Royal Caribbean will give guests three additional months to take advantage of its flexible cancellation policy.
The Cruise with Confidence program has been extended through April 30, 2021 for sailings departing through April 30, 2022.
The popular program allows guests to cancel a cruise for any reason up to 48 hours before a sailing is scheduled to depart in exchange for a 100% future cruise credit.
Cruise with Confidence also includes the ability to take advantage of a lower price through the Best Price Guarantee.
All active bookings confirmed on or before April 30, 2021 for Royal Caribbean sailings through April 2022 (excluding Chartered sailings) are included in the Cruise with Confidence program.
Prior to this change, the program would have ended on January 31, 2021.
Lift & Shift is ending
This extension does not apply to Lift and Shift, and Royal Caribbean says its current plan is to discontinue the program as of February 1, 2021.
Lift and Shift allows guests to move their reservation by a year and protect the original cruise fare and promotion to a qualifying sailing departing on or before April 30, 2022 on the same itinerary type, sailing length, stateroom category, and within 4 weeks before or after the date of their original cruise.
Guests are eligible to move their reservation under the Lift & Shift guidelines between now and January 31, 2021 to sailings departing through April 2022 only. After this point, Lift & Shift will expire and is no longer available.
Read more: Top 10 Royal Caribbean Lift and Shift questions
Extending the flexibility
In an email to travel agents, Royal Caribbean said the Cruise with Confidence program has been "very popular" for the benefits it provides.
The Cruise with Confidence program was introduced at the beginning of the health crisis, and provides significantly relaxed rules concerning canceling a cruise if the situation changes for a guest.
Ordinarily, guests would incur a penalty for canceling a sailing beyond the final payment date, which is typically 90 days before a sailing commences. Cruise with Confidence provides a great deal more flexibility to change minds with no penalty.
Today's change means Cruise with Confidence will be available for an additional three months, although it looks like Lift and Shift will come to an end.
Lift & Shift has been extremely popular for the price protection it offered, and was an option other cruise lines did not offer either.
How does Cruise with Confidence work?
Ever since Royal Caribbean shut down cruises in March, it has offered guests increased flexibility in being able to change their minds due to the fluid nature of news and the global health crisis.
Essentially, Cruise with Confidence is the name of the program that allows guests to change or cancel a cruise up to 48 hours before their sail date with no penalty or change fees.
Guests can opt for a 100% Future Cruise Credit that is good for 12 months or more.
The program includes refundable and non-refundable cruise fares, and only excludes chartered sailings.
It is important to note that if you elect to cancel a cruise on your own with this program, and later Royal Caribbean cancels the sailing, you waive any right to receive any refund oft he cruise fare paid.
