Non refundable deposits-9 months out!

[RnD]

We are planning a trip on January 4th on the Jade, and want to hold an AE cabin. Though we plan to take this trip, this far out it is difficult to be 100 percent positive of what might happen between now and then.

 

NCL just informed me that it is $800.00 to hold this cabin, and the deposit is totally non refundable even if we cancelled next week. It makes it difficult to commit , the RCCL Brilliance is tempting, since we can hold a room and know if something happens we will not lose all of our money.

 

Is this a new policy with them, since we have never experienced this before?

[BeachBumMama]

:confused: :confused: :confused: What???? News to me too. I'd call back again and you'll more than likely get someone else on the phone, maybe that person made a BIG mistake? I can't see that being some sort of new policy, makes no sense.

[MrsLeo]

Nope this is a new policy as of our November cruise on the Pearl. It is to protect NCL from people reserving high end real estate and then cancelling right before final payment, and basically forcing them to lower the price to fill the suite prior to sailing.

[BDL]

We booked mid December for our May cruise on POAm and the deposit would have been fully refundable... is this new rule for only some of their ships? Sounds like they'd lose a lot of business with a rule like that.

[BeachBumMama]

Nope this is a new policy as of our November cruise on the Pearl. It is to protect NCL from people reserving high end real estate and then cancelling right before final payment, and basically forcing them to lower the price to fill the suite prior to sailing.

Is it only for the suites? Or all cabins?

[cruizinwithkids]

It's for suites. The really high end rooms also have really high deposits.

[MrsLeo]

Yup just the suites. Sure makes you want to wait until the last minute to book them doesn't it?

[BDL]

We're booked in a suite and did NOT have a non-refundable deposit. I assumed the $500 deposit was the same for other categories.

[spirit rev]

I had heard this was true for the Owner's Suites and above but not the AB's and below.

[BeachBumMama]

We're booked in a suite and did NOT have a non-refundable deposit. I assumed the $500 deposit was the same for other categories.

Yes, I knew the per person deposit itself had gone up quite a bit, but didn't know the suites were non-refundable. And yes, as MrsLeo said, I might consider waiting until the last minute to book one. I wonder if insurance would cover this if you were to have to cancel?:confused:

[MrsLeo]

I do not know if their are some suites this does not apply to, but in November they took us on a tour of the courtyard and garden villas, and one of the penthouse suites and made the comment that they had instituted this non-refundable deposit policy on the high end suites. Wouldn't it be nice if they actually had this in writing somewhere on their website where people could find it? If it's there, it is buried somewhere.

[BDL]

If that's true (Owner's Suites) maybe that's why there are still some open on our sailing and they emailed us with an upsell offer. We declined the upsell ($1600 total:eek: ) as we're happy on the Port side suite we're already in. The additional room wouldn't do the two of us much good anyway for this port intensive itinerary.

[MrsLeo]

Depends on your insurance. If you cancel for a covered reason, yes it would, or if you bought the really expensive cancel for any reason type insurance, then yes. Otherwise you're out of luck.

[NCL_Cruiser]

Depends on your insurance. If you cancel for a covered reason, yes it would, or if you bought the really expensive cancel for any reason type insurance, then yes. Otherwise you're out of luck.

 

 

Two things:

 

First of all, it is unlikely the insurance would cover this, as the insurance isn't paid until final payment, unless the guess expressly requests to pay the premium early (at which time they pay the standard deposit plus premium.)

 

Secondly, I'm positive there is a misunderstanding. The deposit for Owner Suites and Villas is higher than the other types of cabins, including AB and lower suites. Those Owner Suites and Villas also have a different cancellation fee, with a portion not being refundable immediately.

[MrsLeo]

NCL Cruiser, are you assuming people are buying insurance from the cruise line? There are several companies that offer trip insurance and it is paid for at the time you purchase it, regardless of when final payment is. There is even an insurance company the sells policies that will allow to cancel for any reason. Of course it is very expensive.

 

It may be the Owner's Suites and Villas policy that I am thinking of since we were touring a Villa at the time and the gal did not go into great detail but did talk about a non-refundable deposit on the high end suites.

[NCL_Cruiser]

I do not know if their are some suites this does not apply to, but in November they took us on a tour of the courtyard and garden villas, and one of the penthouse suites and made the comment that they had instituted this non-refundable deposit policy on the high end suites. Wouldn't it be nice if they actually had this in writing somewhere on their website where people could find it? If it's there, it is buried somewhere.

