How flexible are non refundable deposits?

We have deposited $250 on a cruise for Nov. It would work easier to change our date for an Oct date. How flexible will Carnival be with this request? I don't want to call the 1-800 number and be on hold and stuff for all afternoon if they're going to be like sorry can't do anything.

It depends on what type of rate you booked under. If you booked an Early Saver rate, then you can transfer to a different ship/sail date but it will cost you $50/pp of your deposit.

If you booked a different rate, then there may be no penalty.

Keep in mind, if you also booked under a reduced deposit special, and decide to switch to a different ship sailing you will have to make up the rest of the deposit amount to meet the new full deposit requirement (unless there is a reduced deposit special running again when you make the change).

I am going to assume your rate is "non refundable" (thus the title to the thread?).......since these are new deposit types, I don't think they have much if any 'flexibility'. If what you want to do breaks the 'rules' regarding 'non refundable' you will lose the deposit. I would call CCL, even if it means sitting on the phone (although can't always be sure what you are told is the correct answer anythow....LOL)....but you can ask for a 'supervisor' to be certain! Good Luck!

I can only relate to you something that happened to us several years ago. We had booked an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Valor. We booked the cruise using Early Saver. Less than a week after we paid the deposit, we got an email from Carnival saying that the itinerary had been switched to a Western Caribbean itinerary. I went to Carnival's website and saw that, for whatever reason, Carnival had switched itineraries between the Valor and the Liberty. Since we wanted to do the Eastern itinerary, I called our PVP and asked if we could change our booking from the Valor to the Liberty without penalty. She said yes, no problem. It actually worked out in our favor. It was right after the Liberty had come out of dry dock, and was the first ship to get the 2.0 upgrades. We still want to cruise on the Valor, and I'm sure one day we will. My question to you landsear is, do you have a PVP that you're working with? If so, give her / him a call and see what can be worked out. As others have already said, it will probably cost you $50.00 pp to make the switch. But, maybe you'll get lucky and see a price drop along the way for $50.00 that will offset part of the penalty.

You can probably change your sail date for $50 per person. Cancelling will be different and by your te seems to be non refundable.

I can only relate to you something that happened to us several years ago. We had booked an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Valor. We booked the cruise using Early Saver. Less than a week after we paid the deposit, we got an email from Carnival saying that the itinerary had been switched to a Western Caribbean itinerary. I went to Carnival's website and saw that, for whatever reason, Carnival had switched itineraries between the Valor and the Liberty. Since we wanted to do the Eastern itinerary, I called our PVP and asked if we could change our booking from the Valor to the Liberty without penalty. She said yes, no problem. It actually worked out in our favor. It was right after the Liberty had come out of dry dock, and was the first ship to get the 2.0 upgrades. We still want to cruise on the Valor, and I'm sure one day we will. My question to you landsear is, do you have a PVP that you're working with? If so, give her / him a call and see what can be worked out. As others have already said, it will probably cost you $50.00 pp to make the switch. But, maybe you'll get lucky and see a price drop along the way for $50.00 that will offset part of the penalty.

I think in your case, you got an exemption because of the changed itinerary. Usually when they change cruise details prior to sailing, they give people an option to change regardless of how they booked. I've also seen cruise line give OBC for the inconvenience of the change as well and as a thank you for not jumping ship.

Also when you booked you should of been assigned a PVP (you can always ask for one if you weren't). From here on out, use your PVP as a contact point. You can email them back and forth and they'll do everything for you. If you prefer a phone call, you can call them directly and not sit on hold forever.

I just changed my June cruise this weekend. They transferred 100% of my non refundable deposit to the new cruise. They told me just a $50 admin fee per person would be assessed. I told them it seemed unfair, and she immediately cancelled the fees, so I did not have to pay it. Easy Peasy.... I did switch to a more expensive cruise though, so having her cancel that fee was probably easier because of that.

Done this many, many times. Just be prepared to pay $50 per person when you change your date. Used to, they would just add that to your balance, but now you have to pay up front. (This is assuming you are doing this prior to final payment date.)

I've only booked Early Saver a couple of times because we ended up making changes at $50pp each time so I never book them. I can't believe the previous poster complained about the unfairness of the charges and the Carnival rep dropped them! What's unfair for the rest of us is having Carnival reps disobey their rules for a passenger on a whim.

I just changed my June cruise this weekend. They transferred 100% of my non refundable deposit to the new cruise. They told me just a $50 admin fee per person would be assessed. I told them it seemed unfair, and she immediately cancelled the fees, so I did not have to pay it. Easy Peasy.... I did switch to a more expensive cruise though, so having her cancel that fee was probably easier because of that.

I have been able to move non-refundable Early Saver cruise reservation to a different cruise, but never have I gotten them to drop the $50 per person fee.

Think you will need to call for a definitive answer but be prepared to take the 50 pp loss.

We have deposited $250 on a cruise for Nov. It would work easier to change our date for an Oct date. How flexible will Carnival be with this request? I don't want to call the 1-800 number and be on hold and stuff for all afternoon if they're going to be like sorry can't do anything.

They will change it but it will cost you and then you have to pay a full deposit.

I've never been on hold for longer than about 2 minutes. Just call them and ask.

i had a booking for a non refundable deposit. My date didnt work either, and i had to change it. So i went ahead and booked my new cruise, 48 hour comp hold, then called to have the deposit transferred from one booking to another.. here is what she explained to me.

 

Becuase i booked the new cruise, it wasnt simply changing the date. It was cancelling the one i had booked ( subject to penalty) and rebooking the one i needed... therefore i should be charged a penalty.

 

the correct way to do it is call in and request your new sailing and date, they will keep same booking number, and change the ship and sail date, no penalty

 

So i had to cancel the booking i had on comp hold, and she then took my booking that was subject to penalty, and simply changed ship and sail date, keeping same booking number.

 

As for not wanting to call Carnival and sit on hold, number one i have never sat on hold for hours.. doesnt normally take long for them to answer... and, if your deposit is important to you call, if not, dont call..

no matter which way you do it there is a penalty. There is no way around it unless you tell them it's unfair it seems.

Bill

We changed our cruise date with a "non refundable" deposit without a fee. There was supposed to be a fee of $50 per person. Family of 5 = $250 fee. We were prepared to pay this, but politely talked to the PVP and explained to them why we were changing our date. Also told them how loyal we've been to Carnival over the years and how we are sticking with them when we could've booked another cruise line. She put us on hold forever (talking to a supervisor) and then waived the $250 fee. It wasn't necessary for her to do that since it was indeed "non refundable", but she did and we were very happy about that.

I always book under the “Past Guest” rate since there’s no fee to cancel and the deposit is fully refundable.