Price Drop - need advice.

[Globaliser]

It was 40% off rack rate on their Disney resort + free dining + a special 14-day Orlando ticket (includes Disney + others) all for a price we could never get close to.

 

I am sure this matters not for those uninterested in Disney, but I just wanted to point out that Brits don't always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop on travel deals.

Did the Disney deal include travel, or was it just accommodation and park tickets? If no travel was involved, then it wouldn't be a conventional "package" in EU terms.

 

Brits certainly don't always get the poorer deal. If there's a cruise I'm interested in but the only way of booking it requires me a pay a much higher price here, I often just won't book it - I'm voting with my feet. However, there have been just as many cruises which I've booked here where we have had a better overall deal.

 

My gripe is more that US passengers could, if they'd wanted, have booked those cheaper deals here. But when it's the other way round, I'm not allowed to book in the US.

[VMax1700]

Chita, that's disappointing, but at least the OBC is something. You should consider Future Cruise Credit purchase during your cruise, if you think you would go with HAL again in the future.

 

I have booked a Westedam cruise for March 2012 while on the Eurodam. Deposit was only €65 each (USD100). I can cancel the Westerdam and the FCC are valid for 4 years from purchase. It also seems that I get the advantage of price reductions. If I didn't get the price reduction then I would just cancel and rebook (as long as its prior to final payment date).

 

Also if there was a 'flash sale' at very reduced prices that HAL would not give me, again, I would rebook at the new price and cancel the old booking.

[hybrn8]

We have paid in full for an upcoming trip. We use a travel agent. What strategy for obtaining a refund or inboard credit does anyone have? We are US citizens living in USA. Thanks in advance.

[English_in_Spain]

I agree the difference in deposit regulations between US and Europe is unfair.

 

However, rather than see the European rules changed to match US I think US should be changed to our system. These are our cancellation fees.

 

More than 57 days before commencing travel: an amount equal to deposit requirement

56-29 days before commencing travel: 50% of the gross fare

28-16 days before commencing travel: 75% of gross fare

15 days or less before commencing travel: 100% of gross fare

 

To me, I do not like it when I read on CC that someone has booked and paid a deposit on several cabins on a ship when they only intend to take one of them. They are just undecided which they want. While they have reserved the cabins they are unavailable to the rest of us.

 

I think putting a deposit on a cruise (or anything else) should be a definite intention to travel.

 

We have a B2B booked on the Eurodam for next April. We have paid £1300 ($2000) in deposit for 2 people which we will lose if we cancel. We have taken out an insurance policy which covers us if we have to cancel for unavoidable reasons such as illness.

[chita]

No,I would not object at all to what you propose English in Spain.As long as it's a level playing field.

I also agree wholeheartedly about the multi-cabin bookings which some folk in the US seem to indulge in.

Surely someone somewhere has got to try and sort this thing out.Since I've been exposed to these unfair differences after experiencing a price drop it has made me much more wary about booking early,or indeed booking at all.

[Teresa Price]

Hi everyone,

very interested in this thread. As far as the EU is concerned this would surely be restrictive practise. This summer we ditched a Princess cruise in favour of a reduced price Noordam. Lost the deposit but the difference was several thousands pounds in this case!! I want to book HAL for next summer for a 24 nighter but don't want to risk a huge price drop. So we are stuck, the only good point being we bought a future cruise deposit onboard for £100 only. Therefore, I will be content to risk that in cancelling and rebooking if I need to.

 

But what the heck the system stinks! Why should the British be treated differently? I would love to have the money to be able to challenge this in the courts, but for now I can dream.

 

Chita, I hope you get a decent result in this,

best wishes to all,

Teresa

[sail7seas]

Chita, that's disappointing, but at least the OBC is something. You should consider Future Cruise Credit purchase during your cruise, if you think you would go with HAL again in the future.

 

I have booked a Westedam cruise for March 2012 while on the Eurodam.

I agree the difference in deposit regulations between US and Europe is unfair.

 

However, rather than see the European rules changed to match US I think US should be changed to our system. These are our cancellation fees.

