kellie in texas Posted November 8, 2017 Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 Specific question: I'm looking at a July 2018 cruise with a nonrefundable deposit. If I pay the deposit for four people in one cabin, and it turns out the 4th person can't go, what happens to that deposit? Do I lose it or does it go toward our remaining balance? Most questions I've seen on the nonrefundable deposits involve people switching dates or ships, which I would not do. It's just a matter of 4 people vs. 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 8, 2017 Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 From what I understand, you would still be cancelling one reservation which means...That 4th person will incur a $100 change fee and the remainder of that person's deposit will be returned as a Future Cruise Credit. So if the deposit is $500 (for one person), you get back $400 as a FCC. That is assuming that the 4th person cancels before final payment. If they cancel after final payment, then your entire deposit is lost. The FCC can be applied to the remainder of your balance if it is issued to you in time. It takes a few weeks for them to issue it. And the FCC must be used within one year of being issued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 8, 2017 Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 Another suggestion if you are unsure is that you book your cruise under the Refundable deposit fare and then when that other person has made up their mind you call or get your TA to change it over the the Non-Refundable deposit for you. That way, you will still end up getting a lower fare and that person can get out without being penalized. This all has to be done prior to final payment though. And if you want to take advantage of the OBC the comes with the the NRD then you have to do it prior to 6 months before sailing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted November 8, 2017 Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 @Sabrinaklai is correct. If that 4th person decides to leave after being part of a non-refundable deposit, there would be a change fee incurred. Your best bet is to book a refundable fare to protect against that situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellie in texas Posted November 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 Thanks, everyone, for the replies. Definitely helpful to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted November 9, 2017 Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 Question (from Mr Ignorant himself!) - Can you book for 3 then add a 4th if #4 decides to come? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 9, 2017 Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 I remember asking a RC agent this last year and the answer was yes. Adding is not a problem because you are not cancelling. It's when you cancel something that's when you pick up the penalty. Bazza 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellie in texas Posted November 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 @Bazza, this past summer I had your same scenario. The only problem is whether there is still lifeboat availability for a 4th person. Even if there are still 4-person cabins available, the lifeboat availability may already be maxed out. We booked this past summer's cruise several months before the nonrefundable deposit thing came into play, so our TA advised to book the 4th person and cancel later (which we ended up doing). Again, that's not related to the deposit, but it's another factor. Bazza 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantix2000 Posted November 9, 2017 Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 Adding a person may not carry a change penalty, but it does have another risk. If the lifeboat capacity of your section of the ship (muster station) has reached its limit, you won't be able to add another person to your room. Bazza 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 9, 2017 Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 Good point about the lifeboat capacity. For our March cruise on Anthem the lifeboat capacity was reached by September. So for those high season sailings that definitely is a valid point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted November 9, 2017 Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 Hi. Thanks for answers but wasn't asking for me just thinking other possible solutions to the initial question. Good to learn something new though. Every day's a school day! Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjac Posted November 9, 2017 Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 35 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said: lifeboat capacity Hmmm, I kinda thought there would be enough lifeboat space for the ships max capacity, including crew. Didn't they learn something from the Titanic? Lovetocruise2002, RestingBird and Bazza 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 9, 2017 Report Share Posted November 9, 2017 29 minutes ago, rjac said: Hmmm, I kinda thought there would be enough lifeboat space for the ships max capacity, including crew. Didn't they learn something from the Titanic? I actually never even knew about lifeboat capacity maxing out until booking my last sailing. Apparently they only have so many spaces allotted for more than 2 in a room and once that is filled it doesn't matter if other cabins can hold more than 2 they cap it. Because if they don't the will exceed lifeboat spaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 I booked the Alaska Group Cruise on a non-refundable basis. Two in our cabin. A week later learned planned guest couldn't go. I ran through the options with MEI. Pay the cancel fee for guest 2 and go solo, or swap guest name to another name free. Keep in mind your total cost due at final payment includes port fess and taxes for each guest. If a guest doesn't show up you will (or should) eventually get the port fees and taxes back for the guest that doesn't show up, but you will have to pay those at final payment due date and wait until after the cruise for those to refund back. If you cancel a person after booking you would lose the non-refundable deposit for that guest but avoid the port fees and taxes at final payment. In my case it made more sense to just not have the other guest show up, then I'll get their port fees and taxes back shortly after the cruise. Your situation is slightly different given the fare for the 3rd person as a variable, but the math exercise is similar. Put it all in a spreadsheet and arrive at a total for each scenario. Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 (edited) Sorry to hijack this thread a bit, but can someone clarify the "non-refundable deposit for that guest" I keep seeing referenced here? I thought all deposits, refundable or not, were a flat value for the stateroom regardless of the number of passengers ($500 for regular rooms, $1000 for suites, IIRC?). So when you say "for that guest", do you mean the percentage of the deposit based on how many are actually booked in the room? Or is the baseline rate I noted above just the default for double occupancy, and third / fourth / etc guests have an additional $250 or such tacked on? Having only ever booked two in a room so far, I'm guessing I'm simply ignorant on this part. But I'd swear when I was looking at our Freedom booking and debating one room with all four of us or two rooms with two each, the deposit was showing as the same per-room for both options. Edited November 10, 2017 by JLMoran minor fix in the comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 1 hour ago, JLMoran said: Sorry to hijack this thread a bit, but can someone clarify the "non-refundable deposit for that guest" I keep seeing referenced here? I thought all deposits, refundable or not, were a flat value for the stateroom regardless of the number of passengers ($500 for regular rooms, $1000 for suites, IIRC?). So when you say "for that guest", do you mean the percentage of the deposit based on how many are actually booked in the room? Or is the baseline rate I noted above just the default for double occupancy, and third / fourth / etc guests have an additional $250 or such tacked on? Having only ever booked two in a room so far, I'm guessing I'm simply ignorant on this part. But I'd swear when I was looking at our Freedom booking and debating one room with all four of us or two rooms with two each, the deposit was showing as the same per-room for both options. Good question. Not sure what the "actual answer" is but here's what I do know... When I book a cruise for my family of 4 for a typical 7 night cruise, 1 cabin, suite or no suite, the deposit is $1000. It does not ever tell me on my statement how that $1000 is divided up. For our cruise on Anthem in March I had originally booked two connecting staterooms (under NRD) due to lifeboat capacity maxing out. At the time of booking, it was a $500 deposit for each stateroom. About a month later, KSF offer came up and I caught a day where the capacity was lifted and I took advantage of it right away to get us into a FJ. Now, because I went from 2 rooms to one, I was penalized the $100 per guest in the one room. I just received two individual FCC for $150 each. So they way I sort of look at it is that it's about $250pp for a deposit. Does that makes sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 38 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said: Good question. Not sure what the "actual answer" is but here's what I do know... When I book a cruise for my family of 4 for a typical 7 night cruise, 1 cabin, suite or no suite, the deposit is $1000. It does not ever tell me on my statement how that $1000 is divided up. For our cruise on Anthem in March I had originally booked two connecting staterooms (under NRD) due to lifeboat capacity maxing out. At the time of booking, it was a $500 deposit for each stateroom. About a month later, KSF offer came up and I caught a day where the capacity was lifted and I took advantage of it right away to get us into a FJ. Now, because I went from 2 rooms to one, I was penalized the $100 per guest in the one room. I just received two individual FCC for $150 each. So they way I sort of look at it is that it's about $250pp for a deposit. Does that makes sense? Yeah, that definitely makes sense. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toodle68 Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 We were told the non refundable deposit was on the booking.. So you can remove someone without issue, you just can't cancel the entire booking. We also had the following situation.. we had passed the 90? day period and had fully paid. We had 4 adults in 1 inside cabin (I was not one of them so was not bothered :) ) . Not long after we paid in full, the prices crashed.. ridiculously so. To the point where a JS was $799 and the inside cabins were something like $350 (down from 500). We were able to move two adults out of the cabin into their own room by creating a new reservation. The existing reservation was moved to a different inside cabin (without the pullmans). Because we did not cancel the original booking, no charges. Not sure how often prices of JS crash like that, but it made me wonder if the better approach is to book an inside cabin and upgrade after the 90 day period starts. I wonder how often prices drop.. Since we had paid for the JS, we could not cancel/rebook or get a refund and there was nothing to upgrade to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 1 minute ago, toodle68 said: Not sure how often prices of JS crash like that, but it made me wonder if the better approach is to book an inside cabin and upgrade after the 90 day period starts. I wonder how often prices drop.. Since we had paid for the JS, we could not cancel/rebook or get a refund and there was nothing to upgrade to. That is generally how we roll. Each time we have upgraded it was after final payment. I have noticed that "crashes" happen around the 45-60 day mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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