Unreasonably large deposits from HAL

[shandryl]

I love taking advantage of the 100.00 per person charge when booking another cruise with HAL. I have never cancelled and have always paid in full by the due date.

I always thought that it was good for four years and it was a reservation that could be used within the four years. Not everyone knows what they are doing a year or four years from now but had the flexibility to use it within that time frame. *just saying*

[English_in_Spain]

Here in Europe all deposits are non-refundable however much they are.

 

When we book, we pay a deposit. If we cancel, even a year before full payment is due, we lose any money we pay :(

 

I would love to see the same rule applied to everyone so people don't book cabins they have no intention of using. Especially when they are handicapped cabins.

 

[cavecreekguy]

Sorry but I'm not so keen on this "cancellation fee" idea as some of you are.

 

I just booked a cruise for Dec. 2013. I have every intention of going, but a lot can happen between now and then. If I thought I would incur a cancellation fee even if I cancelled prior to final payment date (which I already think is too far in advance of the cruise) I wouldn't have booked.

 

You see, I was laid off out of the blue August 2011. But I was hired back 2 weeks later (and made them give me a 10% raise to get me back, so don't mess with me) so all is good now. But I now realize how quickly situations can change.

 

My coworker - mid 40's, was at work one day, complaining about indigestion, then in intensive care the next - for weeks. She eventually recovered, but I can't imagine giving her a burden of a cancellation fee for a vacation on top of her medical bills.

 

Another friend was all fine, then one day didn't feel "right" and went to the VA clinic. Appears he was having a heart attack. Quintuple bypass and in recovery for weeks and weeks. Going on a cruise was probably not the best thing for him.

 

Maybe if you haven't been situation like these, you think everyone should be able to make firm plans a year or more in advance. But things happen in life, and sometimes you have to change your plan. I am glad HAL doesn't penalize us anymore than the already early final payment date.

[English_in_Spain]

Sorry but I'm not so keen on this "cancellation fee" idea as some of you are.

 

I just booked a cruise for Dec. 2013. I have every intention of going, but a lot can happen between now and then. If I thought I would incur a cancellation fee even if I cancelled prior to final payment date (which I already think is too far in advance of the cruise) I wouldn't have booked.

 

You see, I was laid off out of the blue August 2011. But I was hired back 2 weeks later (and made them give me a 10% raise to get me back, so don't mess with me) so all is good now. But I now realize how quickly situations can change.

 

My coworker - mid 40's, was at work one day, complaining about indigestion, then in intensive care the next - for weeks. She eventually recovered, but I can't imagine giving her a burden of a cancellation fee for a vacation on top of her medical bills.

 

Another friend was all fine, then one day didn't feel "right" and went to the VA clinic. Appears he was having a heart attack. Quintuple bypass and in recovery for weeks and weeks. Going on a cruise was probably not the best thing for him.

 

Maybe if you haven't been situation like these, you think everyone should be able to make firm plans a year or more in advance. But things happen in life, and sometimes you have to change your plan. I am glad HAL doesn't penalize us anymore than the already early final payment date.

 

These sort of situations is why we take out travel insurance as soon as we book and pay our deposit.

 

If we then have to cancel (which I have had to do twice) we can claim on insurance if it is for a genuine reason. If we just change our minds then we cannot claim.

 

I think it is unfair when people from different countries buying the same product from the same company are treated differently. It often means we cannot book a cabin we want or in fact need.

 

[cavecreekguy]

I think it is unfair when people from different countries buying the same product from the same company are treated differently. It often means we cannot book a cabin we want or in fact need.

 

 

I agree with you on this. Why HAL treats you differently than people living in other countries is beyond me.

 

These sort of situations is why we take out travel insurance as soon as we book and pay our deposit.

 

If we then have to cancel (which I have had to do twice) we can claim on insurance if it is for a genuine reason. If we just change our minds then we cannot claim.

 

But travel insurance for us would also be a type of "cancellation fee" if we had to purchase it to protect us even if we had to cancel prior to the final payment date. You don't get the amount you paid for insurance back if you cancel prior to final payment, do you??

