise is overbooked and their guaranteed cabin is cancelled ...after a day of trying to get an answer, this was RCL’s reply...never heard of Carnival overbooking a cruise ship and cancelling peoples long awaited holiday....I have advised them to contact our Department of Fair Trading as they are selling a cabin which they no longer intend to provide ...I know many of you have had the Mariner of the Seas cancelled so this just proves to me that RCL are not an ethical company ...I am gutted for them as its no mean feat for an older couple to fly to a foreign country to join a cruise then have the wool pulled out from under your feet 4 days before you are due to leave

For everyone following the overbooking story.......

Miami HQ just called and confirmed that they can and do cancel people's cruises who have a "guaranteed" stateroom all the time and in some cases it is done on the actual day of embarkation. RC have an algorithm to determine who gets cancelled. The cruises are always oversold because they get cancellations. I said what difference does that make as they keep the money but he said they miss out on revenue from drinks etc. They are going to offer a certificate for another cruise however it is less the gratuities, port taxes etc. so not sure how much they will miss out on. Of course they are still down $2000 + for the insurance and hotel and want nothing to do with RC now anyway. And this morning to rub salt into the wound they got this email. What a joke

We are a couple who flew to Hawaii from Australia to board Radiance of the Seas for a repositioning cruise, Hawaii to Sydney. when we arrived at the Port to board, we and three other couples were pulled aside to be told their was no cabin for us. (We were in absolute shock, as we had just flown to Hawaii the previous day). We were offered to be flown straight home that night, or to be flown to Vancouver (Canada) to board another ship on a similar but not idential itinerary. Three couple choose the Vancouver trip and one couple flew home. This was still stressful as we had to contact banks, travel insurance companies etc re different itinerary. Also we had to pay all the out of pocket expenses for the redirection and Royal Caribbean would reimburse us, but this took about 10 weeks for the money to come through. No offer of compension for tours etc booked on original dates or places offered. We were travelling with friends (which Royal were informed), but nothing was done about this, we and they had holidays on different ships. So this does happen, and at the port on boarding.

Hmmmm I booked a W guarantee at end of Jan for a Mar cruisez no assignment yet. Someone booked a balcony guarantee and had an assignment in less than 2 weeks. Now I am worried.

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Hmmmm I booked a W guarantee at end of Jan for a Mar cruisez no assignment yet. Someone booked a balcony guarantee and had an assignment in less than 2 weeks. Now I am worried.

I would not be worried. Maybe if they wait longer, all they will have to give you is a GS or OS.

I would not be worried. Maybe if they wait longer, all they will have to give you is a GS or OS.

That's all that is currently available, I had a TA check. I just don't understand W guarantees. I am sure they sold more than the 2 rooms that are currently left available.

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That's all that is currently available, I had a TA check. I just don't understand W guarantees. I am sure they sold more than the 2 rooms that are currently left available.

Sometimes they have staterooms available that don't show up on any website.

There has recently been a guarantee issue on Azamara, which is owned by RCCL. The cruise started in Australia. Someone was sitting in Sydney airport waiting for a flight to Melbourne to embark, when she got an email saying her cabin was cancelled. This was 2 days before the cruise. Eventually, after a lot of social media complaints, plus emails to the Azamara M.D. and with the support of the Azamara Chief Blogging Officer, she was offered a cabin and told her Cruise would be complimentary - so a happy ending you would think! However she found out onboard that 3 couple had turned up for the cruise and were told they were not on the manifest. She heard they were put up in Sydney then were re-booked on a HAL cruise, presumably at Azamara’s expense. She didn’t know if they had guarantee cabins, but it seems a fair guess!

Hmmmm I booked a W guarantee at end of Jan for a Mar cruisez no assignment yet. Someone booked a balcony guarantee and had an assignment in less than 2 weeks. Now I am worried.

 

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I would not be worried. Maybe if they wait longer, all they will have to give you is a GS or OS.

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This topic is very interesting...

So the cruise lines are emulating the airlines in overbooking, even though they get full pay for the cabin when cancelled after final payment date? And the reason is they "lose on board spending revenue"? How much can that be as a percentage of the fare paid, especially from someone booking a Guarantee? Incredible....

The airlines do bumping, and they used to be limited by some sort of regulation or industry agreement of what the maximum offer they could make, to get volunteers to give up their seats; but after recent incident's, they have either raised that amount greatly or eliminated the ceiling.....perhaps cruise lines that practice overbooking should also be required to keep sweetening the offer until they get sufficient volunteers?

I've thought about this, and since I live near cruiseports, and have time flexibility, perhaps I should always book a Guarantee, in the hope that I may get bumped, and receive "an offer I can't refuse"....:p

I had always assumed that guaranteed meant you were guaranteed the category booked as a minimum, not that you were guaranteed to sail. In the case of the elderly Australian couple, perhaps if RC had compensated them for all of their other expenses, they could have received a complete refund on their insurance policy since they wouldn’t have had to use it.