Cannot believe this - cruise overbooked!!

[molly361]

Zebra congrats on getting your OBC upped!!!! Hope you have a great cruise!!!

[nomad098]

Brilliance is owned by a different subsidiary; I believe that it's RCL UK. But I believe that several other ships have been transferred to that subsidiary, so I wonder how the cruise contract for them goes....

 

Quite simple UK law states that overbooking does not constitute a genuine reason for cancelling a cruise and is a criminal offense

 

Package holidays regulations 1992

[green eyed lady]

Except that Monarch and Majesty are virtually identical ships, while Enchantment and Explorer aren't. The only substantive difference is the drive. IMO the OBC offer was a fair amount.

 

OK but even if it were Mariner or another voyager class ship out of Baltimore - still not the point. I want to go on the ship I picked and booked - not one they are choosing for me :D And in my case, I can can dropped off at Bayonne but not a port 3 hours away. OP picked that ship for a reason - because that's the ship she wanted to sail on. Royal shouldn't be able to tell her which ship she's sailing on when she's the one paying.

 

Or maybe they should add a new booking category - "ship guarantee"...pay us in full and we guarantee you'll get one any one of our ships :rolleyes::eek:;)

[temple1]

I would jump all over the 4 night upgrade on Majesty out of Miami. Not only do you get a slightly bigger cabin and OBC you get a better itenerary (IMHO) with the addition of going to Key West and they have a Johnny Rockets and a Compass Deli.

 

The drive to Miami isn't that bad - we drive it from Myrtle Beach with no problem. DH and I are not spring chickens either and do not find the extra miles that difficult in my little 4 cyl. As for the OP being from Florida - I know plenty of Floridians who have never made the long drive down the multiple bridges to Key West. I understand wanting to skip Johnny Rockets, even though if I recall they have more than just burgers and fries on the menu, I believe Compass Deli has more than sandwiches on theirs.

 

DH rarely gets time off from work and he enjoys both types of relaxations - visiting locations he's never seen and a relaxing day of rest. With both iteneraries you get Coco Cay a relaxing beach day, or like us because we live at the beach - a quiet sea day. For us, we've been to Nassau so many times on cruises and vacation we will stay on board and not go into town.

[Starry Eyes]

Interesting, seems to be a gty thing

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1376065&highlight=overbooked+cruise+on+royal+caribbean

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=63404&highlight=overbooking

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=514533&highlight=overbooked

 

A couple of those are old threads(5 or 8 years)...one was about carnival buzzing people from Baltimore to NY.

 

I have not seen many posts about Royal Caribbean overbooking. When I have, it sounds like they made the cruiser a really good offer and people happily jumped on it. I am glad they sweetened the deal for the OP, but I wish she had not felt forced to accept one of the three options. There have been posters here who would be happy to receive such an offer and others who would have declined it. The OP booked an inside gty, so Royal Caribbean could have made the offer to anybody on the ship to open a room for the OP...somebody would have happily taken a good offer.

 

several posts imply Royal is intentionally overbooking for extra revenue, like airline do regularly. I regularly hear airlines calling for volunteers due to overbooking, but it is exceptional hear it about Royal Caribbean. so I am inclined to think they do little or none of that. could the issue have arisen for a number of reasons besides intentional overbooking? such as a room taken out of service due to physical problem like a leak. Or a computer error. or a human error (like an incorrectly cancelled reservation that needed to be reinstated).

 

I am glad the OP got a substantial OBC and hope it is a wonderful cruise.

[richstowe]

Here is the CANCELLATION BY CARRIER paragraph in the RCCL Cruise Contract:

 

6. CANCELLATION, DEVIATION OR SUBSTITUTION BY CARRIER:

Carrier may for any reason at any time and without prior notice, cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled sailing, port of call, destination, lodging or any activity on or off the Vessel, or substitute another vessel or port of call, destination, lodging or activity. Carrier shall not be liable for any claim whatsoever by Passenger, including but not limited to loss, compensation or refund, by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement, substitution or deviation.

