remydiva

4 hours ago, Sentebale said:

Partner and I decided to book basic fare for March 16-day TA to see what the numbers look like in the end.

Basic fare $900/each cheaper than Best. Sale. Ever.

$1800 is break even.

Not soda drinkers, I might drink a beer every week or two. Partner likes his Martinis (2-3 night) and wine (1-2 night). Not day drinkers. 

One of us will get 4-device wifi and share $240.

$15.50 x 32 days gratuities. $500

Yes to at least one coffee card. $72

Yes to 3/ea extra specialty dinners $180 -- not incl in B.S.E (plus we have 1 free specialty dinner from ta)

Yes to Gelato if it's good. $70 -- not incl in B.S.E

Partner has $738 booze money 😉. ($46/day) (Wiggle room is the $180 +$70 that I included as part of B.S.E. but it really isn't).

Not end of the world if we find out the all-inclusive was a better deal.

Anybody else try this? Results?

With the Medallion it's not like we'll be signing chits so that hassle is removed.

Also bought 100 shares of CCL for the $250 OBC, sent paperwork to Princess, sold the shares next day (@$25 gain👍).

 

We will do pay as you go as well since we have hefty OBCs and hubby only has a beer or one wine a day so the included BSE not worth it since you BOTH have to get it. I think you'll do just fine.

9 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

This is on the P&O website. It is updated and this was 1 February. 
https://www.pocruises.com/content/dam/po/pdfs/A-Z-destination-entry-requirements-guide-1-Feb-2022.pdf

 

England is not on this list. Question...is onboard testing provided free by cruise line?

I'm wondering too as flights or land crossings INTO Canada require a Neg PCR test (not rapid antigen) for entry. I'm looking at a TA that would land in FLL and wonder how the heck I'll get a PCR test before flight back home?

thank you for clarification 🙂

I cruised the Emerald in 2012 and loved her. Looking to book again but I see the Emerald was refurbished in 2019 but I also see several threads titled ‘the Emerald formerly the Crown’

so what’s up?

is the ‘old’ Emerald and old Crown gone and now they renamed the Emerald the Crown?

so confused please help.

8 hours ago, 1965 said:

Yesterday my pvp confirmed no more free mins for platinum & elite. She explained the new medallian net can't be done by the minute, it's many advantages, etc. She made sense & won me over. For less than $70 total for our upcoming 14 day TA I'll have unlimited wifi, fast, no accidentally losing minutes, etc. It's not as nice as free, but it's doable. I have drunk the koolaid. Lol.

Is that per cabin ie. two people can use?

5 hours ago, CanuckCurlers said:

sorry double post

5 hours ago, CanuckCurlers said:

We are in the same frame of mind. Our two Covid cancelled cruises would have made us Elite but see no reason to stay with Princess. Most other lines are offering all the perks now anyway. Our travel agent had been trying to get us to try others for the last five years and we had been resistant but no longer.

I too am loyal Princess fan...or was...plus with our cancelled Covid cruise I now have tons of future cruise credits to use AND OBC and FCD...all worthless unless we use them. So why mickey mouse with 150 mins or so of internet. I get that unlimited is necessary for those they want to intice to cruise AND still be able to 'work from sea' but not everyone wants to be on the internet. Some of us spend our money in other ways...shore excurisons, the shops, casino, bars....don't ding everyone in order to meet the needs of what I think? are a few.

I just got the email and checked first and last page of this thread plus the PDF attached in email.

WHAT IS THE PRICE of the internet packages that we get the privilege of paying 50% for?

With hubby and my 150+ mins AND we are on holidays so should unplug other than send emails to kids back home, I don't need more or unlimited minutes.

So can someone attach a link to the pricing options? how little do I need to be dinged for?

13 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Happy to hear! Finally!!!!!

Still waiting here....

Thank you and yes I'm a

little giddy as it has been a LONG wait.

Grandkids went back to school today, hairdresser had soft opening on Friday (yay, hair done) so life is slllloooowwwwwllly starting to reopen and look more 'normal'...the new normal that is.

Cruising still a long ways off but it would be nice to see my son back east but that too is not in the cards just yet.

Hope your's comes real soon too. 🤞🤞

YES Final Update ALL $$ refunded. ALL FCC in cruise personalizer and FCD back.

Cruise date April 19 Regal

Cancelled by me Mar 6

Cancelled by Princess Mar 12 Phase 1

Option #2 selected Mar 12

Refund to credit card May 22

FCC received June 1

(booked directly with Princess, did not use TA. Did not phone or contact Princess. Did not contact credit card company)

YES Final Update

Cruise date April 19 Regal

Cancelled by me Mar 6

Cancelled by Princess Mar 12 Phase 1

Option #2 selected Mar 12

Refund to credit card May 22

FCC received June 1

42 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I filed a dispute around the 70 day mark. I held out in the hope that Princess would come through and do what they promised.

