$200 penalty for booking cancellation?

[poss]

I've just learned-- I think I understood this correctly-- that Regent now charges (starting for '09 bookings) a $200 fee if one needs to cancel. I don't remember there being a cancellation fee like that for cancellations a year or many months before embarkation. Is this about normal for cruise lines? It makes sense to me that there'd be some sort of cancellation fee-- even far out-- but $200 seems awfully hefty. Did I misunderstand the policy or is this simply par for the course? Thanks.

[cruiseluv]

Yes, you are right. That's a new immediate cancellation fee for the 2009 bookings. However, if you book another cruise within 6 months they'll credit you the cancellation fee. I don't know what happens if you cancel once again.

 

I haven't heard/ read about any other line that has such cancellation fee.

[Travelcat2]

This is a bit more complex that it seems. Check out the Additional Fees thread on this board (also read Q & A's on the Regent board. . . it is quite detailed!

[poss]

Thanks for replies. Travelcat: I always have a lot of difficulty tracking things down on CC. Can you tell me how, exactly, to find the thread you're alluding to? Also: Do you happen to know whether that $200 per person fee is in line with what the industry is generally charging? I can't imagine booking the cruise (without being able to pull out) until I knew for sure that I could secure air. It's way too far out to manage the flights now. In short, I think it's fine to charge a cancellation fee, but being out $400 if we have to cancel just seems too steep to me.

[cruiseluv]

Poss,

 

The $200 cancellation fee is per cabin, not per person ( as far as I know!)

 

Regarding the thread that travelcat alludes to, it is one that is around 9 threads below this one. It's called "Additional Fees"

[Wendy The Wanderer]

It's per booking, not per person. The $200 per person cancellation penalty kicks in within the 120 days. That's for 2009 "normal" voyages (i.e., not Explorer, not WC and similar long cruises.)

[Travelcat2]

I'm usually really good at searching for information. In the case of Seabourn, I learned everything except about their cancellation fee (I do know what their excursion cancellation fee is -- but that isn't the question:confused: ).

 

I did better with Silversea (pasted below). It appears to be the same as Regent's former policy. Both the new Regent and current Silversea policies make reference to different cancellation for their World Cruises. Is it only me ... or are these new policies written to be confusing?

 

CANCELLATIONS

CANCELLATIONSShould it be necessary to cancel your reservation, you or your travel agent should contact Silversea’s Reservations Department by telephone as soon as possible and subsequently submit your cancellation in writing. Cruise and air tickets must be returned to Silversea before a refund can be processed. If your cancellation request is received more than 120 days prior to your initial sailing date, a full refund of the amount already paid to Silversea will be made. Cancellation requests received within 120 days of the initial sailing date will be subject to the following charges, regardless of suite resale:120 – 91 days prior to your initial sailing date: USD $200 per person90 – 61 days prior to your initial sailing date: 10% of the total fare60 – 31 days prior to your initial sailing date: 20% of the total fare30 – 15 days prior to your initial sailing date: 50% of the total fare14 – 0 days prior to your initial sailing date, or non-appearance at the time of sailing: 100% of the total fareSilversea’s cancellation penalties are strictly enforced. Note: Terms and conditions for the 2007 World Cruise and its segments may vary. Please refer to the 2007 World Cruise Atlas or contact Silversea Cruises for further details. No refund or adjustment will be made in the event of interruption or cancellation of the cruise after the commencement of same. Guests changing or cancelling Air/Hotel, Land, Silver Sights or Hotel Programmes within 60 days of departure will be charged a USD $200 per guest administrative fee, plus all additional costs incurred by Silversea, up to 100% of the fare paid. Additional costs include penalties incurred by Silversea from airlines, tour operators or other independent contractors. Cancellation penalties apply for Land Programmes operated in conjunction with Orient-Express trains cancelled 90 days or less prior to departure.

 

[poss]

Thanks for the in-put and the clarifications. Yes, I see now that the cancellation fee (far out) is $200 per booking. That still seems unduly steep to me, but companies can of course charge whatever they want. I doubt that Regent will lose anything through this new policy, and for all I know it's not really unfair at all-- just seems like a too-hefty fee to me.

