change of fare

[Islandbuoy]

Can I book a refundable fare(say a year ahead) and later change to a non-refundable when my plans firmup(prior to final pay)?  

 

How does having cruise line insurance affect this? 

With all the different fares-hard to know what to do?

Thanks,in advance!

[RTShaker]

46 minutes ago, Islandbuoy said:

Can I book a refundable fare(say a year ahead) and later change to a non-refundable when my plans firmup(prior to final pay)?  

 

How does having cruise line insurance affect this? 

With all the different fares-hard to know what to do?

Thanks,in advance!

Short answer is yes you can. Your deposit will be refunded. You will lose any offers you have and your new booking will reflect the current offers at time of booking. I can't speak to the insurance question.

[DCPIV]

You may want to look into an annual travel insurance policy if you travel enough to justify it (and it doesn't take much to do that).  That allows you to insure a non-refundable deposit.  Of course, you likely would not have quite the same flexibility of just going with the refundable deposit.

[Islandbuoy]

31 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

Short answer is yes you can. Your deposit will be refunded. You will lose any offers you have and your new booking will reflect the current offers at time of booking. I can't speak to the insurance question.

So essentially cancel& rebook?

[RTShaker]

10 minutes ago, Islandbuoy said:

So essentially cancel& rebook?

Correct.

[sanger727]

The nonrefundable fare is a discount to lock you in to paying something. It would be a poor business decision to allow someone to book a good rate early, refundable to not lose anything; and then switch to non-refundable and get the same discount at final payment. It would have be a cancel and rebook. Now, it may still be a good pricing decision if the cost of the cruise increases by more than the difference in fare.