WARNING regarding non-refundable deposits

In the U.K. it’s always been this way. It makes sure that we only book what we definitely plan on going and we take out annual travel insurance so that for certain circumstances everything else is covered. When you’re used the one thing and it changes it can take some adjustment but it’s normal for us. I do sometimes wish we had the ability to hold for choice but we can’t

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Unless you asked for a refundable rate and were given a non-refundable rate there was no scam or deception. It is up to you to know what you are buying. You can either learn that lesson or it will happen again. Ask specifically - take nothing for granted. Take responsibility.

So then....it's blame the victim for their new default way of making some extra $$$$. Hmmm.

Once a reservation is non-refundable deposit, it stays that way. Cannot be changed to a refundable deposit.

 

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What about reverse? Can you book a "refundable" deposit and then as time nears (pre 90 day window), go to a non-refundable rate with maybe an upgrade?

So then....it's blame the victim for their new default way of making some extra $$$$. Hmmm.

Victim. LOL

Victim. LOL

Ahhh now I understand your rude responses! I checked out your profile and read some of your responses. It's just a pattern.;)

Yes you can switch from a refundable to a non refundable, and maybe even save some money.

How to check if your Celebrity onboard booking deposit is really refundable?

Was there an effective date? I just did a mocking booking on my October 18 Equinox and there were no refundable/nonrefundable options unlike the January 2020 Edge.

Ahhh now I understand your rude responses! I checked out your profile and read some of your responses. It's just a pattern.;)

Yup, a pattern of advocating that people take responsibility for their own actions. You are not a victim.

. You are not a victim.

No kidding. :rolleyes:

Susan,

It’s good to remind pax to check their onboard bookings carefully. Some people get carried away with being on vacation and are not so vigilant. Others also trust the knowledge of the onboard staff implicitly, and I can vouch that they don’t always know the ‘ins and outs’ of all X’s deals. I remember when the Go Big, Bigger, Best promotion came out and an onboard advisor told us only about the Best option. After his spiel, I asked why he hadn’t mentioned the ‘Big’ option as why would I want to pay more money for items that would cost me less initially.

It always pays to know exactly what you want and need, and price it up, prior to your onboard visit to the X reps ;).

Susan,

 

It’s good to remind pax to check their onboard bookings carefully. Some people get carried away with being on vacation and are not so vigilant. Others also trust the knowledge of the onboard staff implicitly, and I can vouch that they don’t always know the ‘ins and outs’ of all X’s deals. I remember when the Go Big, Bigger, Best promotion came out and an onboard advisor told us only about the Best option. After his spiel, I asked why he hadn’t mentioned the ‘Big’ option as why would I want to pay more money for items that would cost me less initially.

 

It always pays to know exactly what you want and need, and price it up, prior to your onboard visit to the X reps ;).

Thanks, yes, I totally agree. Problem is...I did not do the booking, our friends booked for us while they were onboard. I always do my homework and ask them more questions than they like ;) Those future cruise reps are often looking for quantity of bookings, rather than quality information offered.

Thanks' date=' yes, I totally agree. Problem is...I did not do the booking, our friends booked for us while they were onboard. I always do my homework and ask them more questions than they like ;) Those future cruise reps are often looking for quantity of bookings, rather than quality information offered.[/quote']

I believe this is the first of your several postings to mention that the booking was done through an on-board friend. Perhaps the WARNING should instead be to make sure an on-board friend-representative knows exactly what you wish to have booked. The reduced fares with non-refundable deposits were introduced over four months ago. Did you do your homework in advance and specifically ask your friends to be sure and book the higher fare with a refundable deposit?

I believe this is the first of your several postings to mention that the booking was done through an on-board friend. Perhaps the WARNING should instead be to make sure an on-board friend-representative knows exactly what you wish to have booked. The reduced fares with non-refundable deposits were introduced over four months ago. Did you do your homework in advance and specifically ask your friends to be sure and book the higher fare with a refundable deposit?

I would like to put this thread to bed, what's done is done. However if you read my very post thread on this thread, I did say the the booking was done through a friend. :)

I have been given conflcting information by two TA and Celebrity would not provide a definitive answer. My question is if you cancel a cruise booked witha non-refundable deposit, is that money forfeited or held as FCC? I have no intention of cancelling any of the cruises I have booked, but I just found out that one of them has a non-refundable deposit and I cannot get a straight answer.

I have been given conflcting information by two TA and Celebrity would not provide a definitive answer. My question is if you cancel a cruise booked witha non-refundable deposit, is that money forfeited or held as FCC? I have no intention of cancelling any of the cruises I have booked, but I just found out that one of them has a non-refundable deposit and I cannot get a straight answer.

I Am going to presume you requested the information by phone...

If so, might I recommend sending an email to X concerning this, that way it is in writing and you can refer back to the 'official' policy at any time your might be required to. This is not to say that someone will deny that what you received is the official policy, yet you have something in writing to say that it is/was at the time you received it.

bon voyage

A few observations:

I've booked on board, in part in response to promotions which stated book early for the best room and rate. That sometimes turns out not to be true. I've gotten Carnival/Princess to give me the better rate. On the Caribbean Princess cruise, Princess unexpectedly wrote to us, told us the price had fallen $100 pp, and gave us an on board credit. On one of our RCCL cruises, a much better offer showed up, and RCCL claimed that if we cancelled to get the better offer, that RCCL would figure it out, and charge us the old, higher price.

I've had a senior executive at RCCL say that their pricing, rates and promotions are "bewildering." I don't think that's an accident.

I can't recall any cruise where the cancellation penalties were not obvious. We always use or own TA, and she imposes a modest non-refundable fee as well.

From a legal perspective in the states, the UK, Canada and other countries, you enter into a contract. You agree to pay X, and the cruise line agrees to take you on a cruise. If you breach that contract by non-payment, the cruise line is entitled to its damages (i.e., the price of the cruise less what you paid already), but probably has a duty to mitigate, that is, to sell your cabin to someone else. If they get more than you paid, the line has no damages. To eliminate the obvious proof issues, cruise lines specify cancellation penalties in their contract.

The cruise line is free to waive cancellation penalties, especially if you book another cruise.

A few observations:

 

I've booked on board, in part in response to promotions which stated book early for the best room and rate. That sometimes turns out not to be true. I've gotten Carnival/Princess to give me the better rate. On the Caribbean Princess cruise, Princess unexpectedly wrote to us, told us the price had fallen $100 pp, and gave us an on board credit. On one of our RCCL cruises, a much better offer showed up, and RCCL claimed that if we cancelled to get the better offer, that RCCL would figure it out, and charge us the old, higher price.

 

I've had a senior executive at RCCL say that their pricing, rates and promotions are "bewildering." I don't think that's an accident.

 

I can't recall any cruise where the cancellation penalties were not obvious. We always use or own TA, and she imposes a modest non-refundable fee as well.

 

From a legal perspective in the states, the UK, Canada and other countries, you enter into a contract. You agree to pay X, and the cruise line agrees to take you on a cruise. If you breach that contract by non-payment, the cruise line is entitled to its damages (i.e., the price of the cruise less what you paid already), but probably has a duty to mitigate, that is, to sell your cabin to someone else. If they get more than you paid, the line has no damages. To eliminate the obvious proof issues, cruise lines specify cancellation penalties in their contract.

 

The cruise line is free to waive cancellation penalties, especially if you book another cruise.

Since early in my (relatively brief) cruising history, I have not used a TA but have dealt directly with Celebrity. Of course I don't lock in with a non-refundable fare. I occasionally check on the current price on my booked cruises. E.g., for my upcoming Eclipse b2b, the price on both legs has dropped at least $1,000/pp since I booked. It has gone down in increments of $50 to $150. Every time there is a drop, I call my guy at Celebrity, he adjusts my price and sends a new Confirmation Invoice. I think I am up to 19 invoice versions on the one cruise. There has never been any question except early on he commented, "oh, you should also be getting such-and-such discount" and lowered the fare further than I expected. And then there was the one South American 2019 cruise I booked onboard for whatever special deal they had (extra OBC? Reduced deposit?), later changed that reservation to a New Zealand - Australia 2020 cruise with no loss of perks. But again, I don't lock in my initial fare with a non-refundable rate when doing cruise reservations anymore than I would with air or hotel reservations. For me the few dollars saved are not worth the loss of flexibility.

Stan

I have been given conflcting information by two TA and Celebrity would not provide a definitive answer. My question is if you cancel a cruise booked witha non-refundable deposit, is that money forfeited or held as FCC? I have no intention of cancelling any of the cruises I have booked, but I just found out that one of them has a non-refundable deposit and I cannot get a straight answer.

Given that cruises booked with a non-refundable deposit also incur a 100 "change" fee - I would say the deposit is fully lost with any cancellation or change.

I have never booked with a non-refundable deposit so I am not speaking from experience. Just what I gather from what I have read and heard.

Mike

When Celebrity implemented non refundable deposits they said if you cancel the cruise the deposit is forfeited. If you moved to another date or ship there is a $100 PP change fee. So, if your deposit is $200 PP you lose it if you cancel but forfeit $100 PP to change cruises and you move $100 to the new cruise.

When Celebrity implemented non refundable deposits they said if you cancel the cruise the deposit is forfeited. If you moved to another date or ship there is a $100 PP change fee. So, if your deposit is $200 PP you lose it if you cancel but forfeit $100 PP to change cruises and you move $100 to the new cruise.

Good point. We often book onboard with $100 PP deposit - so I was thinking it was the same either way. But, yes, if your deposit is higher there is a bigger penalty for cancelling.

Mike

I'm confused about how the Celebrity "Non-Refundable Fare works. Here's what I don't understand:

Assume that I book a cruise that is Non-refundable for two people.

My Deposit is $900.

A few weeks later, because of an illness, we need to cancel the cruise.

We're still six months before the normal cruise ship penalty kicks in.

Do we have to pay $200 because of the "Non Refundable"  booking and receive a refund of $700, or do we forfeit the entire $900?

On 4/4/2018 at 3:01 PM, Cruizen Susan said:

 

Quite a little money-maker indeed!! I would say quite sneaky to default to the non-refundable option!

It's a cash cow for them. I saw a 7 night cruise to the caribbean which costs $370 more pp than the non refundable option. It's cheaper to take out travel insurance.

46 minutes ago, fideauxdon said:

I'm confused about how the Celebrity "Non-Refundable Fare works. Here's what I don't understand:

Assume that I book a cruise that is Non-refundable for two people.

My Deposit is $900.

A few weeks later, because of an illness, we need to cancel the cruise.

We're still six months before the normal cruise ship penalty kicks in.

Do we have to pay $200 because of the "Non Refundable"  booking and receive a refund of $700, or do we forfeit the entire $900?

You forfeit $200 of the $900. You then get to use the remaining $700 for an X cruise within the next year. Unsure if the cruise needs to be booked within 12 months or the cruise needs to be taken within 12 months

5 hours ago, drakes2 said:

It's a cash cow for them. I saw a 7 night cruise to the caribbean which costs $370 more pp than the non refundable option. It's cheaper to take out travel insurance.

If the only difference is refundable vs. non-refundable (same perks if any) then taking the non-refundable without travel insurance would be a better deal than taking the N-R with travel insurance since with the non-refundable you only lose $200 per cabin if you cancel (assuming that you can make use of the future cruise credit for the remainder of the deposit.) Insurance is bound to cost more than $200. That's why I only take out insurance at the time of final payment.