 

 

The information is listed in "Terms and Conditions," which is accessible from the "Booked Guests Get Ready to Cruise" portion of the front page.

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=IndivTermsConditions#gvdeposit

 

Hope this help!

[BDL]

NCL_Cruiser - well that does explain why there was no cancellation fee (Hawaii). Thanks for the link.. I would think twice about booking a higher category until I was completely sure. We were 95% sure at time of booking. We did buy insurance right away too (we never buy it from the cruise line as they are usually much more expensive and the coverage is usually so much less for more $$)

[MrsLeo]

That was helpful! Thanks! Those are some very substantial cancellation penalties!

 

It's too bad they don't put that information where the "not yet booked guest, who wants to make an informed decision portion" where a person can find the information easily eh?

 

But no, that's the info you get only once you are a "Booked Guests Get Ready to Cruise" lol!

 

But seriously that is good info. Thanks!

[JessLCH]

It's for suites. The really high end rooms also have really high deposits.

 

I believe the penalties are not for suites but for Courtyard Villas and higher.

[Bigdog49]

So back to the OPs question. The NCL rep you spoke with made a mistake. You can book an AE and get a full refund on your deposit. As detailed in the link above the non-refundable deposits are for AA-A1 only. AE,AC,AD, & AB can be held like any other cabin.

[garycarla]

Agree. Looks like NCL rep made a mistake regarding the AE. The NCL terms and conditions only refer to Owners Suites and Villas.

[JACruiser]

I believe the penalties are not for suites but for Courtyard Villas and higher.

 

You're right, the higher, non-refundable deposits only apply for Courtyard Villas (A3 and A4), Owner's Suites (AA), Deluxe Owners Suites (A2), and Garden Villas (A1). I'm not sure why they are trying to charge you more on the Penthouse.

[RnD]

I called back based on the last info you posted and initially was told it was non-refundable on al suites. I asked her to please check again and she came back and said it is only on the owners suites etc, so the AE is refundable.

 

It makes me wonder how much other information I received was incorrect.

 

Is there priority boarding for the suites, or is the same line as all the other latitudes members?

Can you make the full weeks dinner reservations at once in an AE?

Will they serve dinner from any of the restaurants in the room?

 

By the way I know this all sounds "snooty," but this cabin is almost 2K higher than we originally planned to spend, so without some significant "perks," I may go back to RCCL since their balcony isis almost the same size as the NCl suite.

 

The information I was given sounded good, but one has to wonder how knowledgeable the consultants are since three of them told me the $800.00 deposit was non-refundable.

 

Thanks for the correct information everyone.

 

Who knows we may become NCL fans after this trip-our experience on the Pride of Aloha had me convinced free style cruising and NCL were a horrible idea.

 

We are on an RCCL cruise in June and it will be fun to compare the JS on AOS to the suite on NCL.

 

Cruise 52 and counting-you would think we would be bored with cruising already.

 

Celebrity-14

HAL 12

SeaDream-1

Raddison-4

NCL-4(?)

RCCL-5

Big Red boat-2

American family-1

Italian line-2

Carnival-6

Cunard-1

[JACruiser]

I called back based on the last info you posted and initially was told it was non-refundable on al suites. I asked her to please check again and she came back and said it is only on the owners suites etc, so the AE is refundable.

 

It makes me wonder how much other information I received was incorrect.

 

Is there priority boarding for the suites, or is the same line as all the other latitudes members?

Can you make the full weeks dinner reservations at once in an AE?

Will they serve dinner from any of the restaurants in the room?

 

By the way I know this all sounds "snooty," but this cabin is almost 2K higher than we originally planned to spend, so without some significant "perks," I may go back to RCCL since their balcony isis almost the same size as the NCl suite.

 

There is private boarding for the suites seperate from the latitudes boarding. Suites and VIP Passengers go first, then latitudes passengers.

 

You can make the whole week's reservations in advance, even with the new Freestyle 2.0 - so although they are allowing balconies to book 48 hours, the suites will have more of an advantage.

 

They will serve full meals from any restaurant on board, the only catch being you will be charged a surcharge if it's from a surcharge restaurant (but, you can take advantage of the 2-for-1 specials this way as well and not have to worry about leaving your penthouse! :) )

 

One of the best perks that you didn't mention is a private, concierge lounge and breakfast and lunch at Cagney's open only to the penthouses and above for free. The meals are incredible!

 

You don't need to apologize for asking the questions! When you pay for a suite, much of what you're paying for are the amenities not just the room. You will love the AE - have a great cruise! :D