Just got bumped off the cruise we booked because a company bought it out???

[ldubs]

Wow, I had no idea this was a common occurrence. Kind of sad to hear that it happens as often as it does. This would truly pi$$ me off. I hope Princess steps up and does the right thing, which in my opinion goes beyond simple reimbursement for out of pocket. Princess should give you a discount, OBC, upgrade, or something beyond simple reimbursement.

[bangles]

We currently have an Asian B2B2B starting in March of 2015. Within the last month or so the first cruise and more recently the second cruise have disappeared. TA has not received any info from the cruise line and the cruise line has not contacted anyone on the cruises, but lots of rumors floating around :confused: One of the rumors is the dreaded charter rumor. One of the other rumors is "down for inventory check". Needless to say we're hoping for the inventory check :)

I live in Australia and have heard about B2B cruises, but I am finding it really difficult to find information on what is available and if there is a cost reduction. Any information would be appreciated.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Yes -- it has happened to us -- on HAL.

A few years ago we booked a back-to-back Caribbean cruise (14 days). Then suddenly we got a call from HAL that the ship was going to do a completely different itinerary and would not be heading back to the Caribbean until after our booked dates. Did we get anything from HAL? Nope!

Sadly this happens all too often.

In fact on the HAL board there is a thread about a HAL ship and itinerary changes and chartered cruise.

[boulders]

I live in Australia and have heard about B2B cruises, but I am finding it really difficult to find information on what is available and if there is a cost reduction. Any information would be appreciated.

 

A B2B is simply booking two consecutive cruises. There is no cost reduction.

[dkjretired]

Yes, it does happen in Britain, because you book the same cruises we do from the US! In fact there have been people from the UK complaining on these boards just as much as people from the US and elsewhere.

OP, the cruise line should reimburse you any expenses you have already incurred that are not refundable. Please contact your TA t make it happen.

 

And you pay a premium price for that protection, many have complained of this on the various boards.

[dsrdsrdsr]

This doesn't happen in Britain, because if you tear up a contract in Britain you have to pay all reasonable foreseeable expenses incurred by the other party. So any cruise company that tried this game would have to reimburse you for all flights and other travel arrangements you'd already made.

 

Shame US law doesn't work that way. I'm sure there are many aspects of law better over there than over here, but on this matter the UK has it right. Take it up with your congressman

 

In the UK ........if you cancel the cruise before final payment you don't get your deposit back

Who should you take that one up with?????? In the US, we get our deposit back!

I suppolse that's the other side of the same coin. Under UK law, you pay your deposit and you have entered a contract - both parties have to fulfil their side of the contract, and if either defaults, there's a penalty. Presumably either US contract law is different, or else paying a deposit doesn't constitute a contract in the US.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I live in Australia and have heard about B2B cruises, but I am finding it really difficult to find information on what is available and if there is a cost reduction. Any information would be appreciated.

 

 

We have done quite a few back-to-back cruises. In fact our first cruises were back-to-back.

Example: first week (or longer) you do one itinerary, then return to the embarkation port (in most cases) and start a different itinerary. Many cruise lines now offer back-to-back cruises that start in one port and the next segment will start in a different port. And you may even end in a 3rd different port.

HAL started about 4 or 5 years ago calling them Collector Cruises. And yes there is a small savings. They have become very popular. Since HAL calls them Collector Cruises -- this means that you get one confirmation number instead of two.

[notalandlover]

Does anyone know do cruise lines have a deadline for charters. What I mean is it 3,6,9, months beore the sailing. Thanks in advance

[sail7seas]

We have done quite a few back-to-back cruises. In fact our first cruises were back-to-back.

 

Example: first week (or longer) you do one itinerary, then return to the embarkation port (in most cases) and start a different itinerary. Many cruise lines now offer back-to-back cruises that start in one port and the next segment will start in a different port. And you may even end in a 3rd different port.

 

HAL started about 4 or 5 years ago calling them Collector Cruises. And yes there is a small savings. They have become very popular. Since HAL calls them Collector Cruises -- this means that you get one confirmation number instead of two.

 

 

We have done back-to-backs that repeat the same itinerary. More than once, we sailed Eurodam b-to-b and repeated the exact itinerary. We wanted more time on the ship and we liked the ports. The ports were less important to us than being on the ship longer than just one week so the b-to-b worked fine for us.

 

We also repeatedly do Boston to Montreal b-to-b. We stay aboard in Montreal and sail the same itinerary in reverse back to Boston. Again, we love the ports and we want more time on the ship. Also, in that case, we are from Boston so no airports/airplanes which is wonderful! :)

 

[dadroy]

Interesting read here http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=760

 

Explains the process of chartering.

