Travelore Cruise News: Royal Caribbean Simplifies Cancellation Policy

PHOTO: Oasis of the Seas. (Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International)

In an effort to simplify the cancellation process, Royal Caribbean International will now require passengers who book voyages with the cruise line to cancel the trip farther out then previously mandated.

The new cancellation policy applies to all bookings made on or after March 7.

According to Dori Saltzman of CruiseCritic.com, Royal Caribbean has simplified the cancellation policy’s penalty fee schedule by breaking it into two categories—sailings of one-to-four nights and any cruise five nights or longer—instead of the existing five categories.

The first tier of the new cancellation policy is for voyages of one-to-four nights, including holiday savings trips. Customers who cancel their trip at least 75 days in advance will receive no penalty, but travelers who cancel between 74 and 57 days out will lose their deposit.

For those canceling their trip of one-to-four nights closer to the departure date, the penalty fees get even steeper, as customers who cancel between 56 to 29 days out pay a fee of 50 percent of the total price, those who cancel between 28 to 15 days out pay a fee of 75 percent and travelers who cancel two weeks or less before a voyage will receive no refund.

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The second tier includes cruises of five nights or longer, holiday savings trips and cruise tours. No fee will be applied for trips canceled at least 90 days from sailing date, but customers who cancel between 89 to 57 days out will lose their deposit.

The passengers who cancel their second-tier trips between 56 to 29 days before the voyage will be penalized a fee of 50 percent of the total piece and those who cancel between 28 to 15 days out will be penalized a fee of 75 percent. As with the first tier, customers who give 14 days of notice or less will receive no refund.

Under the old cancellation policy, the penalty fee schedule was broken into five categories, including trips of one-to-five nights, six nights or longer, one-to-five nights with holiday savings, six nights or longer with holiday savings and cruise tours.

Source: DONALD WOOD 

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