Who charters a whole ship?

[Ken the cruiser]

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback! I now have a better feeling about why there are so many chartered cruises and some of the themes associated with them. Not sure if we'll ever book one, but one never knows what the future holds.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, calicakes said:

I know that Olivia cruises charters various cruise ships.  I don't know if its an entire ship, I would expect so since Olivia is a gay/lesbian cruise company.  

 

Personally, my wife and I( same sex couple) have NO desire to sail with a bunch of drunk woman.  I've heard those charters are very party atmosphere.  We know some guys who have taken some GAY cruises and some of the stories they told us would make your hair curl. 

 

1 hour ago, calicakes said:

Maybe.  I recall reading about those cruises years and years ago, when they would advertise in the local( to Los Angeles) Lesbian magazine.   I always pictured them being held on Carnival ships. 

 

Olivia is not a “gay/lesbian cruise company,” it’s a lesbian travel company. They do whole ship charters (ocean cruises and river cruises) marketed to women.  I don’t know where you are getting your info from about a “bunch of drunk women,” or that Olivia is using Carnival, but if you look at their itineraries, ships, and prices, you‘ll see they are pretty upscale, expensive, have sailings all over the world, and that you have a bunch of misconceptions.

 

Please don’t confuse Olivia with gay male party cruises.

[K&RCurt]

16 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

We had a Celebrity cruise cancelled once for a nudist group of some kind.  I kid you not.  Would not have wanted to be sitting on those chairs and cushions the next cruise!

 

Why?

 

Are you aware that nudists ALWAYS sit on a towel?  There is a much greater risk of "contacting something" from sitting where someone in a bathing suit sat than when a nudist sat on a towel.

[K&RCurt]

12 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

 

Olivia is not a “gay/lesbian cruise company,” it’s a lesbian travel company. They do whole ship charters (ocean cruises and river cruises) marketed to women.  I don’t know where you are getting your info from about a “bunch of drunk women,” or that Olivia is using Carnival, but if you look at their itineraries, ships, and prices, you‘ll see they are pretty upscale, expensive, have sailings all over the world, and that you have a bunch of misconceptions.

 

Please don’t confuse Olivia with gay male party cruises.

 

People LOVE to jump to conclusions that confirm the negative stereotypes they already posses.

 

On a cruise where our whole family cruised together we were docked next to an Olivia charter of an NCL ship in St. Thomas.  Ended up on a "Safari Taxi" with a group from that cruise to Magans Bay and sat near them on the beach.  There couldn't have possibly been a nicer bunch of people to interact with.  We chatted with a few folks from the Olivia cruise and they were having a great experience. They mentioned some great entertainment that was provided and while you can't tell truly what people are like in a brief meeting, but they really didn't seem to be the "party hardy" types.  When discussing their cruise several indicated the primary attraction was just being able to be themselves without stares, rude comments or being made to feel like they don't belong.

 

 

[Presto2]

23 hours ago, rimmit said:

Music groups (70’s, Jazz, boy bands, etc),  special interest (sci fi, Star Wars, Star Trek, lgbt, etc.)

 

it is unfortunate when when you get bumped for a charter.  Only option is to join the charter (and charter pricing tends to be much more than typical cruise pricing) or pick a different cruise sadly.

 

You mean Star Trek fans charter a ship on Celebrity????? WHEN ??!!!!!

(Sorry, but we are Trekkies!)

Are you sure?

[Fouremco]

Take a look at this link: https://www.startrekthecruise.com

[rimmit]

11 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

 

You mean Star Trek fans charter a ship on Celebrity????? WHEN ??!!!!!

(Sorry, but we are Trekkies!)

Are you sure?

 

 Not celebrity.  But last couple years NCL on the Jade and this upcoming year in mar 2020 on RCI on the Explorer of the Seas. I am a huge Trekkie and have always want to do the Star Trek Cruise (geek I know) but the timing has not worked out.  Last year they had two b2b on NCL and didn’t fill and were offering super cheap cabins in January (599 per pax double occupancy.) last minute but I couldn’t make it sadly.  This year they just did one and it sold out in a month or two.

Edited September 17, 2019 by rimmit

[Presto2]

2 minutes ago, rimmit said:

 

 Not celebrity.  But last couple years NCL on the Jade and this upcoming year in mar 2020 on RCI on the Explorer of the Seas. I am a huge Trekkie and have always want to do the Star Trek Cruise (geek I know) but the timing has not worked out.  Last year they had two b2b on NCL and didn’t fill and were offering super cheap cabins in January (599 per pax double occupancy.) last minute but I couldn’t make it sadly.  This year they just did one and it sold out in a month or two.

 

Sadly, they don't do them from the UK. Never mind, we'll have to stick to the odd convention.

(Not a geek, just someone with good taste) ;-)

 

[upwarduk]

I know that Perry Grant has a charter cruise on Summit leaving New York on 16th June 2020.

How can I find out if it is a full charter or just a large group on the ship?

[billslowsky]

39 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

I know that Perry Grant has a charter cruise on Summit leaving New York on 16th June 2020.

How can I find out if it is a full charter or just a large group on the ship?

It's listed as available to book on the celebrity website.

[Baron Barracuda]

2 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I know that Perry Grant has a charter cruise on Summit leaving New York on 16th June 2020.

