Future cruise deposits nonrefundable

[Redtravel]

Just off the Summit. When we went to book future cruises while sailing, we were surprised to learn that the deposits are nonrefundable. We had a few cruises in mind ( 1 on Silhouette and 2 on the Quest) that we were considering booking. The onboard agent wasn't able to answer our questions. She said that she would get back to us and leave us a message with the answers to our questions. That was on day 3 of a 7 day cruise. We didn't book.

[Jade13]

I think they are nonrefundable if you take the OBC on the current cruise, which would make sense. When we. booked a future cruise onboard Millennium we elected to take the book on board credit on the cruise we were booking. Our deposit is fully refundable.

[BosoxI]

I think they are nonrefundable if you take the OBC on the current cruise, which would make sense. When we. booked a future cruise onboard Millennium we elected to take the book on board credit on the cruise we were booking. Our deposit is fully refundable.

 

I'm assuming we're all Americans, but when I read the fine print on a flyer on board, I did come away with the impression that the deposit might not be refundable under at least certain conditions. When I finally got around to booking a future cruise, I made sure the statement clearly said my deposit would be refundable if I cancel before final payment. Our British friends on the same cruises put up $600 each which they said they would lose, if they cancelled. Ouch.

[Redtravel]

It states that the deposit is not refundable. The on board agent was not able to answer our questions. She only wanted to get the booking. They must get a nice commission for the on board booking. I had thought that the offered perks on the ship were good until I contacted my usual TA via email. He had better deals. Know what is available before you book on board. You can view the Celebrity, Azamara, Royal websites free on the ships.

[RickT]

Don't forget, you can book on board and still transfer it to your TA.

[Champagne Cruiser]

We did an open future cruise booking. A few months later we booked a cruise using the fcc. We then needed to cancel that cruise due to a family function conflict. Once you transfer your fcc to a booking you will lose your deposit if you cancel that cruise. However, you can transfer it to another cruise. This was confirmed by my TA and Celebrity. We then found a quick 2 night on the Constellation (which we just completed). However, we did lose our OBC because the fine print says something about OBC being applicable based on length of cruise. Of course they never define "length".

[bar_20]

Good! Hopefully this will stop people from booking 10 cruises but only taking one, tying up all the good cabins on the others until FPD.

[Big Beer Gut]

Good! Hopefully this will stop people from booking 10 cruises but only taking one, tying up all the good cabins on the others until FPD.

 

I think Celebrity is contributing to this behavior. My recent experiennce suggest that cruise proces are the lowest as soon as they are announced and only go up from there. So, It only makes sense to book cruises far in advance to get the lowest prices and cancel later. Seems like a good plan to me.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I think Celebrity is contributing to this behavior. My recent experiennce suggest that cruise proces are the lowest as soon as they are announced and only go up from there. So, It only makes sense to book cruises far in advance to get the lowest prices and cancel later. Seems like a good plan to me.

 

That's true for a lot of cruises if they're on popular routes and usually sell out pretty much in advance. It's what I've seen on most of my cruises so we've learned to book as soon as the new itineraries come out. For example, the price we got on our Bermuda cruise has never gone down.

 

There are always some cruises that don't sell well and they're the ones that will have the last-minute specials with lower pricing but you have to weigh the disadvantages of booking late against the lower pricing.

[az_tchr]

Good! Hopefully this will stop people from booking 10 cruises but only taking one, tying up all the good cabins on the others until FPD.

 

Actually it is not individuals but groups working through TAs. One upcoming cruise in Alaska has 250 cabins being held. The TA has until 90 days or so out to cancel any unwanted cabins at no cost to them. If a TA gets a group of people wanting to sail (even 3 or 4 cabins) they will often open up a group and see if the group makes. If it does they have booking incentives to offer and can sell more cabins. If the group does not make they simply cancel extra cabins before final payment date.

 

Same thing in the hotel industry. As a TA I could reserve 100 rooms in August at Yellowstone National Park one year out and hold those rooms until 30 days before arrival for no cost. While the puvblic could reserve ahead but had to wait for the commercial tour operators to get 30-60 days at those rooms first.

 

The thread to get to the OPs question. On board you can do three thing for booking cruises.

 

#1 - Buy a future cruise credit - you get a bit of extra $$ for doing this and it is NON-REFUNDABLE.

 

#2 - Book a cruise and get additional OBC on the future cruise. This one is completely refundable if you live in the USA.

 

#3 - Book a cruise and get additional OBC on your current cruise. This makes the deposit NON-REFUNDABLE as you already got the money.

 

Outside the USA there are costs involving often loss of some or all of the deposit.

[mcrcruiser]

Princess on a 6 night cruise offered $300 OBC with a $200 non refundable deposit :eek:. Since this cruise is May 2017 & this is early Feb 2016 ,we did not book this cruise .

 

It is not only Celebrity who is playing games with deposits :rolleyes:

[bar_20]

I have read many CC posters admit that they have booked multiple cruises with no intention of cruising on all of them. It's frustrating a couple of weeks after there release where most suites, aft cabins, hump cabins are no longer available only to show up later.

[jagoffee]

Just off the Summit. When we went to book future cruises while sailing, we were surprised to learn that the deposits are nonrefundable. We had a few cruises in mind ( 1 on Silhouette and 2 on the Quest) that we were considering booking. The onboard agent wasn't able to answer our questions. She said that she would get back to us and leave us a message with the answers to our questions. That was on day 3 of a 7 day cruise. We didn't book.

 

I would guess you have nothing in writing that says that the deposit is not refundable. It might be more accurate to say that you had a poor on board agent who said that the deposit was not refundable. I am confident this is only if you use the OBC while on the cruise which is actually "refunded" to you right away. Perhaps you did not really learn what you thought you had learned.

 

I have a document from my just completed January cruise that clearly states= "refundable before final payment"

 

Also if you cannot get the same deal from your TA after you transfer your on board booking to your TA then you might want to get a different TA.

[ohiojohn]

Also just off the Summit sailing of Jan-23 and can confirm you can cash out your OBC minus the 5%. However, if you are in a suite they wave the commission.