Non Refundable Deposit is now the default pricing

[iancal]

Most of our cruises are booked inside the final payment window and at a discount...often significant. No issue with paying in full, non refundable.

 

Would we accept a non refundable deposit on cruises booked prior to final payment? Absolutely NOT! Well....maybe if the non refundable deposit was a dollar. The one exception would be a significantly discounted fare.

 

We didn't just fall off the pumpkin truck.

[boze9999]

For what it's worth, HAL's cancellation policy has not changed since 2012-

This is HAL's official Cancellation Policy as posted today (7/12/17) on their full website:

Refunds (except for amounts paid for CPP) will be made in accordance with the following Cancellation Policy for written cancellations received prior to the date on which you are to commence travel by air, rail, sea or otherwise.

For bookings made in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man, submit written cancellations to Holland America Line, 100 Harbour Parade, Southampton.SO15 1ST or Enquiries@hollandamerica.co.uk.

For bookings made in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark, submit written cancellations to Holland America Line, Otto Reuchlinweg 1110, 3072 MD, Rotterdam or informatie@hollandamerica.com.

For bookings made in Australia, submit written cancellations to Holland America Line, 15 Mount Street, North Sydney, NSW, 2060 Australia or generalenquiries@hollandamerica.com.au.

For bookings made in the United States and all other countries not listed above, submit written cancellations to Holland America Line, 300 Elliott Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119 or Hal_Reservations@HollandAmerica.com.

Cancellation fees apply to the entire cruise booking, including cruise fare, air add-ons, ground transfers, pre-cruise and post-cruise hotel and tour packages. Guests who cancel within the dates shown below for any reason, including medical or family reasons, are subject to the following per-person cancellation fees:

View Cancellation Policy

If you have purchased a specially priced promotion that is 100% non-refundable from the point of payment, you are not entitled to any refund, payment, compensation or credit whatsoever of your gross fare if you cancel your booking.

Given that the resale of cancelled space will likely result in a lost opportunity to sell other space, these fees are due regardless of resale. Fees incurred as a result of cancellation cannot be applied to future bookings. Refunds will normally be made to your travel professional. Travel professionals may impose their own cancellation fees. Agency fees of any nature are a matter to be decided on solely by the agency and guests.

Name changes require the prior approval of Holland America Line and may not always be possible. Cruise contracts are nontransferable. Name changes and departure date changes are considered reservation cancellations and are subject to cancellation fees.

 

 

updated 09/07/12

This is the popup on the "view cancellation policy "hyperlink:

CANCELLATION POLICY

 

Cancellation fees apply to the entire cruise booking, including cruise fare, air add-ons, ground transfers, pre-cruise and post-cruise hotel and tour packages. Guests who cancel within the dates shown below for any reason, including medical or family reasons, are subject to the following per-person cancellation fees:

Grand World; Grand Voyages; any Segment of a Grand World or Grand Voyage; 29-50 day Hawaii, Tahiti & Marquesas; Incan Empires; Amazon Explorer; 30+ day Europe Transatlantic or any segment of a 30+ day Europe Transatlantic sailing; Africa Explorer and Far East Explorer

120–91 days before commencing travel: an amount equal to deposit requirement;

90–76 days before commencing travel: 60% of gross fare;

75 days or less before commencing travel: 100% of gross fare.

All Holiday; Australia; New Zealand; South Pacific; Asia; Prinsendam Europe; South America and Antarctica sailings

90–64 days before commencing travel: an amount equal to deposit requirement;

63–43 days before commencing travel: 50% of gross fare;

42–22 days before commencing travel: 75% of gross fare.

21 days or less before commencing travel: 100% of gross fare.

Caribbean; Panama Canal; Mexico; Canada & New England; Pacific Coastal; Pacific Northwest; Alaska and Alaska Land+Sea Journeys; Europe (except Prinsendam Europe, 30+ day Transatlantic and segments of 30+ day Transatlantic) and 27-day or less Hawaii sailings

75–57 days before commencing travel: an amount equal to deposit requirement;

56–29 days before commencing travel: 50% of gross fare;

28–16 days before commencing travel: 75% of gross fare;

15 days or less before commencing travel: 100% of gross fare.

