Pricing changes prior to final payment

Has anyone else experienced this? Solution ??

We have nearly 300 days and nearly 5-star mariners.

We have three bookings (2 in December and 1 in March). My DH went in to add some restaurant reservations and realized there was nearly 3000.00 difference in pricing for a party of 2 for the December back to back bookings. No $50 might be happen chance but $3000 is real $. We tried customer service with no help. Quite frankly- this is unethical and quite disappointing to very loyal (now stupid) customers.

Did you book yourself or through a travel agent? Customer service will not help you if you booked through a TA.

 

If it is before final payment you should be able to get a price adjustment. (I've had my TA get it twice.)

Has anyone else experienced this? Solution ??

We have nearly 300 days and nearly 5-star mariners.

We have three bookings (2 in December and 1 in March). My DH went in to add some restaurant reservations and realized there was nearly 3000.00 difference in pricing for a party of 2 for the December back to back bookings. No $50 might be happen chance but $3000 is real $. We tried customer service with no help. Quite frankly- this is unethical and quite disappointing to very loyal (now stupid) customers.

 

Contact your TA or the PCC at HAL and they should be able to get you the new rate if it is before final payment. If you have an Explorer 4 package the new lower rate may not include that package which would be why the lower rate but you would then need to decide if that is worth the price difference.

If you haven't made final payment, you should be able to get the price adjusted.

If you booked a cruise and gave a deposit then that is what you pay. They can raise the price of the cruise, but not on you. You should call your public advocate. Good luck!

 

 

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If you booked a cruise and gave a deposit then that is what you pay. They can raise the price of the cruise, but not on you. You should call your public advocate. Good luck!

 

 

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Sorry but that's not true. Most lines, including HAL, will honor reduced pricing if before the final payment.

Do not let the clock run out. If you are outside the final payment window cancel and rebook if you have to. Don't argue the point for too long in case the final payment date passes.

That's true as long as you call and get the reduced price before final payment. However, they cannot increase the price you had at the time u booked. I carefully monitor the prices of our cruises, and call my TA when there is a reduction or a promotion. Nobody cares about your money the way you do-lol

 

 

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Do not let the clock run out. If you are outside the final payment window cancel and rebook if you have to. Don't argue the point for too long in case the final payment date passes.

 

True. However, a complication may be the OP having non-refundable deposits. In which case, the OP will have to 'do the math'.

Has anyone else experienced this? Solution ??

We have nearly 300 days and nearly 5-star mariners.

We have three bookings (2 in December and 1 in March). My DH went in to add some restaurant reservations and realized there was nearly 3000.00 difference in pricing for a party of 2 for the December back to back bookings. No $50 might be happen chance but $3000 is real $. We tried customer service with no help.

 

check and make sure that all your perks are included in the new fare. You have posted to the Dec 20th Zaandam cruise which is 21 days. If you have the Explore4 package and they are now pricing without it, that would be a major part of the difference.

 

You mention a b2b, if the other part is the previous Zaandam cruise the total would be 35 days and dropping the Explore4 package would cover that difference.

 

If you want the lower fare, it would be with the perks that currently accompany it.

 

Quite frankly- this is unethical and quite disappointing to very loyal (now stupid) customers.

As far as being unethical, most businesses do not give price reductions if the price changes after purchase, although some do within a short time. The air fare I paid last night for an upcoming cruise will not change if I find a sale. I saw quotes for hotel rooms that were less if I paid now, but if I do I will not get any benefit of a price reduction.

Disappointing, maybe.

I have gotten price reductions quite easily before final payment, but had to go through the channel I booked through. For me it was the HAL Personal Cruise Consultant. If you booked with a travel agent they should call HAL and have your booking re-fared. As others have said be certain you understand what perks you retain or lose with the new fare.

 

As a last resort you you could consider canceling and rebooking at the new rate, although there could be a cancelation fee if you are booked with a TA who charges one, but it would probably still be substantial savings. Rarely there are booking that are on non-refundable deposits, such as Flash Fares, but those aare usually already pretty rock bottom. Hope it works in your favor. Let us know. m--

I also book through a HAL PCC and never have had a problem refaring my cruise prior to final payment. Quick and easy - done in a matter of minutes.

