Give it to me straight about canceling and rebooking

[Droopy_Sails]

Never thought I'd be asking this question--every cruiser I know has been pretty lucky in booking fares close to their lowest point, or at least not so much higher that anyone did more than shrug when the fares went down a bit.

 

But now my parents and their friends are booked on an NCL cruise that dropped $400 per person this week. $800 per couple is a lot of swag.

 

It's nowhere near final payment time, and both couples booked through a major online cruise broker (not the Big Three). They're trying to get the agency to honor the new fares. I have no idea if that sort of thing works better when you're dealing with a small travel agency than with these behemoths.

 

So here's the question: If the TA won't honor the new price, what's to stop my parents and their friends from simply canceling, paying the TA cancellation fee (if there is one--I know these big agencies sometimes have them and I forgot to ask my mom if hers did) and rebooking elsewhere?

 

I've seen conversations on this board on this very subject, but never paid close attention. Seems someone mentioned recently that if NCL has your Latitudes numbers (and they do), they won't treat a rebooking like a new booking. Is that the case? Surely people must sometimes change their minds about canceling cruises and rebook. Is NCL in the business of traffic copping that?

 

Let me know what y'all think. I'm of a couple minds about this--want to tell my parents just to stay put, but I can't deny that $800 is a big difference. Thanks in advance.

[pianoplayerla]

Droopy Sails,

 

Just had similar experience this week. TA called NCL and they were able to just "move" us to the new price. Hope it works out for your folks.

[pianoplayerla]

Droopy Sails,

 

Just had similar experience this week. TA called NCL and they were able to just "move" us to the new price. Hope it works out for your folks.

[pianoplayerla]

Sorry...hit enter one time too many.

[7SeasLover]

I had that experience and posted my dismay here. Not with NCL, but with my TA. I had a long-standing TA that I used for everything. On a fluke, I got a quote from an online TA for the same cruise and it was $700 cheaper. I asked my TA to rework the numbers and she shaved off another $75.

 

I told her what I had found and she apologized saying she couldn't do any better. I had to cancel my suite to get the lower rate, but I got the identical suite on the starboard side. I saved $720 when it was all said and done.

 

NCL didn't seem to have any problems with it. I have since found a TA who gives me bare bones bottom line pricing and I've booked with her for 3 cruises (Alaska-Mexico-Baltic).

 

Keep trying - tell your mom not to give up and do whatever she can to get a nice price reduction. It's doable. Good luck.

[cruisePRN]

I just had a similar experience when the fare dropped for my Hawaiian cruise. they honored the new lower price but took away my OBC without telling me. NCL has some suspious practices.

[shoreguy]

I just had a similar experience when the fare dropped for my Hawaiian cruise. they honored the new lower price but took away my OBC without telling me. NCL has some suspious practices.

 

That would normal not suspious- The net of your old fare was the price less the OBC. What you are expecting is the new lower fare plus an additional discount not available with that fare.

[shoreguy]

So here's the question: If the TA won't honor the new price, what's to stop my parents and their friends from simply canceling, paying the TA cancellation fee (if there is one--I know these big agencies sometimes have them and I forgot to ask my mom if hers did) and rebooking elsewhere?

 

.

 

As long as the new price is not restricted to new bookig the TA should have no problem making the adjustment unless it is a group booking. If they refuse you can always cancel and rebook but may not get the same cabins.

 

If it is in fact a new booking only fare it gets a little tricky. I now when I go to the old booking, sign in, and check out my cruises it lists all those I have canceled as well as the currently booked ones. Since I did some Alfa ( pre beta testing) on the new booking engine I have perhaps 30 canceled cruises over the next 18 months. I sure hope I don't want to take advantage of a new booking promotion on one of those cruises.

 

Some have posted to change the primary passenger in each cabin when rebooking.

[Droopy_Sails]

I very much appreciate everyone's answers. It's not a new booking fare--the price simply dropped four C notes--so it sounds like my folks have some leverage to cancel if the TA won't honor the new price. They're not set on any particular cabins, so that's good.

 

Thanks again.

[honeydog714]

My TA figured out a way around it for us before, I am not sure if it is what is "ethical" but she did it, if you email me I can tell you how she did it.

[Droopy_Sails]

Thanks. I don't see any ethics problem here. My parents would not be breaking a contract, lying to get out of one, or trying to return a used product to the vendor, all of which are ethical breaches.

 

They'd be exercising their right to cancel before final payment. I don't see anything wrong with trying to get the best deal as a consumer within the mutually agreed-upon terms of the contract.

[cp556]

Our price on a 2008 Jade cruise dropped $1500/cabin today, so the TA simply called NCL and said they'd like to reprice.

Done. No problem, no questions. Confirmed in writing.

Then...we decided with all the money we saved that we'd upgrade one category and STILL save m oney. TA called NCL and accomplished it within one minute. Again confirmed in writing.

So, no ethics problems, no problems at all. I hope your parents are repriced very shortly.

[just4now]

I cancelled and rebooked with no problem before our final payment. We had decided to upgrade our cabin and their were 2 different prices, the NCL rep on the phone quoted one but their website was showing one significantly lower for the same cabin. I booked the new cabin online and the next day, before I even got a chance to call to cancel our original booking, I got a call from a PCC who did that for me, no problem. He laughed and said he'd probably have done the same thing. I bet THAT line's not monitored. ;)

 

I did not use a TA at all.

[Dem920]

My TA calls me when the price goes down. That's why I don't use one of the big agencies. My local TA always looks out for me. Those big on-line agenies may give "rock bottom" prices, but I prefer to have someone I can call and who answers his phone when I have an issue then the "rock bottom price" My TA works hard for my business so I don't begrudge him the commission he makes. I certianly wouldn't work for free. As a matter of fact we just made final payment for our Summer Cruise and got a call two days later from my TA that the price went down for NJ residents. He had secured the new rate for me, but also was able to get me a balcony cabin which is what I had originally wanted for much cheaper then the orginal price I paid for my Oceanview. ANd I kept my OBC.

 

I like the fact that I don't have to watch the prices. I prefer to spend my time checking out the ports and planning my excursions.

 

I'm not sure what the big agencies would do, but I also never get charged a cancellation fee from my TA. Another plus. I know you can cancel and rebook usually without a problem. I agree though to change the first passenger name.

 

DEM920

[Droopy_Sails]

Update: The agency through which my parents and their friends booked their cruise happily readjusted the price, saving them a bundle, so all worked out fine. Looks like it's always a good idea to keep an eye on prices yourself (which I'd do in any case, since I've found that many TAs miss great deals that I catch).

 

Thanks to all for your advice and feedback.

[shamrock47]

How are you all keeping an eye on the prices for your cruises? Most of the on line agents now want to send the quote via return email.

[garycarla]

How are you all keeping an eye on the prices for your cruises? Most of the on line agents now want to send the quote via return email.

 

SOME of the online agents want to send quotes via email. And those rates might be a little bit better since they can not always advertise publicly certain rates.

 

But, you can get an idea of what is going on by going to the other sites that will quote you current pricing such as travelocity, expedia, orbitz, etc.