Refundable vs nonrefundable deposits

[horsefeathers75]

Hi All,

 

I am not sure if you anyone is aware but RCCL is changing their deposit rules my TA just informed me of. They give you discounts if you select the nonfundable deposit meaning when you put money down on this, you have to give them $900.00 as a deposit and if you cancel for any reason you get a certificate for the deposit amount in a future cruise which needs to be taken within 12 months. The refundable cruise amount is more expensive but if you cancel for any reason you get your money back but it costs at least $200.00 more and you don't get it lowered if the cruise amount is lowered. My cruise for January 2019 just went down but I only get that if I go to the non-refundable deposit. They want me to give them $246.00 extra to stay with the refundable. Life is too unpredictable to do this non-refundable stuff.

 

 

If anyone else has heard of this, what is this all about, it doesn't matter what status of client you are, whether you are a newbie or have cruised with them forever.

 

If anyone has any information on this please let me know, I ready to just pull all my cruises from them and sail Princess.

[Clarea]

One or two posts here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2497510

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2516587

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2516519

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2516462

[jndsilver31]

Suites are non-refundable deposits only now

[Jax129]

I have a cruise booked Nov 2018 in a balcony cabin. I just checked the rates & the non-refundable rate is the same as what I payed & the refundable is $50 more pp. I usually only book a cruise when I am positive I can go but I like to book early to get a good rate. I guess in the future I would only book if I was POSITIVE & take the non-refundable for the better rate

[Biker19]

Do mods merge threads on CC?

[Clarea]

Yes ^

[grapau27]

I booked today in the UK and my deposit was £150 in total where normally it is £150 per person.

 

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[island lady]

Yes ^

 

Needed!!

[Annefran]

Hi all, considering switch my Spa JS to a non-refundable deposit for my March cruise. There is about a $650 difference. My question is: after final payment if we can go for any reason, will insurance give you back your full amount or do you have to move that cruise or only get amount less the deposit amount? Thanks for your input.

[Oceansaway17]

More and more cruise lines are doing this. Carnival has been for more than a year.

That said if you want to change a reservation rather than cancel there is no charge.

I just moved Symphony cruise from Europe to Caribbean and I would have lost 250 dollars to cancel, but I paid no extra to change.

[Biker19]

That said if you want to change a reservation rather than cancel there is no charge.

I just moved Symphony cruise from Europe to Caribbean and I would have lost 250 dollars to cancel, but I paid no extra to change.

Did you have a no refundable booking?

[Biker19]

My question is: after final payment if we can go for any reason, will insurance give you back your full amount or do you have to move that cruise or only get amount less the deposit amount?

The booking type should not affect how insurance is handled.

[MikeBTN]

More and more cruise lines are doing this. Carnival has been for more than a year.

That said if you want to change a reservation rather than cancel there is no charge.

I just moved Symphony cruise from Europe to Caribbean and I would have lost 250 dollars to cancel, but I paid no extra to change.

 

If you book a non-refundable deposit, there is now a $100 per passenger change fee, similar to what many airlines would charge.

[Annefran]

The booking type should not affect how insurance is handled.

 

 

 

Great thanks for the information

 

 

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[riclop]

Hi All,

 

I am not sure if you anyone is aware but RCCL is changing their deposit rules my TA just informed me of. They give you discounts if you select the nonfundable deposit meaning when you put money down on this, you have to give them $900.00 as a deposit and if you cancel for any reason you get a certificate for the deposit amount in a future cruise which needs to be taken within 12 months. The refundable cruise amount is more expensive but if you cancel for any reason you get your money back but it costs at least $200.00 more and you don't get it lowered if the cruise amount is lowered. My cruise for January 2019 just went down but I only get that if I go to the non-refundable deposit. They want me to give them $246.00 extra to stay with the refundable. Life is too unpredictable to do this non-refundable stuff.

 

 

If anyone else has heard of this, what is this all about, it doesn't matter what status of client you are, whether you are a newbie or have cruised with them forever.

 

If anyone has any information on this please let me know, I ready to just pull all my cruises from them and sail Princess.

They lost us as customers.

[Elkpad]

I actually just got caught up in this today without knowing due to a glitch in their booking system. I booked an 11 night cruise a few days ago. when I did so it booked it without all the discounts that should have been applied for BOGO and Diamond so I called and had an agent fix it. He noted that there was some issue with their system at the time. He gave me a new price and apparently that price (which was closer to what I had originally tried to book) was non-refundable which I was unaware of. Due to a family issue we had to push it out for an additional year. I called and requested to cancel this particular booking after finding that there was no corresponding cruise for the following year. I should warn folks that when I called to cancel I was told I WOULD NOT GET A FUTURE CRUISE CREDIT, contrary to what they have posted, they were going to keep my $900. I actually spent over 45 mins arguing with the agent and their supervisor over the issue. I can tell RCCL right now that I won't be booking another cruise with them again. Its one thing to charge a change fee, but even $100 is ridiculous. It's a whole another issue to be taking $900 without giving me a future cruise credit. I won't be back until they change this policy.

