Not liking Celebrity new policies

[Piaa]

Just looking at booking a cruise on Apex for next March and Celebrity now have a non refundable deposit policy (deposit is $500) even if you cancel more than 90 days out but I can pay $400 more for my reservation to change this to a "refundable fare" should I have to cancel.

 

We are considering this 7 day sailing but also considering a 10 day and as there are only  3 cabins left in the category we want on the 7 day Apex cruise, I figured we would put the deposit down to secure the cabin and then we could always switch once we talk to the other friends that might be joining (they are not sure they can do either so if they can't join either we will probably switch to the 10 day where there are plenty of cabins currently available) but we certainly won't if we loose the $500 deposit.

 

Also, if you secure your date with the "non refundable" rate and there is a future promotion, OBC etc then you are not eligible ... just seems like a not so great new policy.

[jelayne]

With the no -refundable if you cancel, Change the ship or sailing date before final payment  then you are charged a $100 a person administrative fee. The remainder is returned as a future cruise credit. We have gotten price drops without a problem and cruises where we have a nonrefundable deposit.

[Piaa]

40 minutes ago, jelayne said:

With the no -refundable if you cancel, Change the ship or sailing date before final payment  then you are charged a $100 a person administrative fee. The remainder is returned as a future cruise credit. We have gotten price drops without a problem and cruises where we have a nonrefundable deposit.

 

Thank you - I was told this is no longer the case as of May 2022 ... when was the last time you were told this as I'll re-ask my agent for clarification.  Thank you again 

[patty1955]

We've used a non-refundable deposit to book a different cruise twice. I was told by my Big Box TA that Celebrity would charge us an administrative fee but they never have. 

[jelayne]

16 minutes ago, patty1955 said:

We've used a non-refundable deposit to book a different cruise twice. I was told by my Big Box TA that Celebrity would charge us an administrative fee but they never have. 

Did you cancel the booking with the NRD.  

[patty1955]

3 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Did you cancel the booking with the NRD.  

I'm not sure. I called my TA and said I changed my mind and wanted to transfer the deposit. I ended up with the same reservation number with Celebrity.

[jelayne]

39 minutes ago, Piaa said:

 

Thank you - I was told this is no longer the case as of May 2022 ... when was the last time you were told this as I'll re-ask my agent for clarification.  Thank you again 

This is from the Celebrity website a few minutes ago.  Sorry the T & C are in small print. I put a red mark were the NRD terms are.

[terrydtx]

We originally booked the Edge for March and April 2024 in NZ and Australia B2B with a NRD for both. Last month we changed the cruises to one in January followed by a second in February 2024 on the Edge. Celebrity rebooked us on the new cruises and moved our $600 deposits from the original bookings to the new ones and even waived the $100 administration fees. 

 

 

[goofysmom99]

I also changed a 2024 cruise last week through my TA and technically I was charged $100.  There was $100 change fee on the new invoice but then they tacked on $100 credit at the bottom.  Net 0.  However, I have also paid change fees.  In 2019, I moved an onboard booking several times and they kept tacking on an additional $100 to each new invoice.  Got up to $300 which I had to cough up at final payment.  Then two weeks before sailing in 2020, X shut down, the cruise was canceled, and eventually I received a refund of the entire amount.  I suspect someone along the food chain must have a little leeway about how to handle it right now.  

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, Piaa said:

 

Thank you - I was told this is no longer the case as of May 2022 ... when was the last time you were told this as I'll re-ask my agent for clarification.  Thank you again 

I just did it and yes you forfeit $100 pp administrative fee for  cancellation prior to final payment.  The difference was prior to May 2022 there was no $100 pp fee at all (it was waived even if cancelled up to 48 hours prior to cruise.)    New Policy is also penalties per number of days after final payment like the old days.

[vickykay]

Some of the larger  TA agencies have good pricing refundable pricing for group bookings. 

[nashville15]

26 minutes ago, tinaincc said:

We just cancelled our Aug 1 Apex sailing due to all of this nonsense and our only option given was future cruise credit (after a $100 cxl fee)

 

10 hours ago, jelayne said:

With the no -refundable if you cancel, Change the ship or sailing date before final payment  then you are charged a $100 a person administrative fee. The remainder is returned as a future cruise credit. We have gotten price drops without a problem and cruises where we have a nonrefundable deposit.

We. booked yesterday directly through Celebrity and were were told that if there are price decreases prior to sailing, that those decreases would be reflected without any any fees. The $100 per person cancel fee applies to cancel before final payment date.

[TMLAalum]

42 minutes ago, nashville15 said:

 

We. booked yesterday directly through Celebrity and were were told that if there are price decreases prior to sailing, that those decreases would be reflected without any any fees. The $100 per person cancel fee applies to cancel before final payment date.

That sounds as though one no longer has to monitor pricing themself and that Celebrity will automatically apply reductions to one's booking.

 

If so, that is great news, but I find it difficult to believe that that is the case!

[Dar & Bob]

I have to say I have mixed feelings about the non refundable deposit policy. Some other lines have refundable deposits, but I also know of people who just plop down multiple deposits ( us included) to hold several cruises before making the final decision of which to book.

 

I am curious if anyone has booked with the refundable deposit and cancelled and rebooked at a later date, assuming no increase in the fare.  Wondering if they would stop you from rebooking the same cruise. 

