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

[Jade13]

 

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???

 

Just one thing to remember, most travel insurance policies do not cover pre-existing conditions for cruises that are canceled and rebooked.

[lysolqn]

Remember the good old days when cruise lines encouraged early booking by guaranteeing the lowest fares six-plus months out? And if, per chance, fares dropped lower closer to the sail date, early booking pax would have the difference in fare returned to them. Somewhere along the way marketing strategies changed and now, coupled with a sluggish economy, it appears that the closer to sail date you book, the better the deal you get. From my perspective, that leaves both the cruise lines and their customers in a booking quandry - the cruise lines because they need to unload unsold berths at steep discounts once the paid-in-full date passes so more and more pax are waiting to book later to take advantage of those low fares; their customers because those who book early aren't happy about getting burned so more pax are waiting to book closer to the sail date to benefit from the steeply discounted fares!

[beachchick]

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.

 

NCL does not adjust fares after the final payment date. They will sometimes allow an upgrade if higher category fares have also dropped and they occassionally offer some OBC. You're correct that if they've booked through a TA, then the TA is the one who must deal with the cruise line.

 

You did well to get those fare drops. It pays to keep checking and to call and request an adjustment.

 

beachchick