jamespb78 Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 Recently booked a cruise for September 2020 direct with RC. Price is currently $300 cheaper for the exact same category of room, however RC will not price match or give onboard credit - claiming that because I booked with “non refundable deposit”, there is nothing they can do. I thought I read here in the past where people did successfully get RC to match the new cheaper price. Is it the “non refundable deposit” option that is preventing them doing this for me? They offered to cancel the cruise, and then rebook, but that would mean I loose the $600 deposit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 Call back and speak with another rep, and if they give you the same line ask (politely) to speak with a supervisor. If the supervisor gives you the same line, hang up and call back to speak with another rep and another super if needed, until you get a rep who properly knows the policy. You are absolutely allowed to reprice a cruise with NRD as long as you are on the same ship and sailing on the same date, with no cabin changes that would involve -- for example -- consolidating from two rooms down to one. Pen and JohnK6404 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamespb78 Posted April 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 Rang back a second time, got the same answer. Asked for a supervisor, and got told “she will just tell you the same thing AND she’s busy”! Does it make any difference that mine is an Australian booking? I’m seeing a few references to things only applying for North American bookings. JohnK6404 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 (edited) Hi, it depends where you are located. We are in the Asia /Pacific region have recently had this problem when there a price drop on our UK Cruise. In this region It is not possible to reprice a cruise without cancelling your existing booking. You lose your deposit so need to make sure the price drop covers this. In this region you are not entitled to a FCC but I managed to obtain one when I found a screen on the website that said we should get one. I am waiting for this to be processed. The policy is different in the USA where you can repri for no penalty if it is before the final payment date. if you are in the USA and you do cancel I think you will lose $200 and get a $400 FCC that must be used within 12 months. Sorry,I just saw you are booking from Australia. This is my thread on this. I also found the NZD is different from the AUD booking which is why I was able to get the FCC. Edited April 13, 2019 by F1guynz Added an extra cooment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason12 Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 Try upgrading or downgrading that’s technically not price matching..it’s the way we have to do it in the UK no price drops here either AlohaLivin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 You can’t upgrade or downgrade in this region without cancelling your booking. Annoying but I have had this discussion a few times with RCI. I suggested they review their policy but I’m not holding my breath. Jason12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason12 Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 32 minutes ago, F1guynz said: You can’t upgrade or downgrade in this region without cancelling your booking. Annoying but I have had this discussion a few times with RCI. I suggested they review their policy but I’m not holding my breath. That’s just mad, so many people book a low grade cabin and upgrade if they have extra cash towards the date... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 Go through a mock booking and see what it says at the bottom during the booking process. Here in the US the verbiage reads: *Price is per person (unless otherwise specified above), cruise only, reflects any promotional savings, and is subject to change and availability until booked. Non-refundable deposit: Non-refundable deposit booking (“NRDB”) cancelled prior to final payment due date will receive a future cruise credit in the amount of the deposit minus a $100 per person service fee (the “FCC”). FCC is non-transferable and expires after 12-months from issue date. 100USD/100CAD/80EUR per person service fee applies to changes to NRDB ship or sail date. Typical Australia verbiage is something like: *Price is per person, cruise only, applies to selected sailing, lowest available fare stateroom category, based on double-occupancy, reflects any promotional savings, and is subject to change and availability until booked. Non-refundable deposit: Non-refundable deposit booking (“NRDB”) cancelled prior to sailing will be subject to cancellation charges. 100 AUD/100 NZL per person service fee applies to changes to NRDB ship or sail date up to 151 days prior to sailing. It appears they are saying that price drop or upgrade changes require cancelation and rebooking resulting in a loss of deposit. They don't take the same stance here in the US. Another idea is to contact a travel agent and ask for a quote on the same cruise. Ask them "what if the price drops next week?". If anyone knows how to work the system, a good travel agent will. The answer may be the same but at least you know there isn't some other argument to use. Curious how other cruise lines in that region work with respect to price changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 I have a friend who sails on Princess and you can cancel and rebook for no penalty. Typically the deposit would be 10% of the cruise. The Travel Agents here do not work the same way as the U.S as they will also add on their fee for cancelling. Where RCI want a $400 deposit the Travel Agent will want $500, $400 to pay RCI and $100 for them. They also don’t monitor price drops either. This is originally why I started booking RCI directly as before NRD the TA wanted $200 to cancel and RCI would do it for no charge. Like shares it’s hard to know the best time to book a cruise down here as prices go up and down. For our cruise in 2020 (before NRD was a thing) I cancelled and rebooked 3 times to get the best price and saved $1500. Our cruise in September this year never got cheaper since we booked early last year until the OS popped up cheaper than the GS last week. I have looked at booking our next cruise in 2021 through the US but the pricing is about $300 NZD more expensive than the local price. One anomaly I noticed was the 2 Bedroom Panoramic Suite is only $50USD than a JS. Here is $2500 more expensive so that would be worth booking. I also noticed we get a CAS discount of $400 on the cabin but the US booking did not have any CAS discount available. Hopefully next up we will have 30% off sale with OBC which might be the best deal to get. twangster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 9 hours ago, Jason12 said: That’s just mad, so many people book a low grade cabin and upgrade if they have extra cash towards the date... I guess those people not in a Suite would just book refundable deposit and pay a higher price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 Can you convert a refundable to NRD without cancelling in your region? We can in the US. I often book a cruise refundable due to uncertain travel plans. As I start to get closer to sail date but still before final payment due date I can check to see if current NRD is below my fare as booked. Often it isn't but occasionally it is and I can convert a booking to NRD without fees. IRMO12HD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 1 hour ago, twangster said: Can you convert a refundable to NRD without cancelling in your region? We can in the US I asked RCI about this the other day on their Facebook feed and this is the response I got. It makes it hard to know what the right thing to do is because if the cruise goes up in price you end up paying an extra cost ($563 on a cruise I was looking at) because it won’t convert to the original NRD at the time of booking. twangster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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