Would you book a cruise knowing there was a charter on it?

[minnie00]

We are looking at the Feb 26, 23 Oasis....I saw there is some type of football event on it. Would that take away from our enjoyment of the ship?

would areas like the Solarium be booked off to them or certain restaurants? thanks in advance. 

 

considering the Allure March 5th sailing as well...having a hard time picking....Oasis had Coco Cay is only real difference to us....thanks

[SilkySal]

We've booked with large groups before and it was never a problem for us. The only thing we noticed was a "private party" in one of the lounges some evenings. Maybe others have experienced worse. As far as the ships, we prefer Allure vs Oasis, only because the Allure has not had the ugly purple slide added on to it yet.

[Nunagoras]

A football event of some kind on that sailing? Maybe they'll have the sports zone and/or the ice show theater blocked out for those activities for some time but that won't be a problem for anyone. Once on the Allure in Europe I went with a huge 2000 individuals gay charter aboard. They had their activities at the ice show theater and that was it. 2 days for regular pax ice shows before the charter entered in Rome, and one morning for general pax ice skating and that was it. We didn't really notice at all!...

[fpcruiser]

The only time we decided to eat in the Windjammer for dinner, there was a large multinational group onboard. The sold some sort of nutritional product. Most ate in the Windjammer every night. Lines were long and tables hard to come by. You could tell they were from the group because they wore matching t shirts almost every night.

 

[cruiselvr04]

We’ve been on many cruises that have some kind of a large group on them.  They sometimes do take a lounge for a private event and once the theater was used several nights around show times. It was a music group.  We’ve never had it interfere greatly. The Teddy bears overtook a pool the whole week on a smaller ship. The smaller the ship the more it can impact your cruise.  A big ship it won’t be an issue.  

[SWACruising]

We were on Oasis last March that had a Pittsburgh Steelers backers group on board. Large group, maybe 1000-1200. It ended up being no big deal other than seeing lots of Steelers gear. Some venues would be booked at times for meet and greets but since we were not with the group, the other venues would be less crowded during those times. I believe either Coco Cay or another island or possibly both, there was a beach area rented out for a group event. Again this never was an issue whatsoever and this is coming from a Bills fan 😂 

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, SilkySal said:

We've booked with large groups before and it was never a problem for us. The only thing we noticed was a "private party" in one of the lounges some evenings. Maybe others have experienced worse. As far as the ships, we prefer Allure vs Oasis, only because the Allure has not had the ugly purple slide added on to it yet.

And it has the best DL of the Fleet.

[PamelaHunt]

We were on Anthem in 2018 and there was a large group of sales personnel from a company similar to Avon.  It really impacted our cruise - they were mostly 20 something females and no one could get near the pub for the entire week or the music hall.  Chops was closed down for them one night and no one else could dine there that day.  It was annoying.

[klfrodo]

Depends on the charter group.

In your case an NFL football charter? Depends on the team.  

[hancock]

I was on a 5 day cruise on the Millenium.  A group of managers from a big home supply company were aboard.  It was paid for by the company.  They behaved as if it was a fraternity party, not observing any of the rules.  It was not a pleasant trip.

[Starry Eyes]

We’ve been on partial ship charters.  Often we did not know before we booked.

 

Sometimes the charters seem to have taken most of the cabins and scheduled many private events.  As that closed many venues and impacted the general activities schedule, it did impact our cruise.  We still had fun, though it was disappointing to repeatedly arrive at a venue hoping for a cocktail (or whatever) to find it closed for a private function.   

 

Other times the percentage of cabins taken by the partial ship charter seem much lower and the number of private functions was also lower.  It has minimal or no impact.

 

I suppose I’d visit the charter’s website and try to get the schedule of private events to assess the type and frequency.  Oasis class are large ships, so there may be room to accommodate the charter without impacting you substantially.

[ATG]

We were on Oasis one year in late January with a large group.  Due to dietary restrictions they shut down solarium bistro all week, only allowing their group in.  Since that’s one of our favorite places for breakfast and lunch we were not pleased.

[George C]

We were on one cruise when there was two separate charter groups, no negative issues at all, but guess it depends on what the charter group were.

