Has cruise I booked been chartered?

[Marylandteachergirl]

Hello!

 

Today I noticed the Jan. 14, 2017 Billiance of the Seas is completely sold out and has disappeared from available cruises page. It still shows in "my cruises" for now.

 

We booked this as part of a Disney combination trip to Florida. When I called RC today, they would only say there are no red flags on my booking ?????

 

Should I wait to see if RC calls? Is this likely chartered? I did numerous keyword and google searches. Or should I start looking at alternatives before prices go up even more? We booked this in Jan. 2015. :confused:

[lais]

When cruises get booked full they will no longer be shown on the website. No worries.

[Clarea]

It's hard to tell if the cruise is chartered, but whatever you do, don't change or cancel the booking. If it is chartered, Royal will contact you, usually in a few weeks, and offer some sort of consideration, such as price protection for a similar cruise, and/or OBC.

[Marylandteachergirl]

Thank you, Bob!

 

If I need to make a change, just hoping to do so sooner rather than later, while there are still some good OBC promotions. I was also hoping RC wouldn't wait until a very late date to contact me, so it sounds as if that's not the case.

 

 

Maybe January 14 is just a really popular date! :D

 

Thank you again!

[molly361]

Thanks for the heads up on this. We are also booked on this sailing. I have not even looked at it in a while.

 

Like Bob said don't change anything. If it is chartered they will probably contact everyone in a few weeks.

 

They normally offer price protection on two or three different sail dates along with some OBC. I would think that you (or we) would also keep whatever promotions are on the booking.

[Clarea]

Thank you, Bob!

 

If I need to make a change, just hoping to do so sooner rather than later, while there are still some good OBC promotions. I was also hoping RC wouldn't wait until a very late date to contact me, so it sounds as if that's not the case.

 

 

Maybe January 14 is just a really popular date! :D

 

Thank you again!

I don't see anything wrong with making a new reservation for some alternate date. Just don't touch the original reservation. This way you will have reserved a stateroom that you like. Worst case is that the new reservation won't be covered by Royal's "consideration" and you can decide to keep it or cancel at that point. I know that they usually give consideration for a few cruises before and after the chartered cruise.

[Paulette3028]

Hello!

 

Today I noticed the Jan. 14, 2017 Billiance of the Seas is completely sold out and has disappeared from available cruises page. It still shows in "my cruises" for now.

 

We booked this as part of a Disney combination trip to Florida. When I called RC today, they would only say there are no red flags on my booking ?????

 

Should I wait to see if RC calls? Is this likely chartered? I did numerous keyword and google searches. Or should I start looking at alternatives before prices go up even more? We booked this in Jan. 2015. :confused:

 

 

Does it possibly include the Martin Luther King Holiday Monday, which would make it a good week for families to choose like you to combine the cruise with a Disney trip, or do just the cruise on its own? Many schools in the northeast have a winter break and some colleges may not have returned from their semester break also making it a good week to vacation.

 

But let Royal come to you, if the cruise has in fact been chartered. Right now, you have a cruise booked in a cabin that you want.

[Marylandteachergirl]

Does it possibly include the Martin Luther King Holiday Monday, which would make it a good week for families to choose like you to combine the cruise with a Disney trip, or do just the cruise on its own? Many schools in the northeast have a winter break and some colleges may not have returned from their semester break also making it a good week to vacation.

 

But let Royal come to you, if the cruise has in fact been chartered. Right now, you have a cruise booked in a cabin that you want.

 

 

The last day of the cruise is MLK , Jr Day. Disney marathon is the weekend before the cruise. So, maybe...

 

It wasn't booking much, and I checked on prices last week, then WHAM, entire cruise is sold out.

 

I may book a Freedom sailing as a back up that I can always transfer to another booking. I was considering that with the current OBC but not sure what to do. Can I have two cruises booked for overlapping dates?

[molly361]

The last day of the cruise is MLK , Jr Day. Disney marathon is the weekend before the cruise. So, maybe...

 

It wasn't booking much, and I checked on prices last week, then WHAM, entire cruise is sold out.

 

I may book a Freedom sailing as a back up that I can always transfer to another booking. I was considering that with the current OBC but not sure what to do. Can I have two cruises booked for overlapping dates?

 

Yes you can have overlapping dates

[molly361]

I called and was told it was yellow tagged for inventory maintenance- only time will tell;)

[Retired LEO]

I called and was told it was yellow tagged for inventory maintenance- only time will tell;)

 

Over a year in advance? OK...I guess they had to say something. :rolleyes:

[CVU]

We have had a few+ canceled on us. When it is Sold Out or Gone I would be concerned. Used to be N/A but now they show Sold Out.

Had the Inventory Story as well, sometimes it is true and sometimes they have no idea.........

 

They will price protect some or just one cruise but you can choose another without their price protection to move your booking to. Plus you get some OBC compensation per cabin.

 

We had a Med. cruise canceled and their offer was for 1 ship BUT months later!!! We were booked on a TA to connect with that canceled cruise. :rolleyes: We picked something else, but it cost us more.

