Who gets to keep their cabin when...

[diamondintn]

So, when the ships sail again and reduce the capacity to lets say 50%. If a ship is already over 50% booked, how do they determine who gets booted and who sails? Will it be first come first served? Will it be the bookings that have the highest profit? What about loyalty? Anyone have any thoughts on this? We are sailing in April 2021 (fingers crossed) and it looks like a lot of the cabins are already booked. I Really don't want to lose my cabin!

[gisnered]

20 minutes ago, diamondintn said:

So, when the ships sail again and reduce the capacity to lets say 50%. If a ship is already over 50% booked, how do they determine who gets booted and who sails? Will it be first come first served? Will it be the bookings that have the highest profit? What about loyalty? Anyone have any thoughts on this? We are sailing in April 2021 (fingers crossed) and it looks like a lot of the cabins are already booked. I Really don't want to lose my cabin!

 

Keep you fingers crossed, believe in the wizard of Oz, and know that whoever gets a cabin will not be you.  'Cause that ship ain't sailing.

 

Sorry to have to tell you that.

 

[jagoffee]

I would “guess” :

1. if the cruise is booked over their targeted capacity then they would offer incentives for people to move their booking.

2.  If they had to force a cancellation, then I would think it would be the lower level cabins first with an apology OBC for a new cruise.  Targeting the least profitable cabins.

[Blackduck59]

40 minutes ago, diamondintn said:

So, when the ships sail again and reduce the capacity to lets say 50%. If a ship is already over 50% booked, how do they determine who gets booted and who sails? Will it be first come first served? Will it be the bookings that have the highest profit? What about loyalty? Anyone have any thoughts on this? We are sailing in April 2021 (fingers crossed) and it looks like a lot of the cabins are already booked. I Really don't want to lose my cabin!

 

I can't really answer your question. There are many things to consider.

1) Will the international Borders be open to tourists from your Country? (this applies to all countries and not a dig at the US)

2) Is the ship travelling in US controlled waters?

3) How bad will the picture be in 2021?

 

I hope your plans will come through. My cruise is in New Zealand in January of 2021 and has been booked since June of 2019 so for me. I hope that New Zealand will accept tourists from Canada, the CDC has no jurisdiction and with any luck the picture will be much better by January 2021. Also in our case if we are able to travel to New Zealand but not cruise we will do a land tour instead.

[Miaminice]

If they followed the actions of some of the cruise lines already sailing in Europe, they would only sail with balcony staterooms and suites - already cutting the numbers. The travel restrictions will also reduce the number of pax. After that, first come first serve would be the fair solution for the remaining staterooms.

Loyalty? - TBH, I can´t hear the word anymore 🙂 It should be replaced with entitlement.

Besides that, I believe it´s not unrealistic to think that passengers now still booking cruises and affected by capacity cuts are all "loyal" cruisers. So what would be the next step? Zenith and E+ first?! Even though we belong to that group, I´d feel bad bumping someone off who may have booked months before me, regardless of his or her level.

 

However, so far it´s all speculation...

Edited July 20, 2020 by Miaminice

[sanger727]

No one knows at this point if they will sail with reduced capacity and if the do how they will make that happen. I wouldn’t spend any time at all concerned about this. There are too many unknowns to make an educated guess. Any guesses made now are pure speculation.

[Miaminice]

17 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

No one knows at this point if they will sail with reduced capacity and if the do how they will make that happen. I wouldn’t spend any time at all concerned about this. There are too many unknowns to make an educated guess. Any guesses made now are pure speculation.

 

Yes and no... the cruises already starting are sailing with recuced capacity. So it is in deed an educated guess...

 

[ipeeinthepool]

7 hours ago, diamondintn said:

So, when the ships sail again and reduce the capacity to lets say 50%. If a ship is already over 50% booked, how do they determine who gets booted and who sails? Will it be first come first served? Will it be the bookings that have the highest profit? What about loyalty? Anyone have any thoughts on this? We are sailing in April 2021 (fingers crossed) and it looks like a lot of the cabins are already booked. I Really don't want to lose my cabin!

 

I don't think capacity will be reduced when the ships resume sailing.   I believe that everyone will need a vaccination before sailing, so capacity constraints will not be required.

[MEcruzr]

I'm thinking they will only use exterior cabins (with balconies) and that it will be based on cabin #... meaning they will not book side by side cabins. If "your" cabin isn't one they plan to use, you'll be out. Social distancing by way of cabin location.

