Our Cruise is Overbooked!

[stewpapa]

Someone on our Roll Call for our Mariner of the Seas cruise leaving tomorrow Feb 17th from Galveston got called with an offer to cancel for a later cruise and get a cabin upgrade and $200 OBC on their next cruise because our cruise is "overbooked" They turned it down. Has this happened to you? What happens if no one accepts the offer?

[rednancy1]

This is the first time I heard of this happening, although the airlines do it all the time. :rolleyes:

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

How does that happen? You book by the room number. How can they double or triple book a room? Maybe the confusion happens with guarantees. I have to confess this is the first time I have heard of overbooking a cruise.

 

I'd accept the generous offer to sail later, but we are retired so we are not locked into a specific date for sailing. Others might not be as flexible.

[uksimonusa]

I had it happen once, was asked to trade our Freedom cruise for Allure and some OBC, would have done it but we had friends flying in who wouldn't have made Allure

[DeltaOne]

Someone on our Roll Call for our Mariner of the Seas cruise leaving tomorrow Feb 17th from Galveston got called with an offer to cancel for a later cruise and get a cabin upgrade and $200 OBC on their next cruise because our cruise is "overbooked" They turned it down. Has this happened to you? What happens if no one accepts the offer?

 

This happens often. They'll keep increasing the offer until they get enough to accept it. No one will be turned away at the dock.

 

The folks most likely to accept the offer are retired folks that live close to the port. Their schedule is flexible and they don't have air fare to reschedule.

[sj25]

I have never heard of this either...

[BND]

A few people will not show up for a variety of reasons. If I had a guarantee I would be more concerned. Another reason to not book a guarantee. If you have a cabin assigned, don't sweat it.

[ninnau]

I have never heard of this and we live close to a port. It would be nice to have it happen on some cuises but not on others. How can they overbook. I know the airlines do it but when you book a room how can it happen?

[PCWalton1]

A few people will not show up for a variety of reasons. If I had a guarantee I would be more concerned. Another reason to not book a guarantee. If you have a cabin assigned, don't sweat it.

 

Why be concerned if you have a guarantee? They are not going to turn you away. They will keep calling and upping the credit till someone accepts.

[CruisesOnMyMind]

Someone on our Roll Call for our Mariner of the Seas cruise leaving tomorrow Feb 17th from Galveston got called with an offer to cancel for a later cruise and get a cabin upgrade and $200 OBC on their next cruise because our cruise is "overbooked" They turned it down. Has this happened to you? What happens if no one accepts the offer?

 

We got the deal of all deals last year on a TA.

 

They needed balcony cabins! I have a feeling it was for staff members. We also heard for a large group willing to pay a high price to get on that particular cruise. We had booked when it first came out.

 

Anyway they called and at first offered us a full refund if we cancelled the cruise. We said we can't because we were on a B2B with flights and it was to Europe.

 

A couple of days later we were offered a free cruise plus 400.00 OBC if we gave them our center hump balcony and move down to a deck 2 OV. The OV's on deck 2 are really port holes. We did take their offer.

 

We were not the only ones contacted for an offer. All offers were not the same, but still very good.:D

[BND]

Why be concerned if you have a guarantee? They are not going to turn you away. They will keep calling and upping the credit till someone accepts.

 

How do you know that? That's what airlines used to do, but never heard that about a cruise. My point has more to do with this not even being an issue if you have a cabin assigned.

[cruzingduo]

This happened las year on the Brilliance TA.

[PCWalton1]

How do you know that? That's what airlines used to do, but never heard that about a cruise. My point has more to do with this not even being an issue if you have a cabin assigned.

 

Why would they call it a 'Guarantee' if it wasn't. Ever see anyone post on here that they were refused due to overbooking? The way things get posted on here it would have been all over the boards if someone had been turned down at the pier due to overbooking.

[Topo Gigio]

Eventually they will find someone who will accept to cruise at a later date.

[mida 13]

It may not mean they have a lack of cabins, maybe they have reached the total capacity of passengers allowed...maybe more 3rd and 4th passengers in cabins than usual.

