Norwegian Cruise ship and itinerary cancellations

[1412p0oi]

I just found this article: https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-cancels-in-favor-of-full-ship-charter/118779

 

It seems like a lot of ships and itineraries in 2024/2025 are being cancelled due to "full ship charters." Is it billionaires renting out entire ships for a month of partying or something??

[www3traveler]

20 minutes ago, 1412p0oi said:

I just found this article: https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-cancels-in-favor-of-full-ship-charter/118779

 

It seems like a lot of ships and itineraries in 2024/2025 are being cancelled due to "full ship charters." Is it billionaires renting out entire ships for a month of partying or something??

This cancellation comes right after Her scheduled drydock.  My guess would they think that drydock is going to take longer than originally scheduled. 

[UKstages]

 

[debenson0723]

This will give you an idea of the type of charters that are available for bookings. 

 

https://www.sixthman.net/festivals

 

This article references February 2025...the dry dock is in February 2024 so not related.

[1412p0oi]

4 hours ago, www3traveler said:

This cancellation comes right after Her scheduled drydock.  My guess would they think that drydock is going to take longer than originally scheduled. 

Thank you! 

[julig22]

As to who charters whole ships.

Sometimes they are chartered by a company like Sixthman as a concert venue. An Asian travel company has chartered the Spirit for much of 2024, for their own cruise itineraries, plus there were rumors that it may also be used to house athletes for the summer olympics, specifically the surfing competition in French Polynesia.

I suppose a large company could charter for a company retreat. Might be better than trying to find hotel accommodations for several thousand employees.

[hallux]

9 hours ago, www3traveler said:

This cancellation comes right after Her scheduled drydock.  My guess would they think that drydock is going to take longer than originally scheduled. 

 

5 hours ago, 1412p0oi said:

Thank you! 

No it doesn't, it comes a YEAR after the dry dock.  Dry dock is happening next month.

 

This cancellation is over a year away, if people can't be a little flexible that far in advance, oh well.. 🤷‍♂️

[rodndonna]

3 hours ago, julig22 said:

As to who charters whole ships.

.......

I suppose a large company could charter for a company retreat. Might be better than trying to find hotel accommodations for several thousand employees.

 

On our last cruise this was the case for the next 2 cruises following the one we were on. It was a Med cruise and they were booked by a Mexican corporation for some kind of company retreats. We also have a radiologist in the family that attended a conference on a cruise. 

 

Apparently I worked in the wrong field and for the wring companies ....😐

[schmoopie17]

15 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

This will give you an idea of the type of charters that are available for bookings. 

 

https://www.sixthman.net/festivals

 

 

It looks like most of the charters are for three or four day cruises...and the best way to avoid these is to book longer cruises. (Which, I assume most people do, anyway).

 

And yes, I understand there can be exceptions. We had a week-long cruise canceled because of a charter last year.

Edited December 21, 2023 by schmoopie17

[vacation44]

22 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

 

And yes, I understand there can be exceptions. We had a week-long cruise canceled because of a charter last year.

How much notice in advance did they give you?   

[delyanm]

9 hours ago, julig22 said:

As to who charters whole ships.

 

Cruise ships are chartered for Gay cruises (Oasis of the seas 21 - 27 Jan) for example or to be used as hotels when there is a big event like World Cup or Olympics (Recently in Doha for Soccer World Cup)

[RocketMan275]

IMHO, there are two major issues with charters.

 

First, not all charters are 'full-ship'.  A chartering agency may contract for a partial charter where only a fraction of the ship is chartered.  Can be a real issue depending upon the group being chartered.  Not everyone wants to be on a ship with every type of group.  Particularly when the group is a significant fraction of the ship's capacity.  Also, a partial charter can negotiate for special priviledges.  For example, a group can get sole-use of a very popular venue.  If they're willing to pay, they can get it.  A group had exclusive use of the crows nest on a Holland cruise while the ship was in Glacier Bay.  The cruise line will not disclose partial charters claiming disclosure would be privacy violation.  IOW, you won't know until you're on board and there is a problem.

