How does RCL continue to "oversell" their ships?

[Concord Slim]

We're booked on Harmony this Sat., April 1st.  Just received an email from RCL that the ship is oversold and several options we can choose from if we want to cancel/move cruise.  We're going with a bunch of friends and such otherwise I'd certainly take them up on option 3.  What do they do if no one takes them up on the offer?  Yet at the same time I keep getting offers to bid for upgraded rooms, so how can they have rooms to bid for but be over sold.  Wow just wow!

 

Dear Guest,

We're sorry to inform you that due to an unexpected inventory error, your scheduled Harmony of the Seas April 1^st, 2023 sailing is currently oversold.

If your travel plans are flexible, you may be able to take advantage of our special offer. Should you be willing to sail at a later date on a different itinerary, you may choose from the options we've outlined below.

Your Options

Option 1: Move to one of the select 2023 Harmony of the Seas sailings below:

• June 10^th, 2023 7-night Western Caribbean & Perfect Day sailing departing from Miami, Florida visiting:
  • Perfect Day at Coco Cay | Cozumel, Mexico | Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico | Roatan, Honduras
• June 17^th, 2023 7-night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day sailing departing from Miami, Florida visiting:
  • Perfect Day at Coco Cay | Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas | Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis

What you'll receive:

• Your original stateroom or higher, price will either be protected at your original cruise fare rate or reduced to the current cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
  • If your booking was already paid in full and your cruise fare rate decreases, we'll provide you with a refund for the difference.
  • You can expect to receive your refund to your original form of payment within 14 business days after we move you. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on your financial institution.
  • Please note, each sail date is subject to stateroom availability.

Option 2: Transfer to the August 19^th, 2023, Harmony of Seas sailing departing from Miami, Florida, and receive a 100% refund, plus a $100 USD Onboard Credit, per stateroom.

• 7-night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day sailing visiting:
  • Perfect Day at Coco Cay | Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas | Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis

What you'll receive:

• Royal Caribbean International will fully refund your current booking on Harmony of Seas, provide you a non-refundable $100 USD Onboard Credit per stateroom, PLUS, you'll receive a complimentary transfer to a similar sailing in the same category you previously booked. Please note, the complimentary transfer covers your cruise fare for the new sailing only and excludes taxes, fees & gratuities.
  • You can expect to receive your refund to your original form of payment and your Onboard Credit applied to your booking within 14 business days after we move you. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on your financial institution.
  • Please note, this option is subject to stateroom availability.

Option 3: If you choose to cancel, we'll be sad to see you go. You'll receive a 100% refund, plus a 100% Future Cruise Credit to book an alternate Royal Caribbean sailing.

What you'll receive:

• Royal Caribbean International will fully refund your current booking on Harmony of Seas. PLUS, we'll give you a Future Cruise Credit (`FCC') valued at 100% of the cruise fare paid on your current booking to book an alternative RCI sailing departing by April 1^st , 2024.
• If you used a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) to pay for your reservation, any NEW funds paid above the certificate amount will be refunded and the original FCC will be reinstated and valid for a year from issuance.

Regardless of which option you choose, we'll also reimburse you for any non-refundable, pre-purchased travel expenses (e.g. hotel, flight) you have incurred.

Please note that this special offer is time-limited and subject to availability. If you're happy to be excluded from the special offer, please disregard this email - no further action is required.

If you're interested, please submit your current booking details no later than March 30^th, 2023 via the survey link here. This is the only way to apply for the special offer, as our Call Center teams are unable to process any enquiries over the phone. If you're successful, we'll reach out by either phone or email and send an updated booking invoice to your given email. If you're not contacted by us, you will remain booked on your existing Harmony of the Seas sailing.

Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.

Sincerely,

Royal Caribbean International

Edited March 28, 2023 by Concord Slim

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, Concord Slim said:

What do they do if no one takes them up on the offer? 

Welcome to CC.

They will - they just up the offer enough for some to take it.

[Concord Slim]

Just now, Biker19 said:

Welcome to CC.

They will - they just up the offer enough for some to take it.

 

Thanks!  Been here a long time never post though, just a lurker!  lol  Yeah, that's what I figured just seems odd that they've been hitting us with RoyalUp the last few days and then this oversold today...  We cruise 3-4 times a year mostly on RCL so normally we'd take them up but again we're going with a larger group...  

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, Concord Slim said:

Yeah, that's what I figured just seems odd that they've been hitting us with RoyalUp the last few days and then this oversold today..