Given that the resale of cancelled space will likely result in a lost opportunity to sell other space, these fees are due regardless of resale. Fees incurred as a result of cancellation cannot be applied to future bookings. Refunds will normally be made to your travel professional. Travel professionals may impose their own cancellation fees. Agency fees of any nature are a matter to be decided on solely by the agency and guests.

Name changes require the prior approval of Holland America Line and may not always be possible. Cruise contracts are nontransferable. Name changes and departure date changes are considered reservation cancellations and are subject to cancellation fees.

[POA1]

I blame the super genius, rocket scientist who came up with the dollar deposits. This has his or her name all over it.

[Hflors]

This happened to me several weeks ago. I was looking at a cruise in 2019. When I called for the dep. it was $3500.00 total. I said it was a lot of money. Then the rep said something like if I did another fare I could have the dep. at $1750.00. I took the rest of the info down and said I would talk to dh and call back. We talked it over and said $1750.00 was ok. Since the cruise is just about 2 yrs away. The next day I called back and got a different agent and said we had decided to book and we wanted this other deal and would do the $1750.00 dep. that is when she said it was "non-refundable"! Well the deal was good, but not that good. We are going to hold off until the cruise comes closer and decide then. I didn't think this was going to be a norm. The way the rep. spoke this was something not usual, but it was being done because the cruise was so long and so far away. I think a lot of people will hold off and wait until after final payment to book their cruises.

[kazu]

This happened to me several weeks ago. I was looking at a cruise in 2019. When I called for the dep. it was $3500.00 total. I said it was a lot of money. Then the rep said something like if I did another fare I could have the dep. at $1750.00. I took the rest of the info down and said I would talk to dh and call back. We talked it over and said $1750.00 was ok. Since the cruise is just about 2 yrs away. The next day I called back and got a different agent and said we had decided to book and we wanted this other deal and would do the $1750.00 dep. that is when she said it was "non-refundable"! Well the deal was good, but not that good. We are going to hold off until the cruise comes closer and decide then. I didn't think this was going to be a norm. The way the rep. spoke this was something not usual, but it was being done because the cruise was so long and so far away. I think a lot of people will hold off and wait until after final payment to book their cruises.

 

You are so right. HAL just gave away their Early Bookings IMO. If my booking had this attached to it, I would not have booked. I am actually rethinking it all now.

 

Who wants to call every time you see a price decrease????

 

Since there is still a promo on our cruise there was no need to do this to elicit sales. Heck, the cruise is so pricey as it is that you have to want to do it.

 

I don't get venting often, but I am on this one. They should be publishing both fares so consumers can make an educated decision.

[CJcruzer]

I just received HAL email with"snap fares" - which is what this new non refundable deposit (albeit at 50% reduced deposit) program is.

 

The minute you slap the money down to deposit, IT IS TOTALLYnon refundable, even a day after you paid it.

 

I checked my 2018 sailing, and it still is more on the snap fare than I was quoted on private Mariner sale mailing.

 

Now for my 2019 cruise, I am not locking in anything - I was told I could save $600 total if I took the non refundable deposit option, but almost 2 years out - I am not committing,

 

The whole cruise industry may come up with more interesting and creative incentives and plans, I will wait. If I am not pleased with my fare, I can cancel and get my deposit back before the final payment window frame.

 

I think HAL may rethink this if it backfires on them.

[crystalspin]

I did what Cruise Junky did and NO SMALL PRINT except the RA1 note, and a LINK to Cancellation Policy. Where is says as quoted, that IF you booked under a non-refundable promotion it was non-refundable.

 

However, I got to the page in my dummy booking by starting at homepage and the PlanACruise way -- not through the SNAP e-mail... and the SNAP logo *never showed up on any of the booking pages!*

Definitely opaque. dr'spin is all about, "They're a business, doing business." But I call sneaky. "Look, $600 instead of $1200!" Only instead of using your $1200 interest free for up to 2 years, we'll just KEEP your $600...

