Charter Opportunities

[Mojogurued]

These cruise lines are getting serious. I've got a couple dozen peeps meeting me in a few weeks, but nothing like filling up a whole ship!

 

 

[Bo1953]

I Am sure that charters are a very profitable portion of their business... rather they be full or partial.

 

bon voyage

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

I Am sure that charters are a very profitable portion of their business... rather they be full or partial.

 

bon voyage

 

They must be if they are doing them only 7 months out (there was a thread not long ago about someone who was notified that their cruise 7 months out had been cancelled for a charter). If they can afford to tick off a lot of pre-booked people by cancelling it, they must make money off of them. Enough to offset the people who will jump ship for being treated that way anyway.

[Bo1953]

47 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

They must be if they are doing them only 7 months out (there was a thread not long ago about someone who was notified that their cruise 7 months out had been cancelled for a charter). If they can afford to tick off a lot of pre-booked people by cancelling it, they must make money off of them. Enough to offset the people who will jump ship for being treated that way anyway.

Usually, it is a minimum of one (1) year out so most passengers will not have made travel arrangements which may be non-refundable.

 

Seven (7) months out is a bit too short of a time frame and unusual, IMO, and most likely result in lots of OBC to be paid out for bumping.

 

bon voyage

[Mike981]

I wonder what the crazy cost is? And I wonder if this goes for the whole fleet, for example the Edge?

I agree with Bo, it must be very profitable. They also eliminate the headache of trying to fill the ship.

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, Mike981 said:

I wonder what the crazy cost is? And I wonder if this goes for the whole fleet, for example the Edge?

I agree with Bo, it must be very profitable. They also eliminate the headache of trying to fill the ship.

 
RCL has estimate prices available to give you an idea. Anywhere from under a million for a 3-4 night on a small older ship to $11 million+ for an Oasis class ship.  They typically don’t book within 12 months, but if they do, the charter has to pay the fees and associated costs for the displaced guests. Charter clients also have to pay taxes, port charges, daily grats and potentially agree to meet minimum onboard spend requirements or pay the difference.  It sounds like a big number, but having been involved in some incentive trip planning, the cost itself isn’t that bad. 

[Mark_T]

I'm in favor of whole ship charters, as I'd rather be displaced than find myself on a cruise with a very large charter group.

 

 

 

 

[Mike981]

33 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 
RCL has estimate prices available to give you an idea. Anywhere from under a million for a 3-4 night on a small older ship to $11 million+ for an Oasis class ship.  They typically don’t book within 12 months, but if they do, the charter has to pay the fees and associated costs for the displaced guests. Charter clients also have to pay taxes, port charges, daily grats and potentially agree to meet minimum onboard spend requirements or pay the difference.  It sounds like a big number, but having been involved in some incentive trip planning, the cost itself isn’t that bad. 

 

 

Thank you Jeremiah, I appreciate the explanation. Fellow Wisconsonite here, I grew up in Madison.

[TN Vol Fan]

I just got bumped off of a cruise on the Equinox within 8 months.  X offered 3 other cruises to keep the price and the already booked perks.  They gave me 10 days to decide if I wanted to rebook.  I did and got extra OBC because of the current sale. Not a bad deal.  Where I lost was on my airfare.  X will cover the change fees but not the increased actual cost of the ticket.  I’ll just end up eating that.

This is the first time this has happened to me with X. I wish they would limit their charters to at least a year out. But I agree it’s better to do a whole ship charter than extra large charter groups mixed with regular passengers.

[hcat]

5 hours ago, Mark_T said:

I'm in favor of whole ship charters, as I'd rather be displaced than find myself on a cruise with a very large charter group.

 

 

 

 

Absolutely...

Some  groups that used to do full charters  seem to be finding it  easier to  have a large group sailing instead of a full charter,  but still take over much of the ship.

This is a big disadvantage for outsiders but hard to find out about,

 

We book with the understanding we could get bumped...so now we have a flexible mindset and never book non refundable airfare etc,

[SeaHunt]

The site below has a list of some full ship charters

Of course it's not a complete list (only 93 listed!), and doesn't include any presently in the pipeline (planning, etc.), but it's fun to look through:

 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html

 

I guess I should say it's fun to look through those cruises unless one of yours is listed there - then it's darn *&$%#! LOL

Edited October 18, 2019 by SeaHunt
clarity

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

Absolutely...

Some  groups that used to do full charters  seem to be finding it  easier to  have a large group sailing instead of a full charter,  but still take over much of the ship.

This is a big disadvantage for outsiders but hard to find out about,

 

We book with the understanding we could get bumped...so now we have a flexible mindset and never book non refundable airfare etc,

If I booked non refundable airfare I couldn't afford the cruise.  Furthermore if I felt the need to book non refundable airfare because the cruise line was so unpredictable booking charters I wouldn't bother booking at all. Fortunately Celebrity has just about priced me out with all of the add on's for a refundable deposit that  I have booked Princess.

[Mojogurued]

2 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

If I booked non refundable airfare I couldn't afford the cruise.  Furthermore if I felt the need to book non refundable airfare because the cruise line was so unpredictable booking charters I wouldn't bother booking at all. Fortunately Celebrity has just about priced me out with all of the add on's for a refundable deposit that  I have booked Princess.

 

Maybe find a charter you like and everything should be all set.

[hcat]

10 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

If I booked non refundable airfare I couldn't afford the cruise.  Furthermore if I felt the need to book non refundable airfare because the cruise line was so unpredictable booking charters I wouldn't bother booking at all. Fortunately Celebrity has just about priced me out with all of the add on's for a refundable deposit that  I have booked Princess.

Living on Long Island, NY,   gives us acess to Southwest Air from Islip but not too many other choices unless you go to LGA or JFK.  Southwest Air lets you change air res,  bank refunds etc, but  does not offer reserved seats.

 

We use SW almost exclusively for US flights ..even if we have to change planes.  For anything else, good trvl ins is esential!

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, hcat said:

Living on Long Island, NY,   gives us acess to Southwest Air from Islip but not too many other choices unless you go to LGA or JFK.  Southwest Air lets you change air res,  bank refunds etc, but  does not offer reserved seats.

 

We use SW almost exclusively for US flights ..even if we have to change planes.  For anything else, good trvl ins is esential!

I always get travel insurance so that's a given.  We fly JetBlue out of JFK. I live midpoint to both JFK and Islip but we use JB credit card points to pay for flights and it's easier to take the LIRR to JFK. DW has a monthly ticket and metro card so we only have to pay for my fare.