Not happy with new Nonrefunable deposit rule

[Colo Cruiser]

Just to clarify, if I want to switch my booking from Princess to a TA, do I have to pay my deposit again?

 

 

No.....everything stays the same.

[SantaFeFan]

Do you also think that once shore excursions are booked (and now you must pay when booked) that they should be non-refundable so the cruise line can count on that income (and of course, make the shore excursions better)?

 

Not the same thing at all. It is much easier to fill an excursion seat for a couple of hours than a cabin for several days or weeks. Especially since to fill a cabin at the last minute, most people would have to arrange vacation time and arrange transportation to and from the cruise ports. An excursion can be filled by people who are already on the ship. Plus, an excursion costs a fraction of the cost of a cabin.

 

Going away from the cruise industry, do you think hotel reservations should only be able to be made with non-refundable deposits? Same for car rental reservations? Doctor appointments?

 

This is even more ludicrous than your first bad example. Hotels can accept guests any day of the week, and for a stay of variable duration. How many hotels do you know of that only accept guests on a specific date of the month and require them to stay for a set number of days before they are allowed to leave? "Apples and oranges" doesn't even come close to describing the extent of the difference in your example.

 

Your example of a doctor's appointment is even more absurd. :rolleyes:

[puli]

Non-refundable deposits are nothing new when booking with a sales promotion.

 

Although I've recently read that the deposit terms of the promotion now apply even when using a FCD which would be lost with a non-refundable deposit sale. I think this is a new change in policy although I rarely book a cruise with a non-refundable deposit so don't have many experiences with them.

 

I did recently book a cruise with a non-refundable $1 deposit so I'm risking that deposit. ;)

I booked a cruise during the most recent dollar deposit promotion and cancelled and got my 2 dollars back!!! what a surprise!

[AZbeachboy]

I just spoke with a friend today who had paid a large deposit with Viking three years ahead of time. When they contacted the offices of Viking to cancel they did not receive help. This was a new cruise that will go to Alaska starting next year. They cancelled two years out. Sth started posting on their web site and Facebook and had their money back in less that a week.

[AZbeachboy]

I don't know if this has been talked about here, but my friend also mentioned a article he read about the reason Carnival is starting to require non refundable deposits. It seems that there was some scam of young people developing group cruises so that some received some free and then pulling the deposits before they lost them. They still got free cabins but did not make any money off the rest and it was too late to fill the ships. Has anyone else have this knowledge.

[brt49]

It's switching to a TA, not cancelling. So, no.

 

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Thank you good sir!

[upwarduk]

The cruise lines have always lost money/ been left with cabins when full payment time arrives, as customers in USA choose which cruise they will take.

This does not happen in the U K market, as we have always lost our deposit if we have had to cancel.

[SteveH2508]

Just a thought - those who book several cruises and then cancel most of them are pushing prices up for the rest of us (lower available inventory = higher price - Supply and Demand 101).

[Cuizer2]

we always have reservations a year in advance so we get the cabin we want. Now, I'm told there are 2 prices...one with refundable deposit which is much higher amount...and lower amount with NONrefunable $100 per person deposit!!

 

Bad enough they are nickel and diming me on the ship, now they are stealing my deposit! I am almost elite, and this has really got me mad.

 

You know, I'm worried that this will catch on in other areas of travel. I can see the airlines offering two different fares, one nonrefundable and one that is higher that is refundable. Then hotels will follow suit, offering two different prices for the same room, with the refundable price being higher than the nonrefundable price.

[octoberdana]

You know, I'm worried that this will catch on in other areas of travel. I can see the airlines offering two different fares, one nonrefundable and one that is higher that is refundable. Then hotels will follow suit, offering two different prices for the same room, with the refundable price being higher than the nonrefundable price.

 

 

 

Hotels already do this. I booked an IHG and I had my choice of best price fare non-refundable or flexible fare that was $20 more but refundable up to 24 hours before.

 

 

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[Cuizer2]

Hotels already do this. I booked an IHG and I had my choice of best price fare non-refundable or flexible fare that was $20 more but refundable up to 24 hours before.

 

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So do the airlines.

[freetocruise]

Simple solution - If you don't like non-refundable deposits, don't book under a promotion that states that requirement. No one is forcing you. If you're booking in the US, call Princess and ask for a price quote with a refundable deposit.

[SheriffJoe]

You know, I'm worried that this will catch on in other areas of travel. I can see the airlines offering two different fares, one nonrefundable and one that is higher that is refundable. Then hotels will follow suit, offering two different prices for the same room, with the refundable price being higher than the nonrefundable price.

 

Have you not flown in a while, airlines and hotels have been doing this for YEARS.....you actually have it bassackwards, its the cruise lines copying it from airlines and hotels......

