Move Deposit or get FCC to apply later?

[Noreen411]

Hi

 

I’m not sure how best to move forward with this…

 

Pre-pandemic we booked a cruise for early 2022 while onboard our last Celebrity cruise.  We booked a Royal Suite with a non refundable deposit.

We normally sail on Royal Caribbean and suites are non refundable there and we usually don’t cancel our trips.

 

Fast forward to now and we’re not comfortable sailing yet.  We’re both vaccinated but aren’t ready to get on a ship yet given some health concerns.

 

I am thinking of maybe booking a cruise for early 2023 

 

What is the best option?

1 - Move our deposit to the new sailing?  Are there restrictions like it has to be within a year of original sailing?  I’m assuming we would have to stay non refundable in this case?  But maybe our OBC for booking on board stays with the reservation?  Right now there are no Royal Suites available on the sailing we’re looking at so maybe our OBC is also reduced if we do a different type of suite, it’s also 1 day shorter than the original cruise.

2 - Just book the 2023 cruise.  Cancel the 2022 cruise and get FCC and apply it later?  Does this need to be within a year of original sailing?  Even though the 2022 cruise was booked before CWC existed I think it’s covered under that?  Or we would loose $200 of the $1800 deposit under normal cancellation policies and does that change the timing of using the FCC?  

3 - Is there any benefit to booking the 2023 cruise refundable?  Wouldn’t moving the old deposit or applying the FCC automatically make it non-refundable?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Noreen

 

 

 

[Cg52]

We will be getting an FCC from a NRD for a cruise we are about to cancel. Under the CWC we have to use it by April 2022 and sail within a year of the original sail date which is January 14/22. If we don’t use it by then we lose it. If we book another cruise and end up not taking that cruise the deposit is lost. They will not allow us to move it a second time.

[Noreen411]

2 hours ago, Cg52 said:

We will be getting an FCC from a NRD for a cruise we are about to cancel. Under the CWC we have to use it by April 2022 and sail within a year of the original sail date which is January 14/22. If we don’t use it by then we lose it. If we book another cruise and end up not taking that cruise the deposit is lost. They will not allow us to move it a second time.

Thank you for the info

[LGW59]

5 hours ago, Noreen411 said:

Hi

 

I’m not sure how best to move forward with this…

 

Pre-pandemic we booked a cruise for early 2022 while onboard our last Celebrity cruise.  We booked a Royal Suite with a non refundable deposit.

We normally sail on Royal Caribbean and suites are non refundable there and we usually don’t cancel our trips.

 

Fast forward to now and we’re not comfortable sailing yet.  We’re both vaccinated but aren’t ready to get on a ship yet given some health concerns.

 

I am thinking of maybe booking a cruise for early 2023 

 

What is the best option?

1 - Move our deposit to the new sailing?  Are there restrictions like it has to be within a year of original sailing?  I’m assuming we would have to stay non refundable in this case?  But maybe our OBC for booking on board stays with the reservation?  Right now there are no Royal Suites available on the sailing we’re looking at so maybe our OBC is also reduced if we do a different type of suite, it’s also 1 day shorter than the original cruise.

2 - Just book the 2023 cruise.  Cancel the 2022 cruise and get FCC and apply it later?  Does this need to be within a year of original sailing?  Even though the 2022 cruise was booked before CWC existed I think it’s covered under that?  Or we would loose $200 of the $1800 deposit under normal cancellation policies and does that change the timing of using the FCC?  

3 - Is there any benefit to booking the 2023 cruise refundable?  Wouldn’t moving the old deposit or applying the FCC automatically make it non-refundable?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Noreen

 

 

 

All things being equal I’d move the deposit, won’t have to worry about using it by a specific date.

[wrk2cruise]

If you move the deposit to a sailing beyond 5/4/2022 you will be charged the $100 pp admin fee you agreed to for the NRD deposit but would still retain the book onboard OBC.   It probably is you best choice if you don't plan to sail until 2023.

