OMG booked RC Cruise then found out Atlantis Events booked the rest of the ship!!!!

[Cruise_Kitten]

I wish Royal would show a bit more loyalty to their customers, don't they realise that once we make a booking it's set in stone and everything falls into place around that so we don't need them taking it away once they see the dollar signs from another company. We had a similarish experience onboard Oasis last year, we got on and suddenly realised there was a 'quacker cruise' taking over a lot of the ship too, couldnt escape it or the constant quacking, although once we'd booked airfare etc it would have been too expensive to change.

 

What is a "quacker cruise"?

 

I know that Atlantic Events is actually a company, they get enough people booking with them to be able to charter Allure and book out other ships. I'm sure I read somewhere that to charter a Royal ship you need to be able to fill it over half capacity!! So half capacity on Allure is a lot of people and a lot of money.

It is a shame that people do book up and then it gets chartered. Think Royal may need to get a contract set up with Atlantis Events and plan ahead so they don't ruin other peoples holidays

 

CK x

[marcar123]

Well, I contacted Royal Caribbean last night as we changed our cruise to the February 16, 2013 sailing date (this cruise is $50 more pp) and they won't do anythign for me, said that is the price and they won't give us an onboard credit for the $100....not very happy with RC and thinking of changing our cruise line:(

[marcar123]

We booked the same cruise in November last year. The charter is news to us. We haven't heard anything from Royal about changing anything. I will wait and see if they call. We booked it that far in advance for the chance to sail on the Indy and that it is my birthday that week, so they better offer us some compensation if we have to change our sail date.

 

I called Royal last night and they said that they may be sending out letters to people already booked, no compensation or OBC.....got stuck paying $50 pp more to sail on Feb 16, same cruise just different dates. Maybe I will see you on our Feb 16 cruise:)

[ShillyShally]

I'm so glad large groups do more and more charters now instead of unsuspecting passengers ending up the minority on a largely skewed cruise population, regardless of group.

 

My very first cruise I didn't know to check sailing dates against potential groups and my dear friend and I were quite shocked to realize we'd landed among a huge bingo group and an aquafest group (another gay travel group) - we made the best of it and I still fell in love with cruising though I also learned to check the cruise date on google in the future, LOL! It was a very odd mixed group though the pool deck contests were still the best out of all my cruises :)

 

That said I'd be upset if I picked a date and ship and had to change it due to a charter - it would be one thing if I had booked over a year out though even then it would likely be because I needed a specific date but for any within a year I would be more likely to have made specific plans around that date, etc.

[Familygoboston]

I called Royal last night and they said that they may be sending out letters to people already booked, no compensation or OBC.....got stuck paying $50 pp more to sail on Feb 16, same cruise just different dates. Maybe I will see you on our Feb 16 cruise:)

 

I cannot believe they are not at least comping you for the price difference. :eek: I think I would say "no thank you, you can return my deposit". There are plenty of cruise lines and other vacation options. I have a Allure cruise planned and I'm still shopping...for instance WDW is offering 30% discounts on rooms ( even the good ones!) this April, if the same deal is in the table next year, RCL is not compelling me to keep this booking with this sort of behavior.

 

WOW, that's beyond arrogant! It's really bait and switch...heres this cheap cruise, "oh wait, we are canceling that, but we have this more expensive one for you.". I might add that your new dates fall during the winter break that most schools in NorthEastern USA have near the Washington Birthday weekend, so expect lots of kids.

 

I'm sorry you were treated this shabbily!

[cdamion]

Well, I contacted Royal Caribbean last night as we changed our cruise to the February 16, 2013 sailing date (this cruise is $50 more pp) and they won't do anythign for me, said that is the price and they won't give us an onboard credit for the $100....not very happy with RC and thinking of changing our cruise line:(

 

You may want to try calling back and getting somebody higher up the food chain. That just doesnt seem right.

[GLB]

I'm on this cruise (or at least paid to be on it) guess I won't be though from the sounds of this thread :confused: I have not heard a word from Royal yet but I will not be happy if I have to pay extra to switch to another date.

