Cruise cancellation charges

[medusa2014]

I booked a cruise which we paid £13,377.00 for including charges ( yes I had a senior moment but is was for a special occasion ) and tried to cancel one hour later, we were told we had already lost 50% of the money, as there is no cooling off period on booking cruises, and at that time the money was still in our account,

and what we were also not aware of was that if you book a cabin which had been discounted from an cruise agent for £6599.00 each as we did, the cruise line-company want to base the charge on the full price of of that cabin at £8299.00 each, which means when you cancel, your 50% refund works out only being worth £4717.00 which would mean a massive loss to you of over £8000.00, I will add that I managed to overturn this charge, and received back £6509.00 in the end, even then how can any company justify these cancellation charges, it just doesn't seem legal in this day and age.

[Jay23]

Small print I am afraid. You must have booked this very close to the final payment day.

[Kartgv]

Cancellation refund policies vary by cruise line and, unfortunately for you, country. UK is the place we hear about most often that does not conform to the much more generous policies affecting US bookings. For example, if you cancel a cruise booked in the US on Princess, and cancel more than 75 days from sail date, your full deposit is refunded (120 days if the cruise is more than 30 days long). There's a sliding scale after that point - even if you cancel 14 days before sail date, you get back 25%. I've read that some UK consumer protection laws are part of the reason, but don't know if that's true. I've never before heard the part about discounted pricing making a difference on the refund amount. I'd be upset also if this had happened to me!

 

There are many threads on this topic on almost every board - just do a search on "UK Cancellation Policies" on the board for your cruise line for more specific comments.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Kartgv

[Flatbush Flyer]

Lesson learned: ALWAYS read (and understand) the fine print.

[Hlitner]

Not sure everyone realized that the OP is in an EU Country (England) which are bound by rules that are quite different from what we have in North America. In the US and Canada the cruise lines and travel industry have a lot of flexibility (although there are certain consumer oriented laws) on their deposit and cancellation policies. But in Europe, many of the rules are specified by the EU. While some of their rules do a lot to protect consumers, other rules really hurt consumers.

 

Hank

[YubaSutter]

Not sure everyone realized that the OP is in an EU Country (England) which are bound by rules that are quite different from what we have in North America. In the US and Canada the cruise lines and travel industry have a lot of flexibility (although there are certain consumer oriented laws) on their deposit and cancellation policies. But in Europe, many of the rules are specified by the EU. While some of their rules do a lot to protect consumers, other rules really hurt consumers.

 

Hank

 

Yes, most picked up on the UK region in post #3. Or the OP's use of the £ sign in post #1. They also stated their location under location.

Edited October 16, 2015 by YubaSutter

[fishywood]

Above info about draconian cancellation fees for UK cruise passengers is correct. But so common knowledge there that it calls the OP's credibility into question.

 

Common knowledge includes that if CFAR insurance is desired it must be engaged and paid for at the moment of booking. Did the TA offer insurance and the OP declined? Or as suspected by their paying in full, is the sailing date so close that no travel insurer would cover them? (Another common issue outside the USA for last minute bookings).

 

Anyway the OP's confession of a "senior moment" leads one to conclude that this wasn't their first and that charging lavish purchases to their credit card under the assumption they can arbitrarily be cancelled is a habit. I hope intervention from a family member, or at least a lowering of the limit on their card, is forthcoming.

[Jay23]

I don't believe there is any Travel Insurance Policy in the UK that will cover Cancel For Any Reason.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Jay23

[babs135]

I don't believe there is any Travel Insurance Policy in the UK that will cover Cancel For Any Reason.

 

You're right. I was interested in a cruise for 2017 but a lot can happen between now and then and without the type of policy mentioned above I'm simply not prepared to take the chance. It seems to me we have a lot to learn from our friends across the pond.

[BlueRiband]

What happened that made you try to cancel just one hour after booking? I'm having some trouble understanding how a person can go from happy anticipation for a special occasion to buyer's remorse in such a short time span.

 

If you booked a discounted price on an ultra luxury suite it was probably a late booking where cancellation penalties apply. You entered into a contract with the cruise line: they take the suite off the market and hold it for you. You can't go to a Jaguar dealer, buy their top model because it's been your dream to own it, then expect to return it one hour later for a full refund.

 

At the risk of sounding like I'm "beating up" on you, spending such a huge amount of money without checking the terms and conditions was completely your fault.

[medusa2014]

Hello again

Thank you all for your comments.

I would like to just say that I take full responsibility for the problems I caused myself booking this cruise and the money I also lost as well, but it still gives me the right to question the right of any cruise company to take the amount of money they did, this deal was for one day only, so it had to be a quick decision and 65 days to departure. ( decide in haste repent at leisure as they say )

 

Although I did try and cancel this cruise within one hour I did not put it in writing till 4 days later so we had time to think, the reason for me cancelling was the 4 visas, yellow fever injections and malaria tablets to be taken to do this cruise, it would have been nice if the cruise agents actually put all these details on their adverts, so people could think about these things before phoning up to enquire, I was told on the phone, but it didn't sink in till later.

 

A lot of you mentioned small print, but where in the small print would it say that the 50% percent of money you would get back, would be worked out on the full price,of the cabin not the discounted price you payed for it, so that could mean I suppose if in this case the full price for the cabin was say £14000.00 instead of £8299.00 as it was, you could in theory loose all your money and still owe them more.

 

 

The main reason I did this post, was to try and prevent anyone else making the same mistake, I know my actions make me look stupid, and maybe I am, but if this stops even one person loosing any money in the future it is worth it.

[kitty9]

It's actually not in the fine print, but explicitly stated in the section where they state the various penalties for cancelling after final payment date, which is what your booking was. While rules are different outside North America, cancelation penalties are similar.

 

Sorry this happened to you.

[BlueRiband]

..."

The main reason I did this post, was to try and prevent anyone else making the same mistake, I know my actions make me look stupid, and maybe I am, but if this stops even one person loosing any money in the future it is worth it.

 

Thank you for coming back to explain that happened. However the responsibility for travel documentation - visas, inoculations - is on the passenger. You apparently responded to an advert and booked directly with a cruise line. Cruise line agents are usually low salary personnel who have never sailed on the lines operated by their employers. A travel agent who specializes in cruises may have been able to give you more proactive help on the travel requirements.

 

Your mistake was taking a "fire, aim, ready" approach to booking what appeared to be a great deal. Only when you were financially committed did you check the visa and immunization requirements. At least you got back some money and won't make the same mistake again.

[medusa2014]

Hi Kitty 9

Yes I did see the cancellation fees, the problem is that I paid £3000.00 less than the invoice I received from the cruise company, 4 days later, so my 50% was to be based on the higher amount, what I meant was that higher figure could be anything they wanted it to be

[Host Hattie]

As far as I know there is no "cooling off period" for any sort of holiday booking on-line, once it is booked the cancellation fees apply.

 

Thanks for the warning though.