[Bo1953]

42 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

I have to say I have mixed feelings about the non refundable deposit policy. Some other lines have refundable deposits, but I also know of people who just plop down multiple deposits ( us included) to hold several cruises before making the final decision of which to book.

 

I am curious if anyone has booked with the refundable deposit and cancelled and rebooked at a later date, assuming no increase in the fare.  Wondering if they would stop you from rebooking the same cruise. 

I have, without spouses knowledge, have and will continue to book refundable deposits because there have been situations/times when we have decided not to sail, so the possible pressure to book another sailing within a limited time frame is not something I want.

 

Same for airline tickets, always refundable fares, even though I will be, hopefully, flying again on any particular airline, I do not need the pressure of having to book something with a time frame in place.

 

If fares go down or I find another preferable sailing, I can always cancel and rebook if before final payment date and etc...

 

bon voyage

[terrydtx]

50 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

I have to say I have mixed feelings about the non refundable deposit policy. Some other lines have refundable deposits, but I also know of people who just plop down multiple deposits ( us included) to hold several cruises before making the final decision of which to book.

I know from personal experience RCL has the same NRD policy as Celebrity.

[jelayne]

50 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

That sounds as though one no longer has to monitor pricing themself and that Celebrity will automatically apply reductions to one's booking.

 

If so, that is great news, but I find it difficult to believe that that is the case!

Highly doubt Celebrity is going to monitor prices for every booking and automatically adjust if the price drops.  It will remain that if you or your TA find a price drop and ask for the lower price you will get it, just as it has been for years.

 

I can’t think of any part of the travel industry, airlines, hotels, resorts, tours, that automatically adjusts your price when they lower prices 

[Cruising89143]

I have received the new pricing with Celebrity when there has been a decrease in the fare without any penalty. I like Celebrity’s policy better than RCI. On Royal if you book a Grand Suite or higher then it automatically becomes NRD and you take a $$$$ hit if you cancel or change. At least Celebrity gives you an option on suites to book a fully refundable cruise. I think most cruise lines have moved to charging more for refundable fares. 

[JamieLogical]

We were booked on the Edge in January with an NRD rate and we changed it to the Equinox for a couple of weeks later before final payment and we were not charged the $100 Administration Fee for the change. I think Cruise Planners and customer service reps have some leeway with that.

 

I always book with the NRD because I feel like paying the extra is the bigger gamble. It would be like betting against being able to take my cruise, which feels sad. If I pay $400 extra or whatever for the refundable deposit, then I am out that money when I make my cruise as planned (which is always my intent and the most likely scenario). If something catastrophic happens and I have to cancel and reschedule, I am out $100 and that seems like a less likely scenario anyway. Even, worst case, I can't reschedule and I am out the full deposit, it still seems like a better risk to take, because the odds of me cancelling my cruise AND not being able to reschedule are so much lower than the odds of me going as planned.

[sfaaa]

Up to 2019, I often booked NRD, Since then, I opt to pay extra for refundable option.Just too many unknown and risks in today's COVID world.

[Denny01]

@JamieLogicalis right. I switched cruises and wasnt charged the $100. This was done by my TA. My TA said something along the line of: “This guy has cruised with you Numerous times…..are you sure you want to charge him $100 to move from one to another which took 30sec??”.

 

Love TAs. I use to book on my own (I still pick my cruise and call the TA) thinking I had more flexibility, but in truth with a responsive TA, I get all the ‘flexibility’ I had before, and a lot more from the TA…..and no on-holds or misunderstandings, or Me not reading the contract/whatever correctly. 

 

den

 

[Lastdance]

23 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We originally booked the Edge for March and April 2024 in NZ and Australia B2B with a NRD for both. Last month we changed the cruises to one in January followed by a second in February 2024 on the Edge. Celebrity rebooked us on the new cruises and moved our $600 deposits from the original bookings to the new ones and even waived the $100 administration fees. 

 

 

Just wondering if you changed the dates due to weather or something else...I have the two cruises you originally booked.

Thanks!

Edited May 13, 2022 by Lastdance

[terrydtx]

35 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Just wondering if you changed the dates due to weather or something else...I have the two cruises you originally booked.

Thanks!

Nothing to do with the weather. After looking at all the offered cruises we decided we wanted to do the cruise to The Great Barrier Reef much more than the April 5th Australia Wine cruise. To make this happen we had to also rebook the March New Zealand cruise earlier to make the two cruises match up B2b. This will most likely be our only trip down under so we realized you can't go to Australia and not visit the Great Barrier Reef and the Suncoast. Actually the weather in January and February will be much warmer than March-April, but we would have preferred the cooler weather but the GBR cruise is only offered twice during the season.  We had been booked on the March NZ cruise with my sister and BIL and they changed to the January NZ cruise with us, but they are not doing the GBR cruise. They may do a land trip in Aus. before the NZ cruise, but that is up in the air.

[nashville15]

On 5/12/2022 at 7:33 AM, TMLAalum said:

That sounds as though one no longer has to monitor pricing themself and that Celebrity will automatically apply reductions to one's booking.

 

If so, that is great news, but I find it difficult to believe that that is the case!

No, the cruise consultant suggested e mailing him once a month to run the booking to check for prices or do it ourselves on line.m