Non-refundable deposits

I am trying a new angle with this. First let me say it will only work for those of us that will only need to cancel for medical reasons. If you want the flexibility of cancel for any reason, stop reading and go to the next thread.

We checked today and our December Zaandam cruise had dropped by $600/pp but had a non-refundable deposit as well as full payment up front. I said yes, paid for it with our Chase card which has a $10,000/pp trip cancellation benefit. So I have saved $1,200 and am covered in the event we have a medical event.

Anyone else looking at it this way?

I have the Chase card with the same benefit. That is how I see it. I switched to a non refundable deposit because I could save on the cruise. If one of us gets sick I will file a claim for all money I am out. This would include our flights to Vancouver, B.C.

I posted a thread (minor rant) about these non-refundable deposits. We also used Chase with its $10,000 cancellation benefit...but this is only effective if you have a covered reason to cancel. But consider if you book with that non-refundable deposit...and a few days (or weeks or months) later the price of your cruise drops by $1000. You will not be permitted to rebook (or reprice) at that lower cost and keep your deposit. You would have to cancel the original booking, lose your deposit, and then rebook (unless HAL plays very nasty and says the new lower price is for "new bookings only").

Hank

Even if we decided to get a Chase credit card, that $10,000 would never come close to covering what we pay for a cruise.

I will demand a refundable fare when we book.

I posted a thread (minor rant) about these non-refundable deposits. We also used Chase with its $10,000 cancellation benefit...but this is only effective if you have a covered reason to cancel. But consider if you book with that non-refundable deposit...and a few days (or weeks or months) later the price of your cruise drops by $1000. You will not be permitted to rebook (or reprice) at that lower cost and keep your deposit. You would have to cancel the original booking, lose your deposit, and then rebook (unless HAL plays very nasty and says the new lower price is for "new bookings only").

 

Hank

But as some often bring up, as long as you are happy with your price, that’s a risk you take. You can’t have it both ways. What about the cruise cost goes up? I would also add this is probably most effective on a shorter term horizon. In our case $600/pp was a 15% reduction, I have not often seen that type of drop where I would miss out.

Even if we decided to get a Chase credit card, that $10,000 would never come close to covering what we pay for a cruise.

I will demand a refundable fare when we book.

Understand it’s $10,000 per person. For those of us in steerage, that covers most of our cruises other then the world cruise.

But as some often bring up, as long as you are happy with your price, that’s a risk you take. You can’t have it both ways. What about the cruise cost goes up? I would also add this is probably most effective on a shorter term horizon. In our case $600/pp was a 15% reduction, I have not often seen that type of drop where I would miss out.

Well said. The lack of objective thinking in many posters continues to amaze me. They want to lock in a price they like -protecting themselves against increases, but still want to be able to take advantage of decreases. They seem to feel that not being able to get a lower price is somehow cheating them.

I wonder why it has taken the line so long to seek a level playing field.

Even if we decided to get a Chase credit card, that $10,000 would never come close to covering what we pay for a cruise.

I will demand a refundable fare when we book.

We sure hear you :). On the other hand, by not ever paying for trip cancellation insurance (during forty plus years of cruising) we are over $100,000 ahead. Some would call it self-insurance. And before anyone asks, we do purchase a very good annual travel medical policy that covers all of our trips throughout the year with $250,000 of medical. Total cost of that policy is about $450 a year (cost for 2).

Hank

Well in my case (for the booking I am holding) to change to a non-refundable deposit will cost me an additional $500 pp. And HAL calls that a "sale". And has the nerve to say "for a limited time only". Now this is what I call crazy!!!

Well in my case (for the booking I am holding) to change to a non-refundable deposit will cost me an additional $500 pp. And HAL calls that a "sale". And has the nerve to say "for a limited time only". Now this is what I call crazy!!!

It seems the only sale right now is with non refundable deposits. I wonder what the next “sale” will be.

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Well in my case (for the booking I am holding) to change to a non-refundable deposit will cost me an additional $500 pp. And HAL calls that a "sale". And has the nerve to say "for a limited time only". Now this is what I call crazy!!!

Yes some of our cruise prices have gone up as well even with a non-refundable deposit. Obviously we won’t be signing up for that!

Well said. The lack of objective thinking in many posters continues to amaze me. They want to lock in a price they like -protecting themselves against increases, but still want to be able to take advantage of decreases. They seem to feel that not being able to get a lower price is somehow cheating them.

 

I wonder why it has taken the line so long to seek a level playing field.

(y)

I feel the same way. If there is an itinerary one likes at a price that one likes, then purchase the cruise.

I see a level playing field as beneficial to both the cruise lines and the passengers.

As a passenger, I will have a section of cabins that would not have been available to me by those playing cruise "roulette" and booking multiple cruises for the same time period and canceling the ones they don't want at final payment.

It does not bother me to book with a non-refundable refund (or pay in full for a great deal). We buy cruise insurance at the time of booking and are covered if we would need to cancel.

In my case the fare dropped by about $650 pp, BUT we would lose $500 pp in real perks. For $150 pp its not worth taking the non-refundable fare 9 months out (too many things can happen, including a lower fare).

Well in my case (for the booking I am holding) to change to a non-refundable deposit will cost me an additional $500 pp. And HAL calls that a "sale". And has the nerve to say "for a limited time only". Now this is what I call crazy!!!