 

In connection with a CruiseTour, Carrier has the same right to cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled activity, departure or destination, or substitute another railcar, bus, destination or lodging or other component of the CruiseTour. Carrier shall not be liable for any claim by Passenger whatsoever, including but not limited to loss, compensation or refund, by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement, substitution or deviation.

 

By way of example, and not limitation, Carrier may, without liability, deviate from any scheduled sailing and may otherwise land Passenger and her

property at any port if Carrier believes that the voyage or any Passenger or property may be hindered or adversely affected as a result of hostilities,

blockages, prevailing weather conditions, labor conflicts, strikes onboard or ashore, breakdown of Vessel, congestion, docking difficulties, medical or life

saving emergencies or any other cause whatsoever.

 

Carrier shall have the right to comply with any orders, recommendations, or directions whatsoever given by any governmental entity or by persons

purporting to act with such authority and such compliance shall not be deemed a breach of this Agreement entitling the Passenger to assert any claim for liability, compensation or refund.

 

What I find interesting about this clause is that it does NOT address the cruise line cancelling individual passengers from a cruise. It talks about cancelling the actual cruise, deviating from the itinerary, replacing with a different ship, etc. but nowhere does it address what happens when they cancel an individual passenger.

 

To read the entire contact, click here.

 

Another item of interest....this contact does not include Brilliance of the Seas. I'll have to go see what's different about their contract.

 

Great night to all!

See the above. This is why the opt repeated CC comment "why didn't you read your contract"

is so much nonsense. This so called contract protects them from every real or imagined possibility.

They have all the protections and you have all the obligations.

I am pretty sure that somewhere in there they have put in their right to take your first born child.

And there will be those that will say "Yes they took your kid! Didn't you read the contract?":eek:

[temple1]

See the above. This is why the opt repeated CC comment "why didn't you read your contract"

is so much nonsense. This so called contract protects them from every real or imagined possibility.

They have all the protections and you have all the obligations.

 

I am pretty sure that somewhere in there they have put in their right to take your first born child.

And there will be those that will say "Yes they took your kid! Didn't you read the contract?":eek:

 

lol - That is any modern contract! Read the back of your receipt from some stores? As soon as you make payment in some establishments you've given up your right to take the company to court and are forced to go to arbitration, which you must pay for, to seek restitution.

[Host Anne]

But the one thing the fine print doesn't address is when the cruise line cancels "YOU!" That's different than any of the things they list under "Cancellation by Cruise Line." I'd be curious to know, legally, what they are obligated to do when they cancel an individual passenger for overbooking.

[Big_G]

It would have been interesting to see what RCI came back with if the OP refused all three options.

[ryano]

.

It would have been great if you too could have given support and advice as opposed to your opinion on what WE should enjoy.

 

I gave you support and I NEVER ONCE gave my opinion on what YOU should enjoy. I have no idea how you are coming up with that. It appears you did not read everything I posted.

 

I ONLY posted what I would have done which seems to be exactly what you done anyway and thats take the offer and ask for more compensation to cover your troubles.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[Dori Saltzman]

I haven't disappeared - I've been reading all comments a few times per day and am heartwarmed to see that many of you feel the same as we did. Thank you for your support .... it's always so easy to rather take the low road of judgment without knowing all the facts (which I didn't want to bore you with in the OP) but so many were caring with the few facts that I gave and also gave good advice.

I took your advice and called RCCL.

After hearing me out the resolution specialist said: "I agree that you should not have only been awarded a $100 onboard credit, we will up that to $300" Thank you Royal Caribbean ... He also agreed with me that the upgrade to a Deck 2 oceanview with a small 18 inch diameter porthole was not great either but this ship is also full ... Whether we got the upgrade or not wasn't any kind of a deal breaker for us .. it was more about the compensation for our inconvenience.

