Cancellation problem (Family - aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh !!!!!!!!)

[groundloop]

We, along with our adult daughter, are booked on Eurodam on June 11th.  Daughter has her own cabin which she paid for.  We've all been paid in full for over a year (our cruise was cancelled twice so we just moved the money to this one).

 

A few months ago my wife's sister and husband decided to go, so they booked another cabin.  A little while after that their daughter (E) decided to go as well, so my daughter added E to her booking, paid the extra tax and port fees, and E's parents paid my daughter for half of her cabin plus the tax and port fees.

 

Now they tell us that they can't go.  If I'm reading HAL's cancellation policy correctly they'll be given FCC since we're now past final payment date but more than 30 days out (which really isn't my concern, that's totally between them, the travel agent, and HAL).  What I'm trying to figure out is what's fair for my daughter, as well as if she'll get back the tax and port fees for the second passenger in her cabin if she calls HAL and removes E from the booking.  (My daughter recently bought her first house and the money she got from sharing her cabin from E went toward furnishings for her house).

 

Suggestions?

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by groundloop

[Roz]

@groundloop, your daughter may be better off just having E be a no show.  

 

Your post reminds me of why I like to sail solo.  😂  Sorry for the family drama.

[groundloop]

What's the advantage of having the second passenger "no show" as opposed to removing her from the booking?

[Horizon chaser 1957]

3 hours ago, Roz said:

@groundloop, your daughter may be better off just having E be a no show.  

 

Your post reminds me of why I like to sail solo.  😂  Sorry for the family drama.

 

1 hour ago, groundloop said:

What's the advantage of having the second passenger "no show" as opposed to removing her from the booking?

 

Was your daughter’s booking number changed when she added your niece to her booking? The issue is if cancelling the second person will cancel the entire booking for her, or turn it into a new booking, removing any amenities that came with the original. Either one would result in cancellation fees for your daughter. 
She should contact HAL directly and get it crystal clear, in writing, that cancelling the second person won’t come with unpleasant side effects. Otherwise, if the niece is a no show, your daughter gets the port fees and taxes back but no charges or changes otherwise.

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Horizon chaser 1957

[Alberta Quilter]

3 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

 

 

Was your daughter’s booking number changed when she added your niece to her booking? The issue is if cancelling the second person will cancel the entire booking for her, or turn it into a new booking, removing any amenities that came with the original. Either one would result in cancellation fees for your daughter. 
She should contact HAL directly and get it crystal clear, in writing, that cancelling the second person won’t come with unpleasant side effects. Otherwise, if the niece is a no show, your daughter gets the port fees and taxes back but no charges or changes otherwise.

 

But under this scenario, HAL does not refund (to anyone) the niece's fare, right?  Only the port fees and taxes.  So the OP's in-laws would be out the base fare that they thought would be covered under the cancellation policy.

 

Why would cancelling the second person cancel the entire booking?  That seems ridiculous to me.  What I thought happened is that the remaining person on the booking was then responsible for the double occupancy rate (unless they had insurance to cover such a scenario or the other guest was a no show).  But I'm basing my thoughts on prior posts here on CC; I have no personal experience with this so I could be totally wrong in my understanding.

[Roz]

The booking wouldn't be canceled.

[groundloop]

The booking was originally for a single, and no, the booking number was not changed when the second person was added, and it was booked as "have it all".

 

I'm leaning toward suggesting that she just leave the booking alone at this point and let her cousin be a no-show, it sounds like all she's going to get back one way or the other are port fees and taxes for the second person.

[KAKcruiser]

If your daughter removed her cousin from the booking, she would probably get the port taxes refunded and she would be responsible for the current rate for a single in that cabin.  It amounts to the same thing as long as the price hasn't gone up since she booked.  Or, maybe they would issue a future cruise credit to the cousin and your daughter would then have to add the additional funds for a single.  If so, what would be the right thing to do.  It's complicated because the cousin made a commitment and your daughter spent the money.  

[groundloop]

19 minutes ago, KAKcruiser said:

If your daughter removed her cousin from the booking, she would probably get the port taxes refunded and she would be responsible for the current rate for a single in that cabin.  It amounts to the same thing as long as the price hasn't gone up since she booked......

 

I did a mock booking last night and the price has actually gone down a good bit for her cabin category.  I assumed it's not possible to do anything about that since we're past the final payment date.

[waiting2retire]

Since the current price is lower than when she originally booked, I wonder if it is possible to cancel under the “Worry Free Promise” , receive FCCs and rebook with the FCCs as a single?  
 

 

[Sebbiesgrammy]

But if she doesn't remove her cousin from the booking, isn't she still responsible for her gratuities which are billed per person, not per cabin?

[groundloop]

2 hours ago, Sebbiesgrammy said:

But if she doesn't remove her cousin from the booking, isn't she still responsible for her gratuities which are billed per person, not per cabin?

 

I don't think that will be a problem.  I can't speak directly to how HAL handles gratuities but I assume it's similar to Carnival where they're added to your account on the last day of the cruise.  Since cousin would be a no-show (if she's not removed beforehand) gratuities for her wouldn't get charged.

 

But that raises another question.... Daughter booked "Have It All" which says that it includes gratuities, so I wonder if she can recover her cousin's share of the "Have It All" package by cancelling her now.