Any experience being on a chartered cruise but not with the group?

[Grandmaanne7]

The 2-day cruise immediately preceding ours has suddenly become available.  My assumption is that the cruise had been chartered but not enough cabins were sold so now it is available to all.  The price is not where I am willing to jump on it yet but, in case it comes down enough, I wanted to have some knowledge as to what to expect and if it would be worth going for it.  Both our cabins (we're traveling with family) are currently available.  I'm not sure I would even look if they weren't.  Anyone been on a chartered ship but not part of the original group?

[cruisestitch]

Sure, family reunions, Harley Davidsons, quilters, class reunions,  doctors, lots and lots of partial charters on most cruises, and most of the time you don’t even know they are there.

[Mike981]

We have been on a few partial charters, one I didn't figure out until we were disembarking. It can be a bit of a crap shoot. Usually it is fine, I just get mad when they take over venues and/or expect preferential treatment.

[TeaBag]

We were on one with a film group.  They tied up the theater all the time.

[GerScot]

On RCL cruise about 10 years ago half the ship was chartered by an Asian electrical company. Did not impact much as they ate in top tier of restaurant and went on their own trips during port visits, they did not drink so the bars were pretty empty but casino was very busy. On second last night saw one in a brides dress, then another then another. Turns out they were all renewing their vows so about 600 in brides dresses was quite a site! On the last night there were all sorts of electricals outside their cabins including what looked like dishwashers and washing machines. Must have been some sort of award!

[wendychloecruiser]

I was two separate horrendous cruises with a group booking.   The first had a LARGE number of entitled teenage girls celebrating a quinceanera.   THE most obnoxious bunch of drunk teenagers ruining shows, throwing up all over and worse.    The second was with a huge group from one of those cult selling groups that kept pushing their vitamins on people everywhere they went.  You couldn’t sit down without someone coming up to you.  
 

 

[chemmo]

We had one RC Mediterranean cruise with doctors on board who had lectures every sea day morning and afternoon...Quietest pool decks ever.

 

 

[Nachosdelux]

I was on a RCCL (Radiance) 10 day cruise that was 75% chartered by Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and it was no different than any other cruise.

[thon]

Our very first cruise a few years ago was on Reflection.  There were 2 groups on board.  One had about 1500 or more and the other 100 or so.  The first was some sort of a positive thinking cult (they refused to call themselves a cult, but I googled them when I got home) - they had seminars every sea day so didn’t bother us at all.  We just learned very fast to head to the lunch buffet before their morning session got out!  The other was some sort of an investment club - again no problems but they packed the bars every night.

[hcat]

Cruising with large groups is difficult..unless they have seminars all day and pvt  dinners at night

[keesar]

Much depends on the nature of the group.  We have been on some that you would hardly notice the group.  On a couple of others, they took over many venues.  One night, they booked every specialty restaurant.  Nightly, they took over the martini bar.  We now know the groups and we avoided them last time and their aggravation.

[Fouremco]

We've been on several cruises with groups and have had no issues. For the most part, we wouldn't have even known that they were aboard if I hadn't checked online beforehand. The one exception was a group of motorcyclists who we could see leaving the ship on their bikes at each port but never noticed around the ship.

[nunuc2000]

I keep hoping some day we'll be on a cruise with a huge Goth group... they NEVER want to step foot outside in bright daylight, so I figure we won't have any issues getting loungers around the pools! LOL!!

[mchell810]

3 hours ago, wendychloecruiser said:

I was two separate horrendous cruises with a group booking.   The first had a LARGE number of entitled teenage girls celebrating a quinceanera.   THE most obnoxious bunch of drunk teenagers ruining shows, throwing up all over and worse.    The second was with a huge group from one of those cult selling groups that kept pushing their vitamins on people everywhere they went.  You couldn’t sit down without someone coming up to you.  
 

 

For the record: A Quinceanera is a celebration of the 15th birthday so I don't see how the teens would be served alcohol (or able to bring it on board).  Perhaps you we trapped with a bachelorette party.

[Northern Aurora]

We also have been on cruises with large groups onboard.  One time it was a group of dentists who were attending seminars so heard interesting snippets of conversation about dental chairs and so forth while waiting for a coffee at Cafe al Bacio.  This past summer we were on a cruise with two large groups; never learned what the one group was but the other were families of sales reps and distributors of agricultural products.

 

The only time we felt were impacted was on a two day cruise from Southhampton to LaHavre.  The two night cruise was part of a series of cruises on the Eclipse.  We booked a transAtlantic followed by a Norwegian fjord cruise.  We had realized that there as a two night break before the third Iceland-Ireland cruise.  Originally that two nighter was not available for North American bookings.  When it opened for North American bookings the same stateroom we had booked for the other three cruises was available, so we booked the two nighter.  

 

Turns out it was a sales convention for UK travel agents, and was also marketed in the UK as a "Taste of Modern Luxury."  So the non-travel agents were primarily young folks who had never been on a cruise before, and apparently the bulk of those folks had classic beverage packages.  The young UK folks were trying everything they could during that 48 hour cruise -- whether it be food or alcohol beverages.  One of the food and beverage managers later told us that more alcohol was consumed during that two night cruise than on an average 7 night Caribbean.  Certainly made for interesting people watching.  When we booked that two night cruise we could not have anticipated that my husband would be dealing with an episode of plantar fasciitis, so it worked well for us as he rested his foot, but I would probably not book one again.

