Have you ever cancelled?

[helpthejuggler]

What caused you to cancel?

 

So far we have not had to cancel, but I am checking some sailings and the available rooms and categories seem to sell out and then become free before selling out again. I'm puzzled....

[xxoocruiser]

Unexpected issues at work which made the President of the Company request that I cancel my vacation . He personally paid me any portion ( cruise, airfare, hotel etc) not refunded to me . He was even willing to pay for the vacation when I rebook but I refused his offer .... did not want to feel obligated to him.

[dmwnc1959]

As a gift to my parents I booked us on a late November 4-night cruise out of San Juan PR on the old Nordic Empress. About a month before the cruise my mother turned very ill and was basically home-bound. We were booked in the very first balcony cabin just aft of the Centrum atrium, an excellent location as there would be no other cabins or balconies on that side of the ship forward of us. I cancelled the cruise, we had insurance of course. My mother passed 2 weeks after the cruise date.

 

She only ever got to cruise once in her life, an anniversary gift from me to my parents. They were booked in a Category 12 Suite on the Carnival Ecstasy. She was a good ole girl from the sticks of Tennessee, and she often told me this was one of the highlights of her life. She never failed to break out the pictures to show our friends. I still have a picture of them on the gangway as they visited Nassau. It sits just above me on at my computer desk.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Keep in mind that many cruisers can cancel without penalty up until the final payment date. Many of those cancellations are the result of people booking a cruise (maybe several) on spec, then cancelling the ones they've decided not to go on.

[SuiteTraveler]

Last year, I cancelled 2 cruises long before final payment date. What happened was, we had planned to cruise Allure of the Seas on Valentines and then NCL Epic for our anniversary. Our friends from the UK invited us to cruise on Celebrity Eclipse in the Med in May, instead. We had been wanting to try Celebrity S-class, so I cancelled the other 2 week long cruises in favor of the 2 week Eclipse cruise. In the end, I'm glad I did because it was AWESOME!

[Esprit]

We had to cancel when our daughter was assigned a different ship 48 hours prior to boarding.

 

Our cancellation fee was £75 per person (x 3) but we ended up with a far better cruise and the cost was overall less than the one we had planned for.

[gelo7]

Not yet...

[TeaBag]

As a gift to my parents I booked us on a late November 4-night cruise out of San Juan PR on the old Nordic Empress. About a month before the cruise my mother turned very ill and was basically home-bound. We were booked in the very first balcony cabin just aft of the Centrum atrium, an excellent location as there would be no other cabins or balconies on that side of the ship forward of us. I cancelled the cruise, we had insurance of course. My mother passed 2 weeks after the cruise date.

 

She only ever got to cruise once in her life, an anniversary gift from me to my parents. They were booked in a Category 12 Suite on the Carnival Ecstasy. She was a good ole girl from the sticks of Tennessee, and she often told me this was one of the highlights of her life. She never failed to break out the pictures to show our friends. I still have a picture of them on the gangway as they visited Nassau. It sits just above me on at my computer desk.

That is such a sad little story. I'm glad your Mom got to cruise once. Mine did too.

 

We cancelled one because I had surgery scheduled and the date was too close to the cruise for comfort. It was a 3 day Pacific when Celebrity used to do them and we had a nice balcony cabin. A year later we went on the 10 day Ultimate Alaska Vancouver return in an inside cabin for less money!!

[BEVGOO]

Not long after final payment in late December of 2008, I didn't feel right and went to my OBGYN. I had issues and by beginning the of February I was in for a robotic hysterectomy. My DH was worried sick but told everyone involved that I was strong and would come through ok and we would make our cruise. Well the wonderful doctor did a great job and I didn't have to have chemo and the recovery time was 1 month. I was back to work for a few days and then we left for our March cruise during a rare March blizzard that shut down the airport as soon as we left! I wasn't 100% but the 8 day cruise was relaxing and I was pampered by everyone and it certainly helped the recovery.

 

This year we did have 1 couple that had had us book them when we booked during our last December cruise. Due to various reasons, they had to cancel when final payment came due. Thanks goodness we still have our cruise buddies of 9 years to go with us. I'm sure that is why many cabins open up after final payment.

