Clever trick. You buy an $8000 cruise and it’s cancelled. You get a seeming good deal, a $10000 credit. But the same cruise that was $8000 is now $14000. You have to pay up front, they cancel again and now you’re in for another 4k and you can’t get your original 8k back because all you have is a credit. They will get sued, but how enforceable will that be? And, did you read the fine print on the contract? Probably not. I’ll bet you are just out the money.
Now, why are they doing that? My guess is they have already spent the money and those ships are burning through actual cash every day whether they are earning money or not. If that cash stops, likely, countries will start impounding the ships. The cruise companies are most likely in the condition where they either steal your money, which there’s nothing you can do about, or they go bankrupt. So, they’re taking your money.
The cruise business only worked under certain circumstances, which were perfect for decades. But times have changed and likely, the cruise business as we have known it is now not a viable business model. If inflation kicks in like in the late seventies under Carter...*cough, Biden* you will pay your X-thousand dollars and then owe another several grand by the time you sail, or no sailing for you. That’s because the real costs went up. And, there will be a fine print clause nobody reads saying you’ll owe the extra. People will get mad, but the reality is, the cruise lines have to do what the cruise lines have to do. And, they’ll probably mostly be gone in five years no matter what.
I think you nailed it with that statement. -Tom