Cruise lines have to cancel cruises for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, they decide to change where a ship will be sailing out of and wipe a lot of planned cruises off the books.
That happened recently when Royal Caribbean Group's (RCL) Celebrity cruise line decided to move its newest ship, Celebrity Beyond, from Europe to Florida from April through November 2024. And while that's eight months from now -- which gives passengers booked on those European sailings a lot of time to book something else -- it still changes the plans of tens of thousands of the cruise line's customers.
It also removes the option for the passengers who had been booked on the ship sailing out of Rome (Civitavecchia) to sail on the company's newest ship. The company is offering refunds, or rebooking on another Celebrity sailing with $100 in onboard credit ($200 for suite passengers).
In other cases, a cruise or two might be canceled if a ship cannot avoid bad weather or if damage occurs that requires immediate repair. Both of those situations are extremely rare, but they do happen.
Cruise lines also cancel sailings when a ship needs to enter drydock. In most cases, drydocks are planned and cruises aren't sold on those dates, but sometimes schedules change.
It's rare, maybe even unprecedented, for a cruise line to cancel sailings during the busy holiday season because it's generally impossible for passengers to reschedule.
Royal Caribbean. however, is doing that as it's putting Freedom of the Seas, which is currently sailing out of Miami, but will move to Fort Lauderdale in the fall, in drydock for parts of December and January.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
What Happens When Cruises Are Cancelled?
In many cases, when a cruise gets canceled, passengers can rebook on a similar trip over the same dates. That's not what's happening in the case of Freedom of the Seas, likely because the cruise line does not have the space in December and January -- and certainly not Christmas and New Year's -- sailings to offer a swap.
Instead, Royal Caribbean is offering guests the chance to rebook on select itineraries at their original fare (or better).
"For the replacement cruises, Royal Caribbean assures guests that their original stateroom category price will either be protected at the original cruise fare rate or reduced to the current cruise fare rate. Furthermore, guests will receive a refund for the difference if the booking was already paid in full and the cruise fare rate decreases," CruiseHive reported.
Those sailings include a number of 7-night and 8-night trips sailing to destinations including the Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Maarten, Aruba, Curacao, and Perfect Day at CocoCay.
None of the offered dates, however, include Christmas.
Guests who opt to book a different cruise will have all change fees waived but will be responsible for any pricing differentials. Guests can also opt for a full refund.
Passengers who book airfare through the cruise line will have their purchases refunded, while anyone who booked their own travel will get up to $200 domestically or $400 for international flights toward changes.
Given that many flights are not changeable even with added fees, that could leave many passengers with airfare costs that they will simply lose. That would also apply to anyone who booked non-refundable hotel rooms before or after their cruise.
Royal Caribbean has not shared its plans for Freedom of the Seas during its drydock. The ship had an extensive "amplification" in 2020 where the Playmakers sports bar and other venues were added.
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