Removing Ref Dep prior to final pymt?

[Jumully]

Hi there! Wondering if anyone has done this & if the total price gets re-adjusted for the better or worse?

Our scenario: we've booked 13+ months out for Spring 2023 on Wonder,  final pymt not due until Jan.  Traveling from Canada,  always book w/ref dep (as sometimes travel costs are unknown far ahead & can be prohibitive etc etc). 

This time we've booked 2cxn rooms,  and the ref dep fee alone is over $700 (!). Has anyone reversed/ deleted this fee just prior to final pymt (therefore turning it to non-refundable), and if so,  did Royal "readjust" your total price to their going rate of the day? (Our cruise has already gone up quite a bit since we've booked, obv don't want to pay more in the end).

Thx all for any help!

~Julie

[Peter D]

Many people do what you are suggesting but I don’t think it always works out.  You are basically “cancelling” your refundable dep reservations and re booking as non refundable.  My experience has been that non refundable pricing goes up over time and you may find that as you get closer to final payment.  
 

i would also recommend keep watching the prices for the refundable and if it drops you can get it adjusted.

In the end, it’s still probably safer to keep it as refundable and see how it goes.  

[Jumully]

Ah yes, that's what I was wondering... we'll def leave things as is for now,  but will keep an eye on pricing over the next while. 

[Al Miller]

I think Matt discussed this once on a live stream. If you want to chance it, you can cancel your booking right before final payment is due and then as soon as it becomes available again re-book it with a non-refundable fare. There is a chance someone could snipe your room between the time you cancel and rebook. So, it's probably not worth it to chance it. But it could be done.

The safer way to do it only works if there is another set of rooms still available that is satisfactory to you. Book the two new rooms at the non-refundable rate and then cancel the refundable rooms. Thats a lot of work though.

[Ampurp85]

You don't have to cancel the rooms to get the refundable rate. You would do a reprice and you can always check by doing a mock booking. I have changed a refundable rate to none, and it worked out for me because they were having a "sale" on my balcony, I saved about $500.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

If you booked through Royal (on website or on phone) you can call and ask the rep to check the current prices for you.  I find they are always willing to help.  If you used a TA, then have them do the asking for you.  As @Ampurp85 stated…doing a mock booking helps you know what the current pricing is.