New Deposit Policy a Game Breaker?

[cmalagngl]

I just looked at the 14 Day South America cruise around the Horn for 2019. I've wanted to take this cruise for years and now can as I am retired. With the new deposit policy I would need to spend $300 more to make the deposit refundable. Booking a cruise 15 months in advance makes the need for the refundable deposit pretty important. That means I'd just be giving $300 to Celebrity.

 

Pretty sure if I book a Celebrity cruise in the future it will be last minute and that is not the norm for us.

 

I think this is a game changer. It probably means my next cruise in April on Celebrity will be our last for awhile. Hopefully the competition will not follow this type of marketing. There are other options out there.

 

Anyone else feel the way I do about this new deposit policy?

[davekathy]

I just looked at the 14 Day South America cruise around the Horn for 2019. I've wanted to take this cruise for years and now can as I am retired. With the new deposit policy I would need to spend $300 more to make the deposit refundable. Booking a cruise 15 months in advance makes the need for the refundable deposit pretty important. That means I'd just be giving $300 to Celebrity.

 

Pretty sure if I book a Celebrity cruise in the future it will be last minute and that is not the norm for us.

 

I think this is a game changer. It probably means my next cruise in April on Celebrity will be our last for awhile. Hopefully the competition will not follow this type of marketing. There are other options out there.

 

 

Anyone else feel the way I do about this new deposit policy?

 

We don't.

[DirtyDawg]

I just looked at the 14 Day South America cruise around the Horn for 2019. I've wanted to take this cruise for years and now can as I am retired. With the new deposit policy I would need to spend $300 more to make the deposit refundable. Booking a cruise 15 months in advance makes the need for the refundable deposit pretty important. That means I'd just be giving $300 to Celebrity.

 

Pretty sure if I book a Celebrity cruise in the future it will be last minute and that is not the norm for us.

 

I think this is a game changer. It probably means my next cruise in April on Celebrity will be our last for awhile. Hopefully the competition will not follow this type of marketing. There are other options out there.

 

Anyone else feel the way I do about this new deposit policy?

 

Not a game breaker but a bit of an annoyance for sure. For the first time we were beginning to look at booking a cruise that wasn't almost last minute, a 2019 Transatlantic, but the extra cost for us was about $300 Cdn each for the refundable deposit. I'll just have to find out how 'non-refundable' those non-refundable deposits actually are and if a travel insurance policy would cover any part that is actually non-refundable.

[1982CruzStart]

I view this new policy the same as booking hotels for a long term stay. You have the choice of prepaying to save money and it is non-refundable or booking at the higher rate so you can cancel. I almost never book hotels with the non-refundable option so didn't give it a thought when given the option with Celebrity.

That being said we are less likely to book Celebrity in the future because their suite prices are getting pretty high when compared with luxury lines and we prefer smaller ships. Why would we pay as much for a small part of a large ship when you pay close to the same for the luxury experience on the whole ship.

[helen haywood]

Yes. It definitely changed my booking plans. I will be booking past final payment now. I'm not picky about my balcony cabin. It's a pity because I used to enjoy having bookings stretching ahead to the next year and beyond (and, no, I was not the kind of person who put multiple deposits down tying up cabins and canceling.)

 

 

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[CHEZMARYLOU]

Will not change our booking habits, just have to be prepared to pay a few hundred more. Since we book suites the prices usually go up and the suites start to sell out. Only time I haven't seen this happen is for our February cruise. I still got a good rate when I booked and if I had waited air fair would be more and our hotel of choice had a price increase and has been sold out for about a month.

[bengaltiger1]

There is no choice in the U.K. if you cancel, you lose your £300 deposit.

 

 

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[Straughn]

I view this new policy the same as booking hotels for a long term stay. You have the choice of prepaying to save money and it is non-refundable or booking at the higher rate so you can cancel. I almost never book hotels with the non-refundable option so didn't give it a thought when given the option with Celebrity.

That being said we are less likely to book Celebrity in the future because their suite prices are getting pretty high when compared with luxury lines and we prefer smaller ships. Why would we pay as much for a small part of a large ship when you pay close to the same for the luxury experience on the whole ship.

 

And, anything above a Sky Suite has a nonrefundable deposit. Sky Suites offer the option of a refundable, which means that is where we will be unless we switch to a larger suite much closer to sail date.

[TeaBag]

You don't lose the whole deposit. You lose $100pp and the rest goes to a Future Cruise credit that expires in a year, so I gambled and booked nonrefundable! Gulp.

