Is it always full payment at booking?

[kira5]

We have booked  cruises on HAL in the past by various ways from directly with HAL and through different agencies.   One key difference I've noticed is that through HAL, payments are staggered with the final and largest payment due either 60 or 90 days before sailing.   With the online agencies including one booked through Cruise Critic, full payment was taken immediately.   Is that the situation or am I missing something?

 

On a related topic, we would like to take the HAL South Pacific cruise departing Honolulu on October 4th.   They advertise it on their site.    Is that a lost cause?

[colonialinnkeeper]

Our experience is that we pay a down payment when booking and then payment in full is generally due 75 days prior to sailing.  In some cases where the cruise is particularly long, the full payment was 90 days prior.  On one occasion through a box on line agency we were offered a special deal with OBC and other perks (I can't remember exactly what) if we paid in full when reserving.  We haven'e sailed since 11/19 so things may have changed.

 

If I were to guess, most cruises will be canceled for this year.  They may start a few in December to get things started but it may all depend on how the Covid virus is behaving in early fall and how vaccines are progressing.

[Tampa Girl]

5 minutes ago, kira5 said:

We have booked  cruises on HAL in the past by various ways from directly with HAL and through different agencies.   One key difference I've noticed is that through HAL, payments are staggered with the final and largest payment due either 60 or 90 days before sailing.   With the online agencies including one booked through Cruise Critic, full payment was taken immediately.   Is that the situation or am I missing something?

 

On a related topic, we would like to take the HAL South Pacific cruise departing Honolulu on October 4th.   They advertise it on their site.    Is that a lost cause?

 

I think that HAL has cancelled all cruises through the end of the year, but a phone call to HAL would be in order.  As for full payment at the time of booking, it may be that your October 4th is within the final payment period.  Or it may be a particular requirement of your travel agency.  

[CruiserBruce]

18 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

I think that HAL has cancelled all cruises through the end of the year, but a phone call to HAL would be in order.  As for full payment at the time of booking, it may be that your October 4th is within the final payment period.  Or it may be a particular requirement of your travel agency.  

Not true. Confirmed canceled through September 30. Rumors canceled to Nov 30. Several threads here on the topic.

[Essiesmom]

You did not book through Cruise Critic.  CC is not a travel agency, but a lot of travel agencies do advertise on this site, and that is who you booked with.  EM

[Mandalay1903]

Your question about Oct 4 to Hawaii being a lost cause is a matter of opinion, IMO. If it were me, despite how much I'd want to go on that cruise, I assess a number of problems: the current trend in the virus cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the US and Mexico, the extension of the federal government's pause in cruising from US ports, the Dept of State's "Do Not Travel" warning, Hawaii's 14-day quarantine requirement (which I think is likely to continue to be extended), and the lack of a solid policy agreement between the cruise lines and federal government for assessing cruise ships and individuals safety of travel and return.  If it were me, I wouldn't make final payment for that cruise.

[iancal]

We have never had a premature payment taken by an on line cruise in TA.   Not only that, in all instances we received a complete accounting via email prior to any subsequent payment. Plus, the TA's always requested that we authorize the payment prior to it being processed.

 

Would we make final payment for that cruise.  Absolutely not! 

 

As stated above, too many uncertainties.   We also think  that his booking, rebooking, FCC is a great strategy for the cruise lines but not so good for us.   We are not interested in waiting 90-120 days for refunds, definitely not interested in locked in FCC's with conditions attached to them.  Seems like a bit of a mugs game to us.

[Mary229]

My agency only collects in accordance with HAL’s schedule of payments.   They request we notify them 24 hours in advance with form of payment so they can process the payment efficiently. 

[Georgie562]

On 6/23/2020 at 6:32 AM, Tampa Girl said:

 

I think that HAL has cancelled all cruises through the end of the year, but a phone call to HAL would be in order.  As for full payment at the time of booking, it may be that your October 4th is within the final payment period.  Or it may be a particular requirement of your travel agency.  

 

Not true. Just got an email today for a Casino Promotion with dates well into December 2020.

But with that said, I tried doing a mock booking and it is asking for full payment. I'm really weary right now on giving full payment so I may have to pass the Casino promo.

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Georgie562

[Taters]

2 hours ago, Georgie562 said:

 

Not true. Just got an email today for a Casino Promotion with dates well into December 2020.

But with that said, I tried doing a mock booking and it is asking for full payment. I'm really weary right now on giving full payment so I may have to pass the Casino promo.

 

I received a casino promo offer today, too.  Many of the January/February, 2021 cruises look tempting, but I consider the whole thing just a list of dreams.

[bouhunter]

On 6/23/2020 at 9:23 AM, kira5 said:

   Is that a lost cause?

Just my opinion, yes it's a lost cause.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

HAL does offer some deep discount fare options that require full immediate payment, even before their standard final pay date.  These are often 100% non-refundable and no changes or re-fare allowed. Some travel agencies will advertise these fares In an attempt to gain bookings as they  are often lower than the normally advertised fares. I would check the terms on anything requiring full prepayment if you are more than 90 days from departure (which is final payment date on most HAL cruises these days).