Royal charters......

[killtheump]

Sorry I am not flaming you but I think the problem with the negativity is from you. Most of what you said is not true. Freedom is going into Dry dock it is not chartered for the whole month, The Oasis is open for booking all 5 dates in January. You would not be able to book The Navigator January 17 cruise because it leaves on January 18. The only one chartered is May 3 Freedom cruise To Maxwell and the seven seas an entertainment cruise. The prices are not double BTW. You can go to their web site and book if you like. But really you don't believe the Ultra Rich go on Royal Caribbean do you? Maybe get the facts straight before posting.

[subtchr]

Your comment is just not fair.

 

I commented because of the fear of losing the booking. The room I want. The airfare that needs to be changed. The hotels that need to be changed. Sometimes transportation to and from the hotels and ports. AND.... the fact that most people can't just change their vacation time any time they want.

 

My comments are because of the frustration of RCI allowing bookings and then taking them away when the almighty $$ gets involved.

 

It is not resentment....it is frustration.....

 

I was looking for cruise critic posters who are good at talking me down when I'm not sure of what is happening.....not being "put down" for my comments.

 

I agree that the PP was a bit harsh, but you twice complained about RC catering to the "super rich", even after it was explained that cruisers on a mainstream line charter cruise are far from that.

 

My sister and I had a wonderful time on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise, which happened to be on a HAL ship. The LRBC does two cruises a year, not always on HAL. I have to admit it was the most fun cruise I have ever taken. A full ship of people with shared sensibilities, and constant music in venues all over the ship. Yes, it cost maybe 20% more than a typical Caribbean cruise, but that was worth it to us for all the "free" concerts! Trust me, we are far from rich, and most of our fellow passengers did not seem to be, either. We purposely saved a few years to be able to take the cruise.

 

I DO understand your frustration, however. So you had airfare booked for the cruise you lost? I'd think these companies, whoever they are, would line up their ships and cruises over a year in advance. This would normally mean that although booked guests would have to be moved, airfare would not be a factor.

 

Sorry for your frustration, and I hope you end up with a wonderful, stress-free vacation!

Edited May 19, 2014 by subtchr

[aloha43]

Sorry I am not flaming you but I think the problem with the negativity is from you. Most of what you said is not true. Freedom is going into Dry dock it is not chartered for the whole month, The Oasis is open for booking all 5 dates in January. You would not be able to book The Navigator January 17 cruise because it leaves on January 18. The only one chartered is May 3 Freedom cruise To Maxwell and the seven seas an entertainment cruise. The prices are not double BTW. You can go to their web site and book if you like. But really you don't believe the Ultra Rich go on Royal Caribbean do you? Maybe get the facts straight before posting.

 

I said Freedom was cancelled all of Jan 2016...chartered Jan 25.

 

Oasis showed N/A the whole month of Jan 2016 just yesterday....now it is available.

 

And yes, May 3 Chartered as I said.

 

I was wrong when I said Navigator...I meant Liberty (I meant the 10th, we had b2b booked and the other was Jan 17). It was cancelled on us after booking it. We actually were in the middle of planning a family reunion on this one.....6 family members had already booked.

 

It's just frustration I was getting at.

[aloha43]

I apologize for using the term ultra rich.

 

I just mean that RCI is catering to the big bucks and leaving the lower guy behind.

 

Some people on here can sure come across as a bit mean.

 

I'm sorry I brought it up.....

[Cruising89143]

Chartering of cruise ships is not something new and it's not limited to RCI. Any cruise line will charter a ship if someone has the money to pay for it. That is the reality of the business. This has nothing to do with ones wealth.

[Big_G]

OP, don't get your undies in a knot over something that probably will never happen. You'll be a year past Freedom's dry dock so no worries there. We've been cruising since 1997 and never had a cruise cancelled for anything let alone a charter. If it happens, you can come back and yell at me. :D

 

I probably just jinxed myself but I'll take that risk.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Big_G

[Fat Paul]

I apologize for using the term ultra rich.

 

I just mean that RCI is catering to the big bucks and leaving the lower guy behind.

 

Some people on here can sure come across as a bit mean.

 

I'm sorry I brought it up.....

 

Not mean, I just disagree with your premise.

[LetsGetWet!]

Yea....large groups of specialty types.

 

Richer than thou with lots of money, reserving the entire ship....and then selling out the rooms at double the price. Sounds like the rich to me.....at least some of them. I'm afraid this will become the norm....the 1% vs middle to lower class.

 

 

Freedom - All of January 2015, all 5 cruises cancelled.....Jan 25 chartered. May 3, 2015....chartered.

 

Navigator - Jan 17 cancelled....no idea why.

 

Oasis - All of January 2016, all 5 cruises cancelled.

 

What can I say.....the more talk about cancellations, the more I get worried about mine. I book really early to get the rooms that we want.

 

I'm a worry wart...:eek:

Your comment is just not fair.

