FYI change in Royal Caribbean booking policy

[CruisinCanuck63]

I am guessing that the price drop you saw was for one of the new non refundable fares and that is why they told you that you need to pay the remainder of the deposit for your on board booking that you had already booked.

 

 

 

Yes. That part I was expecting. Although I have had a friend successful in moving an onboard booking to a non refundable fare without having to pay the additional deposit. It's just very inconsistent right now.

 

Ken - I was basing my understanding on your posts in this thread. Unfortunately, I didn't have the same luck.

 

 

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[Luckybee]

Dh and I spent 4 weeks going back and forth between RCCL star class and NCL's haven for Nov 2018 and we booked with RCCL right after the new deposit policy came in. Because we were booking a suite we were told we had only the non refundable option available. About a week ago we decided to change from the Oasis to the Allure on the same dates and they allowed us to do so without penalty. Today we had a price drop(albeit a small one) on the entire ship, and although our category was no longer available they happily made the change for us and again without penalty.

[Milwaukee Eight]

If you plan to take the cruise, what does it matter what the deposit is?

 

 

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[CruisinCanuck63]

If you plan to take the cruise, what does it matter what the deposit is?

 

 

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You're right Milwaukee. Ultimately we plan to take the cruise so it doesn't matter what the deposit is. Financially, I don't want to lay out the extra cash right now as the cruise is almost 2 years away.

 

 

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[Milwaukee Eight]

You're right Milwaukee. Ultimately we plan to take the cruise so it doesn't matter what the deposit is. Financially, I don't want to lay out the extra cash right now as the cruise is almost 2 years away.

 

 

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That makes sense. What are the typical deposits on BRD? I thought it varied by Stateroom type.

 

 

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[Clarea]

That makes sense. What are the typical deposits on BRD? I thought it varied by Stateroom type.

 

3-5:night: $100pp

6-9 night: $250pp

10+ night: $450pp

[CruisinCanuck63]

That makes sense. What are the typical deposits on BRD? I thought it varied by Stateroom type.

 

 

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Since we consistently select interior cabins I can confirm that our deposits for interior cabins for on board bookings have been $63 Canadian dollars for the room (not per person) Since this always corresponded with a $50 USD OBC, booking on board always presented great value.

So, it would cost me an additional $467 CAD to change this booking right now.

 

 

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[CruisinCanuck63]

I continue to be very curious about this new policy so I found this online.

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/LTYA_News/17056802_Nonrefundable_Overview_News.pdf

This clearly says that the change fees are only applied to changes in ship and sail date. I'm utterly confused, as it seems most of RCCL is as well.

 

 

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[barb in ga]

I just re-priced a cruise for next year that was booked with a $500 cabin deposit (2 PAX). I changed to non-refundable and received a price drop of $232/PP plus $100 additional OBC. If I change the ship or sailing date, we forfeit $100/pp. Do the math on your situation, and decide accordingly. It works for me!

Barb

[Luckybee]

If you plan to take the cruise, what does it matter what the deposit is?

 

 

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We have trips planned from now until the end of 2019, and only one involves a cruise therefore....

 

My 91 yr old mother has a major issue and we have to cancel...we lose $500

Dh has a health issue and we have to cancel..,.we lose $500

Our work commitments are such that we have to cancel....we lose $500

I have a medical problem and we have to cancel....we lose $500

 

We cannot at this point take out the med insurance offered because of the pre existing clause. Fact is if we have to cancel for any reason at this point we're out $500. I can live with the loss if it comes down to that, but it does discourage us from booking further cruises. I could be wrong but I would think that RCCL wants people who normally travel on land to consider cruises. We are booking and paying 19mths in advance for a cruise deposit that we might have to cancel because "life happens" and then we'd be sol on our deposit.

[Clarea]

We have trips planned from now until the end of 2019, and only one involves a cruise therefore....

 

My 91 yr old mother has a major issue and we have to cancel...we lose $500

Dh has a health issue and we have to cancel..,.we lose $500

Our work commitments are such that we have to cancel....we lose $500

I have a medical problem and we have to cancel....we lose $500

 

We cannot at this point take out the med insurance offered because of the pre existing clause. Fact is if we have to cancel for any reason at this point we're out $500. I can live with the loss if it comes down to that, but it does discourage us from booking further cruises. I could be wrong but I would think that RCCL wants people who normally travel on land to consider cruises. We are booking and paying 19mths in advance for a cruise deposit that we might have to cancel because "life happens" and then we'd be sol on our deposit.

Did you not have the choice to choose the fare with the refundable deposit?

[tnt10]

Did you not have the choice to choose the fare with the refundable deposit?

 

Or the option to purchase cruise insurance within the time frame required to waive pre-existing conditions, (usually available within 14 days from cruise deposit)?

I know many don't purchase this, but wouldn't insurance cover non-refundable deposits?

[Luckybee]

Did you not have the choice to choose the fare with the refundable deposit?

No because we're booked in a suite and can only book non refundable

[Luckybee]

Or the option to purchase cruise insurance within the time frame required to waive pre-existing conditions, (usually available within 14 days from cruise deposit)?

I know many don't purchase this, but wouldn't insurance cover non-refundable deposits?

 

Most insurance in Canada, which is avail to us, does not waive pre existing clauses. Those that do (very very few )are cost prohibitive. More importantly if we were to take the insurance now, for the cost of our cruise , in order to cover our deposit, the cruise insurance on virtually any policy would be much more than the cost of losing the deposit if it ever came down to that and I would prefer to wait to make certain that we are within the pre existing clauses if need be.

 

Don't misunderstand, I am open minded about the fact that we could very well lose $ 500 usd if we have to cancel and we can live with that, but given a choice between our typical holiday, where we can cancel until a couple of weeks beforehand and lose nothing and a cruise where we do guess which I'll choose. Because this is a milestone birthday for me we wanted something different, but it doesn't endear us to taking another.

[Biker19]

We are booking and paying 19mths in advance for a cruise deposit that we might have to cancel because "life happens" and then we'd be sol on our deposit.

 

There seems to be some mixing of issues- the poster was asking what diff does it make in the deposit amount not whether you you need to cancel.

 

 

 

 

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[FLACRUISER99]

Or the option to purchase cruise insurance within the time frame required to waive pre-existing conditions, (usually available within 14 days from cruise deposit)?

I know many don't purchase this, but wouldn't insurance cover non-refundable deposits?

Thats a good point. In fact one of the reasons Renaissance Cruise line went bankrupt was the travel insurance companies would not insure folks booking them due to the unreasonable cancellation policy.

[LisaLisa87]

Bookings of categories less than a GS made before (and not changed after) July 1, 2017 still have the same rules. However, if you see a price drop and that new price is for a non-refundable deposit, then you would be subject to the new rules if you switch to the new price.

 

 

 

We booked a GS well before the change to NRDs. My understanding is that we are still under the "old" rules (i.e., no penalty if we cancel before final payment is due). Is that not the case? I only care because we're not 100% sure yet when DD's 2019 spring break will be (new school).

 

 

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[Ourusualbeach]

We booked a GS well before the change to NRDs. My understanding is that we are still under the "old" rules (i.e., no penalty if we cancel before final payment is due). Is that not the case? I only care because we're not 100% sure yet when DD's 2019 spring break will be (new school).

 

 

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Yes you are still under the old rules however if you call for any price drops you would then be switched to the new NRD rate as all GS's and above are now offering only NRD rates.

[LisaLisa87]

Yes you are still under the old rules however if you call for any price drops you would then be switched to the new NRD rate as all GS's and above are now offering only NRD rates.

 

 

 

Great. Thanks for clarifying!

 

 

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