 

I am saying I prefer to keep the current HAL policy that applies to me, but would actually prefer if the window was shorter. Like full refund if cancellation was 60 days prior to the cruise without insurance. Things can still happen that could cause people to cancel their cruises within 60 days, but at least it gives people a little more leeway. Especially on 7 day cruises.

[Belle]

We've always made deposits

on both cruises when doing

Collector Cruises. How they

do it. It's really two cruises,

you'll see a lot of people getting

off/on for the second cruise.

One cruise only 46 staying for second cruise.

 

 

I just tell myself...have less to pay

when full payment is due.

[cavecreekguy]

...I just tell myself...have less to pay

when full payment is due.

 

That is how I think about it, too.

[cruisemom42]

Sorry but I'm not so keen on this "cancellation fee" idea as some of you are.

 

I just booked a cruise for Dec. 2013. I have every intention of going, but a lot can happen between now and then. If I thought I would incur a cancellation fee even if I cancelled prior to final payment date (which I already think is too far in advance of the cruise) I wouldn't have booked.

 

You see, I was laid off out of the blue August 2011. But I was hired back 2 weeks later (and made them give me a 10% raise to get me back, so don't mess with me) so all is good now. But I now realize how quickly situations can change.

 

My coworker - mid 40's, was at work one day, complaining about indigestion, then in intensive care the next - for weeks. She eventually recovered, but I can't imagine giving her a burden of a cancellation fee for a vacation on top of her medical bills.

 

Another friend was all fine, then one day didn't feel "right" and went to the VA clinic. Appears he was having a heart attack. Quintuple bypass and in recovery for weeks and weeks. Going on a cruise was probably not the best thing for him.

 

Maybe if you haven't been situation like these, you think everyone should be able to make firm plans a year or more in advance. But things happen in life, and sometimes you have to change your plan. I am glad HAL doesn't penalize us anymore than the already early final payment date.

 

I agree. I have had to cancel two cruises and one land trip within the last 5 years due to work. I fully intended to take those cruises, but my work situation is sometimes unpredictable. For both cruises, it was clear by the full payment deadline that I wouldn't be able to make the trip, so I was able to cancel without penalty. However, due to possible losses related to airfare and other prepaid expenses, I always purchase travel insurance that includes a "cancel for work" provision.

 

One of these was a Greek Isles/Med cruise that was planned to celebrate my son's high school graduation. I felt bad about having to cancel, but then again, my work is paying for his college bills now....:o

[DFD1]

I certainly don't mind making deposits on two separate cruises. What I object to is HAL selling the 14day cruise from Boston to Quebec City and return as one "collectors cruise", allowing you to book it as one cruise, but then treating it financially as two cruises.

 

Allthough obviously excessive, I can live with the $600 deposit on a $999 cruise. It's the "slight of hand" I object to.

 

After 25 years in marketing, I still cringe at "ethically tainted" marketing...and there's a lot of that around. This is a good example.

 

IMO

[itzmered]

We had to pay $600 per person deposit a year ago for our upcoming Zuiderdam cruise. I thought it was ridiculously high compared to what I have paid on other cruise lines

[Krazy Kruizers]

I certainly don't mind making deposits on two separate cruises. What I object to is HAL selling the 14day cruise from Boston to Quebec City and return as one "collectors cruise", allowing you to book it as one cruise, but then treating it financially as two cruises.

 

Allthough obviously excessive, I can live with the $600 deposit on a $999 cruise. It's the "slight of hand" I object to.

 

After 25 years in marketing, I still cringe at "ethically tainted" marketing...and there's a lot of that around. This is a good example.

 

IMO

 

A couple of weeks ago we cancelled a 2014 Noordam cruise that we had booked back in the summer of 2012. We had used our FCD of $100 per person for the cruise.

At the same time we booked a Collectors Cruise -- 14 days and asked to have our $100 deposits be used on that new cruise. Well -- HAL did use the $100 deposits but also charged us each an extra $150 per person.

