If you’re a seasoned Disney cruiser booking your next voyage, your final payment is due sooner and your chance to cancel for a refund has been changed, according to Disney Cruise Line’s (DCL) recent policy changes.
Effective September 30, 2024, DCL has updated its cancellation and final payment policies, applying to new bookings, that impact how guests manage their trip cancellations and payment plans moving forward.
Guests will now need to cancel their bookings earlier than before to avoid penalties, and final payment deadlines have also been adjusted to earlier dates. Now, for sailings 1 to 5 nights, that window has been changed to 90 days.
In addition, the final payment for cruises of five nights or less is now due 90 days before departure. This is a change from the previous policy, where final payments were required only 75 days before sailing.
However, for longer cruises of six nights or more, the window has been extended to 120 days.
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Suite and Concierge stateroom guests face slightly different terms, with 45 days or more before shorter sailings (one to five nights) and 56 days or more for longer cruises (six nights or more) to cancel with the fee being the deposit per guest.
Under the old policy, Suite and Concierge guests enjoyed a 90-day cancellation window for all sailings.
The changes signal a return to more traditional booking standards for the cruise industry as a whole. Disney Cruise Line, like many others, is moving away from the more lenient pandemic-era policies that offered increased flexibility.
For those who have already booked their sailing before the announcement, the old cancellation and payment policies will still apply.
Cancellation Policy Tightened
Though the timeframe has shortened, the fees have not changed. For longer cruises, cancellations made between 119 and 56 days before departure result in the loss of the deposit. Those made between 55 and 30 days incur a 50 percent charge of the total vacation cost per guest.
This cost increases to 75 percent for cancellations made 29 to 15 days before the voyage, and cancellations made 14 days or less before departure result in a 100 percent charge per guest.
For shorter sailings (one to five nights), guests who cancel between 89 and 45 days before the cruise will forfeit their deposit, with a 50-percent charge applying for cancellations made 44 to 30 days before departure.
Guests cancelling between 29 and 15 days will face a 75 percent charge, and cancellations made 14 days or less before sailing will be charged the full cruise fare.
While Suite and Concierge guests have a slightly more flexible policy, the fees for later cancellations remain the same, with a 50 percent charge for cancellations made 44 to 30 days before short voyages and 55 to 30 days before longer ones.
Regardless of the cruise length, cancellations between 29 and 15 days will incur a 75 percent fee, and cancellations within 14 days, as for all stateroom categories, result in the full 100 percent penalty.