The Royal Up offers are likely a separate automated process without any regard to inventory. The oversold situation is likely limited to just a couple of categories (likely selling too many GTY bookings) - folks have won Royal Ups many times with a seemingly sold-out ship.

Edited March 28, 2023 by Biker19

[molly361]

Who would pick Option # 1 ??  

[jaredhamburg]

15 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Who would pick Option # 1 ??  

Right?  I kind of hope I get offered an option # 3 at some point for my July 20, 20224, sailing on Harmony of the Seas....

[SG65CB]

14 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Who would pick Option # 1 ??  

 

Yes, especially since option 2 is basically the same thing but with a full refund included. 

 

Option 1 in the suite class there are only owner's suites and junior suites left on June 10, and no suites at all on June 17. So much for that price protection in the same class offer. 

 

Surprisingly there are suites of all types available for the August 19 cruise, I would have thought all of those would magically disappear too.

 

 

[HappyTexan44]

 

There is no excuse for overselling a cruise.   With planes, if you don't show up they let you on the next plan if there is room.  So, airlines have an excuse to oversell, since they don't get money for that empty seat.  

 

But on a cruise, they have all your money long before the cruise and are going to keep it even if you don't show up.   So, I think that is a genuine question, how do they keep overselling their ships?    There might be something I am missing.  

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

So, I think that is a genuine question, how do they keep overselling their ships? 

One is likely selling too many GTY, a second is that they take a bunch of cabins out of service (to fix them, whatever), there are likely more reasons.

[peter1975]

41 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

There is no excuse for overselling a cruise.   With planes, if you don't show up they let you on the next plan if there is room.  So, airlines have an excuse to oversell, since they don't get money for that empty seat.  

 

But on a cruise, they have all your money long before the cruise and are going to keep it even if you don't show up.   So, I think that is a genuine question, how do they keep overselling their ships?    There might be something I am missing.  

 This has been done forever; it's nothing new.   There are perfectly valid reasons for doing this, regardless of whether you understand or agree.  

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

33 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

One is likely selling too many GTY, a second is that they take a bunch of cabins out of service (to fix them, whatever), there are likely more reasons.

I get the second one.  That actually makes a lot of sense.  But how do you sell too many GTY?  It shouldn't be too hard to program the computer to say: "Total number of <cabin type> - pick your own - GTY <cabin type>"  If that formula = 0, don't sell any more.

 

So let's say there's 500 balcony rooms.  If they sell 300 GTY and 200 "pick your own", there are no more balconies available.  Now, if they're assuming they can bump the GTY into suites, then the suites sell out, that's poor business practice IMO.  Have balconies "sell out", then open them again once you assign GTY's into suites.  

 

Just my opinion of course. 

[Biker19]

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

It shouldn't be too hard to program the computer to say: "Total number of <cabin type> - pick your own - GTY <cabin type>"  If that formula = 0, don't sell any more.

We're talking about RCI IT here, so..........

[plethera1]

Would be disappointing if they forced you to eventually take one of those but those last couple options are pretty sweet if you can move.  Is this something that only happens for GTY rooms, I assume?  Doesn't seem to make sense if you know your cabin that they'd sell it again.  I guess they can offer it to everyone still and just put a GTY in your room should you take it.

[not-enough-cruising]

21 minutes ago, peter1975 said:

 This has been done forever; it's nothing new.   There are perfectly valid reasons for doing this, regardless of whether you understand or agree.  

There is no valid reason to inconvenience a customer to this degree, especially considering the amount of money invested by the customer.

[HappyTexan44]

I guess it is only a big problem if they cancel someone's reservation that doesn't want it cancelled.   But, I seem to remember a thread of them doing just that a few months ago.  

[Concord Slim]

22 minutes ago, plethera1 said:

Would be disappointing if they forced you to eventually take one of those but those last couple options are pretty sweet if you can move.  Is this something that only happens for GTY rooms, I assume?  Doesn't seem to make sense if you know your cabin that they'd sell it again.  I guess they can offer it to everyone still and just put a GTY in your room should you take it.

No, we always pick our own room as we did on this cruise.  If we weren't traveling with friends I would take option three and just book something else.  None of the other folks we're traveling with have received this offer and they all have selected rooms as well.  We're Diamond status and the others are not, no clue if that comes into play?  We also have five other cruises booked with RCL over the next 18 months or so, again not sure something like that comes into play when making these "offers"?  

