Cancel or No Show

[CruisingAndDiving]

Hi all.

 

Hypothetical question at this point.  What happens if one of 2 people don't go on the cruise and the other goes?  If a no show and that person has OBC from as part of the booking, would the person going have that as part of the stateroom overall OBC?   

 

And if a no show do you say anyone when you arrive at the port to embark or just get the hell on the ship!

 

Thanks.

[Moriah]

Nope, the person who does cruise will not get the other person's OBC. Yes, you just tell the person when you check in for embarkation that the other guest will not be sailing after all.  You will still get your own OBC, but anything on the other person's booking will not show up on your statement.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Moriah

[Sir PMP]

You may have to pay 50% more for your room for the no show.

[Hllb]

5 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

You may have to pay 50% more for your room for the no show.

Why would they expect that? They've already been paid for the no show and they wouldn't be getting a refund. I would think this would only come into play if the person not coming was getting a refund somehow.

[RuthC]

11 minutes ago, Hllb said:

Why would they expect that? They've already been paid for the no show and they wouldn't be getting a refund. I would think this would only come into play if the person not coming was getting a refund somehow.

It doesn't always work that way, unfortunately. 

Which is why, when you check in, you would keep your mouth shut about the whereabouts of your friend. If anyone were to ask, you say the friend made different arrival arrangements and you expect to meet him/her onboard. 

[Moriah]

44 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

You may have to pay 50% more for your room for the no show.

No, they won't charge you anything on the day of sailing when your roommate doesn't show.  the person who doesn't show forfeits 100% of what they have paid.  So HAL is all paid up.  The no-show person will get nothing back, and as said, their OBC will disappear into oblivion.

[Moriah]

27 minutes ago, RuthC said:

It doesn't always work that way, unfortunately. 

Which is why, when you check in, you would keep your mouth shut about the whereabouts of your friend. If anyone were to ask, you say the friend made different arrival arrangements and you expect to meet him/her onboard. 

 

No. This is a bad idea. I have been in this situation.  When you check in, just say, my roommate will not be able to make it to the cruise after all. There is no drama there.  As Ruth said, HAL is paid up, all is well on their side whether the person shows or not, and you will simply check in and sail alone.  You will be AFTER final payment, and the other person is paid up, so really, it's not very dramatic.  I would NOT advise you to lie.  They will come to your cabin and investigate before sailing if you do that, trying to "find" the person... it's just a bad idea.  And there's no reason for it.

[Moriah]

42 minutes ago, Hllb said:

Why would they expect that? They've already been paid for the no show and they wouldn't be getting a refund. I would think this would only come into play if the person not coming was getting a refund somehow.

 

Yes, this.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Sir PMP said:

You may have to pay 50% more for your room for the no show.

If no travel insurance is involved.

 

Usually if a person no shows, they get a refund of taxes and fees.

 

On the other hand if a person cancels in the penalty period they get the same taxes and fees refunded, but the remaining person might have to pay solo rate.

 

In most cases better to no show if neither party has travel insurance.

 

In my view better to just check in and not say anything.  Though if you tell them when you check it will probably not be an issue.  If you tell them in advance it certainly might be..

 

On the other hand if both have travel insurance then they should cancel in advance.  The travel insurance give them their refund, and covers the increase to the solo rate for the person still cruising.  Can be problematic if one has insurance and the other does not.

Edited March 14, 2023 by ldtr

[shippmates]

The no show will get their port charges and taxes refunded along with any other purchases.

[Boatdrill]

If you're about pull some shenanigans on HAL consider how it may affect your travel agent, if you used one.  HAL may recall the commission already paid out to the agent for the 2nd guest who suddenly didn't sail. 

 

 

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Moriah said:

There is no drama there. 

Maybe. Maybe not. 

It has happened that the person now sailing solo has to pay the single supplement. Doesn't matter that the roommate has paid in full, with no reimbursement. HAL can, and has, ended up getting 250% fare for the cabin. 

No need to introduce a possible problem if you don't have to. 

[Moriah]

2 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Maybe. Maybe not. 

It has happened that the person now sailing solo has to pay the single supplement. Doesn't matter that the roommate has paid in full, with no reimbursement. HAL can, and has, ended up getting 250% fare for the cabin. 

No need to introduce a possible problem if you don't have to. 

