Overbooking of Cruise Ships

[MrBill64]

Thought it would be interesting to discuss the overbooking of cruise ships. I have read on these boards of different stories of past cruisers that have been offered all sorts of perks to give up their cabins due to the cruise line overbooking their cruise. Some offers have been pretty impressive. I realize this topic has been covered before but I would like to add a different twist. I was wondering what it would take for those about to set sail on a cruise to give up their cabin. For those of you who would not give up their cabin for any offer, this thread should be ignored. But for those who would “take the bump”, it might be a good idea to have an idea of what it would take if/when your TA calls and says the cruise line has oversold your cruise and has an offer for you to give up your cabin.

 

Bill

[Toto2Kansas]

I think the ones that would not bat an eye at excepting the bumps are those that do not have to adhere to a vacation schedule. Most cruisers plan quite a bit ahead and have to put in for vacation to take their cruise. Plus if they have booked their own airfare, then there is usually a penalty for changing the flight dates.

Only those that might own their own business, have a more flexible schedule or are retired could actually take advantage of these great offers that sometimes arise. Also those that booked air fare through the cruise line as they do the switching around for you at no additional cost.

Personally, for us to except an offer, it would have to include a great upgrade and possibly shipboard credit along with being reimbursed for air fare changes since we almost always book that ourselves. Even though we own our own business and can pretty much take vacation at our leisure, we still look very forward to our cruise and the time frame that we have it booked. We also have to make arrangements for things like animals.

So, they would have to make us a pretty good offer to give up our staterrom in order for us to switch to a different sailing I think.

[bearette]

I would take a half price cruise since my schedule is more flexible, but since my husband's is not I would want a free cruise. I am about to start a masters program and then my schedule would be less flexible so it would take more to get me to switch. For example I have a cheaper January sailing booked now. In order to change it I would want a similiar sailing in the summer when prices are more expensive, but I have the time to go. I think everyone has a price. The price is just different for different people!

[czarinahil]

I have actually been bumped from a cruise. It was my honeymoon 6 1/2 years ago. We were scheduled to be on the Century with Celebrity in a mini suite sailing the eastern carribean. The cruise was leaving a week after our wedding since the ship sailed on a Saturday and we got married on a Sunday. In the week prior to the cruise or travel agent kept getting called asking if we would switch dates for different cruise credit amounts. we said no three times (since it was our honeymoon for pete's sake!!). Finally they called and said they would switchus to the Grandeur of the Seas on RCCL doing eastern carribean on the same dates and upgrade us to a suite and give it to us for free would we switch now. We said hell yeah!! I am a little sad that we did not get to go on Celebrity bit we loved our time on the Grandeur. And our table mates had also been bumped from the Century but they did not hold out as long as we did and only gota cruise credit of several hundred dollars.

 

Hilary

[CruiseMark]

I've never heard of any cruise line doing this, aside from is a cruise gets cancelled for whatever reason (rare) and they offer passengers incentives to make room for others.

[amy hood]

We were upgraded from an AC to a PH on the Golden a few years back when they had overbooked a cruise. Because we could change our dates since we are self-emploed. We cruised during our daughter's spring beak from school.

They were even going to reimberse us for the charges that the airlines would charge us if we changed our airfare. Since we drove that service wasn't needed.

Now if we were traveling with a group wen wouldn't change like that. Our next cruise they are 11 of us.:D

[elmtree]

Why would it pay the cruise line to offer large amounts of money or upgrades for other cruises..Won't they be losing money? What is the reasoning for this. Just to fill one cruise and then have to lose money on another? Doesn't make sense to me...Course, I have never been offered anything or had that option, but we could not accept anything...as our vacations are pretty well locked in stone..

[marvholly]

Back in the days when I would have been free to accept a bump as hubby was retired and I am pretty free to make my own scheule at work I would have wanted (assuming a cruise of 7/more days):

1) Shipboard credit to equal the amount it would cost to change my air tickets, repay me for my car and hotel (priceline pre paid)

2) A VERY significant discount on ANY cruise I would book at least 6 months in advance with NO date restrictions.

 

Today I can not do this at all as I travelwith my adult kids who are teachers and we are stuck with their schedules.

