Royal Caribbean will extend its flexible cancellation policy that allows more time to be able to change their mind about canceling a cruise at the last minute.
Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, told travel agents the Cruise with Confidence program will be officially extended on Thursday, when the expiration date gets pushed back to July 31, 2021.
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 future cruise credit. Today's announcement means an additional two months of flexibility for guests.
It was scheduled to end on May 31, 2020 prior to the extension.
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.
Instead, Cruise with Confidence gives passengers booked on-or-before July 31, 2021 the option to cancel Royal Caribbean sailings scheduled to depart through April 30, 2022.
In addition, the Best Price Guarantee program will be extended to the end of July.
The Best Price Guarantee means you can take advantage of better rates up to 48 hours prior to sail date. Usually guests in certain countries can reprice cruises only up until their final payment date to take advantage of a price drop.
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.
Today's change means Cruise with Confidence is applicable to guests booked on-or-before July 31, 2021 on sailings departing through April 2022. This encompasses essentially all Royal Caribbean sailings available to book currently.
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.
