New Cruise deposit cancellation penalty

[Eager2Travel]

We just needed to cancel a cruise before final pay and I notice a new penalty.  In the past the $100 withheld per person was always a future cruise credit to be used on another Regent  cruise.  It no longer is FCC.  Instead it is a penalty although they call it by another name on the invoice.  I guess this may help people think twice before starting a booking.  Of course $100 is a drop in the bucket in less you are extra frugal.

 

I am curious as to when this change took place.  We go back to Song of Flower and I was fond of the easy commitment.

[Boatmans Lady]

In the UK our penalties have always been our deposit which is 20% of the total cost. 

[papaflamingo]

12 hours ago, Eager2Travel said:

We just needed to cancel a cruise before final pay and I notice a new penalty.  In the past the $100 withheld per person was always a future cruise credit to be used on another Regent  cruise.  It no longer is FCC.  Instead it is a penalty although they call it by another name on the invoice.  I guess this may help people think twice before starting a booking.  Of course $100 is a drop in the bucket in less you are extra frugal.

 

I am curious as to when this change took place.  We go back to Song of Flower and I was fond of the easy commitment.

Did you use $100 as FCC from a prior cruise you cancelled?  If so, that would be why.  The $100 is only transferrable to a new cruise one time.  After that, it's forfeited.  

[flossie009]

6 hours ago, Boatmans Lady said:

In the UK our penalties have always been our deposit which is 20% of the total cost. 

 

Slight change to the Regent UK Ts&Cs regarding cancellation penalties for cruises booked from January 2022 onwards:

  - Deposit date up to 350 days prior to departure: £500 per person

  - 349 to 90 Days prior: 20% of Fare [Loss of deposit]

then increasing penalties closer to sailing date.

 

Now that we are starting to cruise again (🤞), we will try to make bookings on board,  or 30 days prior, in order to benefit from less onerous conditions which are applied to on board bookings.

[Eager2Travel]

Papa flamingo there was $400FCC on the booking that I knew we would lose.  $200 for me and $200 for my husband.  This was $100 each straight off the deposit.  It was new to me in all my years with Regent.  While it is not a major event, it always felt good to take a chance on a cruise with no penalty.  

[Eager2Travel]

Flossie, your penalty structure would have me think twice before bringing out the credit card.

[Boatmans Lady]

7 hours ago, flossie009 said:

 

Slight change to the Regent UK Ts&Cs regarding cancellation penalties for cruises booked from January 2022 onwards:

  - Deposit date up to 350 days prior to departure: £500 per person

  - 349 to 90 Days prior: 20% of Fare [Loss of deposit]

then increasing penalties closer to sailing date.

 

Now that we are starting to cruise again (🤞), we will try to make bookings on board,  or 30 days prior, in order to benefit from less onerous conditions which are applied to on board bookings.

Thank you Flossie. 

As the only cruise we have booked post Covid was at 6 months out, i didn't notice the new t&c's

[Boatmans Lady]

4 hours ago, Eager2Travel said:

Flossie, your penalty structure would have me think twice before bringing out the credit card.

 

It is surprising how much difference there is between different countries with the T&C's. 

It certainly makes you think very carefully about committing to a cruise far in the future. 

 

[Eager2Travel]

3 minutes ago, Boatmans Lady said:

 

It is surprising how much difference there is between different countries with the T&C's. 

It certainly makes you think very carefully about committing to a cruise far in the future. 

 

The problem I am finding is that the cruises close in that I am interested in all appear heavily booked.  At this stage of life booking 2024 and 2025 requires  a very optimistic outlook health wise.  Maybe I am just a “nervous Nellie”. ( no offense to anyone named Nellie).

[ronrick1943]

I like the idea of a fee if you cancel.  Some people book space just to hold something——someone that wants to book can’t because it sold out.  

[Eager2Travel]

I never thought about that aspect. Ronrick.  You are correct.   That is why things sometimes open up after final pay.  By then we probably would have made other plans that were not our first choice.

[papaflamingo]

16 hours ago, Eager2Travel said:

Papa flamingo there was $400FCC on the booking that I knew we would lose.  $200 for me and $200 for my husband.  This was $100 each straight off the deposit.  It was new to me in all my years with Regent.  While it is not a major event, it always felt good to take a chance on a cruise with no penalty.  

I'm confused... You completely lost the $100 per person?  Have you verified this?  If it was NOT FCC from a previous cancellation, then according to Regent's web site it should be turned into FCC.  Here's a copy and pasted part of the Terms and Conditions page on Regent's website: 

"This admin fee will be converted to a future cruise credit redeemable on bookings made up to 12 months after cancellation and for travel any time."

[Eager2Travel]

8 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I'm confused... You completely lost the $100 per person?  Have you verified this?  If it was NOT FCC from a previous cancellation, then according to Regent's web site it should be turned into FCC.  Here's a copy and pasted part of the Terms and Conditions page on Regent's website: 

"This admin fee will be converted to a future cruise credit redeemable on bookings made up to 12 months after cancellation and for travel any time."

The admin fee of $100 for each of us was deducted from the deposit credited back to our credit card.   The FCC is deducted from the total cost of the cruise and disappears if you don’t take the cruise.    It used to get banked in our Regent account but I am not sure that happens anymore.

Thanks for the info about what is on the website.  Next time I talk to the TA I will ask her for clarification just so I know what the current policy is.