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Just booked a cruise with Advantage fare - refundable deposit. The Seas the Day non refundable deposit, pay in full now was only a savings of $250 TOTAL - this for a cruise in summer 2019!😧. Needless to say, the savings , at this point, is not worth it to me to commit to full fare and no chance to re-fare or opt into other promos. The price now is decent and acceptable as Advantage fare.

I see now when you click on the terms and conditions, there are 2 different paragraphs, with different promo codes. One is for non-refundable deposit fares, other codes are for payment in full at time of booking. AND THEN, there is the combination of both codes, I guess, which means all in the pot NOW!😟

I booked an Alaska cruise last month (February 2019) on HAL Koningsdam for August 2020 through AARP's Expedia Travel Center.  I was asked to pay a $350 deposit but was not told by the representative at Expedia that the deposit was non-refundable.  We had to cancel the cruise and lost the $350.  I blame this partly on Expedia but HAL should also make sure its travel partners are fully disclosing the requirements, as I was not even aware there was such a thing as a non-refundable deposit.  In this case, it shouldn't even be called a deposit but rather a fee.   And I would never make a reservation that far in advance (18 months!) if I knew the deposit was non-refundable. The person I was speaking to at Expedia when I called to cancel had HAL on the line for about 30 minutes and they refused to re-consider.  When I re-book for Alaska, I am giving my business to Celebrity.  Until this happened, I had begun sailing more on HAL than on Celebrity but I am not sure I will ever sail with HAL again.  So HAL got $350 out of me but has lost many, many thousands of dollars from me in future sailings.   

We are fortunate that most times our travel booking consultant won't let us book using the nonrefundable deposit.

10 minutes ago, OVgirl said:

We are fortunate that most times our travel booking consultant won't let us book using the nonrefundable deposit.

My TA will book non-refundable but only if her clients insist upon it.  You really have to want one.

On 3/8/2018 at 2:42 PM, KirkNC said:

I am trying a new angle with this. First let me say it will only work for those of us that will only need to cancel for medical reasons. If you want the flexibility of cancel for any reason, stop reading and go to the next thread.

 

We checked today and our December Zaandam cruise had dropped by $600/pp but had a non-refundable deposit as well as full payment up front. I said yes, paid for it with our Chase card which has a $10,000/pp trip cancellation benefit. So I have saved $1,200 and am covered in the event we have a medical event.

 

 

Anyone else looking at it this way?

I'm planning on getting that card in a couple of months.  I've got a cruise booked with final payment in August.  I intend to get the card as soon as my final payment will qualify for the point bonus.

On 3/8/2018 at 2:59 PM, Hlitner said:

I posted a thread (minor rant) about these non-refundable deposits. We also used Chase with its $10,000 cancellation benefit...but this is only effective if you have a covered reason to cancel. But consider if you book with that non-refundable deposit...and a few days (or weeks or months) later the price of your cruise drops by $1000. You will not be permitted to rebook (or reprice) at that lower cost and keep your deposit. You would have to cancel the original booking, lose your deposit, and then rebook (unless HAL plays very nasty and says the new lower price is for "new bookings only").

 

Hank

Technically if you fully cancel and lose the deposit, then book it is a new booking.

53 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

  And I would never make a reservation that far in advance (18 months!) if I knew the deposit was non-refundable. When I re-book for Alaska, I am giving my business to Celebrity.  Until this happened, I had begun sailing more on HAL than on Celebrity but I am not sure I will ever sail with HAL again.  

Be very careful here.  Celebrity also has non-refundable deposits.

55 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

I booked an Alaska cruise last month (February 2019) on HAL Koningsdam for August 2020 through AARP's Expedia Travel Center.  I was asked to pay a $350 deposit but was not told by the representative at Expedia that the deposit was non-refundable.  We had to cancel the cruise and lost the $350.  I blame this partly on Expedia but HAL should also make sure its travel partners are fully disclosing the requirements, as I was not even aware there was such a thing as a non-refundable deposit.  In this case, it shouldn't even be called a deposit but rather a fee.   And I would never make a reservation that far in advance (18 months!) if I knew the deposit was non-refundable. The person I was speaking to at Expedia when I called to cancel had HAL on the line for about 30 minutes and they refused to re-consider.  When I re-book for Alaska, I am giving my business to Celebrity.  Until this happened, I had begun sailing more on HAL than on Celebrity but I am not sure I will ever sail with HAL again.  So HAL got $350 out of me but has lost many, many thousands of dollars from me in future sailings.   

Just make sure you know what you are getting into if you book through Expedia again because the same thing will happen.  It’s up to the consumer to be aware of the consequences and fees when booking through a third party..

Don't blame HAL. Celebrity, and RCCL also offer non refundable deposits, as does Princess. I would hope that HAL lets you know what's refundable or not, as do the other lines. What happened on Expedia is the reason I always book direct.

2 hours ago, RDC1 said:

Technically if you fully cancel and lose the deposit, then book it is a new booking.

I guess that would be true.  Of course then you could run into other issues such as the cruise being fully booked with a wait list (in which case you will not be able to rebook) or very limited cabin categories.  

I don't know how you can be aware that it's non-refundable if you are not told in advance.  But, believe me, it won't happen again.