HELP! Cruise price went DOWN. Can I get a refund?

[Gerbz]

Hi!

 

I just booked a cruise 5 days ago (Holland America) and today I checked the price and was HORRIFIED to see that the final price dropped by $1050!! That's a LOT of money!! :eek:

 

Does anyone know whether or not I can get a refund or some kind of compensation? I mean, I was literally forced to purchase the cruise at the time because HOLLAND AMERICA listed it as a "flash sale"....and I was told it's available for a limited time and I should act immediately! I was led to believe that it was the best deal! :mad:

 

AND now...it's gone EVEN cheaper...I mean..if the price goes down a couple weeks or a month later, I wouldn't be so upset, but FIVE days later....and $1050???? OUCH..... :(

 

Can anyone help me?? :confused:

 

Thanx in advance! :)

[bazarr2]

Hi!

 

I just booked a cruise 5 days ago (Holland America) and today I checked the price and was HORRIFIED to see that the final price dropped by $1050!! That's a LOT of money!! :eek:

 

Does anyone know whether or not I can get a refund or some kind of compensation? I mean, I was literally forced to purchase the cruise at the time because HOLLAND AMERICA listed it as a "flash sale"....and I was told it's available for a limited time and I should act immediately! I was led to believe that it was the best deal! :mad:

 

AND now...it's gone EVEN cheaper...I mean..if the price goes down a couple weeks or a month later, I wouldn't be so upset, but FIVE days later....and $1050???? OUCH..... :(

 

Can anyone help me?? :confused:

 

Thanx in advance! :)

 

I would call Holland america or whomever you booked with and let them know of the reduction. Did you pay in full? Some lines don't pay if you are paid in full but I would still try. Go ahead and call, immediately. Before the prices go back up.

[Gerbz]

Hi bazarr2!

 

Thanx for your reply. I will call first thing in the morning! Unfortunately, I paid in full because the cruise is in April. :(

 

I'm kicking myself....I can't sleep....I'm thinking what I could buy with $1050....:mad:

 

I'll call in the morning and see what they say....

 

Thanx! :p

[bazarr2]

Hi bazarr2!

 

Thanx for your reply. I will call first thing in the morning! Unfortunately, I paid in full because the cruise is in April. :(

 

I'm kicking myself....I can't sleep....I'm thinking what I could buy with $1050....:mad:

 

I'll call in the morning and see what they say....

 

Thanx! :p

I'm not saying you won't get it if you paid in full. I don't know what there policys are on that. Maybe you can check out there contract and see what it says.

[firefly333]

If you post this question on the Holland Am forums, Im sure someone will have a definite answer for you. Yep, now thats a lot of money for the price to drop. I would be upset too if they said no.

[eandj]

Since you already paid in full, you may be offered on board credits. If you booked thru HAL, call them today. Let us know what develops!!

[Gerbz]

If you post this question on the Holland Am forums, Im sure someone will have a definite answer for you. Yep, now thats a lot of money for the price to drop. I would be upset too if they said no.

 

Thanx for the advice! I just posted it in the Holland America forum. I hope someone's got an answer for me!! :)

[Gerbz]

Since you already paid in full, you may be offered on board credits. If you booked thru HAL, call them today. Let us know what develops!!

 

That's what I'm hoping. I really can't see them refunding me, but I'll take onboard credits! I'm getting my travel agent to see if he can work it out. If not, then I'll have to call HA myself! I will definitely keep all of you posted! :)

[firefly333]

That's what I'm hoping. I really can't see them refunding me, but I'll take onboard credits! I'm getting my travel agent to see if he can work it out. If not, then I'll have to call HA myself! I will definitely keep all of you posted! :)

 

You definitely have to have your TA handle this. Once you book thru a TA, the cruiseline wouldnt deal with your directly.

[Gerbz]

You definitely have to have your TA handle this. Once you book thru a TA, the cruiseline wouldnt deal with your directly.

 

Thanx for the advice! I will definitely push my travel agent to do it! Thanx! :)

[eandj]

Oh yes, if you used a TA ,they are the only ones that can communicate with HA re the refund. Guess we thought you did the booking yourself. Let us know what you end up with, please. That's how we all learn. Thanks.

[CruisnGram]

I checked your posting on the HA board, and unfortunately, it is as I suspected. Cruise lines drop their prices substantially after final payment date has passed to fill those empty cabins. And most (including HA) won't adjust your price after that.

 

Your only recourse is to check what better accomodations then yours are going for. Those prices have probably dropped to and you may be surprised what you may be able to upgrade to at no extra cost.

 

Sorry that this happened, but know that it happens all the time....you're not alone. And I hope this doesn't ruin your trip. Remember that you obviously were okay with the price of this cruise when you booked it, and nothing has really changed since then. You're getting the same trip, for the same price that you agreed upon. So put this behind you and enjoy your trip. Don't waste the money you spent by being too upset over this to enjoy your cruise.

 

CG

[Gerbz]

I checked your posting on the HA board, and unfortunately, it is as I suspected. Cruise lines drop their prices substantially after final payment date has passed to fill those empty cabins. And most (including HA) won't adjust your price after that.

 

Your only recourse is to check what better accomodations then yours are going for. Those prices have probably dropped to and you may be surprised what you may be able to upgrade to at no extra cost.

 

Sorry that this happened, but know that it happens all the time....you're not alone. And I hope this doesn't ruin your trip. Remember that you obviously were okay with the price of this cruise when you booked it, and nothing has really changed since then. You're getting the same trip, for the same price that you agreed upon. So put this behind you and enjoy your trip. Don't waste the money you spent by being too upset over this to enjoy your cruise.

