Royal Caribbean International has been reaching out to company booked on the March 12, 2023 crusing of Wonder of the Seas with information of overbooking. The cruise line is providing quite a lot of rebooking choices if company’ journey plans are versatile, with beneficiant compensation for the error.
Guests Offered Rebooking Options
In an electronic mail despatched to booked company, Royal Caribbean International has acknowledged a list error that has oversold Wonder of the Seas. “We’re sorry to inform you that due to an unexpected inventory error, your scheduled Wonder of the Seas March 12th, 2023 sailing is currently oversold,” the e-mail reads.
The impacted cruise is a 7-night Eastern Caribbean crusing, visiting St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s personal island vacation spot in The Bahamas.
This isn’t the primary time Wonder of the Seas has been inadvertently oversold. A related state of affairs occurred for the December 11, 2022 crusing. Three totally different choices are being provided in an try and appropriate this newest overbooking, however company might not be happy with the proposed choices.
Sail on a Different Ship
The first choice is to switch the Wonder of the Seas reserving to Explorer of the Seas as a substitute, crusing from PortMiami on March 12 for a 6-night cruise fairly than a 7-night cruise. This choice will even embrace a 100% refund of the Wonder of the Seas fare, in addition to a $300 onboard credit score to get pleasure from Explorer of the Seas.
If the Explorer of the Seas fare is decrease than the fare paid for Wonder of the Seas, company will even obtain a refund for the value distinction, returned to their authentic type of cost. Guests should nonetheless pay taxes, port charges, and gratuities for the brand new cruise.
Explorer of the Seas shall be crusing a Western Caribbean itinerary for the March 12 cruise, visiting Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and CocoCay.
While the proposed choice will be of nice worth for company, the variations in cruise itineraries, departure ports, and the ships themselves could make this selection much less interesting.
Wonder of the Seas is presently the most recent and largest ship within the Royal Caribbean fleet, having simply debuted in 2022 and weighing in at 236,857 gross tons.
The Vision-class Explorer of the Seas is considerably smaller and older, having debuted in 2000. At simply 138,194 gross tons, Explorer of the Seas doesn’t have the identical options and facilities because the bigger, extra superior Wonder of the Seas.
Sail on a Different Date
The second choice provided to company on the oversold crusing is to switch their Wonder of the Seas reserving to a unique crusing date. Only two choose dates can be found for this provide – the July 30 and August 13 sailings this summer season.
Both various crusing dates are 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruises, visiting St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and CocoCay. While this isn’t fairly the identical itinerary as the unique March 12 departure date, it’s a shut comparability.
The dates themselves could also be problematic for a lot of vacationers, nevertheless. The week of March 12 is the native Spring Break week, and it’s doubtless that many households have been trying ahead to their oceangoing getaway throughout that faculty trip.
While the choice July 30 crusing date is earlier than native colleges start the 2023-2024 faculty yr, the primary day of faculty is August 10, which means the second various crusing date – August 13 – isn’t as enticing, as a result of it could imply college students miss crucial first days of faculty.
Full Cancellation and Refund
The third choice provided to company is to fully cancel their crusing. Not solely will company obtain a full, 100% refund of their cruise fare, however they will even obtain a 100% cruise fare future cruise credit score (FCC), which can be utilized for any Royal Caribbean crusing departing via March 15, 2024.
This would refund the primary cruise, and provides company a very good credit score to make use of on any future cruise for the subsequent yr. This is a superb choice for company who wouldn’t have instantly versatile journey plans, however who’re keen to rebook for a future date on the crusing of their alternative.
More Compensation Offered
Regardless of which choice company select, Royal Caribbean will even absolutely refund or reimburse any pre-purchased, non-refundable journey bills, equivalent to airfare and resort rooms. Guests are additionally not obligated to simply accept any of the choices, and may as a substitute stay on the unique crusing.
“This special offer is time-limited and subject to availability,” the e-mail explains. “If you’re happy to be excluded from the special offer, please disregard this email – no further action is required.”
It is feasible, nevertheless, that if not sufficient company settle for one of many choices, oversold bookings could also be cancelled and refunded, however with out the particular gives.
Guests who’re involved in profiting from the provide have to contact the cruise line to make appropriate preparations and choose their choice. It is probably going that the provide is just being made to these company in oversold stateroom classes, and might not be accessible to all passengers booked through the Spring Break cruise.