$2. DEPOSITS COMING TOMORROW

[Horizon chaser 1957]

15 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

I don't like the $2.00 deposit idea at all. What's to stop people with nothing else to do from making numerous "what the hell" bookings, e.g., booking nine or ten cruises for the same time period or destination and waiting until the final payment date to cancel all but one of them? Plenty of sailings will "artificially" sell out, forcing serious customers to either look elsewhere or wait until after the final payment date in hopes that something might open up.

 

It just seems ill-conceived.

 

Jim

I love those sales for the flip side of the same reason. The cruise looks full, but at final payment time there’s a lot of cancellations and great last minute sales. We’ve scored many a discounted cruise that way.

[mcrcruiser]

imo these $1 deposit promotions are to trap people with higher prices .  Additionally ,after final payment there will be price drops & good cabins to select from . We checked several cruises & for sure the  price  has been elevated 

[HappyInVan]

Yah! More last minute deals!!!! 🙂

[crystalspin]

17 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

I don't like the $2.00 deposit idea at all. What's to stop people with nothing else to do from making numerous "what the hell" bookings, e.g., booking nine or ten cruises for the same time period or destination and waiting until the final payment date to cancel all but one of them?

I love to book a sailing while still under Early Booking Bonus, but it's very hard to give HAL $14,000 to hold for two years (B2B cruises for 2 cabins)!!! Our six FCD are already busy holding VOV-25...

 

Jane's announcement let me look at late 2025 & early 2026 and find a cruise on my bucket list, sailing with (so far) the cabins I want to take my DB and SIL to the Panama Canal! Have email in to my PCC and waiting by the phone!

[chill6x6]

So of course I took advantage of this! 10-day southern Caribbean on Zuiderdam.  HIA...$15 drink package, crew gratuity, $200 shore excursion credit, Premium wifi, 1 night speciality dining...same price I've been looking at all along! $2 deposit!

 

This was a no-brainer!

Edited April 18 by chill6x6

[mcrcruiser]

44 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

I love to book a sailing while still under Early Booking Bonus, but it's very hard to give HAL $14,000 to hold for two years (B2B cruises for 2 cabins)!!! Our six FCD are already busy holding VOV-25...

 

Jane's announcement let me look at late 2025 & early 2026 and find a cruise on my bucket list, sailing with (so far) the cabins I want to take my DB and SIL to the Panama Canal! Have email in to my PCC and waiting by the phone!

Crystal then this $1 deposit would work for you . I assume that in some cases this promo is a good deal not to tie up a lot  of cash in deposits . however ,too many people will hold a cabin because it only costs  $1 pp & then they cancel before final payment . imo it  makes a lot of cabins coming back into inventory  & then they need to drop the prices to resell those same cabins  .does this truly make any sene for many people to cancel before final payment ? 

Edited April 18 by mcrcruiser

[TRLD]

29 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Crystal then this $1 deposit would work for you . I assume that in some cases this promo is a good deal not to tie up a lot  of cash in deposits . however ,too many people will hold a cabin because it only costs  $1 pp & then they cancel before final payment . imo it  makes a lot of cabins coming back into inventory  & then they need to drop the prices to resell those same cabins  .does this truly make any sene for many people to cancel before final payment ? 

Exactly upon what information  are you basing that claim? The same source as led to your post that you were buying ccl.stock and encouraged everyone to add to their position, 2 or 3 days before you posted that CCL stock was falling and you were selling.

 

One may not agree with the decisions cruise line management make but they do not make decisions in a vacuum. They do not  on a whom flip a coin and say heads we do a dollar sale.

 

The cruise lines, who have run these programs, know from  past program exactly how many have booked under these programs, the type customer, the number of cancellation and when and any impact that it might have of future cabin availability. Just as they know the same thing for their normal refundable deposit bookings.  They will have clearly defined expectations and sales goals that these type programs are design to accomplish. If it did not accomplish their goals they would not run them.

[BermudaBound2014]

It’s likely all the bean counters at HAL have done their homework and offering these low deposits ‘work’. What we don’t know is their definition of ‘work’.  