 

As already mentioned, be sure that you are comparing "apples to apples". Different fares may have different promotion perks.

Rarely there are booking that are on non-refundable deposits, such as Flash Fares, but those aare usually already pretty rock bottom. Hope it works in your favor. Let us know. m--

 

That used to be the case, but it is now changing. I have a S.A./Antarctica cruise booked with single supplement in an 'Outside' for 2018 with the Explore 4 package. The fare is HIGH. I could save $1280 by booking without the E4. However, in that case my deposit goes from $300 to $1009 and becomes non-refundable!

Has anyone else experienced this? Solution ??

We have nearly 300 days and nearly 5-star mariners.

We have three bookings (2 in December and 1 in March). My DH went in to add some restaurant reservations and realized there was nearly 3000.00 difference in pricing for a party of 2 for the December back to back bookings. No $50 might be happen chance but $3000 is real $. We tried customer service with no help. Quite frankly- this is unethical and quite disappointing to very loyal (now stupid) customers.

 

Not unethical at all...It completely depends on what perks you previously booked with, such as Explore 4 or OBC..The new price may not have the same perks you received.. I would guess. as others have said, that Explore 4 is the reason why the large price difference especially since you are on a B2B cruise.. We would not want Explore 4, because we don't drink that much, but to many Psgrs. it's an excellent perk & a good deal..

 

All companies including HAL has Sales & those that paid normal full price will usually not get a sale price later.. If a car was purchased & then goes on sale several days or weeks after a person paid full price for it, would they get a refund? Rather doubt it..

 

Same with a cruise, HAL is trying to sell a ship which still has cabins available, but may not be giving the same perks.. As others have said you can cancel if it's before final payment & rebook at the lower fare.. If it's after final payment, then you are out of luck unfortunately.. But make sure to take the perks you received into account when trying to refigure your cruise..

Edited September 18, 2016 by serendipity1499

When we compare cruise prices we back out the cruise price of any inclusives and then add back the actual dollar value to us. We very much prefer to have a fare only price.

My experience with HAL has been that with a price drop, even after the final payment was made, that they have given us a cabin upgrade or OBC- not every business will do something like this, and I feel they have been very generous in offering us those perks.

It is rare that we would ever book a cruise that far out...and not have at least one price change. When we notice a price change, a quick e-mail or call to our cruise agency (we use several) will generally get us the new (lower price) within a few minutes. If there was an issue we would simply cancel and rebook.

 

Hank

That used to be the case, but it is now changing. I have a S.A./Antarctica cruise booked with single supplement in an 'Outside' for 2018 with the Explore 4 package. The fare is HIGH. I could save $1280 by booking without the E4. However, in that case my deposit goes from $300 to $1009 and becomes non-refundable!

 

Good to know! We booked our long 48 night Tales of the South Pacific without the Anniversary Sale perks available at the time ($970 increase in fare for $600 of perk pp), but to do that we paid a large deposit, $1700 pp, but it was refundable until 120 days out when it went to non-refundable, even prior to the final payment date.... which I think was 90 days out.

Yes it is changing and we need to be aware of all the possible gotchas!

 

But when the price dropped $450pp we re-fared and could have gotten a lesser deposit too, so it's not straightforward. Thank you for sharing your experience. m--

Good to know! We booked our long 48 night Tales of the South Pacific without the Anniversary Sale perks available at the time ($970 increase in fare for $600 of perk pp), but to do that we paid a large deposit, $1700 pp, but it was refundable until 120 days out when it went to non-refundable, even prior to the final payment date.... which I think was 90 days out.

Yes it is changing and we need to be aware of all the possible gotchas!

 

But when the price dropped $450pp we re-fared and could have gotten a lesser deposit too, so it's not straightforward. Thank you for sharing your experience. m--

 

HAL just started running "one week sales" for 10 cruises each week. These have some very good prices, but the catch is that they are non-refundable! Just a heads up.

