Booked on a rumored charter cruise. When will RCCL notify us?

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, LGW59 said:

Right, which is what I said in my initial response.

Sorry, missed the part where you said if they cancel it.  My bad.

[island lady]

6 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

By the way, I'll bet this is mask free 🤣

 

Errr...or just masks only.  😉 

[molly361]

18 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

By the way, I'll bet this is mask free 🤣

Among other things

[MadamGorgeous]

😳
 

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2022/01/articles/drugs/death-on-atlantis-events-super-spreader-of-the-seas-cruise/

[gometros]

8 hours ago, SRF said:

 

You might want to Google Atlantis Charters first. 😄

 

Many people will NOT fit into that group.  But I am sure the parties are EPIC. 😄

 

 

I saw a brief video from this year's cruise on the Oasis of the Seas that was used to advertise the next one, and it definitely looked everyone was having way too much fun. But it was clear, that they were not abiding by any virus protocols.

[gometros]

6 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

My understanding, which might well be wrong, is that for full group charters the charter group has a set period of time in which they can test out selling and make sure they will get enough bookings before they have to confirm with RCI and it becomes a done deal.   During that time period FCI continues to sell rooms on the ship.  Once the charter sells well enough that the company chartering out the sailing committs 100% only then will you hear from RCI..and that can take a while.

 

Atlantis is a huge and well know group, that seems to charter sailings every year without issues filling up the ship, so I would work from the assumption that you will be bumped and then you can just decide if you want to go ahead now and book something else that week, or wait until RCI makes you an offer of a replacement sailing.  Things like, how flexible your vacation time can be, etc will certianly play into that decision.  

 

The good news is, we're very flexible. We snowbird in the winter and always look for a cruise while we're in Florida. IF this doesn't work out, we'll jump on the other sailing date for this itinerary.

 

6 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

This cruise is not covered under cwc.  If the op moves or cancels it they will pay a $100 pp fee unless they booked refundable. 

 

Thankfully, we paid the refundable rate.

[flamingos]

6 hours ago, MadamGorgeous said:

😳
 

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2022/01/articles/drugs/death-on-atlantis-events-super-spreader-of-the-seas-cruise/

From your article:  "Medical emergencies (often drug overdoses) are not uncommon on Royal Caribbean cruises chartered by Atlantis Events. For that matter, Atlantis Events cruises have been plagued by drug use, passengers going overboard and shipboard deaths over the years." 

 

Why would RCI allow them back if they were that much trouble?

[MadamGorgeous]

14 hours ago, flamingos said:

From your article:  "Medical emergencies (often drug overdoses) are not uncommon on Royal Caribbean cruises chartered by Atlantis Events. For that matter, Atlantis Events cruises have been plagued by drug use, passengers going overboard and shipboard deaths over the years." 

 

Why would RCI allow them back if they were that much trouble?

Money.

[SRF]

On 2/22/2022 at 11:28 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

By the way, I'll bet this is mask free 🤣

 

And NO kids. 😄

[Oceansaway17]

On 2/21/2022 at 2:35 PM, LGW59 said:

On the up side, if you wait until they cancel it, you can get full refund and not have deal with FCC.

good idea but wait and hold off on buying flights.

 

Too bad the cruiselines even book charters and then keep quiet about it.   

[S.A.M.J.R.]

36 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Too bad the cruiselines even book charters and then keep quiet about it.   

Actually, it kind of makes sense.  They don't want to cancel passengers until they KNOW the charter will happen.  I'm assuming that's when a signed contract is in hand.  Once they know it's going to happen, THEN they let people know.  Otherwise, you let people know, folks cancel, then the charter falls through. So put the cruise back up for sale?  

[Oceansaway17]

2 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Actually, it kind of makes sense.  They don't want to cancel passengers until they KNOW the charter will happen.  I'm assuming that's when a signed contract is in hand.  Once they know it's going to happen, THEN they let people know.  Otherwise, you let people know, folks cancel, then the charter falls through. So put the cruise back up for sale?  

yea I get what you are saying, but to me, once published to the general public, no takebacks or removals.  All the full charters should be made a year in advance.  I also think all charters should only be allowed to be 50% of any ship.  Just IMHO.  I can see perhaps older smaller ships, but all the big new ships get plenty of bookings and should not entirely book the whole ship but still publish as available.

 

[martinpj]

[S.A.M.J.R.]

12 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

yea I get what you are saying, but to me, once published to the general public, no takebacks or removals.  All the full charters should be made a year in advance.  I also think all charters should only be allowed to be 50% of any ship.  Just IMHO.  I can see perhaps older smaller ships, but all the big new ships get plenty of bookings and should not entirely book the whole ship but still publish as available.

 

Depends on how the contract's written.  Would a charter customer be willing to commit to paying if they don't know if THEY have enough people?  How do they know until they publish?  

 

I get what you're saying.  I just think when you look at it from the business side, it makes sense.  

 

I have no problems with a charter filling the entire cruise.  Look at the "lifestyle" cruises.  You think they should just get 50% of the ship?  

[xpcdoojk]

On 2/21/2022 at 9:10 AM, Jimbo said:

Is it just a group that is booked on the ship or is the whole ship chartered? If just a group and depending on the size you may never be contacted.

Yep, unless it is a full charter they will not notify you.  If it is a full charter you won’t be going.