 

I have always suspected these low deposits are a way to inflate future booking numbers so that when CCL reports their quarterlies to the SEC the future looks bright. 

 

The last SEC report looked all nice a rosy on the surface but if you dig deeper it’s obvious that debt continues to be a very serious problem. Their revenue maybe showing higher but their expenses are tied to inflation and energy pricing. Not to mention, with long term debt at nearly 30 Billion, the interest only payments are brutal.

 

CCL can’t afford to report lower future bookings to the SEC at the next quarterly. Perhaps the dollar deposits do bring in future passengers (who actually sail), but it doesn’t hurt the company to report that their 2026 bookings are at ‘record levels’. 

Edited April 18 by BermudaBound2014

[TRLD]

25 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

It’s likely all the bean counters at HAL have done their homework and offering these low deposits ‘work’. What we don’t know is their definition of ‘work’.  

 

I have always suspected these low deposits are a way to inflate future booking numbers so that when CCL reports their quarterlies to the SEC the future looks bright. 

 

The last SEC report looked all nice a rosy on the surface but if you dig deeper it’s obvious that debt continues to be a very serious problem. Their revenue maybe showing higher but their expenses are tied to inflation and energy pricing. Not to mention, with long term debt at nearly 30 Billion, the interest only payments are brutal.

 

CCL can’t afford to report lower future bookings to the SEC at the next quarterly. Perhaps the dollar deposits do bring in future passengers (who actually sail), but it doesn’t hurt the company to report that their 2026 bookings are at ‘record levels’. 

To be honest future bookings has far less impact than revenue and revenue projections. The cruise lines would not be running these to inflate there future bookings as some suggest, if by doing so they were having to lower there future revenue per booking numbers due to cancellations and an expected negative impact on prices in the quarter those cruises are actually taken 

 

They might, and probably are,  a mechanism to pull bookings into a window when otherwise bookings would be a slow period, but not if the expectation that the cancellation rate would result in lower overall revenue per booking in future quarters and a cancellation rate materially different than what they expect with their normal cancellation rate with refundable bookings.

 

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

19 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

I don't like the $2.00 deposit idea at all. What's to stop people with nothing else to do from making numerous "what the hell" bookings, e.g., booking nine or ten cruises for the same time period or destination and waiting until the final payment date to cancel all but one of them? Plenty of sailings will "artificially" sell out, forcing serious customers to either look elsewhere or wait until after the final payment date in hopes that something might open up.

 

It just seems ill-conceived.

 

Jim

 

I completely agree.  If they have to do this they should limit such low deposit bookings to just 1.

[TRLD]

33 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

It’s likely all the bean counters at HAL have done their homework and offering these low deposits ‘work’. What we don’t know is their definition of ‘work’.  

 

I have always suspected these low deposits are a way to inflate future booking numbers so that when CCL reports their quarterlies to the SEC the future looks bright. 

 

The last SEC report looked all nice a rosy on the surface but if you dig deeper it’s obvious that debt continues to be a very serious problem. Their revenue maybe showing higher but their expenses are tied to inflation and energy pricing. Not to mention, with long term debt at nearly 30 Billion, the interest only payments are brutal.

 

CCL can’t afford to report lower future bookings to the SEC at the next quarterly. Perhaps the dollar deposits do bring in future passengers (who actually sail), but it doesn’t hurt the company to report that their 2026 bookings are at ‘record levels’. 

They are running about twice the free cash flow as needed to cover interest payments, with next year's numbers showing retirement of some of their highest interest rate loans, with some replaced by lower interest loans.

 

They are well past the point in the recovery where ability to repay was in doubt. Unless there is a dramatic downturn in the economy and customer demand. Operationally their per passenger operating expenses for key items such as food and fuel have kept pace with inflation.

 

New debt coming onboard is largely either low interest loans on the finishing new builds subsidized by the countries in which those shipyards are located or very high interest loans replaced by lower interest loans.

 

While still in the junk range CCLs rating has increased by 2 categories to BB- in December and is likely to be out of the junk range by the end of the year.

