Cancelled due to charter - what to expect?

I am waiting to hear back from RC about how they are going to handle my reservation now that the sailing I have booked has been chartered. I assume they will rebook me on another date and pay the fees to change my flights, but just wondering what else to expect. Will they offer me an upgrade or on board credit? Just wondering if anyone else experienced this before and how it was handled.

It might help to know if the cruise/flight is domestic or overseas which may make a difference.

Last year I booked a 10-night Miami B2B Nov/Dec cruise in early January, reserved and paid for both my hotel and airfare to Miami. Several months later (May) the cruise line chartered the second half of my B2B. I initially and accidentally found out something was amiss when I was doing my weekly check to see if rates had gone down and the sailing came up as 'closed' on all categories of cabins. I called the cruise line and all they could do is tell me it was 'Code Red'. I kept calling every day, and they kept telling me it was Code Red. It took the cruise lines nearly two weeks to get a hold of my travel agent to contact me with the details.

They offered to price protect the cruise portion that was chartered if I would transfer to another date as well as offered me an OBC for my inconvenience. If I did not transfer my date they would just refund the money. They could not and would not help me with the airfare change fees.

I called the airline (United) and got a hold of someone who was very understanding (after I had explained in detail my situation and actually grovelled a little bit) that would alter my dates with no changes fees. I was lucky.

I would not expect the cruise lines, and they are in no way obligated, to help you with your air ticket change fees unless it is an international flight and then they may be a little more merciful than if it were a domestic flight.

I am waiting to hear back from RC about how they are going to handle my reservation now that the sailing I have booked has been chartered. I assume they will rebook me on another date and pay the fees to change my flights, but just wondering what else to expect. Will they offer me an upgrade or on board credit? Just wondering if anyone else experienced this before and how it was handled.

I wouldn't assume anything....we were offered a couple of dates to choose from at the same rate....those dates didn't work so we booked another cruise at that days price and were given 100 Obc per cabin....this was for a 4 nighter....no airfare was involved or ever mentioned....

It is for a 4 night cruise and I booked my flights using frequent flier miles but there is a $150 change fee per ticket. I also figured this out on my own when I was checking prices for some friends that may want to come with us and the cruise was showing unavailable to book. I called the web site I booked thru (not RC) and they told me RC would pay the ticket change fee but that they couldn't do anything yet as the charter had just happened and we have to wait to be contacted by RC. I'm still waiting...

I called the web site I booked thru (not RC) and they told me RC would pay the ticket change fee but that they couldn't do anything yet as the charter had just happened and we have to wait to be contacted by RC. I'm still waiting...

The 'wait' can be maddening. :( I have read several threads over the last two years and the average time it takes to hear from your TA once the cruise line charters a ship out from under you is about 10-14 days.

And I truly wouldn't hold my breath in expecting the cruise line to help you with the change fees for your airline ticket no matter what your TA told you. It's unfortunate they planted that thought in your head already, but it is very highly unlikely they will help at all.

It may be a good idea to contact a supervisor at the Frequent Flier relations desk of your airline once you find out the details of the cruise lines offer and explain to them your 'no fault' situation. 'Blame' the cruise line for being the 'bad guy' in this situation, and a little sympathetic begging never hurt. It could save you several hundred dollars. ;)

We had the same thing happen to us for a sailing on the Serenade three years ago - the chartered week was the middle of a 3 week b2b. We ended up changing our cruise booking to the Adventure but RC wouldn't help at all with the cost of changing our air fare - approx £500

How much notice are you given if the ship is chartered? On one of my B2B roll calls in November we have been concerned for some time now that it has been sold out.... is it heading that way do you think?

How much notice are you given if the ship is chartered? On one of my B2B roll calls in November we have been concerned for some time now that it has been sold out.... is it heading that way do you think?

You are given no notice in advance and I have read complaints in threads where a ship was chartered even after their final payment dates had passed.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I will hope that Delta takes pity on me and will change my flight for free. If they don't I could also switch to a NCL 4 night cruise that also leaves from Miami the same date, but I really prefer the RC itinerary with Key West instead of NCL's Grand Bahama.

I will post again once I have a resolution.

When it happened to us, ship relocation not charter, the gave $200 per cabin OBC and upto $200 per plane ticket for change fees.

You might want to go to your roll call and post as well. That is where you will most likely get the latest and most useful info.

Go to roll calls, then your ship, and then your sailing date.