We have done 26 cruises and have NEVER cruised out of Miami before because of the horrendous traffic getting to the port, as a previous poster also mentioned. It's different if you fly in and take a taxi with a driver that is on familiar turf, than when you have to drive yourself.

As my OP mentioned in the 2nd paragraph: We only had the Majesty as a choice because DH cannot get off at any other time in the near future. The full refund wasn't an option for us either for 2 reasons. 72 year old DH needs the break and this cruise would also bring us to the next Crown & Anchor level.

SPDbigG: I was simply made that comment because this is the level that we are on, I never mentioned anyone else or their level ... all I meant was with all the money we have poured into sailing on this product, you would have thought we would have got better treatment under the circumstance that THEY screwed up.

This brings me to another point. We cruised in April from Sydney to Hawaii on a 18 night cruise. We paid for an 18 night cruise. Once we got back home everyone on the cruise was only credited with 17 nights because their computer system could not compute the 2 days going over the International date line. We have waited for 2 months for the additional credit to post and it still has not to date .... they are still working on it. One credit you might say - well again we were working towards our next step with RCCL and with that 1 point plus this "Monarch/Majesty" cruise it would have given us our goal. So this overbooking of the Monarch screw up was the "final straw" for us ......

Anyhow - sorry I had to offload my life story here on CC, but again I really appreciate those who stood behind me and gave me good advice, you gave me the courage to call RCCL - you guys are what makes this forum worthwhile.

 

Hi Zebra,

Did you at all have the option to say no, I want to stay on the same cruise?

Dori

[smoosh21]

The Monarch is getting very popular in her last year. I am sailing on 9/28 and the prices have skyrocketed. You can get a SOV on the Majesty on the same weekend for less than an H on the Monarch.

 

You probably should try to get a little more OBC if you can. It seems that everyone is booking the Monarch and not the Majesty this season.

[PH8]

The Monarch is getting very popular in her last year. I am sailing on 9/28 and the prices have skyrocketed. You can get a SOV on the Majesty on the same weekend for less than an H on the Monarch.

 

You probably should try to get a little more OBC if you can. It seems that everyone is booking the Monarch and not the Majesty this season.

The OP cruised June 11th and did get more OBC(she posted that info here on this thread):)

[ryano]

The OP cruised June 11th and did get more OBC(she posted that info here on this thread):)

 

digging up bones :p:D

[Starry Eyes]

digging up bones :p:D

Perhaps the news editor wants to write an article about overbooking.

 

Such publicity is yet another reason the cruiselines should make great offers if an overbooking situation arises and keep asking different passengers until the required number happily accept an offer. Nobody should feel strongarmed to give up their original booking, IMHO.

 

I hope the op had a great time and throughly enjoyed the OBC.

[dachshunddoglover]

I hope she comes back and lets us know how her cruise was. :D

E-Beth

[lady_cruiser]

.....

I guess this is how RCCL treats loyal Emerald customers ..... this makes us rethink our cruise future with the company.

 

Well I am Diamond and if this happen to me I would choose driving an extra couple of hours just so I can cruise. Especially if someone in my cruise group had only a certain time to take their vacation.

 

Does it stink, yes it does but since you had no choice I think you made a good decision. Take that $100 and treat yourself to a massage at the Spa.

[zebra]

Hi Everyone - we're back!

We had the most awesome cruise - hands down the most friendly and helpful staff on the high seas :) Of course the 6 hour trip to Miami was not that much fun ;)

The ship was in perfect condition and although we weren't crazy about the flow of some of the decks (a little disjointed) we loved the ship. Also found out that the Majesty always sails totally full just like the Monarch. The Majesty gets about 40% of cruisers on each cruise, from South and Central America ... this according to the C&A Loyalty Ambassador onboard.

