Partially Chartered Cruise

[NikePeanut]

I am sailing on the Pearl February 3-7 and found out that it is partially chartered for a bluegrass event. Has anyone ever been on a partially chartered cruise? Was wondering what to expect. Will the entertainment be the same, same food, just will it ruin my experience. TIA

[Demonyte]

This is hard to say entertainment wise, 4-night cruises are not typical for non-charters on Pearl and I'd assume that this cruise was planned to be a full charter but they didn't fill the ship so NCL sells the remaining capacity directly.

 

Food wise everything is normal and your experience will mostly be what you make of it.

[MiamiSpartan]

I had heard about that event...I'd love to go sometime!

We were on a cruise once with a large ballroom dancing group....wasn't a big deal....

[NikePeanut]

Ok thank you. We don't mind in fact it would be fun to hear some bluegrass but I have heard if you are not part of the charter you don't get to hear the entertainment. I was just concerned that their will be no entertainment.

[shelly11]

Thanks for this post. I didn't realize you could search for the Pearl's chartered cruises and there are a few. Gives me something else to look for when picking a trip!

[Manatee Mom]

How do you find out when the Pearl is chartered and who the group is?

[Demonyte]

How do you find out when the Pearl is chartered and who the group is?

 

With search engines like Google, by searching with the ship name and date. As always, no guarantees there.

[marcopaulo]

My husband booked this cruise for us, a short getaway without the children, not knowing it was a partial charter. I called NCL and was assured that everything is the same as far as entertainment, just some of the venues will be private. I'm expecting to have a great time, and hoping to hear some of the music near the pool.

[cssc123]

Its Mountain Song At Sea.

 

We're jealous! I think if I remember correctly, some things are obviously private - but then there is some music that will be in 'common' areas that I can't possible see NCL closing down (the pool area for example during the day) They have theme nights and parties - you won't be able to go to those. Everything else should be the same - except some of the common area music might end up being bluegrass and/or geared towards that audience.

 

Also It looks like the festival is sold out this year so really I guess MSAS only expects so much of the ship.

 

If you want info on the festival they have a website -http://www.mountainsongatsea.com

 

We want to go to it one year, but the prices are usually the same price as a 7 day cruise (when you do the festival part).

 

Have fun!

[NikePeanut]

My husband booked this cruise for us, a short getaway without the children, not knowing it was a partial charter. I called NCL and was assured that everything is the same as far as entertainment, just some of the venues will be private. I'm expecting to have a great time, and hoping to hear some of the music near the pool.

 

We booked this for the same reason. So glad the entertainment will be the same was kind of worried. It will be nice to have a getaway with no kids! So looking forward to a break I have 3 kids of my own plus I so daycare.

[jeannep]

We have been on both sides of a charter.

 

Our 1st was a Verizon retiree cruise with 750 retired people. That was great because we were given extra parties and saw people we had not seen in years.

 

We were also on a special entertainer cruise but we were not there for that. People were going to special shows and activities but the regular things still happened for us. It did not bother us at all.

[bguppies]

I am sailing on the Pearl February 3-7 and found out that it is partially chartered for a bluegrass event. Has anyone ever been on a partially chartered cruise? Was wondering what to expect. Will the entertainment be the same, same food, just will it ruin my experience. TIA

 

Usually the partial music charters will be using some of the venues each day for exclusive events for those who paid extra for the event.

 

They might have a meet and greet or signing event at a bar in the afternoon and have some various acts playing at the venues all throughout the day.

These, of course will be ONLY for those who paid for the charter.

 

Usually the nightly shows wouldn't be impacted. (except on a full charter, which usually has the bigger bands taking the place of the usual shows)

 

You might lose some afternoon trivia events, or bingo, things like that during the day.

 

Good luck.

Hope you still have a great cruise.

 

Bill

[LPYRCRUISER]

We once were on a cruise that included Blue Grass musicians. Whatever events they may have had, we never noticed. What we did notice however, was random music being played in public areas. We would be walking along, turn a corner, and there would be several people playing together.

It was a nice treat, never knowing when you would find a "concert' going on. They were very friendly and most appreciative of positive comments.

[GORDONCHICK]

Technically, this isn't a charter - it just happens to have a large number of passengers booked in a group and will be using some spaces for their private functions. A charter is where the entire ship is booked and that charter group sells the cruises and they have run of the ship pretty much. They may or may not bring/book their own entertainment.

