Buy-now-pay-later has always been available for cruises and other trips. Cruises require a deposit and a lump-sum payment or payment over time.
Cruises always postlast-payment dates. That's the deadline to pay in full or lose your deposit.
You can usually modify cruise dates or ships before final payment. Once you make the final payment, you can't cancel or change your cruise pricing if it reduces.
If you complete your final payment, you're locked in unless you get travel insurance or book a rare fare that enables modifications.
Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) brand ambassador John Heald warned guests about this on his popular Facebook page.
Many cruisers don't understand they can't cancel or reschedule their trips after paying in full.
This is likely because many airline tickets and hotel reservations have more flexible change policies, allowing travelers to recover credits for cancelled trips.
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