And we still are not getting the new shipboard credit according to the new rules.

Our TA has been working on this for us.

[LindaM]

If a person fully intends to take the cruise, I don't understand what difference the amount of the deposit makes. To me, it takes the sting out of the huge final payment.

 

From what I have seen on these boards and rollcalls, there seem to be quite a few who book cruises on a whim, then cancel. Like someone said, they are taking up cabin space. Then, HAL has to discount at final payment to fill them, in some cases.

 

Paying a large deposit is much less painful than a cancellation fee, especially for those cancelling for a plausible reason.

[Traveling Dot]

I just had my cruise canceled by HAL after I had purchased my air already. :mad: I was doing a B2B cruise and the second part of the cruise that I really wanted was bought up by Prarie Home Companion and we got bumped off. :( We were offered an OBC for the incovenience but now I'm still waiting to see if they give us the money that we had to pay to redo our flights.

 

:rolleyes:I think from now on even though we do the FCD on board we may do only an open booking one and decide closer to the cruise date where we are going to use it. Once burned, twice shy.

[vbmom87]

We always buy insurance shortly after booking so we are sure to have pre-exisiting conditions covered. What I learned is I don't have to insure the full cost from day 1. If I booked a $400 flight and put down a $400 deposit, I only have to buy insurance for $800...actually buy it for $1000 as the rates go up in increments of $500. Once final payment is due or once I pay for other trip expenses, then I call the insurance company and add the additional. This way if I did have to cancel before final payment and lost my insurance premium, it would not be as great a loss as if I insured the full estimated cost of the trip. I am just not willing to wait to buy my insurance and risk not having pre-existing conditions covered. Pre-existing means not only you, but your loved ones back home as well.

[pms4104]

If indeed HAL's deposit amounts are set to discourage people booking on whim and cancelling prior to final payment ... HAL may want to re-assess their insurance timeline.

 

I buy third-party rather than cruiseline insurance, but I seem to recall that a year or so ago HAL's policy changed so that people could buy insurance anytime before final payment. Prior to that, one had to buy the HAL insurance at time of deposit. So, this new policy seems to contradict a more substantial deposit as the cure-all for whim bookings. In fact, it encourages people to make plans that may go by the wayside.

[cruz chic]

Sorry but I'm not so keen on this "cancellation fee" idea as some of you are.

 

I just booked a cruise for Dec. 2013. I have every intention of going, but a lot can happen between now and then. If I thought I would incur a cancellation fee even if I cancelled prior to final payment date (which I already think is too far in advance of the cruise) I wouldn't have booked.

 

You see, I was laid off out of the blue August 2011. But I was hired back 2 weeks later (and made them give me a 10% raise to get me back, so don't mess with me) so all is good now. But I now realize how quickly situations can change.

 

My coworker - mid 40's, was at work one day, complaining about indigestion, then in intensive care the next - for weeks. She eventually recovered, but I can't imagine giving her a burden of a cancellation fee for a vacation on top of her medical bills.

 

Another friend was all fine, then one day didn't feel "right" and went to the VA clinic. Appears he was having a heart attack. Quintuple bypass and in recovery for weeks and weeks. Going on a cruise was probably not the best thing for him.

 

Maybe if you haven't been situation like these, you think everyone should be able to make firm plans a year or more in advance. But things happen in life, and sometimes you have to change your plan. I am glad HAL doesn't penalize us anymore than the already early final payment date.

I'm well aware that things can change it a minute. It's not like I live this charmed life where nothing ever happens and I doubt if anyone else does either. If I would get HALs lowest price it would be worth it to me to lose the deposit.

[DFD1]

Personally, I doubt the high deposit on the collectors cruise which I booked has much, if anything, to do with reducing cancellations. I could still cancel the cruise anytime before final payment date and have the entire deposit refunded.

 

Anyway, I've never, since 1965, cancelled a cruise, once booked.

