Booked during the $1 deposit day and now...

[Iamthesea]

I have a question. 🙄  DH and I booked a cruise direct with HAL (online) during the $1 deposit day back in April.  Obviously, it's too late to transfer the cruise over to a travel agent, but final payment is not due until February 2024.  The travel agency that we normally use has just come out with their annual Labor Day sale...and it's great!!!    Can I cancel our cruise (and lose the $2 deposit) and re-book with our travel agent?   There are plenty of staterooms in the category that we booked with, the price is still the same, and the HIA is the same as when we originally booked.   Plus, the travel agent is offering many more perks, like cash back in OBC totaling a lot!  Plus, when doing a mock booking through this agents website, it appears that HAL is offering OBC Cruise Line Promotion Offer $375.00 USD

 

We will have to pay the deposit ($198) when booking.  Not a big deal!   Seems like a win/win, but wanted to ask here since the TA is closed today.    Also, as a safety measure, can our TA book the new cruise before we cancel the old? 

[KAKcruiser]

I don't see why you couldn't cancel your booking. They would probably even refund your $2 deposit.  It's probably a good idea to cancel before you attempt another booking for the same cruise.

[Iamthesea]

I was worried about losing something before talking to my TA tomorrow.  Can I cancel online, or do I need to Call HAL?

[Mary229]

3 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

I was worried about losing something before talking to my TA tomorrow.  Can I cancel online, or do I need to Call HAL?

You actually never need cancel.  It will be automatically be canceled at final payment.  I call but I think you can also cancel by online chat 

 

if you are curious those special OBCs are the same as the early booking OBC Mariner’s receive.  The TAs simply hold onto them until they run a sale. 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Mary229

[Iamthesea]

That's helpful to know.  We do currently have a $100 credit attached to the booking for the Early Booking.  It was not attached to the HIA when we booked, so I was curious where it came from.  We would lose that, of course.  And, yes, I would feel better cancelling the original booking, or my TA can take care of it.  Thanks so much!!! 

[POA1]

The $2 is refundable. Cancel it before you book the new one.

[kazu]

53 minutes ago, POA1 said:

The $2 is refundable. Cancel it before you book the new one.

 

The OP has to cancel to re-book.  HAL will only do one reservation in their name.  they can’t book again without cancelling 😉 

[Haljo1935]

If you want the same cabin, you'll have to cancel before TA books the new one or that cabin will show as not available.

[Iamthesea]

No problem.  The stateroom is a GTY.  

[oaktreerb]

5 hours ago, POA1 said:

The $2 is refundable. Cancel it before you book the new one.

I cancelled two impulsive $1 deposits made with my PCC two years ago and didn’t get the $2 back.  I didn’t expect to get it back.

[Boatdrill]

5 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

I cancelled two impulsive $1 deposits made with my PCC two years ago and didn’t get the $2 back.  I didn’t expect to get it back.

Why didn't you expect to get it back ?

[oaktreerb]

14 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

Why didn't you expect to get it back ?

It must have been nonrefundable at that time.  $1 to hold a reservation until I made up my mind, it was a deal.

[canadianbear]

10 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

It must have been nonrefundable at that time.  $1 to hold a reservation until I made up my mind, it was a deal.

My friend in the USA did the $1 deposit and hers was non refundable but ours was.  

[JesterWA]

I did this about 2 months back - booked the new deal first, then cancelled the old booking with no problems. My deposit was technically non-refundable but HAL very kindly refunded it on request.

[alwaysfrantic]

14 hours ago, kazu said:

 

The OP has to cancel to re-book.  HAL will only do one reservation in their name.  they can’t book again without cancelling 😉 

I was booked with a travel agent because my personal cruise consultant never answered my emailed questions.  Several weeks later she saw the emails and booked the same cruise in the mirror cabin to what I had with my TA without ever asking if I wanted to book.  I got reminders from HAL to pay for my reservation.  
 

So I know for certain HAL does have two identical reservations in the system…..because of lack of quality of their PCC.  She was a great advertisement for booking with a travel agent. 