How can I find out if it is a full charter or just a large group on the ship?

Wouldn't expect a rowdy crowd.  When Perry held court nightly in Michaels Club on Eclipse years ago he had a zealous following.  They all seemed over age 80 though.

[hcat]

On 9/16/2019 at 6:27 PM, wwcruisers said:

The Jazz Cruise, the Smooth Jazz Cruise (x2), and the Blue Note at Sea Cruise -- that's four sold-out bookings of Infinity this year, just by one company.

 

I also have been on both sides of this equation, and I can tell you that I'd MUCH rather be kicked off a cruise for a full-charter, than have my cruise ruined by a large partial charter -- with folks who take over public areas, and demand priority everywhere, for their particular group.

I agree... some travel agencies and groups have gone away from full charters to booking a big chunk of group space.... Sometimes not fun if you are not in the group..sometimes no effect

 

[hcat]

On 9/16/2019 at 6:30 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

We were on that sailing with you.

 

That was Salesforce.com's "Dreamforce" convention.  Understand charter didn't work out well.  Conventioneers paid $1500 for five nights and all they got were staterooms and 3 meals/day in mdr and buffet.  That was it.  No entertainment and shops , casino and bars were closed.  No one without seapass card was allowed aboard, so no guests and little partying.  Crew not too happy either.  Not much to do for 5 days but only those with US passports were allowed off ship (not even Canadians).  HR officer told me X did throw a couple of crew parties and gave them all a few internet minutes.

We also  got bumped for a Sales Force charter of Infinity.. Celeb dangled us around for quite awhile......We got disgusted and chose a later date fir our ABC Island cruise  which worked out well and only cost 100 more for 2  ..but we got the cabin we preferred.

 

There are also Swinger cruises.. happy they are full charters..not our thing!

Edited September 17, 2019 by hcat

[K.T.B.]

7 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Take a look at this link: https://www.startrekthecruise.com

 

I was just about to post that! 

 

I was thisclose to booking that cruise, but the timing and price just wasn't right.  Plus, with it being on RCI, I was less than enthused, but I really wanted to since it's STAR TREK.

[Pushka]

Atlas chartered Equinox the cruise after ours. During our cruise the toilets were changed to Unisex. The wine ran out as Atlas bring on their own. There was a lot of maintenance happening happening during our cruise so theirs was perfect. We had Noro alert even though no Noro on our sailing. Never again. 

[gold1953]

On 9/16/2019 at 8:18 PM, phoenix_dream said:

We had a Celebrity cruise cancelled once for a nudist group of some kind.  I kid you not.  Would not have wanted to be sitting on those chairs and cushions the next cruise!

Think about all the people who have sat nude on everything in your cabin and hotel rooms.. At least on the ship in public areas people MUST sit on towels. No reputable business would have people sitting nude on unprotected furniture in public areas

[Suzi66]

Fairly recently one of the RCCL ships was chartered for a MLM oil company cruise.  The MLM put signs all over the hand sanitiser stations saying it was their brand.  I, however don't believe that the cruise line would allow that oily stuff in the containers and no actual sanitising happening.  I'm also glad I wasn't on the following cruise as I think the smells of all that stuff would be hard to remove for a while no matter how hard the staff tried.

[john_galt]

TA booked me on a Mahjong tournament cruise. No offense meant to anyone but, it was 80% 'blue-haired old ladies'. You could fire a canon through the casino after 8:00 pm and not hit anyone. The winner got a 5 foot tall trophy. She brought it to dinner with her the last night. She was with us on the flight back to Dallas after the cruise and pitched an absolute fit because they wouldn't let her take it aboard the plane as carry-on. I thought they were going to have to call the cops. 

[George C]

I love my star-vista charters as already said they do lots of music cruises, 50’s , 60’s 70’s etc , we are doing our third one on infinity in February, they all seem to be on celebrity, earlier this year we did back to back on infinity first 4 day normal cruise then 5 day charter. Same suite perks with great service in luminae and Micheals, only difference is charter has great great music, live music from about 2pm to 2am.

[phoenix_dream]

22 hours ago, K&RCurt said:

 

Why?

 

Are you aware that nudists ALWAYS sit on a towel?  There is a much greater risk of "contacting something" from sitting where someone in a bathing suit sat than when a nudist sat on a towel.

It was said tongue in cheek.  Lighten up.

[K&RCurt]

4 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

It was said tongue in cheek.  Lighten up.

 

I am plenty "lightened up."

 

What I find hilarious is how often when someone is called out on their uniformed opinion their response is "It was a joke, lighten up."

[Fouremco]

9 minutes ago, K&RCurt said:

uniformed opinion

I've always had a thing for opinions in uniform. 

[K.T.B.]

10 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I've always had a thing for opinions in uniform. 

 

Yeah, but sometimes they're a major pain in the....  well, you know.  😉

[billslowsky]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

It was said tongue in cheek.  Lighten up.

Which cheek?  (And he should lighten up)

[hcat]

Guess some posts have hit a nerve with some cruisers....not everyone has to enjoy the same things. 

 

Based on prior varied experiences,  we avoid any  cruises with large groups if we can learn about them.  Interest group charters can be booked or not,  so no problem with that at all. 

 

It is a big  issue when folks who are  already booked are left in limbo and eventually axed!