[not-enough-cruising]

16 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I guess it is only a big problem if they cancel someone's reservation that doesn't want it cancelled.   But, I seem to remember a thread of them doing just that a few months ago.  

Yes, that has been reported a couple 

times recently 

[SG65CB]

They are not necessarily giving anyone this offer, right now they are just asking who is interested, later they'll tell you if they are actually giving you the offer.

 

This leaves you up in the air waiting to hear, with no mention of when you'll hear by. The only way you know if you are not accepted is if you don't ever hear anything by the time the ship leaves.

 

It seems they really need to notify the people not accepted too, otherwise they're in limbo until the ship sails. 

 

 

3 hours ago, Concord Slim said:

If you're interested, please submit your current booking details no later than March 30^th, 2023 via the survey link here. This is the only way to apply for the special offer, as our Call Center teams are unable to process any enquiries over the phone. If you're successful, we'll reach out by either phone or email and send an updated booking invoice to your given email. If you're not contacted by us, you will remain booked on your existing Harmony of the Seas sailing.

 

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

12 minutes ago, Concord Slim said:

No, we always pick our own room as we did on this cruise.  If we weren't traveling with friends I would take option three and just book something else.  None of the other folks we're traveling with have received this offer and they all have selected rooms as well.  We're Diamond status and the others are not, no clue if that comes into play?  We also have five other cruises booked with RCL over the next 18 months or so, again not sure something like that comes into play when making these "offers"?  

By any chance are you in Florida and the others are out of state?  The sailing is on Saturday and they just came out with this email NOW?  Anyone who needs to fly is already out the cost of the flights, possible hotel and transportation cost, and possibly vacation time.  

[Concord Slim]

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

By any chance are you in Florida and the others are out of state?  The sailing is on Saturday and they just came out with this email NOW?  Anyone who needs to fly is already out the cost of the flights, possible hotel and transportation cost, and possibly vacation time.  

No we're in Ohio as are the others...  It says in the email they will cover costs for flights and hotels as well...  As others mentioned it doesn't seem like a guarantee if you sign up, and we are flying down early to spend some time at the beach so that would have complicated things.  No clue what the criteria is for who gets the offer if more people sign up than they need?  Probably, based on revenue per room and how much they'd have to compensate for the room and credit for another cruise.  Just my guess...    

[plethera1]

33 minutes ago, Concord Slim said:

No we're in Ohio as are the others...  It says in the email they will cover costs for flights and hotels as well...  As others mentioned it doesn't seem like a guarantee if you sign up, and we are flying down early to spend some time at the beach so that would have complicated things.  No clue what the criteria is for who gets the offer if more people sign up than they need?  Probably, based on revenue per room and how much they'd have to compensate for the room and credit for another cruise.  Just my guess...    

I guess this goes to show how much they are making on these rooms if they can afford to pay all this to move someone.  Otherwise, they wouldn't overbook the boats.

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

52 minutes ago, Concord Slim said:

No we're in Ohio as are the others...  It says in the email they will cover costs for flights and hotels as well...  As others mentioned it doesn't seem like a guarantee if you sign up, and we are flying down early to spend some time at the beach so that would have complicated things.  No clue what the criteria is for who gets the offer if more people sign up than they need?  Probably, based on revenue per room and how much they'd have to compensate for the room and credit for another cruise.  Just my guess...    

So much for that theory.

 

If it was just me and DW, I'd be tempted to cancel and get the refund + 100%.  Then simply spend the week in Florida (since airfare is already paid for).  

[mugtech]

Happened to us 6 years ago with NCL, We got a full refund plus $1,100 credit which we used on a previously booked cruise 7 months later, making the second cruise almost free.

[Starry Eyes]

4 hours ago, molly361 said:

Who would pick Option # 1 ??  

Not many people would pick option #1, but maybe for personal reasons someone would rather cruise in June.  
Option 2 does not work for everyone as many schools are back in session.

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, Concord Slim said:

No, we always pick our own room as we did on this cruise.  If we weren't traveling with friends I would take option three and just book something else.  None of the other folks we're traveling with have received this offer and they all have selected rooms as well.  We're Diamond status and the others are not, no clue if that comes into play?  We also have five other cruises booked with RCL over the next 18 months or so, again not sure something like that comes into play when making these "offers"?  

What category cabin did you book and how many guests?  Are your friends in same category with same capacity?

 

Just as you would be inclined to accept option 3 (if not for your friends), others on the ship will also be tempted by the offer.  I suspect Royal will get sufficient volunteers.

Edited March 28, 2023 by Starry Eyes