CAUTION: Do Not Book a Non-refundable fare with HAL!!!!!!!

[deliver42]

Royal, Celebrity, and Princess also offer non refundable deposits, though with Princess it's usually with certain sales. Yet on all three, if the price comes down, they allow you ti reprice at no penalty.

[goldengirl123]

The ONLY time I'd book a non refundable fare is if it is 90 days or less before the cruise since then, it can't be re-refared anyhow.

Booking a cruise far in advance with a non-refundable fare is probably not a good idea. It is likely going to drop in price and you can't get it re-fared. That would NOT make me feel very good. This policy is a bad idea and I wish they would stop it.

Non-refundable fares also change the buying habits of the consumer. Less people are going to book a cruise so far in advance now.

HAL would sell more cruises if their customers had the comfort of knowing that it would be re-fared if there is a price drop 90 days prior to sailing. Especially for those who would like to book cruises far in advance.

[navybankerteacher]

 

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HAL would sell more cruises if their customers had the comfort of knowing that it would be re-fared if there is a price drop 90 days prior to sailing. Especially for those who would like to book cruises far in advance.

 

They would also sell more cruises if they cut their fares in half. Of course, they would not stay in business very long.

 

You need to realize that they are in business to operate profitably --- and for them to let bottom fishers lock in good fares while keeping the option to reprice, while great for the customer, would hurt them.

[Boatdrill]

I investigated the yearly cruise to Tahiti round trip from San Diego. This once a year cruise has sold out every year far in advance so I took the plunge and booked the non-refundable fare about 18 months out. Now that the cruise is still a year away the ship isjust about sold out as usual but the fare for my category has risen $2000. and the cabin locations remaining are very poor.

 

Just fyi...the March r/t South Pacific cruise ended up not being sold out, and HAL was offering paid upgrades about 4 weeks from departure. Friends were on the cruise...they booked a year ahead, got a great price, watched the prices go up and up, and then were offered a paid upgrade to a suite about a month before depart, said no (too much $$$), then HAL came back about 10 days later and offered it again for a bit less. My friends accepted. A week later HAL came back one more time and offered a paid upgrade to higher category suite, but my friends stayed put. There was a lot of wheeling and dealing towards the sailing date !

[goldengirl123]

QUOTE

You need to realize that they are in business to operate profitably --- and for them to let bottom fishers lock in good fares while keeping the option to reprice, while great for the customer, would hurt them.

 

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Of course they are in the business to operate profitably---- but I personally think it is not going to end up well for the cruise lines to do this.

 

Customer's who buy so far in advance risk being locked into the highest price . As a result, this business strategy is going to change the buying habits of their customers. More people will not book so far in advance any longer. The result will be that the cruise ships will end up with less sales until closer to the sail date. Then they will NEED to discount

 

If the cruise lines re-fared up to the 90 days before sailing, more people would buy the cruise many months or years in advance and they wouldn't have to lower the prices. (Not that I'm interested in paying higher prices. I'm just saying... it's pretty logical).

 

So in the meantime, I am just buying 90 days or less before a cruise leaves .

[bUU]

Of course they are in the business to operate profitably---- but I personally think it is not going to end up well for the cruise lines to do this.

I think we all wish you were correct, but all indications run in the opposite direction. In another forum today, there is a discussion about CEO salaries compared to that of regular workers and how it has gone from 20-to-1 in 1965 to 286-to-1 in 2015. The vast majority of posters in that thread are arguing in defense of that. If such obscene disparities in salary haven't "ended up" poorly for businesses, nothing will.

 

We have seen other discretionary purchases go down the same path, most notably airline tickets. Despite the ascendancy of non-refundable fares, and how today some of the lowest fares have some incredibly terrible conditions (change fees equal to the cost of the ticket, no advance seat selection, prohibited from using the overhead bin, etc.), airlines haven't been hurt. Despite charging for checked luggage, airlines haven't been hurt. Despite cramming more and more people into the same space, and giving each person less and less space, airlines haven't been hurt.

 

American consumers are remarkably resilient in the face of lower quality and higher prices. In between recessions, companies seem to be able to inflict indignity after indignity with impunity, and then when a recession hits, the companies just relax their assault. The profit over people approach seems to be so good that there aren't any competitors looking to compete on quality without charging a lot more money. No one is offering a better product for the same or less money, looking to make it up on the extra volume they allegedly would get from being better. The companies that sell discretionary services all seem to be focused solely on the bottom line and capitalizing on continuous gathering of new intelligence about consumers to exploit for profit.

[iancal]

Why would it end badly for the cruise lines? This is about choice. Why complain about this HAL offering-it is an offering?

 

No one forces a customer into a non refundable deposit cruise. We sometimes take advantage of a great hotel rate by purchasing a non refundable reservation. We do have the option to pay more for a fully refundable room if we so choose.

 

This is really simple. If you don't like non refundable deposits then don't book on that fare basis. Issue resolved!

 

Or are you really saying that you want both.....a fully refundable deposit and a lower cost restricted fare type?? And perhaps a few free optional dining venues thrown in for good measure.

[goldengirl123]

The non- refundable fares are often not a better deal if you buy too far in advance. . I once bought a non refundable fare at a ''discount'' only to see the price drop significantly days afterwards. And they wouldn't re-fare it. And it kept dropping numerous times prior to the 90 days of sailing. I personally will not do that again.

[Friend100]

I am fine with HAL offering both refundable and non-refundable deposit fares. The current version of their website actually displays both fares at the right spot during the inquiry/booking process. Depends on the difference in price, the demand/supply of a particular itinerary, one's anticipation of future price trend, and how far in advance (or close to) the payment deadline date, it helps people to make rational choice ... supposedly.