Price adjustment/match question

[txflood33]

So I watch the price of my cruise, as do many of us here as well as the TAs, to see if the price drops so I can get an adjustment. Just this past weekend, I called in to change rooms as I saw an aft balcony open up. The rep also checked pricing for me. One thing she said caught my ear...if I were to change to a non refundable deposit, I could save a significant amount more.

 

I'm 3 weeks out from final payment. What are the drawbacks, if any, to switching this booking now to a non refundable deposit? What benefit does X have to gain by offering this way?

 

  

[jelayne]

With a non-refundable deposit should you cancel  before final payment you pay a $200 administrative fee and the balance of your deposit is returned in the form of a future cruise credit that you can use toward a new booking within 12 months.

Often, but not always, the non-refundable rate offers fewer or no perks than the refundable rate.  Before you change be sure to see what happens to your perks, particularly if you received the beverage package as a perk.  You may incur the recently add $14 pp pd upcharge.  Bookings made before 10/10/19 didn’thave this charge.  Repricing the reservation may trigger the upcharge.

[Northern Aurora]

With a non-refundable deposit if you have to change the reservation the change fees are $100 per person.  In our case that would be $200 since I travel with my spouse.  I have actually booked some cruises with the non-refundable deposits as my Captain's Club loyalty status gives me a premium beverage package, unlimited wi-fi and the much used unlimited laundry perk, so having fewer perks is not an issue for us.

[wrk2cruise]

Generally the non refundable deposits are available with 2 and 4 perk options as well, however the base fare as others have stated is usually no perks.

 

I'm starting to find the non-refundable rates to be worth the risk, on a recently booked 14 night cruise in a 1A cabin the refundable rate was $320 pp cheaper than the NRD rate both with 2 perks.

 

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

With a non-refundable deposit should you cancel  before final payment you pay a $200 administrative fee and the balance of your deposit is returned in the form of a future cruise credit that you can use toward a new booking within 12 months.

Often, but not always, the non-refundable rate offers fewer or no perks than the refundable rate.  Before you change be sure to see what happens to your perks, particularly if you received the beverage package as a perk.  You may incur the recently add $14 pp pd upcharge.  Bookings made before 10/10/19 didn’thave this charge.  Repricing the reservation may trigger the upcharge.

I repriced my upcoming may 2020 reservation and did not trigger any upcharges as reservation number remained unchanged.

[drakes2]

56 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Generally the non refundable deposits are available with 2 and 4 perk options as well, however the base fare as others have stated is usually no perks.

 

I'm starting to find the non-refundable rates to be worth the risk, on a recently booked 14 night cruise in a 1A cabin the refundable rate was $320 pp cheaper than the NRD rate both with 2 perks.

 

$620 pp. for the deposit to be refundable is pretty steep. Would be cheaper to take out cancellation insurance. They are making a ton of money on refundable deposits and a lot of people dont know the difference as that is what they will sell you first. 

[NantahalaCruiser]

21 hours ago, drakes2 said:

$620 pp. for the deposit to be refundable is pretty steep. Would be cheaper to take out cancellation insurance. They are making a ton of money on refundable deposits and a lot of people dont know the difference as that is what they will sell you first. 

Wonder if you can buy insurance to cover something like a $900 deposit - and how much it would cost to get full recovery for any cause insurance? Perhaps more than the $200 per cabin loss if you cancel a NR.

[wrk2cruise]

2 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Wonder if you can buy insurance to cover something like a $900 deposit - and how much it would cost to get full recovery for any cause insurance? Perhaps more than the $200 per cabin loss if you cancel a NR.

 

I priced it out with the independent company I always use for trip insurance.  Their Cancel Any Reason policy was $69 pp but only pays 75% for an uncovered reason.  Doesn't seem worth the effort.

 

My thinking is that it makes sense to self insure the $200 as I would make up the loss by taking the next cruise.  Of course it doesn't make sense if you don't plan on taking the cruise (like a placeholder cruise) which is exactly why Celebrity is pushing NRD.

Edited November 25, 2019 by wrk2cruise

[txflood33]

So an update to my original question. I may not have been clear in what I was looking for.

 

I was wondering what were the negative ramifications, if any, for changing a cruise booked with a refundable deposit 3 weeks out from final payment, to a non refundable deposit.

 

I called X and was able to make the change so I got the lower price because my deposit is now refundable. I kept the same stateroom and all 4 perks and saved $500/pp. I know I'm not going to cancel, so the fee to cancel was insignificant. 

 

I just didn't understand why X would even suggest it. They lose out on potential money. I get that they are expecting to make it up in drinks and casino, but $1000 is $1000 they don't have that they could have had.

 

So, I learned this was possible to do to save some money. Some of you probably already knew this, but maybe it helped someone.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, txflood33 said:

So an update to my original question. I may not have been clear in what I was looking for.

 

I was wondering what were the negative ramifications, if any, for changing a cruise booked with a refundable deposit 3 weeks out from final payment, to a non refundable deposit.

 

I called X and was able to make the change so I got the lower price because my deposit is now refundable. I kept the same stateroom and all 4 perks and saved $500/pp. I know I'm not going to cancel, so the fee to cancel was insignificant. 

 

I just didn't understand why X would even suggest it. They lose out on potential money. I get that they are expecting to make it up in drinks and casino, but $1000 is $1000 they don't have that they could have had.

 

So, I learned this was possible to do to save some money. Some of you probably already knew this, but maybe it helped someone.

A lot of people don't even know there are NR deposits. When I was recently on the Equinox I went to the future cruise desk to inquire on my existing May 2020 cruise and was automatically given the refundable deposit option which was $620 for 2 people. You can technically cancel and rebook but you risk a price increase.