 

More than 57 days before commencing travel: an amount equal to deposit requirement

56-29 days before commencing travel: 50% of the gross fare

28-16 days before commencing travel: 75% of gross fare

15 days or less before commencing travel: 100% of gross fare

 

To me, I do not like it when I read on CC that someone has booked and paid a deposit on several cabins on a ship when they only intend to take one of them. They are just undecided which they want. While they have reserved the cabins they are unavailable to the rest of us.

 

I think putting a deposit on a cruise (or anything else) should be a definite intention to travel.

 

We have a B2B booked on the Eurodam for next April. We have paid £1300 ($2000) in deposit for 2 people which we will lose if we cancel. We have taken out an insurance policy which covers us if we have to cancel for unavoidable reasons such as illness.

 

 

I am surprised to read there is an impression that many in the U.S. book multiple cabins and hold onto them while deciding which they want to keep. I have never read that here and wonder how that can happen.

Wouldn't the computer kick out a duplicate booking. If it has the same name, address, mariner number on more than one cabin, I wouldn't think more than one booking would be permitted.

 

In U.S., HAL cancellation penalties are the same as what you have posted here.

 

[Megsie1000]

I have never heard of this practice, either, but I am fairly new here, so I thought maybe I just hadn't run across it yet.

 

That isn't something I would ever consider doing. Even minus the inconsiderate nature of this practice, that is a LOT of money to tie up in a deposit for a cabin you might not use. I know you would get it back, but most people couldn't afford to do that.

[sail7seas]

If you use a Future Cruise Deposit purchased while aboard, it is only $100 pp deposit for most cruises. Grand Voyages and World Cruise require larger deposits.

[English_in_Spain]

In U.S., HAL cancellation penalties are the same as what you have posted here.

 

 

Are you saying that in the US this applies?

 

Cancellation fees : More than 57 days before commencing travel: an amount equal to deposit requirement

 

I thought if you cancelled before final payment you got your deposit back. What this is saying to us is if we cancel a year before the cruise we lose our deposit.

[sail7seas]

Yes, if U.S. cruisers cancel prior to final payment we get back our deposit. However, final payment has been made by 57 days out. It is more like 70+ days out that final payment is due.

[English_in_Spain]

Yes, if U.S. cruisers cancel prior to final payment we get back our deposit. However, final payment has been made by 57 days out. It is more like 70+ days out that final payment is due.

 

So that is not the same as our T&C. As soon as we pay a deposit, even if it 2 years in advance we are committed to the cruise. The deposit is never refundable. This is a big difference for us.

 

Sorry, but saying the US penalties are the same as ours is just not true.

[Megsie1000]

If you use a Future Cruise Deposit purchased while aboard, it is only $100 pp deposit for most cruises. Grand Voyages and World Cruise require larger deposits.

 

Wouldn't you have to use multiple certificates for each person to hold multiple cabins?

 

It also just seems like a lot of work to go through to hold multiple cabins. I can't imagine why anybody would want to do that.

[Globaliser]

It also just seems like a lot of work to go through to hold multiple cabins. I can't imagine why anybody would want to do that.

But I can imagine people holding multiple bookings on different ships for different itineraries because they can do so without any real penalty, only later deciding which they really want.

 

In the UK, we can't do that without waving goodbye to all but one of the deposits.

 

Some cruise lines are starting to change this for US passengers. IIRC, NCL now has less flexible terms for their suites (or some of them) because of its poor experience with advance reservations actually converting to sailings after final payment.

[sail7seas]

 

Are you saying that in the US this applies?

 

Cancellation fees : More than 57 days before commencing travel: an amount equal to deposit requirement

 

I thought if you cancelled before final payment you got your deposit back. What this is saying to us is if we cancel a year before the cruise we lose our deposit.

 

Yes,

You are right you don't get back your deposit and we do.

However the rest of the cancellation schedule is the same.

[chita]

I started all this off so I thought I'd chip in again.
I'm glad we've now got that clear that in the UK we lose our deposit if we cancel before final payment.I'm sure that the majority of CC's from the US were not aware of that,and why should they be I suppose:rolleyes:
But it is unfair.
What's also unfair is that we can't benefit from price drops.We're not able to get our invoices adjusted like those folks in the US.
If we book, we're stuck basically with the price we've paid however far out we've booked.If the price drops three times before final payment then TOUGH.We're stuck with probably the most expensive cabin on the cruise.