The Best Way To Avoid Getting Kicked Off Of An Overbooked Cruise
You often hear horror stories about people being denied boarding on overbooked flights, but you rarely hear of travelers failing to board their cruises. While overbooking on cruises is rare, it does happen. And just like with flights, one of the surefire ways to avoid getting left behind is by splurging a bit more — think booking the swanky stateroom instead of sticking with the bargain cabins.
Getting bumped off a flight or a cruise is a major hassle, but missing your cruise? That's next-level inconvenient. Travelers often plan meticulously to get to their ports, enduring long drives or flights, and even booking overnight stays in nearby hotels. Plus, since cruises usually last several days, this also means taking precious time off work. Just imagine the frustration you'd feel if you found out that you're not setting sail after all. Yup, it's no fun.
Travel and cruise guru Gary Bembridge told Cruise Passenger that shelling out for a pricier cabin could save you from experiencing such a nightmare. Just like business class passengers rarely get bumped off flights, those who book the fancier staterooms are more likely to keep their spots. He even went as far as to say that paying more can "guarantee" that you won't get kicked off the cruise. So, if you want to avoid the stress and keep your vacation plans intact, you may want to funnel more of your budget into a more expensive cabin.
Avoid booking a guarantee fare cabin
When promoting their sailings, cruise lines love to lure passengers with what they call guarantee cabins or guarantee staterooms (GTY), also known as the best cabins to book if you're on a budget. These are basically staterooms assigned at random and sold at a cheaper price compared to standard cabins. You just pick your preferred cabin category, but you won't find out your actual room until a few days before departure. The catch? You might end up with a cabin that has an obstructed view, unlike when you choose a specific cabin and know exactly what you're getting.
Ironically, even though they're called guarantee cabins, passengers who book them are often the first ones to get bumped in cases of overbooking— simply because cruise lines get less revenue for them. As UBS analyst Robin Farley told Royal Caribbean Blog, "They could potentially eliminate some of the lowest-margin demand that they might normally turn to when filling a ship."
Take Jai Raynor, for example. He booked a GTY cabin on a Royal Caribbean cruise, only to be left at the port. Cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron explained to USA Today that while these instances are rare, Raynor got the boot because he booked a cheaper cabin. "Passengers that booked a guarantee (and) not a specific cabin can be left without a chair when the music stops," he said. So, while GTY cabins might save you a few bucks upfront, they could end up costing you your spot on the ship.
If you get bumped, know that there are alternative options
Like flights, cruises sometimes get overbooked because they oversell under the assumption that some travelers will cancel their spots in the days or weeks leading up to the sailing. "Hotel companies don't build a property with the goal of having empty rooms and sports teams don't build stadiums to have empty seats," Chris Chiames, chief communications officer at Carnival Cruise Line, told The Wall Street Journal.
However, cruise lines don't bump passengers until they absolutely have to. When they do, they usually offer various options to smooth things over. You might get rebooked on a different sailing, upgraded to a better cabin on another ship, offered a full refund plus a cruise credit you can use at a later time, a partial refund on ancillary fees, or even a free cruise altogether. What you get largely depends on the cruise line, and if you've got travel insurance, you might recoup even more of your money.
If none of the offered options seem fair, you might be in a position to negotiate, per a former head of corporate communications for a luxury line. "If there's something that's truly reasonable, it certainly never hurts to ask," he told Cruise Critic. "I think the key is to ask ... but also be nice. That person that you're dealing with is probably under a lot of stress as the result of high call volume. They might well feel like they just messed up your vacation, so it's never ever a happy occasion."