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Are Yacht club booking deposits non refundable now? Sure looks like it.


mscdivina2016
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Checking in and decided to read contract......

 

For Yacht Club, a non-refundable deposit equal to: cruises 4 nights or less - $99 per adult; cruises 5- 14 nights - $199 per adult; cruises 15 nights or more - $300 per adult, is due and payable by the Passenger at time of Booking.

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There has been some uncertainty about this subject for a while. The Terms have been that way for months but even when I booked after those terms were on the website, my confirmation pdf had...

 

MSC YACHT CLUB
 
· Cancel 120−90 days prior to departure: Deposit Non−Refundable
· Cancel 89−60 days prior to departure: 50% of the total fare
· Cancel 59−30 days prior to departure: 75% of the total fare
· Cancel 29−00 days prior to departure: 100% Penalty

 

...which (to me) means that I can cancel more than 120 days prior and get my deposit back. So far, any cancellation that I have made or when using FCC (which creates a "new" booking), I have had my deposit returned. Even when I didn't want the deposit returned and simply wanted the deposit moved to the new booking, MSC still returned the deposit. 

 

Non-refundable deposits are likely coming but so far, I haven't read of anyone being told that their deposit couldn't be returned if they cancelled before final payment date.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Two Wheels Only
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1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

There has been some uncertainty about this subject for a while. The Terms have been that way for months but even when I booked after those terms were on the website, my confirmation pdf had...

 

MSC YACHT CLUB
 
· Cancel 120−90 days prior to departure: Deposit Non−Refundable
· Cancel 89−60 days prior to departure: 50% of the total fare
· Cancel 59−30 days prior to departure: 75% of the total fare
· Cancel 29−00 days prior to departure: 100% Penalty

 

...which (to me) means that I can cancel more than 120 days prior and get my deposit back. So far, any cancellation that I have made or when using FCC (which creates a "new" booking), I have had my deposit returned. Even when I didn't want the deposit returned and simply wanted the deposit moved to the new booking, MSC still returned the deposit. 

 

Non-refundable deposits are likely coming but so far, I haven't read of anyone being told that their deposit couldn't be returned if they cancelled before final payment date.

 

 

 

 

My confirmation had the same thing, actually on a few I have booked.

 

 I question its validity if they did try and invoke it as it states what our penalty is if we cancel prior to 120 days, but does not address what theirs is if they cancel.

 Steve

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Has anyone received any clarification on this or successfully cancelled a YC booking and received the full deposit back? I am getting conflicting answers which is really quite unacceptable for such a basic question.

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7 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

Has anyone received any clarification on this or successfully cancelled a YC booking and received the full deposit back? I am getting conflicting answers which is really quite unacceptable for such a basic question.

Its been a week since I asked and as you can see, we don't have an answer.

 

I also would like to know how that would apply if I used the 48 prior cancel offering.

Steve

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Some agents are telling customers YC is now a non-refundable deposit. I'd go by what your booking confirmation says, hopefully it's listed out as a chart on the last page.  On the second page it also should have a line "Cancellation Date (no penalty) with a date of about 120 days before sailing. If you have a question mark there you booked during the changeover period.

 

I canceled a YC booking, made after the non-refundable wording appeared, about two months ago and was refunded in about a week.  I canceled another one a couple weeks ago but haven't seen the refund.   Agent said it would take two to three weeks.  Both had dates on the second page. 

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The US T&C's have spelled it out that YC is non-refundable (page 4). 

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/-/media/usa/documents/booking-terms-and-conditions.pdf

 

There is no date on this document though. Unfortunately I don't have a traditional confirmation from the cruise line since this was booked through a TA. Looking old threads on the issue there have been several changes but no where does it show what policy applies to what booking and sail dates. At this point I may just cancel and hope I get my money back. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, paulh84 said:

The phone MSC agents can look up the booking number and tell you what the cancellation policy is, but you could also ask your TA for clarification.  I have saved the T&C's from multiple dates as the changes progressed and could hazard a guess as to what MSC's position would be.  What date did you book?

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9 hours ago, paulh84 said:

Has anyone received any clarification on this or successfully cancelled a YC booking and received the full deposit back?

 

Looking back on some old files (and when they were created), I have a copy of the "non-refundable Yacht Club deposits" terms from March 2021. I have definitely made new bookings (no FCC used) after that date and when I cancelled 2 bookings in May 2021 (I needed to change the dates) I received the deposits back to the original form of payment in 13 days. My previous deposit returns took about 30 days for cruises that MSC cancelled. 