[phoenix1181]

Is it possible to book airfare this far in advance? I looked into buying plane tickets for next February and they haven't yet opened the reservations. I looked on USAirways, Continental, American and JetBlue.

 

One comment about the Atlantis party boat- While there are people on board who stay up all night, there are a lot of us who are asleep by midnight, too. :)

 

Airfare with most carriers opens @ 330 days. JetBlue doesn't open their flights that early but the others you mentioned do.

[GXmanDC]

OP: I'm shocked that RCI isn't offering some incentive to stay with them. It is nearly a year out, you could take your deposit and give it to HAL, Princess, etc.

[Cheeseland Cruisers]

OP: I'm shocked that RCI isn't offering some incentive to stay with them. It is nearly a year out, you could take your deposit and give it to HAL, Princess, etc.

 

Which is exactly what I would do in the OP's position.

 

Reminds of the Sienfeld episode about "taking" the reservation, but not actually "reserving" anything.

[Sunny_Skipper]

I'm so glad large groups do more and more charters now instead of unsuspecting passengers ending up the minority on a largely skewed cruise population, regardless of group.

 

My very first cruise I didn't know to check sailing dates against potential groups and my dear friend and I were quite shocked to realize we'd landed among a huge bingo group and an aquafest group (another gay travel group) - we made the best of it and I still fell in love with cruising though I also learned to check the cruise date on google in the future, LOL! It was a very odd mixed group though the pool deck contests were still the best out of all my cruises :)

 

That said I'd be upset if I picked a date and ship and had to change it due to a charter - it would be one thing if I had booked over a year out though even then it would likely be because I needed a specific date but for any within a year I would be more likely to have made specific plans around that date, etc.

 

How do you check it on google? I typed in the date of my sailing 02.23.2012 on Liberty of the Seas and nothing specifically came up. Is there more to the search? Thanks!

 

And also to the OP who started this thread...that is so horrible that RCI is not even going to try and compensate you. Seriously, what is a $100 OBC going to really cost RCI? You could get 3 bottles of wine?? The same wine you could buy in any grocery store for 1/3 of the price?? I don't know if you drink but that was just one example.

 

Reading more and more of these stories just makes me want to call RCI and give them a peace of my mind on behalf of the people that are being taken advantage of!

 

I would think that not only would they compensate you the difference but a little something-something for the re-planning that anyone would have to do in order to change this sort of thing.

 

I haven't read the fine print of my contract with RCI for my next sailing, based on what I've been reading here and on other sites it's they win you lose, but I'm curious how close to sailing dates RCI is allowed to cancel for a charter? Hope that question made sense!

 

Best,

Sunny

[alexgtp]

This happened to us 1 year ago. We were booked on Serenade out of San Juan. Booked 1 year prior to sail date. Approximately 9 months prior to sailing, heard a rumor that our sailing had been chartered by Atlantis. Royal contacted us approximately 2 weeks after our sailing disappeared from their site and from when we heard the rumor. As much as I love Royal, I was highly disappointed in their compensation offer! They offered a small OBC and would pay a set amount to change our air reservations. They also stated that they would honor our price paid towards any other sailing EXCEPT the mega ships. Unfortunately I teach and was locked into my Spring break dates and we had already purchased air. The cost to change our air was more than Royal offered to reimburse us for (Our problem and our dime for the difference). Any other sailing really did not work for us since we had purchased our air to San Juan and would lose money to rebook that, plus air had gone up considerably since we had booked. My calculations figured we would loose approximately $1000 if we changed our plans to a Sunday to Sunday cruise out of San Juan instead of our original Saturday to Saturday.

Long story short.......to avoid losing a large sum of $$$$ we booked on Celebrity going out of San Juan the same dates as the Serenade so we would be out no money (could not transfer the OBC offer for the inconvenience either switching to Celebrity). We did not like Celebrity as much as our sailings with Royal. It was disappointing.....but nothing we could do. It was out of our control. Good luck and I hope things work out for you! Please post once you hear from Royal!

Karyn :(

 

Does any type of travel insurance cover these type of issues? I would be so upset if this happened.