 

I just think the numbers guys at HAL see an opportunity to increase the company cash float by tinkering with the traditional policy about deposits. In other words, they saw an opportunity to hold more cash for a longer period of time, and took it.

 

Just my thoughts...

[Esri]

Sorry but I'm not so keen on this "cancellation fee" idea as some of you are.

 

I just booked a cruise for Dec. 2013. I have every intention of going, but a lot can happen between now and then. If I thought I would incur a cancellation fee even if I cancelled prior to final payment date (which I already think is too far in advance of the cruise) I wouldn't have booked.

 

You see, I was laid off out of the blue August 2011. But I was hired back 2 weeks later (and made them give me a 10% raise to get me back, so don't mess with me) so all is good now. But I now realize how quickly situations can change.

 

My coworker - mid 40's, was at work one day, complaining about indigestion, then in intensive care the next - for weeks. She eventually recovered, but I can't imagine giving her a burden of a cancellation fee for a vacation on top of her medical bills.

 

Another friend was all fine, then one day didn't feel "right" and went to the VA clinic. Appears he was having a heart attack. Quintuple bypass and in recovery for weeks and weeks. Going on a cruise was probably not the best thing for him.

 

Maybe if you haven't been situation like these, you think everyone should be able to make firm plans a year or more in advance. But things happen in life, and sometimes you have to change your plan. I am glad HAL doesn't penalize us anymore than the already early final payment date.

 

That's why there is travel insurance. I had to make a claim on a travel insurance policy this year after I ended up in emergency surgery and out of work for almost four months. It was an airline ticket, non-refundable of course, although the tiny print DID say I could get the ticket amount credited to another trip within a year, but I couldn't find ANYBODY that could tell me how to do that, so I filed the travel insurance claim and got my money back that way.

 

Things happen, that is why there is insurance, but I really don't understand why people think that they should be able to cancel a cruise they promised to pay for without any financial repercussions. Why should the cruise lines bear ALL the risk?

[sapper1]

If a person fully intends to take the cruise, I don't understand what difference the amount of the deposit makes. To me, it takes the sting out of the huge final payment.

 

From what I have seen on these boards and rollcalls, there seem to be quite a few who book cruises on a whim, then cancel. Like someone said, they are taking up cabin space. Then, HAL has to discount at final payment to fill them, in some cases.

 

Paying a large deposit is much less painful than a cancellation fee, especially for those cancelling for a plausible reason.

 

For those who have two or three cruises booked in advance, the size of the deposit does matter because you don't want to be making a large deposit just when you are making final payment on another cruise.

 

I recently bought two $250 deposits under the new system, which covered a cruise up to 21 days. A month later I decided to book a cruise that was 22 days so I tested the word on Cruise Critic which was that you could upgrade your deposit just as though you were still aboard the ship. So I paid another $250 pp and booked the new cruise.

 

Having seen that this method works, in the future I will buy several $100 FCC's and sit on them until I wish to book a cruise. Then I can upgrade my deposit to the corresponding level, without having to make the initial larger committment before I am ready to book a cruise.

[MMDown Under]

I just think the numbers guys at HAL see an opportunity to increase the company cash float by tinkering with the traditional policy about deposits. In other words, they saw an opportunity to hold more cash for a longer period of time, and took it.

 

Just my thoughts...

 

I agree.

 

It certainly doesn't encourage potential new cruisers to try HAL!

[PathfinderEss]

For those who have two or three cruises booked in advance, the size of the deposit does matter because you don't want to be making a large deposit just when you are making final payment on another cruise.

 

I recently bought two $250 deposits under the new system, which covered a cruise up to 21 days. A month later I decided to book a cruise that was 22 days so I tested the word on Cruise Critic which was that you could upgrade your deposit just as though you were still aboard the ship. So I paid another $250 pp and booked the new cruise.

 

Having seen that this method works, in the future I will buy several $100 FCC's and sit on them until I wish to book a cruise. Then I can upgrade my deposit to the corresponding level, without having to make the initial larger committment before I am ready to book a cruise.

 

Exactly, totally agree with your analogy. I will be doing the same.