 

Fortunately I know what questions to ask my PCC.

[cbr663]

But what you're saying is it is hidden because before you pay anything they let you know.

 

They are letting you know so it isn't hidden.

 

They are not taking money and then advising, or flat not telling them at all.

 

Each and every one of us is responsible for reading anything that pertains to what we book. If we do not, then that is that particular individual's fault.

 

Example:

I go to a car website and see "$19,999" for a car I want.

It has me add all the options I want. Let's say I add $5000 worth of additional options on the car

That brings the car to $24,999 but it's then going to show title, delivery and ALL this other stuff on the very last page that you had never seen any mention of, at all.

 

HAL tells you the terms, even if at the end (hence my point of "you would do it differently"), and not one person here said "this is just like every car ad ever" which leads me to believe you don't feel the same way about other things.

 

Hidden means concealed or unseen. It's seen. You have to read it. And you aren't past the tipping point before you're made aware. The side trip on this thread is much ado about nothing. It's good to know the default pricing shown is not only the lowest, but that the lowest shown happens to be the non-refundable deposit promotion. Other than that... read your terms and conditions when you book. Problem solved.

 

A business is said to be transparent when it is operating in such a way for others to see what actions are being performed. Information is disclosed promptly, accurately and with clarity. This is not the case with HAL's current pricing on its website. There are at least 3 pricing models currently available at HAL - the Mariner price, the regular price with a refundable deposit and a promo price with a non refundable deposit. It is not clear though from the website that these 3 pricing models are currently active. The website lacks clarity and accuracy.

 

 

As for comments that it is the passenger's fault if, after sailing multiple times with HAL, that they do not suddenly read the fine print and notice a major change in HAL's pricing policy - I am more than happy that my TA has MY best interests at heart and does not have this mindset.

[Sheila2]

I booked my cruise on May10,2017 for Nov.29,2017. I know I'm not savvy because I haven't cruised since 2009. My daughter died in Feb. after a 17-year battle with Lyme Disease. She went on all our other cruises. Sorry for the digression but I booked early to get the cabin I wanted. My TA told me the deposit was non-refundable but I thought that was normal. It was $600 which was over $800 Canadian. I didn't get much of a deal and was not told about any other kind of deposit or rate. Should my TA been aware of other options? I agree with those who say they will not book early anymore. I can live with less than my ideal cabin. When the price dropped I was told I didn't qualify because of the non-refundable deposit. It would take a major incentive to make me do it again.

That's my rant. All done.

[boze9999]

Agreed. Non-refundable deposit = no early bookings. I don't even do non-refundable bookings on hotel rooms because even if you're absolutely positive you'll use it "life happens"!

[Hflors]

I think with this newest way HAL has found to keep people's money is just expanding the "past final payment non-refundable". When we first started cruising the final payment was about 30 days out for a 7 day cruise. On a cruise I have booked for this coming January it is more than 75 days out for a 10 days cruise! (which in my mind pushed the non-refundable time from 30 to about 75 days). At what point will the whole deposit and payment become non-refundable period? At what point will the customer say "enough is enough"?

I sometimes wish we were back in the 'good old days." where you went to the travel agents office and picked up a cruise brochure and looked at the available cruise. The price was right there. You put down your deposit and 30 days before the cruise you made the final payment. Then the TA called you when the documents were in. Soooo exciting. Now the price is listed on line, but they go up and down from month to month and you have to watch from month to month to see the newest price and now it seems that you will also need to call HAL for the newest "alternate" price.

 

I am stepping down from my soap box.:confused:

[AtlantaCruiser72]

It appears that once again HAL's IT team is two steps behind the yield management team. The "Snap" fares started showing up on the 11th and only late the evening of the 12th did the promo get the needed verbiage displayed prominently on the HAL website. If you search for a sailing offering these fares it has now become VERY visible that the deposits are non-refundable and that the fare displayed is a limited time promotion (ends 7/27/17).

