Changing cruise when booked refundable.

[Dad2Cue]

I don't want to cancel my cruise but is it easy to change the original ship and/or sail date when booked refundable?  Is it necessary to cancel and rebook?  I would rather make changes and not have to worry about the refunds, FCC, etc.  It would be before the final payment due date.

[WAAAYTOOO]

3 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

I don't want to cancel my cruise but is it easy to change the original ship and/or sail date when booked refundable?  Is it necessary to cancel and rebook?  I would rather make changes and not have to worry about the refunds, FCC, etc.

If you have a fully refundable deposit and are outside of the final payment window, yes, you can change your ship and/or sail date without penalty.  Whether or not they will simply "transfer" the funds from one cruise to another is a guess, at this point.  Back PC (pre-COVID), as long as the reservation number remained the same, there no need to transfer/refund, etc.  They simply made changes to the existing reservation, recalculated cruise fares and that was that.  It used to be fairly easy.  Not sure sure how they would handle it today.

In actual fact, if you change the ship and/or sail dates, the booking is, in fact, a cancellation and rebooking...but to keep things simple, they would allow you to do it, in the past.  My fear would be, that in this day of Royal trying to retain/accumulate as much cash as possible, they may require that you officially cancel and rebook, requiring refunds, FCC's, etc. which would likely take months.  I DO NOT KNOW....I am guessing.  I hope I'm wrong, but the only way to know for sure is to ask.

[Dad2Cue]

2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

In actual fact, if you change the ship and/or sail dates, the booking is, in fact, a cancellation and rebooking...but to keep things simple, they would allow you to do it, in the past.  My fear would be, that in this day of Royal trying to retain/accumulate as much cash as possible, they may require that you officially cancel and rebook, requiring refunds, FCC's, etc. which would likely take months.  I DO NOT KNOW....I am guessing.  I hope I'm wrong, but the only way to know for sure is to ask.

You would think they would still do it because the alternative could be cancel and WAIT for the refund before rebooking again.  During the waiting period, people may decide to permanently cancel and never cruise in the future.  I did find the following on the internet:

"Should you choose to change your original ship and/or sail date, if you booked directly with us, please contact our Consumer Outreach team at (866) 562-7625 where a representative will assist in making the desired changes"

At this point, it is only hypothetical.  We want to go on the transAtlantic cruise from Barcelona to Miami - Nov 1st on Allure.  We don't really care about the amplification. There is so much uncertainty in Spain, the USA, and cruising in general.  What is certain is our age and health conditions -- for sure we won't get any younger and our health isn't likely to improve.  We would gladly take an easier cruise and stay closer to home in the United States.  Just trying to think ahead but the final payment date is Aug 1st. The cruise is already paid using a FCC from another cruise that was cancelled.  We tentatively were going to Spain a couple of weeks before the cruise.  

Thanks for the response --- life is getting very complicated.

[SpeedNoodles]

I did this a while ago, but since Michelle at M.E.I. did it for me, I really didn't pay attention to how it was done.  One of the many benefits of using a T.A.

[Dad2Cue]

1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I did this a while ago, but since Michelle at M.E.I. did it for me, I really didn't pay attention to how it was done.  One of the many benefits of using a T.A.

Are you saying that it can be done?  Technically, I do use a T.A because a long time ago I was assigned a "Royal Vacation Planner" who I call.  If I want to change staterooms, re-price a cruise, or do almost anything I call the same person.  I'm pretty sure he is a travel agent working for Royal Caribbean but I don't know for sure.  I'm worried that he may get furloughed though.  In any case, I usually call and leave a message and he calls me back within an hour and usually within 10 minutes.  I could call him but since it is hypothetical question, I don't want to bother him unless I know what ship and/or sail date I would like to change to.

[Jacki_MEI]

If you are booked at a Refundable Deposit rate and are prior to final payment, and just want to change your ship/sail date, there shouldn't be any problem. I've done this for clients several times in the past without any issues. It's usually an easy change, done online.