What can you do if cruise paid & price drops?

[Bellair]

G'day.

We recently paid for a HAL cruise ( 5 days ago) & this week the price fell by around $1700 for both of us.

 

Do any of you wonderful cruisers out there know if this has happend to yourselves....do we just wait & book & pay at the last minute?

 

We booked thru a discount cruise agent in FL, USA

 

Regards

 

N & P

[boards]

We booked our cruise through a TA and when the price changes we have contacted her and she will make the change for us to the better price and often to a better location and cabin. Then has just been done on our behalf recently. However this is before final payment, if it happens after I don't know what to tell you, it is probably too late by then.

[lvtotrvl1]

I would not wait...the price will change again. Call your agent and if your category did drop they should adjust your rate for you. Call before the price changes again...it may go up very quickly.....or down again, at which time, call your agent again for the price drop.

[jhannah]

I am assuming your payment was final payment for your March cruise. If so, the price shown is one offered for new bookings only. It's a promotional rate HAL has put out there to finish filling the ship. You might be able to cancel and rebook, but 1) the TA might make you pay a cancellation fee, and 2) if you made a choice of cabin then it might also go away. When someone cancels, the waiting list for that category kicks in almost immediately and grabs the cabin.

 

Don't mean to throw a wet blanket on your hopes of saving money. I'm just pretty sure you won't be able to get this lower rate.

[fllady]

It won't hurt to try to get the lower rate, if not then its up to you to eithr cancel and rebook or forget about it. Sorry, wish it was easier, but some of these "discount" places, as you are finding out aren't.

[Jade13]

You might be able to cancel and rebook, but 1) the TA might make you pay a cancellation fee, and 2) if you made a choice of cabin then it might also go away. quote]

 

You need to check the fine print in any cruise insurance if you try to cancel and rebook. Many make the pre-existing condition exclusion for "first bookings only". They do this to avoid fraud (even though there are lots of us that just want a better cruise fare) because some folks who didn't purchase insurance want to book again to buy the insurance in the alotted time frame to avoid the pre-existing condition clause. Someone on this site posted a story of someone who did this because they had a heart attack after they booked and so rebooked to get insurance. They then needed to be medivaced home when they got sick on board and found out later that insurance would not pay them.

[Sea Island Lady]

You could also lose your dining seating assignments if you cancel and re-book. That's what we faced when we tried to get a better rate. Decided not to chance.

[boards]

We were concerned about our seating assignment, but our TA says we have the one we first asked for. I thought maybe this was going to be our time to have to try AYW dining. So far it all looks good.

[hammybee]

I am assuming your payment was final payment for your March cruise. If so, the price shown is one offered for new bookings only. It's a promotional rate HAL has put out there to finish filling the ship. You might be able to cancel and rebook, but 1) the TA might make you pay a cancellation fee, and 2) if you made a choice of cabin then it might also go away. When someone cancels, the waiting list for that category kicks in almost immediately and grabs the cabin.

 

Don't mean to throw a wet blanket on your hopes of saving money. I'm just pretty sure you won't be able to get this lower rate.

 

I am thinking the OP is on the Aukland to Osaka sailing in March and the point of no return has come and gone.

 

It's like hitting the stores the day after Christmas and seeing the same thing, now it's a fraction of the price paid, 2 days earlier.

[kdowneymd]

I must say that when the price dropped on several different med cruises we had booked on RCCL (we had booked through the cruise line) even when final payment had been made, when the price dropped for one of our cabins we were given a credit for the difference. the price had increased for the other and needless to say we were not charged the additional fee. I am surprised HAL would not honor the same

[Bellair]

I am assuming your payment was final payment for your March cruise. If so, the price shown is one offered for new bookings only. It's a promotional rate HAL has put out there to finish filling the ship. You might be able to cancel and rebook, but 1) the TA might make you pay a cancellation fee, and 2) if you made a choice of cabin then it might also go away. When someone cancels, the waiting list for that category kicks in almost immediately and grabs the cabin.

 

Don't mean to throw a wet blanket on your hopes of saving money. I'm just pretty sure you won't be able to get this lower rate.

 

Many thanks to you.

 

I have read your comments many times & appreciate your advice.

 

Click here to see the crew' Christmas on board!

 

A Joyous Christmas to you our friends as we celebrate His birthday

 

Much love

 

Noel & Pat

[dforeigner]

Being that you are in Australia, unless you booked through an Agency in the US, there may be different rules that apply to you. I am not familiar with HAL's policy but if it is like Princess, things may not look good for you. Hopefully some of the TAs will chime in. Give them a few hours. It is 0541 AM central time here in the US. Good luck.

[jhannah]

... unless you booked through an Agency in the US ...

She did. She said she booked thru a discount cruise agent in Florida.

[dforeigner]

She did. She said she booked thru a discount cruise agent in Florida.

 

Well Mr H, I just noticed that. Last sentence. Time for me to go to bed.

[Jade13]

I must say that when the price dropped on several different med cruises we had booked on RCCL (we had booked through the cruise line) even when final payment had been made, when the price dropped for one of our cabins we were given a credit for the difference. the price had increased for the other and needless to say we were not charged the additional fee. I am surprised HAL would not honor the same

 

I saw this on the RCCL board and thought it was highly unusual. I couldn't tell if RCCL does this all the time as policy, made an error, or does this when asked by loyal customers. It hardly makes sense from a business perspective. While Alaska sailing as an example seem to sell out (or they did with HAL) other sailing usually have something left and they can have large discounts weeks before the cruise. If RCCL refunded money months later to all guests, they would loose a lot of money. Other questions would be if the refund was within x time of booking (a lot of big retail stores give you 10 or 14 days to come back with a receipt), or maybe they only do this with certain sailings such as Med cruises?

[kryos]

It won't hurt to try to get the lower rate, if not then its up to you to eithr cancel and rebook or forget about it. Sorry, wish it was easier, but some of these "discount" places, as you are finding out aren't.

That's what travel agents are for. The OP should hop on the phone ASAP with her agent. That agent, if she is worth anything, will be able to argue with HAL for either a reduced price, or ... if the price is for new bookings only ... then some sort of consideration, such as a major cabin upgrade or a nice OBC.

 

The problem with booking cruises is that if you book in advance, you take a chance. If the price drops, you may not be able to take advantage of it because that reduced price could be only for new bookings. If you are within your cancellation period, sure ... you could cancel and rebook at the reduced price, but then you're likely to lose your cabin and have to settle for something less desirable. You may also have to pay a "cancellation fee" to your agent for the extra work involved in cancelling and rebooking.

 

On the other hand, though, you could wait too long to book and wind up being closed out if cabins sell out on your particular cruise. Even if you do get on, you could wind up paying more than you would have had you booked early because perhaps your particular sailing is selling briskly.

 

So, it's all a game. Book early and get a great price plus your choice of cabins because the cruise sells rapidly, or wind up losing money because bookings are slow and HAL reduces prices for new bookings. Book late and you could wind up snagging a great deal on the one hand, or could wind up paying through the nose ... or not getting on the boat at all ... on the other.

 

You just never know.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[jerseyjk]

Usually after final payment, the only hope is OBC or a better cabin. On a recent NCL cruise I called my TA and she got me upped from a balcony and an inside cabin to two adjoining balconies for no additional cost.

 

The worst they can say is no, but a good TA won't take that for an answer.

[RevNeal]

That Christmas Video from the Westerdam was wonderful!

Thank you so much for sharing it!