 

As to how close to sailing? My guess is money talks. If Google approached ANY cruise line and said "Want to charter X ship sailing on Monday and we will pay you 750 million dollars to do it", I would guess it would be done. The only question becomes is how much money it would take for the cruise line to disappoint (piss off) all the booked passengers. If the cruise line figured they could placate most passengers with extra goodies (maybe a free cruise and $5,000 cash) they would do it. If not, they would turn away the charter.

 

Business 101?:D

[Mary Ellen]

The reason I ask is my husband and I traveled New Zealand and Australia in 2013 and I really recommend you see New Zealand by land not by cruise. It is an absolutely beautiful country and a cruise cannot do it justice. The people of New Zealand are very friendly, helpful and happy, and I can understand why, they live in heaven.

I second the idea the OP look into also doing NZ as a land trip. That's what we did, and as much as we love cruising, we just can't imagine limiting ourselves to seeing this beautiful country on a cruise. We rented a campervan and had a wonderful time in NZ.

[momofmeg]

Because Holland America never bumps folks off for charters.....:rolleyes:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1973901&highlight=charter

 

Lol! and HAL is not better than Princess other than the beds. Since so many lines do not allow smoking on balconies HAL has way too many smokers now too-I would rather have a hard bed and be able to breathe comfortably.

[momofmeg]

I second the idea the OP look into also doing NZ as a land trip. That's what we did, and as much as we love cruising, we just can't imagine limiting ourselves to seeing this beautiful country on a cruise. We rented a campervan and had a wonderful time in NZ.

 

The OP could buy a round trip plane ticket from Australia too and keep their original flight for Australia/home roundtrip. They may find instead of that being much more expensive that they actually save.

[ontheweb]

While that is very true, when it happens to you, it becomes personal. I would feel the exact same way, and with their being no shortage of brand options in the industry, probably would also not patronize that brand again myself. Do they care, no, but I would know it, and feel that I had at least taken some token action to satisfy my frustration.

 

We've been on 9 cruises with a 10th booked. All have been ocean cruises, though we've always wanted to do a river cruise.

 

We once booked a river cruise, paid first our deposit, and then our final payment. And then the ship was chartered. We still want to go on a river cruise, but would never go on that line, Uniworld. I don't think that that the cruise lines when they charter a ship realize long term damage they do to their relationship to passengers and possibly their long term profit. Do they consider the long term cost versus the short term profit.

[momofmeg]

This doesn't happen in Britain, because if you tear up a contract in Britain you have to pay all reasonable foreseeable expenses incurred by the other party. So any cruise company that tried this game would have to reimburse you for all flights and other travel arrangements you'd already made.

 

Shame US law doesn't work that way. I'm sure there are many aspects of law better over there than over here, but on this matter the UK has it right. Take it up with your congressman

 

In the UK ........if you cancel the cruise before final payment you don't get your deposit back

Who should you take that one up with?????? In the US, we get our deposit back!

 

Which shows the old saying "the grass is always greener on the other side" is true. With most things some ways are better and others ways not as good.

[cruiseco]

I suppose that's the other side of the same coin. Under UK law, you pay your deposit and you have entered a contract - both parties have to fulfil their side of the contract, and if either defaults, there's a penalty. Presumably either US contract law is different, or else paying a deposit doesn't constitute a contract in the US.

 

The problem is that the contract you have entered into and agreed to specifically states that you are giving the cruise line every right to do this with no recourse. So chartering a ship out from under is not a violation of the contract -- everything is on the up and up. A rotten contract from the consumer's point of view? Probably. But the contract hasn't been "broken" or "violated" when this happens. The best way to protect yourself from a lawful but rotten contract is to not enter into it in the first place.

[samfeline]

Thanks so much for all the great replies and suggestions. Regarding another New Zealand cruise, there was really not another one in our time period that only focused on New Zealand. I do believe that the best way to see New Zealand would be a land tour; but, because of the extensive land tour we are taking in Australia, it was too much and we wanted some variety, even though the cruise probably wasn't the best choice. I questioned our travel agent three times about contacting Princess Cruise lines about this and she told me three times that they would offer nothing in terms of compensation for our inconvenience because we were not out any money for the mileage tickets and we did not buy insurance with them. We got our $200 deposit back. I guess Princess feels that they told us so early on that this was going to happen that perhaps they thought it would be easy for us to change or modify our plans. Unfortunately it was not with the planning that went into the Australia portion of our trip. However, I probably will write a letter or email to Princess Cruise lines like a reader had suggested explaining what had happened and how it totally affected our trip. Chances are that we will not return to visit New Zealand, which is very disappointing. I will say that I most likely will never book a cruise with Princess again. Out of all our cruises we have taken, our most favorite cruise line has been Oceania. Once again thank you all for your great replies!:)