Current policy with canceling/rescheduling a cruise?

[EleventyBangBang]

I guess my fault for not reading, I just assumed that all deposits were refundable up to final payment date.  (That's how it was before COVID, right?)  But that apparently isn't the case now.  Never given it much thought before, but now it looks like, for the first time ever, I might not be able to get the time off work.  So what are our options here?  Lose the 500?  Change cruise date, and something about a 100$ penalty/fee?  We are before final payment date but it's coming up fast.

 

Anybody have any recent experiences with this to share?

Edited January 22, 2023 by EleventyBangBang

[Tree_skier]

Change and lose the $100 per person is your best bet. It bites but is better than losing the $250 per person.  You can still get refundable deposits but when booking you have to specifically ask for it unless you are booking with a TA who is offering group space.  That is generally always refundable.

 

[ONECRUISER]

Typically only do longer Cruises, $450 down each and sucks when have 8-10 Cruises Booked at a time. Canceled loose $100 but got rest in FCC. Spoiled with liberal Covid Cancel Policy with the 100% Refunds but gone for good now and usually cost of 300-400+ extra for my Cruises to be Refundable and I never pay that. Taking my first Cruises on Holland America Cruise's, nice with 18nite Hawaii and a 30nite Panama Canal, Booked at only $25 down each. Wish Royal ran specials like this

Edited January 22, 2023 by ONECRUISER

[SherriZ366]

Does RCI insurance bought when one books cover the a portion of the deposit above $100 per person?  

[Billy Baltic]

In the US can you book as refundable and then when you’re sure you’re going to sail, convert to non-refundable and get a better price?

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

In the US can you book as refundable and then when you’re sure you’re going to sail, convert to non-refundable and get a better price?

Yes, however many time by the time you have gone to convert it the non refundable price has risen to more than what you paid for the refundable rate.  

[Ourusualbeach]

53 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

Does RCI insurance bought when one books cover the a portion of the deposit above $100 per person?  

I believe that since you can add the insurance at anytime up until final payment that the insurance will only kick in after final payment has been made.

[ARandomTraveler]

27 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

In the US can you book as refundable and then when you’re sure you’re going to sail, convert to non-refundable and get a better price?

Yes, you can convert it to non-refundable as long as the final payment date hasn't happened yet. You'd be making the gamble that the non-refundable price is gonna be lower than the refundable price you booked months before. 
 

You cannot do the other way around (go from non-refundable to refundable).

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by ARandomTraveler

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

 

You cannot do the other way around (go from refundable to non-refundable).

 

you might want to edit this

[ARandomTraveler]

1 hour ago, SherriZ366 said:

Does RCI insurance bought when one books cover the a portion of the deposit above $100 per person?  

I believe that the cruiseline insurance only gives you a future cruise credit, but not cash back. 
 

If you buy an independent travel insurance policy, you can buy one that has "cancel-for-any-reason" coverage, and in that case, you can get 75% of your cash back for whatever you lost from a canceled cruise. However, if the cruiseline (or airline) offers you a future cruise (or airline) credit, then the insurance company will not consider you to have lost money. 
 

For example, if you put a $500 non-refundable deposit down, and you canceled and lost the entire $500, you could make a claim against your independent insurance for 75% of that $500 (so you'd get $375 back). 
 

If you changed your cruise date instead of canceling, and you lost $200, your independent insurance policy would pay you $150. 
 

In both of those cases, the insurance policy will probably have cost you more than it was worth to get such a small amount of money back. 
 

I just always book refundable, and I buy the cancel-for-any-reason independent insurance that will pay me back 75% of the entire cruise fare that I could lose after final payment date if I can't go. I never buy the cruise line insurance because I don't like  being limited to only getting my money back in the form of future cruise credits.
 

Plus, independent insurance policies can give you a bunch of other coverage that you might benefit from, such as paying you money if your cruise itinerary gets changed, or payment if your flight is delayed 6+ hours, coverage for sports rental equipment (like jet skis and kayaks etc). 

Edited January 23, 2023 by ARandomTraveler

[ARandomTraveler]

5 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

you might want to edit this

😂 thank you

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I believe that the cruiseline insurance only gives you a future cruise credit, but not cash back. 
 

If you buy an independent travel insurance policy, you can buy one that has "cancel-for-any-reason" coverage, and in that case, you can get 75% of your cash back for whatever you lost from a canceled cruise. However, if the cruiseline (or airline) offers you a future cruise (or airline) credit, then the insurance company will not consider you to have lost money. 
 

For example, if you put a $500 non-refundable deposit down, and you canceled and lost the entire $500, you could make a claim against your independent insurance for 75% of that $500 (so you'd get $375 back). 
 

If you changed your cruise date instead of canceling, and you lost $200, your independent insurance policy would pay you $150. 
 

In both of those cases, the insurance policy will probably have cost you more than it was worth to get such a small amount of money back. 
 

I just always book refundable, and I buy the cancel-for-any-reason independent insurance that will pay me back 75% of the entire cruise fare that I could lose after final payment date if I can't go. I never buy the cruise line insurance because I don't like  being limited to only getting my money back in the form of future cruise credits.

The FCC is if you cancel for a Non covered reason.  Covered reasons are still a 100% refund.  FCC's under CFAR are now 90%.

 

[Biker19]

14 hours ago, EleventyBangBang said:

That's how it was before COVID, right?

RCI started offering NRD bookings as default well before the COVID shutdown.