Deposit on RCL now not refundable

[Mikey2611]

Previously if you booked and RCL cruise and pid the deposit of (say $480) if you had to cancel before final payment you were refunded the amount of the deposit.

 

It is therefore extremely disappointing in a time when COVID requirements seem to change day to day that RCL will now only provide a Cruise Credit and then only after deducting $100USD supposedly for administration costs. 

 

Every travel company and airline is providing more and more flexibility knowing that clients on many occasions have to cancel through no fault of their own. Yet RCL decide to keep your money.

 

Well, I for one will only book a cruise "last minute". Frankly given that their rules prevent Canadians from sailing as RCL will not accept their vaccine certificates as proof they are fully vaccinated and Europeans and British cannot presently enter the USA - there will be plenty of last minute cabins available. In fact just about 2/3rd of RCL normal passengers are no longer considered to be acceptable one way or another.....There are other cruise lines too.

[Fouremco]

Are you talking about refundable or non-refundable deposits? There is nothing new about non-refundable deposits not being refunded, but this is the first I've heard of refundable deposits not being refunded in full if cancelling before final payment. As I don't normally follow the RCI board, can you provide a link to a thread discussing this? Better still, can you provide a link to a page on the RCI website that states this? The US Cruise Ticket Contract currently online has not changed in the manner you suggest.

[K_e_short]

Thank you for posting this.

 

I think we Canadians need to stick together through this crap (I wanted to use another word but yeah..)

 

And sharing what each cruiseline is doing is very helpful.

 

Now the FCC would make sense but charging an admin cost is ridiculous.

[iancal]

Since retiring (and frequently prior to) almost all of our cruises are booked inside the final payment window.   Typically anywhere from 3 days to 6 weeks out.  Usually while we are in the middle of a land trip.  We always price our cruises (and other travel products) in a few different countries.  The prices for the same cruise booked in another country can sometimes be less expensive.  Sometimes substantially less.

 

We think FCC's are/were a bit of ruse by the cruise line to protect cash flow.  Cannot see prices going back to previous levels until the FCC timeframe is over.   For cruisers like us who are not cruise line loyal FCC's are/were a trap.

 

We are not at all surprised that the cruise lines are adjusting policies and pricing schedules in order to beat out the clock on FCCs and discounted cruise line gift cards. Makes sense from their perspective.

Edited July 31, 2021 by iancal

[kdr69]

On 7/31/2021 at 10:42 AM, K_e_short said:

I think we Canadians need to stick together through this crap (I wanted to use another word but yeah..)

Thats ok you can say it we all want to lol😁