Discovery Princess overbooked on final Aussie voyage, guests offered free cruise not to board.

• Passengers ready to set sail out of Sydney on Discovery Princess on April 7 have been offered enticing compensation to change their travel plans.
• Cruise lines, like airlines, overbook assuming that a certain number of passengers will cancel.
• There are no reports of guests being removed involuntarily from the ship, indicating some were happy to snap up the offer. Would you take a free cruise to ditch your travel plans last minute?

As Discovery Princess wrapped up its first and only Australian season, its final voyage out of Australia has proven to be too popular. Guests, some of who were still on their flights into Sydney to meet the ship, received a surprising note – and a tempting offer.

Discovery Princess had been overbooked for its 30-night transpacific repositioning cruise out of Sydney and some passengers were being offered compensation if they opted out of boarding the cruise.

“Due to the popularity of your upcoming April 7th cruise on Discovery Princess you are eligible for exceptional savings should you choose to change your travel arrangements,” the targeted email from Princess Cruises read.

Guests were told they could get a full refund as well as a complete cruise credit for equal value if they dropped out. The offer, which was not sent to all passengers, also involved reimbursement up to $1500 per person for travel expenses, such as flights and hotels.

There are no reports of cruise passengers being forced off the ship, suggesting that Princess Cruises found enough takers willing to give up their spot. It seems likely that it was locals who opted to stay home rather than those who had to travel for the cruise. 

As one passenger put it on a social media discussion: “Flew from Texas to Sydney for this. Would need to reschedule for next April if I wanted to do this same trip as it’s a repositioning. And find my way back to Texas now. I think I’ll pass.”

Cruise Passenger has reached out to Princess Cruises for further details and comment.

While in this case it appears there was a happy ending, there have been cases in the past where cruisers have been told they are no longer able to board their ship due to overbooking. 

For example, in Australia a couple of years ago, some guests on Quantum of the Seas were told they would no longer be allocated a stateroom and were offered different compensation offers from Royal Caribbean. 

Why are cruises overbooked?

Cruise lines, just like airlines, generally overbook their capacity on the assumption that a certain percentage of passengers will cancel. In the event that the ship is too full, as happened in this case, they offer enticing compensation which generally at least a couple of cruisers will snap up, making room for everyone.

In these situations, the idea is that everyone wins. The cruise lines ensure ships are at capacity and secure extra bookings; the majority of passengers get their cruise; and those that don’t, walk away with a refund and feeling compensated.

However, this strategy doesn’t always work. When not enough guests agree to take the compensation offer, the cruise line is faced with having tell to some guests that they won’t be able to board the cruise.

The same happens with airlines. While generally someone will gladly take an alternative flight, sometimes no one will and the airline has the right to remove people.

The reality is that nearly all cruise lines overbook but it’s very rare that a passenger ends up affected in this way. But given that it can and does happen, it leaves some cruise passengers unhappy about the practice.

When is overbooking most likely to happen to your voyage? Can you avoid it?

In peak periods cruise ships are more likely to be overbooked due quite simply to demand. This also applies to popular or rare itineraries that are likely to have more interest.

For most cruise lines, when you book, you have the option between simply selecting a cabin as part of a category, or generally paying a bit extra to be guaranteed your cabin. Paying this little bit extra will generally completely guarantee that you do have your spot on the ship. However, the chance of being bumped off your cruise is small and you shouldn’t necessarily decide to pay extra only for this reason. 

It’s fairly uncommon for a cruise to end up overbooked at all, and then the majority of the time someone will take the compensation offers. Amongst the millions of people who cruise worldwide every year, it’s extremely uncommon to hear of guests being told they can longer board their cruise. It’s a useful thing for cruisers to understand, but it’s highly unlikely that it will ever end up affecting you.

In fact, the compensation offers are generally very popular, so if you do get offered one and you think you’d like to snap it up, be as quick as possible to make sure you don’t miss out.

Incidents like these can serve as yet another reason to make sure you get travel insurance, and that you’ll be covered if anything goes wrong and for the expenses that the cruise line won’t cover you for.

What kind of compensation would it take for you to ditch your travel plans at the last minute? Would a free cruise tempt you?