Refundable vs non-refundable

[Luckynana]

My DH and I booked our first TA with a Travel agent, and we booked it as refundable, as this non-refundable is all new to us.  The price difference was quite a bit more , and I feel we may have been a little hasty in booking the trip paying the refundable price as opposed to non-refundable.  I mean, we will be buying trip insurance outside of the cruise line..if we had to cancel for any reason, we would be covered, correct?   Thank you for any help with my question.:)

[Clarea]

You would only be covered if the policy you chose had "cancel for any reason" coverage.  Not all do, and you would typically pay extra for that.

[quicklabs]

I don't know what insurance policy you have for your cancel for any reason coverage, but most policies will reimburse only 75% of payments made under this.   Be sure to read the terms of your cancel for any reason policy very closely.

 

 

Edited August 18, 2019 by quicklabs

[Ourusualbeach]

8 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

My DH and I booked our first TA with a Travel agent, and we booked it as refundable, as this non-refundable is all new to us.  The price difference was quite a bit more , and I feel we may have been a little hasty in booking the trip paying the refundable price as opposed to non-refundable.  I mean, we will be buying trip insurance outside of the cruise line..if we had to cancel for any reason, we would be covered, correct?   Thank you for any help with my question.:)

Ask your TA if they have group rates. They will be cheaper and have a refundable deposit  

[Luckynana]

Thank you for all of your replies.  🙂

[twangster]

You can convert to non-refundable but make sure you understand the terms and conditions with non-refundable.  

 

I'll often book refundable when it's in far in the future.  Once I'm more confident it's a sure thing I'll convert if the numbers make sense.  

 

Sometimes I'll gamble knowing I'm rolling the dice with $100 each as a worst case scenario loss for booking NRDB.  

Edited August 18, 2019 by twangster

[iuki]

3 minutes ago, twangster said:

You can convert to non-refundable but make sure you understand the terms and conditions with non-refundable.  

 

I'll often book refundable when it's in far in the future.  Once I'm more confident it's a sure thing I'll convert if the numbers make sense.  

 

Sometimes I'll gamble knowing I'm rolling the dice with $100 each as a worst case scenario loss.  

 

At what point can you change it to non-refundable?

[twangster]

Just now, iuki said:

 

At what point can you change it to non-refundable?

 

Any time up to final payment due date.  Getting closer though doesn't always have large differences in price so it doesn't always makes sense as you get closer to final payment due date.

 

After final payment due date it's a moot point, everyone is subject to the same cancellation charges at that point. 

 

[papaflamingo]

Keep in mind that if you get a non-refundable rate you are really only risking $100 per person "change fee."  The balance of the deposit can be used on a future cruise within 1 year of the date you cancel.  So if you're sure you'll be cruising Royal Caribbean, and fairly certain you'll do the cruise, the savings can be substantial.

  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-i-cancel-a-non-refundable-deposit-reservation-what-refunds-apply

[marci22]

Price out a policy with the cancel for any reason insurance added. It's usually quite expensive and typically covers only 50-75% of your non-refundable payments. I'm glad I chose refundable for my last couple bookings because I made dumb mistakes in planning and I was able to change without penalty. 

[Luckynana]

Thank you Papaflamingo for explaining how the non-refundable deposit works.  We would be saving almost $900 if we decide to change to non-refundable...money that could go towards our travel insurance. 🙂

 

 

[marci22]

My NRD difference was more like $100. $900 is worth the risk.

[karena1]

We book non refundable 100% of the time and I have cruises booked through April 2021.  Only reason we would not go is medical/death and insurance will cover that. 

[Merion_Mom]

I have been booking mostly non refundable since they debuted it. But I recently booked two cruises where the extra for refundable was $71. I booked that.