Chartered Cruise??¿¿

[Ocean_Waves]

How do you know if the cruise ship you booked is chartered out by a group? We had the unfortunate booking with a chartered cruise with Carnival. I won't go into details, but it was NOT a pleasant cruise due to the fact it was chartered.

 

I was more angry at Carnival for not letting people know the cruise was chartered. I understand that people would be afraid to book, but still.

 

Thanks

[Ocean_Waves]

And just in case anyone is interested....It was not a FULL chartared cruise, which is why we did not know and did not get bumped.

 

We realized something was "fishy" about 30 minutes after boarding....to late by then!

[Mark_K]

The cruise line won't tell you about those, so all you can really do is google your sailing date, ship, etc. in various ways and see if anything comes up.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[masspector]

And just in case anyone is interested....It was not a FULL chartared cruise, which is why we did not know and did not get bumped.

 

We realized something was "fishy" about 30 minutes after boarding....to late by then!

 

 

What was fishy? What kind of group was it? How big a group vs size of ship?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[S.A.M.J.R.]

You can google the name of your ship and your sailing date.

 

Unless it's a full ship charter, in which case you wouldn't be able to book, I don't think any line has a responsibility to let other customers know who else will be on board. The only exception would be if normally public areas would be closed for exclusive use by the "group".

[Ocean_Waves]

What was fishy? What kind of group was it? How big a group vs size of ship?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

I guess fishy is the wrong word maybe? Sounded funny when I wrote it, not so much anymore......***

 

DISCLAIMER*****First let me say I am a "to each their own" "Whatever floats your boat" type of guy. I do not care what one does in their life, how own dresses, acts, etc unless it causes issues for my family or in the process of my employment. With that being said:

 

It was a gothic cruise. I would say close to 70 to 80% chartered and it was on the Carnival Liberty which has a 2,974 passenger capacity.

 

Now I did not have a problem with the people themselves until they started walking around scaring my Nieces and nephews. There were some that would literally growl at them when they passed. They would make scary noises and "scary" movements towards them, start chanting, doing seances etc.

 

Not all of the people who had chartered the cruise were like that, but quite a few. I think they got a kick out of it. Please refer to my disclaimer and see the section where it says "unless it causes issues for my family". That is when I had the problem.

 

Not only that, but a lot of the cruise was shut down to the non chartered members. They had their designated door guards, guarding rooms etc so you couldn't get in.

 

One night, Carnival had the hot dog and burger grill open as they normally do and I decided to take my nieces and nephews up there to get something to eat, only to find out that it was only open that night for the chartered guests.

 

I do not know what they paid for their cabins nor does it matter as I also paid, but my family and all of the other unsuspecting cruisers should have the same access to the ships food etc as everyone else.

 

Now as many as were not so nice when you walked past, there were some really nice people as well. I just wouldn't have picked that ship had I known, mainly because of my nieces and nephews. Which is why I suspected a cruise line would not tell someone that a ship has been partially chartered.

 

Anyways, that is my rant. Again, for all the people on here it may offend that I do not want to go on a chartered ship with Gothics, Swingers, Nudists etc, I do not have an issue with any of the above or anyone for that matter.

 

Just not my thing. I could handle a Gothic cruise no problem, just not with my kids, or nieces / nephews.

[Fat Paul]

I'm a live and let live sort of guy myself but if someone....... Anyone makes aggressive moves toward my family or myself they WILL regret it.

[Folk Singer]

The cruise line won't tell you about those, so all you can really do is google your sailing date, ship, etc. in various ways and see if anything comes up.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

 

you could always check the CC for that cruise and see what the chatter on the message board is and then decide. Then sometimes change is good. At least knowing is better than not knowing.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Folk Singer

[xxoocruiser]

How do you know if the cruise ship you booked is chartered out by a group? We had the unfortunate booking with a chartered cruise with Carnival. I won't go into details, but it was NOT a pleasant cruise due to the fact it was chartered.

 

I was more angry at Carnival for not letting people know the cruise was chartered. I understand that people would be afraid to book, but still.

 

Thanks

 

In order for a cruise to be considered as "Chartered " it means a group has booked the entire ship and it's not open for booking to the general public. The cruise line than notifies everyone else not associated with the charter that their cruise is being canceled.

