Non-refundable deposit and change fees (beyond Cruise with Confidence date)

[Chadster]

So I have a question I know I could ask the online travel agency I booked my December cruise with, but with them, I sometimes seem to get two/three different answers (thank goodness all my other bookings are with MEI!). It's booked with a non-refundable deposit.

Of course, I know it doesn't qualify for "cruise with confidence", so I'd be charged a change fee if I change ships/sailings, but how exactly does that change-fee process work? So far, all I've paid is my deposit.

Will the $100 come out of that deposit, and so I have to pay an extra $100 to meet the minimum deposit to reserve my cabin? Or do they just tack the $100 onto the final balance?

[Bakerette]

With a non/refundable deposit you have to pay 100$ per person to change the ship &/or sail date when you make the change to the ship or sail date. 
If you chose the refundable deposit which does have a cost to it then you would not have to any additional money to switch the ship &/or sail date.

[WAAAYTOOO]

IF

You are booked with a non-refundable deposit and

You change the ship or sail date and 

CWC is not extended into Dec

Then you would be charged a penalty of $100 PP

The rest of your deposit would be given back to you in the form of an FCC...so if your full deposit was $250, you would get a $150 FCC.

So yes, you would have to make up the $100 penalty with “new” money...and b/c FCC cannot be used for a deposit (unless some recent squirrelly rules will allow it) then the entire deposit would actually be “new money”.  The $150 deposit FCC could be applied to pay down the new cruise fare but cannot be used for deposit, taxes, ports fees or gratuities. 

[M&SDaw]

Glad I saw this post, was just discussing it with my wife. We are in a similar situation. Our first cruise was booked for Jan 2021 and we paid for it in full through RCCL. Since then we have learned and used a TA. The price of that cruise has dropped and our preferences have changed. Can we rebook the same cruise or even change ships with just the $100/pp fee? Or would the ~$900 NRD be forfeit? Also read something that even if the cruise was canceled before the final payment date, there would be the $100/pp charge and the rest of the NRD would be applied as FCC. Does any of this sound correct? Does it still apply for cruises that have been paid in full? Thank you.

We are currently booked for a Jan 23 7 night on Symphony out of miami. Paid just under 3k for a GTY ocean view.

Looking at an 11 night Jan 15 11 night on Anthem. Same GTY is 2k. 

[crazytaxman]

56 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

IF

You are booked with a non-refundable deposit and

You change the ship or sail date and 

CWC is not extended into Dec

Then you would be charged a penalty of $100 PP

The rest of your deposit would be given back to you in the form of an FCC...so if your full deposit was $250, you would get a $150 FCC.

So yes, you would have to make up the $100 penalty with “new” money...and b/c FCC cannot be used for a deposit (unless some recent squirrelly rules will allow it) then the entire deposit would actually be “new money”.  The $150 deposit FCC could be applied to pay down the new cruise fare but cannot be used for deposit, taxes, ports fees or gratuities. 

So what would happen to the deposit if a person decides they do not want to cruise ever again? Do they lose out of the entire deposit since it was NRD? We booked 4 cabins on a cruise for March 2021 and three couples have decided they do not want to cruise this sailing. I know that I have until final payment to decide, which will be in December, if they want to transfer to another cruise.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Have you tried to get Royal to reprice your Symphony Cruise ?  Even though it is paid in full, you are still outside of final payment so they should reprice it for you. If you do not change either ships or sail dates, the penalty will not apply.  They should reprice your cruise without a penalty.  I’m sure you’ve since learned that you should never pay for a cruise in full before final payment...but that doesn’t really help you now...

If you do decide that you want to change sailings completely, and you are outside of the protection of Cruise a With Confidence (which your cruise currently would be), you would be assessed a $100 per person penalty with the rest of your deposit and cruise fare coming back to you in the form of a Future Cruise Credit.  You would be able to apply your FCC to the cruise fare portion of your replacement cruise, but since you cannot use an FCC towards down payment, taxes, ports fees or gratuities, you may have to front some money temporarily.

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 minute ago, crazytaxman said:

So what would happen to the deposit if a person decides they do not want to cruise ever again? Do they lose out of the entire deposit since it was NRD? We booked 4 cabins on a cruise for March 2021 and three couples have decided they do not want to cruise this sailing. I know that I have until final payment to decide, which will be in December, if they want to transfer to another cruise.

Yes.  If someone received a FCC for any reason and then decided they never wanted to cruise with Royal Caribbean, then the FCC will eventually expire and have no value. If you simply decide to book a different cruise, then the FCC can be applied to the replacement cruise with the restrictions discussed above...penalties, limitations, etc.  Also be aware that each individual person who is originally booked on the NRD booking will receive their own FCC and the FCCs are not transferable.  There are also expiration dates for an FCC so they aren’t good forever.

[M&SDaw]

Thank you for the information. I ended up talking to RC. They switched me over to the Anthem cruise, which was cheaper. I didnt have to do anything, the change fee was deducted out of the refund and the cruise was paid for in full. No money out of pocket and the left over credit was refunded, instead of being given FCC. Not too big of a hassle, but makes me appreciate my TA all that much more.