[marcar123]

I'm on this cruise (or at least paid to be on it) guess I won't be though from the sounds of this thread :confused: I have not heard a word from Royal yet but I will not be happy if I have to pay extra to switch to another date.

Let me know if/when they contact you to let you know you are no longer welcome on that sailing date......maybe we will see you Feb 16, 2013 :)

[rlpolobear9]

Haha

[05mak05]

My hairdresser is hilarious. He and his partner booked a gay cruise thinking it was a charter. When they got to the terminal, they saw straight couples. And, they were not happy. So it goes both ways. We booked a Halloween cruise knowing there would be lots of gays. The costumes were just awesome, everyone was friendly, fun and well-behaved.

[Darkwolfe]

My hairdresser is hilarious. He and his partner booked a gay cruise thinking it was a charter. When they got to the terminal, they saw straight couples. And, they were not happy. So it goes both ways. We booked a Halloween cruise knowing there would be lots of gays. The costumes were just awesome, everyone was friendly, fun and well-behaved.

 

And yet when we wound up next to Allure in Cozumel on Feb 3rd, the Atlantis crowd on Allure was loud loud loud. Throwing things off the side etc. I know darn good and well that's NOT the norm and not everyone on the ship was acting that way, but that gives folks a bad impression and sets negative stereotypes.

 

Not to mention the one guy doing a drag show on his balcony.... :eek:

 

Oh well, takes all sorts I suppose. At least there were a few laughs to be had. I told a friend of mine about what happened (gay fellow and co-worker actually) and he was amused on one hand and dismayed on the other.

[GXmanDC]

And yet when we wound up next to Allure in Cozumel on Feb 3rd, the Atlantis crowd on Allure was loud loud loud. Throwing things off the side etc. I know darn good and well that's NOT the norm and not everyone on the ship was acting that way, but that gives folks a bad impression and sets negative stereotypes.

 

Not to mention the one guy doing a drag show on his balcony.... :eek:

 

Oh well, takes all sorts I suppose. At least there were a few laughs to be had. I told a friend of mine about what happened (gay fellow and co-worker actually) and he was amused on one hand and dismayed on the other.

 

We were on Allure. I'm sorry to hear people were throwing items off the ship. Being loud, not sure I mind that. On that day we arrived on our balcony just as Mariner was pulling out of port so we missed the fun with our neighbor ship. . On previous cruises the passengers on our ship and the ones across the dock always enjoy a collective celebration, though I grant you our ship usually has the drag show. :-)

 

When we first left Allure that morning in Cozumel I met so many nice people from Mariner inquiring about our ship and/or the Atlantis charter. That day we enjoyed a great day at Nachi Cocom with passengers from Allure, Mariner, a Carnival ship and a NCL ship. At first we were all a little reserved, not socializing with one another. Once we started talking the group realized that we all had a lot in common. It was a wonderful day.

 

As Mariner pulled out of port later that evening I was a little disappointed to see people on their balconies giving us the middle finger, putting their finger down their throat or using the gesture where you put one fist near the opposite inner elbow and raise the arm up up. I think it is the same as the middle finger, not sure. This was by far a minority of Mariner passengers. The overwhelming majority were waving, laughing and enjoying themselves.

 

I hope you enjoyed your vacation as much as we enjoyed ours. Maybe there is always an extreme minority we won't understand.

[welshrich]

What is a "quacker cruise"?

 

I know that Atlantic Events is actually a company, they get enough people booking with them to be able to charter Allure and book out other ships. I'm sure I read somewhere that to charter a Royal ship you need to be able to fill it over half capacity!! So half capacity on Allure is a lot of people and a lot of money.

It is a shame that people do book up and then it gets chartered. Think Royal may need to get a contract set up with Atlantis Events and plan ahead so they don't ruin other peoples holidays

 

CK x

 

 

Quackers (I quickly learned) are a mixed bunch, if you ever watch QVC (especially in the US) its to do with a clothing/fashion line, all the members had duck and/or feather boas with them, sometimes all you heard was quacking noises (particuarly annoying in the comedy show when the comedian actually had to stop his act and ask them what it was about), they had conference room, we did speak to a couple of them and it turns out that their chief quacker had just passed away before the cruise. It didnt ruin my cruise but goes back to the point about how large groups can change the feel of a cruise.

