I recently cancelled my 2012 cruise on Arcadia, lost the $1000 deposit.

I then re booked the exact same cruise, but booked a balcony cabin and will be paying $2500 less than what I would have paid originally for my outside cabin.

The good part is that I still get the cruise $2500 cheaper than I originally planned but get a much better cabin.

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Originally posted by Sutho:
Yes the deposit is always non refundable.

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Thankfully this is a not a practice in the US. Cunard tried to push a penalty ($75 I think) once any deposit was received a few years back, but that was quietly eliminated. In the US, cruise deposits are almost always refundable up until the final payment time, which is usually at 75 to 90 days prior to sailing. Before final payment you can pretty much cancel for any reason and expect a full refund of your deposit. Personally I would not book the speculative cruises that I do if the deposit were not refundable. I will often book something with the full intention of going, but knowing it may not happen for a variety of reasons. I know I have up until the final payment due date to truly decide for certain.

This being said, even though the deposit is refundable there is still not a lot of incentive for me to book early. In the US for most cruise lines, once you pay the final payment you are pretty much stuck at that rate. Often times you will see the price dramatically drop within the final payment period, but the cruise line will not adjust your pricing as it's for "new bookings only". Sometimes they may upgrade you or offer an onboard credit, but you may have to haggle with them and it's certainly not guaranteed. Also it's usually never as good as the last minute price reduction for new bookings.

So unless I think the sailing may sell out, I tend to hold off and book within the final payment period and usually I get the best price. It's too bad it has to be this way. Cruise lines continue to promote "book early for the best rates" but unfortunately they don't follow through with what they promote. They do what they have to do in order to fill the ship, but it doesn't leave much incentive to book early.

Ernie

[ 06-07-2011: Message edited by: eroller ]

MILLENNIUM - 03DEC2011
QM2 - 03JAN2012
REFLECTION - 05DEC2012

I'm hoping to sail on all three, but ultimately it will depend on getting the time off from work.

What I'm really hoping for is the following:

ROTTERDAM - 12JUL2011

It's a 9-day crossing from NY to Rotterdam. I just bid for the time off next month but our schedules are not released until the 16th of the prior month (so June 16 for July schedule). Fingers crossed I'll be confirming this sailing in just over a weeks time.

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
Last night I booked at 14-night B2B on Grand Princess for Dec 2012. I am pretty excited about finally getting back to Princess, my last was in 1998. Am soooo excited.

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Originally posted by Cunard Fan:
Congrats!

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Looking to do the Solstice later this year...just the two of us.

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Originally posted by linerguy:
Just as a quick getaway, my wife and I, along with our two kids, my daughter's b-friend and a friend of my son's, are taking the Carnival Elation out of Mobile on 8/13.

-Russ

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You'll be among some of the last passengers out of Mobile--when CCL pulls out in October, there won't be any more cruise ships there.

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Originally posted by linerguy:
Just as a quick getaway, my wife and I, along with our two kids, my daughter's b-friend and a friend of my son's, are taking the Carnival Elation out of Mobile on 8/13.

Looking to do the Solstice later this year...just the two of us.

-Russ

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A visit to the u.s.s. Alabama is in the cards.

This will be my third time on a Fantasy class ship: went on the Fantasy two times several years ago. I'm probably one of the few who actually like the look and layout of the ship. I definitely prefer it to the horrible Destiny or Conquest class.

Not sure if Elation was the first with the atrium bar....but, as a source of revenue, it makes sense.

During my second trip on board the Fantasy I ask an officer why the kinetic sculpture in the atrium was turned off. He said that, during almost every sailing, some idiot would reach his hand inside the thing, breaking his fingers and jamming the thing up.

Another good reason to put a bar in the atrium.

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Originally posted by linerguy:

Not sure if Elation was the first with the atrium bar....but, as a source of revenue, it makes sense.

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Hmm. A signature piece of atrium art work or a nondescript revenue producing bar??? Guess which one wins out every time on Carnival? ;-)

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
Last night I booked at 14-night B2B on Grand Princess for Dec 2012. I am pretty excited about finally getting back to Princess, my last was in 1998. Am soooo excited.

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:

The Carnival Elation is the only Fantasy-class I haven't been on. Wasn't she the first Carnival ship to have a dedicated Atrium Bar?

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Yes, ELATION was the first Fantasy-Class with a bar in the Atrium. According to a chapter in her Inaugural Book, by Joe Farcus, they saw the popularity of the lobby bar aboard DESTINY, which came out the year prior, and decided to try it on ELATION.

It actually makes sense on those ships to make some public use of the atriums. Beyond the initial "Wow" factor, they were just empty wells going up through the ship. Adding the bars, and retro-fitting the earlier vessels, made them a more useful public space, encouraging people to linger in the lobby, rather than merely walking through and looking up.

Most ships of other cruise lines have bars and other lounge facilities in their atriums, making them part of the array of public rooms.

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Originally posted by linerguy:
I definitely prefer it to the horrible Destiny or Conquest class.

-Russ

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I read the book Cruise Control by Brian Bruns about being a crew member/waiter with Carnival?

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Originally posted by nycruiser:
Barry I did the POA last July and I thought the American crew was very hospitable and they bent over backwards to accomodate passenger requests. But I did notice they lacked the finesse you see on lines with an international crew. Nevertheless, I think the POA gets a bad rep. the ship is nice (not my favorite - personally) but the ports make up for it. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

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I agree with everything you wrote. I have sailed on POA twice and I really liked the ship. In fact it's my favorite ship in the entire NCL fleet.