Our Brilliance cruise has been chartered - Advice appreciated

[perfect match]

During our Symphony cruise this past April/May we visited Next Cruise and did an OBB for Brilliance out of Tampa on Nov 9, 2020. We were really looking forward to trying a smaller ship in our corner aft JS!

 

Today, I received the following email stating that our sailing has been cancelled due to the ship having been chartered.

 

 

Dear Guest, We are reaching out to let you know that, regrettably, we have to cancel our Brilliance of the Seas November 9th, 2020 cruise, as it has been chartered. We know this news is disappointing and apologize for the impact to your vacation. We want every aspect of your vacation to be enjoyable. So, we’ve put together some alternate options that we hope you will take advantage of. Option 1: Re-book one of the following sailings onboard Brilliance of the Seas departing from Tampa, Florida on a 5-nightWestern Caribbean itinerary Sailing in 2020:   Nov 14th or Nov 28th sailing to George Town, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico. Dec 7th sailing to Cozumel, Mexico and Costa Maya, Mexico.   Sailing in 2021:   Jan 18th, Feb 1st, or Mar 1st sailing to Key West, Florida and Cozumel, Mexico. Jan 23rd, Feb 6th, or Feb 20th sailing to George Town, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico.   No matter what sailing you choose, we know you’ll have an amazing time eating great food and visiting beautiful ports. With miles of rugged coastlines, culturally enriching tours, delicious local cuisine, and plenty of shopping options, there’s a destination just for you! We are sure you’ll find your perfect getaway! What you’ll receive:    Your original stateroom category will be price protected at the original cruise fare rate, excluding taxes, fees, gratuities and other non-cruise fare items.  And, you’ll receive a credit to spend onboard per stateroom:  $100 USD for Interior, Ocean View, and Balcony staterooms | $200 USD for Suites  Plus, an additional $50 USD for each third or more guest to spend onboard   Option 2: Re-book any other Royal Caribbean International sailing and receive the followingcredits to spend onboard per stateroom:   $100 USD for Interior, Ocean View, and Balcony staterooms | $200 USD for Suites Plus, an additional $50 USD for each third or more guest to spend onboard   Option 3: If you choose to cancel, we’ll be sad to see you go   We will process a full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare to the original form of payment, including any non-refundable deposits. Please note, if you choose this option, we will not provide additional compensation.   It’s important to us that you find the best vacation option. One of our destination experts will call you starting August 1st to help find your perfect cruise. If we happen to miss you, please call us back by August 15th, 2019 at 888-281-9344. If we haven’t heard from you by August 15th, your reservation will be cancelled. Lastly, any pre-paid amenities will be refunded to the original form of payment within 7-10 business days. Thank you for understanding. We hope you find another cruise vacation with us. Whether you are celebrating a special occasion or looking to explore, relax, and recharge - we have no doubt your time with us will be nothing short of amazing. We look forward to welcoming you onboard. Sincerely,

The price protected dates that have been offered really do not work very well for us. However, we do have a cruise booked on Harmony in October, 2020. Our initial thought is to transfer our Brilliance booking to that Harmony cruise. Having never been in the position before of having a cruise we are booked on cancelled for a charter, I have a few questions before I call back to Royal to address the change in our booking.   1) With our cancelled cruise being so far out, I’m not expecting a large amount of compensation for the cancellation.. Is the I’m seeing in my email what those of you more experienced than I am what would be reasonable for us to expect?    2) Will the OBC we have been offered on our new booking be based on the JS we had booked on Brilliance, or the Boardwalk balcony we have booked on Harmony?  Needless to say, prices on Harmony are well above what we paid for our Brilliance sailing. I’d be dreaming if I thought they would price match me into a JS on Harmony! 😱 A girl can dream, can’t she?  🤣   3) Can the benefits from our OBB be transferred to our Harmony cruise? Assuming our OBB can be transferred, how would that affect our benefits from our OBB?      4) Since Brilliance was booked onboard, it is a direct booking with Royal. However, we used a TA for Harmony. I’m planning to leave the Harmony booking with the TA, as she has already put in some work on it for me. Do I have to tell her (the TA) to contact Royal, or does Royal contact the TA?    I guess we’re not meant to sail on a smaller ship right now. 🤔  Good thing we enjoy the big girls!   Thanks in advance for any advice/input on what we should do next.

[Clarea]

What you see in the email is typical. 

 

You cannot transfer the benefits of the on board booking to another reservation.  You would have to change the on board booking to Harmony, and pay the current rate.

[Ourusualbeach]

The OBC in the letter is all you will get and cannot be applied to an existing cruise.  It stays with the reservation number that you had for Brilliance that you move to a new cruise. 

 

You will keep the $300 got the JS that you had booked on the BR even if you book an inside cabin on the cruise that you transfer that reservation to 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[molly361]

You will only get the compensation that they are offering in the letter.  If you had a JS booked on the Brilliance and switch to a balcony you will still get $200  It has to stay with the same reservation number.  You can switch that Brilliance booking to the Harmony but will have to pay today's rate

Edited August 1, 2019 by molly361

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, molly361 said:

You will only get the compensation that they are offering in the letter.  If you had a JS booked on the Brilliance and switch to a balcony you will still get $200  It has to stay with the same reservation number.  You can switch that Brilliance booking to the Harmony but will have to pay today's rate

You missed this one???

[TxKroozer]

We have been bumped by Charters on Celebrity twice. All I can say is NEGOTIATE. We found alternatives other than what they offered and negotiated. We are loyal RCCL and had cruise Celebrity numerous times. I even reached out to the President of Celebrity. In the latest we were booked on a B2B2B or 14 days on one ship and the middle cruise was chartered. I found a B2B for 14 days and asked to swap maintaining all my Onboard Benefits they had given to me on the B2B2B. It took some negotiating but everything worked out.