 

Of course, we're all just guessing.

[sanger727]

2 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

Yes and no... the cruises already starting are sailing with recuced capacity. So it is in deed an educated guess...

 

Who has started sailing with reduced capacity? And what did they use to determine who could sail and who couldn't?

[ChucktownSteve]

What a waste of mental energy hypothesizing about things nobody knows about yet which may or may not happen. Even the top officials at the cruise lines can't predict the future.

[Miaminice]

18 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

Who has started sailing with reduced capacity? And what did they use to determine who could sail and who couldn't?

 

Several cruise lines in Europe (TUI, Le Ponant, Hurtigruten...) are offering short cruises to nowhere - like Norwegian Fjords (without getting off the ship). TUI Cruises (joint venture of Royal Caribbean) are starting 7/24. 60 % capacity, balcony staterooms and suites only. The cuises which already sailed, even on smaller ships, also sailed with reduced capacity. Same on river cruises.

 

Since these cruises were only advertised now, they don´t have to determine who could sail. Whoever booked first...
Example for TUI: https://www.tuicruises.com/blauereisen

 

I think it will be the same with Celebrity etc. It´s hard to imagine that cruises will start exactly the way they were planned right away. They´ll probably also start with shorter cruises, adapted itineraries etc. etc. - in regions where they can sail like Europe, Asia. Since these cruises would be "new" and would have to be booked it´s easy. Whoever books first gets to go.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Miaminice

[terrydtx]

I read yesterday on a cruise blog that the EU is considering for 2021 to ban booking all inside and non balcony ocean view cabins for cruises that start or end in Europe. This would cut capacity. Other ideas being floated is to have all MDR seating by reservations only to keep social distancing and eliminate self serve buffets which would convert to staff serving dinning venues. The use of show theaters could also be ended for 2021. Another idea is that cruise ships must have at least 1 day between cruises to completely sanitize the ship with no passengers onboard, this could shorten all cruises already booked by 1 day.  We have two cruises booked in Europe for next year and we can live by these rules if it means our cruises will sail. 

Edited July 20, 2020 by terrydtx

[davekathy]

My Magic 8 Ball says, "cannot predict now". 🎱

[bouhunter]

4 hours ago, sanger727 said:

No one knows at this point if they will sail with reduced capacity and if the do how they will make that happen. I wouldn’t spend any time at all concerned about this. There are too many unknowns to make an educated guess. Any guesses made now are pure speculation.

That sums it up well.  The other question is, if you need to mask up and deal with dozens of social distancing restrictions do you even want to be there?  Not us.

[Miaminice]

12 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

That sums it up well.  The other question is, if you need to mask up and deal with dozens of social distancing restrictions do you even want to be there?  Not us.

 

Reducing the capacity problem already... 🙂

 

[bouhunter]

6 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

 

Reducing the capacity problem already... 🙂

 

Yep.

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, ChucktownSteve said:

What a waste of mental energy hypothesizing about things nobody knows about yet which may or may not happen. Even the top officials at the cruise lines can't predict the future.

Even though I agree with you, these hypothetical threads tend to be quite popular on Cruise Critic with a lot of posts and responses and people getting themselves all worked up.  They are amusing anyway.  Like this thread, they are generally based upon honest concerns of the OP - even if there are no logical answers to them.  But a few others are just started to stir the pot.

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, Miaminice said:

 

Several cruise lines in Europe (TUI, Le Ponant, Hurtigruten...) are offering short cruises to nowhere - like Norwegian Fjords (without getting off the ship). TUI Cruises (joint venture of Royal Caribbean) are starting 7/24. 60 % capacity, balcony staterooms and suites only. The cuises which already sailed, even on smaller ships, also sailed with reduced capacity. Same on river cruises.

 

Since these cruises were only advertised now, they don´t have to determine who could sail. Whoever booked first...
Example for TUI: https://www.tuicruises.com/blauereisen

 

I think it will be the same with Celebrity etc. It´s hard to imagine that cruises will start exactly the way they were planned right away. They´ll probably also start with shorter cruises, adapted itineraries etc. etc. - in regions where they can sail like Europe, Asia. Since these cruises would be "new" and would have to be booked it´s easy. Whoever books first gets to go.

