Refundable deposit/repricing?

[grouchomarx]

I have a cruise booked for about a year from now on Symphony.  Today I was bored and did a mock booking for my sailing and it was significantly lower by about $500 (I am sailing solo).  So I called Royal and asked if I could reprice.  He saw the lower price and said it was lower because that was for non-refundable deposit and that I originally booked with a fully refundable deposit.  A) I do not recall making any such selection or even knowing that was an option and b) I am under the impression from everything I’ve read including Royal’s own FAQ that the only way to have a fully refundable deposit is to pay the higher amount which I did not. I paid the standard $250. The rep was trying to convince me to keep my original fare in case I wanted to cancel so I could get a refund on the deposit.  And I was like no, I would save $500 off my current fare so I’ll take my chances that I might have to cancel and accept that risk.  What do you think?  Was he lying or is this a thing?  Nothing I read says that for $250 deposit you can get it refunded in any situation.  I’m happy with my savings, just curious about Royal’s policies, I know little from only sailing twice with them.  

[leaveitallbehind]

First, the amounts for refundable and non-refundable deposits on standard staterooms are the same - both are $250 pp.  Only the fare base is different, with refundable deposit fares being higher.  That may in fact be the $500 difference you are seeing.

 

Second, with a refundable deposit you can change or cancel a booking without penalty.  This would include moving it to the non-refundable deposit fare.  So having this with your booking is a good thing.

 

Third, the rep was correct in advising you that by keeping your refundable fare booking you would be protecting your deposit should you cancel. This also would allow you to take advantage of a possible lower refundable deposit rate should one occur later with your original booking.

 

But you can capture the lower fare without canceling your current booking. If you want to retain your current stateroom, you can preserve your booking number and change to the lower non-refundable deposit rate to get the $500 savings.  But that is a one way move and any future changes in the booking would incur a fee, and a cancelation would result in loosing your deposit altogether. The rep can assist you in doing this.

 

Lastly, no he was not lying. You were actually incorrect with your deposit assumption and he was doing his job by trying to clarify that and explain your options.

Edited July 17 by leaveitallbehind

[firefly333]

9 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

First, the amounts for refundable and non-refundable deposits on standard staterooms are the same - both are $250 pp.  Only the fare base is different, with refundable deposit fares being higher.  That may in fact be the $500 difference you are seeing.

 

Odd with my refundable deposits when I've booked next cruise or group rates with my TA I've had to pay for 2 people even though I'm solo. So I have bigger deposits than I would if I booked nonrefundable.

 

OP is solo like I book and everything I'm booking refundable is double, $500 for me solo for 7 days. I think I paid $900, not $450 for 10 days etc. 

 

I have seen lower and given up refundable but not recently. But I've done it too. Agree np. 

 

@Ourusualbeachare refundable direct rates lower deposits? I booked with next cruise just that once for wonder. Was my deposit originally $250 for refundable? 

[leaveitallbehind]

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Odd with my refundable deposits when I've booked next cruise or group rates with my TA I've had to pay for 2 people even though I'm solo. So I have bigger deposits than I would if I booked nonrefundable.

 

OP is solo like I book and everything I'm booking refundable is double, $500 for me solo for 7 days. I think I paid $900, not $450 for 10 days etc.

I mentioned it is a $250 pp deposit but glossed over the fact they are traveling solo, which may indeed result in double that amount.  But the point I was making is that it is the same deposit amount whether it is a refundable or non-refundable deposit fare base - even when, as you correctly point out, it is scaled by length of the cruise. 

Edited July 17 by leaveitallbehind

[grouchomarx]

43 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

First, the amounts for refundable and non-refundable deposits on standard staterooms are the same - both are $250 pp.  Only the fare base is different, with refundable deposit fares being higher.  That may in fact be the $500 difference you are seeing.

 

Second, with a refundable deposit you can change or cancel a booking without penalty.  This would include moving it to the non-refundable deposit fare.  So having this with your booking is a good thing.

 

Third, the rep was correct in advising you that by keeping your refundable fare booking you would be protecting your deposit should you cancel. This also would allow you to take advantage of a possible lower refundable deposit rate should one occur later with your original booking.

 

But you can capture the lower fare without canceling your current booking. If you want to retain your current stateroom, you can preserve your booking number and change to the lower non-refundable deposit rate to get the $500 savings.  But that is a one way move and any future changes in the booking would incur a fee, and a cancelation would result in loosing your deposit altogether. The rep can assist you in doing this.

