Deposit + Club Orange Fees if Cruise Canceled altogether - Questions

[forevercruising1]

17 hours ago, POA1 said:

If you call on Saturday or Sunday, there's a high likelihood that you are going to reach a non-US call center. I'd wait until January 2nd,if I were you.

 

If you added Club Orange and did not upgrade, it's probably easy to remove. I'd give that a shot. If you played the CO upgrade game, it's more complicated.

 

If you had booked with a PCC or TA, you'd have someone to shepherd this through the process. I know that's water under the bridge, though.

 

I assume this is a 7 day cruise for 2 people and you paid your CO in two parts? That is the only way I can make the math work. (Of course, it's 6:30 AM on a Saturday and coffee is in the future, so I could be wrong.)

 

If possible, see if you can remove CO and leave the money on the booking as additional deposit. You may be told that you are in cancel penalty fee, because technically you are.

 

If you can remove CO without penalty, do that. Then, call back to cancel the booking later and get the whole deposit refunded.

 

Or, just tell the person you talk to that you want to know if there are cancelation fees on booking now. They can look, and maybe you'll get good news.

 

1.  Thank you for the reminder to wait until next week to call to deal with this cancellation; I will definitely do that.

 

2.  Yes, this is a 7 day for 2 people and I paid for CO with two HAL gift cards.  Attempting to remove just CO first is a good idea - thank you.  ** It seems that, if I am able to do that, I should be able to get a refund on my deposit because we used two Future Cruise Deposits for our deposits.  (I hope I am still correct on this point!)

 

3.  Could you clarify how asking if there are cancellation fees on booking now would help me in this situation?  (I think my brain is so scrambled and I'm trying to figure out a way to save this $350 that I am losing focus!)

 

Thanks, again, for your help and expertise.

Edited December 31, 2023 by forevercruising1

[KAKcruiser]

My understanding was that the only way to get Club Orange refunded was to cancel the entire cruise.

[forevercruising1]

UPDATE + Still Seeking Advice:

 

Hello, again and Happy New Year!  My call to HAL wasn't too happy as I was told (twice) that, even though I booked with two Future Cruise Deposits (one for me; one for my husband), the promotion we booked under apparently had a non-refundable deposit of $175 (I still do not remember booking under this promotion and we normally do not book non-refundable deposits, but I must have done so) and we will lose that amount for each of us if we cancel (total of $350).

 

As I've stated in this thread, I was under the assumption that Future Cruise Deposits were refundable, anytime, no matter the booking promotion; however, I have called two different HAL reps (I called this afternoon) and I have been told otherwise.

 

SO, here is the bottom line:  If I cancel this booking, I will lose my Future Cruise Deposit . . . AND an additional $75 per person.  Since we booked Club Orange and upgraded our cabin, I assume the $75 pp would come out of that $350.

 

FINALLY, a couple more questions:

 

1.  I thought about calling another day to ask to cancel just the Club Orange (to hopefully get the $350 Club Orange charges back).  ** Have any of you been successful in doing this?  I assume, if I am able to do so, that we would be moved back to the lowest cabin in that category again; does anyone know if that is correct?

 

2.  IF I am able to cancel Club Orange and only have the Future Cruise Deposits left on that booking, I'm wondering if I would only lose the $100 FCD; can anyone confirm this?

 

Thanks for all of the comments and for sharing your experiences; I appreciate your insight.

[forevercruising1]

1 hour ago, forevercruising1 said:

UPDATE + Still Seeking Advice:

 

Hello, again and Happy New Year!  My call to HAL wasn't too happy as I was told (twice) that, even though I booked with two Future Cruise Deposits (one for me; one for my husband), the promotion we booked under apparently had a non-refundable deposit of $175 (I still do not remember booking under this promotion and we normally do not book non-refundable deposits, but I must have done so) and we will lose that amount for each of us if we cancel (total of $350).

 

As I've stated in this thread, I was under the assumption that Future Cruise Deposits were refundable, anytime, no matter the booking promotion; however, I have called two different HAL reps (I called this afternoon) and I have been told otherwise.

 

SO, here is the bottom line:  If I cancel this booking, I will lose my Future Cruise Deposit . . . AND an additional $75 per person.  Since we booked Club Orange and upgraded our cabin, I assume the $75 pp would come out of that $350.

 

FINALLY, a couple more questions:

 

1.  I thought about calling another day to ask to cancel just the Club Orange (to hopefully get the $350 Club Orange charges back).  ** Have any of you been successful in doing this?  I assume, if I am able to do so, that we would be moved back to the lowest cabin in that category again; does anyone know if that is correct?

 

2.  IF I am able to cancel Club Orange and only have the Future Cruise Deposits left on that booking, I'm wondering if I would only lose the $100 FCD; can anyone confirm this?