We didn't eat at either Johnny Rockets or the Compass Deli (not the foods that we enjoy) but the "make your own salads" in the dining room during lunch were absolutely fantastic. Actually all the food was pretty good.

Thanks everyone for all your understanding and suggestions .... we appreciate you "standing behind" us.

We still love the RCI product - booked B2B's while onboard - just wish head office would get their act together a bit better, so that this won't happen to anyone else.

[foxesden1]

Exactly.

 

I also think $100 OBC is too low. $200 would have made me happy.

[knittinggirl]

Have to think the same thing. I would love to only have a 4 1/2 drive to any cruise port. Flights are the only way for my family of four $$$$. Our closest port of is in New Jersey....which is a 12-13 hour drive.

 

Same here, it's a two day drive for us, but it still cheaper than airfare. We'd be pretty upset, since we usually book our air separately. I wonder if they would have been so fast to bump a cruiser that had booked airfare through the cruise line.

 

We used to book every trip through the cruise line, until we had American Airlines cancel a light, and we got little help from Princess. Fortunately, we flew standby on the last flight to Vancouver. We told Princess we were arriving late, and they said if they were not there to grab a taxi. No one was there, so we grabbed a taxi (which they refunded as cruise credit). Still, we were a little disappointed that no one was there at around 8 PM. I guess the greeters would get double time working that late.

 

Since that experience, I don't think we've booked air through the cruise company once.

 

I wonder if we'd be bumped, since we usually have a bunch of shore excursions booked through the company, and they'd have to refund all those too.

[xxoocruiser]

Cruise lines are no different than the airlines... or even hotels for that matter. They all overbook based on statistical data regarding last minute changes/cancelations. Sometimes the cruise lines data falls short resulting in them having to offer deals to for one to change their plans. RCCL isn't the only cruise line that over books. All cruise lines do it. So changing cruise lines doesn't necessarily mean it won't happen to you again.

[knittinggirl]

Cruise lines are no different than the airlines... or even hotels for that matter. They all overbook based on statistical data regarding last minute changes/cancelations. Sometimes the cruise lines data falls short resulting in them having to offer deals to for one to change their plans. RCCL isn't the only cruise line that over books. All cruise lines do it. So changing cruise lines doesn't necessarily mean it won't happen to you again.

 

On cNBC's show "Cruise Inc." they said they prefer to sail at over 100% capacity (over 2 people per stateroom). The more people they can pack into a ship, the more money they make onboard. However, I remember a while back, Royal Caribbean did something to really tick us off, like refusing to honor a coupon after final payment (No discounts after final payment WAS in the fine print). But petty us, decided to keep our onboard expenses to a minimum. While we'd originally planned some spa treatments, and maybe a specialty restaurant. We ended up with only gratuities charged that trip.

[ggo85]

We've had two situations on RCL where they have overbooked. In one case, they'd overbooked our category and offered us a downgrade (for some OBC and whatever). We had a specific cabin number. We declined. They didn't push it and we cruised in our original cabin.

 

Another time, we were offered some good benefits to switch dates. Again had a specific cabin. That was the only week we could go. RCCL moved on to someone else

 

Overbooking does happen. Most of the time, they offer some sort of deal and then sweeten the pot until they get a taker. Thus, if you REALLY don't want to switch, push back; as with the OP here, they may well sweeten the deal for you or move on to someone who is more flexible. However, it seems that, if you book a guaranty, your likelihood of being "forcibly" moved increases.

[tigger-ttfn]

A four and half hour journey instead of a two hour doesn't seem like the end of the world to me. They are offering an upgrade as compensation. Personally I think they were a little mean in the amount of OBC I am sure they could have done a little better than that. Maybe a cabin upgrade, 300 OBc and dinner vouchers? That seems fair to me for the extra travelling. If its the only time you can get off work then it would be a shame to miss your holiday :(

Good luck x

 

there are no dinner venues on this ship

[Moon Beam]

Bill Oh, As a lowly gold, I hope you're kidding.