Final Payment Now Due

[SeaSharp]

I've got a final payment due on August 15th, for a mid-November 2020 Caribbean cruise.  So far, the cruise has not been cancelled, yet I have not received ANY email reminder to pay the final, nor have any of the other members of my family who are traveling with us in other cabins.  Could we have missed that Celebrity is extending the time frame for final payments??  

[coaster]

4 minutes ago, SeaSharp said:

I've got a final payment due on August 15th, for a mid-November 2020 Caribbean cruise.  So far, the cruise has not been cancelled, yet I have not received ANY email reminder to pay the final, nor have any of the other members of my family who are traveling with us in other cabins.  Could we have missed that Celebrity is extending the time frame for final payments??  

Did you book through a TA or direct with Celebrity. I got a reminder for our mid-November cruise on Constellation a few days ago,  but booked direct. Just did a lift and ship for Reflection as I am not comfortable laying out more money for a cruise that may or may not happen. 

[SeaSharp]

1 minute ago, coaster said:

Did you book through a TA or direct with Celebrity. I got a reminder for our mid-November cruise on Constellation a few days ago,  but booked direct. Just did a lift and ship for Reflection as I am not comfortable laying out more money for a cruise that may or may not happen. 

I booked directly with Celebrity, not a TA

[Fouremco]

I'd suggest calling Celebrity to determine what is happening. As we always book using a TA, I don't even know if Celebrity sends out reminders or simply expects you to pay on time.

[Jim_Iain]

I use a TA and got reminder of final payment for our Early November cruise (not cancelled yet).   I had FCC's applied and only had to pay $500 in cash.

 

Has anyone had any experience with a cruise being cancelled that a FCC was used for?   Do they just reinstate the old FCC's or do they give you a new one for the full 125%

[LuvCruzn4Evr]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

I use a TA and got reminder of final payment for our Early November cruise (not cancelled yet).   I had FCC's applied and only had to pay $500 in cash.

 

Has anyone had any experience with a cruise being cancelled that a FCC was used for?   Do they just reinstate the old FCC's or do they give you a new one for the full 125%

Curious too since we used FCCs from cancelled Mar/Apr Summit (at 125%) and applied them to Oct 17th Summit which was recently cancelled.  Will we receive 1) an FCC for the total amount or 2) will they reinstate the Mar/Apr FCCs and give a new one for the remaining balance of Oct 17th cruise?

[jelayne]

No bonus on a FCC, they will reinstate the used FCC at it original value.

 

[LuvCruzn4Evr]

18 minutes ago, jelayne said:

No bonus on a FCC, they will reinstate the used FCC at it original value.

 

I knew that so based on your answer, we will receive 2 FCCs - one for the original FCC at its original value  and another FCC for the 125% balance.  The FAQ's make it sound like they'd add these together and issue a totally new 1, not 2, FCC(s).  That's my question. It makes a big difference as to how we would apply to our already booked cruises.

 

[ipeeinthepool]

The November cruise isn't going to happen.  I wouldn't give Celebrity any more money unless it was a non-refundable deposit and it would cost me to cancel.

[jelayne]

1 minute ago, ipeeinthepool said:

The November cruise isn't going to happen.  I wouldn't give Celebrity any more money unless it was a non-refundable deposit and it would cost me to cancel.

With a non- refundable deposit you get the deposit as a FCC if you cancel before final payment.  We did that recently rather than pay final payment & giving them almost $10k More which we would get back in 6 months if they are still operating.

[ipeeinthepool]

4 minutes ago, jelayne said:

With a non- refundable deposit you get the deposit as a FCC if you cancel before final payment.  We did that recently rather than pay final payment & giving them almost $10k More which we would get back in 6 months if they are still operating.

 

Yep, that's the bet. Do you get the entire deposit returned as an FCC or is there a $100 - $200 penalty?

[TeaBag]

We cancelled our Sept cruise on FP day 3 days before Celebrity cancelled because we knew it was not going to sail.  We didn't want to pay and then wait to get the money back.  We got half of the deposit which was paid with a FCC, back in cash and the other half went AWOL.  We don't expect to see it and have regarded it as a penalty.  The amount in question was $200.00.

