Is Celebrity misleading customers regarding non-refundable deposits?

[keesar]

We went to Future Cruise Sales to make a refundable reservation on the advice of our Celebrity planner.  When I picked out a cruise, there were only two options:  1 or 4 perks.  The salesperson insisted on a nonrefundable 4 perk package as "it would only mean losing $200" if we changed.  He mentioned that the nonrefundable fare could be $500 more in a few months.  The difference between a refundable and nonrefundable was about $900 on the day we booked.  I felt guilty insisting on the refundable as the other fare would be saving a lot of money, etc.  But one year is a long time away and I kept hearing the words of my planner back in Miami.   I would welcome comments.  Thanks!.

[ORV]

For those that are seeing a screen pop up for a second or two and go away, turn off your POP UP Blockers. I had this happen a couple of days ago. Many of those option screens are pop ups and won't show if you have your blocker turned on. I turned my blocker off and those screens stayed up long enough till you made a choice or closed them. Just another example of the poor design of the Celebrity website. 

[hawk/hornfan]

This why I use a trusted T/A for the few cruises we take. She knows my parameters and finds me deals.  My current 1 is an 11 day So Carib in Nov. She got me a CC2 cabin, midship, for the cost of a veranda, with 3 perks and it's RD. X website wanted  $300 pp more, NRD for the veranda. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 2/14/2020 at 9:39 AM, oceangoer2 said:

I've found the same 2 pages, but if I don't quickly indicate which one I want, the pages default immediately to the NRD page.  Someone not carefully examining the price out page may miss the NRD indicator.  The web masters should get rid of that default.  BTW, after the inclusion of the ONE perk, I click on the 3 perk option;  for me it comes up every time as being $264 Cdn per person.  Still a really good savings over the refundable option.  All depends if you want to put major $$s down and lose it if you cancel.  Another tip I found on these posts is if you add to the NRD at ANY time, that amount also will be lost.  X finance dept. covers their b*tt without letting you know the cost (unless you carefully read the fine print before booking or asking your CVP or agent what NRD really can cost - not just the cancellation fees we all will pay after final payment).

When I see it flash by it is an indication that two fares are available.   To get to that window you have to pretend like you are booking -  Select a Room and when you get to the page where you select what dining you want you will usually find that MY OFFERS button that will take you back to the choices of RD or NRD.   -  If you proceed beyond that it will show you a summary of charges but won't give you the option.  

[Jim_Iain]

In many ways I can see why Celebrity might be pushing NRD's.     Just look when new cruises are release, within hours or days all the upper suites are booked and they remain off the market sometimes for up to two years.   Many book multiple ones and hold all of them to make a decision closer to sail date.   Suddenly at final payment date many of these suites suddenly show up again.  

[wrk2cruise]

On 2/23/2020 at 8:42 PM, keesar said:

We went to Future Cruise Sales to make a refundable reservation on the advice of our Celebrity planner.  When I picked out a cruise, there were only two options:  1 or 4 perks.  The salesperson insisted on a nonrefundable 4 perk package as "it would only mean losing $200" if we changed.  He mentioned that the nonrefundable fare could be $500 more in a few months.  The difference between a refundable and nonrefundable was about $900 on the day we booked.  I felt guilty insisting on the refundable as the other fare would be saving a lot of money, etc.  But one year is a long time away and I kept hearing the words of my planner back in Miami.   I would welcome comments.  Thanks!.

 

I was always in the refundable deposit camp.  But recently I've been doing all my bookings onboard and with the difference in fare between refundable and non-refundable fares I've now determined it is very much worth the risk to me to risk $200 (2 people) to save $600 or more (suites can be MUCH more) per cruise.   I figure it this way.  Even if I cancel 1 in 3 cruises I will still break even.   Only if I'm booking a "place holder" cruise to be reassigned at a future date for a last minute deal do I take the refundable option.   Just my opinion.

[Stockjock]

In my view, I don’t have a specific problem with refundable deposit versus nonrefundable, particularly if they are offering value for the nonrefundable deposit. The problem I have is not informing people that there is another option, and not informing people that the deposit is nonrefundable.
 

