Cancelling or changing cruise with nonrefundable deposit

[M&JfromSDL]

Sorry to read about your breakup. I'm not much of an expert on how the deposit will shake out, but if I were you I would go on that cruise. You never know, there's a ton of people on board and always lots of single people. Maybe you'll meet someone that loves to cruise and is in a similar situation!

[geomancer]

I recently canceled a cruise. It's a process (not the enjoyable kind).

 

 

We had two cruises booked, one in June and one in August. We had to cancel the August one in February. We had 3 people in the cabin (instead of 2). What we had wanted to do was just transfer the deposit over to the June cruise since we were before final payment.

 

 

Nope. They won't do that.

 

 

What they do is issue a Future Cruise Certificate for each passenger, in their own name, for their deposit minus $100. So, we ended up getting three FCC's each worth $150. These must be used within 1 year of issue, but I believe you can cruise anytime. For example one year from now, you could book a cruise that's still over a year away and it would be okay.

 

 

It took WEEKS to get the FCC's. Well over a month. By the time we got them, our June cruise had gone past final payment and was already paid off. However, RCL still allowed us to apply them to that cruise and we got refunded the $450 ($150 x 3) which also took over a week (and was done in two separate refund amounts).

 

 

Our flights were booked with two different airlines (one for outbound, another for return) and the individual ticket values were less than the change fee and thus worthless. These were domestic flights, so not as expensive.

 

 

 

Long story short as others have told you, you'd only get a single $150 FCC that you could use. The second would be in your ex's name. You can take a small comfort in knowing that even with travel insurance you would not have been covered for this situation. Not unless you had "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage which is quite expensive and only pays ~75%.

 

 

With American Airlines as you've seen there is a $200 change fee (I thought it was $250). You could apply the $700 to some other flight. While you might not use it all on a regular domestic flight, maybe you could consider First Class and pay no more than a regular seat price for it. Better than loosing $700 (in my opinion).

[rimmit]

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think cruise insurance covers a break up. They cover family illness, death, trip interruption, medical expenses, lost or delayed baggage, missing embarkation, etc, but a break up is not included, at least for any insurance I have ever purchased. I guess the point I am trying to make is you shouldn’t Beat yourself up over not getting insurance.

 

I am sorry for your break up. It can be hard.

[kac0426]

Thanks again, everyone, for the helpful replies. I thought I'd tell you what I decided to do. I cancelled the cruise. It's just not something I wanted to do by myself, and it's too expensive and too long of a trip for someone else to go with me. I will use the $150 credit towards a cruise in the future. He'll have a $150 credit in his name as well, but I doubt he'd ever know or use it.

 

I will also try to use the American Airlines credit sometime in the future. I assume the credit in his name stays with him even though I paid for his flight?

 

Appreciate all of the help and guidance through this process. It's something I never imagined having to do. I thought we were both in it for the long haul. I was wrong.

[ARandomTraveler]

Thanks again, everyone, for the helpful replies. I thought I'd tell you what I decided to do. I cancelled the cruise. It's just not something I wanted to do by myself, and it's too expensive and too long of a trip for someone else to go with me. I will use the $150 credit towards a cruise in the future. He'll have a $150 credit in his name as well, but I doubt he'd ever know or use it.

 

I will also try to use the American Airlines credit sometime in the future. I assume the credit in his name stays with him even though I paid for his flight?

 

Appreciate all of the help and guidance through this process. It's something I never imagined having to do. I thought we were both in it for the long haul. I was wrong.

 

 

 

Oh man, you paid for his flight and he hasn’t offered to pay you for it? What an a-hole. Yes he gets to keep the credit, unfortunately.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[AmyJA]

Personally... I think you made the right decision. I am afraid that if it were me on the cruse….I wouldn’t/couldn’t stop thinking… what if….that a**hole…look at what he is missing…..

Like you said, not a good value of your vacation money.

Go on that cruise to the Caribbean with your mom in January and have a blast!