An interesting question!

[iandjm]

Hi,

 

Any idea why is it that if you are from the UK you loose £100 each for cancelling a booking, yet in the USA you don't? That seems so unfair, it is not as if we pay any less.

 

Ian :D

[chessbriar]

Who is charging you the 100? The cruise line does not charge a cancellation fee unless it is after the final payment is made, regardless of where you are from.

[uktog]

No Rick even if we are 200 days before sailing in the UK we lose the £200 deposit we are required to give X up front. I am with Ian in this one - probably one reason so few from the uK will commit to an onboard booking, it is not our TA it is RCCL UK that levy this charge

[ocngypz]

It's always been standard operating procedure in the UK and not just Celebrity. Until several years ago, Cunard charged US passengers a 10% cancellation fee even if they cancelled out of the penalty period.

[greydog]

Apparently the charge is related to local market practices. We are seeing $25 cancellation fee at Alaska tourist hotels in summer even if cancelling weeks beforehand. I suspect the UK treatment may have also to do less-established opportunity to defray costs by filling unsold cabins with "last minute" retirees on standby from big Florida port communities. Capitalizism is typically efficient (not necessarily kind) with respect to demand/supply.

[iandjm]

It still seems very unfair to me?

 

Maybe they could have some sort of loyalty club bonus making it easier to change bookings?

 

Ian :D

[TPKeller]

I hope this isn't a dumb question... is there any reason a UK resident can't use a US based travel agent and avoid such outrageous business practices? Many TAs do most of their communication by e-mail anyway. In today's global market, why would anyone tolerate that kind of nonsense?

 

In a bit of a reverse application, I recently purchased a large box set of classical music CDs from amazon.de simply because the US based amazon.com price for the exact same thing was 300% higher! Even with shipping (which, granted, took several weeks) I paid 1/3 of what it would have cost with the US based web site. Crazy.

 

Theron

[keela1eva2]

This is exactly why we are unable to make an onboard booking unless you are sure it is exactly what you want. If you wish to cancel or change the booking there is a penalty to pay. Loss of deposit is not just for cruises but for all package holidays too.

This is why we have to take travel insurance at the outset as if for legitimate reason we have to cancel the holiday then the deposit will be refunded by the insurance less the excess. This may be £35 or £50 depending on which company you use.

Does sound unfair but there you are!

[safari njema]

Along the lines of Theron's thought --

 

I used to live in Australia and though a U.S citizen, booked all my arragements via an Australian travel agent (flights were much cheaper through them than in the States). Although I was officially an Australian resident, nothing really indicated such except for an address (which nothing got mailed to). I paid with a Mastercard from a U.S. bank.

 

I suppose if the passenger is not booking flight arrangements through that travel agent (which would clearly indicate travel originating in the UK), then it wouldn't be an issue. However, I would assume the passenger would be required to purchase their flights independently.

 

I would never want to book a cruise in advance with such a hefty penalty. Unfortunately when you book late, you often get charged a higher fare.

[tom_uk]

I hope this isn't a dumb question... is there any reason a UK resident can't use a US based travel agent and avoid such outrageous business practices? Many TAs do most of their communication by e-mail anyway. In today's global market, why would anyone tolerate that kind of nonsense?

 

In general US-based cruise lines (eg, RCI, Celebrity et al) only offer US$-priced cruises to US residents. Given that one of the pieces of info you've got to give when you book is your address, they know right at the outset if you're not a US resident. They will refuse a booking from someone resident in the UK.

 

I imagine it's because they know that they can sell the same cruise to Brits at a much higher price than they can sell it to americans, so they make sure they do.... I don't know what the situation is for non-US north americans.

[mindyme]

This is interesting. I live in South Africa and booked a cruise on the internet with a California based TA. Saved us R5500-00 (R6-10 to the $ at the moment) from the prices quoted in SA per ticket. Just got my EDocs for the cruise and will collect our tags at the dock. Paid from a South African credit card. No Problem.

[greydog]

When they offer senior rates and/or discounts for selected state residents they state that proof will be checked at boarding. Would guess showing a passport at boarding would raise a citizenship flag if they're watching. Good Luck.

[muffin]

We live in BC and got a special rate as BC residents on a trip to Alaska. Our friends who live in Alberta could not get the rate. (200.00 savings) I contacted our ta here, and she said" aren't you buying the ticket for them as a gift?" I took the hint and said "of course"/ Our friends just paid us, and nobody ever asked anything about where we lived when we got on.

[tom_uk]

So it seems that the cruise lines' policy is: if there's a local subsidiary you must book through them. If there isn't, we'll be happy to take your money at the US office.

 

Pretty much all of the lines have such a subsidiary company in the UK, hence there's a separate UK-based market which as a matter of history charges higher prices.

[Ine]

We have booked cruises though an USA travel-agent at $$ rates and against usa bookings/cancellation conditions without any problem...

[CGTNORMANDIE]

There is an old sailing term that is relative to this situation...

 

"FULL GREED AHEAD"!!!