Planning for late 2017/2018 - which cruises get chartered often?

[UniPac]

Hi all!

 

I am currently planning a cruise for the end of 2017 or the beginning of 2018 as the new schedules are released. I often plan way ahead and book flights etc. asap.

 

I came accross postings here about cruises being cancelled because of a charter. Sometimes I even read about months/ships that get chartered every second year or so.

 

That has never happened to me but I forgot to note down which cruises have been chartered more than once or which months are the ones that are popular for charters. I know that it can happen totally different but I just want to get some informations about past cancellations.

 

So what is your experience?

 

Thanks!!

[lee lehman]

We had booked a Panama Cruise well in advance for a January cruise on the Norwegian Pearl and a few months before the we were notified the cruise had been cancelled do to a complete charter. We were given a chance to reschedule with additional OBC or refund. We live in Northern Minnesota and like to cruise during the cold of January so opted for a Mediterranean cruise for January and rescheduled the Panama cruise for March, had 2 great cruises. Most cruise lines have time allotted for a certain ship to be available for charters. They list this in their catalogs. Ask at time of booking if the ship you are booking could be in that category

 

 

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[villauk]

Summit has been chartered quite frequently over the last few years, mainly, I believe, between January and March for various groups/music themed sailings. There is usually an annual Atlantis Med charter in August on one of the S class ships (used to be Equinox, but changed due to her redeployment). Japan is another popular area that appears to have many charters.

 

Additionally, one of the ships is quite frequently used as a floating hotel on the West Coast for a sales event during September ;).

 

If you do a search (I think it was under Summit charters), someone posted all the charters and group gatherings for 2016/17 - I think there were many on the list, more than the OP imagined.

[hcat]

Very interesting...googled it...lots more listed and even others that could be chartered...Summit was listed quite a bit...

 

We lost an Infinity booking when it was in negotiations to be chartered as a floating hotel...( heard it never materialized but cruise line already re did the schedule)

we were able to move to another date and had a great cruise.

 

Did not realize how many full charters there are out there. I suspect also many groups are booked as well but not full charters. Our Silhouette 2018 cruise has a motorcycle tour group which is not too large..so no worries!

[Cruise Raider]

I was booked on the Infinity for a 14 night Alaska cruise from San Francisco (roundtrip) in September when it was chartered as a floating hotel for 5 of these 14 days.

Luckily, we live right outside the City of SF so were just able to switch over to the rescheduled 9 day Pacific Coastal cruise, which ended 5 days short of the original schedule.

Because we were ultra flexible and just wanted to sail without having to fly anywhere, this worked out really well for us. Most people that were originally booked on the Alaska cruise were really angry about the change and decided to cancel outright. For us, it ended up being a phenomenal cruise, but if I had my heart set on Alaska (we'd been 8 times prior), I, too, would have been kind of mad.

It seems to me the following year, which was last year, they chartered the Infinity out for a second year in a row in Sept. Will they do it again this year? Not sure and I have a cruise booked on her again for that month. Again, it works out for me as I can book my flights on Southwest, which I can always cancel if they cancel my itinerary. If you have your heart set on it, I wouldn't book the Infinity in Sept. although, it is too early to tell if that might be a pattern. :confused:

[DrivesLikeMario]

Summit winter/early spring Caribbean itineraries. I know...I was bumped...twice.

[4774Papa]

Millie cruises in Asia get chartered quite a bit.

[UniPac]

Thanks for all the answers.

However, I was not able to google or search the comprehensive lists that are mentioned here.

I will try again and let you know what I find!

[Living4acruise2day]

Thanks for all the answers.

However, I was not able to google or search the comprehensive lists that are mentioned here.

I will try again and let you know what I find!

This is the website I use. Hope it helps you:

http://themecruisefinder.com/

[Globaliser]

Summit has been chartered quite frequently over the last few years, mainly, I believe, between January and March for various groups/music themed sailings.

It looks like ECP will again be taking Summit for three to four weeks in February-March 2018.

 

The weeks it already has on sale are 10 February 2018 and 10 March 2018, and I don't expect those to change.

 

In February, I also confidently expect either the week before or the week after to be taken by the same company. Less certain at the moment is whether it will take a third week that month to make a block of three weeks. (I say that this is less certain because it seems to be having a little difficulty in selling out the corresponding cruise in 2017, which is a new one in its line-up even though the theme is closely linked to the other two weeks in the 3-week block.)

[villauk]

This is what SeaHunt posted on another thread in July 2016 - obviously there have been a few changes since then, but you get the gist of the amount of charters and groups now involved with X:

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by DancerOT

It seems that Celebrity is doing a lot of charters next year.

Charters and MANY groups on Celebrity according to the "Theme Cruse Finder" site. Just take a look at this list from their website.