[Johanna7]

If you book a cruise, take out insurance (not cheap when over a certain age) and then change the date, would you not lose that insurance and if you take a later (or earlier) cruise buy insurance for that one too? Of course if you also have to change air, you may have to pay a lot more if you got a seat sale and so on.

 

Celebrity and RCCL are the same company. When we were on the Splendour, the future cruise person was booking future cruises on both lines. No, in that case, they did not lose.

 

Maybe they needed the original cabins for a larger convention which brings mega $$$$.

[West Coast]

Why would it pay the cruise line to offer large amounts of money or upgrades for other cruises..Won't they be losing money? What is the reasoning for this. Just to fill one cruise and then have to lose money on another? Doesn't make sense to me...Course, I have never been offered anything or had that option, but we could not accept anything...as our vacations are pretty well locked in stone..

Once you have purcahsed a cruise (i.e., full payment) you have entered into a contract for certain goods and services. Cruiselines often overbook and sometimes end up with more people than cabins, so they will do whatever it takes to get people off of a sold out ship. If they didn't, you (who has a contract) could sue them and this is not something the cruise line wants. It may cost them a few bucks, but in the end it's much better to have 'happy' customers than suffer the reputational risk.

[elmtree]

Ohhhh I see...I didn't thing about that! I see where a person could have them over a barrell....But still another question please...Why and how would they overbook? Don't they know when they are full up, and just stop taking reservations...

[zurmoly]

Let me ask this. If you have paid for your final cruise and now go and see the prices are now about 1500.00 higher than what you paid, is the ship just about fully booked? I noticed this for our cruise in Feb..

[chrysalis]

elmtree...it is just like what the airlines do....they know that a certain percentage of people cancel out or do not show up (easier to do if you have insurance), so they overbook rather than have empty cabins...all the while hoping that it gets sorted out in the final few days. Sometimes it does, and sometimes not.

[West Coast]

Ohhhh I see...I didn't thing about that! I see where a person could have them over a barrell....But still another question please...Why and how would they overbook? Don't they know when they are full up, and just stop taking reservations...

Many cruise lines have a number of guarantee cabins in certain categories. When you see that only GTY cabins are available, you can be sure that that category is filling up. One of the reasons for overselling is because people book and cancel right before final payment is due. Then, those who have booked GTY can be slotted in. Also, many travel agencies take 'block' space whereby they agree to sell x cabins of a certain category. If they have not sold these cabins by a certain date, they are released back to the cruise line. The cruise lines like to have full ships, so they oversell because they know they will be getting cabins back from TA's and from people will cancel just prior to final payment being due.

[elmtree]

Thank you for answering my question guys!

This board is great!

I learn stuff I didn't know I needed to know and answers to stupid questions I didn't know were stupid..Ha..thanks again..

[WCAB]

A few years ago, my husband and I were booked to take a Hawaii cruise. 3 weeks prior to the cruise, our travel agent called and said the ship had over booked. The cruise line offered us a tour of the Holy Lands, an outside cabin with two additional cruse days for the price we had paid. The cruise dates, were at the same time. We took the offer. We had to really scramble to get passports but it was the most wonder cruise we have had so far. So if I am ever in this situation again, if the destination is desirable and I can go somewhere I could not normally afford to go, I would jump at the chance.

 

Carol

[wander]

One time we were offered a wonderful deal to change cruises because of an overbooking. When we got the call from our TA she said the offer had been sent-out to a number of folks and the first few to accept it would be changed. We switched, getting 6 days more of cruiseing, $1000 back each and an upgrade (nothing spectacular). Our new plans were for back to back cruises, one the inagural cruise of an S class ship and then its second cruise. Well, the ship was not ready on schedule so 4 weeks before we were to leave the first cruise was cancelled. They offered us more money back, etc. We wanted a longer cruise so perused the brochures and found another cruise that was longer yet and more expensive per day than our original cruise. on a per day basis than our then. We asked what they would charge us to change to this longer cruise. They said nothing extra and we would still get the now $2,000 per person back. Boy did we grab it. We call it our almost "free".

 

Now our original cruise involved the Mediterranian Sea, as did our the first half of our replacement cruise. Our final cruise was in Asia and the South Pacifie. (Hong Kong to LA) As we had made our original air reservations through the cruise line, they also kept changing our tickets for no charge since the changes were at their request. That was an experience of a lifetime in terms of what we saw and what we paid.