 

The biggest impact of the debt is to limit new capital investment for the next 5 years or so. One can expect new ship orders to be considerably slower than the precovid rate.

 

The stock itself is pretty fairly valued and is likely to bounce around for the next couple of years. Much better places to invest.

[TAW1963]

4 hours ago, alyssamma said:

That is not my understanding...but I always book HAI too, so maybe that is why. I've only had to cancel CO twice and both times it was refunded without problem.

 

Maybe someone more knowledgeable can weigh in...

CO has always been refundable for me, but I usually book with the Advantage Fare, and no HIA, which has a refundable deposit.  I did book once with a nonrefundable deposit and later had to cancel.  Although my deposit was not refunded, my fees for CO were refunded.  However, I have read stories here on CC where people have lost their CO fees with a nonrefundable deposit.  Of course, all have been outside of final payment.  

[rodndonna]

19 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

I don't like the $2.00 deposit idea at all. What's to stop people with nothing else to do from making numerous "what the hell" bookings, e.g., booking nine or ten cruises for the same time period or destination and waiting until the final payment date to cancel all but one of them?

 

Do you know people that would actually do that though? How common do you think that would be?

I wouldn't ..I've never booked a cruise I didn't have a good expectation of taking.

 

As a person who always books HIA  and therefore always has refundable deposits, the promo is of limited interest to me, but I think it is good opportunity for others to book "Best Fare" price without having to risk typical deposit.

[mcrcruiser]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

It’s likely all the bean counters at HAL have done their homework and offering these low deposits ‘work’. What we don’t know is their definition of ‘work’.  

 

I have always suspected these low deposits are a way to inflate future booking numbers so that when CCL reports their quarterlies to the SEC the future looks bright. 

 

The last SEC report looked all nice a rosy on the surface but if you dig deeper it’s obvious that debt continues to be a very serious problem. Their revenue maybe showing higher but their expenses are tied to inflation and energy pricing. Not to mention, with long term debt at nearly 30 Billion, the interest only payments are brutal.

 

CCL can’t afford to report lower future bookings to the SEC at the next quarterly. Perhaps the dollar deposits do bring in future passengers (who actually sail), but it doesn’t hurt the company to report that their 2026 bookings are at ‘record levels’. 

Agree with what you stated . The other sde of the coin is to get a cabin availability what a person wants they may have to wait to after final payment when those who placed a $1deposit turn in that cabin hold  .Then  there are enough of those that do not book ,the cruise line may need to drop the price ,like the $49 deal . Yes I own CCL stock & I do not sell my core holding 

 

I never liked this $1 deposit ,it benefits aome but most people are not on  cruise critic

 

 

[1ANGELCAT]

FWIW, I believe the $1 deposit is in celebration of HAL’s birthday today. They did the same thing last year for the 150th.

[TRLD]

4 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

imo these $1 deposit promotions are to trap people with higher prices .  Additionally ,after final payment there will be price drops & good cabins to select from . We checked several cruises & for sure the  price  has been elevated 

Trap them into higher prices. too funny. According to you they are either all going to cancel and not use the bookings causing the cruise line to resell the cabins at lower fares or are too stupid to cancel the $2 dollar booking and rebook if the fares drop before final payment.

 

 

[alyssamma]

12 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Trap them into higher prices. too funny. According to you they are either all going to cancel and not use the bookings causing the cruise line to resell the cabins at lower fares or are too stupid to cancel the $2 dollar booking and rebook if the fares drop before final payment.

 

 

For my personal experience, the price was the same on 2/2 when I originally looked at this cruise. The only difference now is I paid $2 instead of $3500 to hold it.

 

I have no intention of cancelling the cruise. I also plan to rebook/refare if the price drops.

[maryandmarge]

19 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

For my personal experience, the price was the same on 2/2 when I originally looked at this cruise. The only difference now is I paid $2 instead of $3500 to hold it.

 

I have no intention of cancelling the cruise. I also plan to rebook/refare if the price drops.

