Overbooked cruise and turned away at port

[WonderMan3]

The explanation was pretty much a "computer booking error". They selected the people to turn away based on chronological order of the booking. I don't know how many got turned away but we were told 'several'. We booked a bit over a month before the cruise so I guess we were one of the last ones to book so one of the first to get dumped.

 

I probably should have asked more questions. But the news was pretty devastating at the time (this was a celebratory cruise) and we didn't have the mindset to ask a lots of questions and negotiate options. It was pretty much move forward and make plans to go home.

 

If it wasn't for the fact the cruise was a celebration and I had more flexibility at work, I would have copped this much better. But this was going to be the only time I could have off work for a long time so rebooking another cruise is going to take planning and rearranging of commitments.

 

As an additional note, what Celebrity offered for compensation I think is reasonable and some would say generous. I would be seeing the compensation a lot more positively if their communication would have been better and my personal and work circumstances were more flexible.

 

That seems really odd. I suppose anything could happen but every departure has a rooming list of all passengers. You can clearly see all the passengers assigned to every cabin and those that have not been assigned one. Whatever their cut off date is prior to departure they have to have enough cabins to accommodate every passenger otherwise someone's got to go. Now it may be that you don't have a specific cabin number assigned until you get to the ship because they may have still been in the process of upgrading people to clear categories that were overbooked but you should have a place somewhere on the ship.

 

What might've happened is that a cabin went out of order at the last minute due to a maintenance issue or maybe they had to accommodate some employee or VIP on the ship for some reason and didn't have room in the crew area. Just sounds fishy to me.

[mat781]

That seems really odd.

 

Yes, I thought it was really odd which I guess is why I am posting here to see what other people may have experienced. I really think it must have been a human error in their process...something must simply have been overlooked.

 

I don't doubt that if they had a room, they would have got us on there as compensating us for our travel expenses is an additional cost to them.

[YoHoHo]

In answer to your question, no I have never heard of such a thing happening and found your post very enlightening as well as the CC article.

 

I am very impressed with your attitiude. I am sure this would have been one of those 'testing moments ' had I been in your situation. I hope I would handle it as well as you have and been so calm in your posts on this thread.

 

Did you buy a lottery ticket when where in that 'strangest things can happen' moment.

[cruiseycruisin]

Sorry to hear of your unfortunate situation OP. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to handle the situation as well as you did if I turned up at the port and was told I couldn't board the ship due to a booking error. Don't they have checks in place for this??

 

Out of interest what did the cruise company offer you for compensation?

[ReneeFLL]

Mat, sorry this happened to you especially for your first cruise. I hope it doesn't turn you off to cruising and glad Celebrity gave you a reasonable compensation.

Edited December 12, 2016 by ReneeFLL

[The_Big_M]

As an additional note, what Celebrity offered for compensation I think is reasonable and some would say generous. I would be seeing the compensation a lot more positively if their communication would have been better and my personal and work circumstances were more flexible.

 

Based on previous experiences it should be. But it has to to make up for the loss of the holiday you booked for starters, and the wasted time and potential costs you experience.

 

Never heard it happening on boarding though, which is exceptional.

[Pushka]

I am so sorry this has happened to you. It should not have occurred with no notice. I would be very angry. As this actually occurred - i.e. Fact then it is not defamation.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Pushka

[Miaminice]

Sorry to hear about your problems. For me it is also the first time I ever heard of overbooking a cruise.

 

Did you book with a travel agent or company or did you book with Celebrity directly?

 

You wrote that you booked the full fare when you booked - which also sounds unusual to me (unless it was short notice).

Edited December 12, 2016 by Miaminice

[simon stingray]

As a number of senior crew & entertainment staff occupy passenger cabins, I would have thought that under the circumstances someone would be forced to give up their cabin and share with a colleague for that particular sailing to accommodate the guests.

 

A cash incentive would probably help to convince the crew members involved that it was the right thing to do.

 

Surely fare paying passengers with a confirmed reservation should always take priority.

[BrendaJ]

Mat781 - I cannot imagine how awful this experience must have been for you. I was just curious - from how far away had you flown? As a North American who has had the dubious pleasure of enduring flights to that area of the world, my reaction would probably have been heard back home.

 

The fact that they bumped someone who had flown to the port makes no sense so me. Surely they could have bumped someone who was able to drive to the port from home. It would certainly have saved them some money. I assume that perhaps you checked in fairly late, and they were hoping you might be a no show. I agree with the above poster who noted that some crew and staff use passenger cabins and one of them should have been bumped, not you. These must have been extraordinary circumstances indeed if that was not an option.

