They've oversold our cruise! And we got the offer!

[Pushka]

Thinking some more, yes, that would be my decision too. For the same reason as I often don’t accept a hotel room upgrade as it’s usually the worst in the category.

OR accept with conditions as to new cabin specification. They can always just not accept.

I tried checking out the link but they put the order of 1 2 and 3 with no options for any comments and I don't want to click on the next page in case that's suddenly a done deal through sneaky tactics.

 

[RooFlyer]

Oh, and I guess Mr P would be pleased about the cricket

 

[Tiki]

You are so lucky! I would probably go for #1, maybe #2 as we don't tend to hang around the cabin much except to sleep. We are either in port or at the pool or one of the activities. But we couldn't afford a balcony anyways unless it was a ridiculous discount.

 

[Cruise Luxury]

Good luck in your pondering and decision making.
If it were me, given that you booked early (for a lower fare) and are happy with your location and dining options I would ignore the email and stick with the original booking.

I agree with this. You got a great deal at 6kpp and you won't get that again next year if you try to rebook.

I have cruised on Celebrity Edge in a level 3 window (yes, the joys of young kids). It was nice, but it's a newer ship and the cabins seemed a tad bigger.

The windows on Celebrity Millennium look tight and underwhelming (refer photo).

You got an awesome deal. I would stick with it.

 

[Denali]

Mr Denali said option #3. Eagerly awaiting your decision

 

[Pushka]

I agree with this. You got a great deal at 6kpp and you won't get that again next year if you try to rebook.

I have cruised on Celebrity Edge in a level 3 window (yes, the joys of young kids). It was nice, but it's a newer ship and the cabins seemed a tad bigger.

The windows on Celebrity Millennium look tight and underwhelming (refer photo).

You got an awesome deal. I would stick with it.

Thankyou . I Appreciate your input.

Post automatically merged: Saturday at 9:11 PM

Mr Denali said option #3. Eagerly awaiting your decision

He'd never have booked in the first place.

 

[sanne]

If it was me I’d stick with my balcony cabin and the better dining and position. You got a really good deal and were happy with that before the offer came through.

 

[Quickstatus]

Likely you got the email because you got a great price .
Will the cruise line make money out of this?.

Balcony for me (I've never been on a cruise).
Plus there are other benefits as well - dining level?
A room with a "view" is always to be considered with a very grain of salt/suspicion and likely going to be under expectation.

 

[odysseus]

Likely you got the email because you got a great price .
Will the cruise line make money out of this?.

No, they'll lose money on the individual transaction as they're giving away a free cruise. That said, it's because they're fully booked so equally they're not doing it tough.

And usually these emails are spread to a large group, not based on price (but may be other conditions).

 

[Pushka]

Likely you got the email because you got a great price .
Will the cruise line make money out of this?.

Balcony for me (I've never been on a cruise).
Plus there are other benefits as well - dining level?
A room with a "view" is always to be considered with a very grain of salt/suspicion and likely going to be under expectation.

No they won't make money. They are desperate to get cabins to fulfill a US Travel Agent commitment. They will lose money.

Interesting observation. I posted similarly on Cruise Critic. Cruise critic people would JUMP on it. AFF'ers - pretty much a no. Oh dear.

 

[drron]

Well Mrsdrron needs a balcony so the only option would be option 3. But rearranging hotels, flights etc make it not a great deal.
Now I would consider the window option but I would need to be given a list of available cabins for me to choose from and be able to keep all the benefits from the original cabin type. guess I would be ignored.

Doesn't give me confidence that Royal Caribbean is good at future planning. Selling obviously too many guaranteed balcony cabins on a cruise around Japan at cherry blossom time. Surely they should have limited guaranteed cabins to the cheapest then no problems if that is what you get.

 

[Pushka]

Well Mrsdrron needs a balcony so the only option would be option 3. But rearranging hotels, flights etc make it not a great deal.
Now I would consider the window option but I would need to be given a list of available cabins for me to choose from and be able to keep all the benefits from the original cabin type. guess I would be ignored.

Doesn't give me confidence that Royal Caribbean is good at future planning. Selling obviously too many guaranteed balcony cabins on a cruise around Japan at cherry blossom time. Surely they should have limited guaranteed cabins to the cheapest then no problems if that is what you get.

Agree. And the bolded part is the critical issue. That won't happen.

Viking also oversells cabins. I think it's a post Covid artefact. But yes, selling guaranteed concierge cabins (balcony +++j on a cruise that sells out within a month of release because it's Sakura time - well, what could possibly go wrong. Interestingly at point of final payment I was looking out for a cabin upgrade but everyone seems to have made final payment. That is very unusual.

We would not cancel and rebook. We snagged J flights on JAL through Qantas awards the day they were released. Both ways. So really just some prepaid accommodation. Most of the trip has been paid for.