Yes, I agree that the hotels are doing this now too. Marriott just started. Fortunately for us, there is a senior rate that is pretty good and is refundable and changeable.

[rose6]

This policy makes booking with Celebrity far less attractive to us. What is the justification for this change? It appears to be based on corporate greed and a disregard for the customers best interests. Our last nine cruises have been with Celebrity and we have two more booked before this new policy came into effect. If our loyalty is not appreciated, we have many other cruise line choices. I suggest that Celebrity cancel this new policy and I won't charge them $300 to change their mind.

[Charles4515]

I just looked at the 14 Day South America cruise around the Horn for 2019. I've wanted to take this cruise for years and now can as I am retired. With the new deposit policy I would need to spend $300 more to make the deposit refundable. Booking a cruise 15 months in advance makes the need for the refundable deposit pretty important. That means I'd just be giving $300 to Celebrity.

 

 

 

Pretty sure if I book a Celebrity cruise in the future it will be last minute and that is not the norm for us.

 

 

 

I think this is a game changer. It probably means my next cruise in April on Celebrity will be our last for awhile. Hopefully the competition will not follow this type of marketing. There are other options out there.

 

 

 

Anyone else feel the way I do about this new deposit policy?

 

 

As for the competition. Princess does it. What worked for me was that I booked a Princess Cruise last year with the refundable deposit then about a month before final payment when we had our air booked they had a sale so we got the cruise rebooked at the lowest fare with the deposit non refundable and saved a bundle. So that could be a strategy. Book refundable and watch for price drops before final. Then change to non refundable. Or cancel....

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Non refundable deposits are becoming the new "norm" for the mainstream cruiselines. To get the lowest advance booking rate on Celebrity, Royal, Princess, Holland and Carnival all now require a non-refundable deposit. NCL is currently the lone holdout in this area.

 

In the eyes of the cruise line (and hotel, airlines, etc) - the refundable fare is the base/standard fare and by being willing to pay the non-refundable deposit/full pre-payment they are giving you a deeper discount.

 

 

Holland America even has some advance booking fares that require ful prepayment, allow no changes and do not combine with any promotions of any kind. You get a great rate but ZERO flexibility. On top of that their "snap" fares require a non-refundable deposit, don't combine with any promos and if you change/cancel are not transferable. Princess has launched a similar program.

 

 

At least with the Celebrity non-refundable deposit not all is lost when you need to make changes AND they are combineable with their current promos (Big, Better, Best, etc)

 

 

Do I like the non-refundable fares/deposits? No

Do I accept that as a consumer I have the choice of getting a lower fare for booking one? Yes

Would I pay more to keep my booking flexible? Within reason

[Rjr0112]

Honestly you should book it and just because you can’t get money back you can always change it to another cruise date

 

 

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[Cruise Raider]

Honestly you should book it and just because you can’t get money back you can always change it to another cruise date

 

 

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You can, but I think the change fee is also pretty high .... not sure exactly how much but think it was either $150 total or maybe even pp.

 

It will definitely change the way I book. I will now either just book with the refundable fare and keep and eye on pricing or will just wait until after final payment or at least a good sale right before final payment.

I was booked on a B2B that I full well intended on taking until my niece announced her wedding as the turnaround date. We had to cancel both sailings. I'd have been really annoyed if I had to pay cancellation or change fees for even one of the sailings, much more for both. It may end up working out for them in the long run, but it may end up biting them in the butt.

Either way, am holding off on all future bookings with Celebrity for now. I love their product but have a few Princess cruises booked over the next year and a half and am not willing to make a bet on something that could or couldn't happen nearly two years down the road.

[ebtrip]

I book thru an Online TA. They have special pricing that is Refundable. I have 2bookings for 2019,each are refundable. Check around..

[jagoffee]

I just looked at the 14 Day South America cruise around the Horn for 2019. I've wanted to take this cruise for years and now can as I am retired. With the new deposit policy I would need to spend $300 more to make the deposit refundable. Booking a cruise 15 months in advance makes the need for the refundable deposit pretty important. That means I'd just be giving $300 to Celebrity.

 

Pretty sure if I book a Celebrity cruise in the future it will be last minute and that is not the norm for us.

 

I think this is a game changer. It probably means my next cruise in April on Celebrity will be our last for awhile. Hopefully the competition will not follow this type of marketing. There are other options out there.

 

Anyone else feel the way I do about this new deposit policy?

