Princess, Cunard Set to Unveil Strict New Final Payment Policy
Princess Cruises and Cunard Line plan to introduce a stringent new policy on Dec. 1 that will automatically cancel all bookings as soon as final payment is past due. “Additionally, there will be no grace periods or extensions allowed for receipt of final payment,” according to a note to travel agents signed by Jan Swartz, executive vice president-sales, marketing and customer service. Electronic Fund Transfers must be submitted and payments by check must be posted by the final payment date. The final payment policy will also apply to group bookings.
In addition, new booking options will be limited to only one extension. The new policies will be in effect for all voyages sailing March 1 and after.
If paying by check, Princess and Cunard urged agents to submit payment so that it arrives in their offices at least one day prior to final payment. The final payment date is calculated as 75 days prior to embarkation date (or cruise-tour start date). In the past, agents may have received extensions beyond final payment, as well as warning notices after the final payment due date. As of Dec. 1, final payment warning notices will only be sent prior to the final payment due date.
To help consumers and agents keep track of upcoming payment deadlines, Princess will now send two final payment notices prior to the final payment day to agents for both FIT and group bookings. A reminder will be sent 14 days before the final payment due date, followed by a second warning seven days before final payment date. All passengers also will receive a pre-cruise preparation email five days before their final payment is due.
“These changes are intended to remove any ambiguity regarding final payment and booking deposit due dates in light of rapid growth and utilization of online sales transactions,” Swartz wrote.
At least one travel agent was worried about the implications of the automatic cancellation, especially as cruise lines routinely grant final payment extensions of a day or two. “I cannot imagine the trouble we will be in if the agent does not make the final payment and it cancels,” the agent said. “Princess will keep the deposit, and I will probably have to rebook it at a higher fare, plus cover the deposit. Our cruise line partners are making our lives more and more difficult.” For more information, visit www.onesourcecruises.com.
10/8/10
Bravo - while some might think this is just a corporate move to get "money in the bank", this actually helps everyone because it gives better control over inventory and allows waitlists to clear; gives agents a stronger justification to get their clients' to pay on time; and makes it fair to all agencies regardless of size and volume of business with the cruise line.
10/8/10
I don't really sell a lot of cruises and when it comes to my personal life I ALWAYS pay my bills on time, but there are times that my clientele does ask for an extension on final for one reason or another. They usually spend between $4000 - $8000 for the booking as a norm. I could not imagine telling them that they couldn't get a few days extension. Back in July, I actually had to request a TWO WEEK extension. I did it a week at a time (the hotelier was gracious enough to give me the extra week). The cost of that trip was $6,167.20 (broken out as $4,272.80 for the land, $1,696.40 for the air and $198 for the travel insurance). I actually got in touch with this client 2 weeks before final and for some reason he thought the final was due 3 weeks prior to rather than the 45 days of the actual due date ~ again land and not cruise. It was a Destination Wedding so, I wouldn't even want to think about the possibility of this trip being canceled. While I understand inventory control and loss of time in working out any extension, there really are other solutions that would be just as effective without totally canceling out and dismissing the client. Sometimes we have to look at all aspects of business to figure out the right solution.