What is the penalty to cancel before final payment?

[mexico8]

We made a deposit in January and a second deposit in July for a mid-November cruise and before the final payment was due (Sept. 15) we had to cancel because of illness. We were never given the rules about cancellation or penalty or any fine print. All we got from our web based TA was the invoice. The cruise line now tell us that our penalty is the $2,000.00 we paid as deposits. Is this the norm for most cruise lines?

[sirwired]

Which line were you planning to cruise with?

[mexico8]

Which line were you planning to cruise with?

It was MV Discovery. They only have one ship.

 

Wendy

[Host Caroline]

It may be too late for this time but you should always go directly to cruise line website for cancellation info or ask the TA to send you in writing what the cancellation policies are. Some of the major cruise lines really don't penalize you at all or only a small percentage if you cancel before final -- the real penalty starts after that. But the smaller lines and those with one ship don't have policies that liberal.

Here is link to the cruise line's website; this info is under "general information" at bottom of home page.

 

http://us.voyagesofdiscovery.com/id-12473/home.html

 

RESERVATIONS AND PAYMENTS

Effective June 1, 2011

The per person, per cruise deposit required to secure your reservation is:

• $500 Deposit is due within 3 days of booking

• Final Payment is due 121 days prior to departure.

American Express, MasterCard, Visa, travel agency checks and personal checks are accepted for deposits and final payment. Passengers who do not make final payments at appropriate times may be subject to cancellation without notice. In most cases, we are able to provide you with travel documents, including your contract of carriage and airline tickets (where applicable), approximately 30 days prior to sailing.

Travel documents are issued only after final payment and completed Required Passenger Information (RPI) form has been received by the company.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Effective June 1, 2011

Cancellation fees per person are as follows:

121 + days prior to departure Refund of Deposit

120-91 days prior to departure 25% of the fare*

90-61 days prior to departure 60% of the fare*

60-0 days prior to departure 100% of the fare*

*Fare is defined as the cost of any cruise, land or air element purchased from the company.

Voluntary or involuntary termination by the passenger of a cruise in progress will result in no refund. Cruise contracts are non-transferable. Name changes and departure date changes are considered reservation cancellations and are subject to the above cancellation fees

[cruiseco]

It may be too late for this time but you should always go directly to cruise line website for cancellation info or ask the TA to send you in writing what the cancellation policies are. Some of the major cruise lines really don't penalize you at all or only a small percentage if you cancel before final -- the real penalty starts after that. But the smaller lines and those with one ship don't have policies that liberal.

Here is link to the cruise line's website; this info is under "general information" at bottom of home page.

 

http://us.voyagesofdiscovery.com/id-12473/home.html

 

RESERVATIONS AND PAYMENTS

Effective June 1, 2011

The per person, per cruise deposit required to secure your reservation is:

• $500 Deposit is due within 3 days of booking

• Final Payment is due 121 days prior to departure.

American Express, MasterCard, Visa, travel agency checks and personal checks are accepted for deposits and final payment. Passengers who do not make final payments at appropriate times may be subject to cancellation without notice. In most cases, we are able to provide you with travel documents, including your contract of carriage and airline tickets (where applicable), approximately 30 days prior to sailing.

Travel documents are issued only after final payment and completed Required Passenger Information (RPI) form has been received by the company.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Effective June 1, 2011

Cancellation fees per person are as follows:

121 + days prior to departure Refund of Deposit

120-91 days prior to departure 25% of the fare*

90-61 days prior to departure 60% of the fare*

60-0 days prior to departure 100% of the fare*

*Fare is defined as the cost of any cruise, land or air element purchased from the company.

Voluntary or involuntary termination by the passenger of a cruise in progress will result in no refund. Cruise contracts are non-transferable. Name changes and departure date changes are considered reservation cancellations and are subject to the above cancellation fees

 

And also keep in mind that if this was some sort of group or charter booking the cancellation penalties can be whatever the agency or organization that's handling the booking want them to be.

[Host Caroline]

Thanks for pointing that out re "group" or "charter":)... haven't been a TA for nearly 20 years but for any cruise on any cruiseline, that can change the "normal" cancellation policies so no matter where you're going on what ship, be sure if it's a group you also understand what may be different...

[mexico8]

Thank you to all who answered my query. We were not part of any group booking at all. Our internet TA says she requested the policy on cancellations but she never received it so she could not send it to us. The policy we have now is the one effective June 1, 2011 but we booked in January 2011 and wonder what the policy was then. We are hopeful that the cruise line are going to refund some or all of our deposits. I will let you know what I find out.

 

Wendy

[cruiseco]

We were not part of any group booking at all.

 

As far as you know. Some of those large internet agencies have been known to book unsuspecting clients into group space they might be holding. Most of the time it works out well since there might be lower rates and extra perks like onboard credits involved. But there can also be more strict deposit and cancellation policies. Although I'd say the odds of the agency holding some group space on the Discovery are about zero.

[Host Caroline]

Unfortunately way too many folks don't realize they are booking into group space on larger lines especially... anytime an agency takes a block of cabins to sell it's a "group" and this is really prevalent when a new ship comes out! Cruisers sometimes unwittingly discover they are part of a "group" when their final is due 30 days or so before others on their "roll call" who are booked individually. Groups always have earlier final pay date so they have time to "release" cabins that aren't paid up thru the group back to the general public.... MV Discovery would be more likely a charter.

You should be able to get a copy of prior cx policy from the cruise line directly; they have a contact link on their site.