Sometimes travel agents know that their clients have unrealistic expectations, especially regarding travel insurance.
This request from a client, looking over insurance policies, seemed pretty reasonable. She is considering booking a Crystal cruise, understands the penalties, but one of her bigger worries is that her mother will just decide she doesn’t “feel like going.”
This means that it wouldn’t be a medical reason, but her mother is in her early 80s, and can be contrary. In that case, the client said, “I’ll tell her fine, and just take my sister. Can I do that?”
They’re not booking air through the cruise line, and while some penalty seemed inevitable, it seemed like this might be doable. As it turns out, it would be doable, but would be crazily expensive.
If, for example, this woman books a double room with her mother, and a month out Mom says, “I’d rather just stay home, dear,” Crystal will charge the full penalty for cancellation — 50 percent — and then allow the daughter to book her sister into the cabin at the prevailing rate.
Since this seemed a bit draconian, I double checked with our agency sales representative, who talked to reservations supervisors and found, yes, this is indeed the policy. One supervisor suggested that the woman book as a single, and then add her mother closer to the last minute, to avoid the penalties.
And of course, there is “cancel for any reason” insurance, but that’s generally pretty expensive; especially when someone in their 80s is involved. (For anyone who hasn’t purchased standard third-party travel insurance, unlike cruise line and tour operator insurance, the rates vary by age.)
I completely understand that a cruise line needs to have some penalties for name changes, otherwise no doubt travelers would change on a much more regular basis and it could be a time waster as well as an issue with getting passenger information to immigration and security authorities.
But, cruise ship cabins aren’t like air tickets, where unscrupulous people could buy up premium holiday seats early and then change the names. Travel agents can already hold group space at set rates, if they are willing to put payment on cabins by particular times.
In this case too, no air tickets are involved, and the person paying for the cabin will absolutely go except in case of a medical emergency. It appears that Crystal’s policy is a little harsh — especially for changes not made at the very last minute.
(Due to new security restrictions, ships must finalize their passenger lists in advance these days, negating the old semi-standby policy used by some Florida residents who would show up at the pier with suitcases packed looking for deals.)
Cruise lines could justifiably want to prevent private resales of cabins — for example people might put a cabin they couldn’t use on Craigslist. But as long as one of the original occupants stayed in the cabin, $100-250 change fee seems like a fair penalty; at least for the first change.
That’s my opinion in any case. What do you think, Consumer Traveler readers?
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
