The answer is simple: cash flow and float.Cruise lines know that if you cancel before they do, then you forfeit non-refundable deposits.
If they wait until after the final payment date to cancel, then you either have to cancel and give up the deposit, or make your final payment and tie up the money.
Once the cruise line eventually cancels the cruise, it could take up to six weeks to get a refund.
Bottom line: they get an interest-free two month loan from you, the customer, by not canceling the cruise until after the final payment date.
To make matters worse, I'm reading that the refunds are not coming in the same increments as the purchases.
The refunds are being separated into cabin purchase, excursion purchases, dining/drink package purchases, port fees, and other prepaid packages.
It's causing the customers to have to piece together their refunds to make sure they're being totally refunded the cost of their cruises. The cruise lines are stringing out the refunds piecemeal to hold onto the money for as long as legally possible.
-PJ
Right on the the money, in an earlier post you made.
I didn't see this video until after I mentioned on another FR thread tonight that the Cruise Lines were running a Ponzi type scheme, and afterwards I looked on the Internet to see if others had the same feeling.
I hope this video wasn't posted on FR before.-Tom
I can’t speak to any delay tactics the cruise lines may be implementing.
But I know Royal. It would be absolutely normal for the booking and precursor purchases (excursions, dining, drinks) to have refunds issued separately. They are completely separate divisions, and the systems issue refunds separately.
Also, with Royal, when I was in charge of precruise systems, you would get a separate refund for each purchase you made. So, if I bought 3 excursions separately, I would get 3 credit card refunds.
Nobody is losing their deposits...they are getting them all back without penalties..
From the EMail I got today from Carnival about voluntary cancelling a cruise ...
Option 2: If you are not comfortable waiting, you may cancel any time between now and March 31, 2021 and receive a full refund to your original form of payment.
Option one gave me another $100 OBC if I didnt cancel and we end up cruising in June...
Plus the promotional $50 on that cruise plus the $600 OBC because of a previous cancelled cruise and the deposit/credit if I want to put that on this one...
Last year we schedules a cruise and paid for our newlywed friends from the UK as a gift. When the lines started cancelling cruises, we kept calling and asking if they would automatically refund if cancelled. They said no, the cruise was still on. We called their bluff (since the port is only 20 minutes away), showed up and got on the ship. The ship was only half full. Right after lifeboat drill, the captain decided to cancel the cruise and told everybody to leave the ship. Most of the passengers got stuck in Orlando for days, waiting for flights that had been cancelled, and some had to get hotels outside of town. We got our full refund...those that didn’t show? Got maybe half back if any. Not pre-booking a cruise until they actually start again.