[Cuizer2]

Have you not flown in a while, airlines and hotels have been doing this for YEARS.....you actually have it bassackwards, its the cruise lines copying it from airlines and hotels......

 

So I guess you didn't see post # 111.

[jimmieg]

You know, I'm worried that this will catch on in other areas of travel. I can see the airlines offering two different fares, one nonrefundable and one that is higher that is refundable. Then hotels will follow suit, offering two different prices for the same room, with the refundable price being higher than the nonrefundable price.

 

Hotels already do this. I booked an IHG and I had my choice of best price fare non-refundable or flexible fare that was $20 more but refundable up to 24 hours before.

 

 

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I assume Cruiser 2's statement was in jest. Of course hotels have done it for years. Airlines, too. Car rentals, too. Always a refundable rate and a lower non-refundable rate.

 

It is the cruise industry that is playing catch up. As long as the market, which appears to be very strong, bears it, you'll have a choice. Be glad it can be as little as $1 or $100 that is at stake and not the whole fare.

 

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[Cuizer2]

I assume Cruiser 2's statement was in jest. Of course hotels have done it for years. Airlines, too. Car rentals, too. Always a refundable rate and a lower non-refundable rate.

 

It is the cruise industry that is playing catch up. As long as the market, which appears to be very strong, bears it, you'll have a choice. Be glad it can be as little as $1 or $100 that is at stake and not the whole fare.

 

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At last, somebody noticed the sarcastic font in my post. :o about forgetting rental cars :o

[jimmieg]

At last, somebody noticed the sarcastic font in my post. :o about forgetting rental cars :o

[emoji1]

 

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[SheriffJoe]

So I guess you didn't see post # 111.

 

So this is how one gets to 30,000 posts, posting useless drivel......

[Cuizer2]

So this is how one gets to 30,000 posts, posting useless drivel......

 

Obviously you have never read any of my reviews.

[Presto2]

we always have reservations a year in advance so we get the cabin we want. Now, I'm told there are 2 prices...one with refundable deposit which is much higher amount...and lower amount with NONrefunable $100 per person deposit!!

 

Bad enough they are nickel and diming me on the ship, now they are stealing my deposit! I am almost elite, and this has really got me mad.

 

In the UK all deposits are non refundable .....I can't get my head around a deposit that is.

 

If we needed to get our deposit back we would have to use our insurance and prove that we needed to cancel. E.g. On one occasion we lost our £400 deposit because I would not ask my terminally ill mum to sign to say that she was terminally ill and was the reason why we had to cancel ............

[Secretlyfi]

I need to cancel a cruise I have booked for next April. Today I faxed my TA the cancellation form and they emailed me back that $200 of the deposit was non-refundable. I booked the cruise back in May 2016 and it was NOT a non-refundable deposit.

 

After almost an hour on the phone with them (mostly on hold) they told me that when my reservation was re-priced in May 2017 for a price drop (which I initiated by calling them), it was turned into a non-refundable deposit at that point. They got that information by calling Princess today while I was on hold.

 

But I was never told that during the call to process the price drop and there was no mention of it in the updated invoice they sent me that day. At the end of today's call they referred it to a supervisor who would investigate it by "pulling the call" and get back to me in a day or two. I guess they are trying to see if I was told this information or not.

 

But I really think I would have remembered that if they told me and more importantly, doesn't that need to be in writing to me? Do you think I have any recourse since the updated reservation invoice they sent me makes no mention of $200 being non-refundable?

 

Just wanted to come back with an update. Heard from the TA supervisor today and they will be issuing me a check for the non-refundable portion of the deposit, so I won't be out anything. They were really good about it, they just had go through their investigation. There was nothing in their invoice to me that mentioned NRD and they hadn't told me on the phone when it was re-priced that it was switched to NRD. So they did they did the right thing to make it right, and I was happy.

[caribill]

Just wanted to come back with an update. Heard from the TA supervisor today and they will be issuing me a check for the non-refundable portion of the deposit, so I won't be out anything. They were really good about it, they just had go through their investigation. There was nothing in their invoice to me that mentioned NRD and they hadn't told me on the phone when it was re-priced that it was switched to NRD. So they did they did the right thing to make it right, and I was happy.

 

Thanks for coming back and posting the outcome.

[upwarduk]

We cancelled a cruise a few years ago and living in U.K. I knew we would loose our deposit.

What I didn't know was that we would also loose the air fare to Rome, as the cruise company had booked it with one of the cheaper air lines.

We went through the same process as srecetlyfi, Supervisor listening to taped recordings of phone conversations etc.

They came back to me and said I had been told, which I still disputed and after all I didn't hear the recording of the phone conversation. I said it should have been put into the T&C. It was not in our paper work, or in the brochures.

I eventually managed to get that air fare portion refunded via a complaint on their Social Media page.