 

Ok. That makes sense for new itineraries adapted to the "new normal'. Doesn't really address trying to adapt an old itinerary to new capacity restrictions. Doesn't sound like anyone has really addressed yet how to turn a fully booked sailing into a half booked sailing or if you had already booked an inside, how that would be handled. I still think there's way too much up in the air at this point for someone with a Spring cruise to be concerned. 

[gerelmx]

No one knows anything.it is speculation what is mentioned and creates more uncertainty in my cruise, will I sail in my inside? Booked when X released it, first in line! and less profit.  I hope that Celebrity will let us know as soon as possible which cruises are affected by this policy of sailing at reduced capacity. Just as they publish the list of canceled cruises, they should also publish the list of those with reduced capacity and which cabins are affected.

Edited July 20, 2020 by gerelmx

[phoenix_dream]

I can only speculate, as can anyone.

 

IMHO loyalty doesn't mean a hill of beans to Celebrity - it hasn't in some time.  What matters first is suites.  So I think all the suite passengers would be good to go.  They may need to re-evaluate some of the perks like Luminae and the Retreat Lounge as far as capacity limits, but they could work around that.  After that, no way do I see it as first come; first served.  They desperately need money right now, so I believe they will give priority to those who paid the most, regardless of when they booked.  Another facet of this is money spent onboard.  Those of us who are very loyal cruisers who have sailed with them for years tend to be older, and tend not to spend as much with Celebrity onboard or on shore excursions as newer (and often younger) passengers (I haven't bought an overpriced photo from them in years!).  So another reason not to go by loyalty.  In fact, since newer cruisers tend to spend more they may in fact use loyalty numbers, but in the opposite way you would want them to, and give priority to those with few cruises under their belt.  I know there are certainly exceptions to my generalizations of spending habits, but I think overall they are spot on.

[C-Dragons]

12 hours ago, diamondintn said:

So, when the ships sail again and reduce the capacity to lets say 50%. If a ship is already over 50% booked, how do they determine who gets booted and who sails? Will it be first come first served? Will it be the bookings that have the highest profit? What about loyalty? Anyone have any thoughts on this? We are sailing in April 2021 (fingers crossed) and it looks like a lot of the cabins are already booked. I Really don't want to lose my cabin!

Imo, most of the inventory for the ships that may be the first to sail is not above 50%. X can also block inventory, so it may appear that their ships are pretty “full” when in reality they are not. This makes it easier to control inventory without the need to “bump” their customers.

[phoenix_dream]

15 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Imo, most of the inventory for the ships that may be the first to sail is not above 50%. X can also block inventory, so it may appear that their ships are pretty “full” when in reality they are not. This makes it easier to control inventory without the need to “bump” their customers.

This would be the ideal situation and may very well be how the first sailings work.  At the same time, someone on my late November Apex roll call said they got their booking when Celebrity contacted them and offered them one of three sailings for free!  I was flabbergasted.  They said they were fairly loyal Royal customers but had not sailed Celebrity in three years.  I asked them how and why they think this happened (like for example are they Blue Chip big gamblers) but they haven't responded yet.  Assuming they are on the up and up (and no reason to think otherwise based on their CC history), this seems very strange to me as well as disturbing.  Why bring on more passengers, for no cabin revenue, when they may need to cut passengers when they sail??  As someone who paid a pretty penny for that cruise, as well as for the 55 Celebrity cruises prior, I find it a little disturbing that they are doing this, unless there is some logical reason that is just not known to me.

[bouhunter]

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

No one knows anything.it is speculation what is mentioned and creates more uncertainty in my cruise, will I sail in my inside? Booked when X released it, first in line! and less profit.  I hope that Celebrity will let us know as soon as possible which cruises are affected by this policy of sailing at reduced capacity. Just as they publish the list of canceled cruises, they should also publish the list of those with reduced capacity and which cabins are affected.

Don't expect anything to be "published" anytime soon.  Right now they don't have a clue which ships will sail or when, or where.

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, bouhunter said:

Don't expect anything to be "published" anytime soon.  Right now they don't have a clue which ships will sail or when, or where.

I think they probably do, actually.  And they probably also have a contingency plan.  If they don't they should all be fired immediately (as a former manager and corporate project manager, I am virtually certain they are working on these things - they have to).  But as things are changing so fast they don't dare publish anything yet as they may need to change it as circumstances change.