[WeLove2CruiseRCI]

I called Royal last night and they said that they may be sending out letters to people already booked, no compensation or OBC.....got stuck paying $50 pp more to sail on Feb 16, same cruise just different dates. Maybe I will see you on our Feb 16 cruise:)

 

You should have waited to change your sail date. We are booked on the same cruise. I have been in constant contact with the redeployment department. If you would have waited until that department called they do offer compensation. They will not do that now that you have re-booked. I have been posting as such on the roll call for this sail date.

[Aquahound]

I called Royal last night and they said that they may be sending out letters to people already booked, no compensation or OBC.....got stuck paying $50 pp more to sail on Feb 16, same cruise just different dates. Maybe I will see you on our Feb 16 cruise:)

 

They wouldn't at least match the price for you? I think that is pretty crappy of them. This was their doing, not yours.

[WeLove2CruiseRCI]

They wouldn't at least match the price for you? I think that is pretty crappy of them. This was their doing, not yours.

 

OP re-booked before the redeployment department called. Read above post.

[addicted2]

The resolution department called us today about the charter. We rebooked for the same ship/itinerary leaving 2 March. They couldn't match the base price (they would have if we rebooked for either of the two prior sailings in January). They did however offer us a $400.00 OBC. The credit offer was only $200 at first but when she couldn't authorize the price match she offered us an extra $200 OBC. The price difference was 120.00 pp so it only really upped us $40.00. I"m glad I waited for them to call me, and really appreciate the offer.

Now we will be booking an additional cruise in January 2013, that we wouldn't have booked if we were going in Feb as originally planned. So the chartered cruise actually has allowed me another cruise too.

[Familygoboston]

Glad it worked out...knew you would get the call eventually. I wonder if you had pushed it to the resolutions dept if you could have got them to honor the price? I can understand why you might not, I'm not real aggressive like that myself, but I'm sure some would have pushed them ( hey, you cancelled my cruise!)but getting2 cruises in sounds good to me;)

Thanks for following up!

[I Church]

The resolution department called us today about the charter. We rebooked for the same ship/itinerary leaving 2 March. They couldn't match the base price (they would have if we rebooked for either of the two prior sailings in January). They did however offer us a $400.00 OBC. The credit offer was only $200 at first but when she couldn't authorize the price match she offered us an extra $200 OBC. The price difference was 120.00 pp so it only really upped us $40.00. I"m glad I waited for them to call me, and really appreciate the offer.

Now we will be booking an additional cruise in January 2013, that we wouldn't have booked if we were going in Feb as originally planned. So the chartered cruise actually has allowed me another cruise too.

 

This happened to a whole group of cruise critic members that were going together B2B on the Celebrity Solstice when it was new. We were able to get the following week exchanged but other members of the group were unable to get the time off work to make the exchange. Didn't make us happy but could understand the money made by RCI with this group... they really spend a lot more than the rest of us and bring their own entertainment. We also were bumped off once by a computer owner that booked the whole ship for his staff and friends. You win some and lose others.

 

Take care... glad RCI helped you out

Irene & Miles

Loyal to Royal

[05mak05]

The resolution department called us today about the charter. We rebooked for the same ship/itinerary leaving 2 March. They couldn't match the base price (they would have if we rebooked for either of the two prior sailings in January). They did however offer us a $400.00 OBC. The credit offer was only $200 at first but when she couldn't authorize the price match she offered us an extra $200 OBC. The price difference was 120.00 pp so it only really upped us $40.00. I"m glad I waited for them to call me, and really appreciate the offer.

Now we will be booking an additional cruise in January 2013, that we wouldn't have booked if we were going in Feb as originally planned. So the chartered cruise actually has allowed me another cruise too.

Whoa ... $400!

We got $100. I wish I had been a bit faster on my feet as the Allure/Oasis in May would have cost much more than the Jewel out of Tampa. As it is, the Sarasota family has booked the Carnival Legend for May.