NRD and (possibly) changing ship and sail date + dropping a guest

[LisaLisa87]

Hello! We have a suite booked on Symphony in January 2025, three people. We’re considering switching to a sailing this fall on a different ship and dropping one guest. I’m expecting $300 in change fees since there are three guests currently on the reservation. What I’m not sure about is whether the entire deposit would be moved to the new sailing or if we would forfeit part of it. Since we booked a suite, the deposit was 10% of the cruise fare vs. $X/person.

 

Does anyone know? I realize I could call RCI, but I’ve had several experiences getting incorrect information that way. Thanks in advance for any insight!

[RFerrington]

The only part of this that I’m confident about is that you would pay the higher deposit amount (10%) on the replacement cruise, assuming it will also be a suite.  Regarding the penalty for moving your cruise, the answer seems to be very inconsistent.  I’ve moved 2 cruises recently, and they were both handled completely differently.  Go figure.

 

On one of the cruises I moved, the entire deposit was moved to the new booking and the $200 penalty was added to the balance due of the new booking.  IOW, no money out of my pocket.  Since I had already paid a significant amount towards final payment of the “old” cruise, I actually received a refund as my replacement booking was less than the amount I had already paid towards the old booking.  This included the $200 penalty.  That new booking is now PIF. In a way I guess I did “pay” that change fee, as my refund was $200 less than it would have been. Tomato,, tomatto.

 

On the second transferred booking, the agent completely forgot about the $200 penalty, so the entire “old” deposit moved over to the new booking and nothing additional got charged.  Of course, final payment is a different amount than was the original booking, because the cruise fare is different,  but none of that difference was due to a transfer penalty.  I got very lucky with that one !

 

I have read of others who had to pay the [in your case, $300] penalty at the time of the transfer so there are lots of different outcomes from this maneuver.

 

I don’t think the fact that you’re rebooking with only 2 people will make any difference except for the obvious - difference in fares between the “old” and “new” bookings.  It will just be what it will be.

Edited March 9 by RFerrington

[leaveitallbehind]

From the RCCL FAQ's regarding NRD's:

 

Outside of final payment, when a non-refundable deposit cancellation occurs, the full deposit amount will be held in penalty. Any additional payments made will be refunded.

 

Should you choose to change your original ship and/or sail date, if you booked directly with us, please contact our Consumer Outreach team where a representative will assist in making the desired changes, while also applying the qualifying change fee(s) and collecting payment, if not already done so.  If you booked via a travel advisor, please contact them for any booking changes.

[LisaLisa87]

Thank you for your responses. I should have mentioned that if we switch, we will not be booking a suite. We are definitely not going to cancel outright, so it’s really just a matter of how much of our deposit will apply to the new sailing (which will be substantially less expensive than the current one).

[cruiseboy89130]

2 hours ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Hello! We have a suite booked on Symphony in January 2025, three people. We’re considering switching to a sailing this fall on a different ship and dropping one guest. I’m expecting $300 in change fees since there are three guests currently on the reservation. What I’m not sure about is whether the entire deposit would be moved to the new sailing or if we would forfeit part of it. Since we booked a suite, the deposit was 10% of the cruise fare vs. $X/person.

 

Does anyone know? I realize I could call RCI, but I’ve had several experiences getting incorrect information that way. Thanks in advance for any insight!

Suites can not move to a different sailing for the $100 pp

[RFerrington]

3 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Suites can not move to a different sailing for the $100 pp

Then I was super lucky as one of the bookings I moved was Sky Class and the other was Star Class !

[leaveitallbehind]

2 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Then I was super lucky as one of the bookings I moved was Sky Class and the other was Star Class !

How recent were the changes made that you reference?

Edited March 9 by leaveitallbehind

[RFerrington]

7 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

How recent were the changes made that you reference?

I’d have to get home to see the dates (on OA now) but it’s definitely been within the last 6 months.  I think you only lose the full deposit if you cancel outright.

[leaveitallbehind]

11 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

I’d have to get home to see the dates (on OA now) but it’s definitely been within the last 6 months.  I think you only lose the full deposit if you cancel outright.

I was just curious as the rules have changed over time. You are correct with the outright cancelation - you lose the full deposit with RCCL / Celebrity.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Edited March 9 by leaveitallbehind

[WeatherFx]

Rather than start a new thread, this title fits so I am piggy backing on it.

 

Currently booked CPV Inside on Icon for 2026. 3 Adult Persons $750 NRD ($250ea.). If I cancel, change sail date and book as a solo, do I pay only $100 penalty on the new booking as it is only 1 person change, or is it still $300 penalty even though the other 2 passengers are no longer sailing and are not changing? @Ourusualbeach

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, WeatherFx said:

Rather than start a new thread, this title fits so I am piggy backing on it.

 

Currently booked CPV Inside on Icon for 2026. 3 Adult Persons $750 NRD ($250ea.). If I cancel, change sail date and book as a solo, do I pay only $100 penalty on the new booking as it is only 1 person change, or is it still $300 penalty even though the other 2 passengers are no longer sailing and are not changing? @Ourusualbeach

Should be $300 but may depend on who the rep is.  Best bet.  Chznge to solo and then a few days later change the ship

[fpcruiser]

On 3/9/2024 at 4:13 PM, RFerrington said:

The only part of this that I’m confident about is that you would pay the higher deposit amount (10%) on the replacement cruise, assuming it will also be a suite.  Regarding the penalty for moving your cruise, the answer seems to be very inconsistent.  I’ve moved 2 cruises recently, and they were both handled completely differently.  Go figure.

 

On one of the cruises I moved, the entire deposit was moved to the new booking and the $200 penalty was added to the balance due of the new booking.  IOW, no money out of my pocket.  Since I had already paid a significant amount towards final payment of the “old” cruise, I actually received a refund as my replacement booking was less than the amount I had already paid towards the old booking.  This included the $200 penalty.  That new booking is now PIF. In a way I guess I did “pay” that change fee, as my refund was $200 less than it would have been. Tomato,, tomatto.

 

On the second transferred booking, the agent completely forgot about the $200 penalty, so the entire “old” deposit moved over to the new booking and nothing additional got charged.  Of course, final payment is a different amount than was the original booking, because the cruise fare is different,  but none of that difference was due to a transfer penalty.  I got very lucky with that one !

 

I have read of others who had to pay the [in your case, $300] penalty at the time of the transfer so there are lots of different outcomes from this maneuver.

 

I don’t think the fact that you’re rebooking with only 2 people will make any difference except for the obvious - difference in fares between the “old” and “new” bookings.  It will just be what it will be.

 

[WeatherFx]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Best bet.  Change to solo and then a few days later change the ship

That is an excellent idea. Thanks so much, your expertise is greatly appreciated on this board.

[fpcruiser]

When we switched cruises, we were not charged the change fee initially. And then at final payment, the change fee had been applied.

[LisaLisa87]

I figured I'd share an update since this thread has popped back up! As a reminder, we had booked a suite on Symphony for early 2025 and were considering changing the ship and sail date and dropping the third passenger. We ended up changing the ship and sail date, but keeping all three of us on the reservation. We were charged $300 in change fees, and the entire deposit was transferred to the new reservation. The original deposit was more than enough for the new, less expensive cruise. The change fees showed as line items on the new invoice.

 

So, at least in our case, it was possible to change ship and sail date even though we had booked a suite. Just don't cancel outright or you will lose your deposit!