 

If I may ask, what did you do after you found out your cruise was not going to happen? I assume you were embarking in Sydney or Auckland. Did you at least stay in the area and see some sights? They are both lovely cities and I hope you at least got some enjoyment out of this unfortunate experience.

 

I hope you will be able to rebook at a future date and that this experience has not turned you off what is usually a wonderful type of vacation.

 

 

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[ChucktownSteve]

This should be useful for everyone to read

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=340

 

 

Thankx for the link. I was actually one of those affected by #2 booked on the Mercury out of Charleston. We had to switch to the Port of Baltimore for the Mercury's very last sailing before going to German line Tui. All we received was $100 obc

 

I'll never sail a ship's final sailing again. They kept running out of things as the cruise progressed. They didn't want to restock food and stores then have to move it off the ship at the end. The best crew had already been transferred off.

 

The cruise lines have the final say. I hope the OP had travel insurance to help with what Celebrity wouldn't compensate.

Edited December 12, 2016 by ChucktownSteve

[4774Papa]

Our next cruise is a TA from Southampton to Miami. If we were bumped from that one, that would be a problem, having to buy an airline ticket at the last minute.

[A Sixth?]

........

 

I'll never sail a ship's final sailing again. They kept running out of things as the cruise progressed. They didn't want to restock food and stores then have to move it off the ship at the end. The best crew had already been transferred off.

..........

 

Times two.

 

Been there, won't do that again either.

 

[mat781]

As a number of senior crew & entertainment staff occupy passenger cabins, I would have thought that under the circumstances someone would be forced to give up their cabin and share with a colleague for that particular sailing to accommodate the guests.

 

Interesting thought. I never thought of this and while it would be hugely inconvenient to ask people to suddenly share rooms, I would have thought they could make something work. Perhaps they had to turn away a lot more people than they made out.

 

We booked a balcony room and I did make it clear I was happy to take an inside cabin if they had a spare one going.

[CYNSport]

Interesting thought. I never thought of this and while it would be hugely inconvenient to ask people to suddenly share rooms, I would have thought they could make something work. Perhaps they had to turn away a lot more people than they made out.

 

We booked a balcony room and I did make it clear I was happy to take an inside cabin if they had a spare one going.

 

A terrible situation for you and others affected by whatever strange error was made by the cruise line. I agree with the posters who suggested that you were due compensation beyond refunds, all travel expenses paid, and future cruise discounts. Showing up with a fully paid reservation and being denied boarding may be very rare, but that must be cold comfort to you. Wishing you smooth sailing in the future. If any further explanation is ever offered, please come back and let us know.

[mat781]

Mat781 - I cannot imagine how awful this experience must have been for you. I was just curious - from how far away had you flown? As a North American who has had the dubious pleasure of enduring flights to that area of the world, my reaction would probably have been heard back home.

 

The fact that they bumped someone who had flown to the port makes no sense so me. Surely they could have bumped someone who was able to drive to the port from home. It would certainly have saved them some money. I assume that perhaps you checked in fairly late, and they were hoping you might be a no show. I agree with the above poster who noted that some crew and staff use passenger cabins and one of them should have been bumped, not you. These must have been extraordinary circumstances indeed if that was not an option.

 

If I may ask, what did you do after you found out your cruise was not going to happen? I assume you were embarking in Sydney or Auckland. Did you at least stay in the area and see some sights? They are both lovely cities and I hope you at least got some enjoyment out of this unfortunate experience.

 

I hope you will be able to rebook at a future date and that this experience has not turned you off what is usually a wonderful type of vacation.

 

 

Thanks Brenda and all the kind comments ...you guys are a lovely bunch.

 

I'm an Australian who flew from Brisbane to Auckland, so I didn't fly all the way from the other side of the world thank goodness. Still a long enough flight to be annoyed I guess.

 

We were told the selected few who couldn't board the ship are based on the last rooms booked in chronological order. I don't doubt that we were one of the last ones to book on this ship as the moment we received our booking confirmation, I went on the Celebrity site and saw that all rooms (except for one suite selling at 16k per person) was sold out. It's almost humorous to think back we actually thought at the time we were one of the lucky ones to get in at last minute to secure a room.

 

To Celebrity's defence, I actually think their system of selecting who to turn away is fair if it is based on chronological order of last cabins booked...first come first served, rather than turning away people who would cost them the least to compensate. And yes, we also did check in at a later time. I believe check in was open at 3pm for our deck and we arrived at the port at 5pm for an 8pm departure. So it could also have been that we were one of the later ones to check in. That was unfortunately the earliest we could get to the pier even taking the first flight out to Auckland that morning.