 

Lastly, no he was not lying. You were actually incorrect with your deposit assumption and he was doing his job by trying to clarify that and explain your options.

No there is an option to place a larger deposit than $250 to make it refundable.  It is very clear.  I did not choose this option.  It’s almost double. I did get the $500 savings today.  On Royal’s website it clearly states that the deposit ($250) is not refundable for any reason.  I know this because I have reworked some NCL cruises recently and they fully refund your deposit no prob when you cancel.  I was surprised to learn Royal doesn’t do this only after booking so I know there was no option for this at $250.

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, grouchomarx said:

On Royal’s website it clearly states that the deposit ($250) is not refundable for any reason.

Not quite true - you can move a booking to another ship/date and lose only $100pp of it.

[Another_Critic]

50 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Odd with my refundable deposits when I've booked next cruise or group rates with my TA I've had to pay for 2 people even though I'm solo. So I have bigger deposits than I would if I booked nonrefundable.

 

OP is solo like I book and everything I'm booking refundable is double, $500 for me solo for 7 days. I think I paid $900, not $450 for 10 days etc. 

Group rates require a full cabin [refundable] deposit, so a solo would pay based on two in a cabin.

 

46 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I mentioned it is a $250 pp deposit but glossed over the fact they are traveling solo, which may indeed result in double that amount. 

Non-group rate deposits are per person, so solo would only pay a single deposit.

 

17 minutes ago, grouchomarx said:

No there is an option to place a larger deposit than $250 to make it refundable.  It is very clear.  I did not choose this option.  It’s almost double.

The refundable deposit option is an increase of cruise fare, not an increased deposit.  The refundable increase is added to final payment, not to the initial deposit.

 

Did your original cruise line invoice mention NRD like your new invoice does?  If there was no mention of NRD, it was most likely a refundable deposit. 

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, grouchomarx said:

No there is an option to place a larger deposit than $250 to make it refundable.  It is very clear.  I did not choose this option.  It’s almost double. I did get the $500 savings today.  On Royal’s website it clearly states that the deposit ($250) is not refundable for any reason.  I know this because I have reworked some NCL cruises recently and they fully refund your deposit no prob when you cancel.  I was surprised to learn Royal doesn’t do this only after booking so I know there was no option for this at $250.

Sorry, but this is incorrect.  I have booked over 50 7-9 night cruises in 32 years with RCCL/Celebrity, most of them with refundable deposits, all of those that were in standard staterooms (non-suites) at $250 pp.  Never a higher deposit to make it refundable - not as an option or a requirement.  Only a resulting higher fare with refundable since non-refundable was introduced.

 

Have also booked some as non-refundable, and also transferred many refundable to non-refundable.  All with a $250 pp deposit. 

 

The only time the deposit was more was with longer cruises, which require a higher deposit.  But that was still the same amount, refundable or non-refundable.

 

 

Edited July 18 by leaveitallbehind

[grouchomarx]

I mean this is from RCCL website so, is it debatable?

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/booking-cancellation-refund-policy

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, grouchomarx said:

I mean this is from RCCL website so, is it debatable?

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/booking-cancellation-refund-policy

Not sure how that relates to the deposit amounts for refundable or non-refundable deposit fare based cruises, which is the basis of this discussion.

 

The information in that link relates to the cancelation policy for canceling cruises and cruise tours post final payment.  At that point, deposits (refundable or non-refundable) are moot as final payment for the cruise has been made.

 

There is no debate as that is not the topic.  Post final payment cancelation penalties have nothing to do with pre-final payment deposits, their amounts, or whether they were refundable or non-refundable

 

Sorry, but you need to get your information straight.

[Ken at the beach]

6 hours ago, grouchomarx said:

No there is an option to place a larger deposit than $250 to make it refundable.  It is very clear.  I did not choose this option.  It’s almost double. I did get the $500 savings today.  On Royal’s website it clearly states that the deposit ($250) is not refundable for any reason.  I know this because I have reworked some NCL cruises recently and they fully refund your deposit no prob when you cancel.  I was surprised to learn Royal doesn’t do this only after booking so I know there was no option for this at $250.

There is NO DIFFERENCE in the deposits between refundable and non refundable,