Cruisers have an extra month to take advantage of Royal Caribbean's flexible cancellation policy.
As a result of canceling most May 2021 cruises, Royal Caribbean announced it would also extend its Cruise with Confidence program by a month.
Cruises booked on or before May 31, 2021 for a sailing departing through April 30, 2022 are now eligible for Cruise with Confidence.
Prior to this change, Cruise with Confidence only applied to bookings made through April 30, 2021.
Under Cruise with Confidence, guests can 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.
It also covers the expanded Best Price Guarantee, which allows for anyone to get a lower price after booking a sailing.
All active bookings confirmed on or before May 31, 2021 for Royal Caribbean sailings through April 2022 (excluding Chartered sailings) are included in the Cruise with Confidence program.
Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, informed travel agents of the extension during a webinar with travel agents, "Along with the suspension announcing, we have also extended our Cruise With Confidence program to allocate an additional month of reassurance for those considering a cruise vacation."
With each new round of suspensions, Royal Caribbean has followed up with an extension of the Cruise with Confidence program as a way to give consumers much more time to decide if they want to cancel or continue with a booking.
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.
How does Cruise with Confidence work?
Ever since Royal Caribbean shut down cruises in March 2020, 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 up until 48 hours before their sailing.
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.
