Shocking Surprise - HAL drastically modifies Future Cruise Deposits (FCDs) - Beware when rebooking!

[Mandalay1903]

1 hour ago, kwb101 said:

As far as I can tell from HAL, any FCDs you used to book a voyage are gone if it's cancelled by them (it's rolled into the base fare and included in the 125% future cruise credit).

This was the case for me for cruises which were cancelled by HAL after final payment had been made, depending on the refund deal at the time.  After the final payment date the FCD folds into the full payment.

 

I've also had several FCDs I purchased onboard that I'd used to book cruises. These cruises were later cancelled by HAL prior to the final payment date. In each of these cases the FCD value was doubled (from $100 to $200) as compensation and HAL issued two $100 FCCs (future cruise credits) for every $100 of FCD.  These FCCs were usable as the deposit for booking a future cruise, but unlike a FCD there would be no stateroom credit issued. In effect, HAL already gave the stateroom credit by doubling the FCD value.  My PCC said these new FCCs would be refundable, but I haven't tried.  Though it looks good in the news that they're doubling the FCD value as compensation, I still come out even because I lose the stateroom credit feature.  I don't mind, though, because I didn't lose out on anything and didn't expect to gain.

[Mandalay1903]

24 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

Has there been any change to the refunding of a future cruise deposit if it had not been used within a 4 year time period? 

The new policy FCDs I bought on my January 2020 cruise have the same refund feature as before.  Refundable within 4 years from the date of purchase, or refunded to you if not used within 4 years.

 

I don't know whether HAL has made any subsequent changes to their standard FCD program since January 2020.

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, kwb101 said:

As far as I can tell from HAL, any FCDs you used to book a voyage are gone if it's cancelled by them (it's rolled into the base fare and included in the 125% future cruise credit).

That may be true if you choose the FCC option, or if past final payment, but if you choose the refund of deposit, the FCD is returned to your account. 

My August 2021 cruise was canceled by HAL, due to the sale of the ship, and I wanted by FCD back, which I got. Without any fuss from HAL, or taking very much time, either. 

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, kwb101 said:

As far as I can tell from HAL, any FCDs you used to book a voyage are gone if it's cancelled by them (it's rolled into the base fare and included in the 125% future cruise credit).

sorry, duplicate post in error. 

[msmayor]

For me, the OBC is a nice perk attached to the FCD, but it isn't the real reason I buy them.  I buy them for the ease of depositing the next cruise we choose.

 

It's really nice knowing if I pay $100pp up front, when I'm ready to book all I have to do is call my PCC.  The deposit is already there...no need to sent hundreds more.

[drowelf]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

That may be true if you choose the FCC option, or if past final payment, but if you choose the refund of deposit, the FCD is returned to your account. 

My August 2021 cruise was canceled by HAL, due to the sale of the ship, and I wanted by FCD back, which I got. Without any fuss from HAL, or taking very much time, either. 

Well thats the total opposite of my experience with my cancelled 2021 Cruise. The FCDs were doubled and refunded as FCCs. Had my TA call HAL and try and get them back as FCDs, but no joy. 

[RuthC]

8 minutes ago, drowelf said:

Well thats the total opposite of my experience with my cancelled 2021 Cruise. The FCDs were doubled and refunded as FCCs. Had my TA call HAL and try and get them back as FCDs, but no joy. 

Had you (or your TA on your behalf) completed the form saying you wanted a refund of deposit before HAL took action? Mine did; I had no desire to convert the FCD to an FCC with a bonus for doing so, and had it requested in the first place. 

It could also be a difference in when the cancelation happened, I suspect. I expect it took HAL a while to get a handle on how big the scope of this problem was going to be, and to establish policies on what to do. By the time my cruise was canceled, they may have settled in more than at first. 

[mcrcruiser]

Booked a Dec 5 .2021 Koningsdam  Mexican Riviera cruise  & used 2 FCDs  that we bought a couple of years ago & the OBC is a total of $100 which is what the FCD said on the paper work 

[drowelf]

17 hours ago, RuthC said:

Had you (or your TA on your behalf) completed the form saying you wanted a refund of deposit before HAL took action? Mine did; I had no desire to convert the FCD to an FCC with a bonus for doing so, and had it requested in the first place. 

That option was never presented to me. The discussions between my TA and HAL indicated that FCD Conversion to 2x FCC was a fact accompli. Since it was an FCD we are only talking about $200 total (now $400 FCC) so it was not worth too much of a fight. I also got a tentative acknowledgement that the expiration date could be extended if necessary. 

 

I feel pretty fortunate that we only have a small $$ of money tied up in FCC/Deposits with various lines at this time. I know that some folks have 10s of thousand hanging out in the wind. Now that would be scary for me. 

[kwb101]

21 hours ago, RuthC said:

That may be true if you choose the FCC option, or if past final payment, but if you choose the refund of deposit, the FCD is returned to your account. 
My August 2021 cruise was canceled by HAL, due to the sale of the ship, and I wanted by FCD back, which I got. Without any fuss from HAL, or taking very much time, either. 

I hadn't talked directly to HAL after each cancellation, so perhaps that's why the FCDs disappeared. In the first cancellation (for a summer '20 voyage), there was no indication this was possible. We immediately booked the (essentially) same trip for summer '21, but cancelled a voyage in spring '21 to free up the FCDs for the summer '21 trip.

We applied the FCC from the cancelled trip to the '22 trip as soon as it was available.

When the summer '21 trip was cancelled, we rebooked the spring '21 trip, but paid real money for the deposit. That one was cancelled last month, and we booked the same one for spring '22. However, this time we booked through HAL (rather than our usual bigbox TA), and, after checking our account and seeing that we had about $20k in FCC coming, they agreed to push the deposit payment date back to the final payment date. The fare and all are the same, just no up-front cash now. It's been crazy. I apologize for the complexity: I probably should have created a list that's easier to read.

And now my head hurts.

BTW, I should have mentioned that the four disappeared FCDs were $300 ea (trips 14 to 50 days) plus $1750 for the spring '21 rebooked trip, so the total is almost $3k.

Edited December 11, 2020 by kwb101
Detail