[Tenn4ever]

We had to cancel our first cruise in May 2008 just a week before sailing. My dad who had cancer was given less than a week to live. He passed away just a few hours before we would have been boarding. We had travel insurance.

[cruisin'mama]

My best friend and I had planned a "mom's" Alaska cruise for my 50th birthday and when the economy tanked, my husband got laid-off and we had to cancel the cruise. But I am happy to report that in July of this year, my friend and I took that belated cruise plus we had 8 fantastic days of touring the great state prior to boarding, and had the most amazing time. It was definitely worth the wait!!

[A Sixth?]

Cancelled many times, but always before final payment so no biggie.

 

Looks like I may cancel my cruise in December as final payment is due this weekend and either:

 

1) The price will drop because 1/4 of the ship is empty so just rebook my "X" cruise again at a lower price

 

2) I'll go on a Princess cruise which is over $1,000.00 less expensive

[HMH G]

Cancelled our original cruise on the Carnival Dream in January of this year due to illness. It was a huge pain, even with the insurance. The insurance company didn't want to pay anything. We originally booked the cruise for one last family vacation after we found out that my Dad had an incurable blood cancer (multiple myeloma). The sickness was well managed for years, but suddenly a month before the cruise we found out that it had turned into Leukemia, and we only had a few months left with him.

 

Long story short, obviously we were devastated, and of course decided to cancel the vacation, as he wasn't well enough to go by then. The insurance company wanted to argue that they wouldn't pay anything because it was a "per-exhisiting" condition. This was not true, the cancer was not the reason it was cancelled, it was the fact that it had turned into leukemia. Multiple doctors contacted the insurance company as well, and finally several months later they re-reimbursed us (less the deposit, of course).

 

After he passed in April, we decided that we desperately needed some time to rejuvenate and since we only had 6 months to re-book the flights, we ended up booking on Royal Caribbean's Allure very last minute. We got the last 3 balcony rooms available.

 

Anyway, there you go.

[Hflors]

Yes. I just cancelled the cruise we had planned for next year as we had the opportunity to buy a vacation home in Florida. So for a year or two I will be cruising in our back yard instead of on a ship! In the long run it will be worth it. Right now its hard as I love CC and am sooooo jealous of everyone with a cruise booked.

[Lois R]

Yes. I just cancelled my first cruise in 8 years of sailing with Celebrity.

I was supposed to sail to Bermuda on Summit leaving on Sept 4th.

My Dad passed away on August 30th.

[born2cruiseagain]

After 15+ cruises, we just had to cancel our first on August 18th. We had actually gotten to San Fransisco Airport where it became apparent my DH would not be able to go. He got ill on the plane and became sicker as time went on. We turned right around, flew home and we ended up having the paramedics take him from LAX to a nearby hospital where he spent 3 days. He is fine now, thank goodness, and we have re booked for next year already. Sadly, we had no insurance. Very costly lesson for us. My first request when booking the new cruise was for insurance. Will never travel without it again!

 

We were meeting 10 other members of our family on this trip :mad:

 

Leanne

[FortyNinerLiz]

What caused you to cancel?

 

So far we have not had to cancel, but I am checking some sailings and the available rooms and categories seem to sell out and then become free before selling out again. I'm puzzled....

 

Not sure I understand your question, but, from my experience people make reservations and cancel before final payment and rooms then become available. Then people buy staterooms for sometimes much lower prices. Did I misunderstand your question?

[dmwnc1959]

That is such a sad little story.

 

I was a Travel Agent for twelve years. There are just too many sad stories out there, mine among them.

 

Just after my mother turned ill I was scheduled on a 7-night Western Caribbean on Sun Princess. I was going to cancel the cruise and that actually infuriated her. She insisted, under pain of never forgiving me, that I go. I was so afraid he would pass while I was gone but she insisted she was OK. I called every day, twice a day, from the ship to check up on her. After I returned she was thrilled to see my pictures and to hear my stories. It was like she was living vicariously through me. A week after I got back was our Nordic Empress cruise, which we cancelled. My mother passed ten days before her birthday, fourteen days before Christmas. On the night after her funeral we had the first snowfall of the year. We all gathered on the back porch and tried catching snowflakes on our tongues, and commented how mom would have loved this.

