What's the Closest to Sail Date You Seen a Ship Chartered?

[Dr. Jack Daniels]

We had a mini scare on our roll call this week as there was a TA generated rumor our Jan 28th, 2011 9 day cruise on the Dawn was being chartered. All is well as it is the 5 day after ours that was chartered.

 

My understanding is that if your ship gets chartered then you get the boot and the entity that chartered the ship is now responsible for booking the entire cruise. So now this entity has a little over 5 months to sell out the cruise in the case of the Dawn. Seems a little risky to me. :eek: So it got me wondering:

 

What is the nearest to sail date in which you have had a cruise you were booked on end up being chartered?

 

Thanks!

[Billym1507]

Good question.

I am sorry I don,t have an answer but I booked Feb 13th 2011 on the Pearl and only found out on here that it had been chartered. This was a real pain as I had booked 3 weeks in an AB suite for my wifes 50th. I have also booked air from the UK and 3 nights hotel, pre cruise. I checked with NCL but they would not confirm it had beeen chartered. Someone sent me threads from the year before and their cruise was cancelled. I decided myself to cancel our 1st week and I have re-booked through the company who chartered the ship. I could not get an AB so will have to move. I sent a similar message as this to NCL saying they could keep passengers updated a bit better but got no answer. So I don,t know when they would have let me know.

Billy.

[crew mom]

 

My understanding is that if your ship gets chartered then you get the boot and the entity that chartered the ship is now responsible for booking the entire cruise. So now this entity has a little over 5 months to sell out the cruise in the case of the Dawn. Seems a little risky to me.

 

Just wanted to point out that some charters are not for sales but are a company chartering the entire ship for a conference or business trip.

 

(Wish I worked for a company that did that versus one that has frozen our wages for the 3rd year!)

[Don Haynes]

I recall a cruise line or two chartered a ship or two to our government after Hurricane Katrina on very, very short notice. But I have never been bumped yet, knock on wood.... It would be nice to work for a company that would charter a ship for their employees, I am with you crew mom...

[Music City]

We had a mini scare on our roll call this week as there was a TA generated rumor our Jan 28th, 2011 9 day cruise on the Dawn was being chartered. All is well as it is the 5 day after ours that was chartered.

 

My understanding is that if your ship gets chartered then you get the boot and the entity that chartered the ship is now responsible for booking the entire cruise. So now this entity has a little over 5 months to sell out the cruise in the case of the Dawn. Seems a little risky to me. :eek: So it got me wondering:

 

What is the nearest to sail date in which you have had a cruise you were booked on end up being chartered?

 

Thanks!

 

As far as the risky part, they wouldn't have chartered the entire ship unless they knew they could fill it. Take Tim McGraw for instance. He has over 250,000 member in his fan club alone. One email blast announcing a cruise and he can fill a ship.

[Music City]

Here ya go...

 

http://www.shipsanddip.com/

 

http://www.last.fm/festival/1558759+Ships+-+Dip+4

[Billym1507]

Here ya go...

 

http://www.shipsanddip.com/

 

http://www.last.fm/festival/1558759+Ships+-+Dip+4

 

The one I am booked on is www.cayamo.com

I see you are from Nashville. I have been 5 times. Love the place.

Billy.

[LOWTYD]

Here ya go...

 

http://www.shipsanddip.com/

 

http://www.last.fm/festival/1558759+Ships+-+Dip+4

 

I am actually a fan of Great Bug Sea and received that announcement from the fan email. Sounds like a fun cruise!:)

[Phydeaux]

I recall a cruise line or two chartered a ship or two to our government after Hurricane Katrina on very, very short notice.

 

I know this is a stale thread, but I thought some interesting trivia would be in order...

 

Even a full-ship charter is not immune to being ousted by another charter!

 

One of the ships Carnival loaned to FEMA in 2005 was in fact already chartered by Sixthman for their annual The Rock Boat cruise. (Sixthman is also the promoter for Cayamo and Ships-n-Dip previously mentioned.)

 

And, yes, it was extremely short notice. Twice. The Rock Boat was sailing in mid-October: Katrina was in late-August. Carnival first moved our departure port to Galveston, and then Rita came through in late-September, and that's when we were finally canceled in favor of FEMA.

 

 

Oh, and back to the original poster. At least in the case of Sixthman events, they've been doing several full-ship charters a year for 10+ years. Often times, they've sold out their event even before the contracts are finalized and the cruise line has taken the ship out of inventory. So, the window to fill a chartered ship isn't as narrow as it might seem.

 

I, too, think it's unfortunate that a cruise line doesn't inform booking guests of a potential charter situation, especially with an annual event such as these. I mean, I don't expect them to announce it upfront on the web site but you'd think they'd mention the possibility at the time of booking.

 

But then, I don't run a cruise line. :rolleyes:

[Sauer-kraut]

Thanks for posting, Brian.

[brucelegs]

The one I am booked on is www.cayamo.com

I see you are from Nashville. I have been 5 times. Love the place.

Billy.

 

hey! enjoy that cruise, my husband and I are jealous - Richard Thompson, Steve Earle, etc. You will have a grand time!

[newmexicoNita]

We had a mini scare on our roll call this week as there was a TA generated rumor our Jan 28th, 2011 9 day cruise on the Dawn was being chartered. All is well as it is the 5 day after ours that was chartered.

 

My understanding is that if your ship gets chartered then you get the boot and the entity that chartered the ship is now responsible for booking the entire cruise. So now this entity has a little over 5 months to sell out the cruise in the case of the Dawn. Seems a little risky to me. :eek: So it got me wondering:

 

What is the nearest to sail date in which you have had a cruise you were booked on end up being chartered?

 

Thanks!

 

Been cruising for 30 years and have never heard of a charter anywhere near that close to sailing. Again, here is where gossip sometimes comes in. Normally the charters are booked 6 months or more in advance. Now, if you are talking about a very large group taking over a portion of the ship, that would be a little different. That can happen and no, the cruise line normally does not tell people about this in advance.

 

Nita

[erdoran]

Been cruising for 30 years and have never heard of a charter anywhere near that close to sailing. Again, here is where gossip sometimes comes in. Normally the charters are booked 6 months or more in advance. Now, if you are talking about a very large group taking over a portion of the ship, that would be a little different. That can happen and no, the cruise line normally does not tell people about this in advance.

 

Nita

 

So what happens in that case, where pax have made non-refundable arrangements - airfare, pre-cruise hotel, etc? Are the pax stuck with no cruise and losing the $$? Is this something that trip insurance covers?

[garycarla]

I would think you would be looking at a minimum of 6 months. And, the larger the ship, less chance due to higher cost (more cabins).

 

And, I really doubt you would ever see a 9 day cruise be replaced with a Charter, due to cost and time away from work, etc. Number of people that can take 9 days is low.

 

Has been rather rare to NCL ships chartered that I have seen. Smaller ships with 200-300 cabins is another story.

 

And of course, with the economy and media attention to corporate spend, some of that stuff has gone away anyways.