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Yep, that's the bet. Do you get the entire deposit returned as an FCC or is there a $100 - $200 penalty?

We got the entire $900.as a FCC.

[LeeW]

No guarantees that Celebrity handles this like RCI, but for a cancelled cruise on RCI paid for mostly with an FCC they issued new FCCs that were slightly higher (new cruise cost a bit more) than the old one.  We got 125% of the first cruise and 125% of the extra cash we paid for the second.  Haven't gotten taxes and fees back yet on the second cruise.

[wrk2cruise]

From the horses mouth (Celebrity FAQ)

 

If my current sailing has been canceled and had used a previously issued FCC, what will the amount of my newly issued FCC?

Guest will receive the original amount of FCC back in the form of a new FCC with an expiration of December 31, 2021.  Any amount paid for the current sailing higher than the original FCC may be issued within the new FCC at 125% of amounts paid or may be refunded at 100% of amounts paid.

[HS2BS]

Anyone who believes that a November cruise is going to sail as booked is really just deceiving themselves. Even Fain, in his interview last Monday, avoided the question of longer(5+ days) when in the future cruises sail again. The CDC has not cleared any protocols for cruise lines sailing out of the US with a passenger capacity of more than 250.
Given that some European cruise lines are beginning to sail, look at the results of the crew and then passengers getting the virus. Reduced passenger population, limited ports or no ports, not that desperate to expose ourselves to an isolated ship or a floating hospital.

 

 

[TeeRick]

51 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

From the horses mouth (Celebrity FAQ)

 

If my current sailing has been canceled and had used a previously issued FCC, what will the amount of my newly issued FCC?

Guest will receive the original amount of FCC back in the form of a new FCC with an expiration of December 31, 2021.  Any amount paid for the current sailing higher than the original FCC may be issued within the new FCC at 125% of amounts paid or may be refunded at 100% of amounts paid.

Well I guess this is a better investment than putting your hard earned cash in a CD paying 0.1% interest these days.  At least you get 25% if the cruise line survives- or perhaps you lose everything.  The lesson learned at this point- always do a refundable deposit.

[jalves]

15 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

The November cruise isn't going to happen.  I wouldn't give Celebrity any more money unless it was a non-refundable deposit and it would cost me to cancel.

We are booked in a Loft Suite on Royal for a November 1 cruise.  We paid when the PIF date came up a couple of weeks ago.  Seriously doubting that the cruise will sail but decided to PIF and then take the refund when they do cancel so I'll get the "non-refundable" deposit back.  

[hvbaskey]

9 hours ago, HS2BS said:

Anyone who believes that a November cruise is going to sail as booked is really just deceiving themselves. Even Fain, in his interview last Monday, avoided the question of longer(5+ days) when in the future cruises sail again. The CDC has not cleared any protocols for cruise lines sailing out of the US with a passenger capacity of more than 250.

 

Agreed.   Also - Princess has cancelled cruises up to Dec 15th (I believe), Holland America just announced similar and Viking outright cancelled all 2020 cruises.   I applaud them for their transparency and not taking more $ in the forms of Final Payment and locking up consumer dollars.

Edited August 15, 2020 by hvbaskey

[zitsky]

Can any cruise line make you pay more than the deposit?  If you want to cancel?  They have your credit card info.

[ipeeinthepool]

12 hours ago, zitsky said:

Can any cruise line make you pay more than the deposit?  If you want to cancel?  They have your credit card info.

 

No.  The issue is non-refundable deposits if you want to cancel before the Celebrity cancels the cruise. If you want your deposit back in cash, you need to wait until Celebrity cancels. That often requires you to make final payment.  If you are willing to accept a FCC you cancel before final payment.

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

The issue is non-refundable deposits if you want to cancel before the Celebrity cancels the cruise.

