RCCL chartered my cruise and I am not on it...

[ISABELLA]

We were booked on B2B 4 days NE and 12 days Caribbean/Bermuda cruise next October - so looking forward to it. Just came to find out that RCCL canceled NE cruise, so they can do a charter 5 days Bermuda cruise, and left us unhappy and disappointed.........

Have this ever happend to you???????

[Cruising89143]

This does happen from time to time and not only on RCI. At least you have been given enough time to make other arrangements.

[keith74]

did they offer compensation?

[ISABELLA]

did they offer compensation?

Sort of....

We are opt for 5 days cruise a week earlier at the lowest price with $150.00/cabin on board credit or any 7 days NE cruise in September or October at the lowest price they have (great offer!) with the same on board credit. The whole idea for us was to do B2B, and not to go on the 5 days cruise, come home for 5 days and go again. I do not think that compensation is atractive enough for all packing/ unpacking deal. It was good for a couple of the months just to think about it. I would've love if for everybody who is doing B2B they will offer to stay for that 5 days Bermuda cruise.

[negc]

Actually, the compensation RCI offered isn't too bad. For higher category rooms such as D, it was $300 onboard credit per cabin, and you could take the five day sailing for what you paid for the 4 day cruise. I agree, though, the idea of taking the October 21st 5 day cruise to Canada, going home for five days before getting back on for the 12 night repositioning is a drag, especially if you have limited vacation time available or were looking forward to 16 consecutive nights onboard with a unique Canada/Bermuda/Caribbean itinerary. As others have said, at least you have plenty of time to make other plans. I'll be interested to see what the rates Vacation Outlet, which chartered the Jewel for October 26-31, will be charging. Based on past experiences with VO it will probably be as much or more than RCI is charging for the 7 night Canada cruises.:(

[ISABELLA]

Bill,

Are you also on the Jewel 10/31/06? How do you know that VO chartered the ship? I, actually, think it is not "very kosher" practice on behalf of RCCL to cancel the cruise, change the itinerary, so one agency have the monopoly of booking and pricing. My booking for 4 days NE was tied to 12 Caribbean/ Bermuda. So, for a very few people who had this - they could offer 5 days Bermuda to tie with 12 days cruise. But, of course, this is my wishful thinking.

We do have until next Friday. Will see.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry to hear about one part of your cruise being chartered out to another company. Unfortunately this does happen from time to time on all cruise lines.

 

That does make it hard - cruise 5 days - come home for 5 days - then cruise again.

 

Rough decision.

[shirleygr]

This has happened to me twice--once on Carnival and once on NCL. :( Yes, it stinks and unfotunately there is nothing you can do about it. I think the comp they offered is good though, Carnival only offered me $100 and NCL $50 per cabin (not pp) when it happened to me. We already had our flights booked, so we couldn't change our vacation week. We ended up changing to different cruiselines both times so we could sail the same week. The Carnival one is actually how I ended up cruising RC the first time! :D

[MGoBlue2]

Bill,

Are you also on the Jewel 10/31/06? How do you know that VO chartered the ship? I, actually, think it is not "very kosher" practice on behalf of RCCL to cancel the cruise, change the itinerary, so one agency have the monopoly of booking and pricing. My booking for 4 days NE was tied to 12 Caribbean/ Bermuda. So, for a very few people who had this - they could offer 5 days Bermuda to tie with 12 days cruise. But, of course, this is my wishful thinking.

We do have until next Friday. Will see.

You can cancel on them, they can cancel on you - seems kosher to me.

[negc]

Bill,

Are you also on the Jewel 10/31/06? How do you know that VO chartered the ship? I, actually, think it is not "very kosher" practice on behalf of RCCL to cancel the cruise, change the itinerary, so one agency have the monopoly of booking and pricing. My booking for 4 days NE was tied to 12 Caribbean/ Bermuda. So, for a very few people who had this - they could offer 5 days Bermuda to tie with 12 days cruise. But, of course, this is my wishful thinking.

