Last Wednesday my cruise agent called me and said that my Jan. 23rd cruise on the Noordam is overbooked and offered other dates at half price. (also refunding that cruise, of course). We didn't accept the offer because other vacation related arrangements had been made. I haven't seen mention of this on this board, and am wondering if anyone else knows of it. I am assuming they will find passengers who will want this option so I am not worried, just curious.
i guess the answer is to book very early. these offers are sometimes fabulous -- i mean, half price? but if you are on a tight schedule with work, school, whatever, and have prepost plans set up it is impossible. have to be a retiree, like me, all weeks and months are mostly the same. i'd hop on this in a nanosecond, but i realize most can not.
It does happen, some cruise lines overbook more than others, but the offer to choose alternate dates is always so attractive that it isn't hared to get people to re-book and I have never heard of a situation where there is a huge problem. For some of us, we have made plans and can not change them, for others the offer is too good to refuse.
If timing is no consideration, what they are offerring you, could be worth your while, even with the air fare change fee...hotel changes can be made up to 24 hrs in advance with no penalty.
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I know it could be worth our while, but we REALLY could use the vacation soon, so we decided to stay with the original plan. Thank you all for your replies.
Last Wednesday my cruise agent called me and said that my Jan. 23rd cruise on the Noordam is overbooked and offered other dates at half price. (also refunding that cruise, of course). We didn't accept the offer because other vacation related arrangements had been made. I haven't seen mention of this on this board, and am wondering if anyone else knows of it. I am assuming they will find passengers who will want this option so I am not worried, just curious.
Trust me, they'll find passengers. In fact, there are some people who are very flexible (retired or whatever, and live in the area) who wait in anticipation of such a deal.
Cruise lines do the same thing as the airline. They overbook and most times it all works out because they have enough cancellations so that there is a cabin for everybody. But occasionally they have a shortage of cabins on their hands, and that's when they start making offers ... and they will sweeten the pot until enough people accept them and move to another sailing.
Hello,
I know this is a late posting but I just started using this site and saw this post and had to tell my story.
In Sept of 2006 my husband and I were booked on a 28 day cruise from Alaska to Asia. We booked a balcony and must have found it at the lowest price because about a week before our cruise our travel agent called us and said that the cruiseline (not HAL) wanted to know if we would cancel and they would give us 1/2 price off a future cruise because they had over booked the balcony cabins. We had been looking forward to this cruise for months so my husband told them no. A little later that day our agent called back and the cruiseline wanted to know if we would take an obstucted outside cabin and they would refund all our money (cruise portion only). My husband called me to see what I thought and a 28 day free cruise, of course I told him let's take the deal. We were a little concerned about the space in the cabin but had no problem at all going the 28 days without a balcony. Of course this is a once in a lifetime situation but not only was this one of the best cruises we have been on but to get it for free, we feel very fortunate.
Debbi.................WOWOWOWOWOW, what a deal of a lifetime, lucky you!
You wanna hear deal of a lifetime ... I actually cried because I couldn't accept this.
I was booked on a 30-day Hawaii/South Pacific cruise for January, 2006. I had booked the cruise a year ahead of time and Holland America was the only cruise line doing this particular itinerary -- round trip San Diego.
The month before the cruise, I was on a little five-day cruise on the Celebrity Zenith. As soon as I debark, I see I have messages on my cell phone. When I check them, I find they are all from my then travel agent. She had been frantically trying to reach me (she didn't book the Celebrity cruise for me ... it was a group thing that had to go through the group's travel agent ... so she didn't know I was away on a cruise at the time.) Anyway, here she had gotten an urgent FAX from HAL. They were looking for people to back down from the 30-day cruise and they were making some killer offers. How does this sound: All but the last ten or so day segment of the 2006 World Cruise ... at the same price as the 30-day Hawaii/South Pacific cruise. We're talking 90 or so days for the price of 30 ... and in similar accommodations. With the exception of some additional port charges, not one dime additional for the cruise itself.
Of course, I missed the offer because I didn't return my agent's call until several days later. Surely, HAL had already found some takers. But, regardless, as a "working gal," there was no way I could have possibly gotten 90+ days off from work, and that made me want to cry having missed such a "once in a lifetime" deal.
I think cruise lines routinely overbook, but most times they get away with it. I heard that every cabin onboard a sailing will generally be sold seven times. That means six people will cancel at some point after booking, and only the 7th will actually sail. If this number is right, then it would stand to reason that the cruise lines almost have to overbook. But occasionally ... just occasionally ... they will get caught with their pants down, and that's when the great offers will start coming in.
I envy people who can keep their travel plans flexible so that they can take advantage of these deals. I hear there's a whole contingent of seniors living in Florida who have their names on HAL's "last minute" list for just this reason. They get great deals on cruises, often only a week or so before the sail date ... and since they are retired and living within driving distance of Port Everglades, those lucky folks get to take a lot of cruises ... and at far better prices than most of the rest of us pay.
This sounds great to me however I am retired and can accommodate changes where some folks cannot. This happened to us and another couple a few years back and there has been trouble with the other couple ever since. They came to expect an upgrade and ship credit on every cruise after that. Just kidding--it's like flying first class on a plane and wishing it will happen on every trip. Have a great cruise whatever the outcome.
I got offered a sweet deal once too ... the 2006 World Cruise in exchange for an overbooked 30-day Hawaii/South Pacific sailing. I can tell you, I was crying ... I wanted so bad to take advantage of that deal. I would have gladly chucked the airfare to switch. But, alas, I unfortunately have an employer to answer to, and somehow I think he would have a problem with me flitting off for a World Cruise of 100+ days, so I had to turn it down. But, believe me, others took the deal and when we boarded that 30-day Hawaii/South Pacific sailing, everyone had a cabin.
The cruise line will just keep upping the offer until they get enough takers.
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