Carnival Spirit troubles?

[Sutho]

I personally think it is stupid to overbook a ship. No amount of compensation would ever make me change my holiday plans.

I am aware of Princess doing it as my grandparents were made an offer once back in 2010. They were on Diamond Princess from Sydney to Bangkok and the ship was booked out. They had a simple inside cabin and were asked to not cruise and go on either Sun Princess or Dawn Princess out of Fremantle for a different Asian cruise in the top suite on one of those ships. They turned the offer down as even though it was a suite on offer they were not offered compensation for flights, were not offered free flights to Perth and they considered the Sun and Dawn Princess to be an inferior ship to Diamond Princess as they had been on all previously.

[fishtaco]

Originally Posted by Sutho

I personally think it is stupid to overbook a ship. No amount of compensation would ever make me change my holiday plans.

I am aware of Princess doing it as my grandparents were made an offer once back in 2010. They were on Diamond Princess from Sydney to Bangkok and the ship was booked out. They had a simple inside cabin and were asked to not cruise and go on either Sun Princess or Dawn Princess out of Fremantle for a different Asian cruise in the top suite on one of those ships. They turned the offer down as even though it was a suite on offer they were not offered compensation for flights, were not offered free flights to Perth and they considered the Sun and Dawn Princess to be an inferior ship to Diamond Princess as they had been on all previously.

Well to be honest not many people would book a cruise and be happy about not going even with good compensation!

I agree a cruise ship should not overbook especially in Australia where so much if not all of the cruise fare will be forfeited if customers cancel their cruise close to the cruise date! looks like they want the best of both worlds!

There seems to be no point in over selling cabin space other than to maximise profits by selling quad/triple share cabins at a later date in the already booked twin share cabin that can hold more than 2 that was sold much earlier to the twin share customers.

Den

[The_Big_M]

It doesn't happen as a matter of course, but usually only because there was a mistake in a certain situation, or something infrquent happens. Often it arises when guarantees are sold, and there may be a large take-up and then a large group takes out specific cabins for example, leaving them in a difficult situation.

Many cruises don't even have guarantee sales in which case it's unlikely to have this situation. There can still be a couple of other reasons but they're very rare.

[keagle]

Originally Posted by bazzaw

David

That may well be for Asian passengers --but much less so for Aussie and American passengers. I have always dreaded having to be on a lifeboat filled to "legal capacity" with my fellow Australian (or American/British) passengers.

Barry

Then do not go on a cruise were they count how many get on a tender to make sure they fill it to capacity, or have you had an experience of being in an actual life raft on a ship?

[rugbypopsie]

Crowded lifeboats? I'd be happy I was in the lifeboat...the middle seat on long haul plane now that's something I dread!

Sue

[bazzaw]

Ever heard of the "dead mans/womans cabin"?? I suspect we got one, 3 days before sailing on Oriana to the UK. It was a fantastic cabin - 9 grades higher than what we paid for (a guaranteed inside). But there must have been a reason we got it

I think we all might be surprised just how many no-shows there are on cruises - right up to the day of sailing - and long past the final pay-by date. It's all got to do with the majority demographic of cruiseships

Barry

[bazzaw]

Originally Posted by rugbypopsie

Crowded lifeboats? I'd be happy I was in the lifeboat...the middle seat on long haul plane now that's something I dread!

Sue

Sue -- I take your point -- but after some nightmare long, hot and rough tender boat trips (Port Denarau comes to mind) where the tender boat wasn't even filled anywhere near capacity, I think the longhaul aircraft seat would be luxury Anybody seen the "bums" painted on the seats? -- I don't see too many real live bums like those onboard cruiseships!!

Barry

[rugbypopsie]

Originally Posted by bazzaw

Sue -- I take your point -- but after some nightmare long, hot and rough tender boat trips (Port Denarau comes to mind) where the tender boat wasn't even filled anywhere near capacity, I think the longhaul aircraft seat would be luxury Anybody seen the "bums" painted on the seats? -- I don't see too many real live bums like those onboard cruiseships!!

Barry

Plane seats are definately not for Aussie bums or shoulders not sure about tender boats..cant say they have ever bothered me. Yep hot etc. but too excited to see what there is to see and the end of it. Usually I am hanging over the side taking photos of the ship as we leave it..if I can get a good seat.

Sue

[karmac]

I honestly don't think they'd ever have problems getting some passengers to take up one of those offers. Sure, there'll be plenty of passsengers who wouldn't be able to and I wold be one of them. As a family, we have to book our cruises around school holidays etc and DH and I have to get leave approved for work. However, there would also be a reasonable number of passengers who are flexible. Retirees especially. If I was retired and could cruise anytime I would certainly take up an offer of a free cruise.
A friend of mine was booked on Pacific Pearl's Australia Day cruise next weekend and last week got a call offering a full refund and free cruise if they cancell. They took up the offer.

[Cruise ship fan]

They should change their booking system, to one where when booking you know you may not be able to get onboard. Something like a shortlist and as cabins become available they go down the list adding them into the rooms.

Also a little thing I learnt on the Radiance is that it is possible to get a extremely cheap cruise or even a free cruise in a suite. For suite members you can go see the concierge towards the end of the cruise to see if their are any places on the next cruise, if their are you could stay onboard for free or at little cost. May also work for regular guests as well.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

They never used to overbook when real people were employed to do the booking and allocation of cabins . Now the computer works out all the odds and comes up with configurations , and then the real people have to come back and sort it all out

[timtam2]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Kruzer

They never used to overbook when real people were employed to do the booking and allocation of cabins .

that is very true - that used to be my job way back when, and I never had to call people to kick them off a cruise, only call them to tell them their waitlist or standby booking could now be confirmed!

[The_Big_M]

It's true that there are no-shows, but there are also issues with cabins onboard before and during the cruise. A few extra empty give them the flexibility to deal with passengers who have issues around/in their cabin, e.g. water leaks, plumbing and other issues.