Mr Williams/RCCL When do you intend to inform us that our 1/29/05 is cancelled?

[want2seaitall]

shelby...I'm with you...I'm also on a cruise out of CA in Feb on the 20th...during kids vacation...and you and I know...they sell out quick for those weeks and the seats that aren't sold out...go for a pretty penny if you wait...I'm just waiting for Jetblue to release the dates...and I'm booking...history shows that if anything...the prices go up...atleast in my experiences. For my last cruise in April...I booked it in November and immediately started looked at flights...a flight that costs me $160 roundtrip was going for almost $400...so we drove. I think that...maybe during travel times that are not so popular...the rates may have a tendency to drop.

 

My first balcony on the Vision!!! 2/20/05

RCCL Majesty of the Seas - April 2004

Carnival Inspiration - June 2003

RCCL Monarch of the Seas - July 2002

 

 

[KauaiBruce]

I will retract 'some' of my booking early comment. I agree you have to book as early as possible for extremely heavy weeks. It is also smart to get good discounts whenever you can. In MY case I have done 90% of my travel to and from Hawaii for the last 15 years and we just do not get that many deals.

[paddy Anne]

I am with my fellow Canadain Rusty and would have stayed on the cruise. I am sure that my DH and 2 DD's would have had a great time like we would have had on any crusie.

 

Carnival Triumph 04/2000

Norwegian Sun 02/2004

Brilliance of the Seas 03/2005

Brilliance of the Seas 03/07/2005

[mbisson]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KauaiBruce:

 

 

They did not do anything kinky with the excape artist. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Well, the other option is the attempted murder.

 

Oh my! BTW-Like your sense of humor.

 

-Monte

[abridalmaven]

Last May we were on a ship with 1500 from a group, they were loud sometimes, but mostly fun people.And the Adventure was big enough for all of us!

And unless I had a great deal on airfare, I never book that far ahead. Do you know that far out, you flight has big chance of being canelled? It happened to my son for his honeymoon.And they had nothing to replace it, we had to charge it on a new card as he other one would take awhile before the credit to take effect. Airlines are not flexible even if it is their fault.

 

 

My vacation pics

http://community.webshots.com/user/abridalmaven

Norwegian Dawn May 23

[jezzdogg]

For president's week here in the northeast, you must buy your air as soon as it is offered as then price goes thru the roof. Last year bought tickets on American, when they change the scheduled they just change the times of my tickets and to compenste flew me first class(for this I paid 124 pp from lga to fll), This year I was away on a cruise when the tickets for those dates where release, the best I could do was on Song for 206. The tickets are now is the 500 range for that week 2005.

 

norm

[jemingway]

If a gay cruise is staring you in the face(or elsewhere) and you are not gay, then I would suggest covering your bets by booking other cruises. The deposits are refundable, so why not book 3 or 4 just to say you did?

 

JV The 4 stages of cruising: planning, anticipation, experience and reflection.

[tommoore1]

jemingway:

You forgot the FIFTH stage: DEPRESSION!!! (unless you've booked a couple of cruises in the near and far future!)

 

'Till we're back on the high seas

 

.....And.....

 

'Till our Alaskan adventure

[balconyonly]

They must do well from those cruises judging by how many they have scheduled and all with RCI/Celebrity

 

Greek Isles and Olympics Cruise

Venice to Barcelona

Plus Athens during the 2004 Olympics

Celebrity Millennium.

Sold Out - Waitlist Available

August 27–September 6, 2004

 

Acapulco & Mexican Riviera Cruise

Eight Fabulous Nights from San Diego

Awesome New Radiance of the Seas

The Ultimate West Coast Cruise,from $799.

October 16–-24, 2004

 

The Largest Gay Cruise in History

Miami, San Juan & St. Martin

Navigator of the Seas

More of everything from $999

January 29 – February 5, 2005

 

Barcelona to Athens Cruise

Ibiza, Italy, Istanbul and Mykonos

Celebrity Millennium

9 night itinerary from $1699

July 29 – August 7, 2005

 

Summer in Alaska Cruise

Vancouver to the best of Alaska

Celebrity Infinity

The best season to sail from $899

August 21 – 28, 2005

[atlantiscruiser]

Actually Atlantis chartered this trip a year in advance and advertised it during last year's cruise. With respect to not having sufficient booking, the trip was almost completely booked within weeks. I hope you all are compensated for your lost airfair, etc. Best of Luck...