 

Thanks for all of the comments and for sharing your experiences; I appreciate your insight.

 

FOR THE RECORD:  I see my errors and I won't make them in the future!  I also understand that CO is posted as non-refundable, so I'm sure I won't be able to cancel just the CO as I suggested in #1. 

 

Lesson Learned!  (I just need to get my ducks in a row so that I completely understand the FCD's and see if I can figure out any way to salvage any money already paid in this booking.)

[Andi Land]

Yes, I have canceled Club Orange by itself. I called the same number I used to add it to my reservation. It was really simple. 
 

Second, they can’t ask for more money than has already been deposited. So, if it was $100 each on an FCD, that’s all you’d lose. 
 

I would still ask to have the FCD credited back. They probably won’t but it won’t hurt to ask again. 
 

So, call and cancel CO. Wait for that refund to clear (probably take a week). Then call again to cancel the cruise. At least this way you get back the $350 for the CO. 
 

Fingers crossed and wishing you luck. 

[forevercruising1]

6 minutes ago, Andi Land said:

Yes, I have canceled Club Orange by itself. I called the same number I used to add it to my reservation. It was really simple. 
 

Second, they can’t ask for more money than has already been deposited. So, if it was $100 each on an FCD, that’s all you’d lose. 
 

I would still ask to have the FCD credited back. They probably won’t but it won’t hurt to ask again. 
 

So, call and cancel CO. Wait for that refund to clear (probably take a week). Then call again to cancel the cruise. At least this way you get back the $350 for the CO. 
 

Fingers crossed and wishing you luck. 

 

Thank you, Andi Land!  Your experiences give me hope! 

 

I called two different HAL reps and asked for my FCD's back, but I got the same "No" from both; perhaps this might change if I am able to remove CO from the booking -- we'll see!  I appreciate your responses.  🙂

Edited January 5 by forevercruising1

[cbr663]

I think there may be some confusion regarding your deposit structure.

 

Whoever you book CO the charge for CO is added to your cruise fare.  When CO is added to your fare you are required to pay for the CO charge.  This payment is considered part of your deposit.  

 

In your case you also paid a deposit using a FCD.

 

If you cancel your cruise, I don't believe that you are losing your FCD.  What you are losing is the CO charge portion of your deposit, which is the $350 as the deposit was non-refundable.  I believe that your FCD would still be available to you for a future booking.  It wouldn't be refunded to you, instead, it would be returned to your account for future use.

 

I suggest that you call back to HAL and clarify this.  Ask specifically:

 

1.  What is the FCD amount on the booking?

2.  What is the CO charge on the booking?

3.  What is the total deposit amount on the booking?

4.  Should you cancel, is the CO charge non refundable?  If so, what is the amount?  (Should be $350)

5.  Should you cancel, is the FCD returned to your account for a future booking?

[POA1]

On 12/30/2023 at 11:44 PM, forevercruising1 said:

I always select a non-refundable deposit option -- I don't know how this happened. 

Are you sure that's what you mean?

[forevercruising1]

38 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Are you sure that's what you mean?

 

No, I corrected myself in subsequent postings.  I am aware that I must have booked this non-refundable fare in the promotion in April.  I just don't remember doing it because we always book refundable fares, even though they are slightly higher in price.

[forevercruising1]

52 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

I think there may be some confusion regarding your deposit structure.

 

Whoever you book CO the charge for CO is added to your cruise fare.  When CO is added to your fare you are required to pay for the CO charge.  This payment is considered part of your deposit.  

 

In your case you also paid a deposit using a FCD.

 

If you cancel your cruise, I don't believe that you are losing your FCD.  What you are losing is the CO charge portion of your deposit, which is the $350 as the deposit was non-refundable.  I believe that your FCD would still be available to you for a future booking.  It wouldn't be refunded to you, instead, it would be returned to your account for future use.

 

I suggest that you call back to HAL and clarify this.  Ask specifically:

 

1.  What is the FCD amount on the booking?

2.  What is the CO charge on the booking?

3.  What is the total deposit amount on the booking?

4.  Should you cancel, is the CO charge non refundable?  If so, what is the amount?  (Should be $350)

5.  Should you cancel, is the FCD returned to your account for a future booking?

 

Thank you for the detailed suggestions.  I asked most of your questions today (with two different reps), but I'm planning to call again and ask a few more questions, so your list is very helpful!

 

I thought I'd also post a screenshot of the payment section of the booking -- We paid the deposit with FCD's and paid CO with two HAL gift cards.

 

[KAKcruiser]

The phone calls are recorded at HAL.  If you know the date you made the reservation, they can access the recording and determine what you were told during the conversation.