Does anyone else dislike the non-refundable deposit option?

[Cancruizer]

I hate it. I guess it works for RCCL, but it has stopped me from booking a cruise that is a few months out. I was debating between Sept 2018 and May 2019 for a med cruise and simply can't guarantee vacation time coordination just now. In the past I would book early and and feel good in the knowledge that I could cancel if plans didn't work out. 90% of the time plus it worked and we did not cancel. Now I waver and check all the different cruiselines and may book NCL for flexibililty, even though I may prefer RCCL. I am sure everyone is different but I find it discouraging to have to pay more (over 100$ p/p) so I won't book it at all for now. Probably a bad idea on my part as prices will possible go up, but I can't bring myself to pay higher... :(

[Clarea]

Not a fan of non-refundable deposits.

[Ashland]

I wouldn't even consider a non-refundable .... I've never had to cancel a cruise .... But life happens .... and I don't want the hassle ... not worth the few $$'s difference to me personally.

[davekathy]

I wouldn't even consider a non-refundable .... I've never had to cancel a cruise .... But life happens .... and I don't want the hassle ... not worth the few $$'s difference to me personally.

Agree.

Edited February 7, 2018 by davekathy

[tvisser]

I am not a fan of non-refundable deposits. I really do not consider them either. If you typically get travel insurance, you may want to consider asking them prior to booking what their policy is on non-refundable deposits in case you have to cancel and submit a claim.

[island lady]

I have saved quite a bit by booking non refundable.

 

For example: Have booked HOS for 12/8/19 JS cabin.

 

Non refundable per person: 1848.00 Refundable: 1998.00

 

Difference of 150.00 per person.

 

OBC: 300.00 non-refundable, 200.00 refundable.

 

Worst I can lose if I change dates or ships before final payment?

200.00 (100.00 per person)

 

I don't know...you do the math. :confused:;)

I don't book cruises to change them...or do "markers".

 

BTW: Just called today on one of my non-refundable cruises to take advantage of

253.00 price decrease. Happily changed by CS...balance reduced...no penalty.

Edited February 7, 2018 by island lady

[molly361]

Also not a fan. If you aren't booking a suite you can still book a refundable rate

 

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[LuvCruising8]

Not a fan of non-refundable deposits...very difficult if you are a family with young children.

[CP3o]

I just book the refundable and consider switch later if cheaper and more certain

 

 

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[TwizzlersAddict]

I might be a fan if they did something similar to Carnival,with extended price protection past final payment. Just a lower price and OBC isnt enough for me.

I change my mind way too much.

[SG65CB]

It does help fix one problem. There are a limited number of GS cabins on a ship and they sell out early. There were people who would book a GS on several different cruises far in advance and figure out later which one they actually want. Usually they would do this through NextCruise so they would pay very little deposit.

 

Now with mandatory NRD for GS that won't be happening and it will be easier to book a GS if you want one.

[olemissreb]

I don't book non-refundable or pre-pay (like hotels) anything if I can help it. I've had to cancel my last 2 cruises due to unforeseen circumstances. The price for my 9/2019 cruise is the right price for me and my mom at a fully refundable fare...so we don't get as much OBC, oh well.

[venicia]

will NEVER book non-refundable again. We have never cancelled a cruise in over 40 cruises, but it has now happened. We had to cancel a grand suite on Symphony and knew upfront we would lose $100.00. Or rather, that was what I was told when we booked. It is $100.00 per person, ok, it is what it is. I was told within 3 weeks we would receive a certificate for the other $300.00 of our $500.00 deposit. Three weeks later I contacted Royal and was told it could be 3 to 5 weeks. I just called again today and now I was told the certificate was issued on January 30. I told them I never received a copy and was told I would not be getting one.

 

What I was told is when we want to book our next cruise use the confirmation number for Symphony and the certificate is in the notes. There will be $150.00 for DH and $150.00 for me. WAIT A MINUTE, what if DH does not want to go???? It was my credit card that was used to book the cruise. NOPE, he gets $150.00 credit and so do I. I do a lot of cruises with the ladies as DH is a once a year cruiser, so even though my credit card was charged $500.00 I cannot use the $300.00 to use as a deposit on a cruise.

 

Be very careful if you book with non-refundable, as I mentioned this is the first cruise we have ever had to cancel.

 

By the way, we had the choice of booking refundable or non-refundable, but since we have never had a problem before, we chose wrong. We book suites but have never booked more than the one we want to sail in.

[Regguy]

I think there are some interesting psychological factors at play here that I'm sure RCI has considered but customer behavior is a very interesting thing. It's pretty clearly established for example, I guess, that the psychological difference between $9.99 and $10.00 is worth way more than the value of the penny to the merchant.

 

So, take a cruiser that simply cannot risk booking nonrefundable -- for whatever reason, work, life, etc. You price the cruise at $1700 for nonrefundable and $1950 for refundable. The cruiser looks at that and thinks, "I'm being charged a $250 penalty for having an inflexible job situation" (or whatever). But, really, the underlying question is, would this same cruiser have minded paying $1950 for the very same cabin on the very same cruise if there were no such thing as nonrefundable fares? That is, if $1950 had simply been lowest price offered to the public, would it change behavior? I bet in some cases it would -- just like when you see an item is "80 percent off" it makes the price of $200 look better than if there were no "sale".

 

It's to me a fascinating question. In the end, though, I think it's kind of a false question. The truth is that if there were no nonrefundable fares, the price of the cruise would actually probably be less than $1950. They are charging a premium for the flexibility. I'm sure they have some data and it works out for them, but it is a pretty interesting marketing question.

