commodoredave

What you and SS are saying is that if the customer doesn't want to purchase the D2D trip at the price presented, it is up to them to click on the various elements they don't want, deduct the credits that are listed for each item, and then deduct the total of all those credits to come up with a price for a P2P. And then to say "thank you" for doing this extra work for them, the cruise line requires a larger down payment, with less friendly cancellation terms, and extends a lower frequent cruiser discount. Wouldn't it be more customer friendly to present two prices -- one for D2D and one for P2P - and extend the same terms for both?

At the end of the day, booking a cruise with SS now seems to be more confusing and less customer-friendly than it used to be. It's not that we are new to cruising -- DW and and I have been on 75 cruises including most of the luxury lines. And, we have 4 cruises booked over the next 10 months, three of which are with SS. It's just that we feel SS no longer wants our business as much as they used to, which means it is time for us to drop SS and look elsewhere for the future.

Can anyone tell me the logic behind SS requiring a non-refundable and higher % down payment and also giving a lower Venetian Society % discount for a P2P than a D2D cruise? Is this meant to punish people for choosing P2P, or does it cost SS more to offer P2P than D2D and they are simply reflecting that in the overall price?

Yes. In addition, some some future cruises may only be sold as D2D, and may not be available as P2P.