Lovenharmony

Well, I got credited the Maxwell cruise funds by my credit card company as they investigate as to the reason why BTWconcerts will not refund my money right away.

I'm still waiting on a response from Travel Guard as to whether or not they'll grant me a refund.

All I care about though is that now that I filed a claim with my credit card company, my bank will make sure I get my money back if they discover that this company is a sham! Then BTWconcerts will have to deal with the bank to reimburse them the funds they were supposed to give me!

If you google Travel Guard and go to their own website, there is a glossary of terms. One of the terms defined by Travel Guard is 'financial default,' as I have excerpted from their site below:

 

"Financial Default - A tour operator or cruise or airline going out of business with or without filing bankruptcy. "

 

"Financial Default" means the total cessation of operations due to insolvency, with or without a filing of a bankruptcy petition by a tour operator, ..."

I'm not going by any Google searches, I'm going by the policy that was given to me in PDF by Travel Guard themselves after I purchased their insurance. I'm not sure what policy you were given, but the one I received was for New York residents, and the previous posts above that I gave to Travel Guard regarding their policy are quoting the exact words that were written there. Nothing said that all cessation of operations is equal to financial default. What you're describing sounds more like bankruptcy rather than financial default.

In whatever case, it's up to the Travel Guard analyst whether or not they refund my funds or not.

If you plan to just wait it out until BTWconcerts refunds your money (or not) then by all means, do so. I wish you luck. But stating that Travel Guard isn't going to refund my money isn't going to deter me from making out claims to everyone involved in this fiasco to get my money back as quickly as possible.

You're not a Travel Guard analyst, or anyone to review my claim to make that decision, or know what they're going to do either way.

I too bought very expensive Travel Guard insurance for the Maxwell cruise. Unfortunately, when I looked into the cancellation provisions, the tour promoter has to be in financial default or declare bankruptcy. For Travel Guard purposes (they have a definition of financial default), the promoter has to cease all operations in order to be in financial default. In this case, that hasn't happened as the promoter is still saying they are putting on the Cancun Jazz Festival over labor day, as well as the San Diego Jazz festival in May. So, Travel Guard will not provide reimbursement for the cancelled cruise.

In the Travel Guard contract I read and have on file, it said nothing about that the company has to "cease all operations" in order to be considered in default. That most likely would occur if BTWconcerts were entirely bankrupt and had to liquidate all their assets.

And in any case, those other events has nothing to do with what is transpiring between BTWconcerts, and RCCL.

I don't know the specs, but if they could refund our money expeditiosly, why wouldn't they do so if they had the funds available? By that definition, it concludes that they truly are in default!

It's just like if you miss a mortgage payment, the bank would say that you're in default. You might not be by any means "bankrupt", you may just not have the funds right now to pay.

However, if you consciously withhold funds just because you simply don't want to pay your mortgage, that would be witholding funds for devious purposes. If you can't pay the mortgage, you will be evicted and your home will be forclosed.

If BTWconcerts is in litigation with RCCL (or with any other company for that matter)as they told me by phone, then that means the funds that were supposed to be used to refund our money for this particular event is tied up in the court system. If they aren't truly "in default," or in litigation, then there really shouldn't be any delay in refunding our money in a prompt manner. In other words, they would be witholding our funds illegaly, which would lead me to believe their whole company is criminally fradulent, and has a huge lawsuit on their hands!

In any case, I don't really care what's going on with their company, nor who gives me my money back. I actually hope BTWconcerts gets shut down because their customer service has been crap thusfar!

If the travel insurance company analyst decides to refund my money, then fine. If BTWconcerts gets their head out their ass and returns my money very, very soon, then fine. If my credit card company decides to return my money, then fine. Just as long as I get my money back, I'll be fine.

Untill then, there's hell to pay.

Thank you for sharing your well organized and articulate letter....the fact that this would have been your very first cruise with the added excitement of experiencing a private music charter with Maxwell and an awesome line up of Smooth Jazz musicians, only compounded your frustration and disappointment....rest assured the Maxwell situation is an exception to the norm and there are many well established private music charters that many of us that post on Cruise Critics can attest to their ethical business practices and guests satisfaction which has resulted in our loyal repeat business...plus a better value for your hard earned incremental vacation dollar

 

I would suggest from a timing perspective, it might behove you to reach out to the good folks at Capital Jazz SuperCruise 9 this week and I am sure they are monitoring the Maxwell situation closely and can work with you to ensure that you can still experience your 1st cruise and full music charter vacation of a lifetime this year...by timing I mean, we cruise in late October, which will allow for a successful resolution of your Maxwell refund situation, gives you and your roommate enough time to reschedule your vacation at work....our cruise is almost sold out but cabins in all categories open up (folks plans change) all the time and the staff will work with you...plus many of us that have posted on this thread are on the cruise, so we will make sure you will have the time of your life....save part of your Maxwell refund to deposit onboard for SuperCruise 10 (which will really be special).......

