A CM person going on my next cruise heard a rumor that HAL is having difficulty booking passengers .I had a land tour cancelled in 2009 because of not enough people booking ,does this ever occur with a cruise ?
A few years ago a group of us who had cruised on Celebrity booked our third annual cruise on the Celebrity (first on the Summit, 2nd on the Millie) Constellation - this one for April. Only Celebrity cancelled our cruise and chartered the entire ship to another group ... not happy about that. Thought that was really wrong.
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You can never say never, but I've never heard of a cruise being cancelled because of soft bookings.
For full ship charters yes, because of mechanical breakdowns yes. Heck ships even sail during hurricanes (they change itineraries if necessary).
As for the TA letting you know about price reductions. Some travel agents will check their clients pricing occassionally to check for price reductions. But busy TAs may find it difficult to make time for checking all their clients sailings consistently.
You can monitor the cruise line pricing pretty easily yourself online these days. Then, if you find a price drop, notify your TA, and as long as it's before final payment due date, most TAs will get you the savings. They certainly should!
Yes: Cruises can be canceled. The most common reason is if a company charters the entire ship. Cruise lines make more money off a full ship charter than a regular sailing. It isn't common but it does happen. HAL is the cruise line I've seen the most of this type of thing happening.
If there is a mechanical problem they can cancel a cruise. The engine problems on Millennium class ships have resulted in a number of canceled sailings.
The good side of this is that cruise lines often give very nice compensation for cancellations. Many have offered full refunds and another free cruise.
Many times ship excursions are canceled because of too few people.
While cancellations do occur I would say that you have a 99.9% chance that your cruise will go as scheduled.
Take care,
Mike
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I think of all the reasons for a ship to cancel, the charter scenario, is the most frustrating. As unhappy as one may be, about cancellations due to weather...after the frustration subsides,safety first is a given...
Several years back, Oprah chartered an entire RCI ship for Maya Angelou's birthday..this for me is the only time I was aware of who had chartered a ship, due to the publicity.
It does create a hardship, with flights, vacation times, kids, pets, etc...I would not be a happy cruiser
With ships with lots of empty cabins...lucky are the cruisers that can grab the bargain basement prices!
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If there is a mechanical problem they can cancel a cruise. The engine problems on Millennium class ships have resulted in a number of canceled sailings.
The good side of this is that cruise lines often give very nice compensation for cancellations. Many have offered full refunds and another free cruise.
Take care,
Mike
Mike,
What you have said about when Celebrity cancels a cruise, because of the recurring propulsion problems on one of the Celebrity Millennium ships is absolutely true.
What seems to be a common mis-conception, by some, is what happens when you are on one of these crippled ships before it goes to dry dock for repairs. When the Celebrity Infinity had this problem in November of 2006, Celebrity made a decision to continue to sail at reduced speeds until a regularly scheduled in mid May of 2007, some six months later. When there is a propulsion failure the result is usually missed ports, late arrivals and shortened port times. The compensation is usually $100 on board credit. Fair and "nice compensation" when you miss half of a 13 night, I don't think so!!!
Tens of thousands more passengers have been on these cruises than those who have been "winners" in the Celebrity reliability lottery. It is always nice to have the whole story for readers as to what has happened in the past and what can happen on one of these Celebrity Millennium ships.
As for any cruise line cancelling a cruise because of low bookings, I have never heard of that happening. When there are low bookings cruise lines tend to reduce the price until they do sell most of the cabins.
Debra
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Are cruises ever cancelled ?
I've never heard of a cruise being cancelled because of soft bookings. 
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