[lmmn]

Atlantiscruiser -

Welcome to the boards....are you going on this cruise?

 

I'm surprised none of us CC people did not hear about this until now. Aren't we usually right on top these things? The charters I would think would be somewhat risky to cruiselines if loyal customers are booking and lose money on airfare, etc. I personally would take business elsewhere if I'm unhappy with the way I've been treated.

 

Explorer of the Seas ~ 10/02

Majesty of the Seas ~ 1/03

Majesty of the Seas ~ 8/11/03

Navigator of the Seas ~ 10/11/03

Serenade of the Seas ~ 1/31/04

Caribbean Princess ~ 8/14/04

Adventure of the Seas ~ 1/30/05

[want2seaitall]

Well if that is true atlantis...then RCCL handled this very poorly.

 

My first balcony on the Vision!!! 2/20/05

RCCL Majesty of the Seas - April 2004

Carnival Inspiration - June 2003

RCCL Monarch of the Seas - July 2002

 

 

[West Coast]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dentalchic:

Well if that is true atlantis...then RCCL handled this very poorly.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

We heard back from our TA today. He had contacted his RCL sales rep to enquire on our behalf. The sales rep acknowledged the ship had been chartered for this sailing. He gave our TA a number to call once RCL has made an official announcement. The sales rep also advised our TA to WAIT until RCL makes an announcement as to what compensation (if any) they are offering before rebooking us.

 

So, we continue to wait patiently

[want2seaitall]

West Coast...I think that is your best bet...I would hope that they would compensate you in some way.

 

My first balcony on the Vision!!! 2/20/05

RCCL Majesty of the Seas - April 2004

Carnival Inspiration - June 2003

RCCL Monarch of the Seas - July 2002

 

 

[Mark_K]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dentalchic:

Well if that is true atlantis...then RCCL handled this very poorly.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>What atlantiscruiser is saying contradicts kauaibruce, who said that the agreements were just recently finalized and Atlantis has just began accepting payments.

 

Personally, I would believe someone (kauaibruce) who's been around the boards a while and known to give good input over someone who's making their first post.

 

----------------------------------------------------------

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits" Mark Twain

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's formal night attire, poolside attire, child rearing practices, walk-talkie usage, chair hogging, seat saving, line cutting ..." Mark_K

[KauaiBruce]

We are both correct. They have been taking bookings and getting our charge card numbers since at least January. They just did not PROCESS the charges until recently. I did hear that some travel agents who book the charters did charge peoples cards but Atlantis did not accept any money from the Travel Agents. It is also possible that people thought they were charged because they gave the numbers but they never noticed that no charge had been made yet.

I saw the master ships chart while on the Hawaii cruise in March and I could not believe how many rooms had been reserved that far out. I reserved mine the week before the cruise to avoid the long lines they always have during the cruises.

Balcony only: You made a great point that they are doing well. They discount very little but have a huge number of repeat guests. Our last cruise was our 5th and there were at least 200 people I recognized from earlier cruises.

BTW: I am booked on three of those upcoming cruises. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

KauaiBruce

NCL Star 3/2002 (Atlantis Hawaii)
RCI Splendor 9/2002 (Atlantis Europe)
NCL Dawn 1/2003 (Atlantis Caribbean)
Splendor of the Seas 8/2003 (Atlantis Europe)
NCL STAR 3/2004 (Atlantis Hawaii)
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00bfff&cdt=2004;10;16;20;00;00&timezone=GMT-1000[/img]
Days until
RCI Radiance of the Seas 1o/2004 (Atlantis Mexican Riviera)

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00bfff&cdt=2005;1;25;20;00;00&timezone=GMT-1000[/img]
Days until
RCI Navigator of the Seas 1/2005 (Atlantis Caribbean)

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00bfff&cdt=2005;9;07;20;00;00&timezone=GMT-1000[/img]
Days until
Celebrity Infinity 9/2005 (Atlantis Alaska)

[West Coast]

Just heard from friends who are also on this voyage who booked direct with RCL.

