jcannon3

Bruce, he's recently widowed (1 1/2yrs) and he wanted to take someone but didn't know who. Just a quirk my younger brother has. FYI, it was a $9K cost. Curious, what do you think happens if he pays for a name change for the vacant second passenger, they show and he doesn't? Wonder what the logic is that the primary can't be changed (still 170+ days out)? Seems like one of many cruise industry "money grabs". We can cancel/change for anything (and issue you a credit, no refund) but you can't cancel/change for any reason and we get to keep your money!! Wonder what the cruise industry would be like if they had to disclose the total cost of the cruise experience, including all fees, taxes, gratuities, etc in their advertising and at the time of booking, prior to committing. That would be interesting.

My brother has booked and fully paid for a Specialty Cruise (in a Suite) through a 3rd party promoter for a Holland America cruise. Two things I have questions about. He has advanced Parkinson's Disease and is unable to take the cruise which is in 170 days. Can he change his name on the cruise to someone else? If not, what is required to claim reimbursement from the travel insurance co? Since he is unable to go on the cruise, he would like to gift the cruise to a family member. Second, when he booked/paid for the trip for two people, he didn't give provide a name for the second passenger. Now they are telling him he will have to pay a name change fee for adding a name to the second passenger. They didn't "require" a name for the second passenger at the time of the original booking but now call it a "name change". Any thoughts on this? Any help based on your knowledge or experience would be greatly appreciated.