Admin fee

[ak1004]

Hello everyone,

 

We are cancelling our November cruise and transferring it to another booking.

 

The original reservation mentioned the $300 CAD per person admin fee and indicated "This admin fee will be converted to a future cruise credit (FCC) redeemable on a new booking". However, the new booking shows that $300 was applied as "Nh Sbc". 

 

Was this your experience as well? Or should I insist that the $300 is deducted from the fare and not as SBC?

 

Thank you.

[labrasett]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

Hello everyone,

 

We are cancelling our November cruise and transferring it to another booking.

 

The original reservation mentioned the $300 CAD per person admin fee and indicated "This admin fee will be converted to a future cruise credit (FCC) redeemable on a new booking". However, the new booking shows that $300 was applied as "Nh Sbc". 

 

Was this your experience as well? Or should I insist that the $300 is deducted from the fare and not as SBC?

 

Thank you.

I dont understand your problem.   You cancelled and rebooked and SS charged a fee which you can recover against a new future booking.   I did the same recently, cancelled my booking on a cruise "down under" in 2024 from a door to door (without air) rebooking to the same cruise and even the same cabin but on the 20% off pre payment p2p basis and saved myself some £2000.   I am quite happy to relinquish £400 (£200 each) by way of admin fee which has been transferred into an FCC.   I will for sure book a future cruise and am waiting for the full list of itineraries for 2025 before I do so and am comfortable knowing that I have £400 in hand towards the next reservation.

[cruiseej]

@labrasett The issue is that @ak1004 received the $600 not as a cruise credit, which is what's expected, but as an onboard credit.

 

@labrasett I think the question is whether you anticipate using the $600, in addition to any other OBC you may have received, on your cruise for paid excursions, laundry, premium wines, etc. If not, then I would indeed go back to SS and seek to have the admin fee credit applied as a discount on your cruise price rather than an OBC. If you think you'll use it up as OBC, then save yourself the trouble of pursuing it and ,eave it be. 🙂

[ak1004]

25 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

@labrasett The issue is that @ak1004 received the $600 not as a cruise credit, which is what's expected, but as an onboard credit.

 

@labrasett I think the question is whether you anticipate using the $600, in addition to any other OBC you may have received, on your cruise for paid excursions, laundry, premium wines, etc. If not, then I would indeed go back to SS and seek to have the admin fee credit applied as a discount on your cruise price rather than an OBC. If you think you'll use it up as OBC, then save yourself the trouble of pursuing it and ,eave it be. 🙂

Yes, exactly!

 

On our last SS cruise we spent our OBC on La Dame (outstanding, completely worth the extra fee), spa (complete waste of money, as on most ships) and some shopping (which we probably wouldn't do if we didn't have the credit). So most likely we won't be spending more than $120 USD (La Dame) on this cruise, and we prefer to have the fare reduced. I'm surprised it was not done in the first place, but I just wanted to make sure that I understand it correctly.

 

@labrasettto answer your question, I have no problem with the admin fee (I was aware of it before cancelling), just the way it was applied (OBC and not fare reduction).

[Silver Spectre]

4 hours ago, ak1004 said:

Hello everyone,

 

We are cancelling our November cruise and transferring it to another booking.

 

The original reservation mentioned the $300 CAD per person admin fee and indicated "This admin fee will be converted to a future cruise credit (FCC) redeemable on a new booking". However, the new booking shows that $300 was applied as "Nh Sbc". 

 

Was this your experience as well? Or should I insist that the $300 is deducted from the fare and not as SBC?

 

Thank you.

This should be deducted from your booking cost and not applied as OBC. You should insist on it being applied correctly!

Edited January 13, 2023 by Silver Spectre

[ronrick1943]

Yes, we canceled, we rebooked and the fee was credited to the new booking.  Not OBC.

[labrasett]

20 hours ago, ak1004 said:

Yes, exactly!

 

On our last SS cruise we spent our OBC on La Dame (outstanding, completely worth the extra fee), spa (complete waste of money, as on most ships) and some shopping (which we probably wouldn't do if we didn't have the credit). So most likely we won't be spending more than $120 USD (La Dame) on this cruise, and we prefer to have the fare reduced. I'm surprised it was not done in the first place, but I just wanted to make sure that I understand it correctly.

 

@labrasettto answer your question, I have no problem with the admin fee (I was aware of it before cancelling), just the way it was applied (OBC and not fare reduction).

Sorry I didnt understand your reference (Nh Sbc).   If you had said OBC I would have understood, I too would be reverting to SS and insisting on the reallocation of the credit in your shoes.   Actually for me I wouldnt have minded mine being an OBC as there is one "paid for" excursion on the excursions schedule which I wish to take and the credit would have covered it.   

[ak1004]

50 minutes ago, labrasett said:

Sorry I didnt understand your reference (Nh Sbc).   If you had said OBC I would have understood, I too would be reverting to SS and insisting on the reallocation of the credit in your shoes.   Actually for me I wouldnt have minded mine being an OBC as there is one "paid for" excursion on the excursions schedule which I wish to take and the credit would have covered it.   

 

Haha.. the Nh Sbc confused me as well.. still not sure what does it mean exactly.. SBC is probably Spend Onboard Credit? What is NH?

 

Yes, it could be useful, but this is Caribbean cruise, not sure if there is anything worth paying for.

[jollyjones]

 

SBC is shipboard credit.

Dunno about NH.

[jpalbny]

NH probably means "not helpful"

 

😉

[Host Jazzbeau]

All those TLAs can get very confusing!  [TLA = three letter acronyms...]. 🤣

[Stumblefoot]

10 hours ago, ak1004 said:

What is NH?

New Hampshire

[Host Jazzbeau]

10 hours ago, ak1004 said:

What is NH?

Take your pick:  https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Nh

 

[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, Stumblefoot said:

New Hampshire

National Health Service without the service. As in when ours is mostly on strike.

[ak1004]

An update: our TA is still waiting for SS to fix this.

 

On related note, we just switched to a new TA a few months ago, and while she is providing generous rebates, I'm not completely happy with her services. For example, in this case, wasn't it her job to point out that the admin fee should reduce the fare and not be applied as OBC? Also, it has been almost 3 weeks since I asked her to switch the reservations, and it is still not done. I had to follow up every few days, she was not really proactive or on top of things.

 

Am I expecting too much from our new TA?

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

An update: our TA is still waiting for SS to fix this.

 

On related note, we just switched to a new TA a few months ago, and while she is providing generous rebates, I'm not completely happy with her services. For example, in this case, wasn't it her job to point out that the admin fee should reduce the fare and not be applied as OBC? Also, it has been almost 3 weeks since I asked her to switch the reservations, and it is still not done. I had to follow up every few days, she was not really proactive or on top of things.

 

Am I expecting too much from our new TA?

No.  Even with a high-rebate TA I would expect more.  But, I have switched to a no-rebate TA who provides the full level of service you are looking for – sometimes you have to decide which is your real priority.  But it seems there are a lot of TAs who don't provide either...

[ak1004]

25 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

No.  Even with a high-rebate TA I would expect more.  But, I have switched to a no-rebate TA who provides the full level of service you are looking for – sometimes you have to decide which is your real priority.  But it seems there are a lot of TAs who don't provide either...

 

Exactly.

 

We are very low maintenance and have a pretty good idea what we want, so it would be nice to have some combination of good service and nice rebates..

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Exactly.

 

We are very low maintenance and have a pretty good idea what we want, so it would be nice to have some combination of good service and nice rebates..

Ask around onboard on your next cruise, and you should get some good leads.  Too bad we can't give any names (or hints) here...