Open Booking Deposit Program

[KenzSailing]

7 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I know some of you are used to this type of administration fee. We’re not and really don’t plan on cruising with this “new” Crystal if they implement this policy from the start. 

 

Sincere question: who do you cruise on that doesn't have some type of fee upon booking?  I've looked at Celebrity recently only to discover they quote two cruise fares, the teaser one with a nonrefundable deposit, and the considerably higher one with deposit refundability for a substantially higher amount.  That's a bigger bite than any admin fee, and my TA tells me it's pretty common in the premium/MM segments. 

[Ken the cruiser]

41 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Sincere question: who do you cruise on that doesn't have some type of fee upon booking?  I've looked at Celebrity recently only to discover they quote two cruise fares, the teaser one with a nonrefundable deposit, and the considerably higher one with deposit refundability for a substantially higher amount.  That's a bigger bite than any admin fee, and my TA tells me it's pretty common in the premium/MM segments. 

Right now we book cruises with Celebrity, Princess and NCL, all with fully refundable deposits prior to the FP date. We also book most of our cruises at least 18-24+ months in advance when they first come out. With Celebrity we always book the refundable fare. However, just before final payment if it makes economical sense to do so, we will refare the cruise at the nonrefundable rate.
 

However, if we choose to book a different cruise, we can use the original booking as a place holder until we find a different itinerary in the future to change that booking to. We can continue to do that indefinitely as long as the booking has a refundable deposit.

[BWIVince]

4 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Sincere question: who do you cruise on that doesn't have some type of fee upon booking?  I've looked at Celebrity recently only to discover they quote two cruise fares, the teaser one with a nonrefundable deposit, and the considerably higher one with deposit refundability for a substantially higher amount.  That's a bigger bite than any admin fee, and my TA tells me it's pretty common in the premium/MM segments. 

I’d say it’s a trend in travel in general these days — I can’t think of a hotel booking I’ve made in the past year that didn’t have a nonrefundable option.  Besides the obvious advantage of the supplier getting to keep the money no matter what, they get access to the cash immediately regardless of service date, which is valuable in the COVID-area travel industry after years of being squeezed.  (Remember the discussions about how travel suppliers have to keep refundable passenger/guest deposits reserved or isolated.)

 

Vince

Edited December 31, 2022 by BWIVince

[PaulMCO]

8 hours ago, BWIVince said:

I’d say it’s a trend in travel in general these days — I can’t think of a hotel booking I’ve made in the past year that didn’t have a nonrefundable option.  Besides the obvious advantage of the supplier getting to keep the money no matter what, they get access to the cash immediately regardless of service date, which is valuable in the COVID-area travel industry after years of being squeezed.  (Remember the discussions about how travel suppliers have to keep refundable passenger/guest deposits reserved or isolated.)

 

Vince

You also have to look at SS new Port to Port fares where the 15% deposit is not refundable.  This is a big downer for me and would cause me to give my future bus,iness to other lines.

 

I book my own biz travel and used to do 200 nights per year in Marriott, IHG, Rotana and Accor properties (still do 100 nights per year).  Definitely seeing more non-refundable offers.  What I noticed in the last year are more first night non refundable deposits especially at IHG properties, or fully refundable but you have to prepay the entire stay to gain cash post COVID.  When I encounter these crazy rules, I try to find another hotel or find a decent corporate code I can use to get a better cancellable rate.

[ryndam]

9 hours ago, BWIVince said:

I’d say it’s a trend in travel in general these days — I can’t think of a hotel booking I’ve made in the past year that didn’t have a nonrefundable option.  

 

Vince

 

I have also noticed that the number of restaurants requiring reservation deposits, and charging a nonrefundable fee if not canceled with 24 hour+/- notice of the reservation, has increased significantly in the last year or so.

 

Rob 

[KenzSailing]

16 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Right now we book cruises with Celebrity, Princess and NCL, all with fully refundable deposits prior to the FP date. We also book most of our cruises at least 18-24+ months in advance when they first come out. With Celebrity we always book the refundable fare. However, just before final payment if it makes economical sense to do so, we will refare the cruise at the nonrefundable rate.
 

However, if we choose to book a different cruise, we can use the original booking as a place holder until we find a different itinerary in the future to change that booking to. We can continue to do that indefinitely as long as the booking has a refundable deposit.

 

Thanks, now I understand your perspective.  Without criticizing your strategy in any way, I'll just point out that old Crystal implemented the admin fee as a deterrent to exactly this behavior.  Guess it's working.  

 

 

[hypercafe]

SS charges a non refundable admin fee of 250$ pp if you cancel door to door trip with or without air. You can use the fee as a FCC for one year. Just a sign of the times I would expect Crystal 2.0 to follow in some form.

[KenzSailing]

3 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

You also have to look at SS new Port to Port fares where the 15% deposit is not refundable.  This is a big downer for me and would cause me to give my future bus,iness to other lines.

 

 

 

I can deal with a couple hundred bucks in admin fees to discourage multiple ghost bookings, but that one is a bridge too far for me too.  It comes across like a scene out of a US prohibition era movie where the muscle is saying to the shop owner "now are you sure you don't want to  book the door to door fare?" 

[Ken the cruiser]

54 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Thanks, now I understand your perspective.  Without criticizing your strategy in any way, I'll just point out that old Crystal implemented the admin fee as a deterrent to exactly this behavior.  Guess it's working.  