 

That said HAL has been offering lower fares with non refundable deposit on many sailings for quite some time using the RA1 fare code , you just had to know to ask/look for them. Also when Alaska and Europe 2018 launched they offered a limited number of cabins at a very deep discount which required full payment at booking, cannot be modified in any way(including paying to upgrade to a higher category) or combined with any promotions and are 100% non-refundable.

[bUU]

I think HAL may rethink this if it backfires on them.

Switching to what had become industry standard is rarely any kind of risk. Holland America was laggard; they've now remedied that. Their owners can perhaps put their pitchforks away.

 

 

This message may have been entered via voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[ski ww]

I just checked Hawaii for 2019. Price went down $400.00 (ca) per person since yesterday........non-refundable deposit of $780.00 (ca). For a cruise almost 2 years out.......NO THANKS!

 

We are also checking for a cruise to Hawaii in 2019 and got the same answer from our TA. Although she gave us a another cruise, 28 days Hawaii, Bora Bora which is not a non-refundable deposit. Only this one is round trip Sa Diego, on the Eurodam. We're looking for something that returns to Vancouver. I agree we're not doing a non refundable deposit.

Allan

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

If you use FCC as the deposit how does that play in.

[DaveOKC]

If you use FCC as the deposit how does that play in.

 

Assuming you mean Future Cruise Deposit, I was told by my PCC that I would lose the $100 deposit. But of course, I would check with my TA/PCC before booking to be certain.

[TiogaCruiser]

This move will likely increase the sales of the HAL cancel any reason policy.

[Tampa Girl]

PLEASE, post what you find out, as the deposit for this cruise was a hefty bit of cash even fir a solo.

 

Mame42 - My TA responded yesterday that my deposits on the Grand Asia is refundable. But, honestly, I do not understand why unless it is because of our Mariner status?

 

Is this what is meant by "snap" fares: "The deposit on this cruise is fully non-refundable. Fares shown are in US$, per person, based on double occupancy. Fares reflect best fare available for a stateroom in each category, on one date that this itinerary is available from a snapshot taken in the last 24 hour."

If so, this was on the 2018 Grand Asia website, and it involves no promotion. The bookings just became available two weeks ago, and I don't recall seeing that provision in a footnote. It is not on the itinerary page that I printed out.

Some of you have reported that these non-refundable fares do not apply to Mariners. What is the source of this info, please?

[Tampa Girl]

It occurs to me that these non-refundable deposits on "snap" fares do not always apply to bookings made through an online TA, depending on whether the TA is offering a "snap" fare price or basing the offer on the published fare. This is something that the customer would not usually know unless the offer specifically states "non-refundable." And HAL also would not know how much of a commission the TA is giving. Our TA is adamant that our deposit is fully refundable. I prefer to believe her. Besides which, there is nothing I can do about it now, so we will live with it if we have to cancel.

[CJcruzer]

Assuming you mean Future Cruise Deposit, I was told by my PCC that I would lose the $100 deposit. But of course, I would check with my TA/PCC before booking to be certain.

Yes I was told that I would lose my FCD when I used them to secure by 2019 booking, IF I chose the non refundable deposit. So that means I would also lose those perks associated (OBC) for use towards any future booking as the FCD would be lost entirely.

 

ALSO, if anyone prepays amounts before final payment (budgeted payments) they also would all be lost, even if what you have paid towards the cruise is more than the required deposit. ALL MONIES ARE LOST.

 

I just had my TA double check the snap fare for my 2018 cruise, and it is $460 MORE :rolleyes:. No advantage to move my booking over, as i would lose any deposit if cancelling, be higher cruise fare AND locked in/not eligible for any future sales promos or drop in prices.

 

I am not even going to consider the 2019 cruise snap fare at this point, even if it is $600 total less for non refundable fare. The price may drop yet, or some promos may come out. too soon to tell.

[Cruise Junky]

Yes I was told that I would lose my FCD when I used them to secure by 2019 booking, IF I chose the non refundable deposit. So that means I would also lose those perks associated (OBC) for use towards any future booking as the FCD would be lost entirely.

