Oversold Cabins due to Computer Glitch

[Andrea Illescas]

We were booked on A Japan Cruise in 2020 but was cancelled due to Covid 19. It was rescheduled 2022, then 2023 then 2024. On April 22, 2023 we were told that the Company oversold and now 14 of us who were booked on the original sailing in 2020 and patiently shifted to 2022, 2023 then 2024 are now cancelled. No explanation given why we were chosen. Tried to contact CEO to no avail. What do you think should we do? 

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@Andrea Illescas This is just so unfortunate. I think continuing to reach out to Celebrity Cruises' customer service for answers and support could get you the feedback you are looking for. You definitely deserve to be booked onboard a ship that is going to host you! That must be very dismaying to continually receive cancellation notifications. I mentioned this in another post, but maybe looking into another cruise line could be an option. Princess Cruises does offer some similar itineraries on other wonderful ships! 

[PaulB]

I do find it baffling that things like this happen. And it does seem to be a regular occurrence lately. So something should be investigated as it's clearly not good enough to continue this going forward. If it seems to be glitches on computer systems, then maybe looking into another system is something that should be done. Miscommunication within groups then that is something that is clearly fixable as it's human error.

[3Sisters]

I agree! Why is it so difficult to book the ship up until its max capacity and then close the bookings for that specific itinerary once it's filled? It almost seems like a scam to me. Those overbookings here and there are ways to receive capital quickly and keep it without actually having guests cruise onboard. Hear me out. So think of it like this, thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars are been paid when ships are overbooked. The cruise lines get to keep that capital if the canceled cruise guest chooses to book on another ship using cruise credit or moves to another ship at a later date and books at a higher price point or completely forgets about the credit and allows it to expire. This is a way cruise lines are generating capital; it's sneaky but it's a strategy. I bet most of the cruise guests that are receiving cancellation notifications are those that booked at a lower price point, those guests who booked years in advanced with a better promo and paid for services that are now more costly. Those cruise guests get canceled but the ones that booked at the higher price point get to cruise onboard because they will be contributing more to the overall gains of the cruise line. Call me a conspiracy theorist but it is definitely a possibility. 

[kefthecruiser]

@3Sisters You have a nefarious mind! Are you related to Bernie Madoff?

RCI brands seem to be the ones with the overbooking issues. It's just comes across to me as so amateurish that they can't keep track of inventory and right before the cruise it's oooo sheeeet gotta do something. I think RCI Corporate did an "Elon Musk" maneuver with their IT department to cut costs and now the reservations software is running amok. I doubt it's corporate strategy to overbook excessively, that borders on fraud.    

[3Sisters]

@kefthecruiser I'm usually a "think on the bright side" type of person, but this recurring error seems to be happening all too often. With all of the experience RCI has, I think they can properly book itineraries without overbooking them. I also think the IT team is well-versed enough to correct the error from continuing to reoccur. Even if the IT team is a novice, it doesn't take a genius to get the simple math right and booking within the limit of each particular ship. My theory could very well be a fallacy but it seems to make more sense in my mind that overbooking thousands of people for no true apparent reason. It's all an algorithm now. If I can buy a simple shirt online and it tells me when it's sold out (once all inventory is purchased) then I think RCI can get it right too.