 

Sorry about the list not being sorted by ship/date, and making you slog through it willy-nilly. But at least I did go through and add the date and ship to their list - and then that glass of Pinot kicked in, and all of the sudden I became way too lazy to sort anything LOL

 

Funny how that works

 

(You can blame any errors on that same Pinot too!)

 

Music - Jazz 2017 The Jazz Cruise - 01/28/17 Summit

 

Music - Jazz 2017 Contemporary Jazz Cruise - 02/04/17 Summit

 

Music - Jazz 2018 Smooth Jazz Cruise - 02/10/17 Summit

 

Wellness KabbalahKruise A PERFECT SPIRITUAL GETAWAY A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY AN EMPOWERING EXPERIENCE - 01/08/17 Silhouette

 

Alternative Lifestyle Alaska Memorial Day 2017 Gayribbean Gay Cruise - 05/26/17 Solstice

 

Alternative Lifestyle China, South Korea & Japan - Asia Gay Cruise 2018 - 04/01/2018 Millennium

 

Food & Wine Celebrity Cruises' Culinary Escape - 09/19/16 Reflection

 

Singles Adriatic & Mediterranean Singles Cruise - 09/28/17 Constellation

 

Religious - Christian 2017 Highlights of Paul’s Missionary Journeys - Darrell Huckaby - 09/28/17 Reflection

 

Religious - Christian 2017 Cruise Retreat - Build your Marriage - 02/04/17 Reflection

 

Religious - Christian 2017 9th Annual Celebration Cruise - 01/09/17 Equinox

 

Photography Ultimate Photographers Cruise - 02/12/17 Silhouette

 

Alternative Lifestyle Italy, Greek Isles & Turkey Gay Cruise 2017 - 07/21/17 Reflection

 

Alternative Lifestyle Bliss Cruise - Full Ship Lifestyle Takeover November 2017 - 11/25/17 Equinox

 

Alternative Lifestyle Bliss Cruise - Full Ship Lifestyle Takeover March 2017 - 03/20/17 Summit

 

Alternative Lifestyle Bliss Cruise - Full Ship Lifestyle Takeover - 11/27/16 Silhouette

 

Alternative Lifestyle Israel & Mediterranean, Holy Land Gay Group Cruise 2017 - 09/29/17 Silhouette

 

Alternative Lifestyle Mardi Gras & Caribbean Gay Cruise 2018 - 02/09/18 Reflection

 

Alternative Lifestyle South America & Rio Carnival 2018 Gay Cruise - 02/04/18 Infinity

 

Alternative Lifestyle Australia Great Barrier Reef Gay Cruise 2018 - 01/02/18 Solstice

 

Alternative Lifestyle Grand Mediterranean Gay Cruise 2017 - Greece, Malta, Italy, France & Spain - 07/15/17 Equinox

 

Alternative Lifestyle Pacific Coastal Gay Cruise 2017 - 05/17/17 Infinity

 

Music - Classic Groups Rock & Romance Cruise - 03/11/17 Summit

 

Music - Classic Groups 2017 Flower Power Cruise - 02/27/17 Summit

 

Music - Classic Groups 5th Annual Soul Train Cruise - 03/04/17 Summit

 

Alternative Lifestyle Independence Day Celebration 2017 Gay Group Cruise - 06/27/17 Summit

 

Alternative Lifestyle British Isles and French Open 2017 Gay Group Cruise - 06/04/17 Eclipse

 

Alternative Lifestyle Scandinavia and Russia 2017 Baltic Gay Group Cruise - 06/18/17 Eclipse

 

Alternative Lifestyle Italy, Dalmatian Coast & Spain Gay Group Cruise 2017 - 09/07/17 Constellation

 

Alternative Lifestyle Transatlantic Gay Cruise 2017 From Southampton to Miami - 10/28/17 Eclipse

 

Alternative Lifestyle Panama Canal Gay Group Cruise 2017 - 11/08/17 Infinity

 

Alternative Lifestyle Hawaii Gay Cruise 2017 - 05/07/17 Solstice

 

Holidays Mardi Gras & Caribbean - 03/20/17 Equinox

 

Holidays Carnival in Rio de Janeiro - 02/20/17 Infinity

 

History & World Affairs Edinburgh Military Tattoo - 08/06/16 Silhouette

 

Alternative Lifestyle Transatlantic Gay Cruise 2017 From Miami to Southampton - 04/16/17 Eclipse

 

Alternative Lifestyle Alaska and Tracy Arm Fjord Gay Cruise 2017 - 08/18/17 Solstice

 

Golf 2016 British Open & 3-Day Golf Package - 07/13/16 Silhouette

 

