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- Feb 12, 2008
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I find it amazing that most (?) Cruise lines treat their customers like real customers and seemingly go out of their way to ensure that they are appropriately reimbursed and looked after in an oversold scenario. In complete contrast and as mentioned upthread, our National Carrier goes out of their way to ensure you adopt the Tax Payer position and cop it hard.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.
How do the airlines and hotel chains get away with this type of behaviour but the cruise lines don’t/can’t? Sure, there are comparable earlier/later flights, alternate hotels etc (but that doesn’t justify their actions or reimbursement policies), whereas it’s pretty difficult to swap out to a similar cruise on another line on the same day at short notice. Perhaps it’s also due to the disproportionately strong relationships with and reliance on Travel Agencies which have a much greater influence on repeat customer patronage.
I’m not a fan of how Cruise lines nickel and dime you onboard either, but that’s a small price to pay given the generous treatment under IRROPS compared to the Airlines.