Travel Tips

Travel Tip: Cruise Cancellation Rules

You’ve head the news reports of people getting sick on cruise ships. Want to know one of the major reasons? It’s the cruise industry’s draconian cancellation policies! Here’s what I mean.

Most cruise lines have strict policies as to when you can cancel your trip without incurring a huge penalty.

On Royal Caribbean, for example, for cruises 6 nights or longer, you must cancel 75 days in advance to get a full refund. As you get closer to the departure date, you’re looking at forfeiting 50  percent, or even your full fare except for taxes and fees.

Just recently, Carnival quietly tightened its cancellation policy. To get back 50 percent of your money, you must give 56 days notice on most cruises 6 days or longer.

Holiday-season cruises have even more stringent policies, requiring about 90 days notice.  Booked a high-end suite on NCL? Try 120 days!  That means passengers who start feeling ill before they set sail have everything to lose if they cancel.

The best way around these draconian rules is to purchase “cancel for any reason” travel insurance, but read the fine print and be ready to pay a hefty premium.

See Peter’s CBS This Morning report on the most recent cruise line safety problem.

To read more of Peter’s Travel Tips, go to the Travel Tips Section.