 

Sometimes when one door is blocked, another door is open, which in your case will be a much better match...your 1st cruise is very special and one you will never forget...that's why Capital Jazz is called the SuperCruise

 

Good luck with your efforts to recoup your funds

Thanks for giving me such great advice!

Sorry you have to go through this mess. Hope you get your money back promptly.

 

I agree with "Let's Get Wet" re: litigation with RCCL and their attempt to shift blame to RCCL --their website statement also tried to make it look like it was RCCL's fault.

 

It would be great if you could please post your letter on CC if you feel comfortable doing so.

Sure! I'm no lawyer, but I tried to explain the issue as detailed as I could.

It's a lengthy letter, but this is what I've dealt with and want to let my frustration be heard!

===============================================

Back in December 2014, I joined a forum entitled Cruise Critic to find out more information regarding cruises since this Maxwell cruise would be my first cruise ever, and I was ecstatic to see Maxwell in concert along with other major celebrities at the same time.

I was very excited to be going on the cruise, until I discovered upon reading through Cruise Critic forum posts regarding the Maxwell & The Seven Seas cruise, that back in October 2014, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line had released the May 3 – 10, 2015 Freedom of The Seas cruise ship to the public. This cruise was supposed to be a full ship charter for Maxwell & The Seven Seas cruise customers, which was chartered by BTWconcerts / BTWatsea. As soon as I heard that it was released from its charter, I knew that there was going to be major event problems to transpire. In our contract for purchasing this unique cruise, we were promised a “full Maxwell & The Seven Seas experience”, which means that it was supposed to be a full ship charter, but no longer was one due to financial issues between BTWconcerts, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.

I was hoping to hear an update to the status of our Maxwell & The Seven Seas cruise from BTWconcerts since being notified of this issue on Cruise Critic, but no BTW representative contacted myself or my party that was cruising with me. Also, as per other non-Maxwell & The Seven Seas cruise customers that had booked cabins on the Freedom of The Seas Royal Caribbean cruise ship for May 3-10, 2015, they inquired about the ship being a full ship charter to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, and they stated to them that it was no longer a full ship charter. However, when they contacted BTWconcerts, and asked if the cruise was a full ship charter, they were stating that it still was! There was a lot of confusion, passing the buck between the 2 companies, and misinformation between cruise customers, that I didn’t know who to believe. I quickly started to realize that the experience I was expecting from this cruise was exponentially turning into chaos.

It was then on February 2nd 2015 that I went on BTWatsea.com, and discovered that the entire website regarding the Maxwell & The Seven Seas Cruise was completely shut down with no explanation as to the status of our cruise! I panicked and went to Maxwell’s Facebook page to find out what was going on, and he finally explained the situation;

“The “Maxwell + The 7 Seas” cruise, previously scheduled for May 3-10, 2015 has unfortunately been cancelled due to unforeseen events and circumstances between the cruise line and promoter.”

“I’m so sorry that the 7 Seas cruise has been cancelled. I’ve been planning it for months, but the experience I had in mind for the fans just wasn’t turning out as I had envisioned” – Maxwell

Please contact BTWatsea.com for details. Phone: (602) 244-8444”

Then finally, many hours after reading Maxwell’s Facebook message, BTWatsea.com updated their website with the above message and the following;

“For current customers, BTWatsea.com will be contacting you for further details. If you wish, you may also fill out the form below and a representative from BTWatsea.com will contact you.”

I took the initiative and filled out my contact information so one of the BTW representatives would contact me. The next day, one of the representatives called me and finally explained the situation to me in full regarding the cancellation of the entire cruise, the breach of contract as to what the Maxwell & The Seven Seas promised to customers (full ship charter), the dispute between BTWconcerts and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, and the disapproval of what Maxwell himself had envisioned for his fans.

The BTW representative then explained the options I had as to the funds I used for payment for the cruise ($3,045.00). Option 1 was 20% off the cost to one of the other BTWconcerts cruises that was still available, and option 2 was a full refund of the purchase price for the Maxwell & The Seven Seas cruise that was cancelled by them. I chose option 2 since the only reason I wanted to go on this cruise was for the experience of cruising with Maxwell, and being entertained by a wonderful array of musicians that I was already fans of.

