Actually it isn’t a bad plan, you sell more tickets than you have seats and if someone doesn’t show up you either get ticket change fees (if it was planned) or you get to keep the full price of the ticket (in the case of a no show).  If everyone does show up its still not a problem because you can just “Bump” some of those passengers to another flight.

What is bumping?

Bumping occurs when a flight is oversold and everyone shows up ready to take to the air.  Since airplanes don’t have a standing room only seating plan, not everyone can board.  Those passengers who are denied the ability to board the flight are considered “bumped”.

The good news is the Department of Transportation requires airlines to first take volunteers before involuntarily changing passengers flights.  Now, before you start asking why anyone would volunteer to delay their vacation because of some stupid greed inspired airline policy; simply put, volunteers get hooked up.  Free flights, meal vouchers, first-class upgrades and more are often dangled as a carrot to entice passengers to volunteer.

This of course has prompted some travelers to use bumping practices to their advantage.  I have been bumped a few times but never as a matter of strategy, however that may be changing in the future.  If you are someone who wants to use “bumping” to your benefit here are a few tips.

Tips for getting bumped

Although most instances of bumping occur because you just happen to stumble into the right situation, there are things you can do to increase your chances:

Figure out which flights are most frequently overbooked – There is a certain flight I know about which goes to a cruise port that is always overbooked with business travelers.  Once you find one of those flights you are golden.   Over-booked flights tend to be those frequented by business travelers, pre and post flight holiday flights, and your most popular flights (especially non-stop flights).

Arrive Early - You will want to arrive early because if you arrive after boarding begins consider yourself bumped, sans perks; this is considered forfeiting your confirmation. Usually airlines want you to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled departure any arrivals after that can be bumped without any sort of compensation heading your way.

Make friends with the gate attendants – A friendly smile and polite word will often get you very far.  When you arrive at the gate, approach the gate attendants and politely introduce yourself. Let it be known to the attendants that you would be willing to volunteer if the flight is overbooked and stay within earshot.

Evaluate the payoff – Any time I have been “bumped” I ended up getting (generous) free meal vouchers and a free flight to anywhere in the Continental United States (no blackout dates); my delays were between 2 and 4 hours.  Perks aren’t always the same so make sure you understand what you are getting before you give up your seat on the plane.

If the package they are offering isn’t sweet enough feel free to ask for more; you never know until you ask.  The bulk of your compensation will almost always be in the form of another ticket; you should always ask about the restrictions on this ticket.  How long is the ticket or voucher good for? Are there any blackout periods where you won’t be able to use this ticket? Can this ticket be used for international flights?

While I do understand this practice isn’t for everyone, I figured I would just float this out there for those who don’t mind being a bit more flexible in their travel plans.  The main thing you have to take into account is how important it is for you to get where you are supposed to be at the time you are supposed to be there.  If you are able to take advantage of “bumping” it could be quite a boon.

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The short of it is that Royal Caribbean was able to cut fuel consumption by 3.7 percent.  This improvement is due in large part to smarter sailing practices, better ship design and a better focus on energy efficiency measures.  They beat there year over year reduction goal which was 2 percent this was the result of using about 30,000 metric tons less fuel than what was planned.

When we think of fuel normally we think of ship propulsion however Royal Caribbean was able to exceed their goal by not only sailing more efficiently but by using more efficient HVAC practices.  Additionally they were able to refine some aspects of the hotel and lodging part of the equation to realize further savings.  Some of the measures which were taken include:

• Installing heat reducing solar film on all windows a measure which lessens the need for air conditioning.
• They replaced inefficient incandescent and halogen bulbs with newer LEDs and CFLs
• They replaced their old fresh water manufacturing systems with more advanced higher-efficiency systems.  These systems are able provide the same amount of water by using 35 percent less electricity.

Royal Caribbean also re-used or recycled 21 percent more material than it did the prior year.  This allowed them to reduce the amount of waste taken ashore by 9 percent.

Royal Caribbean has set a goal of reducing fuel consumption by a minimum of 2.5 percent each year.  Royal Caribbean also stated that the reduction goal could be raised depending on which new technologies develop.

The next step in hitting their aggressive goal is to install high-tech clean wastewater systems throughout the entire fleet.  In a business environment where companies are constantly looking to save a buck, Royal Caribbean is investing over 150 million dollars in a fleet-wide installation of Advanced Wastewater Purification systems.  These systems can clean wastewater to a level which is twice as clean as the United States standard.

