NCL policy change for deposit on courtyard villas

[wheresthewater]

Was looking forward to a great time on NCL Jewel in March 2008. Had placed a deposit on one of the A3 courtyard villas 11/10, waiting to hear from friends if they could join us. When they got back to me on Monday saying they couldn't make those dates, I called my agent and requested switching to a AE suite instead. Lo and behold NCL was going to charge me $1500 from the $3500 deposit because of change in policy (HQ/Miami said back in March 2007). HQ was so sure they would have a vacant A3 (for mid-March 2008), they insisted on only applying $2000 to the AE suite. HQ said the change in policy had come out in the new 2008-2009 brochures, which my agent had requested several times but was told printing hadn't been completed. Amazingly, HQ seems to think its better to take the $1500, lose the passengers for the AE suite, and lose a frequent NCL cruiser. Tell me just how that works to NCL's advantage. Other than disputing the charge with my credit card company and abandoning the entire cruise season for my husband and daughter, I'm left to fume over such poor customer relations.

 

Let me know what you think. Was I simply a dumb bunny on some point here? If so, let me know. This is one hell of an expensive learning curve.

[fin]

You paid a deposit without knowing whether others could be with you?

[Buford T Justiice]

Sorry to hear about the snafu, Check this thread for more info.:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=594413&highlight=Deposit+Courtyard+Villa

 

 

I searched NCL's Forum for "Deposit on Courtyeard Villa"

[wheresthewater]

Yep, I paid a deposit, thinking it was just a deposit, not knowing I was just tossing meat to the lion, thinking to get a scrap back later. Like I said, a sharp learning curve.

[llachance]

read this a number of times since the new policy was implemented - although I never saw it in writing. Just hoping that we won't have to change our plans and loose our deposit.

[lvz2cruz]

Did you receive written notice of this policy prior to them taking your deposit? Don't know how they can legally keep it if not.

Good luck to you.

[lou_vnj]

Reading this thread and the other thread referenced, my question would be:

would cruise insurance cover the loss of the deposits???

 

I would have to guess yes, so if you had any doubts about ability to make cruise, you'd take out insurance when the deposit is due. Sounds crazy, but necessary in this case.

[Cosmopolitan]

Was looking forward to a great time on NCL Jewel in March 2008. Had placed a deposit on one of the A3 courtyard villas 11/10, waiting to hear from friends if they could join us. When they got back to me on Monday saying they couldn't make those dates, I called my agent and requested switching to a AE suite instead. Lo and behold NCL was going to charge me $1500 from the $3500 deposit because of change in policy (HQ/Miami said back in March 2007). HQ was so sure they would have a vacant A3 (for mid-March 2008), they insisted on only applying $2000 to the AE suite. HQ said the change in policy had come out in the new 2008-2009 brochures, which my agent had requested several times but was told printing hadn't been completed. Amazingly, HQ seems to think its better to take the $1500, lose the passengers for the AE suite, and lose a frequent NCL cruiser. Tell me just how that works to NCL's advantage. Other than disputing the charge with my credit card company and abandoning the entire cruise season for my husband and daughter, I'm left to fume over such poor customer relations.

 

Let me know what you think. Was I simply a dumb bunny on some point here? If so, let me know. This is one hell of an expensive learning curve.

 

Just a thought....if you refer to http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=594413&highlight=Deposit+Courtyard+Villa - How is it in post No. 12,

 

nhrich had this information but your agent did not?? You may want to go back and discuss this with your agent.

 

Perhaps Nita will post, she's really good with her knowledge of these things. Good Luck!

[calikak]

I also wondered why your agent wasn't aware of this, since the policy has been in place for a while now. In early September we did a booking for a CV on the Pearl (sailing May 2008) and the person at NCL explained the deposit policy to our agent, who then called us to make sure we were OK with it before calling NCL back to finalize the booking.

[beachchick]

Reading this thread and the other thread referenced, my question would be:

would cruise insurance cover the loss of the deposits???

 

I would have to guess yes, so if you had any doubts about ability to make cruise, you'd take out insurance when the deposit is due. Sounds crazy, but necessary in this case.

 

Unless the other people were already booked and unless they cancelled for a covered reason, no insurance would cover this. Travel insurance covers losses only for specific reasons not "my friends decided they couldn't join us on the cruise." (Exception: There are some travel insurance policies that allow you to cancel--that's cancel, not change cabin categories--for any reason and either get your money back or credit toward a future cruise. The third-party insurers who have these types of policies charge more than for the regular policies; the cruise lines who have these types of policies usually only allow a percentage to be refunded or a credit toward a future cruise.)

 

Unfortunately, the idea of using travel insurance to cover this situation will not work.

 

beachchick

[wheresthewater]

Just wanted to let you know I appreciate the feedback. Yes, I learned, again, a valuable lesson. Never deposit without insurance!! Also, not all agents are current on all lines.

 

I'm a medical transcriptionist who works at home, and despite this aggravation realize I'm grateful for my good health and the ability to cruise when I want to despite financial set-backs. There are more important things in life and I'll just focus on that while I work around this problem.

[blindrid]

Good thought. It may be a lesson to you but I guess I wouldn't be real happy with friends that agree to go and then let you know it won't work. I can't really blame NCL on this one even though it did cost you some $'s.

 

Good luck and have a safe trip.