[miched]

We were on the Infinity in a SS.   It was for 5 days.  It turned out to be a partial charter of a Canadian group.   It was fantastic.   Luminae and Michael’s were basically empty as the group was always at their own events, functions and banquets

 

it was one of our best cruises.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

 

[wendychloecruiser]

6 hours ago, mchell810 said:

 

For the record: A Quinceanera is a celebration of the 15th birthday so I don't see how the teens would be served alcohol (or able to bring it on board).  Perhaps you we trapped with a bachelorette party.

 

For your record...Having lived in South Florida for 20+ years, I am well familiar with what a quinceanera is and what it represents.   If you think that teens can’t get alcohol I suggest you think twice.   

[Grandmaanne7]

14 hours ago, Fouremco said:

We've been on several cruises with groups and have had no issues. For the most part, we wouldn't have even known that they were aboard if I hadn't checked online beforehand. The one exception was a group of motorcyclists who we could see leaving the ship on their bikes at each port but never noticed around the ship.

We have also been on a cruise with a group of motorcyclists and enjoyed their departure and return each day.

 

How, specifically, do you check online beforehand if there are groups aboard?  As I stated earlier, I am only assuming as the cruise was not previously available and just suddenly became available that it was chartered. I have already googled the cruise with no results.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Grandmaanne7
Further explanation

[Mike981]

15 hours ago, Fouremco said:

The one exception was a group of motorcyclists who we could see leaving the ship on their bikes at each port but never noticed around the ship.

 

I believe we have a Harley group on our cruise next month. Not worried in the least, in my experience they are great people. And I hope to enjoy watching them leave the ship in the morning from my balcony.

[kayehall]

54 minutes ago, Grandmaanne7 said:

We have also been on a cruise with a group of motorcyclists and enjoyed their departure and return each day.

 

How, specifically, do you check online beforehand if there are groups aboard?  As I stated earlier, I am only assuming as the cruise was not previously available and just suddenly became available that it was chartered. I have already googled the cruise with no results.

Oh boy this touches a tender nerve.  We were on the Silhouette 2017.  The ship was not chartered but their were 2 large groups of men on board.  It was not a pleasant experience.  Took over the pool during the day and the Martini bar at night.  Did disgusting things in the public area bathrooms.  One person was escorted off in Jamaica due to his actions caught on film in the public area of Deck 11.    Sorry folks was not impressed with the week long show.  If I had had my kids on board, I would have been furious!!!  We have stayed away from Celebrity since then but we are on the Equinox Feb 2020.  Hope all goes well.

[kayehall]

And to be fair, Feb 2019 we were on the Freedom with a group of about 1200.  They were fantastic and a delight to travel with.  So ya just never know.....

[mikkelhansen]

We were on Edge last week, and there was a big Pied Piper (LGBT cruise specialist) male group. I believe at least 15-20% of all guests were from this group, or otherwise "connected" with the group. We didn't notice them in any negative way, rather on the contrary! Middle-aged men dressed in feather boas and glitter clothes during breakfast - how can you be mad about that? Everyone we encountered behaved as you would expect from anyone on a cruise ship, albeit perhaps, as above-mentioned, a bit eccentric with regards to clothing!

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Grandmaanne7 said:

We have also been on a cruise with a group of motorcyclists and enjoyed their departure and return each day.

 

How, specifically, do you check online beforehand if there are groups aboard?  As I stated earlier, I am only assuming as the cruise was not previously available and just suddenly became available that it was chartered. I have already googled the cruise with no results.

I generally do just as you have done, searched the ship's name and month of embarkation. For example, an arbitrary search on "cruise reflection January 2020" turned up this link: http://www.cruise-eta.com/events/upcoming/  You won't necessarily get a hit on all groups, particularly small or private ones with no presence on the Internet, but I've hit quite a few that way.

 

HAL is my other favourite cruise line, and contributors to the Cruise Critic board, currently @VMax1700, make it really easy to find this type of information. They have a thread entitled [month, year] Update: HAL Dry Docks, Charters & Groups. It's updated monthly and is a very useful tool.

[4774Papa]

21 hours ago, Grandmaanne7 said:

The 2-day cruise immediately preceding ours has suddenly become available.  My assumption is that the cruise had been chartered but not enough cabins were sold so now it is available to all.  The price is not where I am willing to jump on it yet but, in case it comes down enough, I wanted to have some knowledge as to what to expect and if it would be worth going for it.  Both our cabins (we're traveling with family) are currently available.  I'm not sure I would even look if they weren't.  Anyone been on a chartered ship but not part of the original group?

We were on a cruise where a very large group had chartered.  The main problem was that the sky lounge was not available because the group had it the entire cruise.  The elite happy hour was moved to a smaller location.  Still, the overall effect on the cruise was minor.

[Grandmaanne7]

Thanks for all the responses.  My main concern is trying to find out what type of group has booked it.  In researching, I have been unable to determine the specific group.  However, I have found several "clothing optional" and "bliss" groups along with many musical themed groups that have chartered the ship at different times.  I feel that my 84 year old father might not survive observing that type of cruise so I just might forget about it altogether and stick with just our original cruise.