Happy Sails to You

OOOEEE Baby :D:D Bob and Phyl

You are given no notice in advance and I have read complaints in threads where a ship was chartered even after their final payment dates had passed.

I did not want to read that. Sigh. :mad: :(

It depends on how far our your cruise is. We have been charterd or cancelled x 3 now.:eek: TA said to remind her never to book the same cruise!

We have been offered a combination of either/ or: We always got OBC. We also were offered alternative cruises to book with no price change. We also were offered a full refund. Only once were we offered flight assistance. The last one on Princess was a year out they offered us nothing. We also found out on CC or by looking for price changes like you were. Our TA has always been able to find out within days of finding out there were problems what they were offering. I found it interesting from our roll calls that the people who booked direct with the cruiseline always were informed last as to what the options were. Good Luck!

Sue

I did not want to read that. Sigh. :mad: :(

Sorry... :(

WOW! What a slap in the face! Chartering out the ship after they have already taken peoples reservations and money.Your kidding right?Take about letting the customer know what the cruise line thinks of you.To me thats a pretty big insult and I would probally be taking my money else where!:)

WOW! What a slap in the face! Chartering out the ship after they have already taken peoples reservations and money.Your kidding right?Take about letting the customer know what the cruise line thinks of you.To me thats a pretty big insult and I would probally be taking my money else where!:)

...that's what I did.....even spent more $$$ on the "other" line...

Sorry... :(

Nothing personal intended. We've just been aware that one leg of the B2B has been sold out for a long time already and we're unable to find out why. The roll call is very quiet.

Just get the news that my Sep 19/12 sailing (7 nights) for Voyager of the Sea need to be cancel due to charter. I can either accept their Sep 21 sailing with 5 nights with 2 port of call instead of 4, change to other cruise or cancel my bookings. They offered $200 OBC per room and up to $200 if you need to changes your international flight. However I would not get anything if I simply cancel the cruise.

I think Royal Caribbean knew about these charter couple months ago, not sure why they take so long to communicate to us. The problems for me is I booked 6 air tickets using miles from Canada, it's very difficult for me to find any other open seats.

This is just not a good experience....

This is yet another reason to have travel insurance, but NOT from the cruiseline.

This has never happened to use, I guess we've been lucky?? Does it usually occur with shorter sail dates? We have 5 cruises booked and I would hate to see it mess up our plans. :confused:

What is offered seems to vary widely. I've had two cruises cancelled due to charters, both were RC. Both times I was lucky not to have air tickets purchased yet so I was able to be more flexible.

The first time RC cancelled us, we were offered a couple other sail dates at the rate we had booked. No OBC offered. We had booked a cruise for the second week of April but the alternate dates offered were in March, which meant the alternate date cruises were priced higher than ours but they were spring break cruises. Plus, we had booked early to get a corner aft JS cabin, but none were available for the alternate sailings. We decided to book a Med cruise instead and try again for the Caribbean the following year.

When the Caribbean itineraries came out for the next year, the 10-night itinerary we wanted wasn't offered anymore so we booked a B2B in the corner JS cabin. Sure enough, the second part of our B2B was chartered. This time we were offered $400 OBC if we switched to one of two sailings at the current rates. We could have picked the sailing before our cruise and kept it a B2B, but the price of that cruise was $1200 more for 2 people and we would have to either switch cabins or give up the aft cabin. We decided to cancel the whole B2B and book a 14-nt cruise with a different cruise line.

Hopefully either RC will give the OP enough credit to cover switching airline tickets or else Delta will allow a change.

Holding my breath for the November cruise with MamaW ... we've also gotten our airfare and hotels for this trip. Wonder how close they would allow a charter? I find it hard to believe that a cruise is sold out 6 months ahead.

Patience is not my strongest quality so I called again and got the offer.

I can rebook for one of 3 sailings on the same ship (which are for the 3 dates prior to the one that I had booked) and will be guaranteed at the same rate. They will give $100 OBC per cabin.

They will also reimburse up to $150 per person for airline change fees with a receipt.

I have 2 weeks to decide what I want to do. I can also cancel and get my money back.

So now I will check to see if I can get my frequent flyer tickets for one of the alternate dates if not the back up plan is to cancel RCI and book the NCL cruise out of the same port for same dates

I can understand why RCL would not reimburse any fees you might incur with your airline when you didn't make your plane reservations through them.

As I would not expect Royal Caribbean to refund any (non-refunable) hotel night stays I made if I did not make the reservations through RCL.

I'm just tuning in.....can someone explain to me what a charter is???