I had an interesting experience with this.  A couple of years ago I booked a January, 2021 cruise and deposited 1,000 CAD (all figures are rounded).  I cancelled the cruise in June and received a FCC for 1,000 CAD about two months later.  I have a cruise booked for January, 2022 which cost 7,400 CAD.  I had deposited 1,000 CAD on that so the outstanding balance was 6,400 CAD.  I took my FCC and applied it to the outstanding balance which was adjusted to 5,400 CAD.  So, that’s all OK and pretty straight-forward.  Interestingly enough though, Celebrity adjusted the original total cost of my January, 2022 cruise from 7,400 to 6,400 and have effectively pocketed (it appears) the deposit I paid on that in the event I decide to cancel that one or it just doesn’t go.  If all goes well and we head off in 17 months then no harm, no foul.  If not, I’m thinking the discussion on reimbursement or a new FCC could get messy.

[ipeeinthepool]

25 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I had an interesting experience with this.  A couple of years ago I booked a January, 2021 cruise and deposited 1,000 CAD (all figures are rounded).  I cancelled the cruise in June and received a FCC for 1,000 CAD about two months later.  I have a cruise booked for January, 2022 which cost 7,400 CAD.  I had deposited 1,000 CAD on that so the outstanding balance was 6,400 CAD.  I took my FCC and applied it to the outstanding balance which was adjusted to 5,400 CAD.  So, that’s all OK and pretty straight-forward.  Interestingly enough though, Celebrity adjusted the original total cost of my January, 2022 cruise from 7,400 to 6,400 and have effectively pocketed (it appears) the deposit I paid on that in the event I decide to cancel that one or it just doesn’t go.  If all goes well and we head off in 17 months then no harm, no foul.  If not, I’m thinking the discussion on reimbursement or a new FCC could get messy.

 

I've only had one experience with an FCC, a February Silhouette cruise was cancelled due to dry dock issues, and that is how Celebrity applied the FCC on a cruise that I eventually took later in February.  The cruise price was reduced by the amount of the FCC.  This can effect bonus gift cards from your TA or the cost of insurance that you purchase through Celebrity.  Others may have different experiences, but I don't think Celebrity is playing games with you.   Did the price of the cruise drop by $1000 CAD for new reservations?  I don't think that Celebrity is messing with you as long as your remaining balance is $5400 CAD.

[d9704011]

13 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I've only had one experience with an FCC, a February Silhouette cruise was cancelled due to dry dock issues, and that is how Celebrity applied the FCC on a cruise that I eventually took later in February.  The cruise price was reduced by the amount of the FCC.  This can effect bonus gift cards from your TA or the cost of insurance that you purchase through Celebrity.  Others may have different experiences, but I don't think Celebrity is playing games with you.   Did the price of the cruise drop by $1000 CAD for new reservations?  I don't think that Celebrity is messing with you as long as your remaining balance is $5400 CAD.

I’m OK with what I think Celebrity has done.  I’m confident our January, 2022 cruise will go ahead.  If not, will cross that bridge when we get there.  The cost of the cruise for a similar veranda cabin  (and this is without the four perks, which we have) has gone up quite significantly since we booked; the overall cruise price reduction was exactly the amount  of the original deposit paid (960 CAD) so I don’t believe it was a repricing coincidence.

Edited August 16, 2020 by d9704011

[wrk2cruise]

I was on the same cancelled cruise as ipeeinthepool and our FCC was handled the same way with the FCC reducing the cruise fare on the new cruise.  In our case since Celebrity cancelled the cruise they had "protected" the TA commission and my TA assured me that he was made whole by Celebrity so my perks from the TA remained unchanged on the new cruise.   Like ipee, others on our roll call reported that some TAs had reduced perks after applying the FCC.  I think the most common one was the one that gives you a gift card for their stores.  I'm sure this was due to some automated system which calculated the perk and didn't take into account the FCC and protect commission.  In my opinion the only one pocketing something was the TA in that case.

 

Again with that cancellation I asked a lot of question regarding cancelling the new cruise on which I had applied the FCC.  From what I recall everything was fine if you cancelled prior to Final Payment, your original FCC would be restored with the original expiration date.  Once you passed the expiration date on the FCC it became worthless.