Alternative Lifestyle Bermuda Gay Cruise 2017 - 05/28/17 Summit

 

Alternative Lifestyle Adventure Bears Mediterranean Gay Group Cruise 2017 - 07/15/17 Equinox

 

Political - Conservative Media Research Center Cruise - 02/19/17 Silhouette

 

Singles Australia Great Barrier Reef Singles Cruise - 03/13/17 Solstice

 

Crafting Quilting the Kaye Wood Way —Southern Caribbean - 03/19/17 Eclipse

 

Music - Jazz The Contemporary Jazz Cruise - 02/04/17 Summit

 

Intellectual pursuits NY TImes Journeys: Idyllic Sri Lanka, India and Arabia - 04/02/17 Constellation

 

History & World Affairs Edinburgh Tattoo - 08/06/16 Silhouette

 

Alternative Lifestyle Barcelona to Athens All-Gay Mediterranean Cruise 2016 - 08/15/16 Equinox

 

Performing Arts Broadway Theatre Cruises' Sailing with the Stars - 11/05/16 Reflection

 

Alternative Lifestyle Grand Mediterranean Gay Group Cruise 2016 - 07/23/16 Equinox

 

Golf The 2016 British Open in Edinburgh - 07/13/16 Silhouette

 

Religious - Christian 2016 Lands of the Bible - 12/01/16 Constellation

 

Religious - Christian 2016 Lands of the Bible - 10/21/16 Silhouette

 

Religious - Christian 2016 Lands of the Bible - 10/20/16 Constellation

 

Religious - Catholic 2016 Highlights of Paul’s Missionary Journeys - 10/02/16 Equinox

 

Religious - Christian 2016 Highlights of Paul’s Missionary Journeys - 09/29/16 Reflection

 

Music - Blues Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 2016 - 10/29/16 Summit

 

Alternative Lifestyle Post-Thanksgiving Caribbean Gay Cruise 2016 - 11/26/16 Reflection

 

Singles Japan, Korea & China Singles Cruise - 09/18/16 Millennium

 

Alternative Lifestyle Western Caribbean Gay Group Cruise 2017 - 02/19/17 Silhouette

 

Alternative Lifestyle South America & Rio Carnival 2017 Gay Cruise - 02/19/17 Infinity

 

Alternative Lifestyle Asia Gay Cruise 2017 from Singapore to Hong Kong - 02/25/17 Millennium

 

Alternative Lifestyle Australia & New Zealand Gay Group Cruise 2017 - 01/12/17 Solstice

 

Alternative Lifestyle Galapagos Islands Gay Group Cruise 2017 - 05/28/17 Expedition

 

Alternative Lifestyle Panama Canal Gay Group Cruise 2016 - 11/09/16 Infinity

 

Alternative Lifestyle Rome to Miami Transatlantic Gay Group Cruise 2016 - 10/21/16 Reflection

 

Alternative Lifestyle Italy & Dalmatian Coast Gay Cruise 2016 - 08/28/16 Constellation

 

Alternative Lifestyle Alaska and Tracy Arm Fjord Gay Cruise 2016 - 08/19/16 Solstice

 

Alternative Lifestyle Greek Isles & Turkey Gay Group Cruise 2016 - 07/18/16 Reflection

[UniPac]

Thanks for the website and this huge list!!!!

[caribill]

This is the website I use. Hope it helps you:

http://themecruisefinder.com/

 

But are those really full charters or just sailings which have large groups aboard along with some regular passengers?

[firegal2539]

The cruises listed on themecruisefinder can be either full or partial charter and it does not include how many spots are reserved on a partial. When I find a cruise on the site I click on the cruise and find what agency is selling the spots and usually come up with an estimate of how many passengers will be with the group. I don't like sailing on group cruises because they close down venues that non group passengers won't get to use. I am having this problem with a Princess right now, several venues will be closed the whole cruise.

 

 

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[riclop]

You never know.

[Globaliser]

It looks like ECP will again be taking Summit for three to four weeks in February-March 2018.

 

The weeks it already has on sale are 10 February 2018 and 10 March 2018, and I don't expect those to change.

 

In February, I also confidently expect either the week before or the week after to be taken by the same company. Less certain at the moment is whether it will take a third week that month to make a block of three weeks. (I say that this is less certain because it seems to be having a little difficulty in selling out the corresponding cruise in 2017, which is a new one in its line-up even though the theme is closely linked to the other two weeks in the 3-week block.)

The dates for next year have now been published.

 

The company is taking Summit for the week of 10 March 2018.

 

The company is also taking Summit for the three consecutive weeks of 27 January, 3 February and 10 February 2018.

 

On a quick look, it seems as if Celebrity has taken these weeks off sale now anyway, so hopefully nobody will be further inconvenienced.