cancelling when final payment due

[dalliowner]

I notice that our October Quest cruise that was nearly fully booked three months ago, now has availability in all grades from V1. In the UK you must pay a 10pc deposit when booking and this is lost if you cancel but I understand that in the US there is no loss. My question is do customers in the US book up cabins on various cruises and decide when the final payment is due which one to go on or is it a coincidence that so many cabins have become available now final payment is needed.:

[Mr Luxury]

I notice that our October Quest cruise that was nearly fully booked three months ago, now has availability in all grades from V1. In the UK you must pay a 10pc deposit when booking and this is lost if you cancel but I understand that in the US there is no loss. My question is do customers in the US book up cabins on various cruises and decide when the final payment is due which one to go on or is it a coincidence that so many cabins have become available now final payment is needed.:

 

Yes,nail on the head and all that.

 

Some cruise lines are now getting wise to the messers who book several trips and then at the last minute choose one,they charge guests who cancel a fee.

SS and Oceania come to mind but I might be wrong,others will have the info about exact lines.

[Randyk47]

Indeed some cruise lines are getting smart and, as mentioned above, indeed Silversea started last year charging a $200 cancellation fee. I think they call it an administrative fee that can be used to buy down another cruise if taken within 12 months of the date of the cancelled cruise but is forfeit if not used within that time. Personally we try to think very hard and long before we book a cruise but in twenty years of cruising we have had to cancel or reschedule two cruises due to work for one and a health issue for the other. Even though we on this side of the pond can get our deposits back the thought of tying up a few thousand dollars for several months is not very alluring to us.

[wripro]

The other side of this coin is that UK TAs usually receive much higher commissions than their US counterparts and therefore rebate a nice amount to their clients. I guess you can't get the rebate and the refund.

[Sunviking]

I notice that our October Quest cruise that was nearly fully booked three months ago, now has availability in all grades from V1. In the UK you must pay a 10pc deposit when booking and this is lost if you cancel but I understand that in the US there is no loss. My question is do customers in the US book up cabins on various cruises and decide when the final payment is due which one to go on or is it a coincidence that so many cabins have become available now final payment is needed.:

 

You are correct that there are people here in the US who do just that on the cruise lines which have no penalty for canceling before final payment. We have some acquaintances who might be called "serial cruise bookers." We have up until now done most of our cruising on Princess. While on a cruise with them you can buy Future Cruise Credits for $100 each. These can apply as your only deposit for a future cruise and is fully refundable should you cancel before the final payment due date. Unused FCC's will be refunded to you after 2 years (used to be 4). We know some cruisers who have many Future Cruse Credits and book any cruise that may be of interest to them. As the time goes by, they decide which one they will take and which they'll cancel. Many don't cancel until the last minute in case they change their mind. We have always maintained the position that we only want to book a cruise we really plan to take. We book way in advance so my husband can block out the time on his work calendar and adjust meetings etc. In more than 30 years of cruising we've only canceled a booking twice. Both of those happened because of unexpected occurrences. Frankly, I would have a hard time keeping track of multiple bookings all around the same time. My brain would be overloaded! :)

[dalliowner]

I wonder how many bookings Seabourn lose, if when looking, people find the cruise is fully booked or the grade they require is not available. They then book with another line only to find the cabins become free 3 months before sailing.

It is most probably not a problem on 1000 or 2000 cabin ships but on Seabourn with only 220 cabins it must easily distort the booking system

[seabournaddict]

I wonder how many bookings Seabourn lose, if when looking, people find the cruise is fully booked or the grade they require is not available. They then book with another line only to find the cabins become free 3 months before sailing.

It is most probably not a problem on 1000 or 2000 cabin ships but on Seabourn with only 220 cabins it must easily distort the booking system

 

that is exactly how I "found" Seabourn! Tried to book an Oceania cruise, was booked out for the category I wanted (over 12 months in advance) so I booked Seabourn. As yet still haven't tried Oceania, but have 300 days on Seabourn. It certainly doesn't sound like a very sensible practice to me.:confused:

[Mr Luxury]

Hopefully all cruise lines will wise up and start to charge people for cancelling a booking who do not really know whether they will take the cruise or not.

Surely it can only help the cruise line and the guest.