 

I was looking for cruise critic posters who are good at talking me down when I'm not sure of what is happening.....not being "put down" for my comments.

When you start a thread erroneously whining about RCI catering to the "ultra rich" with charters and then list 12 sailings you claim have been chartered, when in reality 5 are dry dock weeks, 5 are just a mistake and you had the wrong date on another - leaving ONE week which may be chartered - you should just plan on "being put down for your comments." :rolleyes:

 

Sent from my Galaxy S4 via Tapatalk

[nednrom]

I do think it's a bit crap to allow charters after anyone has booked. They should book charter groups further out and not alter to a charter once it has been opened for bookings.

 

How much further out is sufficient time? I knew about jan freedom charter in Feb which is about a year in advance. The bookings are opened 2years in advance for our convenience for some itineraries but that doesn't mean that enough people are booked to justify turning down a charter cruise from a business stand point.

[emmad1973]

This really is a first world problem! You know, most of the staff on the ship would consider you to be extremely affluent, their backgrounds are generally much poorer than people who can afford to go on a cruise.

 

I know it's upsetting if your cruise date gets cancelled, but it is far enough out that you can change it without to much hassle.

 

As others have said, most of those blocks of unavailable time will be for dry dock. This not only keeps the ship looking great, it's a safety thing.

 

 

I hope you get another cruise booked that you will enjoy just as much as your original one.

 

 

Emma

 

 

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[mr walker]

We have sailed twice on special charter cruises on Rhapsody out of Sydney. These were country music cruises with the charter group contracting specialised entertainers. This same group run a series of music themed cruises B2B in Oct each year.

 

The business arrangements are confidential, but I can say that it is something like $4M to charter the ship for a week & on-board spending is part of the agreement. There is a section on the RCI website covering charters. They group chartering the ship carry all the risks.

 

The cruisers pay a premium over what the regular cruise would cost. This is accepted as you get tailored entertainment & the opportunity to mingle with the entertainers.

 

I know the OP has recanted the 'ultra rich' comment, which is good - the people I met onboard were regular folk, and some had saved for a long time for their trip.

 

Happy cruising

[davenew]

The are not catering to the rich - they will charter their ships to special interest groups because it a good business decision. They don't have to advertise or book those cruises. The amount paid by those who book into the special interest groups aren't really a lot higher than anyone else. There just aren't any sell-off close in.

 

No, no one will get fed up - they will just look at different dates and see what the companies offers for changing dates.

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't accepting a booking create a contractual obligation?

[PattyG12]

Personally, I would prefer to lose my cruise to a charter, than have that cruise taken over by a large group, that I had no idea would be onboard.

 

Had this happen on the Adventure. It was HORRIBLE. Would MUCH rather have had the cruise cancelled with enough time to reschedule!

[Royalty X]

I definitely agree that cruise lines shouldn't be able to charter cruises once cabins are sold on a certain sailing.

 

I had a client booked on a Paul Gauguin b2b cruise and they chartered out one of the cruises and essentially said "too bad, so sad" to my client. This client was spending almost $25000 on the booking, plus we had booked flights and accommodation. They weren't even prepared to help foot any of the bill for flight changes.

 

Thankfully, I was able to get him the last cabin on a similar itinerary through Seabourn and I was eventually able to get everything else sorted. However, Paul Gauguin have now lost a longtime client by pulling a stunt (for a lack of a better term) like this. I wouldn't have thought cruise lines would want to put long time supporters (especially ones that spend that sort of money) offside. My client says he'll never sail with PG again.

[aloha43]

OP, don't get your undies in a knot over something that probably will never happen. You'll be a year past Freedom's dry dock so no worries there. We've been cruising since 1997 and never had a cruise cancelled for anything let alone a charter. If it happens, you can come back and yell at me. :D

 

I probably just jinxed myself but I'll take that risk.

 

The problem or reason why I am unnerved is because I have had 2 cruises cancelled on me.

 

Just leaves me on edge....especially with all of the posts I'm seeing regarding cancellations.

[hgmizzou]

I would argue with this, but I was once taught to never argue with stupid, they always win because they have had so much practice at it!!!

 

Coming from the travel industry, I worked many cruise ship charters. Shriners, auto dealer sale reps, association members, religious groups.

 

FAR, far from the dreaded evil, vile 1%.

 

CC REALLY NEEDS A LIKE BUTTON!!!!!!!! Amen & and thank you!!!

 

This class warfare thread is positively ridiculous! :eek:

[Big_G]

The problem or reason why I am unnerved is because I have had 2 cruises cancelled on me.

 

 

 

Just leaves me on edge....especially with all of the posts I'm seeing regarding cancellations.

 

 

So look at the bright side, the odds are in your favor that it won't happen. ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BamaGuy44]

I definitely agree that cruise lines shouldn't be able to charter cruises once cabins are sold on a certain sailing.

 

I had a client booked on a Paul Gauguin b2b cruise and they chartered out one of the cruises and essentially said "too bad, so sad" to my client. This client was spending almost $25000 on the booking, plus we had booked flights and accommodation. They weren't even prepared to help foot any of the bill for flight changes.

