Multiple news sources and cruise message boards indicate that Royal Caribbean oversold at least two ships for next week’s spring break cruises.
According to Cruise Hive, Royal Caribbean oversold the Wonder of the Seas sailing that departs March 12, 2023. The 7-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary included a stop at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in The Bahamas. Wonder of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s newest cruise ship that debuted in March 2022.
Impacted passengers have three choices:
- Sail on a different ship (Explorer of the Seas) the same week on a 6-night Western Caribbean itinerary. Receive a full cruise refund, $300 onboard credit plus a refund of the price difference between Wonder of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas.
- Sail on Wonder of the Seas on a different date, July 30 or August 13 AND receive a full cruise refund for spring break cruise.
- Cancel spring break cruise for a full refund AND get a future cruise credit for any Royal Caribbean cruise departing through March 15, 2024.
Royal Caribbean will pay for any non-refundable flight and hotel cancellations.
Passengers booked on Harmony of the Seas departing March 11, 2023 also report receiving a similar offer for their oversold cruise.
Tragic, or a Blessing in Disguise?
Airlines oversell flights all the time. However, I’ve only ever heard of one cruise line, Royal Caribbean, overselling cruises. The same thing happened last December.
Most folks on these cruises are likely families with kids in school who have one specific week off for spring break. It would be such a bummer to have plans changed so abruptly. Explorer of the Seas is a much older ship without the new bells and whistles that Wonder of the Seas has.
On the other hand, passengers who take the deal will essentially be getting two cruises for the price of one. And that’s not too shabby!
I am cruising next week on a different cruise line, and my family would be very bummed if we got booted from the sailing. Our vacation days are already booked, so it would be hard to handle the schedule change.
What do you think of these offers?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
The offers are nice but I don’t understand how this happens. Isn’t every person assigned a specific cabin when they reserve?
@Christian On Royal Caribbean, you can pay extra to reserve a specific cabin or pay a bit less to reserve a “Guarantee” cabin in a category. For example, if I booked a “balcony guarantee”, I could be assigned an ocean-view balcony or a balcony that opens up to the inside of the ship (Central Park or Boardwalk area on the bigger Royal ships). Usually, folks who booked a guarantee cabin will get their assignments a few days before the cruise.
Fascinating. I’m really showing my dinosaur bona fides here but in my youthful travel agent days, everyone was assigned a specific cabin. For that matter, around 15 years ago I experienced the same as a passenger. I wonder if the current system was phased in with the behemoth class ships that are the norm? It’s got to be vastly more complex to book rooms for 6,000 people than 1,500.
“Guarantee” cabin eh? Not so much on this cruise! Haha!
In all seriousness though I feel for those people that were squeezed out. I’ll give RCL credit for the compensation offered, but I would still be pissed off.
@projectx Definitely!