Your expert help requested! Princess Cancellation Policies and other questions.

[bobaroo]

Due to a screwup on my part, I was only able to book one cabin out of the two I need on the Diamond Princess departing October 09, 2004. Now only the Penthouse Suites are left for US$2600-2800 :mad:

I am #12 on the waiting list. The cabin I did get was a GG oceanview obstructed for what was listed at US$699/person but for some reason I only ended up paying CAD$1500 total, which tranlates to about US$555/person inclusive of all charges.

 

So now I am looking to take Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas on Oct. 10 instead.

 

I have a few questions for you guys.

1. What are my chances of moving up on the waiting list? what kind of time frame am I looking at? I get antsy and might bail since I want to guarantee 2 cabins. princess wouldn't tell me anything as they didn't want to make a "promise"

 

2. Is it possible to change the names and "sell" the cruise to friends or aquaintances as it seems to be quite the bargain. If so, what kind of charges are involved.

 

3. I wasn't told an exact cancellation charge. Anyone know what it might be?

 

4. I was told by Princess that there might be travel agencies that bought in bulk and still have spots available. Anyone know how I might go about finding these agencies? Princess told me that information was private, which is understandable.

[bobaroo]

Someone please help me out! I want to make a decision today as to whether to abandon my Princess Diamond cabin and just go for Royal's Vision of the Seas.

[spongerob]

You're inside 60 days before the cruise, so you are in the "penalty" period. If you cancel, you are going to lose some portion of the fare you paid - I'd guess 25%, but possibly it's less.

 

There is no guarantee that another cabin will come available. You can't sell or transfer current booking, so that option is out. You might just have to bite the bullet to be assured of getting the space you need on the other ship. Before you do, call to see if you waitlist status has changed. Good luck!

[Pam in CA]

Have you paid in full yet? If so, then Rob is right and you're within the 25% penalty time. If not, then you can cancel. You should probably check with your travel agent to see what your options are. They are the ones who should have given you all of the payment and penalty information.

[jeniceglassman]

Bobaroo..our documents state the penalty for cancellation for your time frame is the brochure deposit amounts. (74-43 days before a non-holiday sailing) Hope this helps you with your choices.

[bobaroo]

On a whim I decided to check out Travelocity.com this morning at 6:30 am and noticed a bunch of junior suites and balcony rooms had opened up! There were 2 balcony rooms in BC (A727 and B535) which were priced at a bit more than I had wanted to spend at US$1139, but I decided to take the plunge since I had the good fortune of being billed in CAD$ for my other cabin.

 

Not wanting to miss my opportunity, I immediately tried to get on the phone with both Princess and Travelocity but I had to wait until 8 am EST for them to open. I tried both of them at 7:59 and still got their auto "call during business hours" message. But then got through at precise 8 am to Travelocity. Actually my mother did... I was dialing Princess and got through at the exact time as well! I guess their switchboard system literally opens up to the live reps at exactly 8am! Travelocity was telling my mother they couldn't switch the waitlist confimation over to the 2 BC rooms since we weren't waitlisted for them, and to call Princess. Good thing I already had them on the line... the Princess rep was having trouble as well switching, and decided to open a new booking. She took what I swear was 10 minutes "tranferring" the information over manually... I could've told her all the info she needed, but refused to listen. Not only was she slow, but when I checked later on, I saw that half the fields were typoed! but thats another story....

 

So... ~10 minutes later she tells me that she's not able to "grab" B535 (my first choice) and asked if A727 was ok... at that point I was like, "Yes, yes, I'll take it.. just hurry.....please....." So I finally got my new confirmation # at 8:17. YES! so i went back to Travelocity and saw that only the penthouses were left again. Thank goodness the agent wasn't any slower than she already was...

 

So... none of my questions apply anymore. But thanks for all your input! I can't tell you how much I appreciated it! :D Having cabins in limbo sure is exciting, and gets the blood flowing, but I'm not sure my heart could have taken another day of anxiety.

 

BTW. Anyone have input as to which of the A737 room on the Aloha Deck, or the B535 on the Baja Deck was better? I chose the Baja one because it was closer to the middle of the boat, but I'm not sure if that actually makes it "better"?

[spongerob]

There is no substantial difference between the two cabins. It's good that you got everything resolved so quickly. Welcome aboard!

[srphnx]

I have sailed both ships, you are going to be very happy that you got a way to sail the Diamond.