 

[OATEK]

I only travel in an outside window cabin on short trips (eg ferries across the English Channel or Bass Straight). On a proper cruise it would have to be balcony, and agree with others who said option 3 requires so much work on your part around connections etc., and option 2 is not in any way attractive IMO.

 

[Gold Member]

I hope this doesn’t happen to you Pushka, but something to consider - what is their official policy if they decide to “walk” you? By the sounds of things that you’ve reported across various resources, it’s possible a lot of people won’t budge and they may be forced to take more drastic action.

At a minimum, full refund of course. Anything beyond that is presumably at their discretion. But if you were involuntarily “walked”, you’re jeopardising the rest of your trip with relatively short notice to book accommodation with prices sky high all over Japan. And assuming you have sufficient travel Insurance coverage for cancellation etc, would you really want to still go with a different itinerary and mode of transport?

 

[Pushka]

I hope this doesn’t happen to you Pushka, but something to consider - what is their official policy if they decide to “walk” you? By the sounds of things that you’ve reported across various resources, it’s possible a lot of people won’t budge and they may be forced to take more drastic action.

At a minimum, full refund of course. Anything beyond that is presumably at their discretion. But if you were involuntarily “walked”, you’re jeopardising the rest of your trip with relatively short notice to book accommodation with prices sky high all over Japan. And assuming you have sufficient travel Insurance coverage for cancellation etc, would you really want to still go with a different itinerary and mode of transport?

The cruise is the last part of the trip fortunately. I think Australian Consumer legislation will favour us against the Americans. I think they might have to up their offer. I've 'reached out' to someone on FB who has suggested they might accept it. Hopefully not the cancel in full as they are also part of a 6 person private shore excursion I've booked. I'd have to refund them!

 

[drron]

I hope this doesn’t happen to you Pushka, but something to consider - what is their official policy if they decide to “walk” you? By the sounds of things that you’ve reported across various resources, it’s possible a lot of people won’t budge and they may be forced to take more drastic action.

At a minimum, full refund of course. Anything beyond that is presumably at their discretion. But if you were involuntarily “walked”, you’re jeopardising the rest of your trip with relatively short notice to book accommodation with prices sky high all over Japan. And assuming you have sufficient travel Insurance coverage for cancellation etc, would you really want to still go with a different itinerary and mode of transport?

Shouldn't happen but if it does that is when booking through a good TA is essential. We had one cruise cancelled 3 weeks out from sailing. Well it did have a hole put in the ship's hull. The line was only going to refund what was paid but our TA got us an extra payment of $3000.

On a second occasion a river cruise had a totally different itinerary to what was sold. The company thought a simple apology was all that was needed despite the fact that the changes were a consequence of the captain running the boat onto a sandbank. We got $5000 back for that one.

On both times it was the tenacity and experience of our TA that got the results.

 

[Pushka]

Shouldn't happen but if it does that is when booking through a good TA is essential. We had one cruise cancelled 3 weeks out from sailing. Well it did have a hole put in the ship's hull. The line was only going to refund what was paid but our TA got us an extra payment of $3000.

On a second occasion a river cruise had a totally different itinerary to what was sold. The company thought a simple apology was all that was needed despite the fact that the changes were a consequence of the captain running the boat onto a sandbank. We got $5000 back for that one.

On both times it was the tenacity and experience of our TA that got the results.

I can be pretty tenacious. I retrieved $6000 from Viking for similar issue and the Americans got nada.

 

[Cruise Luxury]

I hope this doesn’t happen to you Pushka, but something to consider - what is their official policy if they decide to “walk” you? By the sounds of things that you’ve reported across various resources, it’s possible a lot of people won’t budge and they may be forced to take more drastic action.

At a minimum, full refund of course. Anything beyond that is presumably at their discretion. But if you were involuntarily “walked”, you’re jeopardising the rest of your trip with relatively short notice to book accommodation with prices sky high all over Japan. And assuming you have sufficient travel Insurance coverage for cancellation etc, would you really want to still go with a different itinerary and mode of transport?

From my experience this doesn't happen. They simply keep increasing their offer until enough numbers accept. But it can be stressful if you are booked guarantee and they don't allocate a cabin to the last minute.

 

[Pushka]

From my experience this doesn't happen. They simply keep increasing their offer until enough numbers accept. But it can be stressful if you are booked guarantee and they don't allocate a cabin to the last minute.

Oh yes. The two I know of are very stressed and hoping like hell someone cancels or downgrades, assuming there's a cabin right now to downgrade to. Because there hasn't been a vacancy for weeks.

 

[Quickstatus]

For the cruise dummies, what is the attraction of this cruise. How does Sakura make this THE cruise to be on?