 

Now, one amusing thing was that the night before the final change I went to the Bookstore and bought several books on some of the Mediterran areas we planned to visit. The next evening I returned the books and bought some on Asia. They probably throught I was really confused or an awful quicker reader.

 

So, yes, sometimes wonderful deal do occur.

 

We had another wonderful experience but it was due to 9/11. We were scheduled for a 32 day trip in October that included the Suez Canal, Egypt, Jordan and Israel. We had to go around Africa instead so they added 12 days, gave us some credit for use with excursions, bar, etc. and covered all our tips. Wow. Still many, many people had cancelled so for the first week there were less passengers than crew. Due to a last minute special run in the UK, many joined us after the first week, but the ship was never more than half full. That was fun! What service! A wonderful trip in sad times.

[MrBill64]

Here is a scenario that might explain why cruise lines overbook. Take a typical 7 day cruise that has cabins priced at $2000 if booked 6 months or more in advance. THose same cabins 2 months before the cruise sails now cost $3000 (no more early booking discount) The cruise line overbooks hoping that someone that paid $2000 will cancel. If not they try to compensate the person who paid $2000 so they can keep the person who paid $3000. Sometimes they have to pay more than the $1000 difference to compensate the passenger that bought his cruise at the lower rate. But if the person who pays $2000 cancels, the cruise line is in a win win situation because of the penalties that occur from someone cancelling so close to their sail date. Remember, the cruise line still gets to keep most of their money if someone cancels close to their sail date.

 

I am sure that the cruise line has statistics that show what percentage of cruises are cancelled at certain points after final payment is due and thus overbook by those percentages in hopes of cashing in by selling a cabin twice. Once to someone who cancels and once to someone who actually sails.

[DesertDaisy]

It happened to us! We were booked on the Sky Princess inside to Alaska in early June, l998. There were about 20 of us in the group. We were offered a balcony cabin and $100 shipboard credit on the Crown to change to a late July date. Our half of the group (one family, 10 of us, accepted.) It was probably my best cruise , if there is such a thing. I remember docking in Seward and hanging on to the balcony railing saying I won't get off, no way, never! This was our first balcony! Phyllis

P.S. Roger, my brother-in-law, are you out there?

[Coral]

I was called this summer (3 days before the cruise) about being bumped form an Alaskan cruise. Princess offered me a July cruise (verses my May cruise) instead. They were willing to give me the cost of my cruise as shipboard credit on the July cruise. What money I did not use, I could take as cash at the end of the trip. They also offered an upgrade and a $100 change fee for air. I had to say no due to work constraints.

 

They had called the week earlier and had offered the 2nd person in my cabin to go free. I said no then also.

 

So, Princess starts with an offer and if they don't get takers, the reward keeps getting better.

[Cruisin' Chick]

The day before our departure on the Star Princess in Feb. '03 we got a call from Princess saying they were overbooked and offered a free cruise and an upgrade to a balcony if we wait two weeks. We're guessing they noticed we live just a drive from San Pedro and perhaps they wanted to clear a cabin for more security (the security level has just risen that week to Orange). The reasons we didn't accept:

1. We were already packed (yes indeedy)

2. We already informed work and school (even had our child's homework for the week to take with - yes kinderkids have homework and lots of it)

3. We were looking forward to it (you'all know that feeling :)

4. We didn't want the balcony as we have the child

5. We actually got a really nice deal anyway because someone got us an employee discount (wouldn't mind that again)

 

But I guess if your time is flexible, it would be great.

[Druke I]

Several years ago, on the old Pacific Princess, we were asked to take a bump, as late as the morning of our flight to the ship, Honolulu to Ensenada.

The offer was a free cruise through the Panama Canal, in a mini-suite, with a full refund of fare paid. Having been through the canal three times, we declined. We countered, and asked for a Norwegian Fjords cruise, with free air. Princess offered the cruise, but wouldn't budge on the air.

 

We kept our Honolulu/Ensenada cruise, as we wanted that particular itinerary.

 

We later found out some East Coast cruisers took the bump, and got the Fjords cruise with free air. Of course, the air fare was much lower from the East than the West, so Princess had to absorb less.

 

The ship had been overbooked, and they needed cabins. It does happen from time to time, on many shipping lines.