Chumley’s Bear Cruise Charter August 24 2024 Canada New England. Help!

[chrysalis]

7 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

My husband is a breath away from cancelling.  If they would refund the full cost of the cruise, including our EZAir reservation, then we’re out.  We’re pretty disappointed right now.

If you cancel, there is the option of taking the Emerald out of Boston to Greenland and back mid-August, or the Boston to Quebec and Quebec to Boston right after the Greenland cruise.

 

Maybe we will see you on board....

[Mary loves to travel]

15 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

My husband is a breath away from cancelling.  If they would refund the full cost of the cruise, including our EZAir reservation, then we’re out.  We’re pretty disappointed right now.

How disappointing for you, after planning & looking forward to this cruise. 

 

Mary

[Lady Arwen]

3 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

How disappointing for you, after planning & looking forward to this cruise. 

 

Mary

Thank you for your kind words.  It’s been a stressful year with my DH health issues and we really needed a quiet week at sea.  Now, only 44 days away,  and this happens.  

[Lady Arwen]

Just heard back from our CVP and she’s working with Princess to come up with something to make us happy.  I’ll let you know when I hear what their offer is.

[JamieLogical]

9 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Thank you for your kind words.  It’s been a stressful year with my DH health issues and we really needed a quiet week at sea.  Now, only 44 days away,  and this happens.  

 

I wouldn't stress about it unduly. It sounds like it won't have much of an impact on you. If they have a venue reserved, just go somewhere else. It's a big ship with lots of bars and places to hang out. You already have all of your dining reservations, so you don't have to worry about that at least.

[1025cruise]

35 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

My husband is a breath away from cancelling.  If they would refund the full cost of the cruise, including our EZAir reservation, then we’re out.  We’re pretty disappointed right now.

And this is why no cruise line releases this information. If it's a full ship charter, they have no choice because your cruise is cancelled. But, they can't announce when a large group books (no, this is not considered a charter). While I'm not sure I'd want to cruise with this group personally, if I ended up on the ship with them, so be it. When I took my honeymoon cruise on the Emerald, there was a large singles group. Nothing I, or anyone else, could do about it.

[Teechur]

2 hours ago, skynight said:

You can expect them to dominate all the venues, especially the pool areas. YOu can expect a less than pleasant cruise. I don't believe it's a charter, believe it's just a very large group. For the future

https://www.bearcruises.com/about-cbc

I think the important thing to remember is that a group onboard will not add 200-800 ADDITIONAL people to the ship. I just got off of the Fort Lauderdale-Quebec cruise and virtually no one used the aft pool even though the ship was full. If this group hangs out there, how many people would be inconvenienced (or even know about it)?

 

None of the venues ever seemed crowded except the buffet and the theater during production shows.

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

checked where exactly?  - that specific website for that specific group? - what about other groups? - Is there a (potential side gig alert) website that tracks, if possible, group cruises - it seems like they would have to track by individual groups - not thru the cruise lines?

I do recollect a web site (pre-pandemic) that did try to collate and publish a list of group cruises like this (gay, sports, special interest, music themes etc) I can't remember what it was called, and I don't know if it is still around, but I did find it very useful at the time

 

I suppose it's events like this that make CFAR insurance so appealing.

[Barter123]

My husband and I have been on a ship that the Bears were on and I can honestly say it had zero impact on our cruise. They were an older bunch (not unlike ourselves), not loud or rowdy, didn't take over any venues that we noticed. We have been on several cruises with various groups and this bunch probably had the least impact.

[Thrak]

We have no issue with gay cruisers. Some of the nicest folks we've met onboard have been gay cruisers. (Also one obnoxious gay couple but I've met far more obnoxious hetero couples onboard.) Being gay or straight doesn't determine rude/obnoxious behavior.  Sailing with gay people doesn't affect anybody's cruise unless they are jackasses. What I would object to is a large group taking over my wife's favorite part of the ship - the aft pool - and the inappropriate PDAs that have been fairly widely reported in conjunction with the Bears. I don't give a rancid rodent's rectum who it is there are behaviors that aren't suitable for public venues.

 

Actually, any group that precludes access to venues by other cruisers is unacceptable. Everybody pays for their cruise with the expectation of being able to utilize all venues. Being excluded from venues due to large groups - whether Chumley's Bears, the Polka folks, or the Red Hat Ladies - is unacceptable.

[coo359a2]

Some years back, we had a Caribbean cruise booked on one of the Royal ships.  Noticed a large number of guys who looked like pro football players.  When I finally noticed that they were wearing a lanyard and badge, I knew the guys were with a group. The group had no impact on us having a great cruise.  If I hadn't noticed the name badges, wouldn't have known that there was a group on board.

[SSAtlantic]

We were a Caribbean cruise several years ago with the Bears. We too were concerned prior to cruising as our DD was pre teen. However, we hardly ever saw them except by the aft pool and they did not bother us at all. It was a small group of about 200.  

[Lady Arwen]

7 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We have no issue with gay cruisers. Some of the nicest folks we've met onboard have been gay cruisers. (Also one obnoxious gay couple but I've met far more obnoxious hetero couples onboard.) Being gay or straight doesn't determine rude/obnoxious behavior.  Sailing with gay people doesn't affect anybody's cruise unless they are jackasses. What I would object to is a large group taking over my wife's favorite part of the ship - the aft pool - and the inappropriate PDAs that have been fairly widely reported in conjunction with the Bears. I don't give a rancid rodent's rectum who it is there are behaviors that aren't suitable for public venues.

 

Actually, any group that precludes access to venues by other cruisers is unacceptable. Everybody pays for their cruise with the expectation of being able to utilize all venues. Being excluded from venues due to large groups - whether Chumley's Bears, the Polka folks, or the Red Hat Ladies - is unacceptable.

We don’t have any issue with it being a gay group.  One of our grandchildren is gay and they and their friends are frequent visitors to our home and we love them to bits.  Our issue is the potential of taking over certain venues and the noise factor.  Large groups of men can get pretty loud and boisterous.  And, combine that with alcohol, their behaviour can become quite raunchy.  
 

If we can get spots in the Sanctuary for the week, we’ll be very happy with that.  Much quieter and more relaxing.  Dining is not an issue for us.  We shall see what happens in the next few days.

[FLAlaska]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

and will be completely taken over - as well as the hot tubs - might as well be prepared for some PDA also ...

I was in a cruise with them a few years back…well, many years back. They kind of congregated in the aft pool and were very nice and respectful. I was with my great aunt and she didn’t even pick up on it. Now, this was a while ago and it’s possible the group sizes have grown but I only really saw them gather in the aft pool and bars at night and they weren’t rowdy at all.