 

Yes, they end up with 250% payment IF the person CANCELS before the day of sailing by calling HAL and telling them in advance that they intend not to show up, even though it's after final payment.  However, if they "can't make it" and just don't show up, that doesn't happen, at least not in my experience, since sadly, it happened to me that I ended up sailing alone on Maasdam a few cruises before she left the fleet... The lack of drama is if the person who is sailing just checks in and goes on the cruise, and the other person just doesn't.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Moriah

[Moriah]

5 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

If you're about pull some shenanigans on HAL consider how it may affect your travel agent, if you used one.  HAL may recall the commission already paid out to the agent for the 2nd guest who suddenly didn't sail. 

 

 

 

That doesn't make much sense, since the person has paid in full.  Honestly HAL doesn't much care if you actually sail.  Once final payment date is past, and you are paid up. If you try to CANCEL before the sail date, however, of course they may do all kinds of weird things, such as make the person who IS sailing pay a single supplement or whatever.  But a no-show, in my experience, does not cause this to happen.

[RuthC]

11 minutes ago, Moriah said:

Honestly HAL doesn't much care if you actually sail.  Once final payment date is past, and you are paid up.

HAL pays the TA commission after you sail, not after you make final payment. 

[Crew News]

April 2022, my travel partner had to cancel the first leg of our planned B2B cruise.  I cancelled her from my reservation which triggered a refare at the current solo booking rate, loss of the OBC for early booking, loss of her deposit, and a bill for $297 more dollars for my 5-Day Pacific Coastal.  When she had to cancel the second leg, I notified the Front Desk upon boarding that she may not arrive in time to catch the ship.  No fare increase for me, no loss of early booking OBC, no loss of her deposit, and my credit card was credited with her port fees.

 

My advice is to never cancel a second person.  Just have the second person be a "no show".  YMMV

[CruisingAndDiving]

5 hours ago, Boatdrill said:

If you're about pull some shenanigans on HAL consider how it may affect your travel agent, if you used one.  HAL may recall the commission already paid out to the agent for the 2nd guest who suddenly didn't sail. 

 

 

I'm not trying to pull "shenanigans"  as you put it.  If you knew my background and profession, you would know that's not something I would do.

 

I posted this as I don't want to lose my own obc by having to re-fare to a solo passenger or cancel myself.

 

Thank you to everyone else who responded.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by CruisingAndDiving

[shippmates]

Did you check with HAL to see if you could change the name on the second reservation if you can find someone to replace the canceling passenger.  The cruise line may let you change the name if it is 3 days or more prior to set sail date.

 

[Caribbean Chris]

11 hours ago, Moriah said:

 

That doesn't make much sense, since the person has paid in full.  Honestly HAL doesn't much care if you actually sail.  

I respectfully disagree. HAL is in the business of maximizing revenue through onboard spending based on two passengers in a double cabin. The basic cruise fare is just one part of their income, with an important percentage of their revenue coming in through the casino, gift shops, shore excursions, wines & liquors, specialty restaurants, and so on.

[TiogaCruiser]

16 hours ago, ldtr said:

 

On the other hand if both have travel insurance then they should cancel in advance.  The travel insurance give them their refund, and covers the increase to the solo rate for the person still cruising.  Can be problematic if one has insurance and the other does not.

This is only true if the policy covers an increase in fare due to single supplement.

[mikebsxm]

On 3/15/2023 at 7:14 AM, Caribbean Chris said:

I respectfully disagree. HAL is in the business of maximizing revenue through onboard spending based on two passengers in a double cabin. The basic cruise fare is just one part of their income, with an important percentage of their revenue coming in through the casino, gift shops, shore excursions, wines & liquors, specialty restaurants, and so on.

Totally accurate.  The reason cruise lines offer lowball cabin prices is just to get a "head in a bed".  They bank on the fact that your $600 seven day cruise will generate at least that much in on-board spending, hopefully more.

[kazu]

On 3/14/2023 at 5:47 PM, RuthC said:

It doesn't always work that way, unfortunately. 

Which is why, when you check in, you would keep your mouth shut about the whereabouts of your friend. If anyone were to ask, you say the friend made different arrival arrangements and you expect to meet him/her onboard. 

 

I agree with Ruth.

 

I cancelled DD DH, it took a lot of work for my TA and me and I ended up paying more and losing all of his OBC at the time.

 

On a recent cruise, my DBIL had to return home before we embarked.  My TA told my DS to just say he was joining later.  She had his OBC and no problem.

 

You have to do the math on the port fees of course but Ruth’s words are wise and well worth considering from my two personal experiences.

 

I am sure there is a different right answer depending on everyone’s circumstances, though.

[Boatdrill]

On 3/14/2023 at 4:23 PM, RuthC said:

HAL pays the TA commission after you sail, not after you make final payment. 

HAL pays TA commission after final payment, before the sail date.     

[billbunger]

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