Seems like a LARGE deposit - can this be correct?

[clueless2]

We booked the Veendam 49 day "Atlantic Adventure" in March. It leaves Oct 20. We had a $3500 deposit, a $1750 penalty June 22, a 60% of gross fare penalty July 22 (final payment date) and a 100% of gross fare Aug 6.

 

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[Hflors]

You all are correct. Not a "high" deposit. Normal dep. for a longer cruise plus Ins. I have the cruise on hold and I think I will wait until I go on my Jan cruise and buy two FCD. I just think that is too much money to put out this far ahead. Now if the dep. was broken up into like thirds over a period of time that would be a different story.

 

BTW - just a thought. What if I did put up the $3500.00 (forget the ins for now I can add that later) and supposed HAL went bankrupt. What happens to my and everyone else's money? :confused:

[Alberta Quilter]

BTW - just a thought. What if I did put up the $3500.00 (forget the ins for now I can add that later) and supposed HAL went bankrupt. What happens to my and everyone else's money? :confused:

 

I'm not very familiar with US bankruptcy law but I would imagine that you would lose the money. In Canada, we would be considered unsecured creditors. Unsecured creditors only receive a distribution after higher priority creditors, like secured creditors, get paid in full. If there is any money for unsecured creditors by that point, it is usually pennies for every dollar owed.

[arzz]

Over twenty years ago now we were booked on a Regency Cruise (not to be confused with today's Regent Cruises). A few weeks before final payment we were told that our ship was not sailing for Regency anymore and would we be willing to change the booking to a different ship and cruise one day longer in a full suite for the same price.

 

Too good to be true.

 

I put up a message on the cruise critic boards which, at the time, were exclusive to AOL, asking if anyone knew what was up.

 

Just as final payment time arrived I got a personal email from an industry insider who used to post on cruise critic telling me not to make my final payment as the cruise line would be bankrupt before the week was out.

 

I called my TA and told her to hold back on my final payment (and why) and she thought I was nuts. Sure enough Regency cruises went belly up two days later.

 

At the time I was able to make a successful claim with my credit card card company and received a refund for the deposit since the service paid for was never provided. I am not sure that the credit card companies would do that today.

 

So ... what we do today is buy just enough travel insurance to cover the deposit (as well as pre-existing conditions) as soon as we make the deposit. We make sure the policy covers bankruptcy by the travel provider. When final payment is made we up the value of the trip insurance. Lesson learned.

 

And, we have been loyal cruise critic readers since that time. Not only did Cruise Critic save me money, but it also saved my TA money and hassle as she also decided to withhold the final payments for other clients. After the bankruptcy was made public she called me back and wanted to know how I found out.

 

Thank you Cruise Critic.

[iancal]

Another reason to NEVER pay with a debit card, cheque, or cash.

 

Always use a credit card, always insist on a billing directly from the cruise line, not the travel agency.

[Tampa Girl]

You all are correct. Not a "high" deposit. Normal dep. for a longer cruise plus Ins. I have the cruise on hold and I think I will wait until I go on my Jan cruise and buy two FCD. I just think that is too much money to put out this far ahead. Now if the dep. was broken up into like thirds over a period of time that would be a different story.

 

BTW - just a thought. What if I did put up the $3500.00 (forget the ins for now I can add that later) and supposed HAL went bankrupt. What happens to my and everyone else's money? :confused:

 

Will this cruise accept the FCD's? The Grand Voyages will not. BTW - bankruptcy - really??? And Holland America has been in business how long?

[Hflors]

Will this cruise accept the FCD's? The Grand Voyages will not. BTW - bankruptcy - really??? And Holland America has been in business how long?

 

Do you remember Woolworth's or Pan Am, TWA? No one knows what the future brings that is why I asked.

[iancal]

GM, Chrylser, perhaps Sears in a few months/quarters.

[donaldsc]

You all are correct. Not a "high" deposit. Normal dep. for a longer cruise plus Ins. I have the cruise on hold and I think I will wait until I go on my Jan cruise and buy two FCD. I just think that is too much money to put out this far ahead. Now if the dep. was broken up into like thirds over a period of time that would be a different story.

 

BTW - just a thought. What if I did put up the $3500.00 (forget the ins for now I can add that later) and supposed HAL went bankrupt. What happens to my and everyone else's money? :confused:

 

Do you have any secret information or is your question just a hypothetical "what if"?

 

DON

[G&G]

Ok folks, calm down. HAL is not going out business. We all know HAL is owned by Carnival. If HAL goes bankrupt means Carnival is no longer around; 40% of the cruise ship market. If you haven't noticed Carnival stock has been at all time highs and is up 31% over pass year.

[Hflors]

Do you have any secret information or is your question just a hypothetical "what if"?

 

DON

 

I have NO secret info.. (I just watched the HBO movie about Bernie Madoff) I just was wondering what would happen. Stranger things have happened in our world. It is definitely a "what if" question.

[arzz]

Please be sure that my earlier reply to what happens if there is a bankruptcy was just an answer to a question posed by the poster - one that my experience could respond to.

 

I am sure that Carnival Corp. will be around longer than I will. I do not worry about losing money on large HAL Grand Voyage deposits - I only consider if I can afford to be parted from my money so far in advance.

[cranethie]

Is the 90 days final payment also true of the Grand voyages?

 

We are booked on a segment of Grand Asia 2017 boarding Hong Kong November 1.

 

Final payment for us is next week (June 23) - about 130 days before we cruise.

[KroozNut]

We always purchase trip insurance' date=' but it can be purchased a couple of days before final payment is due, that is when we buy it.[/quote']

 

But doesn't this then void the pre-existing conditions exclusion waiver? My understanding was that you had to purchase the insurance within 15 days of deposit / initial payment to get this important (at least to us) waiver..:confused:

[kazu]

But doesn't this then void the pre-existing conditions exclusion waiver? My understanding was that you had to purchase the insurance within 15 days of deposit / initial payment to get this important (at least to us) waiver..:confused:

 

It really depends upon what trip insurance you are buying. You can buy HAL's before final payment - no pre-existing conditions. (Caveat - it doesn't give 100% back & some of the medical coverage - ie. evacuation is not great). Other companies vary - some within 10 days of booking - some before final payment and some are even after final payment when the actual cost is known.

 

The best thing to do is to check out you insurance company and compare with a few and find what works best for you.

[arzz]

Our TA offers travel insurance thru Travel Guard - when we book we pay for only enough insurance to cover the deposit - when we make the final or next payment we up the insurance to cover our expenses. Doing it this way keeps us insured for pre-existing conditions coverage but we do not have to pay for a policy that covers the total cost up front.

 

It probably depends on the insurance company and how the policy is written.