And I got my refund from Princess  on Day 70 without filing a credit card dispute or even contacting Princess  so there is a mixed bag of experiences.

for the record, I did NOT use a TA...booked on my own with Princess and had EZ air and transfers...all refunded.

Still missing the extra FCC but if they have a time limit, who knows when we will be able to cruise again comfortably.

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

They said all FCC for pause 1 folks that had submitted their option 1/2 choice was completed April 30th. We know that’s wrong since there are still some of us pause 1 folk here that have no FCC. 

ME! 🤚

13 minutes ago, mthomp5 said:

That’s great to hear they are making progress on some of us.  I wonder why they refunded your credit card in two transactions.

 

Your FCC will probably follow shortly. It doesn’t make sense that they do these transactions so piecemeal. 

 

Credit card in two amounts as the first one was because we fell in the 50% penalty cancellation ‘fee’ period ( as you get closer to sail date you are penalized more for cancelling) thus we started the claim on insurance to recoup the rest.

we were April 19 sail date.

32 minutes ago, mthomp5 said:

Remydiva,  I can’t remember...were you in pause 1 and cancelled before Princess announced the first pause?  

Yes we were in Pause1

WE cancelled on Mar 5 As hubby is at risk health wise (after getting the email from princess reassuring all was well and If we did NOT cancel, here’s some extraOBC. )

Applied for AON insurance cancel

fir any reason .

Mar 12 Pause 1.. applied for option 2 while AON insurance claim still in the works.

Mar17 AON closed our claim

saying Princess was handling the refund.

Got about 50% back on credit card in April.

Got FCD back two weeks ago.

Got rest of $$ refund on Friday May 22.

Still have NOT got extra 25% FCC.

55 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I received my full refund from Carnival within 30 days (I thought they would be the line I would have to fight with to be honest). Cancelled same day as Princess, sailing date a week after Princess.

 

Also cancelled same day was a sailing for later in the year with RCCL that had not yet been cancelled by the cruise line. Only deposit was paid but final payment was coming and I didn't think the cruise would sail. I received the refund within a week.

 

Fellow TAs in my office are reporting that Celebrity has been doing a good job - within 30 business days. They are (so far) not impressed with MSC and HAL and REALLY not impressed with Princess.

That’s Interesting @ceilidh.. TAs dealing with multiple companies and clients  should have their finger on the cruise world pulse. These experiences may turn into recommendations when clients ask Them which cruise line to use.

8 minutes ago, PompeySailor said:

We had cruises booked with

 

✅MSC x1 (FCC issued after 3 weeks of our cancelled cruise)

✅Royal Caribbean X3 (FCC’s issued after 4 weeks of cruise and some refunds)

✅P&O x1 (Refunds issued 3 days after requesting)

 

🤬Princess x1 67 days waited for items that were cancelled on March 21st, enough was enough. Filed a chargeback dispute with our credit card company today, will be 3 business days in our account.

 

So yes others are handling it much better and with more transparency and you can contact them in many other ways than just a phone call.

With Princess you cannot message on Facebook, they disabled that lifeline 

get told, 30 days, then 60, some people 90. 
Its amateur to say the least and bloody annoying.
 

Whenever I had to return a customers money onto their credit card, it took 3 business days max. Period (regardless of unprecedented times, blah blah blah)

 

Too many cheerleaders waving their Pom poms saying to be patient, if you are given dates and then those dates pass, people’s patience runs thin.

 

Rant over for today.

Flame away 

Happy Days!

 

Heh that's great to hear about other cruise line responses. I've asked before and no one replied!!!

well, it IS a Princess site so guess that makes sense.... and I shall take note that as a past RCL cruiser too.

And you'll get No Pom Pom waving from me..finally .got my $$ after 70 days but no FCC yet.

Happy Days for sure! The world needs them.

5 minutes ago, SCOOTERNINJA said:

Yes, they are easily distinguished.  In the scenario you proposed, the builder actually performed under the contract by completing the build albeit with delay.  In the scenario posed here, the cruise company never performed its obligation under the contract (i.e. providing a ship to passengers to cruise the oceans with port stops).

 

A building contract is ONLY going to obligate the purchaser to pay for the home if it is actually built. If the builder decides not to build the house (or is otherwise prevented from  building the home), then the builder is not entitled to just keep whatever payments had already been made.  In the scenario you posed, baked into the builder's contracts will be clauses dealing with building delays and liabilities that might be associated therewith.  These contracts typically provide that builders will be on the hook  for any actual damages if the home is not built (such as amounts paid for the home build) but may be relieved from  liability for any consequential damages (such as amounts that a buyer may have to pay for a hotel due to building delay).  Under no circumstance can the builder just keep the money already paid because the builder cancelled the home build.

 

Here, the cruise company CANCELLED the cruise.  The cruise never took place and thus the cruise company never performed its obligation under the  contract.  The cruise company is not entitled to keep the benefit of the bargain (i.e. the cruise payments) for a contract that it never performed.  