[Jkaczanowski]

28 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

yea I get what you are saying, but to me, once published to the general public, no takebacks or removals.  All the full charters should be made a year in advance.  I also think all charters should only be allowed to be 50% of any ship.  Just IMHO.  I can see perhaps older smaller ships, but all the big new ships get plenty of bookings and should not entirely book the whole ship but still publish as available.

 

You would not want to be on a “lifestyle” cruise. It only makes sense to do those as 100% of the ship.  

[Oceansaway17]

Just now, Jkaczanowski said:

You would not want to be on a “lifestyle” cruise. It only makes sense to do those as 100% of the ship.  

I think I kinda get your drift.  

My opinion is all cruise lines need to do a better job of limiting charters unless full payment and penalties are included so they won't cancel.

 

In 2018 I was in the Baltics on B2B Serenade and there was a group of 100 from Spain celebrating at several 15 yr olds birthday which is quite special.  The girls dress in white gowns that look like wedding gowns and they party down hardy.

So, I had a reservation for a comedy club in early evening, and they held up for over an hour having to totally clean out the place.  All the teens were drinking alcohol.  Not to mention, during the whole cruise, all 100 of them roamed around making lots of noise and taking up spaces around the pool very early and all darn day.  yes they were enjoying themselves and was interesting to watch at first, but then it got old and quite annoying.  Oh and I was in an elevator and when it opened, standing there was 6 girls with these big dresses, I quickly got out so as to not get tangled up in their dresses.

 

so what I am saying is that groups can sometimes not matter what the size, be and side show and get on folks nerves.   I mean I heard the comedy club was trashed and had piles of vomit too.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

7 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

My opinion is all cruise lines need to do a better job of limiting charters unless full payment and penalties are included so they won't cancel.

I understand your position.  But remember, the cruise lines are in this to make $$$.  I'm sure they'd LOVE to tell potential charters "yes, we'll give you the entire ship, here's the cost, and once you say "yes", that's it, you're paying us." 

 

If the charter folks have an ounce of sense, they're not going to say "yes" until they're confident they can get enough customers.  

 

Although, now that I write it out, that's probably exactly what happens.  Now, I could totally get behind a statement that "all full ship charters need to be committed to a year in advance".  That seems reasonable.

[Oceansaway17]

1 minute ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Although, now that I write it out, that's probably exactly what happens.  Now, I could totally get behind a statement that "all full ship charters need to be committed to a year in advance".  That seems reasonable.

yes I agree with this last statement.   and yes of course it is about money but the idea of a charter is so the group can travel together.  They should try to offer the smaller and slightly older ships.  Never the brand new big ones.   oh well     

[smplybcause]

The year in advance doesn't always work well with charter customers if you think about it. Take Atlantis for example. They cruise each year and more or less about the same time. If royal required all the i's dotted at least a year in advance you'd have be convincing your customers to put down a deposit for next year's cruise BEFORE they went on this years. New cruisers won't want to do that. Others might not have the cash available to put down a deposit when they have the expense of a cruise coming up. Others might not be able to reserve vacation time that far in advance and won't want to make a non refundable deposit that far out. Etc etc. Not to mention the ones running the charter would be in crunch time for the current cruise when you'd be expecting them to figure out next year's fully.

 

Hell the large groups I go on cruises rarely post cruises before the current year one goes out and they're just doing group bookings not charter. 

 

From the perspective of a charter group - they're not going to want to fully commit more than a year in advance. It's just not realistic as much as it sucks if you happen to book one of those cruises. 

[gatour]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

yes I agree with this last statement.   and yes of course it is about money but the idea of a charter is so the group can travel together.  They should try to offer the smaller and slightly older ships.  Never the brand new big ones.   oh well     

But what happens to the groups that can sell out the larger ships and their client group want the larger ship amenities.   Plus these whole ship charters will guarantee a per cabin premium over what the cruise ship would charge for that particular date/ship.

 

[Oceansaway17]

2 minutes ago, gatour said:

But what happens to the groups that can sell out the larger ships and their client group want the larger ship amenities.   Plus these whole ship charters will guarantee a per cabin premium over what the cruise ship would charge for that particular date/ship.

 

they still need to do a better job of handling all these charters and stop cancelling on folks who put down deposits.  there is no perfect answer but something needs to improve with posted and published cruises.

[SG65CB]

22 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

they still need to do a better job of handling all these charters and stop cancelling on folks who put down deposits.  there is no perfect answer but something needs to improve with posted and published cruises.

 

And they need to do a better job of accommodating people who have cruises canceled due to a charter. Need to give better replacement options with no financial jeopardy.  Imagine all the planning you put into cruise selection and then it's all out the window. They give you some not-so-good options and by the way on the replacement cruises the class of cabin you had booked is not available, too bad for you. 

[MississippiMom]

It has been YEARS, but we had a booked cruise canceled due to it becoming a full ship charter, and we received absolutely nothing for the cancellation.  We were working with a travel agent, too, so she was scrambling for us.  We wound up skipping a cruise that year and flew to Cancun.

[Merion_Mom]

On 2/21/2022 at 12:08 PM, HicksRA said:

I’d be changing dates.  
Live and let live, but not my crowd….

If it's an Atlantis cruise, you won't have the option of keeping your reservation.