 

Thankfully, I was able to get him the last cabin on a similar itinerary through Seabourn and I was eventually able to get everything else sorted. However, Paul Gauguin have now lost a longtime client by pulling a stunt (for a lack of a better term) like this. I wouldn't have thought cruise lines would want to put long time supporters (especially ones that spend that sort of money) offside. My client says he'll never sail with PG again.

 

People always say that when they're mad, I doubt they actually permanently lose many long term customers over this. Huge corporations make this kind of tradeoff every day. If they refuse to do charters, they're losing that business and pushing the (very profitable) charters to other lines. Apparently they would lose more money by refusing the charters than by losing a few customers who get their booking canceled, or they would stop doing them. People take it way too personally, it's just business.

[aloha43]

When you start a thread erroneously whining about RCI catering to the "ultra rich" with charters and then list 12 sailings you claim have been chartered, when in reality 5 are dry dock weeks, 5 are just a mistake and you had the wrong date on another - leaving ONE week which may be chartered - you should just plan on "being put down for your comments." :rolleyes:

 

Sent from my Galaxy S4 via Tapatalk

 

You didn't read what I said....and I did come back and apologize for the ultra rich comment and my mistakes.

 

I said the whole month of Jan 2016 was cancelled....Jan 25 chartered. May 3 chartered.

 

Oasis wasn't available when I looked the day before.

 

And yes, I realized and admitted my mistake with Navigator instead of Liberty.

 

Erroneously whining comment is uncalled for.

[aloha43]

CC REALLY NEEDS A LIKE BUTTON!!!!!!!! Amen & and thank you!!!

 

This class warfare thread is positively ridiculous! :eek:

 

This wasn't meant to be a class warfare thread. Did you read it all? I have apologized for my wrong words...

[hgmizzou]

This wasn't meant to be a class warfare thread. Did you read it all? I have apologized for my wrong words...

 

Yes, I have now read it all and I posted this before I saw your retraction. However, next time it might be best not to lay this at the feet of the 1%. That was what I was reacting too. Posting on a blog can be troublesome at times.

 

It seems that you didn't mean for your post to come across the way it did. I understand your frustration regarding cancelled cruises, but it was the way that you portrayed the problem that rubbed some of us the wrong way. I do not consider myself to be a part of the "1%", but as others have said, to many in the world those of us that are blessed to cruise could be considered to be a part of that segment.

 

I hope you are able to work all this out to your satisfaction and that you and your family can enjoy your upcoming vacation.

[LetsGetWet!]

You didn't read what I said....and I did come back and apologize for the ultra rich comment and my mistakes.

 

I said the whole month of Jan 2016 was cancelled....Jan 25 chartered. May 3 chartered.

 

Oasis wasn't available when I looked the day before.

 

And yes, I realized and admitted my mistake with Navigator instead of Liberty.

 

Erroneously whining comment is uncalled for.

January 25th is part of the January drydock. So you're left with May 3rd and one week for Liberty. So two weeks vs. the 12 you tried to claim. Many reasons why "erroneous" was called for.

 

Yes, you can find a few charters - almost always chartered 18 months or more in advance. If you book beyond 18 months, there's a small chance that you'll have to change your booking for a charter. You will NOT lose any money from RCI if they charter your sailing and you have to change. Since I know you can't even book airline tickets 18 months out, you're definitely not going to lose money on airfare, hotel or anything else. Maybe some people can request and get vacations approved 18 months or more in advance, I sure can't at my company.

 

If they did this, say 6 months or less before departure I could understand your anger, but they don't. And ALL cruise lines will continue to sell charters when they can, so better just accept that - it'll save you from high blood pressure and ulcers from getting angry about it! ;)

[Merion_Mom]

This wasn't meant to be a class warfare thread. Did you read it all? I have apologized for my wrong words...

 

You, the Original Poster, can contact the moderators (community@cruisecritic.com) and request that the thread be locked or removed.

[Mommy oooo]

We were booked on NCL Pearl for Feb 2015. Our cruise was also canceled due to a sixth man music charter (which NCL now owns) . so we changed plans and are now on the Independence. It happens.

[Royalty X]

People always say that when they're mad, I doubt they actually permanently lose many long term customers over this. Huge corporations make this kind of tradeoff every day. If they refuse to do charters, they're losing that business and pushing the (very profitable) charters to other lines. Apparently they would lose more money by refusing the charters than by losing a few customers who get their booking canceled, or they would stop doing them. People take it way too personally, it's just business.

It may be "just business", but pissing off loyal clients isn't good business. It's not like it was just a domestic flight or two that had to change. The client lives in Australia and was flying to Europe to meet the cruise. The remainder of the trip had been planned and booked and in one fell swoop, PG turn around and say "sorry we've chartered your cruise". They didn't even offer up any alternatives, or financial assistance to change flights, etc. That's not good business by any means.