Independence of Seas 1/21/16 sailing disappears

[SailingSal]

Our 1/21/16 sailing disappeared from our saved cruises when I checked our computer yesterday. I looked up the cruise on RC website and it was gone!:confused:

I then called Royal and the first person told me that we are still in the system with our booking number but that prices are too far out to post. I told them that made NO sense since I booked this cruise a month ago and every other sailing for the ship is available that month. Then I was told it was sold out! Really - a year and 3 month from now:rolleyes:? I asked what group booked this ship and was told they could not tell me. So I asked to speak to someone else. We did not want to go with a large group of people we would not feel comfortable with. I was transferred to "Resolution Team" and told the same thing. I explained that we booked Independence so that we could get off it on 1/25 to get right back on Serenade for an 11 day cruise and need to know if we still want to keep this "unknown" reservation on Independence. I was told to call back in 2 weeks to see if they had a better answer that would make me happy! I have never encountered this and searched the web to see if I could find out who booked this for these 4 days! Can anyone help me here?:confused:

Thanks so much!

[Clarea]

Might be a full ship charter, especially if the cruises before and after are still showing available on the web site. When this has happened before, it's taken weeks for Royal to notify guests. They usually give some consideration (OBC, price protection) for the guests that they end up cancelling.

Edited October 1, 2014 by clarea

[Ourusualbeach]

Same thing happened to us for our Oasis cruise in 2016.

 

There is a high probability that the cruise has been chartered. No one here will officially know until revenue tells them. Even resolutions will not know. Every time I called to inquire I received some different obviously incorrect answer.

 

The best thing that you can do right now is to sit tight and wait for RCI to contact you. If it has been chartered they will offer you a choice of sailings similar to what you booked at the same price as what you paid. You will also receive an OBC as compensation for your trouble. Typical OBC has been $200 or $400 for suites. This is per stateroom. This far out they will not offer anything for airline flight change fees.

 

If you cancel on your own before they contact you you will receive nothing.

[island284]

That happened to us on our 2016 Navigator cruise. About three weeks after discovering our cruise date was no longer showing on the website we received a call from Royal saying the ship was chartered

 

We were offered:

A few substitute sailings at protected prices

$200 OBC for any sailing we chose

 

However - we had 10 days to make a choice of the sailing we wanted instead. The dates they offered us didn't work so we chose a different ship with current pricing.

 

My advice is to keep checking, search now for an alternate cruise, and wait for a phone call from Royal. BTW, the call came in the evening, not during the day.

[SailingSal]

Thanks for your replies - we will wait it out. I have checked about an alternate cruise -- -even on another line, but since we planned to get off of Independence of the Seas and get right on Serenade for an 11 day cruise, I can't find anything that works without staying in Fort Lauderdale for a day or 2:( Our major concern was who chartered the cruise - don't tell me it was full! I know that 2 years ago when this happened to Jewel of the Seas after we left the ship, the chartered cruise was a "clothing optional" trip:eek:

[leaveitallbehind]

Looks like it has been chartered as a Rock Legends Cruise. See the following link.

 

http://rocklegendscruise.com/

[BillOh]

I suspect the corporation is mulling more changes for Spring 2016. I personally saw an Adventure booking pulled for most of April and I've heard other people seeing the same thing with several ships.

 

My pure speculation is with new ships coming in, they are keeping their options open. We've seen changes to announced plans for Quantum and Anthem already.

[Retired LEO]

I originally booked the Independance for 10/25. I then found out what group was was on it and immediatley change it to the Oasis sailing 1 day sooner from the same port.

 

Google your ship and sailing date and you'll have your answer.

[leaveitallbehind]

I originally booked the Independance for 10/25. I then found out what group was was on it and immediatley change it to the Oasis sailing 1 day sooner from the same port.

 

Google your ship and sailing date and you'll have your answer.

 

See my response #6. :)

Edited October 1, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[SailingSal]

Looks like it has been chartered as a Rock Legends Cruise. See the following link.

 

http://rocklegendscruise.com/

 

You are so right! I tried surfing the net for the cruise this morning but didn't find this web site. Thank you for your help - I just didn't realize that a whole ship could be filled for a Rock cruise:rolleyes:. The cost doubled for the same room that we booked! I guess we will see if we are bumped - at least we have time before the sailing date!

[leaveitallbehind]

You are so right! I tried surfing the net for the cruise this morning but didn't find this web site. Thank you for your help - I just didn't realize that a whole ship could be filled for a Rock cruise:rolleyes:. The cost doubled for the same room that we booked! I guess we will see if we are bumped - at least we have time before the sailing date!

 

Hope it works out for you!

[vickiw0318]

Hope it works out for you!

You will be bumped. The bookings for the Rock Cruises are done through the sponsoring organization. This is the fourth one of these and, yes, the ship is filled! The third one isn't until next February and it sold out months ago. Cruise fare includes a $250 pp contribution to the sponsoring organization and the cost of all 20 something bands that perform. The list for each cruise has been quite impressive. Each band performs 2-3 times at one of three venues - pool deck, theater or Studio B. The atmosphere on board is amazing.

 

If you are into classic rock, check it out!

 

P.S. The last one was during Super Mario's "tenure" on the Liberty. He booked through NAHA and stayed on board. I am told he had a great time. On the first one, I got a great kick watching the deck hands come in and watch ZZ Top. Like I said, it's an amazing atmosphere!

Edited October 1, 2014 by vickiw0318

[SailingSal]

This is crazy:eek:

I just went onto the Rock legends web site. They just starting taking reservations today and are already sold out and there is a waiting list:eek:

This is for a cruise that is 15 months away! I guess we will be bumped - now we have to make plans on how we can fit in 2 cruises that are not back-to-back. I guess there are worse head-aches in this life - LOL!

Thank you all for information and help - I really appreciate it.

[vickiw0318]

There is still space for 1/21/16. (That's RLC4). It's the one this coming February that is booked (RCL3). They sent out an email tonight saying that there's been a terrific response and they are working Saturday to help with more bookings.

[carmensmom]

There are still openings for the 2016 sailing, only a couple of categories are sold out. Gonna be our first RCI cruise and our first Rock Legends cruise, really looking forward to it, all the others sold out before we could get it booked.

[Russ Lomas]

Looks like it has been chartered as a Rock Legends Cruise. See the following link.

 

http://rocklegendscruise.com/

 

Is there any chance they would let the OP just keep their cabin at the price he originally was given from RCCL before the charter group decided to take over the ship? I have read of other people this has happened to being given the option of jumping ship or just keeping their current reservation. If the OP gets to keep their original reservation, I would consider them very lucky and wish them a great cruise.