Celebrity Cruises is receiving backlash from guests booked on the March 16–28, 2026 “Best of Japan” sailing on Celebrity Millennium after the cruise line canceled multiple reservations.
Passengers have shared online that Celebrity Cruises has canceled their reservation for the March 2026 sailing due to overbooking.
The cancellations come only weeks after Celebrity allegedly asked passengers on an April 2026 Japan sailing to voluntarily cancel in exchange for compensation, raising concerns about repeated overbooking issues.
The itinerary is scheduled to depart Yokohama on March 16, 2026, before visiting Kobe/Osaka, Kochi, Hiroshima, Jeju (South Korea), Nagasaki, Kagoshima, and Shimizu, ultimately returning to Yokohama.
Passengers got sudden calls and emails canceling their cruise
Reports began appearing across Facebook groups dedicated to Japan sailings, where travelers say they received unexpected calls from Celebrity instructing them to “call back as soon as possible” regarding their upcoming cruise.
“I received three calls today with a urgent message to call them back and when I talked to the representative, I said that I didn’t want to cancel and she said we had no choice that the cruise was overbooked and I would be receiving refunds for all the excursions & my deposit and gave me an email to send any receipt of any cancellations for hotels and flights that are not refundable and they will reimburse us. This was not voluntary….” – Facebook User
One passenger said she didn’t even receive communication about the cancellation. Instead, the cruiser noticed their excursions were canceled without any notice.
When they reached the cruise line or their travel agents, they were told their booking had been canceled due to overselling.
“We had no choice but to take the cancellation,” one passenger wrote, noting they were offered a full refund and 200% future cruise credit. “It was a generous offer… but still disappointing.”
Another traveler described never receiving direct notice from Celebrity at all.
“They didn’t even notify us. I only realized something was wrong because my excursions disappeared.”
The April 2026 Japan sailing was also impacted
A similar situation unfolded recently for guests booked on Celebrity Millennium’s April 2026 Japan voyage. Multiple travelers said they were contacted and asked to voluntarily cancel in exchange for a full refund plus 100% future cruise credit, citing overbooking in certain stateroom categories.
Now, the same issue appears to be affecting the March 16 sailing as well, although some passengers say this time it wasn’t a choice.
One traveler on Facebook wrote, “Almost two years of planning, and they didn’t even have the decency to give us a heads up.”
Travelers reported being offered either a 100% refund of all money paid or a 200% future cruise credit.
Some believe the overbooking issue is concentrated in guarantee cabins and lower stateroom categories, while others say Celebrity Cruises has faced recurring capacity challenges for its Japan cruises due to extremely high demand.
Celebrity Millennium, the cruise line’s oldest ship, has been operating full Japan seasons in recent years. Spring sailings, especially those coinciding with cherry blossom season, typically sell out far in advance, making these cancellations even more disruptive for guests trying to secure alternative options.
A full year after booking, that means 15 months prior to the cruise, Celebrity cancelled our March Japan cruise, without even a notice. Yesterday I received a series of cancellations for excursions, etc, so I went online to Celebrity site, & in our “upcoming cruises” section, the cruise had disappeared. Earlier that day, the cruise was still listed. We were flying post-cruise to Sydney to catch the Silhouette trans-pacific, & had purchased our flights to Japan, & to Australia, just the day before.
Now we’re scrambling. After we receive & use our cancellation credit we won’t be booking any more with Celebrity. Inexcusable.
There now a NEW facebook group called: Those Cancelled by Celebrity 3/16/26 Japan Cruise. 2 year of planning and people who booked 2 years ago are being cancelled (at the lower price it seemes are the ones being cancelled). Why aren’t the latest / newest (overbooked) reservations being cancelled. ?
The offer for voluntary cancelation was 100% refund of funds paid plus 200% future cruise credit of rate yoy booked at regardless of funds paid.