RCI screws up again

[MaritimeR&R]

I am aware that the cruise line has the right to cancel any cruise due to whatever reason, however when they do that they should first inform their currently booked passengers BEFORE the charter that has taken over the cruise starts selling cabins that the currently-booked passengers still have deposits on instead of just listing the cruise on its website as "Sold Out." Case in point - the March 9th, 2018 10 night southern Caribbean cruise on Serenade is listed as sold out. To date, currently-booked passengers have not been informed that the cruise has been chartered, but cabins for a Melissa Etheridge 7 night eastern Caribbean cruise (San Juan, St. Maarten, Labadee) starting on March 12 and ending on March 19th are being sold online by the charter. Currently, I am awaiting word on the third leg of 4 consecutive sailings I have booked on the Serenade for January and February of 2018. No one at RCI knows anything other than the ship has been pulled from inventory (the usual excuses were given and no mention of a charter was among them.) A google search turned up nothing. If my Feb 16, 2018 sailing becomes a charter, it will leave me in an expensive and inconvenient pickle as I do not want to incur the expenses to fly home to New York and back again for my fourth leg (the 11 night southern) with another hotel fee for the night before. I strongly feel that RCI needs to promptly communicate with its customers as soon as they charter a ship, especially to those customers whose consecutive sailings will be interrupted and do not live local to the disembarkation port!

[BND]

I am aware that the cruise line has the right to cancel any cruise due to whatever reason, however when they do that they should first inform their currently booked passengers BEFORE the charter that has taken over the cruise starts selling cabins that the currently-booked passengers still have deposits on instead of just listing the cruise on its website as "Sold Out." Case in point - the March 9th, 2018 10 night southern Caribbean cruise on Serenade is listed as sold out. To date, currently-booked passengers have not been informed that the cruise has been chartered, but cabins for a Melissa Etheridge 7 night eastern Caribbean cruise (San Juan, St. Maarten, Labadee) starting on March 12 and ending on March 19th are being sold online by the charter. Currently, I am awaiting word on the third leg of 4 consecutive sailings I have booked on the Serenade for January and February of 2018. No one at RCI knows anything other than the ship has been pulled from inventory (the usual excuses were given and no mention of a charter was among them.) A google search turned up nothing. If my Feb 16, 2018 sailing becomes a charter, it will leave me in an expensive and inconvenient pickle as I do not want to incur the expenses to fly home to New York and back again for my fourth leg (the 11 night southern) with another hotel fee for the night before. I strongly feel that RCI needs to promptly communicate with its customers as soon as they charter a ship, especially to those customers whose consecutive sailings will be interrupted and do not live local to the disembarkation port!

 

Have you checked the roll calls for the cruises? We wanted to book Serenade for April 2018 (11 night I think) when we were onboard GR. All they knew onboard was that it had been pulled from inventory and we looked at each other and said "charter". Pulled from inventory always means charter. I checked the roll call for the cruise we were interested in and they confirmed it was chartered.

[Clarea]

I am aware that the cruise line has the right to cancel any cruise due to whatever reason, however when they do that they should first inform their currently booked passengers BEFORE the charter that has taken over the cruise starts selling cabins that the currently-booked passengers still have deposits on instead of just listing the cruise on its website as "Sold Out." Case in point - the March 9th, 2018 10 night southern Caribbean cruise on Serenade is listed as sold out. To date, currently-booked passengers have not been informed that the cruise has been chartered, but cabins for a Melissa Etheridge 7 night eastern Caribbean cruise (San Juan, St. Maarten, Labadee) starting on March 12 and ending on March 19th are being sold online by the charter. Currently, I am awaiting word on the third leg of 4 consecutive sailings I have booked on the Serenade for January and February of 2018. No one at RCI knows anything other than the ship has been pulled from inventory (the usual excuses were given and no mention of a charter was among them.) A google search turned up nothing. If my Feb 16, 2018 sailing becomes a charter, it will leave me in an expensive and inconvenient pickle as I do not want to incur the expenses to fly home to New York and back again for my fourth leg (the 11 night southern) with another hotel fee for the night before. I strongly feel that RCI needs to promptly communicate with its customers as soon as they charter a ship, especially to those customers whose consecutive sailings will be interrupted and do not live local to the disembarkation port!

Whatever you do, don't cancel or change the booking until officially notified by RC, else you will not be eligible for any consideration from RC.

[MaritimeR&R]

Yes, I have checked my roll call. We are all awaiting official word. No one has any confirmation of a charter or has been contacted by RCI.

[MaritimeR&R]

Whatever you do, don't cancel or change the booking until officially notified by RC, else you will not be eligible for any consideration from RC.