 

example: A rock promoter has booked rock bands onto a ship and is booking cruises through their event. Only those booked through the event can attend, though you may see the band members around the ship. This is not a charter because there are those who are excluded from certain events. A charter is when you cannot book the cruise through anyone except the event promoter/manager - even directly with the cruise line.

[Love my butler]

Not a good idea to cruise on a partial charter. The group paying for the charter often close entire restaurants/venues and regular passengers are treated as second-class passengers. You will constantly hear 'sorry, but (that group) has priority and there isn't anything we can do about it'. Never again.

[swedish weave]

Not a good idea to cruise on a partial charter. The group paying for the charter often close entire restaurants/venues and regular passengers are treated as second-class passengers. You will constantly hear 'sorry, but (that group) has priority and there isn't anything we can do about it'. Never again.

 

I believe your information conflicts with my experiences. I have sailed on a few partial charters and have NEVER been excluded from any of the regularly scheduled events.

[NikePeanut]

I believe your information conflicts with my experiences. I have sailed on a few partial charters and have NEVER been excluded from any of the regularly scheduled events.

 

Thank you Swedish Weave and all the others. I'm hoping our experience will vid a good one and I'm sure it will be. Just nice to be on vacation and make it what it is.

[NikePeanut]

Here is an email I got directly from the charter.

 

Hello Brandy. As a NCL guest you will be able to see some of the shows that are general admission, but you will not have access to the majority of the charter events. The regular programing of the ship will remain largely uninterrupted as we have only purchased a little under half of the cabins. I hope this information is helpful, have a great day!

Bear Lamar

Sixthman

[NerdyBird]

Not all but many of the Pearl's chartered cruises are done through Sixthman LLC. (http://www.sixthman.net)

 

How do you find out when the Pearl is chartered and who the group is?

[NerdyBird]

Hope you have fun!

 

Here is an email I got directly from the charter.

 

Hello Brandy. As a NCL guest you will be able to see some of the shows that are general admission, but you will not have access to the majority of the charter events. The regular programing of the ship will remain largely uninterrupted as we have only purchased a little under half of the cabins. I hope this information is helpful, have a great day!

Bear Lamar

Sixthman

[NerdyBird]

This had been intended to be a full charter by Sixthman; however, they did not sell it out. As a result, NCL through a partnership with Sixthman is apparently offering regular cruise amenities at a regular cruise rate. Previously, all bookings had to be done through SXM as with any of their other charters. Most of their festivals do sell out by sailing.

 

There is a partnership agreement between NCL & SXM and that is probably how this became a partial charter to avoid either running at a loss it canceling.

 

Technically, this isn't a charter - it just happens to have a large number of passengers booked in a group and will be using some spaces for their private functions. A charter is where the entire ship is booked and that charter group sells the cruises and they have run of the ship pretty much. They may or may not bring/book their own entertainment.

 

example: A rock promoter has booked rock bands onto a ship and is booking cruises through their event. Only those booked through the event can attend, though you may see the band members around the ship. This is not a charter because there are those who are excluded from certain events. A charter is when you cannot book the cruise through anyone except the event promoter/manager - even directly with the cruise line.

[Studebaker59]

We have experienced this situation on the Gem. The Magenta Main Dining Room was closed to us much of the time because the partial group was eating there. Since we prefer a mid-ship dining room for ease of access, we usually eat in the Magenta. When we couldn't, that definitely inconvenienced us.

[Demonyte]

There is a partnership agreement between NCL & SXM and that is probably how this became a partial charter to avoid either running at a loss it canceling.

 

Sixthman is fully owned subsidiary of NCL.

[scar4711]

They released the schedule for the partial charter.. http://cdn.sixthman.net/2014/mss/files/schedule.pdf

 

 

The 2 Pool Deck shows are open to the whole ship.. of course.

[cocoabeachcruiser]

I am sailing on the Pearl February 3-7 and found out that it is partially chartered for a bluegrass event. Has anyone ever been on a partially chartered cruise? Was wondering what to expect. Will the entertainment be the same, same food, just will it ruin my experience. TIA

 

I have ended up being on a Partially chartered cruise and I hated it:mad:

 

It was on a CCL ship and the blues cruise charter overtook everything.Pools were closed, events not held as usual,rooms blocked off for private events.

How about a 1000 people in a private event before the evening show. When you show up, there are no seats.They had priority at one port to get off to thier waiting buses for whatever excusion they had planned.

They went around like a pack of wolves.Whatever the descended upon they were in great numbers. Never again:mad: