Celebrity introducing nonrefundable deposits?

I saw in an email from a travel agent today that non-refundable deposits are coming in November. Anyone heard about this?

I read the same thing. Surely, X has not lost its mind by putting into place non-refundable deposits. Something seems to be amiss with this announcement.

FWIW - I booked my first Royal cruise a few months ago - and I was given a choice of refundable deposit or non-refundable. Non-refundable deposit would have secured a lower cruise price, but a refundable deposit was still given as an option. Maybe Celebrity is doing something along those lines?

I read the same thing. Surely, X has not lost its mind by putting into place non-refundable deposits. Something seems to be amiss with this announcement.

Why would you believe that they wouldn't do it? The purpose will be to penalize/reduce the number of people who book several cabins knowing that they will cancel without any penalty.

I think it's a good thing. People who book several cabins then cancel, wind up raising the price of the other cabins because of the phantom higher cruise occupancy rate.

I feel if you don't expect to cruise, you shouldn't book. If something unforeseen happens, that's what they make trip insurance for.

HAL gives you a lower, non-refundable rate and a refundable rate to choose from. I believe RCL does as well. Azamara and Oceania just have a cancellation fee per person.

I would assume they would mirror Royal's procedure with a lower priced non-refundable option and a slightly higher refundable fare.

It would come as no surprise since several lines have a similar approach and the U.S. cruise industry is by far the most flexible in terms of booking package vacation deals.

Any guess as to how this affects on board bookings, if any?

bon voyage

Why would you believe that they wouldn't do it? The purpose will be to penalize/reduce the number of people who book several cabins knowing that they will cancel without any penalty.

 

 

I think it's a good thing. People who book several cabins then cancel, wind up raising the price of the other cabins because of the phantom higher cruise occupancy rate.

 

I feel if you don't expect to cruise, you shouldn't book. If something unforeseen happens, that's what they make trip insurance for.

 

 

 

 

HAL gives you a lower, non-refundable rate and a refundable rate to choose from. I believe RCL does as well. Azamara and Oceania just have a cancellation fee per person.

I understand penalties for for last minute cancellations but to place penalties on consumers for cancelling a reservation made two years out is bothersome. There are many factors in planning a cruise vacation and one cannot know about unexpected events that may occur 18 or 24 months from now. Job situation could change. An uexpected family situation could create a fiancial issue. Air service to your destination could be terminated or become cost prohibitive. Health could become an issue. So, while intentions to follow through on a cruise booking may be valid at the time of booking, stuff happens and the cruise line needs to maintain some flexibility (i.e., transferring the deposit to a future cruise if cancelling). It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Any guess as to how this affects on board bookings, if any?

 

bon voyage

In a way they have been doing it for years for on board bookings. If you book on board and get OBC for booking, they give you the option of using the OBC on your current cruise or your future booking. If you choose to use it on your current cruise, your deposit becomes non refundable.

We have sailed 30 cruises and on 2 of them we have swapped the booking to another ship. In fact we are on the Equinox in less than 2 weeks, we had originally booked the Reflection for this week but found out later some friends had booked the Equinox and they asked us to switch to their sailing. Will there be a penalty for doing this in the future and X consider this a cancellation of the original booking?

In a way they have been doing it for years for on board bookings. If you book on board and get OBC for booking, they give you the option of using the OBC on your current cruise or your future booking. If you choose to use it on your current cruise, your deposit becomes non refundable.

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I understand penalties for for last minute cancellations but to place penalties on consumers for cancelling a reservation made two years out is bothersome. There are many factors in planning a cruise vacation and one cannot know about unexpected events that may occur 18 or 24 months from now. Job situation could change. An uexpected family situation could create a fiancial issue. Air service to your destination could be terminated or become cost prohibitive. Health could become an issue. So, while intentions to follow through on a cruise booking may be valid at the time of booking, stuff happens and the cruise line needs to maintain some flexibility (i.e., transferring the deposit to a future cruise if cancelling). It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

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Then I guess you need to get travel insurance for the amount of the deposit with a "cancel for any reason" option. BTW, I don't like non-refundable deposits, either. And I rarely cancel reservations.

 

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You’re lucky to get ‘cancel for any reason’ insurance - it’s not available over here and I know of no one who doesn’t take out some form of travel insurance. I find it quite strange to read on CC the amount of Americans who travel and don’t have any insurance, especially those of a certain age :confused:.

I understand penalties for for last minute cancellations but to place penalties on consumers for cancelling a reservation made two years out is bothersome. There are many factors in planning a cruise vacation and one cannot know about unexpected events that may occur 18 or 24 months from now. Job situation could change. An uexpected family situation could create a fiancial issue. Air service to your destination could be terminated or become cost prohibitive. Health could become an issue. So, while intentions to follow through on a cruise booking may be valid at the time of booking, stuff happens and the cruise line needs to maintain some flexibility (i.e., transferring the deposit to a future cruise if cancelling). It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

You’re not forced to book 2 years in advance. Now there is going to be risk involved if you’re booking multiple itineraries to grab low fares and/or premium cabin locations with no intent on actually traveling. In nearly every other hospitality industry, you pay a premium for that same flexibility. Hotels, all-inclusive, rental cars, airfare, etc. all come at a premium if you want flexible fares. I’m really actually surprised the current refund structure has been maintained as long as it has been.

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Carnival has been doing this for many years. Different pricing scenarios depending on your comfort level.

You’re lucky to get ‘cancel for any reason’ insurance - it’s not available over here and I know of no one who doesn’t take out some form of travel insurance. I find it quite strange to read on CC the amount of Americans who travel and don’t have any insurance, especially those of a certain age :confused:.

I've never taken travel insurance. Not just for cruises (about 20) but also for foreign trips including 3 week safari. I'm 60 and my wife is 64. Maybe in the future we might get insurance, who knows. Now I've saved enough over the years that if I happen to lose a cruise I've still made out in the long run. Now if going over seas I do sometimes book medical insurance.

You’re lucky to get ‘cancel for any reason’ insurance - it’s not available over here and I know of no one who doesn’t take out some form of travel insurance. I find it quite strange to read on CC the amount of Americans who travel and don’t have any insurance, especially those of a certain age :confused:.

And of course non refundable deposits are the norm here in the UK so booking travel insurance for us is a no brainer. In fact during the online check in procedure you have to give full insurance details although I don’t know if they ever check if this is valid.

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Hi Everyone,

I called Captains Club a few minutes ago, and was advised the non-refundable deposits will apply to bookings made under a new upcoming promotion, which should offer a better rate. I was also advised, that If you book with the non-refundable promo, you can makes changes - but each change will carry a fee. The rep did not know the amount of the change fee.

The rep also mentioned that it may or may not happen on November 1. Sounds like they do not have all details yet.

From what I was told, it seems this does not apply to general bookings or existing bookings. What I've mentioned applies to US bookings. Did not inquire about other regions.

Let's hope the above information proves to be accurate. Hope this is helpful !

smh....

That makes a lot more sense Andy - thank you for posting. Princess & HAL often run promos with non-refundable deposits.

What about price drops when taking the non refundable deposit?

Can you still get them without losing the deposit

What about price drops when taking the non refundable deposit?

 

Can you still get them without losing the deposit

No idea about what Celebrity is putting in place, but I know I was warned by a HAL rep not to book under that rule as I would not benefit from any other promo or price drop.

Double thread.

Any guess as to how this affects on board bookings, if any?

 

bon voyage

My best guess is:

1- for refundable deposit bookings, nothing will change. You will still get the reduced deposit and the on-board-booking bonus OBC for either the future cruise or the current cruise (with the reduced deposit then non-refundable as is currently the case.)

2- for non-refundable deposit bookings, you will get the discounted fare, pay the standard deposit rather than a reduced deposit, and get the on-board-booking bonus OBC applied to the future cruise without the option to apply it to the current cruise.

Double thread.

Really? Wow, thanks for pointing that out.

You’re not forced to book 2 years in advance. Now there is going to be risk involved if you’re booking multiple itineraries to grab low fares and/or premium cabin locations with no intent on actually traveling.

a) I see the point about those who book multiple cruises with the intent of just sailing on one of them, but most people only book a cruise they intend to take and would be affected by a change in policy if they do have to cancel that single cruise for a number of reasons.

b) True you are not forced to book far in advance, but there are valid reasons to do so. I booked a b2b about a year in advance. Even that far in advance, there were very few cabins left in the type cabin and class that I wanted. Also, pricing by six months in advance had increased so that one segment would have cost me 87% more than I had booked at and the other segment would have cost me 33% more. The price of waiting until you are more certain of being able to travel is quite high.