 

Having said all that, I did wonder if there were some locals boarding the ship that day that had more flexibility in their schedule and wouldn't have minded be bumped to the next cruise (with some attractive incentives of course).

 

After we found out we weren't boarding the ship, they sat down with us and outlined compensation. None of it was really sounding all that enticing at the time to be honest. The staff at Celebrity arranged hotel accommodation for us in Auckland and we ended up staying 2 nights in Auckland (at their expense) before flying home (ticket also at their expense). This all happened just last Friday!

[mat781]

Sorry to hear about your problems. For me it is also the first time I ever heard of overbooking a cruise.

 

Did you book with a travel agent or company or did you book with Celebrity directly?

 

You wrote that you booked the full fare when you booked - which also sounds unusual to me (unless it was short notice).

 

We booked through an online travel agent and paid the full fare because it was only 4-5 weeks out from the cruise.

 

Shortly after paying the fare in full, we were provided with a booking reference that allowed us to go on the Celebrity site to complete an online check-in as well as purchase any excursions, dining and drinks packages.

[Iamthesea]

I am so sorry that this happened to you, but glad that you are being compensated quite well. :)

 

This is not quite the same situation, however, on an Oceania cruise last year, we overheard a heated conversation on the Suites deck. This was about an hour after boarding had begun. Apparently, two unrelated couples were somehow booked in the same PH Suite! :eek: They were not arguing among themselves, but with a hotel director. :mad: I am not sure how the situation turned out, but somehow there was a booking error. :rolleyes:

 

Please try Celebrity again!

 

PS - Oceania overbooks their cruises quite often. We have been given offers to move over to another cruise when the cruise we were to sail on was overbooked. Excellent compensation! Sadly, we also had work and air constraints and could not take the offer. Now that DH will retire on January 1st, we are ready should we get for a call to change from our upcoming Feb 1st Oceania cruise.:D

[BrendaJ]

Thanks for replying, Mat. I'm still thinking that they waited far too long to let you know there was no cabin available for you. Surely, they could have figured that out a few days prior and saved you the trip. I'm sure they were still hoping a last-minute cancellation would free up a cabin, as it makes no sense to have you fly there for nothing.

 

I'm glad you were compensated and hope you will have another opportunity to cruise soon. If I were Celebrity, I'd be giving you a big cabin upgrade next time.

 

 

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Edited December 12, 2016 by BrendaJ

[lovecruzin]

We booked through an online travel agent and paid the full fare because it was only 4-5 weeks out from the cruise.

 

Shortly after paying the fare in full, we were provided with a booking reference that allowed us to go on the Celebrity site to complete an online check-in as well as purchase any excursions, dining and drinks packages.

 

I can't imagine how disappointing this must have been. I hope you get an opportunity to try again.

 

Seeing that you booked through an online agency, have you talked to them since all of this happened? I wonder if Celebrity notified them and the message didn't get relayed to you.

[bunnyrab]

Times two.

 

Been there, won't do that again either.

 

 

Looks like Montreal's dumping of untreated sewage in Nov. /15 so they could fix some pipes at the sewage treatment plant.

[mat781]

If I were Celebrity, I'd be giving you a big cabin upgrade next time.

 

A full refund of the cruise plus travel expenses, along with a complimentary cruise to the value of what we originally booked is what they have offered.

[mat781]

I can't imagine how disappointing this must have been. I hope you get an opportunity to try again.

 

Seeing that you booked through an online agency, have you talked to them since all of this happened? I wonder if Celebrity notified them and the message didn't get relayed to you.

 

I haven't talked to the travel agent but it appears they didn't as I'm pretty sure they would have let us know they tried to get in touch. We would have viewed the matter in a much more positive light at the time if we were told they did try to let us know before arrival.

 

We were informed the error was discovered the night before departure and I'd like to imagine they were still trying to scramble up a solution to get us a cabin right up to our point of arrival.

 

Got to say the gentleman who had to deliver the news to the passengers affected must have one of the hardest jobs.

[packedandready]

To the OP...I can't imagine how disappointing and frustrating this all must have been. I admire your attitude and handling of it all. Happy future sailing!!

[The_Big_M]

As a number of senior crew & entertainment staff occupy passenger cabins, I would have thought that under the circumstances someone would be forced to give up their cabin and share with a colleague for that particular sailing to accommodate the guests.

...

Surely fare paying passengers with a confirmed reservation should always take priority.

 

It's quite likely that was done.

 

Entertainers take cabins when spares are available - but alternatively if full they wind up in the crew section, with people sharing.

 

Given the cost and detriment, easy allocation options aren't disregarded.

Edited December 13, 2016 by The_Big_M