They said they had just, a few days ago, called RCL to make a partial payment towards the cruise. RCL accepted the payment and said nothing about cancellation/charter/etc...

How long will RCL continue to accept money for this trip?

[yarlenna]

You did what felt right for YOU. I believe that when making this kind of decision, THAT is what you have to do. The TA cannot be faulted because they don't read RCI's mind. (No, I'm not sure they still have one.)
All these people who advised you to wait, would have written that you should have taken matters into your own hands if no alternative cruise was available WHEN RCI finally got around to telling you their plans.
I hope your cruise is a very happy one.

Work like a dog. Live like a pauper. Save all your money. Then Cruise!
My gif kitties have gone to cyber heaven so that dial up cruisers don't have a problem getting their posts read.

[kyriecat]

This is probably going to get me flamed by many but are there any other convention type cruises scheduled? The reason I am asking is that I have a couple of cruises booked and am concerned that there might be a significant number of cruisers all of the same background. By that I mean not necessarily chartering the whole ship but having a group of 1000+. I am not trying to bash anyone - I would be equally uncomfortable if a group of 1000 conservative Republican seniors was on the cruise as I would be with 1000 gay men. I like a healthy mix of people of different backgrounds. Part of the fun of cruising is learning about other people.

[paddy Anne]

kyriecat - What if it were 1000 gay women?? [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img]LOL

Carnival Triumph 04/2000
Norwegian Sun 02/2004
Brilliance of the Seas 03/2005
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2005;03;07;17;30;00&timezone=GMT-0400[/img]
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=260101651"]Brilliance of the Seas 03/07/2005[/url]

[West Coast]

Has anyone else sailing on this voyage heard anything yet. Any updates?

[Rustynail]

Hey ship happens sometimes.

Would you rather cruise with gay folks or drunken college kids?

Maybe I'll get booked on the next group nudist cruise. Haha could you just imagine that!

Dan

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=000080&cdt=2005;1;22;11;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Until we sail the Carribean Princess<BR


CARRIBEAN PRINCESS JAN 2005
<IMG
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4763056957&m=475109651"] Roll Call.... click here to join the fun![/url]
</applet>
CARNIVAL'S LEGEND JAN 2003
CELEBRITY'S CENTURY DEC 2003

[Hlitner]

RCI has a long history of doing this type of thing when it comes to charters and very large groups. We once had a similar experience on the SOS (I will not go into details) and changed our booking 3 weeks before a cruise. However, if the posters on this thread are correct, and RCI is accepting deposits after they have chartered the ship or have a reasonable expectation that the ship is chartered, than RCI is not acting in good faith. As a long time RCI customer (diamond C&A) I do hope this is not true.

Hank

[This message was edited by Hlitner on 05-31-04 at 05:43 PM.]

[West Coast]

Hank,
It's the lack of information forthcoming that's most annoying.

[nu_cruiser]

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=408097554&m=910104612"]Here's[/url] another similar thread from the boards, and a good indication that this sort of thing is "policy" for RCCL (and pretty much any cruise line). Please don't misunderstand - I'm one of the biggest critics of this "policy" out there. It's AMAZING to me how willing they are to scr*w their "regular" cruisers for these charters. As for all the people saying, "you should have waited", they obviously don't have the situation that myself and I'm guessing the original poster have to deal with which REQUIRES them to plan their vacations well in advance. Maybe some people out there can change their vacations around "willy nilly", but I certainly can't do that, and I'm betting a lot of other people can't either. I understand that cruise lines are a business and they need to make money, but conciously witholding that type of information in a willful disregard to your customers is what I would call an unethical business practice. I know the idea that practicing your business ethically is becoming "unpopular" if it affects the business' profits, but frankly I think that's just a sad comment on the state of our social world today. I also know I'm walking that fine line between "aggravated consumer" and "ranting zealot", but the line between "reputable business" and "greedy corporation" is just as fine (and the increase of the latter tends to create more of the former).