As I mentioned, it was never really stated that the deposit would be nonrefundable. $200 will not cause me to go into bankruptcy, but I think they should’ve clearly pointed out that that portion of the deposit was nonrefundable.

[Oceangoer2]

35 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

In many ways I can see why Celebrity might be pushing NRD's.     Just look when new cruises are release, within hours or days all the upper suites are booked and they remain off the market sometimes for up to two years.   Many book multiple ones and hold all of them to make a decision closer to sail date.   Suddenly at final payment date many of these suites suddenly show up again.  

I'm more inclined to think that TA's are holding blocks of favourable cabins/locations and release them closer to final payment date.  (A friend TA indicates that's a "possibility"....lol)  Just recently on one cruise I was considering, every cabin on the hump and slant were not available...then became available all at once a few weeks later.  I don't think X would keep them off the market or someone would book ALL these cabins with the hefty RD..or lose $100 pp on every one of these bookings.

[missm]

When we booked our B2B we knew that the deposit was non-refundable. What we didn't know was that there is a $100 per person, per booking change fee that is not disclosed until you receive your invoice. Now, we have decided to move the reservation forward a year because of a conflict, we are now being "dinged" $400 by Celebrity for the changes. These were NOT disclosed on the booking page I viewed, and even though our TA did the booking for us, it was never discussed nor disclosed. Grrrrr. We have no way of knowing if this policy change was in effect when we did the booking, but we are certainly getting hit with it now.

[zitsky]

When I recently booked a December 2020 Caribbean cruise, I admit, I did not see the different options so I did a 4 perk booking with non-refundable deposit.  My only mistake was not negotiating (if possible) a smaller deposit.  I got a great price and so didn't mind putting a bigger deposit down.  But this was a few weeks ago before all the talk of corona virus started everyone worrying about cruising.

 

Now that I am paying attention to this discussion, I would admit that it's pretty easy to spot the difference once you know where to look and what to look for.  I did a few phantom bookings and I can see now where Celebrity shows the deposit you are getting and where they don't show it.

 

If canceling, Is it true that the Celebrity deposit is a $100 penalty and a FCC?  When does the clock start on the FCC, when you cancel or the date of the original cruise you booked?

[Steve&gayle]

I did approach Celebrity about this issue.  I was contacted by Zoe Wright in the Executive Office today.  She went through the booking process herself and agreed that the website is not clear when the deposit is non-refundable.  She has touched based with the website staff and they will be making changes to make the terms more clear when booking online.

 

I was impressed with her attention to detail and the priority she gave the issue.  🙂

[Fouremco]

37 minutes ago, Steve&gayle said:

I did approach Celebrity about this issue.  I was contacted by Zoe Wright in the Executive Office today.  She went through the booking process herself and agreed that the website is not clear when the deposit is non-refundable.  She has touched based with the website staff and they will be making changes to make the terms more clear when booking online.

 

I was impressed with her attention to detail and the priority she gave the issue.  🙂

Now we can wait to see if the IT team can actually do it. 

[wrk2cruise]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

If canceling, Is it true that the Celebrity deposit is a $100 penalty and a FCC?  When does the clock start on the FCC, when you cancel or the date of the original cruise you booked?

 

It starts ticking when the FCC is issued.  It may take several weeks for it to be processed.  Maybe even more now with the quantity of cancellations going on now.

[WesternBroncoCruiser]

Not sure it it has been mentioned, but my TA, who is part of larger national chain of travel agencies has an exclusive deal where she can get me the Non-Refundable Price and Perks  with but with a Refundable deposit.  This is on any Celebrity cruise.  Just another reason to book with a good service oriented TA vs booking on line.

[jagoffee]

On 2/25/2020 at 9:22 AM, Jim_Iain said:

In many ways I can see why Celebrity might be pushing NRD's.     Just look when new cruises are release, within hours or days all the upper suites are booked and they remain off the market sometimes for up to two years.   Many book multiple ones and hold all of them to make a decision closer to sail date.   Suddenly at final payment date many of these suites suddenly show up again.  

I agree with you. The historical booking process is not cost effective.  A good change in my opinion.