[Biker19]

It's a whole another issue to be taking $900 without giving me a future cruise credit. I won't be back until they change this policy.

Call back and talk to another supervisor - this policy is not likely to be repealed.

[Elkpad]

It is unfortunate. I managed to get them to only apply the change fee, but regardless, I wont be cruising with them again unless this changes. Ill also be cashing in all my credit card points and closing down that account. I wonder how many folks they will lose over it and if its worth it to them? Granted my 2 to 3 cruises a year wont bankrupt them, but several hundred making an exodus might.

 

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[Biker19]

I wonder how many folks they will lose over it and if its worth it to them?

RCI might be unique with the Flowrider, but they will not be with this policy. Most lines are probably going to such a policy.

[Annefran]

I'm very disappointed with these new rules. A few weeks ago I booked a cruise for 2019. During the booking the rep never brought up whether I wanted non-refundable or refundable deposit. I remembered almost the end of the call. She had booked me non-refundable and I told her I didn't want that. She told me she changed it but when I got my res via email it was wrong. I called back and was on the phone for an hour trying to get it changed. They told me finally that they had to cancel the res and create a whole new one. What a mess! RCI obviously doesn't care about their loyal cruisers. I told the second rep, they need to make sure they ask people what they want up front . Lots of people are going to get caught up in this deposit mess for sure!

 

 

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[rukkian]

It is unfortunate. I managed to get them to only apply the change fee, but regardless, I wont be cruising with them again unless this changes. Ill also be cashing in all my credit card points and closing down that account. I wonder how many folks they will lose over it and if its worth it to them? Granted my 2 to 3 cruises a year wont bankrupt them, but several hundred making an exodus might.

 

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Unless you are booking a suite, there should be options. I understand the reasoning for it and am perfectly fine with it. I don't book crises I don't intend to use and but insurance. I would have no problem booking a noob-refundable rate if it saves me enough money.

 

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[Elkpad]

I simply fail to see the value. There should be incentives for early booking, not punishments. In addition, i have no doubt that folks will now wait until very close to a cruise date before booking so as to avoid the penalty. This results in fewer months they can take and invest the deposit money before they have to deliver, and a lack of availability in certain cabins or upgrades which will turn off many traditional cruisers. I simply dont see a fiscal upside for the company, but i digress.

 

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[rukkian]

I simply fail to see the value. There should be incentives for early booking, not punishments. In addition, i have no doubt that folks will now wait until very close to a cruise date before booking so as to avoid the penalty. This results in fewer months they can take and invest the deposit money before they have to deliver, and a lack of availability in certain cabins or upgrades which will turn off many traditional cruisers. I simply dont see a fiscal upside for the company, but i digress.

 

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You don't think that it costs them a bunch when many people book multiple cabins (especially higher prices ones) and then cancel right before final payment, and then rci has to sell them at a much lower cost to fill them?

 

I personally doubt it will make people book later, since if they know they are going on a cruise, the biggest penalty is $100 and then you usually save $3-400 to choose the non refundable (unless a suite). If it does drop revenues (highly doubt it), they will either make the price difference greater, lower prices overall, or roll it back.

 

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[Canadianmama3]

Other cruise lines do this all the time. They have rates with refundable deposits and some without. I don't get people that say they won't cruise royal because of this? They are free to choose a refundable rate.

 

I just booked 2 cabins on grandeur of the seas. It cost me almost $400 less to book the non-refundable and I got $100 OBC.

 

I can see why they are doing this. I'm sure people booking cabins and then cancelling costs them money.

 

 

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[Luckybee]

Let me tell you how really silly the non refundable deposit has gotten. We booked a Royal Loft on Allure for Nov of 2018 which could only be booked as a non refundable. We then decided that there was a Seabourn cruise a couple of months later we wanted instead so we planned to wait until final payment then cancel to extend the cruise credit out as long as we could. Fast forward last week dh and I were discussing it and decided we would take another cruise in Nov. we didn't want the itinerary of Allure which is mainly Mexico etc(dh and I are simply not comfortable with the current warnings for Mexico and I understand that many others are ) . We were stunned when Royal wouldn't let us change to the Oasis without a $200 penalty. I get that they have a "policy" but it seems to me that they would let one transfer to another cruise same dates without penalty. Nope ! So we have a policy too....I won't do business with a company that is that inflexible. We booked November with HAL(fully refundable deposit btw).....and Royal can enjoy the $500,. They wont however get the $10,000+ they would have had from us...and I hope they can get full price for the RL on Allure that we wont release until full payment date.

 

I cannot believe how shortsighted the thinking is.