 

Yes, I know that Bob. But, it is likely that consideration will be given only for the charter cruise. That will not help me with what would have been the fourth sailing in the same cabin.

[Ourusualbeach]

Yes, I know that Bob. But, it is likely that consideration will be given only for the charter cruise. That will not help me with what would have been the fourth sailing in the same cabin.

 

You are correct. We had a family member on a B4B a few years back and the 3rd leg was chartered and they only compensate for the chartered cruise, nothing at all extra.

 

On a positive note, this is over a year away so at least you have time to replan and haven't not been affected by airfare.

[EatonDoolittle]

I know it's a great sport here to trash the cruise line (your lead "RCI screws up again"), but this is not exclusive to them.

 

Celebrity did the exact thing to me about 18 months ago, we heard about it when someone popped onto the roll call and said "Hi, I'm on this 7 day Smooth Jazz charter out of Ft Lauderdale".

Huh? It was a 10 day out of San Juan. No charter.

 

I've read about sailings being cancelled or modified on the HAL and Princess boards, as well.

 

I feel your pain, Celebrity eventually reinstated the itinerary a year later with almost the same ports, but it still stings when they ruin your initial plans.

 

This is rare, but not unheard of.

I don't know what they'll offer by way of compensation, but it won't be much, that you can be sure of.

[ducklite]

It is also,possible that it is not a full ship charter and you will be able to cruise in the cabin you have booked.

 

If the cruise starts and ends in the same port, rather than flying home, can't you simply take the refund of the cruise fare and stay for a week exploring that island? Maybe rent a nice beachfront condo and end up actually saving some money? Just a thought.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Magellan321]

So sorry MaritimeR&R. We went through the hassle of changing plans for our Jan 2017 cruise out of San Juan. We were booked on the Summit and had to change to the RCCL Jewel. Thankfully we were not on B2B...but finding out online that our cruise was chartered out 4 weeks before Celebrity answered us was annoying and frustrating. Hopefully it all works out for you.

[StolidCruiser]

Sorry to hear about how your travel plans more than a year from now may be in jeopardy. It is disappointing you weren't notified immediately upon a chartered sailing you had booked.

 

Thankfully you have plenty of time to reschedule, hopefully taking your business elsewhere to demonstrate to RCI exactly how such distasteful practices will have a negative effect by turning valued customers to the competition.

[Cruiserbillyboo]

It is also,possible that it is not a full ship charter and you will be able to cruise in the cabin you have booked.

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Given the information provided so far by the OP, isn't this the most likely scenario?

[Magellan321]

Standard procedure is they "rent" the entire ship from the cruise line preventing the cruise line from selling anything and allowing the charter full control of the cabins. Our Jan original cruise....Celebrity canceled our booking when they chartered it out ....as of Thanksgiving cabins were still available with the chartered group and not available for booking with Celebrity

[Ourusualbeach]

It is also,possible that it is not a full ship charter and you will be able to cruise in the cabin you have booked.

 

If the cruise starts and ends in the same port, rather than flying home, can't you simply take the refund of the cruise fare and stay for a week exploring that island? Maybe rent a nice beachfront condo and end up actually saving some money? Just a thought.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Given the information provided so far by the OP, isn't this the most likely scenario?

 

 

I doubt this is possible. The original cruise was departing FLL on the 9th and was 10 nights. The chartered cruise would be departing on the 12th for 7 days. Both are totally different ports. I doubt that they would change the ports have one set of passengers board in FLL and then pick up the charter in SJU and then disembark both original passengers and charter passengers in FLL.

 

Unfortunately this will also most likely affect the cruise before it as well unless they just add in a short Bahamas cruise to fill the couple of extra days.

[brenderlou]

To the OP.....I bet RCCL waits to see how the charter cruise sells before contacting people. If it doesn't sell well they may be able to accommodate those who already booked.

It may be me but I think Melissa Etheridge isn't the hot ticket she use to be.

 

I totally understand your frustration but from a business standpoint I see why RCCL handles it this way. I have seen charters cancelled due to lack of interest. Unfortunately it's a wait and see or start looking at other options.

 

Good luck

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Thetrail]

It is also,possible that it is not a full ship charter and you will be able to cruise in the cabin you have booked.

 

If the cruise starts and ends in the same port, rather than flying home, can't you simply take the refund of the cruise fare and stay for a week exploring that island? Maybe rent a nice beachfront condo and end up actually saving some money? Just a thought.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Some cruises booked as "charters" can absolutely have cabins booked from individuals that have already booked and are in fact NOT part of the charter.

[ducklite]

Some cruises booked as "charters" can absolutely have cabins booked from individuals that have already booked and are in fact NOT part of the charter.