[1982CruzStart]

The one time we had to cancel and didn't move the deposit to another cruise immediately, i had to remind Regent a couple of times that we had the admin fee to carry over from the cancelled cruise when we booked the next cruise. Finally they did apply it to the new cruise but to be safe make sure you keep all the correspondence from the cancelled cruise showing the deduction of the admin fee.  It is important that you have proof of the date of the cancellation to prove it was within the year.  That might have been an isolated incident but better safe than sorry. 

We have had to cancel other cruises but moved the monies to another cruise immediately and the admin fee was applied immediately. The times we lost it was when we ended up cancelling and moving to another cruise multiply times. As someone has said you can only apply the FCC  created by the admin fee once. 

[irishwitchy]

Eager to travel,   I’m with you,  I’m not that old, plan to be around for bit, but I’m not planning a trip two years out, maybe 15 months. 

[flossie009]

On 8/30/2022 at 5:16 PM, flossie009 said:

Now that we are starting to cruise again (🤞), we will try to make bookings on board,  or 30 days prior, in order to benefit from less onerous conditions which are applied to on board bookings.

Unfortunately it appears that benefits to UK guests (particularly regarding cancellation penalties) of on-board bookings has altered this year. The following from a recent Regent(UK) invoice:

ONBOARD BOOKINGS MADE ON OR BEFORE 31 DECEMBER 2021:

Deposit values, cancellation and amendment fees differ to our standard UK Terms. Your deposit is refundable outside the 151/121 days prior to sailing date subject to a £50 per person administrative fee. You may transfer your voyage date and deposit one-time outside the 151/121 days prior to sailing.

ONBOARD BOOKINGS MADE FROM 01 JANUARY 2022:

Deposit values, differ to our standard UK Terms. Payment & cancellation terms follow the standard UK Terms. You may transfer your voyage date and deposit one-time outside of final payment terms (90 days prior to sailing).

 

Also we spotted this invoice clause that we do not recall seeing before:

WAITLIST BOOKINGS:

From date of clearance, guests have 48 hours to cancel without penalty. If the cleared waitlist booking is not cancelled within this 48-hour period, normal cancellation fees will apply.

 

 

[UUNetBill]

We've had so many changes, cancellations, FCCs, deposits, etc. jumbled around since 2020 that I can't really keep it all straight.  At this point if I lost $200 for cancelling a cruise I probably wouldn't even notice...

 

Still annoying, though.

[Eager2Travel]

Just want to post a positive update.  I mentioned the loss of the FCC to our travel agent while thinking about putting down another deposit.  She said no problem she could take care of it on the new deposit and she did.  Conclusion for me is I have no clear idea of what the current policy is.

[Eager2Travel]

1 hour ago, UUNetBill said:

We've had so many changes, cancellations, FCCs, deposits, etc. jumbled around since 2020 that I can't really keep it all straight.  At this point if I lost $200 for cancelling a cruise I probably wouldn't even notice...

 

Still annoying, though.

I agree with you Bill.  Between Covid and unexpected illness we have a slew of cancelled bookings too complicated to follow.

2 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

 

[SkystheLimit]

This may be the new normal for cruise lines.  $75 per person administrative fee on Azamara if you cancel before final payment.  Deposit is transferable to another cruise with no penalty.  Scenic cruises was the stiffest so far. $1,000 non refundable deposit.

[ronrick1943]

2 hours ago, SkystheLimit said:

This may be the new normal for cruise lines.  $75 per person administrative fee on Azamara if you cancel before final payment.  Deposit is transferable to another cruise with no penalty.  Scenic cruises was the stiffest so far. $1,000 non refundable deposit.

Would this be only if the cruise was a go and you cancel for some reason.

[SkystheLimit]

18 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

Would this be only if the cruise was a go and you cancel for some reason.

These were both situations before final deposit with our cancelling.  in 30 years of cruising, I can't remember administrative fees from the cruise lines with canceling long before final payment. Certain TA's charge their own fees.  I don't have a problem with $150 cancelled 4 months out.  However, $1,000 long before final payment is a bit steep.  Not placing blame because I do know how to read but it must have been in the tiny tiny print.  TA never pointed out this nonrefundable deposit.  So, live and learn. We are US based so I know that can make a difference.
 

[Eager2Travel]

I cannot imagine booking with Scenic if that is their policy.  It would be a dealbreaker for us.   

[SkystheLimit]

2 hours ago, Eager2Travel said:

I cannot imagine booking with Scenic if that is their policy.  It would be a dealbreaker for us.   

it was a surprise to us.  We did not pay for the cruise in full at booking(9 months before the departure date).  Something got lost in translation.  To this day we don't know if that $1,000 is applicable for another cruise. No answer from our former TA nor Scenic.  We've moved on with a lesson learned.  

 

[Profco]

On 8/29/2022 at 8:49 PM, Eager2Travel said:

We just needed to cancel a cruise before final pay and I notice a new penalty.  In the past the $100 withheld per person was always a future cruise credit to be used on another Regent  cruise.  It no longer is FCC.  Instead it is a penalty although they call it by another name on the invoice.  I guess this may help people think twice before starting a booking.  Of course $100 is a drop in the bucket in less you are extra frugal.

 

I am curious as to when this change took place.  We go back to Song of Flower and I was fond of the easy commitment.

We just booked a cruise 2 weeks ago directly with a Regent cruise planner and were told that the $100 pp penalty if we cancelled 121+ days in advance could be applied to a future cruise.