MW A $10K credit to be voluntarily bumped from your cruise? Passengers are scoring lucrative deals as trips get overbooked.

By Charles Passy

Just like airlines, cruise lines are sometimes booking too many passengers as sailing trips become more popular

Cruise lines welcomed an estimated 37.7 million passengers in 2025 - and with more people looking to set sail, experts say overbooking is inevitable.

When you book a cruise, you're probably not thinking the ship could need to bump passengers. But be forewarned: It can and does happen.

Take a sailing aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas earlier this month that departed from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. According to reports, the ship was likely overbooked. This turned into a situation where some cruisers stood to profit, similar to instances when airlines have more passengers than seats available and offer incentives to travelers to take a later flight.

Reports indicated that Royal Caribbean $(RCL)$ offered those willing to skip the trip a full refund plus a 50% credit - based on what they paid for the Oasis sailing - on a future cruise on any Royal Caribbean ship within a year.

On social media, response to the situation and the broader issue of cruise overbooking was mixed. Some people expressed indignation and concern that a passenger could be bumped off a ship unwillingly.

"What if people already took vacation time from their jobs for this particular sailing?" said one commenter on Facebook.

But others said they were game to take a cruise line up on an offer, though perhaps they'd want a little more from the deal. "I'd need a full free future cruise," said another person.

Royal Caribbean didn't respond to requests from MarketWatch for comment about the Oasis of the Seas situation, nor did it confirm details about the offer or why it was made. But cruise experts say such offers are typically connected to an overbooked sailing.

And this instance was not unique. There have been reports of similar situations involving other Royal Caribbean sailings as well as those on just about every other cruise line, including Viking $(VIK)$, Celebrity (RCL) and Carnival's $(CCL)$ Holland America and Princess lines. (Other lines also didn't respond to requests from MarketWatch for comment.)

In most cases, the matter is resolved because enough passengers agree to take the incentive offer - meaning there's no need to bump anyone involuntarily. And cruisers are often thrilled to score a deal.

Take Brian Chambers, a resident of Downey, Calif., who said he got an offer to be bumped from a 14-day Celebrity cruise in Asia that he and his wife had purchased. In return, Celebrity refunded the couple what they paid, gave them a credit of about $9,500 toward a future cruise and even covered the cost of their nonrefundable airfare to Japan, where their original cruise was scheduled to start.

'It's a lot more fun knowing that you didn't have to pay for it.' Brian Chambers, who received a credit of about $9,500 after forgoing his original cruise

Chambers used the credit to book another 14-day Celebrity sailing - in this case, one that took him and his wife around Spain and Morocco, among other places. The couple recently returned from that trip and Chambers said it was a blast - especially because the credit meant it was essentially a free cruise.

"It's a lot more fun knowing that you didn't have to pay for it," he said.

Cruise experts aren't surprised to hear these overbooking scenarios are happening. That's because cruising is becoming more popular. Cruise Lines International Association, the industry trade group, reported that 37.7 million passengers were estimated to have sailed aboard cruises in 2025. That's about a 27% increase over the total in 2019.

Inevitably, with so many people trying to make their way onto ships, the chances increase that issues will arise. And while cruise lines obviously don't aim to have an overbooking problem, experts say the lines count on a certain number of cancellations - and the math sometimes doesn't work out. So travelers are advised to know there's always a slight risk of ending up on an overbooked cruise.

"You roll the dice," said Melissa Newman, a veteran cruise traveler turned cruise influencer. Newman and other industry experts say there's no standard type of deal that cruise lines offer in the case of overbooking. Rather, it varies from line to line.

Related: 'It kind of takes the joy out of cruising.' Some Norwegian Cruise Line passengers balk at new food-and-drink policies.

Could you be bumped against your will if a cruise is overbooked and not enough passengers agree to a deal? Experts say it's very rare for a cruise line to resort to that.

Nevertheless, Christina King, a resident of Port St. Lucie, Fla., said she and her husband were recently bumped involuntarily from a Celebrity ship, about a week before they were scheduled to depart. In their case, they had booked a highly discounted Caribbean cruise leaving from Fort Lauderdale as part of a promotion offered to casino players.

King isn't sure whether they might have been singled out for bumping because they weren't paying the standard fare. But she and her husband were committed to going on a cruise at that time, so they eventually arranged with Celebrity to sail on a different ship, leaving from Tampa the same day. King said they didn't receive any kind of incentive to transfer the booking, though she adds that Celebrity eventually gave them a $200 credit as compensation for their troubles.

Still, King wasn't a happy camper, noting that she and her husband had to add more travel time to get to and from the port for the new cruise. Plus, she said, the ship for the rebooked sailing held less appeal for them.

Christina King and her husband recently had to change their cruise plans when they were bumped from the ship they originally booked.

Moreover, King just thinks it's bad form for a cruise line to bump a passenger involuntarily - no matter the circumstance.

"It definitely left a very bad taste in our mouth," she said.

For those looking to avoid even the slightest possibility of dealing with an overbooking situation, experts advise taking certain precautions.

For starters, don't book during the most popular times to cruise, such as the summer or holiday periods. And book a specific cabin, as opposed to what's known as a guarantee (or GTY) cabin - that's where you pay a lower rate to secure a cabin in a particular category, but you don't know your actual cabin assignment until later. (Apparently, a "guarantee" cabin may be less than guaranteed.)

If you think a cruise line has no right to bump you, think again: It's all spelled out in the details of your passenger contract. "We always encourage people to read them over," said Colleen McDaniel, editor in chief of the Cruise Critic website.

Of course, you can also look at an overbooking situation as a positive - if you're hoping to score an offer and don't mind changing your travel plans.

"If you're flexible, this might not be a bad thing," McDaniel said.

Keep reading: Can you retire on a cruise ship? Here's how much it costs to live at sea.

-Charles Passy

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February 19, 2026 11:38 ET (16:38 GMT)

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