book a 5 days trips with carnival ,right after another curise tokk 4 -5 months ago,25 days before boarding got a letter from court house inform us we have law suit in our hands,and attorny advise us to cencel the curise incase we have to appear to the court house,and talk to agent and carnival customer care,either one can help me cancel or even rebook the curise,and if cancell will be 75% penalty!wow 75% of total cost!i request supervisor and they said they cant do anythging!what a rip off,even u cheat on taxes wont get that much penalty!they are outrage with the charge!never book with carnival anymore!if u do.better make sure u dont have any emergency when u book with them!
Always get travel insurance like Sass said above.
Most likely all cruise lines would do the same per their policy in terms of timed framed cancellations and fees. I know its rough but they are all in business to make money. The closer you are to going when you cancel the greater the penalty.
Sorry for your loss on this.
This is the fine print no one reads until its too late but you basically agree to this contract before you sail or you are not allowed to sail.
Reservations will be held until 30 minutes prior to departure. No refunds will be made in the event of “no shows”, unused tickets, lost tickets, interruptions, partially used tickets, cancellations received late or after the start of the cruise, or for Pack & Go program purchases. Carnival strongly recommends the purchase of trip cancellation insurance from your travel agent. Cancellation charges for individual bookings will be assessed as listed below. For cancellation charges related to group bookings, partial ship charters or full ship charters refer to your charter contract or group booking agreement for terms and conditions.
The above stacked when pasted instead of being side by side as in the CCL website but basically it says for cancellation 29-15 days prior to the cruise you forfeit 75% of the fare.
Don't let this sour you on cruising. You liked CCL enough to rebook with them. They just followed policy that comes from way up there.