 

So far (fingers crossed 🤞) MSC has returned all of my Yacht Club deposits whether I cancelled or they cancelled.

 

I understand that there is mixed info and it wouldn't surprise me if YC booking deposits are non-refundable at this time. Perhaps a better solution would be to make deposits refundable as FCC. That way, MSC doesn't have to return cash and MSC is protected from people who make deposits just to hold staterooms. I cancelled 2 bookings in one day but I had already booked the replacement cruises. I wasn't trying to hold staterooms with no intention of sailing.

 

Whether the deposits are $49pp, $99pp, or $199pp, MSC shouldn't just keep that money if a person has to cancel 6 months out. I understand that in some countries, deposits are always non-refundable so that could be why MSC is trying to make everything the same no matter the market. 

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11 hours ago, Até said:

The phone MSC agents can look up the booking number and tell you what the cancellation policy is, but you could also ask your TA for clarification.  I have saved the T&C's from multiple dates as the changes progressed and could hazard a guess as to what MSC's position would be.  What date did you book?

 

This one was booked mid-January 2021 in the US. 

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So I just cancelled my December 2021 cruise that I booked in January this year.  When I asked the rep about cancellation fee, she said the cancellation fee is $398.  Basically making the deposit non-refundable.  Anticipating that was the answer, I asked her to move my deposit to a different cruise.  She said she'd need to cancel the December 2021 cruise and the deposit will be refunded to my original form of payment, then I can book the new cruise on my own.

 

What?!  That contradicted what she just said not a minute earlier.

 

I then asked her about the cancellation fee of $398.  She said she waived the cancellation fee because I am booking another cruise and the current booking was in YC (not sure what's special about that).  The December cruise is cancelled, refunded, and I'm free to book on my own time.

 

So.  Here's what I'm guessing: MSC has cancellation fee written in T&C, but they are not enforcing it due to the lingering effects of the pandemic.  Perhaps we could just ask for the fee to be waived.

Edited by Selion
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9 hours ago, paulh84 said:

This one was booked mid-January 2021 in the US. 

By January, 2021 MSC US had corrected the inconsistency/error in the section 12 chart (now section 13) of the Terms & Conditions to match the section one wording that YC deposits are non-refundable.  It was about that time we first started getting reports here that MSC phone agents were telling people they were non-refundable.  So officially by the T&C's they can refuse to refund you, however as stated above I've yet to actually hear that someone lost their deposit when cancelling.  MSC seems to be holding that policy in reserve.

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We booked four cruises last year when deposit was $49 pp. 

we have changed everyone of them to other dates and ships, a few times. 
Our deposit just transferred and our paperwork still shows deposit refundable  >120 days to sailing. Final payment 90 days. All are YC sailings.
will probably cancel one of our cruises next year…question is if we should just move it again or actually cancel? 
 

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I don't know how it would work in real life, but this is from my travel agency confirmation for a MSC cruise (Yacht Club) we booked recently, coming up this December. Note the wishy-washy statement.

 

A fee of $100.00 will be charged at the time of cancellation, in addition to any applicable travel provider fees.
 
Cancellation dates are based on Eastern Time Zone.
  • Msc Cruises - Fee Schedule

    Date of Cancellation Cancellation Fee On or before September 03, 2021 $0 pp Between September 04, 2021 and October 02, 2021 $199 pp Between October 03, 2021 and October 17, 2021 50% Between October 18, 2021 and November 16, 2021 75% November 17, 2021 and later 100%
Please note: Cancellation penalties may vary depending on the trip itinerary. For certain fares, the booking deposit is non-refundable. Our $24.99 processing fee (paid at the time of booking) is non-refundable.
 
gary
Edited by gtaylor
Add Yacht Club
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  • 1 month later...

To follow up on this old post, I did get my YC deposit refunded. 

 

This was for a YC booking I made in late January 2021 for a February 2022 sailing. I canceled the cruise through a travel agent on July 29 and received my deposit back on Sep 14. I could never find anything specifically that broke down the fee schedule based on the changing guidelines except for what is currently online. 

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Just a note that we booked a 14 day cruise in YC just today.  The deposit is refundable until 120 days prior to the cruise (we have that in writing).  If it had been anything other that YC it would have been refundable until 90 days.

 

For those of you not used to booking with other lines, the MSC deposits are among the lowest in the business.  Other lines often require thousands of dollars of deposits.  Some lines such as Oceania may start penalty periods 6 months prior to a cruise.

 

Hank

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