 

18 hours ago, WesternBroncoCruiser said:

Not sure it it has been mentioned, but my TA, who is part of larger national chain of travel agencies has an exclusive deal where she can get me the Non-Refundable Price and Perks  with but with a Refundable deposit.  This is on any Celebrity cruise.  Just another reason to book with a good service oriented TA vs booking on line.

It will be easy for you confirm if this is true going forward.  You can check the Celebrity pricing on line for both options and monitor it.  Keep us posted and I will begin a search for the name of the larger chain with the exclusive deal.  All the others may be going out of business.  (Unless they are just saying that they will cover your $100 per person fee as long as you take another cruise in the next year)
 

I do not think most people with ever book with higher price fully refundable price.  I know that I will not.

[zitsky]

If you only lose $100 from deposit, why pay more for refundable deposit?

[hcat]

My understanding is that with $900 dep, you lose only $100 to change but must re book witihn a specific time frame or lose the full dep..does not interest us!

[floatplan]

That is my understanding also … that (per couple) I lose $200 (which I can live with) but they hold back my $1600 as a Future Cruise Credit. I’m required to book another X cruise within One Year or lose the $1600. I guess the rules also allow applying it to another cruise booking of mine. I seem to hate being in that situation of being forced to spend a credit balance at a specific place by a date.

There is a cruise I am interested in now but the NRD has me apprehensive of booking a new cruise where in the past I would have reserved. I've probably cancelled 2 or 3 times in 20 years. So I am looking at other lines and options before I book on Celebrity. Suites on X have gotten so much more expensive it makes it easy to consider Oceania, Regent, Seabourn, SilverSea. X Suites have not improved food, hours or days open (like port days) while prices seem up 2x in 5 years.

When I think about the NRD ... it may not work out like X wants to get earlier cancellations. If I am in a situation of wanting to cancel an NRD cruise then I am going to wait to cancel (and start the 1 year clock ticking) until I have found a replacement X cruise to book and apply my $1600 FCC. If I can’t find a replacement cruise then I’m going to wait until final payment so I have the most time to find a new cruise and not risk losing the $1600. So the room remains unavailable until final payment. Without the NRD I would have cancelled as soon as I lost interest so I can get my deposit back.

Edited February 29, 2020 by floatplan

[hcat]

Very thoughtful analysis..and maybe gives a new approach to cancel and rebook timing!   Thank you

[cruise_control]

We were on a cruise in November 2019 and booked another for November 2020 while on the ship.  We were specifically told that if we cancelled for any reason in the first few months we would lose our $200 deposit.  I just now tried to cancel and was told I would owe an additional $900.  This is the first cruise we've ever had to cancel but I'm certain no other cruise line would attempt to charge me that much to cancel within the first three months of booking.

[wrk2cruise]

2 hours ago, cruise_control said:

We were on a cruise in November 2019 and booked another for November 2020 while on the ship.  We were specifically told that if we cancelled for any reason in the first few months we would lose our $200 deposit.  I just now tried to cancel and was told I would owe an additional $900.  This is the first cruise we've ever had to cancel but I'm certain no other cruise line would attempt to charge me that much to cancel within the first three months of booking.

Who ever told you that you would owe additional was uninformed.  If you are in North America and  you cancel before final payment you lose $100 pp.

[zitsky]

2 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Who ever told you that you would owe additional was uninformed.  If you are in North America and  you cancel before final payment you lose $100 pp.

 

Maybe hang up and call again?

[cruise_control]

1 minute ago, wrk2cruise said:

Who ever told you that you would owe additional was uninformed.  If you are in North America and  you cancel before final payment you lose $100 pp.

 

That's exactly what I thought as well.  I attempted to cancel the booking online and a message popped up stating that $900 would be owed to cancel.  I have called Celebrity but have been on hold for over two hours now.

[wrk2cruise]

Oh never do something like this online!  Unfortunately they are very busy for obvious reasons plus it’s Sunday.

id wait until Monday maybe be early afternoon.   Or possibly use the chat option where you could capture the conversation for future reference if required 

[cruise_control]

6 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Oh never do something like this online!  Unfortunately they are very busy for obvious reasons plus it’s Sunday.

id wait until Monday maybe be early afternoon.   Or possibly use the chat option where you could capture the conversation for future reference if required 

 

That's quickly shaping up to be sound advice.  Thank you!