We do have until next Friday. Will see.

 

Yes I am on the Jewel 10/31/06 repositioning cruise. I know that VO chartered the ship because it is on their website and not on RCI's. A phone call to RCI confirmed the fact. I can't argue with a business decision made by a for-profit company (and after all that is what RCI basically is) since they apparently concluded it made better financial sense to charter the ship, than to try to sell a short (4 days to Canada) or a 5 day to Bermuda. I am sure that VO is paying dearly for the charter and will price it accordingly. At least the decision was made with plenty of advance notice and the compensation offered to those who had booked the 4 day Canada cruise seems to be reasonably generous. I think that the terms of the charter foreclosed on the possibility of offering the cruise to those who had booked the four night. I am sure that Vacation Outlet would be happy to sell them a stateroom, but I suspect that the price will be considerably higher than they were paying to RCI. I do think that RCI was not as diligent as they should have been in notifying clients and travel agents of the change before the news surfaced on these boards.

I discovered the change before our friends who were booked on it and their travel agent were notified, although it took some educated guessing to figure out what had happened.

Look forward to seeing you on the repositioning. If you get a chance join our thread on the meet and mingle board. There is a large group already signed on and participating and we should have ourselves a very large meet and mingle on the ship. My TA's group space is all gone and prices for individual bookings have risen appreciably. At the present time there are no balcony rooms left. We have other friends who are booked into an outside room and on a waitlist for a balcony.

[ISABELLA]

I would like to thank you all for expressing your opinions on this subject.

I do understand it is not the end of the world. And I did notice that this cruise have not been available for some time. I was told that it have been sold out. Now Bermuda 5 days cruise is on VO website, and with some steap prices. O, well.

I will pop up to M&M to chat.

Happy Holidays to all of you cruiseaddicts.

[Leafpeeper]

For all of us who were so disappointed when RCCL canceled the Boston to Bermuda itinerary originally scheduled. We had hoped to rebook the same itinerary we sailed in October this year from Boston to Bermuda, San Juan, St. Martin, and Labadee. While we were cruising, the whole itinerary was canceled and replaced with NE/Canada cruises and only the repositioning cruise remained.

 

I never understood why RCCL would have a NE/Canada cruise at the end of October (Oct 26) after the leaves are off the trees. Foliage peaks during the first two weeks of October in northern New England. Bermuda is a much better destination for late October. I wish it was a one week cruise, but 5 nights to Bermuda is better than zero nights.

 

If I was retired, I would consider B2B2B cruises starting with the NE/Canada cruise, followed by the Bermuda cruise, ending with the repositioning cruise. I could cruise forever if my money didn't run out.

 

Mary

Plymouth, MA

[dougp26364]

You can cancel on them, they can cancel on you - seems kosher to me.

 

Yes, but when they cancel on you, it often leaves you holding airline tickets that aren't much good anymore. Therefore, you can, and often do, lose some of your money for that trip.

 

When you cancel on them, they can rebook that cabin at the same price or, prehaps a higher price if the price point for that grade of cabin has gone up. They can, and often do, make the same or more money on the deal.

 

Sorry but it doesn't seem very kosker to me although I acknowledge that it can and does happen. I wonder if travel insurance would cover a situation like that? I've never looked into it.

[HurricaneSally]

I have never seen an airline that will let you buy tickets a year in advance.

[shand32783]

FYI most airlines (I know S@@@#West doesnt) let you book 330 days in advance. We always book that far out for our cruises. Then if the price goes down you just call up and most will issue you a flight credit.

 

Shane

[cujosmom]

We're also on the repositioning cruise on Oct 31. I'm so glad it wasn't the repositioning that was cancelled as I booked my airline tickets last week with frequent flyer miles -- those tickets you have to really book early.

[Lou_70]

I have never seen an airline that will let you buy tickets a year in advance.

 

 

Just about any airline will let you book over a year in advance except the one that someone posted earlier