[alfaeric]

It does help fix one problem. There are a limited number of GS cabins on a ship and they sell out early. There were people who would book a GS on several different cruises far in advance and figure out later which one they actually want. Usually they would do this through NextCruise so they would pay very little deposit.

 

Now with mandatory NRD for GS that won't be happening and it will be easier to book a GS if you want one.

 

We like that, too.

 

Always book with a refundable deposit in a JS, but as we approach final payment, we look at a GS upgrade. Since booking is way down there, the prices tend to be very good. And re-booking one or two days before final payment isn't a big deal. That day, every deposit becomes non-refundable.

[nealstuber]

When we booked our Vision cruise, the difference between the two rates was more than the deposit.

 

Refundable rate: 100% chance we’d spend an extra $125pp. Nonrefundable rate: Small chance we’d loose the $100pp deposit.

 

Realize the lower deposit rates are not always out there and we were booking just a few weeks before regular penalties kick in anyways - but it was a winner for us this time around.

 

Every deal is not for everyone in all circumstances.

 

 

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[RFerrington]

Hate the non-refundable policy for suites.

[LuCruise]

Agreed...Dislike it.

 

We booked our Symphony cruise before they introduced non-refundable. This was booked 2 years out. So with today's pricing, we'll never see a price drop as our booked price (which is refundable) is close to the non-refundable price. And if we rebook, we'd have to be prepared to lose $420 CAD if we cancel going forward. The refundable rate is quite a bit more than non-refundable.

Also as an aside...i have also booked another cruise and the agent by accident, booked it as non-refundable. It was his mistake and we're all human, but it was a pain to get it resolved (took 24 hrs)

[njmomof2]

I might be a fan if they did something similar to Carnival,with extended price protection past final payment. Just a lower price and OBC isnt enough for me.

I change my mind way too much.

 

I would agree that they are really not offering much for the non-refundable deposit. And you're right, Carnival at least offers price drops up to 48 hours before sailing along with their Early Saver rate; often it comes with OBC as well.

 

So for me to take the risk, there has to be more of a reward than a slightly lower price. We ended up moving to the NRD the day before final payment for our Christmas cruise. Since I knew we were going, and paying final the next day, increasing the deposit (we had booked onboard with the lower deposit) and taking the NRD price made sense at that time. But any earlier, nope.

 

My sister booked a summer cruise for herself, BIL, her D and D's fiancé. Booked 2 cabins and, without consulting me (her agent), booked NRD. Why she did that, when she knew that daughter's fiancé was deploying in the summer, is beyond me. Of course, deployment date now conflicts with cruise, and daughter got a new job so neither one can go.

 

Now, sister did deposits all on her card. She will lose $100/pp and the remaining $300 will not be in her name, but in the names of the daughter and fiancé. They live in CA, we're in NJ. Chances of them being able to join another cruise within the 1 year (deployment will last until February of 2019) is slim.

 

She won't do that again.

[DShock]

We book these all the time. Just did for two b2b's on Allure. Great price, great OBC, Free Gratuities. Life does happen so its like gambling, if you can't afford to lose it don't do it. But for us we like it. Here is why. When the deposits are cheap, say $100, anyone can book a OS or higher (what we always book) and since there are only a few of these categories per ship they get tied up making it hard for others to find the room they want. Then when reality comes, i.e., final payment, many cancel out. But by then some people may have already booked another line or a land based trip. We have actually done well with waitlist due to this reason. So I like the fact that people have to have more skin in the game to book and hold these suites, shows a realistic commitment to that category and that particular cruise. Plus the deals they have been offering (referencing the one that ended Jan 31) were incredible. Been a while since we were able to book b2b OS for under $10k for both!

[Davebhoy]

Don't see the problem with them offering the option - if it doesn't suit, pick the refundable option. And if it stops folk blocking out suites across a range of cruises till they decide which one suits them, then that's another bonus too.

[hollon]

I hate it, period!!! I had to cancel a cruise and lost 100.00, plus I went thru a TA and now I have to book by next Feb. or I'll lose my 150.00 (I understand rules w/ TA), but I feel RCCL ups the price on the refundable so now, I really have to wait or not go at all, I think it's a bad idea by royal. just my opinion.

[Riverdome]

Given how some customers were booking multiple cruises with ZERO intension of purchasing them all I would have done the same thing if I were making decisions at RCCL. It's like a lot of things in life, a few ruin it for the rest of us.

 

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[KsucAts]

Given how some customers were booking multiple cruises with ZERO intension of purchasing them all I would have done the same thing if I were making decisions at RCCL. It's like a lot of things in life, a few ruin it for the rest of us.

 

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Yup. This one seems pretty simple. We will never book a suite, so I will compare the two options and pick whichever works best for us. Unless the price difference is insane, I will go with the refundable rate. I book dozens of hotels per year and always make sure I get a refundable rate, even though they almost always offer a non-refundable rate for cheaper. This really isn't any different.

[karena1]

Not a fan of non-refundable deposits.

 

LOVE IT! I get cheaper prices on cruises and since hubby is retired and I work from home, we can plan our cruises way in advance (we did this before the non-refundable deposit thing). I love getting the OBC, which was nonexistent for shorter cruises. Right now we have 11 cruises booked all the way through April 2020 and all are non refundable deposits. It is saving me a boatload by being non refundable plus giving me OBC. So for us it is a WIN WIN