 

And that's fine. That was their decision; although we never did cancel any of the cruises we had booked with them. We have found each cruise line we sail with has their own unique refundable, nonrefundable and cancellation strategies to manage their existing bookings as well as to entice folks to book new cruises with them. The trick is to learn what those are and plan accordingly.

 

In our case our strategy is to book an aft-facing cabin as soon as a desirable itinerary is released. However, if a different cruise line releases a better itinerary a few months later, such as the case of two 2024 Antarctica cruises offered first by Celebrity and then by Princess, we may then jump ship to the new one. But in most cases these itineraries are well over 18 months out.

 

However, when the "old" Crystal implemented their new cancellation policy around 2019 or so, even if the cruise was still over 2 years out, that just didn't sit well with us. So, we moved on and have been quite happy with our decision ever since.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[travelberlin]

15 hours ago, BWIVince said:

I’d say it’s a trend in travel in general these days — I can’t think of a hotel booking I’ve made in the past year that didn’t have a nonrefundable option.  Besides the obvious advantage of the supplier getting to keep the money no matter what, they get access to the cash immediately regardless of service date, which is valuable in the COVID-area travel industry after years of being squeezed.  (Remember the discussions about how travel suppliers have to keep refundable passenger/guest deposits reserved or isolated.)

 

Vince

I had two bookings in November this year, 15 days apart with a 5 stars hotel. Non refundable. Because of political disturbances in the country where I had this booking, I was unable to go. The hotel refunded everything. They said to me I had to cancel and request the refund before 24 hours of the date I was planning to stay because after that, my credit card used to hold the reservation, would be automatically charged. 

I was very impressed with that Hotel, which refunded a non refundable booking without hesitation. The political disturbances lasted one month! Very hard for those service providers.

I will try to book as often as I can with that hotel chain.

Ivi

[travelberlin]

3 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

I can deal with a couple hundred bucks in admin fees to discourage multiple ghost bookings, but that one is a bridge too far for me too.  It comes across like a scene out of a US prohibition era movie where the muscle is saying to the shop owner "now are you sure you don't want to  book the door to door fare?" 

Azamara charges US 75 administration fee if we cancel a cruise before penalties apply. The rest of the deposit is refunded immediately to our accounts.

I am fine with that.

Ivi

[Coral]

I am probably more hesitant right now to book something with a non-refundable deposit. I am ok with them as long as I can move it to a future booking.

 

I think post COVID - we want some flexibility.

[floatsam sam]

I agree with Coral. I certainly wouldn't put a deposit down when I don't even know the fares! But I do look forward to sailing on Serenity again.

 

First post, but I've been reading the board for many years. Happy new year to all!

[Coral]

2 hours ago, floatsam sam said:

I agree with Coral. I certainly wouldn't put a deposit down when I don't even know the fares! But I do look forward to sailing on Serenity again.

 

First post, but I've been reading the board for many years. Happy new year to all!

Happy New Years to you also! May we have great vacations and stay healthy in 2023!

[floatsam sam]

Thanks folks.

 

I just noticed that my member name didn't come out as I planned. It should have been "flotsam," although it's technically the same thing. Still if a moderator happens to see this post, maybe they can correct it. I was hoping my partner would sign up as jetsam janet, and we would pair together better that way. Flotsam and Jetsam!

[floatsam sam]

... Flotsam and Jetsam, the two moray eels from The Little Mermaid!

[cruisr]

Seabourn does not have any admin fees or non refundable fees.  XL penalties start 120 days before sailing.  It use to be at 90 days, when final payment is due and now is 120.  I am fine with a $500.00 non refundable fee 120 days out.  Not fine with xl penalties or admin fees starting right after I deposit.  

[ak1004]

Any update on when the itineraries are expected to be released? Wasn't it Q4 2022 originally?

[Txcotn]

Now they are saying Q1 2023. So you know that means March 31🙄  Almost getting late for an end of the year cruise, I hope they hurry up.

[ak1004]

11 minutes ago, suzeluvscruz said:

Now they are saying Q1 2023. So you know that means March 31🙄  Almost getting late for an end of the year cruise, I hope they hurry up.

 

Well, when they cancelled cruises back in 2020 due to Covid, they promised refunds within 6-8 weeks. It took 8 months.. Now it's a new management, but looks like they continue the same tradition..

[Txcotn]

25 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Well, when they cancelled cruises back in 2020 due to Covid, they promised refunds within 6-8 weeks. It took 8 months.. Now it's a new management, but looks like they continue the same tradition..

Since they've rehired so many former Crystal people, that makes sense.....but hope not, we're itching to get on with it! Time (and age) marches on.

[cruisr]

An announcement was sent out to TAs today.  Mine called me to update me.  Looks like things are happening.

[Stickman1990]

12 minutes ago, cruisr said:

An announcement was sent out to TAs today.  Mine called me to update me

Care to share the news?

 

So do I start packing my bags? - Although ours are already packed for all the other cruises we have booked - I’m certainly not waiting around for new Crystal to start sailing

[Txcotn]

5 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

Care to share the news?

 

So do I start packing my bags? - Although ours are already packed for all the other cruises we have booked - I’m certainly not waiting around for new Crystal to start sailing

Qtr1 2023, by end of March

[wearesiamese]

3 hours ago, suzeluvscruz said:

Qtr1 2023, by end of March

which means most likely not till Fall or later unfortunately 😞