 

 

 

Isn't that what I said? I was part of a charter that wasn't a full ship charter on my last cruise. I have a friend who cruises every year as a member of a group of several hundred that "charters" part of the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited December 11, 2016 by ducklite

[Ourusualbeach]

To the OP.....I bet RCCL waits to see how the charter cruise sells before contacting people. If it doesn't sell well they may be able to accommodate those who already booked.

It may be me but I think Melissa Etheridge isn't the hot ticket she use to be.

 

I totally understand your frustration but from a business standpoint I see why RCCL handles it this way. I have seen charters cancelled due to lack of interest. Unfortunately it's a wait and see or start looking at other options.

 

Good luck

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Royal has nothing to do with the charters. For full ship charters they get a fixed amount of money from the group chartering the ship regardless of how many cabins the group sells.

 

If it was a partial charter they would not alter itinerary and change the length of the cruise.

[Aquahound]

Given the information provided so far by the OP, isn't this the most likely scenario?

 

I doubt it. The possibility exists that it's only a partial charter but from my experience and from stories told here on CC, I'd bet it's a full charter.

[Magellan321]

There is a difference between group and charter cruise. We have cruised 2x with a group on a music theme 50's/60's cruise, 1x with funeral directors of Canada association, and 2x with singles. Those sailings were never pulled from inventory....just chunks of room categorie. The number of days sailing were not changed nor the embarkation port or itinerary. They committed to purchasing a certain number of cabins to resold with their special event perks. Cruises pulled from inventory are chartered and "leased" for the time wanted and itinerary wanted.

[Magellan321]

I doubt it. The possibility exists that it's only a partial charter but from my experience and from stories told here on CC, I'd bet it's a full charter.

 

Yes, and especially because the new cruise is a total change. Our Summit went from 7 days out of San Juan to 10 days out of Ft Lauderdale.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Magellan321

[Lionesss]

Just curious.....................

 

If you could keep the cabin at the current or lesser price, would you go this week?

 

Just wondering.

 

Good luck and let us know what happens

[MaritimeR&R]

I doubt this is possible. The original cruise was departing FLL on the 9th and was 10 nights. The chartered cruise would be departing on the 12th for 7 days. Both are totally different ports. I doubt that they would change the ports have one set of passengers board in FLL and then pick up the charter in SJU and then disembark both original passengers and charter passengers in FLL.

 

Unfortunately this will also most likely affect the cruise before it as well unless they just add in a short Bahamas cruise to fill the couple of extra days.

 

I am not on the cruise destined to be torn apart by the Melissa Ethridge sailing that is on March 9th, however, I am annoyed that RC has not contacted those people already booked for that sailing. If you look at my upcoming cruises, you will see that I am talking about my Serenade 2/16/18 cruise which is the third leg of four cruises that I am booked on. The cruise has been listed since late Friday as sold out on the RC website and I fear the same fate that has befallen the 3/9 and 4/20/18 cruises will happen to my 2/16/18 cruise.

[MaritimeR&R]

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask RC to notify it's passengers immediately upon accepting a charter instead of leaving us all to speculate on what's happening.

Edited December 11, 2016 by MaritimeR&R

[Ourusualbeach]

I am not on the cruise destined to be torn apart by the Melissa Ethridge sailing that is on March 9th, however, I am annoyed that RC has not contacted those people already booked for that sailing. If you look at my upcoming cruises, you will see that I am talking about my Serenade 2/16/18 cruise which is the third leg of four cruises that I am booked on. The cruise has been listed since late Friday as sold out on the RC website and I fear the same fate that has befallen the 3/9 and 4/20/18 cruises will happen to my 2/16/18 cruise.

 

Sorry, I don't see signatures and I missed the dates off your cruise at the end of the post.

 

When our Oasis cruise was chartered last year it was 3-4 weeks before they finally let us know. I think what happens is that when a company initially contacts Royal and seriously inquires about a charter the date gets listed as sold out and red flagged so that they avoid any more potential conflicts for guests booking from that point on. I imagine that from the point of inquiry to a finalized agreement it takes several weeks and they won't let existing customers know of changes until they have a signed, finalized agreement in case it falls through.

[Magellan321]

The March 9th cruise does not affect me, however I am upset in that no one who is booked on that cruise has been notified of its cancellation by RC despite the charter already selling cabins for the different itinerary and shorter cruise. If you look at my upcoming cruises, I have four consecutive cruises booked for Serenade in the winter of 2018 (my escape from NY cold weather). It is the third sailing, 2/16, that as of late Friday night has now shown up as sold out and I fear the same fate that befell the March 9 and April 20 sailings will be realize. No one at the D+ desk knows anything, or so they say.

 

I left you some info on your roll call about the March date....so don't be surprised if yours has changed and no notice....they started selling tickets to the March one by 11/1