[fredflint]

find out the charter and see if you can/want to join the group 🙂

[perfect match]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. It helps knowing what to expect.

 

I’m not sure what we are going to do yet. All I really want is my deposit and the $200 OBC they’re offering for a new booking applied to my Harmony cruise. I will be back to let you know what we end up doing.

[Ourusualbeach]

36 minutes ago, perfect match said:

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. It helps knowing what to expect.

 

I’m not sure what we are going to do yet. All I really want is my deposit and the $200 OBC they’re offering for a new booking applied to my Harmony cruise. I will be back to let you know what we end up doing.

I hope it works out differently for you but I’ve tried to get that done for a couple of my clients and each time it has been unsuccessful. If you don't move the booking to a new sailing your deposit will be refunded but you will not receive the OBC offer

[SamTimeDining]

2 hours ago, fredflint said:

find out the charter and see if you can/want to join the group 🙂

It's a Biker charter

[PhoenixCruiser]

@Biker is this your charter 🛳️

Edited August 2, 2019 by PhoenixCruiser

[perfect match]

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I hope it works out differently for you but I’ve tried to get that done for a couple of my clients and each time it has been unsuccessful. If you don't move the booking to a new sailing your deposit will be refunded but you will not receive the OBC offer

 

That’s what I’m afraid is going to happen. It’s really too bad I already booked Harmony, only about a week or two ago. If I only knew then what I know now.....

 

I’m still going to give it a try, I have nothing to lose by trying. I’m not going to get my hopes up too high, though. In the meantime, I’m just going to have to try and convince DH to let me book another cruise!  😱  Unfortunately, Alaska 2021 probably won’t be available in time for our Aug 15 deadline to transfer our Brilliance cruise.

 

The worst that can happen is that we will just cancel Brilliance, get out deposit back, and use the money to pay down Harmony. Instead of two cruises, we will just have one.  We loved Symphony, so I know we will love Harmony as well. That is, in fact, what motivated the Harmony booking even though we already had Brilliance on the books - or so we thought.

 

Thank you for taking the time to help me understand this mess. 🌞

Edited August 2, 2019 by perfect match

[Clarea]

3 hours ago, perfect match said:

 

... Unfortunately, Alaska 2021 probably won’t be available in time for our Aug 15 deadline to transfer our Brilliance cruise. ...

 

Correct, the earliest that Summer 2021 cruises would normally show up would be December 2019.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, perfect match said:

 

 

 

I’m still going to give it a try, I have nothing to lose by trying. I’m not going to get my hopes up too high, though. In the meantime, I’m just going to have to try and convince DH to let me book another cruise!  😱  Unfortunately, Alaska 2021 probably won’t be available in time for our Aug 15 deadline to transfer our Brilliance cruise.

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to help me understand this mess. 🌞

If you booked this as a refundable deposit then move it to a different cruise with a refundable deposit.  Then when Alaska becomes available just move it again to the one that you want.  You won’t lose the $200 OBC. 

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

@Biker is this your charter 🛳️

Don’t think so. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

8 hours ago, SamTimeDining said:

It's a Biker charter

November 30 is a Biker Cruise. It’s called High Seas Rally and benefits those on Kidney  dialysis   It has been chartered for a year and a half at minimum. We were on the previous HSR Cruise. 

[Ourusualbeach]

10 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

November 30 is a Biker Cruise. It’s called High Seas Rally and benefits those on Kidney  dialysis   It has been chartered for a year and a half at minimum. We were on the previous HSR Cruise. 

It’s a Nov. 2020 cruise.  Impossible to have been chartered for a year and a half as those itineraries weren’t even released then.  Since the OP was just notified I’m going to say that the charter deal was finalized within the last 3 months at the most.

 

if you were thinking it’s the 2019 cruise then yes that one has probably been chartered for close to a year and a half

Edited August 2, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[Milwaukee Eight]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It’s a Nov. 2020 cruise.  Impossible to have been chartered for a year and a half as those itineraries weren’t even released then.  Since the OP was just notified I’m going to say that the charter deal was finalized within the last 3 months at the most.

November 30 2019. 

This is supposed to be the last year of the High Seas Rally (Biker Cruise). I’m not aware of another “Biker Cruise” going forward. I am aware that there is some discussion going on and interest in keeping the cruise active. The founders are no longer going to manage the cruise. Maybe they have found someone to take it over but I haven’t seen any news on this. 

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, Milwaukee Eight said:

November 30 2019. 

This is supposed to be the last year of the High Seas Rally (Biker Cruise). I’m not aware of another “Biker Cruise” going forward. I am aware that there is some discussion going on and interest in keeping the cruise active. The founders are no longer going to manage the cruise. Maybe they have found someone to take it over but I haven’t seen any news on this. 

The cruise the OP is on that was just chartered that someone said was a biker cruise was Nov 2020, maybe they mistook it for the 2019 cruise 

[perfect match]

I am happy to report that we were able to get our Next Cruise booking benefits and the OBC offered as compensation for our Brilliance cruise that was cancelled to accommodate the ship being booked as a charter. I wrote what I hoped was a very nice email to resolutions asking that we be allowed to keep the benefits already offered in their letter announcing the cancellation to a new cruise, and to retain our Next Cruise booking benefits as well. I received a phone call the next day saying that they would make an exception for us and transfer our benefits. They did have to refund our deposit to our credit card, as they could not transfer it to the TA , which was fine with us. 

 

Thank you you to everyone who helped me to get a satisfactory resolution to the transfer of our benefits from our cancelled Brilliance cruise to our cruise on Harmony. DH and I are grateful for your help, and looking forward to our Harmony sailing.