 

Second, a cruise line maybe selling cabins on ships while a chartering agency is also selling that same cruise.  This type of charter is contingent upon how successful the agency is in selling cabins.  If they sell enough, they will take over the entire ship booting others who are  not a part of their charter.  Usually, you'll know about this somewhat in advance.  Say prior to final payment, you get a notice that the ship has been chartered and giving a pittance in compensation.  On an alaskan cruise  the compensation was $250 IIRC.  This truly bothers me that a cruise line will be selling the same ship on the same date to regular passengers and to a charter.  If I find one of these, I cancel immediately like a Prima cruise I had booked last March.

 

There are websites that attempt to track charters.  Not always successfully.  Try google.

 

[quillwercruisers]

8 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

First, not all charters are 'full-ship'.  A chartering agency may contract for a partial charter where only a fraction of the ship is chartered.  Can be a real issue depending upon the group being chartered.  Not everyone wants to be on a ship with every type of group.  Particularly when the group is a significant fraction of the ship's capacity.  Also, a partial charter can negotiate for special priviledges.  For example, a group can get sole-use of a very popular venue.  If they're willing to pay, they can get it.  A group had exclusive use of the crows nest on a Holland cruise while the ship was in Glacier Bay.  The cruise line will not disclose partial charters claiming disclosure would be privacy violation.  IOW, you won't know until you're on board and there is a problem.

 

 

 

This happened to us on our B2B a couple of years ago. A group chartered the Vibe for the entire week. It was a bummer because we had so much fun in the vibe the first week but didn't get to use it the second week. We were notified ahead of the sailing that they cancelled our reservation for the vibe, so we knew going in, but although it was still a bummer, it didn't ruin our cruise. We made friends with the bartender, and he said that the group hardly used the area. The group took over some of the other venues as well.

[BirdTravels]

51 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

How much notice in advance did they give you?   

There is no “rule”. If someone is willing to pay for a full ship charter and you have a partially booked cruise, full ship charter wins. 

A full ship charter is better than a partial charter. A partial ship charter often closes facilities that would normally be open for paying passengers (race tracks, pool deck, clubs, restaurants). 

 

NCL has one of their small ships that is charter most of the year. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

17 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

This truly bothers me that a cruise line will be selling the same ship on the same date to regular passengers and to a charter.  If I find one of these, I cancel immediately like a Prima cruise I had booked last March.

Personally, I would just leave it booked and book a replacement as well.  If/when they do cancel the charter, you'll likely get a 10% FCC, which you can probably apply to your replacement. 😎

[UKstages]

technically, i don't believe there is such a thing as a "partial charter."

 

that is more commonly referred to as a "group booking." groups could be just ten people or six hundred people or more on a ship of several thousand. a charter is a complete takeover.

 

large groups can be problematic because even when they don't close down venues, it's like there are members of a secret club with a secret handshake all over the ship. no matter where you go, there they are... speaking their own jargon and lingo and pretty much acting like they own the joint.

 

many years ago, my company and i hosted a group on the norwegian sea. you know, for the people who sold the most widgets. widget sales were good that year and we had about four hundred people onboard from all over the country. it sure felt like we took over the ship, which was annoying to regular passengers, i'm sure... but we probably only had about 20% of the total passengers onboard.

 

at one point, i remember my boss got on a bus at the airport in miami to greet those arriving and being taken to the port and she delivered her "we're so happy to have you with us, you're the folks who truly make it happen day in and day out, you're the heartbeat of the company and you deserve to be pampered and adored... you're on vacation and let's have fun... we love you" speech. this went on for about five minutes.

 

there was just one problem.

 

none of the people on the bus were our attendees.

 

oops.

[RocketMan275]

41 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Personally, I would just leave it booked and book a replacement as well.  If/when they do cancel the charter, you'll likely get a 10% FCC, which you can probably apply to your replacement. 😎

I think  you're optimistic on the 10%.  I had a Neptune Suit booked on Holand.  About 8K.  IIRC, compensation was $250 or slightly more than 3%.  Remember, that compensation comes directly off the profit for the charter.  Plus, you'll have two deposits tied up.  Still, booking the replacement is an option.

I had Prima booked for Mar 23 when I noticed a full Atlantis charter was being sold for that same date.  I booked Breakaway for that date and booked Prima for Feb 24. 