The cruise industry often comes under fire by environmentalist groups; with incidents like accidental waste dumping this is probably deserved.  However, it is good to see that Royal Caribbean is at the forefront of an effort to reduce the industries strain on the environment.  Hopefully the industry as a whole will follow Royal Caribbean’s lead and become just as vigilant.

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The eye of the storm is expected to pass over the Leeward Islands late Sunday night and a hurricane warning is currently in effect for those islands.  Also, a hurricane watch is in effect for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands as well as Puerto Rico. That region is expected to receive rainfall totals anywhere from 4 to 12 inches in some areas.  The good news for those currently in the Caribbean is, instead of turning west-northwest as forecasters expected it is starting to move on a more northern track away from the Caribbean towards the East Coast of the United States.

So far the Carnival Dream, Oasis of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas and Norwegian Epic have all changed their itineraries.

• Carnival Dream – Instead of sailing the Eastern Caribbean itinerary the Dream will be sailing the Western Caribbean itinerary of Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Costa Maya.
• Oasis of the Seas – Will visit Nassau on Sunday, Costa Maya on Wednesday and Cozumel on Friday.  The rest of the days will be spent at sea.
• Enchantment of the Seas – The Enchantment will visit Samana on Monday, Labadee on Tuesday and then will spend the next 3 days at sea before returning to Baltimore on Saturday.
• Norwegian Epic - The Epic has swapped out St. Maarten and St. Thomas for Cozumel and Roatan.  The ship will also make an extended stop in Nassau on Friday.

Although no one really likes to have their trip altered, hurricane season can be fun if you approach it with an open mind.  There is a certain risk we all take on when booking cruises this time of year. When the announcement of an itinerary change is made, naturally you will feel a bit of anxiety.  Do yourself a favor; order another drink, realize there is nothing you can do about and embrace the added sense of adventure.  Sometimes you end up having even more fun flying by the seat of your pants.

If you are unfamiliar with the new ports of call the best thing to do is ask your waiter or a bartender for recommendations on what to do.  These guys visit these ports every other week and are more in tune with what is going on than almost any guidebook you will ever find.

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You can get the application on Carnival Cruise’s official Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/carnival).  Once downloaded this application allows you to check out Carnival’s cruise inventory without leaving Facebook; details of the cruise  and even an invitation to book the cruise can then be shared with your friends with the simple press of a button.  On a website where many users post every time they get a drink of water, people will jump at the opportunity to update the world about an upcoming cruise.

This new app is a brilliant move for Carnival as it ties the Carnival Cruise booking engine into the most popular website in the United States; a move that is sure to be followed by the other cruise lines.  By leveraging the power of Facebook applications Carnival has created the industry’s largest sales force; with the best part being (at least for Carnival), this sales force works for free.

Currently Carnival’s Facebook page has about 250,000 fans that upon installing the app will essentially become unpaid affiliates for the cruise line.  The average Facebook user has over 100 friends.  Not all of those fans will be booking a cruise in the immediate future but Carnival is banking on the fact that most will at some point.  When that booking is made, information and invitations will go out to more than 100 people (the size of the average friend’s list).

My Viewpoint on the Carnival Facebook Application

From a business standpoint this is a brilliant move by Carnival Cruises, for cruisers it isn’t so great.  Let’s be honest.  With 250,000 fans potentially inviting 100 friends each on a cruise Carnival’s bottom line should grow tremendously.  I book a cruise and then recommend it to a half dozen friends who I went to college with; thats great business for Carnival, but other than companionship I get nothing out of the deal. It feels like Carnival is taking advantage of me.

The fans that make those recommendations get nothing out of the deal.  What I would like to see is Carnival institute some sort of program where the referrer could earn on-board credit or some other perk for additional bookings make through the invitation system.  This would create a win-win situation for both Carnival and its customers.  In fact, I would be willing to bet that had the cruise line not gotten greedy and instead decided to share the wealth this would be one of the fastest downloaded Facebook applications ever created.

You can bet Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruises will follow Carnival’s lead and if they decide to provide some sort of incentive it may not take long for them to eliminate Carnival’s first mover advantage.

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On August 15th Celebrity Cruises began using the iPad on the Celebrity Solstice to provide information on their extensive art collection.  Celebrity has a custom made app that will allow you to touch a piece of artwork to receive information on its location on the ship, title, fame, description and other information.  This app won’t be available in the iTunes app store and will only be available onboard.

This all rolled out on the Solstice on Sunday the 15th and will be available on the Eclipse and Equinox starting on August 21st.  I love technology about as much as I love cruising and I am really excited about how Celebrity is at the forefront of blending the two together.

Can you think of any other ways the cruise industry can use the iPad to improve your cruising experience?

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