Does O ever cancel a cruise?

[Playtennis]

We have signed up to go on the Riviera's 10-day cruise to the Caribbean on 24 January. I have noticed that ALL categories are still open for booking. Yes we are 10 months away but it seems typical of O cruises that some categories fill up almost immediately.

Is it just the itinerary, timing (she will be at sea on Super Bowl Sunday :eek:) or simply not a popular cruise? Or ????

If the passenger list is low in number, would they cancel the cruise outright or offer incentives to switch and then cancel?

[pacheco18]

I cannot tell you if O ever cancelled a cruise, I do not believe Caribbean cruises fill up early for several reasons.

 

1. it's an easy last minute cruise for most US citizens -- not a matter of arranging overseas flights long in advance.

 

2. there is a ton of competition in the Caribbean resulting in price drops and deals. Many folks wait.

 

3. many people book as a result of the winter "getting to them" -- right now as Spring is in the air these folks are not thinking about getting out of town.

[sitraveler]

They will almost never cancel a cruise. Just because there is availability doesn't mean there are aren't many bookings in all categories.

 

They may offer incentives to fill up the ship, but the difficulties in pausing in mid contract for 500 employees, rescheduling back to backs and more things than I can think of would prevent cancellation.

 

Have no fear.

[LHT28]

In the 10 yrs we have been sailing O I cannot remember them cancelling a cruise due to lack of bookings

 

We have been on board for a couple of Superbowl weekends & the ship is still full

:)

 

 

Lyn

[willidc]

Labor issues caused a couple of sailings to be canceled when Riviera was to make her debut in 2012. The ship was delayed due to labor problems at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. So even though Oceania had left adequate time, the union work stoppage was such that the ship was simply not finished early enough. We were booked on the mid April 2012 'maiden' voyage of Riviera, so I remember the situation well---we ended up with a similar Riviera itinerary in July of that year. Oceania handled the situation very well for us, btw.

 

Other than that, I cannot think of any time that a sailing has been scratched by Oceania.

 

Enjoy your cruise on the lovely and elegant Riviera! :)

Edited April 8, 2014 by willidc

[ronrick1943]

Not unless something is wrong, and in that case I don't think you'd want to be on the ship anyway.

Rick

[orchestrapal]

Since we always take b/b and b/b/b I certainly hope they will not cancel any cruise. We would hate to be stranded somewhere in the even the next cruise is cancelled.

After 10 years with O we can say it is not their pattern to ever cancel.:D

[Playtennis]

They will almost never cancel a cruise. Just because there is availability doesn't mean there are aren't many bookings in all categories.

 

They may offer incentives to fill up the ship, but the difficulties in pausing in mid contract for 500 employees, rescheduling back to backs and more things than I can think of would prevent cancellation.

 

Have no fear.

Thanks all for the responses. Once a modicum of thought went into the question I posed I realized it was a "duh!" moment. The ship would still be there, in port Miami, with nothing to do but to pay employees, port fees and other expensive stuff - without any revenue.:rolleyes:

[Mura]

When Khadaffi decided in Nov/Dec 2005 not to permit U.S. passport holders to leave the ship the itinerary was amended to delete Libya. We were unhappy to miss Libya since that was why we'd booked the cruise, but were happy with the replacement posts.

 

I don't think I've ever heard of a cancelled cruise ... just amended cruises.

 

And if there's going to be danger to passengers, it's understandable why they would amend the itinerary.

 

Mura

[JimandStan]

It is almost unheard of for any Cruise Line to cancel a cruise, if only because it would be ruinously expensive.

 

Those ships are multi-million dollar assets, and they simply are not left sitting idle. To do so would be economic suicide because the expenses of running a ship don't magically stop, just because she does not sail.

 

The staff cannot be furloughed "just for just one Cruise", and the Vendors who hold the concessions for the Spa and the Casino would be running for their lawyers.

[Nitemare]

Only for Charters!

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

When Khadaffi decided in Nov/Dec 2005 not to permit U.S. passport holders to leave the ship the itinerary was amended to delete Libya. We were unhappy to miss Libya since that was why we'd booked the cruise, but were happy with the replacement posts.

 

I don't think I've ever heard of a cancelled cruise ... just amended cruises.

 

And if there's going to be danger to passengers, it's understandable why they would amend the itinerary.

 

Mura

 

Mura....I visited Tripoli on business twice a year or so before Ghadafi was overthrown, and have nothing but great memories. What impressed me most, apart from the most immaculate Roman ruins (I went to Sabratha as I have time to make it to Leptis Magna as time was not on my side) was the Libyan peoples pride in their nations history, and their genuine friendliness. Libyan people, at least in Tripoli, seemed very well educated, and were pleased to see visitors, but without the Marrakech-style pestering. I hate to say it, but you really missed out, and hope that Libya becomes stable enough to build it's tourism industry some time soon.

Edited April 9, 2014 by LaCroisiereS'amuse
typo