[cruiseyguy]

Actually, Regent's cancellation fee strikes me as a little greedy but if they succeed you can count on the others doing the same. Look at it this way--Regent earns interest on the many thousands of advance deposits it carries. This interest should be sufficient to cover any administrative costs associated with rebooking cancellations. Add to that number the additional $200 paid by those who actually cancel, which theoretically is also for administrative costs associated with rebooking cancelled rooms. This makes the interest on the deposits "free" money for Regent. I'd feel a lot better about this new fee if the deposits were held in an interest-bearing escrow account, with the interest accruing to the traveler.

[VIRGINIA ARTIE]

You're right on, Poss. It's there for 2009

I agree with cruiseyguy that $200 is too much. $100 would be enough.

Last week NanSea told me that 2008 was 80% booked. I guess that they don't want people booking and than cancelling.

[bennett2005]

I think the policy is more than fair. You need to look at it from the Regent perspective. If people make advance reservations and then cancel it can be difficult to book those cabins. Regent only wants people to book a cruise if they are really serious about taking the cruise. A much tougher policy would have been to set an earlier date that greater deposits against the fare were due or to do that and impose a larger loss of the deposit if the cruise was cancelled. I am sure that the admin costs have very little to do with the policy but more to cause people to think harder about making a reservation they are serious about.

[englishlee]

You guys ought to live in the UK.

 

Here at the time of booking we pay 15% of the total cruise cost as a deposit, and that is forfeited if the booking is canceled at any time up to 71 days before departure, after that it's even more. $200 seems a bargain to me !

 

Similar rules apply for most other cruise companies as well.

[TedC]

If you cancel a cruise and rebook another within six months the $200 fee will be credited to your new booking.

 

 

There's another bright side: With no penalty, people could book several cruises and keep the rest of us from booking those cabins. Then those bookers could cancel without penalty when they finally decide which cruise they really want to take. By then the rest of us probably have made other plans and Regent is left with some empty cabins. The new policy should alleviate that problem somewhat.

[cruiseluv]

Or their new policy will put a chill on the practice of onboard bookings as many of these cruises are booked so far in advance. Only time will tell.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Ted, according to my TA this has been common practice--booking 2 or more cruises for the same time period even, knowing that some bookings will be cancelled. The penalty should put a damper on that.

 

As for unintended consequences, if the onboard booking is just a "parked" booking, one that you intend to move, then no problem, you'll get your cancellation penalty back when you move it. So I don't see it causing a decrease in onboard bookings, except perhaps for the very tentative folks who don't really know if or when they'll sail on Regent again--and those are the ones who aren't going to do the onboard bookings now anyways.

[AtA]

Ok I understand, but let me play devil's advocate.

 

Say for example, Joe and Mary Smith (fictional names) book a cruise 2 yrs out. One year later Mary becomes ill and they don't know when or even if she's going to get better, so they can't even begin to think about cruising. Joe cancel's the trip and then they're out $200.

 

Regent held their money for over a year, so the Smiths lost money on the interest, and now they want the Smiths to pay an additional $200 because of their lost booking.

 

Obviously this would be an isolated incident, but what happens to those who have to cancel because of unforseen circumstances?

[cruiseluv]

As for unintended consequences, if the onboard booking is just a "parked" booking, one that you intend to move, then no problem, you'll get your cancellation penalty back when you move it. So I don't see it causing a decrease in onboard bookings, except perhaps for the very tentative folks who don't really know if or when they'll sail on Regent again--and those are the ones who aren't going to do the onboard bookings now anyways.

 

 

Yes, that's all well and good , provided that when they come with the new itineraries you see something you like . If not, you would be out of luck and would lose $200 or feel you "have to" book a cruise so you will not lose it. I'm assuming that once the $200 "credit" is posted on the new cruise, that would be it, you can't move it anymore.

[Ngaire]

Just for the record the $200 that becomes a Future Cruise Credit is transferable to a new booking. So as long as you eventually sail you will be able to use your credit.

[cruiseluv]

Thanks Ngaire,

 

That's good to know!

[marienbad]

I thought there was a 6 month window in which to make another booking.