[fleckle]

.....So far we have not had to cancel, but I am checking some sailings and the available rooms and categories seem to sell out and then become free before selling out again. I'm puzzled....

People may cancel cruises for any number of reasons, just as they cancel other types of vacations.

(Health reasons, job reasons, scheduling conflicts, financial reasons, family obligations, or for a more appealing opportunity elsewhere, to name a few.)

 

But another reason why cabins become free again is simply that people sometimes change cabins. It may be for an upgrade, or a move to a different location, or even a downgrade to a lower category cabin.

 

Oh, and also TAs sometimes hold blocks of cabins and then release them if they don't sell them.

[cynbar]

This isn't exactly related to the OP's question, but I thought I would bring it up. We have never cancelled. and we always book a cabin we will be happy with. After final payment, we closely watch the prices, which usually come down. We have gotten some great deals by upgrading ourselves to much better cabins (usually suites) close to sailing, thus freeing up our other very nice cabin category. I suppose some of those cabins may have been cancellations, but it is a great strategy.

[suzzek]

On Tues. I had to cancel our upcoming cruise in Jan. 2012. I was sad to cancel, but the reason was so that I can pursue a new business venture that I am very excited about. I might be able to reschedule this year but maybe not...our oldest daughter is getting married in June and we might be wise to direct our "discretionary income" in her direction.:eek:;):D

[ghstudio]

We booked a cruise on the upper amazon (not celebrity). After final payment, I found that I was medically unable to get a yellow fever shot which was not required, but certainly recommended for that cruise. I called the tour/cruise company and explained the situation, knowing that they had no obligation to refund any of the money we had paid. Fortunately, they understood and gave us a full refund as a credit towards another trip which is how we wound up visiting India.

 

BTW...this can be a serious problem for those of us who can not get the vaccine. Some countries will not allow you to enter if you have not received the vaccine and you have visited a yellow fever risk country, even if there is no yellow fever outbreak.

 

Finally, travel insurance would not cover you for this......unless you had "cancel for any reason" coverage.

[Tara Jane]

Is it just a USA thing that you can cancel up to final payment date without penalty? reading the fine print info on my aussie brochure is says loss of deposit for cancellations between 150 - 71 days and more penalty closer to the date of sailing. I have just booked a Nov 30 cruise, at a good price, was charged the full amount rather than a deposit. If those in USA are able to book then cancel without penalty I can inderstand why many cabins become available, even more reason to wait til close to time of sailing before booking. I am just going to make sure I dont check the price in case it now goes down dramatically.

[spursdebs]

Is it just a USA thing that you can cancel up to final payment date without penalty? reading the fine print info on my aussie brochure is says loss of deposit for cancellations between 150 - 71 days and more penalty closer to the date of sailing. I have just booked a Nov 30 cruise, at a good price, was charged the full amount rather than a deposit. If those in USA are able to book then cancel without penalty I can inderstand why many cabins become available, even more reason to wait til close to time of sailing before booking. I am just going to make sure I dont check the price in case it now goes down dramatically.

#

I agree with you, in UK we will lose our depoit if we cancel at any time £150 each, we have to pay full balance 10 weeks before, then there is a sliding % scale after that ....i would never travel without travel insurance for this type of holiday just to risky and stupid.

 

debs

[helpthejuggler]

My original question was prompted as we had priced a silhouette sailing in aug 12 while on solstice but thought it to be expensive (1000gbp/$1500 pp more than solstice). I have been watching the price using the sea scanner site.

 

I was seeing categories selling out then becoming free, prices change, selling out and becoming free again. All this 12 months before sailing.

 

I might be interested in this cruise at a better price, but if it stays high, we will find something else better value. It seemed very volatile which near final payment might happen, but seemed odd 1 year out.

 

There have been some sad responses and some unexpected reasons to cancel. I was wondering if cancellations were more common than the unforseen reasons (health, work).

 

I see that the celebrity site allows a courtesy hold feature which might cause what I am seeing. Or maybe this sailing will sell very well and I should look elsewhere.

 

As we would lose deposits with a cancellation, I have no experience of having to cancel. I am also interested in what happens if I need to change sailing dates. What happens with deposits?