I asked the BTW representative to send me an email clarifying the cancellation of the cruise on their end, which nullified their previous contract with customers that the cruise was “100% non-refundable.” The representative told me that it would take a few days to receive the email from them since they had to contact many other customers regarding the funds they used to purchase a cruise that was now cancelled.

On February 6 2015, I finally received the official email from BTWatsea.com regarding the cancellation. I was also informed by another BTW representative that their company BTWconcerts was now in litigation, and even though all customers who took option 2 for a full refund are guaranteed to get one, it will take a long time for refunds to be processed. So, the BTW representative advised that we contact Travel Guard insurance to file a claim so we could recoup funds that most likely will be tied up for months in litigation.

As per your Travel Guard policy, if we purchased travel insurance within 15 days of our initial trip deposit, we’re covered for trip cancellation / interruption due to bankruptcy and/or default coverage, and are entitled to 100% refund of the insured trip cost. Attached to this letter is my credit card bank statement with the correct dates of purchase for my Maxwell & The Seven Seas cabin on 8/22/2014 and my purchase of travel insurance from Travel Guard on 8/21/2014; purchased only one day earlier from paying for the cruise cabin in full.

In this circumstance, BTWconcerts is in default – has a material failure, or inability to provide contracted services due to financial insolvency – because of their breach of contract with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. In laymen’s terms, BTWconcerts is now in default with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, which means they will not be able to refund our due monies promptly since all of their finances are now tied up in litigation, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of being able to wait months to recoup thousands of dollars that was previously used to treat myself to a vacation of my dreams, which has now turned into a nightmare of litigation, frustration, and disappointment. BTWconcerts understands the need for a speedy refund process to appease customers, and has also informed me that they will be contacting your company to explain further the details regarding assisting customers in recouping funds in a timely manner.

Therefore, I’m putting in a claim with Travel Guard to recoup funds owed to me, which in no way am I responsible for a breach in contract with Travel Guard, or BTWconcerts’ policy, to be denied.

Thank you for your time, and I await your rapid response.

I'm one of the customers that has to deal with this fiasco and me and my party that was cruising with me was told by BTWConcerts that they are now in litigation with RCCL and that we will get our funds back, but it will take some time. They stated that those of us who purchased travel insurance should file a claim with them and that they too will be contacting them to explain in full the reasons as to why they cannot presently give their customers refunds and to expedite the process of assisting us in receiving our refunds in a timely manner.

I've already opened up a claim with BTWConcerts' travel insurance partner Travel Guard, and am waiting to fill out a claim with my credit card company, and also informed the media of the impact that this celebrity cruise has had on thousands of Maxwell fans, and Maxwell himself!

I've written a lengthy letter which I will be sending to everyone involved in the mess, and won't stop untill all the funds that are due to me are paid in full! I don't care who gives me my money back, just as long as I get it, and get it promptly! I'm so glad that I informed myself about this cruise by joining this site, or else I'd be less prepared in trying to get back my funds ASAP!

It doesn't hurt that I work for the Department of Justice and have an abundance of lawyers willing to look over this particular case, just in case it gets up to the point that no one wants to give up funds I'm due!

Every since I found out a few weeks ago about the cancellation of the charter here, I had a feeling that this entire cruise would be cancelled :mad: I know it would've been chaos if they went through with the cruise and it wasn't a full charter and people were paying much less for cabins than the customers for the Maxwell & The 7 Seas experience.

I'm glad that they cancelled it, and I definitely will be getting my money back since I paid extra for travel insurance just in case something like this would happen.

And they better give me back my money promptly as well!

Thanks everyone for your advice on better options for me. I'm still hoping that everything gets cleared up before the March 15 deadline for other customers still paying off for this Maxwell cruise.

Wow, I joined this cruise community to find out more about cruising since this Maxwell & The 7 Seas cruise would be my first! I was so excited to go on my first cruise, plus see many of my favorite artists at the same time, but reading this thread regarding charter issues, and not being informed by any travel agents regarding this celebrity cruise event, I'm starting to think that I should've never booked it at all! :confused:

I really don't know how they're going to work this out since we ( me and my sis) were expecting to have exclusivity to the ship for the major price we spent for the cabins for this event.

It's upsetting that this "all exclusive, full charter" Maxwell experience is going to be shared with customers who probably have no idea who Maxwell is!! It's going to take away from the experience of sailing with people who have the same musical interests as my own and I would be able to relate to.

I really hope this gets sorted out, or they just cancel the whole darn thing so I can get over the $3,000 I spent for this cruise back, and use it for a more enjoyable vacation.