 

What you experienced was a large group booking that cruise lines are NOT required to disclose. Not can they disclosed this information due to Federal Privacy Laws. In fact there are generally group bookings of various sizes on most cruises.

 

Has others have stated do an internet search of using Name of the ship and cruise date to see if any organizations are advertising for that specific cruise. Not finding anything is not proof positive there still won't be large group booking onboard .

[reedl]

What I would like is to be on the cruise that has been booked by swimsuit models who like to sunbathe naked. :D

 

Of course that will never happen...

[ahecht]

In order for a cruise to be considered as "Chartered " it means a group has booked the entire ship and it's not open for booking to the general public. The cruise line than notifies everyone else not associated with the charter that their cruise is being canceled.

 

What you experienced was a large group booking that cruise lines are NOT required to disclose. Not can they disclosed this information due to Federal Privacy Laws. In fact there are generally group bookings of various sizes on most cruises.

Partial Charters definitely exist, and depending on the cruise line they start at a minimum of 20-50% of the ship.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=760

 

These are different from group bookings, and I can't imagine that any privacy laws would come into play if you're informing passengers that the ship has been partially chartered (as long as you don't reveal names).

[LetsGetWet!]

Partial Charters definitely exist, and depending on the cruise line they start at a minimum of 20-50% of the ship.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=760

 

These are different from group bookings, and I can't imagine that any privacy laws would come into play if you're informing passengers that the ship has been partially chartered (as long as you don't reveal names).

I'd tend to agree. As for the OP, I see two issues. The issue of members of the group growling at and acting menacing towards children in his party should not be tolerated whether or not they're part of a group. I'd report that immediately to ship management onboard, and expect something to be done about it.

 

As for various venues not being available often during the cruise, if the charter group was truly 80% of the passengers, give or take - I too would feel that I'd been slighted and had not gotten what I'd paid for with my cruise, if that were the case and there was no advance notice. Whether or not one could get compensation from the cruise company is another question though - but I'd probably be trying.

[comxkid]

Here is the website.

 

http://www.gothiccruise.com/2014-home.html

 

And yes, I was able to make a reservation for the ship via the Carnival website. It would have the makings of being an "interesting" cruise with 400 participants.

 

I'm off to do a Google search for the dates of my upcoming cruise.

Edited March 11, 2014 by comxkid

[LetsGetWet!]

Here is the website.

 

http://www.gothiccruise.com/2014-home.html

 

And yes, I was able to make a reservation for the ship via the Carnival website. It would have the makings of being an "interesting" cruise with 400 participants.

 

I'm off to do a Google search for the dates of my upcoming cruise.

Interesting, but that would appear to be a different one than the OP is talking about. He said Carnival, and 70-80% of the ship. From your website link, they're planning Carnival this year, but the last time they used Carnival was in 2010, with a group of only 232. There must be a BIGGER gothic cruise, if the OP's estimate is anywhere close.

 

To have 232 in that group would probably be hardly noticeable, that's under 10% of the passenger count. 70-80% would be a whole different story!

[masspector]

Interesting, but that would appear to be a different one than the OP is talking about. He said Carnival, and 70-80% of the ship. From your website link, they're planning Carnival this year, but the last time they used Carnival was in 2010, with a group of only 232. There must be a BIGGER gothic cruise, if the OP's estimate is anywhere close.

 

To have 232 in that group would probably be hardly noticeable, that's under 10% of the passenger count. 70-80% would be a whole different story!

 

The correct webste is http://www.BIGGERGOTHICCRUISE.COM...LOL:D

Edited March 11, 2014 by masspector

[killtheump]

Interesting, but that would appear to be a different one than the OP is talking about. He said Carnival, and 70-80% of the ship. From your website link, they're planning Carnival this year, but the last time they used Carnival was in 2010, with a group of only 232. There must be a BIGGER gothic cruise, if the OP's estimate is anywhere close.

 

To have 232 in that group would probably be hardly noticeable, that's under 10% of the passenger count. 70-80% would be a whole different story!

 

Well a quick google and you are right. The only time Canival Liberty had a Gothic Cruise was 2010 with 232 in the group. Lot less then 70% - -80%. Kinda sounds like the MDR Formal Night discussions that come up with all the percentages of how many are dressed properly or not!

[hellsop]

Here is the website.

 

http://www.gothiccruise.com/2014-home.html

 

And yes, I was able to make a reservation for the ship via the Carnival website. It would have the makings of being an "interesting" cruise with 400 participants.