When we see this stuff about "deposits" it makes us laugh. Perhaps some give a %*(* about a deposit, but in the end the only thing that really matters is the total cost. If one has to get concerned about laying out another $500 (or some other such sum) for a few extra months.....then perhaps they really should not even be booking the cruise.

 

And yes, there is a new trend (not just on HAL) towards non-refundable cruise fares and deposits. We think its a great idea for the cruise lines, since there are some folks who will book multiple cruises with the intent of later making their final decision and canceling the ones they do not want to take. This causes problems for the cruise lines, and also causes issues for those of us who are serious with all of our bookings...and have to deal with less inventory due to all those phony bookings. So we are very comfy with non-refundable deposits. As to non-refundable cruise fares, that is usually something that happens late in the booking process....and is usually a very good fare for those who are really serious about booking a cruise. We think its fine to offer better deals to those who know they are serious...and higher fares to those who prefer to play games or live with doubts. This is similar to what the airlines have done for years.

 

Hank

... but in the end the only thing that really matters is the total cost.

 

To some people, getting a specific stateroom really matters. Waiting until fares drop, usually results in a 'guarantee' booking where, for an Outside room, you take the chance of being assigned a smaller than average stateroom, with portholes, in the bow, next to an anchor chain locker on Dolphin Deck. Eeeeeew!

 

HAL is moving towards non-refundable deposits on full fare, 'early' bookings - in my case, more than 16 months from sailing and, HAL's Platinum Cancellation Plan is exorbitant at approx. 10% of the fare.

 

You must be a stockholder.

We do not have an issue with non refundable fares IF the price is right. Most of our cruise bookings are non refundable. We suspect this is why we get great service from our on line TA. When we call she knows we have decided on a buy...we are not lookie loos as it were.

 

But the price has to be right because we really do not care if it says HAl, Celebtrity, Princess, etc on the funnel. It is all about the ship, the itinerary,and the offer for us. Never had a bad verandah gty yet on any line. In fact the opposite is true. As the mass market cruise lines move to the lowest common denominator we believe that cruise line loyalty will decrease. It has or is becoming a commodity business.

My experience with HAL has been that with a price drop, even after the final payment was made, that they have given us a cabin upgrade or OBC- not every business will do something like this, and I feel they have been very generous in offering us those perks.

 

 

But how long ago was it that HAL gave you OBC after final payment because of a price drop?

 

 

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Edited September 19, 2016 by Jade13

To some people, getting a specific stateroom really matters. Waiting until fares drop, usually results in a 'guarantee' booking where, for an Outside room, you take the chance of being assigned a smaller than average stateroom, with portholes, in the bow, next to an anchor chain locker on Dolphin Deck. Eeeeeew!

 

HAL is moving towards non-refundable deposits on full fare, 'early' bookings - in my case, more than 16 months from sailing and, HAL's Platinum Cancellation Plan is exorbitant at approx. 10% of the fare.

 

You must be a stockholder.

 

Yes, we are stockholders in both CCL and RCI and happily accept our stockholders OBC (which can be $250) on every cruise. As to what HAL "is moving towards" we could care less as we book with many different cruise lines (14 to date) and look for appropriate deals. But given the history of cruise pricing it is very unlikely we would ever personally book a non-refundable deposit (16 months in advance) that would lock us into a price. And we would add that it would be rare that we would ever book a cruise that far in advance because not only do you have constant price changes...but you also get itinerary changes...or perhaps a large group booking on a particular cruise (we try to avoid cruises with large groups).

 

As to those who insist on picking and choosing a particular cabin, that is certainly a personal decision and one may have to pay (literally) for that choice. So if by choosing a specific cabin you would happen to pay $3000 more (then somebody doing a category guarantee) then you should have no complaint when you realize most are paying far less for the same cruise.

 

Hank

I don't understand booking a cruise so far in advance anyway. I am in awe of people who think they know what they're schedules are and how their health will be up to 1.5 years ahead of time.

 

Even now that we are both retired, I can't possibly envision seeing that far into the future. We usually book 3 - 6 months out and have been happy with all our cruises.