Is There A Way To Tell A Chartered Or Group Cruise?

I'm curious about my March Eastern Caribbean cruise on Regal, which seems to have no longer have many available rooms all of a sudden. Is there a way to tell if this is a chartered cruise of some sort?

Quite possibly Princess is starting to assign guaranteed cabins. If concerned about large groups (I think charters take the entire ship) try googling Regal Princess and the departure date.

If it was chartered, you couldn't book on to that cruise unless you went through, and were a part of the group doing the chartering. If it was a large group, I would expect assignments would have been made by now.

A cruise next month? Could easily be assigning GTY bookings. But I have seen a black helicopter floating around...:evilsmile:

You could try Google to see if there is a large group on your cruise. Additionally, you could check HERE

I'm curious about my March Eastern Caribbean cruise on Regal, which seems to have no longer have many available rooms all of a sudden. Is there a way to tell if this is a chartered cruise of some sort?

Check your rollcall for any postings talking about a group.

We found that there were three large groups on our last cruise, but they made no difference in our enjoyment. The only way we were impacted was that each group had a white board outside the internet cafe which listed their daily schedule, and this was often their meeting point...so for 10-15 minutes each morning there would be a lot of people clustered in this area. Otherwise, there was no impact on our cruising at all.

Princess claims it is a privacy issue in not informing other booked passengers that there will be a large group on board. If they did, I would rethink my plans. I have been on a couple of cruises with large groups. I find that the cruise is a little bit more restricting. They are not "bad" passengers, just too many of them. Some are more rowdy than others. But that can happen on any voyage. It's more of an inconvenience to me.

If it was chartered, you couldn't book on to that cruise unless you went through, and were a part of the group doing the chartering. If it was a large group, I would expect assignments would have been made by now.

 

A cruise next month? Could easily be assigning GTY bookings. But I have seen a black helicopter floating around...:evilsmile:

Sorry - I meant to put in there March 2019!

Sorry - I meant to put in there March 2019!

In that case, a group could be booking. If it is a charter, it should disappear from the website, and they will be in touch for a move over or similar deal. You will not be allowed on a charter unless you are part of the group booking the ship.

There is a theme cruises website you can try...don't think I'm allowed to mention it here.

Google around. It's best not to be surprised with some of these groups as they can be extremely large. I was on one last month with Concerts@Sea of 800 people. We found the evening entertainment for the rest of the passengers was severely affected. Another time the theme cruise included about 600 people of alternative lifestyle which made a number of passengers uncomfortable...not me...but I understood that.

In that case, a group could be booking. If it is a charter, it should disappear from the website, and they will be in touch for a move over or similar deal. You will not be allowed on a charter unless you are part of the group booking the ship.

I think it is rare that Princess charters an entire ship outside of the China market.

More likely is that a group will have several hundred people on a cruise. Such a group could range from Santa Clauses to Chumley's Bears.

The main effect of such groups is that they often may choose to be in the same area together, such as the same swimming pool or dinner dining room. Sometimes a room normally open to everyone may be reserved for a few hours for the group, an example being the Vista Lounge.

These groups are usually not disruptive.

I did a duck duck go search (duck duck go is a great search engine - it doesn't keep track of you like Google.

Click here to find groups on that will be on the Regal in March 2019.