Cancel Excursions?

[Firepath]

I'm fairly new to cruising. We currently have an Alaska cruise booked for late August this year. I have seen some discussion about some cruise lines possibly not surviving this pandemic. We currently have about $1500 tied up in excursions, drink upgrades, and gratuities. I know there's a chance this cruise will be cancelled. We have a $500 non-refundable deposit. I got sale pricing on most of the excursions and know they would be much more if I rebook them later. On the other hand I don't want to lose everything. I could also just wait until final payment is due next month and then decide. What do you think?

Edited April 7, 2020 by Firepath

[Fouremco]

In your shoes, I'd cancel those now and get your refund and stop worrying about the cruise line's future solvency. If the cruise does actually sail, and that's a very big "if" IMO, paying a bit more won't seem so bad. You could look around at private tours and probably get good or better excursions for less anyway.

[twins_to_alaska]

I cancelled all but my non-refundable deposit for my September cruise to Bermuda. It's up to you. I also had great sale prices on all my cruise planner purchases but decided I'd rather have the refunds then wonder what would happen... if cruising is running in September I'll be quite happy to rebook even without the deals.

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Our April cruise was cancelled.  I had prepurchased the Drinks and more beverage package in the cruise planner.  No shore excursions.  When we got the e-mail about the cancellation, we were offered 100% refund or 125% FCC.  We took the refund.  In that e-mail they also said that if we wanted a refund of what we had prepurchased in the cruise planner, we didn't have to do anything...it would be automatic.  However, if we wanted to get 125% of the pre-paids in the form of an OBC for a future cruise, we had to opt in.  All that to say, if your cruise gets cancelled, you will likely get the same offers.  

In the end, I didn't have as much money tied up as you so if I were in your shoes I would go ahead and cancel the excursions and get the money back now or at least before final payment.

[jelayne]

We had a April cruise booked which we were  sure would get cancelled.  Before   Celebrity cancelled the cruise I went into my cruise planner and cancelled the shore excursions and beverage package upgrades.  They were refunded to my credit card.  Now that the cruise is officially cancelled I am waiting for the FCC and the refund of port fees.  

[hcat]

It seems much easier to cancel pre paid excursions, dining and spa online  via the cruise planner before you or the cruise line cancels the cruise   We did that  and the credits came back onto our card  in a few days .

 

After that,  we cancelled the cruise   and it was quite a wait for the cruise fare refund . Filed a card dispute...and it came back after that.

 

That's alot of money you have laid out!  How good does it look for an Aug  cruise to Alaska??

 

[az_tchr]

Agree with the others.  I would cancel the shore excursions if you are concerned about X being solvent.  Get rid of your worry.

The bigger issue is your final.payment date for your cruise is late May.  Your cruise is very unlikely to happen, but a cancellation after final payment date.  Thus how much is not refundable if you cancel of the $500 deposit?  How much more do you owe on your cruise?  

Financially RCCL - the parent company has over 6 months worth of cash and is reducing the cash burn each week.  A BK this year would be very unlikely and you could likely recover if you live in the US from your credit card company.  If you would only lose $200 - normal NRD USA teens for X - would cancelling now be better or would you rather wait?