Booking a cruise is as much art as science. Prices change regularly, cruise ships sell out, and it’s especially challenging when family and friends want to book more than one room on the same cruise.
That’s generally why we recommend using a travel agent as they have more tools to get the price price and to coordinate group bookings. A good travel agent, which generally means someone doing it full-time as part of an agency that can provide quick answers nearly 24/7, makes it much easier to book the cruise you want at a good price.
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Some passengers, however, book on their own, and there are some tools that are available to regular people as well as travel agents. Royal Caribbean, for example, allows passengers to put a brief “hold” on their cruise.
Depending upon how far out the cruise is, passengers can take 24 or 48 hours to think about their purchase. That might allow partners or spouses to consult with each other or give family groups time join in.
It’s a pretty quick period, however, and Royal Caribbean has decided to give both passengers and travel agents a longer period to hold a cruise before they have to put down a deposit.
Booking a cruise means putting down a deposit that’s usually not refundable.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
Royal Caribbean extends its cruise holds
Royal Caribbean has extended the time it allows passengers and travel agents to hold a cruise for an individual booking. A cruise hold means that the passenger or travel agent has reserved the cruise without putting any money down.
Doing that takes that cruise out of inventory, and no other person can book that cabin while it’s being held. That’s a risk for the cruise line because it could lose the opportunity to sell that cabin to another passenger.
Despite that, Royal Caribbean shared a new policy in an email to travel agents.
How long you can hold a cruise will depend upon when the final payment — the day when any booked passengers must pay for their cruise —is due. For cruises more than 91 days away from final payment, a 5-day hold will be offered. On sailing 46 to 90 days out, Royal Caribbean will offer a 2-day hold, while those 31-45 days can only be held for a single day before a deposit must be placed to reserve the cabin.
No extensions to the hold period will be offered. The new policy applies to both travel agents and passengers booking their own cruise.
ALSO READ: Top travel agents share how to get the best price on your cruise
These rules only apply to individual cabin bookings.
Travel agents have the ability to place longer, 30-day holds on blocks of rooms for groups. Groups larger than 16 rooms, however, require a $50 deposit per cabin booked.
Norwegian, Carnival, and even Royal Caribbean sister line Celebrity Cruises offer 48-hour holds.
Are you taking a cruise or thinking about taking one? Visit our Come Cruise With Me website to have all your questions answered.