 

CG

 

The cruise is in mid April...it's about 7 weeks away.

 

I know it happens all the time so that's why I wait until the last minute to book the cruise. This is my first time looking into an HA cruise so I wasn't familiar with the way they market their cruises. I'm especially choked about this because I've been looking at this cruise for a VERY long time....waiting patiently! So, when the cruise price dropped a couple of hundred dollars, I was happy and contacted my TA right away. My TA called and the HA rep said that it's a "flash" promotion and we better book immediately because the sale will be over in two days. Then the price will go back up! SO, we made the decision to book. Now, FIVE days after we were pressured to book, the price goes down!! I'm kicking myself because if I wasn't so stupid to listen to HA and believed the price would go back up, then I wouldn't have booked. Now, I'd be $1050 richer....

 

You've got a great point. The price I purchased the cruise for was a pretty good deal and I'm okay with it. I'm just upset with HA's marketing strategy! Anyhow, I'm still waiting for my TA to see what he can do for e!

 

Thanx for making me feel better....maybe I can sleep tonight...LOL

 

Luckily, I have a short memory and perhaps when the cruise rolls around, I would've forgotten about all this and I can enjoy the vacation....!!!:)

[hovank]

That happened to us in December. It was actually worth it for us to lose the non-refundable portion and rebook the cruise. We gave up $250 per person by cancelling; but saved about $750 per cabin immediatley rebooking at the lower rate. There excuse was that it was for "new-bookings". But we did cancel and rebook.

[printingchick]

I've never sailed with Holland America.

 

When the posted price dropped on the Royal Caribbean cruise I took in January, my TA negotiated us the lower price - even though we'd paid in full. Royal refunded the difference to my credit card. It saved us over $200 per person! In this economy, it was a very welcome suprise.

 

I understand from these boards that Royal and Carnival will do this if you or your TA brings it to their attention, so long as the posted price is not designated as a "new bookings only" price. I honestly don't know how this is handled by other lines.

[hulamoon]

Which cruise did you book?

[Sheffie]

Have you heard back yet? What happened?

[CruisnGram]

I understand from these boards that Royal and Carnival will do this if you or your TA brings it to their attention, so long as the posted price is not designated as a "new bookings only" price. I honestly don't know how this is handled by other lines.

 

Royal may still do it but Carnival doesn't effective January 1st. It caused a real uproar on the Carnival boards.

 

CG

[Gerbz]

Which cruise did you book?

 

I'm on the Volendam. I'm taking the 33 day cruise from Hong Kong to Vancouver. :D

[Gerbz]

Have you heard back yet? What happened?

 

I finally heard back from my TA.

HAL won't refund my $1050 (go figure)...and they won't give me any sort of onboard credit. They offered me a one category upgrade.

 

Oh well...I guess next time I should do my research and not get pressured into booking so quickly!!! Anyhow, I do have to admit I did already get a deal on the cruise. I guess I can't complain!! :)

[Debe7ing]

Which is why so many of us have decided to use the "wait until we are within the 90 days to catch the fire sale" type of mode for cruises now.

 

I suppose that if you need a particular date, cabin or ship, that is not the way to go...but if you just want to cruise and are flexible on the dates/cabin location or destinations, we find it allows us "more crusing for our dollar" type of rates. We have friends that we cruise with, and we book those to ensure we are all together a year out...but for those "gotta have some sea time" bookings, we wing it.

 

Try and enjoy anyway...you will have a GREAT time and you did get a deal!

[MEEKO3020]

I know Norwegian will adjust the price. In fact I did it in two consecutive days. One day I was checking on the internet and saw the price went down, I called them right away. The next day when I checked again, it went down even more. I called again and have them adjusted for me again. I am not sure they did it because I booked it directly from their website and I paid the deposit only and not the final payment yet (cruise is at the end of May, my final payment date will be end of March). If you booked through the TA then you might need to deal with the TA. Since your trip is coming up within 2 months, not sure what's their rules are for the price adjustment.

 

Good luck.

[CcCcCcCindy]

I have done this on RCL but I am not happy to hear that Carnival changed their policy. I hope it does not become a trend like "airlines charging for luggage" and "fuel charges". If they want us to feel fine booking far in advance, they should give us the same rates as if we waited to book, or why bother helping them fill the rooms early? :rolleyes:

[lilian41134]

Happened to me to for the same cruise. More than USD750 price drop per person. Good thing you were offered an upgrade. Tried to ask our online travel agent for a rate adjustment, but like you we had already made final payment, so no adjustment, and no upgrade either! Since we are from Asia, we found it hard to to communicate with our TA (long distance charges, time difference). They didn't answer my e-mails.

 

Oh, well, like the other poster said, we had been ok with the original price when it was offered, so we shouldn't let that ruin our trip, but can't help that first reaction when you see the price drop. "Ouch!". Lots of stuff you can do with USD750

[pris993]

HAL is not that flexible. We were booked on HAL a year ago. Months before final payment they were advertising the same cruise we had booked for a lower fare that included transfers to the ship. The ship docked in Rome so we had asked about transfers when we first booked and were told no they were not included in the fare.

 

So when we saw they were included subsquently to our booking, we asked our TA to check with HAL. The price included the transfers was actually less then what we were quoted. When the TA contacted HAL they would not give us the transfer even for the higher price. We did not asked for the price reduction, only the transfer.

 

So we ended up cancelling our cruise and rebooking. Then we got the transfer and a lower price. We thought at the time, not very good business sense on the part of HAL. Go figure???