Are cruises ever cancelled for poor patronage

[ccletzgo]

A friend of mine booked a med cruise on the Constellation one year ago for Sept. 2011. At time of final payment her fare had gone down $1100.00 !!! She was one happy camper.:D Sept and Oct cruises have price drops more then any other time of year. (also the first 2 weeks of Dec.)

[dolittle]

Lsimon it was 4maybee 5 months at the most. I was surprised I had never of it ether. It was right after the financial meltdown that may have played a big part in there decision.

[IMNiles]

As others have said, outright cancellation for poor sales is really not in the cards, but if an entire season is looking poor (or if there is local unrest or something) it's not unlikely for a wholesale redeployment to cancel a bunch of sailings. Probably the most common reason for cancellation is that the ship was chartered out. This has happened to us twice on RCCL, and we have also had a cruise canceled due to natural disaster. In all cases the line tried to accommodate us on alternative trips, and made some concessions for change fees (but we were still out of pocket for visas, etc).

 

If I had to guess, I'd say a poor selling sailing may increase your chances of having it chartered out, but even then I doubt it's a high risk. They may just blow it out to locals to fill the ship at the last minute.

[highbridger]

We do not think you have anything to worry about regarding the Silhouette cruise (and it is a gorgeous ship). That cruise is just part of a continuing cruise schedule and X will not change one particular cruise just because of booking issues. And keep in mind that you are talking more then 8 months out and we suspect your ship will be near full by the time of the cruise. Many cruisers (including moi) will often book cruises at the last minute (within the final booking period) which can often yield amazing deals. And by the way, you will be in the Med during a wonderful time of year as the weather should be near perfect and the crowds will be tolerable since its the shoulder season.

 

Your only concern is that there can always be some slight changes in itinerary due to political turmoil in some countries if you have booked the 9/29 sailing. The other two cruises (earlier in the month) are to countries where there are no issues.

 

Hank

 

There are times when we might be interested in a last minute cruise, but I am never sure when the "final booking period" is. I know some people cancel just before the full payment is due. I would love to know how this schedule works.

 

Thank you.

[IMNiles]

There are times when we might be interested in a last minute cruise, but I am never sure when the "final booking period" is. I know some people cancel just before the full payment is due. I would love to know how this schedule works.

 

Thank you.

 

Yes, a lot of people tend to drop off at final payment - its a great time to snag a preferred cabin that was previously sold. I've always used 70 days as a guide, but the rccl FAQ currently says:

 

Final payment of the balance must be received at Royal Caribbean's offices at least 60 days prior to the sailing date for 3, 4, or 5-night cruise vacations and 75 days prior to the sailing date for 7-night or longer cruise vacations. The payment schedule for groups is different from that of individuals. You will usually have access to your cruise documents 30 days prior to your sailing as long as your reservation is finalized.

 

For all holiday sailings, (Christmas and New Year's), payment is due 90 days prior to sailing.

 

It's also not uncommon for good deals to show up just a couple weeks before sailing as the "advance airline booking" windows close, though these are sometimes only advertised to locals.

[Lsimon]

Lsimon it was 4maybee 5 months at the most. I was surprised I had never of it ether. It was right after the financial meltdown that may have played a big part in there decision.

 

This is pretty close. Did they help with airfare cancellation fees?

[Fixit2010]

I think Costa are about to find out the answer to your question.

[Emperor Norton]

We are booked on the Silhouette for an Adriatic Cruise in September. There are very few members on our roll call and I noticed on another website that estimates the amount of bookings per cruise that only 20% of the cruise has been booked. Does Celebrity ever cancel cruises because they don't have enough passengers or can I anticipate a price drop? I know ports etc may change and indeed this cruise was originally scheduled for the Holy Land. I would be fairly gutted if it did not happen at all as we have booked our - nonrefundable airfares and hotels already. We are booked on a RCL cruise the next week and it looks a lot more healthy with 45% occupancy. Jennie

 

I've had tours cancelled due to poor patronage but never an entire cruise.

[dolittle]

This is pretty close. Did they help with airfare cancellation fees?

No they did not we had booked the airfare so we could have a few days in London so we had some flex. We ending up on N.C.L. baltic that was pretty much the same ports except Amsterdam. The air fare was booked at the height of the crash so we were going for 602$ R.T. each on B.A no less ,so at that price we were going no matter what.