 

Yes - stuff happens but that is called the risk and cost of doing business.  As a company, it is not right nor lawful to keep money that was paid for a service that was never provided.

ok so the house build not the best example as I never meant to imply the builder KEPT the money...just the delay cost the buyer more so oranges to tomatoes comparison...mea culpa.

However as others have said many activities ARE keeping the money such as cancelled sports clubs my own grandkids swim club were offered 'we keep your money and you can do dry land training' (whoop de doh) OR you get most of it back and pay $25 to be first in line to register for next year. 

It's not a level playing field for sure. Good to hear from another that RCL and DCL paid quickly. My online forum showed unhappy RCL customers too.

In any case, I guess we will have to wait to see what tourism looks like all over the world. Cruises sailing maybe? Ports open? maybe? International flights? when? heck, our border Canada to US is closed so we are FAR from being normal.

Be kind. Be safe.

9 minutes ago, CruisePrincess6 said:

Remydiva—To answer your post—if you put in the contract the clause—Time is of the essence, the contract can be voided and your money refunded after due date.  This can’t be done with our money that Princess is holding and they know it. Again, very bad customer relations.  Canceled a cruise to Europe with Celebrity for this October and deposit was refunded in 2 days.  Would not hesitate to sail with them in the future.

thanks for reply. Your cancelled cruise with Celebrity was in October so not in the Covid Crazy Time. I have cancelled with Princess before after full payment due to health issue and had the money back PDQ via insurance so again, not quite the same thing. I guess my ask was more during Covid, what cruise lines are hitting it out of the ball park?

4 minutes ago, Cruisin_Vol_Fan said:

We canceled our May 11 cruise on March 24 (64 days ago) not long before Princess would have canceled it any way. We are awaing our refund. There is no sign of a FCC in my account, either. 

Our total amount out of pocket isn't huge by some standards, but with a job furlough for me and a large pay cut for my husband, that money would really help cover some costs right now. The inability of Princess to refund our money has confimed we will not sail with them again. Other cruise lines do not seem to have this problem based on friends and family reporting their experiences.

I am sorry for your refund delay; many of us could use the money given the financial impact CoVid is having on the world.

I don't wish to be contrary but I am curious tho what 'other cruise lines' you know of that do not seem to have this problem.?

Many here have also said 'never again' but NOW is the time to find out how other cruise companies are handling this situation.

In fact, I worry about whether Viking (who we have cruised with a few times)will even be around in a year after they had to offer a $600 million 'junk bond' with 13% return.

From my limited research on line, I can't find any that are doing any better.  Please share if you have found some! TIA

1 hour ago, CruisePrincess6 said:

No matter what anyone says, bottom line, they are holding on to our money. Not sure about the legality of this but I do know that they are doing a bad job with customer relations. 

Just a thought re: 'legality'.

...is this really any different than the situation people are in when they purchase a condo or house pre built. There is a contract with a due date but many MANY times unforeseen circumstances and delays cause the postponement of the build completing on time.

I know in my own neighbourhood of condos with promised move in dates last fall that aren't finished. Builder 'is holding onto their money' and the purchasers...more often than not...are not only without the money and their new home, but also incurring extra costs like storage and renting other places.

Just musing....stuff happens.

2 hours ago, Aulanis said:

My FCD  looks like this       so guess  your FCCs are still waiting to be loaded on.

They do seem to do all the bits at different times - many are waiting for FCCs

I am waiting for everything LOL!

 

Mine looks like too.. FCD is back, $$ to credit card back on Monday but no extra 25% FCC.. you’d think it would be done at same time as they wrap up a customers booking.🤷‍♀️

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Thank you!  The cancellation notice that I received on Friday was missing the EZAir fare and showed PVP at $0.01 each for my husband and I so that was clearly a mistake.  But it shows $0 in cancellation fees vs. the $1800 or so on the original cancellation statement issued March 10th.  Our FCD disappeared on May 9th, the date of the cancelled cruise.  Up until that time it was shown as still applied to that cruise.  Fingers crossed!

mine too.... 0.01 for PVP which i figured was just a place holder and $0 cancellation.

with no itemized invoice i just added the first partial refund to todays and compared it my final booking payment and it added up.

2 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Congratulations!  That gives me hope that the rest of our refund and FCCs will be coming soon as well.  We received a cancellation notice out of the blue last Friday so I will be diligently checking Princess.com as well as my credit card for credits from Princess.

Your Friday May 22 notice is just 4 days after mine then.

You should be end of this week or early next then as I got my 'out of the blue' cancellation notice on May 18 with numbers that made no sense to me. But when I added up my two refunds (the initial one when we cancelled Mar 5) and today's it does add up to what we paid in total.

The FCD used to book this cruise had disappeared for about 6 wks off my Captain Circle but it showed back up correctly on Friday.

The bonus 25% FCC for choosing Option 2 however have NOT shown up and at this point I don't know how much it will be...25% of the base cabin fare I'm assuming so that will be handy since it appears the prices have gone up 25% 🙂

I've got my fingers crossed that in less than a week you will be getting your refund.