I did the same thing today.   We’ve been watching the 25 day Iceland cruise out of Boston 7/12/25 but did not want to put down the $3500 deposit for a cruise more than a year away.    Today I was able to book at the same price that has been offered for the last couple months and only put down the $2.    I booked this because we plan on taking this cruise and saving that big deposit was worth it for us.    

[rodndonna]

24 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

For my personal experience, the price was the same on 2/2 when I originally looked at this cruise. The only difference now is I paid $2 instead of $3500 to hold it.

 

 

 

Using a site like Cruiseplum (it's not a booking site - so can be named here on Cruisecritic) the cruise price history is easy to check. Like you I see no difference in prices for 2 cruises I have booked and another one that I have been looking at.

[sunviking90]

8 hours ago, VermeulT said:

Every cruise I want to look at comes up with unavailable or sold out.  I mean EVERY.  I cleared my cashe and changed browsers.  Makes it hard to see what the prices and availability really are.

This was happening for me too, until I logged out. Then everything was  available again.

[HappyInVan]

Yes, cheap deposits are a boon to the pax. But, HAL (and the cruise industry) doesn't hand out freebies out of the goodness of their heart.

 

Last year, HAL set their retail prices too high and offered the $1/$25 deposits. Great success!

 

Then, Princess cut their fares 40%. Boom!

 

I was able to sail in suites 3x at reasonable prices. Last minute deals are great!

 

Looks like HAL is gonna try again this year. Good luck to them, and to pax! Of course, all these promotions are gambles. One thing you can be sure of is that the mainstream market is highly competitive. The luxury market not so much.

[mcrcruiser]

2 hours ago, TRLD said:

Trap them into higher prices. too funny. According to you they are either all going to cancel and not use the bookings causing the cruise line to resell the cabins at lower fares or are too stupid to cancel the $2 dollar booking and rebook if the fares drop before final payment.

 

 

As I said earlier . Cruise Critic members on this  HAL board know what they are doing & for $2 bucks  no loss .   We will see how successful this promo is down stream  . When I looked at some Mexican Riviera & West coastal cruises  ,it seemed to me the pricing was higher than I booked earlier paying the usual deposits .. 

It is alway the test of time whether these promos work or not . BTW . I waant  to see all of CCL's cruuse lines do well  as  I own a lot of their shares . Our CCL shares will leave a good  amount when we are gone ,so our adult children can sell or keep them 

 

 

 

[mcrcruiser]

I was curious so I looked at the March 22,2025  HAL cruise  on Koningsdam under the $2 deposit & the price for a veranda state room  is $2728.00 . when I nooked it with HAL ,it was $2118 .00 & mY TA got it for us @ $1986 .00 with $300 un on board credit 7 vthat is not uet counting the $100 we get from our CCL stock 

 

Hmm so it seems that the $2 deposit sale has some higher prices 

 

 

[alyssamma]

23 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

I was curious so I looked at the March 22,2025  HAL cruise  on Koningsdam under the $2 deposit & the price for a veranda state room  is $2728.00 . when I nooked it with HAL ,it was $2118 .00 & mY TA got it for us @ $1986 .00 with $300 un on board credit 7 vthat is not uet counting the $100 we get from our CCL stock 

 

Hmm so it seems that the $2 deposit sale has some higher prices 

 

 

So what you just gave is an example of why this is all a pretty meaningless discussion 🙂

 

With or without "sales" "reduced deposits", etc., prices fluctuate. The real test would be what was the price Tuesday and what was the price Wednesday.

 

But even then, some prices will go up and others down...

[Menocchio]

9 hours ago, alyssamma said:

So what you just gave is an example of why this is all a pretty meaningless discussion 🙂

 

With or without "sales" "reduced deposits", etc., prices fluctuate. The real test would be what was the price Tuesday and what was the price Wednesday.

 

But even then, some prices will go up and others down...

Yeah. I've been tracking prices on my own booking for the Nieuw Statendam in 2025. I'm in one of the solo OVs. There's only 12 of them and they're all in the same place so it's very easy to see how many are still available.

 

About two weeks ago the price went up $39 and another of the cabins was booked. (We're down to 9! Act now!) No more cabins have been sold. It's still at that price.