[Noreen411]

2 hours ago, LGW59 said:

All things being equal I’d move the deposit, won’t have to worry about using it by a specific date.

Thank you.  That’s how I was leaning too.

I assume we would have to stay NRD?

[Noreen411]

29 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

If you move the deposit to a sailing beyond 5/4/2022 you will be charged the $100 pp admin fee you agreed to for the NRD deposit but would still retain the book onboard OBC.   It probably is you best choice if you don't plan to sail until 2023.

Would that be an option?  I thought it could be moved one year from original sailing which brings us to Feb 2023.

 

If we could move it later even if we lose $200 of the deposit, that may be a better option,

 

thank you

 

 

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, Noreen411 said:

Thank you.  That’s how I was leaning too.

I assume we would have to stay NRD?

That is exactly how it is for us

[Shadow9612]

2 hours ago, Noreen411 said:

Would that be an option?  I thought it could be moved one year from original sailing which brings us to Feb 2023.

 

If we could move it later even if we lose $200 of the deposit, that may be a better option,

 

thank you

 

 

I think you can move a NRD booking as far forward as you want, but there is the $100pp admin fee.   I also think you can do this more than once (but are charged the $100pp change fee each time).  

 

[cdn_tbird]

Granted it's been a while since we were onboard to book our next cruise. When were last onboard we booked our Alaska and the price we were quoted was the NRD rate, but we were told that as long as the Onboard Bookings was done as a "cruise now" and not a "cruise later" the deposit was always refundable. We originally booked for 2020 knowing full well we were moving it to 2021 as soon as the 2021 itineraries were released, of course that one ended up getting moved to the same itinerary in 2022. Did this change recently?

Edited October 18, 2021 by cdn_tbird

[wrk2cruise]

14 hours ago, cdn_tbird said:

but we were told that as long as the Onboard Bookings was done as a "cruise now" and not a "cruise later" the deposit was always refundable.

 

I think you were told wrong.  If you invoice says NRD then it's non refundable.

[cdn_tbird]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

I think you were told wrong.  If you invoice says NRD then it's non refundable.

Our invoice didn't say NRD, and I confirmed the pricing online before we booked it which is why I asked whether it was NRD or not. Given that we moved it to a 2021 sailing before COVID hit and wasn't penalized confirms that we weren't told wrong at that time. Even checking the T&Cs of the original guest copy confirm that "Cruise Now" bookings were refundable. Hence why I asked if this was a recent change. 

[wrk2cruise]

I just booked onboard 3 weeks ago for SA in March 2023.  Had choice of refundable or non refundable fare.   I've never heard that "Cruise Now" are all refundable although there are times when they haven't offered NRD fares.   I believe they are clear when you are doing a NRD fare now they give you a form you have to sign.

 

[cdn_tbird]

47 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

I just booked onboard 3 weeks ago for SA in March 2023.  Had choice of refundable or non refundable fare.   I've never heard that "Cruise Now" are all refundable although there are times when they haven't offered NRD fares.   I believe they are clear when you are doing a NRD fare now they give you a form you have to sign.

 

One of the best things about CC is that you are able to gain information in plain terms, and you don't have to go hunting through untold number of pages of a website only to be left wondering. It is very possible that things have changed given that our last X cruise was Jan 2019. It was a nice little perk but at least we now know the rules going forward, so we won't be surprised when we book our next cruises while onboard.

 

This was the verbiage in our guest copy:

Cancellations. Your CruiseNow Booking may be cancelled. Your Deposit and any further payments you make will be refundable if you cancel prior to the commencement of cancellation charges under the applicable Celebrity Cruises cancellation schedule applicable in your country of residence.

 

CRUISE LATER OPEN BOOKINGS: TERMS AND CONDITIONS: (Shipboard Only) Nov 2015
A $100 non-refundable deposit per person is required to enroll in the Program;