We had to pick different cruises this year then they canceled our B2B on Explorer to Singapore. For the dates they offered we were already booked on ships.

 

Good Luck!!!!!!

Edited December 8, 2015 by CVU

[emeraldcity]

The advice you've been given is sound ... book a back-up. That will broaden the number of options you have if the cruise gets cancelled on you.

 

That cruise seems to be too far out to become suddenly sold out without a plausible explanation.

[Ourusualbeach]

I called and was told it was yellow tagged for inventory maintenance- only time will tell;)

 

I called a few times last year when our Oasis cruise was chartered and they told me it was inventory maintenance...they were deciding what rooms the crew were getting. I really wish when they don't know the answer they just admit that they don't know instead of making something up.

[brillohead]

As long as you have the money to put down another deposit right now, I'd go ahead and reserve a backup option at this time, and leave the existing reservation in place.

 

This way, you know you have a cruise available for that time frame, plus you can take advantage of the current incentives. You're still well outside of the final payment timeframe, so just cancel whichever cruise doesn't work for you.

[Marylandteachergirl]

As long as you have the money to put down another deposit right now, I'd go ahead and reserve a backup option at this time, and leave the existing reservation in place.

 

This way, you know you have a cruise available for that time frame, plus you can take advantage of the current incentives. You're still well outside of the final payment timeframe, so just cancel whichever cruise doesn't work for you.

 

Excellent advice from all - thank you!

 

I did book something else. I can transfer that to some future sailing if necessary. But, I think, "inventory maintenance" or yellow tag isn't a good thing for our sailing. I will see what/if they offer something. Worst case scenario, I just have an extra booking to apply to a later, unnamed cruise.

[molly361]

Hello!

 

Today I noticed the Jan. 14, 2017 Billiance of the Seas is completely sold out and has disappeared from available cruises page. It still shows in "my cruises" for now.

 

We booked this as part of a Disney combination trip to Florida. When I called RC today, they would only say there are no red flags on my booking ?????

 

Should I wait to see if RC calls? Is this likely chartered? I did numerous keyword and google searches. Or should I start looking at alternatives before prices go up even more? We booked this in Jan. 2015. :confused:

 

Yes it has been chartered. Just got the phone call. They are offering 3 sailings around the same date but none of them have the same stops. None of them stop in Key West. I don't know if they are at all flexible if you tried to get price protected on one of the KW sailings around the same time period.

[CVU]

Yes it has been chartered. Just got the phone call. They are offering 3 sailings around the same date but none of them have the same stops. None of them stop in Key West. I don't know if they are at all flexible if you tried to get price protected on one of the KW sailings around the same time period.

If we didn't pick what they offered for their price protection, we had to just pick something and move our reservation booking # to what we wanted. We did that and lost the good price we had. Happened a few times to us now.....ships changed itinerary and dates or the cruises were canceled.

 

One RCL mess up-- was very annoying as we were booked on a TA to join up with Voyager in Barcelona. They canceled VOS and then later opened it up with an itinerary on VOS we would have loved but we had our air and such all booked from the TA B2B trip.

The one and only price protected cruise offered from Barcelona was months later after our TA arrived.:rolleyes: We wanted a Celebrity cruise from Barcelona but it was a lot more money! and no RCL offer of any reduction.

 

We learned then to book our air closer to the cruise time.......as we have had this happen a few times now.

[molly361]

I thought they they would offer cruises with the same itinerary but they did not. Called twice and they will not price protect me to move to another sailing with the same ports.

 

And like you stated prices now are higher than when we originally booked.

[Marylandteachergirl]

I think the offer of $100 OBC only applies if you take one of the three choices they offer, not for ANY booking of your choice, and I doubt it can be applied to an existing booking. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

I will just have to put Key West back on the bucket list.

[molly361]

I think the offer of $100 OBC only applies if you take one of the three choices they offer, not for ANY booking of your choice, and I doubt it can be applied to an existing booking. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

I will just have to put Key West back on the bucket list.

 

The $100 OBC is good for any cruise but it needs to stay with your current reservation number. So if you change this sailing to the Freedom that you had picked (or any other sailing) you will get $100 OBC. You can't put the OBC onto a different booking number.

Edited December 23, 2015 by molly361

[Marylandteachergirl]

Is it combinable with the other OBC I already have on Freedom for booking with WOW sale, or is it either/or?

 

Thanks!!!

[molly361]

Is it combinable with the other OBC I already have on Freedom for booking with WOW sale, or is it either/or?

 

Thanks!!!

 

If it is the current OBC that they are offering now yes. I think the current one is $100 inside, $200 OV and $300 for a balcony. They will give you whatever offer is available when you call to change.

[CVU]

Is it combinable with the other OBC I already have on Freedom for booking with WOW sale, or is it either/or?

 

Thanks!!!

We got to keep any OBC with our reservation # and also get the Compensation OBC they give you for your inconvenience.

 

They offer a substitute cruise or a few and that is it.

 

Each time we have picked something else as the cruises offered did not work for us. No price protection, it is what happens when you book early and RCL changes their mind.

We book year or more in advance and hope for the best.......