 

I do not necessarily feel the same way, but I do not have all the facts. I have not studied enough cruises to determine whether Celebrity is actually offering a lower price for a non refundable deposit. Or as you are implying, that Celebrity is increasing the price of the cruise to have a refundable deposit. What has your research determined? If the overall price of the cruise with the refundable deposit is the same, then it is not much of a game changer.

 

I would certainly be pleased if Airlines would have the same policy/practice as Celebrity. I dislike paying the total non refundable fare up to 12 months in advance. The refundable fares are very expensive.

 

Actually I do not understand why the car rental companies accept reservation without any deposit. One can have more than one reservation and just not show up.

 

I do agree it does change the dynamics of booking a cruise on Celebrity, and I am surprised it has not happened sooner. The cost to Celebrity of cancelled cruises with no penalty is not insignificant IMO. Some people believe that Travel Agents are allowed to book specific cabins without any deposit and this is the reason that cabins become available near the final payment date. I believe that this increase in cabin availability is a direct result of the fully refundable deposit and the “just in case” booking practice of certain customers.

 

Good luck.

 

P.S. i have not yet booked a Celebrity cruise that has offered this option.

[Bo1953]

My question would be, has the deposit requirements changed in terms of $ required for the current refundable situations vs. before the new policy was in place?

 

Could it be that the NRD's are just lower and in fact one can choose the standard levels of deposits or lower pending on how they feel at the time of booking?

 

Does this change our booking X? Most certainly not.

 

We 90% of the time choose fully refundable (in cash or to form of payment) airline tickets, no difference here, in my opine.

 

If you are retired, why not wait until after final payment for the sailing then you will get, hopefully, the lowest prices of the season, but no guarantee, though.

 

bon voyage

[HokiePoq]

I think that itinerary sells out....did when we did it, so booking after final payment might not work.

I am looking at other river cruise lines as I don't like that Viking requires full payment shortly after booking. Have three trips booked and had planned to pay for them in order and ended up with three final payments way too close together.

This policy might be due to people holding cabins and then dropping them right before final payment.

If this is a deal breaker to OP, perhaps you could do the NCL around the horn.

[SetU2]

Well. Considering that $300 would earn me only a few bucks tops, I don’t see why it would bother me.

 

 

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[Zoedokey]

It does have an impact of my booking plans.

 

 

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[bEwAbG]

I'm not crazy about the idea but can certainly understand the "why" behind the decision. With the published change fees so far, if you're saving $300 by booking nonrefundable and then have to pay $200 (the change fee is currently $100 per person) if you want to change to another sailing, you're still paying less than the refundable price you would have paid in the beginning. I'm not sure that I see the downside, at least for now. You don't have to pay change fees if you're just making changes to the existing booking on the same ship/sail date.

 

The change is geared to curbing the current practice of people booking multiple cruises and holding prime cabin inventory hostage until the last minute. An officer told me that was the reason they moved final payment from 75 days to 90 days, too. There is apparently a significant population of people who do this & then cancel all but one or two of the sailings. These people will still be able to do that, but they'll be paying the refundable fare for the privilege.

[bEwAbG]

One downside that I do know: these nonrefundable fares will not be eligible for reduced-price deposit promotions.

 

Not a real disincentive to me because I book suites and those are never eligible for anything but full deposits.

[Cruise Junky]

All of our vacation plans right now for both 2018 and 2019 are land trips. High prices, boring itineraries, non refundable deposits, increasing gratuities, all just make land trips more attractive.

[ghstudio]

Look at the "non refundable deposit" price as just another option.....just like booking a rental car or hotel with "pay in advance".

 

The folks holding multiple cruise bookings is a problem created by Celebrity in an effort to show how well they are doing to stockholders.....advanced bookings are, surely, way up. Honestly....the non-refundable deposit option isn't an option for us at all unless we are booking at final payment time or after. We will continue to book multiple cruises when we aren't sure which, if either, we want to do....and we'll loan Celebrity some cash while we decide in the form of "refundable" deposits. Now if they went to ONLY non-refundable deposits, we wouldn't double book...but then again, I'd bet some significant money that Celebrity's future bookings go (way) down....because I know that we're not the only ones who book multiple, sometimes overlapping refundable cruises.

[deliver42]

I have no problem with the no deposit option. I have one on RCCL and one on X. Either way, I can get a price adjustment if the prices come down. If I change cruise date, or ship, then it cost me $100.00pp. On Royal I actually switched from a refundable to a non and saved $400.00. On X it saved me $200.00.