 

I'm off to do a Google search for the dates of my upcoming cruise.

 

Please note that there are two confusing cruises. Make sure you google the right one. (Long, protracted, complaining story omitted here as even I'm tired of it by now.)

[Ocean_Waves]

Please note that there are two confusing cruises. Make sure you google the right one. (Long, protracted, complaining story omitted here as even I'm tired of it by now.)

 

 

What are you tired of? Chartered cruises or this thread? :D I love to hear long, protracted stories!!! :)

[Ocean_Waves]

Maybe I was wrong with the amount of people, or the amount of people just grew over the last three years of hearing my family tell the story, but I would have to disagree with their website when they say only 232 people sailed. It was way more than that.

 

But who is to bicker with a website, what is written is true :D:D

[LetsGetWet!]

Maybe I was wrong with the amount of people, or the amount of people just grew over the last three years of hearing my family tell the story, but I would have to disagree with their website when they say only 232 people sailed. It was way more than that.

 

But who is to bicker with a website, what is written is true :D:D

The website is from the promoter - the travel agency - that sponsors and sells the gothic cruises. They have a history of every year, which ship and how many people. I'd say their numbers are pretty believable.

 

So, instead of 70-80% of the passengers, it was more like 7-8%. Heck, you were only off by a "0"! :rolleyes:

[warbar]

I'm a live and let live sort of guy myself but if someone....... Anyone makes aggressive moves toward my family or myself they WILL regret it.

 

Hallelujah brother!

[Ocean_Waves]

The website is from the promoter - the travel agency - that sponsors and sells the gothic cruises. They have a history of every year, which ship and how many people. I'd say their numbers are pretty believable.

 

So, instead of 70-80% of the passengers, it was more like 7-8%. Heck, you were only off by a "0"! :rolleyes:

 

It would actually be more like 12% and that is if the ship sailed full and by the looks of it during the cruise (beings we seen more people dressed like Goths than not) I would say it wasn't a full cruise. Still, I don't there were less than say 1500 people on board, which would still only bring the percentage up to 15%, still a far cry from my 70 - 80% guestimate though :)

 

A multitude of factors could have come into place on why it seemed to have more Goths than not:

 

1. I imagined them

2. Some people cruise to cruise in their rooms/balconies and we had more than the norm of those type of cruisers that cruise.

3. After on board they were able to raise spirits from the unknown who like to cruise and they roamed the ship all week.

4. The number grew over the years from family talking about the trip. There were actually some funny stories.

5. Stow aways

6. My math / perception stinks!

:D

 

The numbers / reasons mean very little. It is the fact that carnival is a family cruise line, with tons of kids on board, and for carnival to not only not give a heads up about the small charter and also allow them to walk around dressed as they were (whips, chains, bloody attire, even seen a small amount of nudity on the pool decks and with their partial dress attire ) was wrong.

 

We even meet a family on board who said they called Carnival to ask if the ship had been booked by a large group and carnival straight out lied to them and said it wasn't. They told us, they called about a month prior of sailing and they then decided to book....All hearsay on that part I know.

 

Anyways, happy days to all! I will make sure I look on forums with whichever cruise we choose to see if our ship has been partially chartered! :D

Edited March 12, 2014 by Ocean_Waves

[Ocean_Waves]

Hallelujah brother!

 

I wanted to trust me. The job I do has taught me patience and to be professional at all times and that some people aren't worth the hassle. Now that doesn't mean I lied down and took it, there were words and that usually stopped it. We even reported it to security, which as usual did very little.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Ocean_Waves

[roquejo]

Well, what if a homophobic guest unknowingly went into a non full chartered gay cruise?

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Well, what if a homophobic guest unknowingly went into a non full chartered gay cruise?

Just how far are you willing to take that "What if"? :(

 

I'm willing to wager EVERY cruise has people that are offensive to other cruisers. Just because the OP's cruise was partially chartered by "Goth's" doesn't mean all goth's are rude or inappropriate.

 

The only time I think a cruise line owes passengers an explanation of charters is if that charter requires shutting down public areas of the ship. Just because a group of goths (or square dancers or preachers or Muppet lovers or bikers or poker players or <insert any group here) purchase a block of rooms shouldn't result in notification to everyone else that that group is on board.