[Real NHDOC]

I have a funny "only HAL can do it this way" story.  We booked a few when they had the $1 special in July.  One booking was direct with HAL and three were through our TA.  Subsequently canceled them all.  The three we booked with the TA were refunded while the one we booked direct with HAL they never refunded.  Go figure.  I believe the deposits ALL should have been refunded but will I call and fight over $2?  Probably not.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[Haljo1935]

I thought I had seen the $1 deposits were non-refundable, but it's a few months so I may not be remembering correctly. 

[Real NHDOC]

Whether refundable or not they should have all been treated the same.  I didn't expect to get the $2 per cruise back so was pleasantly surprised to see it promptly refunded on three of them...but then it made me wonder why the other wasn't refunded? 

It's because the only consistent thing HAL does is be inconsistent!

[Haljo1935]

6 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

Whether refundable or not they should have all been treated the same.  I didn't expect to get the $2 per cruise back so was pleasantly surprised to see it promptly refunded on three of them...but then it made me wonder why the other wasn't refunded? 

It's because the only consistent thing HAL does is be inconsistent!

Agree

[Iamthesea]

😁 Thank you all, again!!! 

[Iamthesea]

UPDATE:  Have yet to get the $1 deposit cruise cancelled, but wanted to let you know that my TA has re-booked the cruise.   I tried cancelling using CHAT, but that feature doesn't appear to be working.  Cannot cancel online.  I will try calling HAL as soon as they open tomorrow morning so that I do not have to stay on HOLD very long.

 

Along with the same cruise rate and best HIA incentives that we had with the original booking, we will now be getting $1,105 in OBC!!!  We were also able to purchase Club Orange and upgraded from our VH GTY stateroom to a higher V.

 

Thanks again for the help. 😉

[Haljo1935]

9 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

...Along with the same cruise rate and best HIA incentives that we had with the original booking, we will now be getting $1,105 in OBC!!!  We were also able to purchase Club Orange and upgraded from our VH GTY stateroom to a higher V.

 

Thanks again for the help. 😉

Congrats on rebooking and for the OBC - that's a very nice amount. Since you mentioned the $$ amount of OBC you're getting, would you break that down to show how much you're getting by type?

[Iamthesea]

Not sure what you mean "by type", but Here's what we have:

 

VS – 14 Day Britain, Scotland, Ireland - Rotterdam May 11th, 2024

$3899 per person

$265 taxes per person

 

$420 - Club Orange

 

Comes with the Have it All Plus –

Elite Beverage Package

Premium WIFI package

Prepaid Gratuities

Shore Excursion Discount of $200pp

Pinnacle Grill Dinner

Tamarind Dinner

 

$775 per cabin onboard credit

$100 per cabin onboard credit

$200 per cabin onboard credit

$50 per cabin loyalty credit

 

Blue is from Travel agent

Yellow is from HAL

 

From past experience, onboard charges will come off of the HAL OBC, first.  Any OBC not used will be refunded back to our credit card.  We had more OBC on our last cruise and actually had a little left over.  A refund showed up on our CC after a few weeks.

 

Deposit is $198 per cabin and is refundable until Final payment.

 

[Iamthesea]

P.S. - A few minutes ago, I was able to cancel the old booking using the CHAT feature (thanks so much for that tip.  So much easier than calling!)   I have already received a cancellation confirmation and that the $2 deposit will be refunded to my credit card. 😁  I did not ask for it.

[Haljo1935]

Thank you @Iamthesea. What I meant by "type" of OBC is if it's Shareholder, AARP, Military, EarlyBooking Bonus, Loyalty, etc. I was just curious to know where it was coming from. So it looks like your TA is doing a great job of getting you OBC.

And yes, if it's not non-refundable, any you don't use will be refunded back to the CC you have on file w/HAL. I find that happens quickly after I get home.

Good to know you were able to cancel the other booking. I've never used the chat feature, so nice to learn it works well. Looks like you've got a great cruise planned - safe travels,  enjoy your cruise!