[minnie00]

35 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

Depends on the charter group.

In your case an NFL football charter? Depends on the team.  

I saw online that it was a football thing...I will see if I can find it 

[minnie00]

ok its the Panthers...Royal Riot cruise....I already saw that the Coco Cay beach club is sold out...asked on the roll call board. that was the reason I wanted this sailing...it offered coco Cay as well...

[azureblue50]

Years ago we were on a cruise with a large motorcycle group.  We did not know at the time of booking but were well aware on embarkation as a sea of people in "biker" apparel was present.  They did take up a large part of the ships venues.  I felt very much an outsider on a cruise with them as they had their own events we could not participate in.  We wish we had known as we rode motorcycles at that time and could have packed our biker clothes to blend in.  Then another time it was a quilting cruise.  Mostly ladies that used the conference room for class, no interruptions at all.

[dani negreanu]

Knowingly - I wouldn't book a cruise with a charter group on board.

 

We were on Anthem, and we had a third of the passengers as a charter [auto part selling big company]. It seemed that it was entirely "their" cruise -- reserved avenues every where, restaurants, shore excursions priority -- it was annoying,

 

They behaved like they owned the ship. Wish we'd knew before hand.

 

[sdrocks]

Where do you find out if there is a charter group on your cruise ?

[loman]

Just switch the cruise date . Why take a chance ?

[neverbeenhere]

"Charter Cruise" - Please use a towel when sitting in the MDR.

[Mum2Mercury]

Whether I'd book or not would depend upon the group.  

 

- We sailed once with a Quinceanera group.  We loved seeing all the girls in their lovely dresses.  I'd sail with them again.  They did tie up the photographs on formal night, but I understand why they 'specially wanted good pictures.  

- We sailed recently on a "Buddy Cruise", which included a lot of disabled individuals (children and adults) and their families.  They were great cruise partners ... they tended to be quiet and ended their days fairly early.  They brought a large number of mobility aids onboard, but we didn't mind waiting for the elevator.  I'd sail with them again in a heartbeat.  

- On our last cruise -- a three day -- we were with a large church group, and they were seated near us in the MDR.  They were constantly up-and-down, popping back and forth between tables, taking lots of group pictures -- outside the MDR I wasn't aware of them, and that wasn't enough to make me say "never again".  

 

Regardless, some groups do "close down" parts of the ship for their private functions, and I dislike that.  Given the choice, I wouldn't knowingly sail with a large group -- though I must admit it's never been a problem for us.  

 

[crazyfrazee]

There was a large Elvis group on one of ours. Seen so many Elvis's I couldn't tell which was the real one. lol They had their events in the theater as a private event. 

 

Another cruise had some kind of gospel singing group. There were hundreds on that one as well. They had their events in the theater as well. It really made karoke good.

[pittnh]

we sailed during Yeshiva week, only thing I noticed was that the dining area by the pool was unavailable and had been converted to a kosher kitchen.  Maybe 30-40% on board were there because of Yeshiva week.

[Ret MP]

On the Symphony back in 2019, we were a party of 13.  We booked/reserved the Rising Tide bar, exclusively except for the DJ's two friends and the two bartenders/servers, during the 80's, night Prominade party.  We really enjoyed it.  We had the thing to ourselves, with full bar, stopped between the Prominade deck and Central Park.  Birds eye view of everything.  

 

However, you should have seen some of the looks we got.  So, it doesn't take a "Charter" to take away some venues.  My point:  I wouldn't make a decision to not cruise on one ship vs. another because of a "Charter", unless you know for a fact that it is going to clog up a lot of venues at times that you may need them.  BTW, we were not the only party to book the Rising Tide Bar and there were some other things that were booked up too.  On a Quantum Class ship once, the North Star was booked for almost a half a day.  Things happen that are out of our control or knowledge until it's too late.  

[The Fun Researcher]

It all depends on the size of the charter compared to the size of the ship. 

 

A charter cruise would cause me to look around for other cruises before I circle back and consider it.  I don't want venues closed off to me that normally would be available.  Plus when you get a large group like that together, there can tend to be a sense of entitlement taking areas over with "their group"  Just my thoughts.

Dan