SinbadThePorter Posted August 13, 2019 #1 Share Posted August 13, 2019 I notice our American cousins on CC are complaining about non-refundable deposits. A refundable deposit would seem contradict the purpose of a deposit, but what do I know. Personally I have never seen or booked a cruise here with a refundable deposit. Without going into the gory details of TAs etc, have I been remiss in my internet cruise searches, do they even exist outside of the USA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSWP Posted August 13, 2019 #2 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Booking direct with Princess deposits are refundable, according to their cancellation schedule. Booking Princess through an agent, deposits are refundable according to cancellation schedule but normally a cancellation fee is applicable, generally $100 per pax. I do a few cruises with P&O UK and their deposits are not refundable at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioBoy Posted August 13, 2019 #3 Share Posted August 13, 2019 23 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said: Personally I have never seen or booked a cruise here with a refundable deposit. Without going into the gory details of TAs etc, have I been remiss in my internet cruise searches, do they even exist outside of the USA? On our booking with Royal Caribbean (via their AU website), we had a choice: 1) Fully refundable deposit until final payment date (but the cruise cost $200 extra). 2) A non refundable deposit with a cheaper cruise cost. So it exists... i think it just depends on the cruise line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSWP Posted August 13, 2019 #4 Share Posted August 13, 2019 9 minutes ago, RadioBoy said: On our booking with Royal Caribbean (via their AU website), we had a choice: 1) Fully refundable deposit until final payment date (but the cruise cost $200 extra). 2) A non refundable deposit with a cheaper cruise cost. So it exists... i think it just depends on the cruise line. So in essence that $200 is a cancellation fee really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted August 13, 2019 #5 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Many times it will be refundable up to the time you wouldn’t get a refund if you cancel, varies by line and length of cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioBoy Posted August 13, 2019 #6 Share Posted August 13, 2019 3 minutes ago, NSWP said: So in essence that $200 is a cancellation fee really. yeah... thats how i looked at it. Spend $200 to potentially save $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted August 13, 2019 #7 Share Posted August 13, 2019 30 minutes ago, NSWP said: Booking direct with Princess deposits are refundable, according to their cancellation schedule. Booking Princess through an agent, deposits are refundable according to cancellation schedule but normally a cancellation fee is applicable, generally $100 per pax. I do a few cruises with P&O UK and their deposits are not refundable at all. Some TAs charge a cancellation fee and some don't. A few years ago we were considering booking two reasonably B2B cruises with a TA in the West. They weren't the Best. On reading the small print on their company website, I saw that if we cancelled, they could charge us the total cost of the cruise as a cancellation fee. In addition, their service was really bad (they wouldn't ever phone back) so we booked with a TA in Brisbane who used to be at Portside. Their service is excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSWP Posted August 13, 2019 #8 Share Posted August 13, 2019 (edited) 22 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said: Some TAs charge a cancellation fee and some don't. A few years ago we were considering booking two reasonably B2B cruises with a TA in the West. They weren't the Best. On reading the small print on their company website, I saw that if we cancelled, they could charge us the total cost of the cruise as a cancellation fee. In addition, their service was really bad (they wouldn't ever phone back) so we booked with a TA in Brisbane who used to be at Portside. Their service is excellent. That mob in Perth were certainly not the Best, back then, we booked a few with them. Closed up. Edited August 13, 2019 by NSWP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinbadThePorter Posted August 13, 2019 Author #9 Share Posted August 13, 2019 I just looked at the Terms and Conditions of what I think are three of the biggest online TAs, and they all say deposits are non-refundable. I guess I'll just have to look harder or book direct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OzKiwiJJ Posted August 13, 2019 #10 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Princess has refundable deposits including when using a Future Cruise Deposit however the cancallation penalty period now starts earlier than the it used to. Celebrity deposits used to be refundable even with perks. Now they offer two options: a cheaper fare with one of the perk and a non-refundable deposit, or a much dearer fare with more perks and a refundable deposit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted August 13, 2019 #11 Share Posted August 13, 2019 6 minutes ago, NSWP said: That mob in Perth were certainly not the Best, back then, we booked a few with them. Closed up. Good. I am glad they closed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OzKiwiJJ Posted August 13, 2019 #12 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Cunard's current sale has non-refundable deposits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted August 13, 2019 #13 Share Posted August 13, 2019 5 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said: I just looked at the Terms and Conditions of what I think are three of the biggest online TAs, and they all say deposits are non-refundable. I guess I'll just have to look harder or book direct. After I encountered the hefty cancellation policy from the TA in the West, I quizzed the next couple of TA's I got a quote from. They each mentioned the cruise line's cancellation penalty, but I had to specify that I was asking about an additional penalty imposed by the TA. They each said they only charged the cruise line's cancellation penalty. I have to confess that I haven't asked the TAs we have our current bookings with. On all except one of these, we would lose the deposit because of the cruise line's policy. I must remember to ask this question in future if the booking is far enough in the future. I think it is six months with both Princess and P&O Aust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell21 Posted August 13, 2019 #14 Share Posted August 13, 2019 (edited) I do the booking for our group of 6 direct with the cruise lines. On a Princess cruise booked before last Xmas, with a final payment due on the 25th of this month, I had to, just 2 weeks ago, substitute a passenger due to unfortunately a fatal illness of a close friend in our group. The deposit was a Future Cruise Deposit and it was refunded to her account. The substitute passenger was allowed to pay the $100.00 as full deposit even though she did not have a FCD. Very obliging people I must say. Edited August 13, 2019 by Russell21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSWP Posted August 13, 2019 #15 Share Posted August 13, 2019 The big TA I deal with for like P&O UK as we cannot book direct with them, will waive the $100 cancellation fee if you deposit it on another cruise with them. Fair I reckon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted August 13, 2019 #16 Share Posted August 13, 2019 2 hours ago, Russell21 said: I do the booking for our group of 6 direct with the cruise lines. On a Princess cruise booked before last Xmas, with a final payment due on the 25th of this month, I had to, just 2 weeks ago, substitute a passenger due to unfortunately a fatal illness of a close friend in our group. The deposit was a Future Cruise Deposit and it was refunded to her account. The substitute passenger was allowed to pay the $100.00 as full deposit even though she did not have a FCD. Very obliging people I must say. That is excellent service indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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