 

ALSO, if anyone prepays amounts before final payment (budgeted payments) they also would all be lost, even if what you have paid towards the cruise is more than the required deposit. ALL MONIES ARE LOST.

 

I just had my TA double check the snap fare for my 2018 cruise, and it is $460 MORE :rolleyes:. No advantage to move my booking over, as i would lose any deposit if cancelling, be higher cruise fare AND locked in/not eligible for any future sales promos or drop in prices.

 

I am not even going to consider the 2019 cruise snap fare at this point, even if it is $600 total less for non refundable fare. The price may drop yet, or some promos may come out. too soon to tell.

 

I don't think you lose any extra payments you made, just the deposit. Here's my confirmation on my curtesy booking. Nothing else kicks in until Final payment

 

CANCELLATION FEES SCHEDULE

Cancellation Fees Begin Cancellation Fees (Per Person)

Jul 12, 2017 $390.00 (Amount Forfeited)

Jul 22, 2018 50% Gross Fare

Aug 19, 2018 75% Gross Fare

Sep 1, 2018 100% Gross Fare

[mame42]

It occurs to me that these non-refundable deposits on "snap" fares do not always apply to bookings made through an online TA, depending on whether the TA is offering a "snap" fare price or basing the offer on the published fare. This is something that the customer would not usually know unless the offer specifically states "non-refundable." And HAL also would not know how much of a commission the TA is giving. Our TA is adamant that our deposit is fully refundable. I prefer to believe her. Besides which, there is nothing I can do about it now, so we will live with it if we have to cancel.

 

Per my TA, simultaneously on phone with me and HAL, Grand Asia bookings made prior to 11 July deposits fully refundable until 2 June 2018.

[DaveOKC]

Yes I was told that I would lose my FCD when I used them to secure by 2019 booking, IF I chose the non refundable deposit. So that means I would also lose those perks associated (OBC) for use towards any future booking as the FCD would be lost entirely.

 

ALSO, if anyone prepays amounts before final payment (budgeted payments) they also would all be lost, even if what you have paid towards the cruise is more than the required deposit. ALL MONIES ARE LOST.

 

I just had my TA double check the snap fare for my 2018 cruise, and it is $460 MORE :rolleyes:. No advantage to move my booking over, as i would lose any deposit if cancelling, be higher cruise fare AND locked in/not eligible for any future sales promos or drop in prices.

 

I am not even going to consider the 2019 cruise snap fare at this point, even if it is $600 total less for non refundable fare. The price may drop yet, or some promos may come out. too soon to tell.

 

Good point about losing the OBC also with the $100 FCD. I did not think about that, but it does make sense if you have to forefit the FCD in total.

[Hlitner]

It occurs to me that these non-refundable deposits on "snap" fares do not always apply to bookings made through an online TA, depending on whether the TA is offering a "snap" fare price or basing the offer on the published fare. This is something that the customer would not usually know unless the offer specifically states "non-refundable." And HAL also would not know how much of a commission the TA is giving. Our TA is adamant that our deposit is fully refundable. I prefer to believe her. Besides which, there is nothing I can do about it now, so we will live with it if we have to cancel.

 

Yesterday I took a look at the 2018 Voyage of the Vikings fares on HAL....which was showing a fare with Non-Refundable deposit. I then looked at the came cruise/category on one of my favorite cruise agencies (we always book through cruise agencies to save money over direct HAL bookings) and they actually offered two different fares. One fare was with a refundable deposit (and a very generous OBC). The other option was a Non-refundable deposit....but the total cost was actually higher then the refundable fare. Go figure.

 

Hank

[iancal]

It won't impact us. We do not have the patience or the tolerance to spend time on HAL's website, let alone actually pay a premium for booking a cruise on their website vs sending a quick email or calling our on line TA.

 

Paying more for the same product is one thing, paying more and having to experience HAL's website is quite another.

 

HAL needs to get their act together. This is a poor reflection on a good company...the pricing models, the website, and the lack of pricing clarity.