Should I be worried about overbooking?

[drkellik]

I have an upcoming sailing on Silhouette embarking on January 2, 2024 and I still do not a cabin assignment for a veranda guarantee booking. The sailing is now sold out. I’ve booked my share of GTY cabins in the past and have always previously received a cabin assignment well in advance. This will be my 24th cruise and I’m an Elite Captain’s Club member. This is the first time I still don’t have a cabin assignment 1-month out. Has anyone else experienced this? Is Celebrity starting to oversell ships like airlines do and bump people?

[tjunmin]

I see that your sailing is no longer shown in the results when searching for cruises on the website.

Have you tried contacting Celebrity and see what they have to say?

I agree with you, when I booked GTY in the past, cabin assignment does not take long.

Sorry I'm unable to offer any further insight at the moment. Hope you'll get a cabin assignment soon and will have a wonderful vacation!

Edited December 1, 2023 by tjunmin

[gold1953]

There are always last minute cancellations due to people with health concerns. The question is .. how many others are not assigned? . Perhaps call and ask questions

[sanger727]

I don't think that they are bound to assign a cabin number until check in. I haven't heard any reports of people being bumped. They may have reached capacity including the guarantees but are holding off assignments in case people want to upgrade cabins.

[hcat]

Maybe they  are waiting for Move Up offers to be set.?

But I would def call Celebrity,

[countess5]

I hope not to be your situation, but I did just read yesterday a couple who had a guarantee veranda cabin on Royal Caribbean in Australia. Showed up at the port and were not allowed to board, was told that they had no cabins available for their guarantee cabin. They said they could wait and see if someone doesn’t show up. After an hour and a half they left. They were given FCC for another cruise. There were a few others that were also turned away. 

 

Royal Caribbean overbooked Quantum of the Seas sailing from Australia
Several guests weren't allowed to board a Royal Caribbean cruise because the ship was overbooked. One would-be traveler called it "one of the worst days" he'd recently experienced. Royal Caribbean has had a history of overbooking its mega cruise ships.

 

First time I ever heard this happening. 

 

Cheers! 🤞🏻

[gerelmx]

https://news.yahoo.com/left-port-royal-caribbean-passengers-145227972.html

[gerelmx]

I Never book a GTY cabin if there are no cabins available, the risk that you will not be able to board is VERY HIGH

[hcat]

Wow! 

and now X  might be doing same..final payments on our Jan 2024 cruise has passed!

[wrk2cruise]

Denied boarding due to oversold conditions are very very rare.  The fact the sailing is not on the website only indicates they aren't selling any more cabins.   There are always last minute cancellations and no-shows. 

 

Yes this would cause me some stress but I'm very confident it will work out.

[mrgabriel]

We have booked Guaranteed cabins many times. The latest we received a cabin assignment was about 2 weeks out.

 

Given the mess that Royal Caribbean has created by overselling a bunch of cabins, if I didn't have a cabin assignment by early next week, I'd be getting after Celebrity. 

 

Maybe I'm foolish to think this but IMO, if someone cancels at the last minute or is a no-show, the cabin can be empty. 

[LB_NJ]

I generally don't trust Royal's parent company RCI.

 

Given what happened in Australia I would be worried.

[SbbquilterUT]

I have read about a hack using the bar code on your Set Sail pass to see your cabin assignment - maybe that would help.

[phoenix_dream]

9 hours ago, sanger727 said:

I don't think that they are bound to assign a cabin number until check in. I haven't heard any reports of people being bumped. They may have reached capacity including the guarantees but are holding off assignments in case people want to upgrade cabins.

There was a news article i read this week where people were bumped off a Royal Caribbean cruise. Same ownership.  Rare but these days apparently not impossible. 

[paulh84]

8 hours ago, gerelmx said:

I Never book a GTY cabin if there are no cabins available, the risk that you will not be able to board is VERY HIGH

No it is not. You can be assured this board would blow up if the frequency of this happening was VERY HIGH. 

[NMTraveller]

I have never been denied boarding a GTY cabin.  But I used to sweat it every time.  IMHO the small savings is not worth the stress.

[keesar]

I have booked Guarantees and get an assigned room in 2 days.  Never waited a week.

[Cruise till you drop]

If one has concerns about overbooking, probably best to book an actual cabin versus a guarantee arrangement.  On Celebrity, we’ve always gotten the cabin we pre booked (Princess is a whole other opposite story)

[phoenix_dream]

22 hours ago, paulh84 said:

No it is not. You can be assured this board would blow up if the frequency of this happening was VERY HIGH. 

Exactly.  Could it happen? Yes, especially these days. Bit highly unlikely 

[Jazzbo]

24 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

If one has concerns about overbooking, probably best to book an actual cabin versus a guarantee arrangement.  On Celebrity, we’ve always gotten the cabin we pre booked (Princess is a whole other opposite story)

I’m curious — why do you say that? We are booked on a Princess Alaskan cruise tour late August 2025 for my husband’s 80th birthday. It will be our first time sailing Princess and several family members will be joining us.

[jaywoods678]

On 12/1/2023 at 9:59 AM, gerelmx said:

I Never book a GTY cabin if there are no cabins available, the risk that you will not be able to board is VERY HIGH

I agree. To me booking a guarantee cabin is just now worth the risk, even if there is substantial savings. But the main reason we don't book them is because we are very picky with cabin selection. We like a quiet room with little motion, so for us that is low and mid-ship with cabins above and below. We make sure we are not above or below bars, lounges, entertainment venues, restaurants, lido decks, etc.

[RD64]

If someone is concerned with the possible ramifications of overbooking - then quite simply don’t book a guarantee. If finances require you to book a guarantee, then you will have to live with whatever certainty may - or may not exist. Nobody has a crystal ball to predict the future.

[mom says]

2 hours ago, Jazzbo said:

I’m curious — why do you say that? We are booked on a Princess Alaskan cruise tour late August 2025 for my husband’s 80th birthday. It will be our first time sailing Princess and several family members will be joining us.

Are you booked on a guarantee, or did you select your cabin? Our original booked cabin was changed twice before embarkation.  Fortunately both times it was just a couple if doors down from the previous one. But, yeah, Princess is known to do this.

[drkellik]

On 12/1/2023 at 7:33 AM, sanger727 said:

I don't think that they are bound to assign a cabin number until check in. I haven't heard any reports of people being bumped. They may have reached capacity including the guarantees but are holding off assignments in case people want to upgrade cabins.

I’ve already checked in online and have a exoress pass but still don’t have a cabin assignment. My express pass just says GTY and does not list a muster . Like I said, I’ve booked a dozen GTY cabins in the past and I’ve never not been assigned a cabin before check-in became available. 

[drkellik]

44 minutes ago, RD64 said:

If someone is concerned with the possible ramifications of overbooking - then quite simply don’t book a guarantee. If finances require you to book a guarantee, then you will have to live with whatever certainty may - or may not exist. Nobody has a crystal ball to predict the future.

Well, this is the first time I’ve ever had concerns about overbooking on Celebrity. Like I said, I’m a loyal Celebrity cruiser for the past 20 years who has earned Elite status. I’ve booked a dozen guarantee rooms on different sailings in the past and I’ve always received a cabin assignment before check-in became available. Therefore I had no reason to be concerned before now. So what has changed? Recent press about RCL starting to overbook and turning customers away at the pier made me wonder if Celebrity is also adopting this practice?