[CruisesOnMyMind]

How do you know that? That's what airlines used to do, but never heard that about a cruise. My point has more to do with this not even being an issue if you have a cabin assigned.

 

 

Your point is mute,,,,,,,,,,,,If they need a cabin, they need it:eek: And apparently are willing to ask for your cabin if they are in need!

[DonnaK]

Princess cruises does it quite often. Our "move-over" offer in July 2009 was a full refund of the cruise fare, and an upgrade from balcony to mini-suite, on any Caribbean Princess sailing with the same itinerary for the following summer 2010. We took the offer, and essentially sailed for free. We were a family traveling in multiple cabins, so the refund was nearly $8000 . The offer was made via email 4 days before sailing.

 

Prior to the second cruise, they gave us another offer: to combine the occupants in two of the minisuites into one full suite, and receive an additional $1000 refundable OBC. We declined that offer because we wanted all our cabins next to each other, and not to have part of our group in a totally different area and deck of the ship. This offer was make via telephone about 18 hours before sailing.

[ctcruiser1721]

Maybe revenue sold too many GTY cabins?

[setsail]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1648443&highlight=overbooked+on+royal+caribbean

[ALSEAU]

Point being this does happen and the solution for the cruise line is to call folks with a profile of being retired. They have the most flexibility to change. The cruise line will keep adding the perks until they get the rooms they need.

[cruisnseas]

In my time working there, I remember one time that not enough people accepted the offer. Revenue didn't increase the offer, they cancelled bookings. Sure, we refunded airfare (or offered them a new cruise at the same price) but people were still ticked.

 

I think it was only like two cabins that got cancelled. Most often, someone accepts the offer (especially when Revenue advises that the offer has to be accepted or *someone* is going to lose a cruise)

[BND]

Your point is mute,,,,,,,,,,,,If they need a cabin, they need it:eek: And apparently are willing to ask for your cabin if they are in need!

 

How is my point "moot"? If I book a particular cabin, they can ask all they want, but I'm not giving it to them. Oversold means they oversold guarantee (even if someone doesn't want to believe it). You can't oversell assigned cabins. While they can overbook the ship apparently via guarantees, they can't sell the same cabin twice for a cruise.

 

BTW, reading the link to the previous thread, the person contacted had booked a guarantee and that's why they were contacted. So, I stand by my statement.

[cello56]

This happened to us last April on Freedom of the Seas. They called us about a week or two before and asked if we would switch to Allure of the Seas instead since they overbooked Freedom. They were calling literally dozens of Florida residents who were within driving distance of Ft. Lauderdale. There was no upgrade as far as cabin type, and no OBC. We took the offer mostly because the girl calling seemed so desperate. In hind sight I should have asked for some OBC since it cost us a lot more in gas, plus an extra day of dog sitting ($80).

[DragonOfTheSeas]

This happened to us last April on Freedom of the Seas. They called us about a week or two before and asked if we would switch to Allure of the Seas instead since they overbooked Freedom. They were calling literally dozens of Florida residents who were within driving distance of Ft. Lauderdale. There was no upgrade as far as cabin type, and no OBC. We took the offer mostly because the girl calling seemed so desperate. In hind sight I should have asked for some OBC since it cost us a lot more in gas, plus an extra day of dog sitting ($80).

Due to the higher price of cruise on Allure, she likely felt she was giving you compensation.

[fishtaco]

How is my point "moot"? If I book a particular cabin, they can ask all they want, but I'm not giving it to them. Oversold means they oversold guarantee (even if someone doesn't want to believe it). You can't oversell assigned cabins. While they can overbook the ship apparently via guarantees, they can't sell the same cabin twice for a cruise.

 

BTW, reading the link to the previous thread, the person contacted had booked a guarantee and that's why they were contacted. So, I stand by my statement.

 

Not too sure? But if the cabin you pre booked and chose is for 2 pax and has availability for 3 or 4 pax then I think they can?

 

I remember a cruise where many were told at port they had lost their cabins because one of the lifeboats was not working correctly! They had to reduce passenger numbers,some were called ahead of time (With cruise arranged flights) others were not called as were treated as local because no air transport had been arranged:eek: