What is the likelihood of being bumped off your cruise ?

How important is your travel insurance ?


While it's little consolation to those impacted, being bumped from a cruise is, fortunately, a somewhat rare occurrence, typically limited to four main scenarios: a charter, redeployment, an accident necessitating shipyard repairs or an overbooked cruise. And virtually every cruise line has the right to bump anyone involuntarily for any reason.

It's written in the passage contract all cruisers agree to when they book a cruise; for example, Norwegian Cruise Lines' contract says, "In the event of strikes, lockouts, stoppages of labor, riots, weather conditions, mechanical difficulties or any other reason whatsoever [italics added], NCL has the right to cancel, advance, postpone or substitute any scheduled sailing or itinerary without prior notice."

That standard cruise contract even gives the cruise line the right to bump passengers without any compensation beyond refunding the cruise fare; however, lines will often provide passengers with the option to rebook comparable cruises, possibly take care of flight change fees and throw in some onboard credit as a "gesture of good will." Still, passengers who are bumped might be stuck with taking care of travel expenses for things like transportation and hotel stays.

In the end, chances are slim that you'll ever be bumped from a cruise, but it's important to know that it can happen, and when it does, it's up to the individual passenger to work with the line to make alternative arrangements. Here are the four main reasons you could be bumped:

The cruise ship has been chartered.

The ship is redeployed to a new destination or cruise line.

The ship is heading to a dry dock.

Cruise ship is overbooked.


Compensation for Being Bumped:
Standard industry practice calls for an offer of a full refund, as well as some form of onboard credit for those who rebook one of the options offered by the line. (Rebooking options might include the same ship on a different date or a similar itinerary on a different ship.)

So do remember to take travel insurance and check your cover.




Make sure it covers not only the cost of the cruise itself but also airfare and any other major expenses -- like hotel and transportation costs -- you may have. For instance, Travel Guard's "Cancel for Any Reason" policy applies to any trip that's canceled up to 48 hours prior to departure. But, as all policies are different, be sure to read the fine print to make sure the policy you purchase covers all relevant expenses if your sailing gets canceled