Another factor, I tend to be picky about the cabins I book.  If it's close to sail date, my preferences may not be available.

Edited December 21, 2023 by RocketMan275

[RocketMan275]

3 minutes ago, UKstages said:

technically, i don't believe there is such a thing as a "partial charter."

It doesn't matter if you call it a 'partial charter' or a group booking.  It's just another word for the same thing.

Most cruises will have some number of small groups on board.  Fifty dentists reserving a large room for a few seminars is not the same thing as a 150 or so 'Bears' taking over the pool.

[schmoopie17]

2 hours ago, vacation44 said:

How much notice in advance did they give you?   

If I recall correctly, it was about three months. They gave us a 10% FCC...which we immediately used to book a replacement cruise.

[kitkat343]

If  significant venues are lost to a charter, these passengers were able to protest and eventually got some concessions when it happened to them on the Prima:

 

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by kitkat343

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

I think  you're optimistic on the 10%.  I had a Neptune Suit booked on Holand.  About 8K.  IIRC, compensation was $250 or slightly more than 3%.  Remember, that compensation comes directly off the profit for the charter.  Plus, you'll have two deposits tied up.  Still, booking the replacement is an option.

I should clarify.  On multiple occasions, I've had a cruise booked (deposit paid, but before final payment) and NCL cancelled the cruise.  I received an FCC coupon worth 10% off a future cruise.  One time it was 10% off any future cruise and 20% off a future Spirit sailing.  I happily used both.  The only time I wasn't able to use these was during Covid when they were rapid firing cancellations.  As one point I had been "awarded" three, but they only allowed me to use one.  It still provided a meaningful cash value.

 

I have so many deposits "tied up," that it's just become a part of my cruise planning (and replanning, and replanning).  It's only $250 ($125 if I have some CruiseNext deposits laying around - I now have two unused).  I'm pretty certain that the lost interest on $250 will be far exceeded by that 10% discount off of a future cruise (base fare only).  That was my point.  If you think it's going to be cancelled, it may be profitable to just leave that money on the table for a bit longer.  It isn't going anywhere.😎

Edited December 21, 2023 by ChiefMateJRK

[ChiefMateJRK]

46 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

If  significant venues are lost to a charter, these passengers were able to protest and eventually got some concessions when it happened to them on the Prima:

 

 

Yep.  That one was butt-ugly 💩, and we're all hoping NCL learned their lesson.  If the responsible party didn't get fired, they should have.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

If  significant venues are lost to a charter, these passengers were able to protest and eventually got some concessions when it happened to them on the Prima:

 

 

And it does not have to be a partial charter. NCL does it for big events like the poker tournaments where they take over the observation lounge and set up tournament tables. On our May cruise, Syd Norman’s was taken over for slot tournament events like the annual gala ball. 

[ontheweb]

On our Prima cruise this past August, one of the restaurants, the Mexican one was taken over by a group and made into a kosher restaurant reserved for them. There were also a significant number of deaf cruisers aboard. At many events, there was someone using sign language interpreting what was being said. I do not know if NCL provided them or the group aboard provided them.

[kitkat343]

5 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I should clarify.  On multiple occasions, I've had a cruise booked (deposit paid, but before final payment) and NCL cancelled the cruise.  I received an FCC coupon worth 10% off a future cruise.  One time it was 10% off any future cruise and 20% off a future Spirit sailing.  I happily used both.  The only time I wasn't able to use these was during Covid when they were rapid firing cancellations.  As one point I had been "awarded" three, but they only allowed me to use one.  It still provided a meaningful cash value.

 

I have so many deposits "tied up," that it's just become a part of my cruise planning (and replanning, and replanning).  It's only $250 ($125 if I have some CruiseNext deposits laying around - I now have two unused).  I'm pretty certain that the lost interest on $250 will be far exceeded by that 10% discount off of a future cruise (base fare only).  That was my point.  If you think it's going to be cancelled, it may be profitable to just leave that money on the table for a bit longer.  It isn't going anywhere.😎

This is  a really interesting strategy.  Does NCL charge the same price for refundable or nonrefundable deposits (my family usually books within final payment so I'm not familiar).