I'm embarrassed to ask this, but ...

[MattInFLL]

Airlines oversell their planes all the time, and people get bumped all the time. My flight to Frankfurt on Lufthansa in June, they were begging people to volunteer for a bump and they would get a refund, free hotel and food for the night, a free flight the next day and $800... finally enough volunteered. On my way back from Europe through JFK, a similar thing happened on my flight to LA on United.. very very common.

 

While it might tick you off - it would tick me off, too - this happens very rarely with cruise ships, especially in terms of charters. There are not *that* many travel groups out there with the financial ability to charter today's megaships. And the reason they don't tell you way ahead of time is because they are negotiating.. if they took the ship off sale during the negotiations, then they risk losing bookings... they would rather risk upsetting a few people, who might be very happy to get a credit and take a different cruise. If you owned the company, I doubt any of us would act differently. It would not be financially smart, and they have to answer to investors. And most charters are done a year or more in advance. The company chartering needs at least a year to market the cruise.

 

As for airfare... in today's airline market you get great deals anytime, even a week before sailing. I book last minute trips all the time with United, and often get better fares 7 days in advance than were available way in advance. The only time this is not possible is during big holiday periods. And companies like Jet Blue and Southwest always have low fares available. It's not a good idea to book air or hotel too far in advance. Or if you do, you should get travel insurance.

 

As for the fine print in your cruise docs.. if you read between the lines of those contracts, there's a lot more to be concerned about than bumping. Basically, those contracts are written to give the cruise line the right to do whatever they want..and they get away with it.

[slavearlen]

Matt, I totally agree with everything that you said here with one exception. According to the messages posted here, these people could have made their airline reservations on the week of their departure. Some of them were bumped on their way to the airport for their scheduled cruise. At some point you have to make your airline reservations to ensure you can get a seat on the plane. So the definition of "in advance" is relative. My air for San Juan was booked in January on Expedia for an October, 2004 departure. That's definitely in advance but my fair is $400 r.t. from Texas, now it's over $800 r.t. I have travel insurance and always do. But it does not cover being bumped on the way to the airport to take a cruise.

 

I operate a business and totally understand all the behind the scenes ramificaitons of doing business, etc. And I understand negotiating, etc. But to read some of these posts, these bumps occurred almost on the day of departure. And those airline tickets are a huge ouch!

 

Your right, there is nothing we can do about it. Either way you slice it, it isn't a good business practice but they will continue to do as they want and we will continue to have to deal with the ramifications.

 

Right now, it has not happened to me and I hope that it never does. I will not be a happy camper, that is for sure!

 

Thanks Matt!

[MattInFLL]

Oh you're absolutely right.. bumping the day of departure would be completely unacceptable and shouldn't happen. I was speaking more to the idea of the charters..

 

As for air fare, here's what I do. I am registered for fare alerts at Travelocity and Orbitz. I load the city pairs I am looking at (or fly frequently) and set it up to e-mail me when fares change by more than $25. You would be amazed at how much airfares go up and down all the time on the same route/date/airline.

 

Another idea is to book the airfare with the cruise line as a safety. That way, you can be assured of having your flights while you hunt for better air on your own. You can cancel the cruise line air up until final payment date.

[Chicagomom]

The leagalise is is in the brochure under Additional Information in the section called "What about advanced or delayed sailings and changes in itenerary?" It states "In the event of strikes, lockouts, riots, weather conditions or mechanical difficulties or for any reason whatsoever, Royal Caribean may at any time and without prior notice cancel, advance, postpone, or deviate from any scheduled sailing or port of call"

 

Maybe I'm not reading this right, but according to this wording I don't see how this applies to someone being bumped off a sailing because of a charter. RC is NOT cancelling, advancing, postponing, or deviating for the scheduled sailing or port of call. They are still taking that ship on that itenirary to those ports on the days I was scheduled to take them. They've just decided I can not be on board the ship.

 

Am I missing something here?

[slavearlen]

MattinFLL, the shopping for airfare game is more than familiar to me. The bottom line is, the later your book your air, the higher the price. Yes, you can find deals, in the middle of the night when all the airlines drop their prices for about one hour (while you sleep), and if your so lucky to be up, you get the deal. I have done the airfare with the cruise (which is absolutely higher than anytime I've traveled) and once kept it and the other time canceled as you suggested. The real deals are in advance, always.

 

The bottom line here is that bumping passengers is not only a poor PR move, but it also sending out a bad message. If your suggestion that their "negotiating" is correct, that means that when they took my reservation, took my deposit and allowed me the option of booking my own air, they were not being up front and honest with me. As I stated before, I am a repeat cruiser. Some of these people cruise hundreds of times in their lifetimes and many of them frequent the same cruise line out of loyalty. When the cruise lines are doing their "negotiating" with ABC Group, they thumb their nose at the vary clientel their trying to attract ... repeat business. It's not right and it is going on simply because they can and we can't do anything about it. This industry is lucritive right now so they have no fear. It has the potential to bite them in the b... in the long term.

 

Chicagomom, no, your not missing anything. The statement does not cover bumping because of a charter. Unless there is something in writing elsewhere, it simply doesn't cut it.

 

Once again, their in charge and their decisions are not, in my opinion, good ones on this issue.

[imsulin]

Whole-ship charters have been around for years, and ALL major cruise lines do it! If you say, "Well, I'm not going to sail on XXX cruise line because of this", you can be assured that cruiselines YYY and ZZZ will do exactly the same thing! It's ALL ABOUT MONEY. You see yourself as a "loyal cruiser" to a line, and they just see you as a booking number with money. It's all very impersonal, because of the thousands of passengers who cruise each week. While you can say, Look, I've cruised on your line 14 times, and I expect to be treated better than this", you will most likely hear nothing but "Sorry", and an offer of a different ship/sailing/upgrade. If the cruise line loses you as a "loyal" customer, they will probably gain a few hundred more from the passengers on those whole-ship charters. If you book your own air, that's YOUR choice, and the cruise line will not take responsibility for it. I always book my own air, too. Sorry to sound unsympathetic (it's happened to me, too), but that's the reality.

[slavearlen]

Whole-ship charters have been around for years, and ALL major cruise lines do it! If you say, "Well, I'm not going to sail on XXX cruise line because of this", you can be assured that cruiselines YYY and ZZZ will do exactly the same thing! It's ALL ABOUT MONEY. You see yourself as a "loyal cruiser" to a line, and they just see you as a booking number with money. It's all very impersonal, because of the thousands of passengers who cruise each week. While you can say, Look, I've cruised on your line 14 times, and I expect to be treated better than this", you will most likely hear nothing but "Sorry", and an offer of a different ship/sailing/upgrade. If the cruise line loses you as a "loyal" customer, they will probably gain a few hundred more from the passengers on those whole-ship charters. If you book your own air, that's YOUR choice, and the cruise line will not take responsibility for it. I always book my own air, too. Sorry to sound unsympathetic (it's happened to me, too), but that's the reality.

 

Appreciate your input and you don't sound unsympathetic. You are absolutely right and there is nothing we can do about it. It is about money, pure and simple. The industry is lucritive and they don't have to care. But we can all vent and complain .... sure feels good. We won't go down without a fight!!!

 

Happy crusing everyone and here's hoping for no charters!!!!!!