NRD is back

[gerelmx]

🙄

[39august]

I have done several back when we thought nothing would keep us from cruising that wasn't covered by insurance.  Now, no way would I take NRD. 

[ECCruise]

Having only done one NRD and having to cancel because they dragged their feet on cancellation (par for the course), never again.

 

[ipeeinthepool]

I'm afraid that they needed to do this because people were scamming the system.  People could book cruises that they knew would be cancelled in order to get the additional 25% on the FCC and if the cruise would go, they could just cancel and get the face value returned as an FCC.   

[jelayne]

We had 2 cruises booked with non-refundable deposits.  Celebrity cancelled 1 before final payment and we cancelled the other one.  Got our full deposit back as FCC.  Had these 2 cruises been able to sail booking with the NRD Would have saved us $1,200 on 1 cruise and $1,000 on the other.

 

I just checked pricing on a 5 day & a 7 day we have booked.  The 5 day has a price difference of $295 pp and  the  7 Night difference was $395 pp same 1 perk.  Once cruising restarts with consistently I would book another NRD, when like our 2 previous NRDs the saving is worth the risk of losing $100pp.

[denatravels]

I have done several back when we thought nothing would keep us from cruising that wasn't covered by insurance.  Now, no way would I take NRD. 

That’s how I feel! I have two nonrefundable booked for next summer from before the pandemic but not ever again! Not worth the small savings. Same with hotels.


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[katrina915]

I booked my first NRD for August 2020 Alaska cruise.  Moved it to 2021, but won't book a NRD again.  Learned a lot of hard lessons this summer.

[deliver42]

I had an Apex cruise booked for March, 2021 with NRD. I did the L&S to March 2022 with no problem and no fees. In fact, I saved $4.00 on taxes. I agree about it being worth it for the savings, and if push came to shove then I'd lose $100.00 PP.

[mnocket]

On 9/12/2020 at 9:47 AM, ipeeinthepool said:

I'm afraid that they needed to do this because people were scamming the system.  People could book cruises that they knew would be cancelled in order to get the additional 25% on the FCC and if the cruise would go, they could just cancel and get the face value returned as an FCC.   

How does offering a NRD as an OPTION stop people from doing this?

[wrk2cruise]

1 hour ago, mnocket said:

How does offering a NRD as an OPTION stop people from doing this?

 

It doesn't.   If you make a NRD between now and 9/30 the deposit will be returned as a FCC in the event you cancel prior.  If Celebrity cancels I believe they will refund the deposit or give you the FCC bonus just like a refundable deposit.

[ipeeinthepool]

2 hours ago, mnocket said:

How does offering a NRD as an OPTION stop people from doing this?

 

Someday we will cruise again.  If you cancel a cruise that actual sails you with lose part of your deposit and get the rest in FCC.  There is zero risk with refundable deposits.

[jelayne]

45 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Someday we will cruise again.  If you cancel a cruise that actual sails you with lose part of your deposit and get the rest in FCC.  There is zero risk with refundable deposits.

You are correct no risk with a refundable deposit.

 We don’t book cruises we don’t plan to take so for us the NRD offers a significant saving on longer cruises.  The only reason we would cancel a cruise is due to illness or death of 1 of us or a family member and then the $100 pp we would lose would be covered by our travel insurance.  

[denatravels]

You are correct no risk with a refundable deposit.
 We don’t book cruises we don’t plan to take so for us the NRD offers a significant saving on longer cruises.  The only reason we would cancel a cruise is due to illness or death of 1 of us or a family member and then the $100 pp we would lose would be covered by our travel insurance.  

That’s what I said ... and then COVID hit and I lost money because of that mentality.


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[jelayne]

3 minutes ago, denatravels said:

That’s what I said ... and then COVID hit and I lost money because of that mentality.


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 How did you lose money?  We cancelled and got our entire deposit back in a FCC.  We used the FCCs on cruises for late 2021.  I guess if you don’t plan to cruise then the FCC would have no value.  

[denatravels]

 How did you lose money?  We cancelled and got our entire deposit back in a FCC.  We used the FCCs on cruises for late 2021.  I guess if you don’t plan to cruise then the FCC would have no value.  

More than just celebrity (14 days) on a 64 day trip, but I lost $100. The FCC was for $350 and the initial deposit was for $450. Additionally, the way it was applied to my future cruise in August makes me concerned about seeing it again if that cruise is cancelled.


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[wrk2cruise]

I have already saved well over $1000 using NRD.  I figured I could cancel 1 out of 3 cruises and still come out ahead.   Most of the cruises I had previously booked with NRD were for a savings of at least $600 pp.  All my NRD deposits are on book onboard reservations with a reduced deposit of $100 pp so no FCC involved if I cancel in regular times.  I just forfeit the $100 pp. 

 

I just booked a cruise last week before they restored the NRD so I went back and checked.  The price with NRD is now $160 pp less than the same no-perks fare was last week.   In this case I don't think the NRD is worth it.   It's all about a persons tolerance for risk.

[Glendakayself]

For our May Alaska cruise, the difference in the NRD and RD price is only $5 per person. Really?

[phoenix_dream]

On 9/14/2020 at 4:55 PM, jelayne said:

 How did you lose money?  We cancelled and got our entire deposit back in a FCC.  We used the FCCs on cruises for late 2021.  I guess if you don’t plan to cruise then the FCC would have no value.  

That is the only way I can figure one would lose money as a general rule.  Some people got nervous about cruising and cancelled before Celebrity did (not criticizing, just stating facts).  In that case they lost money, but as it turns out they didn't need to - not Celebrity's fault they did this before the new procedures came out.

[denatravels]

That is the only way I can figure one would lose money as a general rule.  Some people got nervous about cruising and cancelled before Celebrity did (not criticizing, just stating facts).  In that case they lost money, but as it turns out they didn't need to - not Celebrity's fault they did this before the new procedures came out.

Did I say it was Celebrity’s fault? Nope, I did not. I also said it wasn’t just celebrity that I lost $$ on.

 

 

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[KEN31VA]

When talking about deposits there is the risk, however small, of a RCCL default where you could lose everything refundable or not.  It's interesting to note that most travel insurance companies have recently eliminated cruise line default as a covered benefit.

[hiccups]

I just did a mock booking for an Edge cruise in April 2021 (wishful thinking), and was surprised it appeared we couldn't add the extra perks to our booking with a NRD.  Once I changed to refundable, I was able to add the perks package.

I wish when our April 2020 Edge cruise was cancelled that L&S had been an option.  We requested a refund because the 2021 fares were so high, we knew we wouldn't pay those prices even with the 125% FCC.  By the time X was allowing L&S for those cancelled cruises, they wouldn't allow us to cancel our refund request.

[jelayne]

I just did a price check on a Oct 21 cruise we have booked.  If we were booking today  with the refundable deposit we would  get 2 perks the beverage package & prepaid tips - cruise fare for 2 is $8,478.

With the NRD we get the beverage package - cruise fare for 2 is $6,608. Add to that the $480 daily tips for 2 and the total is $7,088.  The NRD with equal perks is $1,390 less.  If we were booking today we would book with the NRD to save the $1,390.

Shorter cruises the saving aren’t as great and for some not worth the risk.