marybrodo

Dear Bird and Cindy,

Thank you for your kind replies and reassurance.  Know of my best wishes for a wonderful time on your planned trips.  I will relax, look for the excursions as suggested by Cindy, and have faith in Viking!!

Take care.

Profpuff

We are booked for the June 18 Viking Octantis Milwaukee to Thunder Bay.  I freely admit that I may be getting over-anxious, but I find it odd that there is not a single, solitary shore excursion on My Viking.  You cannot book a spa appointment.  For weeks, MVJ has said that we would have air information today; today it says "you will be getting an email".

The primary reason these all make me a bit anxious is that from the little bit that I have been able to find online it is not clear to us that the construction that was undertaken in Milwaukee to allow for the Octantis to dock there is yet completed. https://www.fox6now.com/news/port-milwaukee-expansion-soon-to-accommodate-larger-cruise-ships

Recognizing that I may be way over concerned about all of this, any information, comments, suggestions would be appreciated (be gentle if you are going to suggest I just relax!! :-))  

Thank you for your kindness.

Profpuff

I received a second email today asking us why we have not yet updated the Guest Reservation forms, then they give you the MVJ link, and, as noted above, you get the "Coming Soon" message.  I do think they should not send messages about the Guest form when they don't have the site set up.  I also am hoping that they have the site set up before the due date for payment, currently 9/30/2021 for the June, 2022, Milwaukee to Thunder Bay cruise.

Thank you to everyone for the links and information about the Octantis.  Though I wish the site was set up, I think the cruise looks marvelous, and being able to receive your information is great.  Wishing everyone well as we look forward to the maiden year of these vessels.

Cruise date:  5/9/2020

Cancel date: 3/12/2020===Canceled by Princess, not by me

Refund to credit card: NOTHING as of yet

I keep hoping that the line in number 2 above "it will take up to 60 days from the date we receive your preference for refunds and FCCs to  be processed."  That would mean around May 13 for those of us who were in the initial 60 day voluntary pause and who filled out our forms the day it was announced, which was March 12th.  It is still too slow, IMHO, but not that May 13th is less than a month away, it seems more palatable. 

This FAQ is still on the Princess website; has been there since the first week in April. 

For those asking, if you search "dearinger", or some such spelling, that is the one person I have seen on this thread that has received a refund from Princess.

Thank you, dearinger, for updating us with good news.

I was due to sail 5/9; Princess canceled on me on 3/12; filled out the form on 3/12 in the morning, so am on Day 29 or 30, depending on how you calculate.

Have not see a penny (Cruise +Princess Air+Excursions+Specialty Dinner), but your post gives me hope.

Here's to many more refunds coming in, and everyone stay healthy and safe.  Best wishes to all.

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

I no longer have any sympathy  for Princess.  They canceled our cruise and at the same time canceled our Princess Vacation Protection which denied us the ability to access this insurance to get our money back.  I am not sure if Princess owns the company that provides Princess Vacation Protection either?

 

When you are owed over $15,000 through no fault of your own I expect a reputable company to make good on returning that money and to do it quickly.  

 

I have seen nothing that Princess has done or said that makes me think people are going to get their money back.  Until Princess becomes responsible to it's customers and starts refunding money that it owes I will remain skeptical and believe that they are just playing games and have no intentions of being honest with their customers and returning any money and are only offering worthless FCC at this time.  

My cruise was canceled by Princess on 3/12 (like so many others here).  After a quick call to Princess, I quickly filled out the form by about 10 a.m. that day.  The agent I had called told me I would get a refund within 10 to 15 days.  Not a penny yet.

Five days later, on 3/17, I received a call from a Princess vacation planner, trying to coerce me into putting down a deposit for a new cruise in anticipation of the refund and FCC that I would be receiving. I also received an email from him, so I have this in writing.  This is probably the thing that has undermined Princess' goodwill with me more than anything else:  they don't have enough resources, they claim, to process refunds (and, as I say above, I have not received anything: not for the cruise, EZ Air, excursions, specialty dinners, etc.) but they have enough resources to man the phones to try to get you to make a reservation. 

They are making a lot of unforced errors.

My best wishes to all and hopes that there is no bankruptcy.

I have also been in touch with my credit card company (MasterCard).  I have until 60 days after the first day of the trip to cancel.  They have advised me to just stay in touch, and, if the refund does not come through by Day 45, to file a dispute and they will take it from there.

As many have said here, I am surprised that Princess, and other cruise lines, is not working to do anything they can to keep people happy with them.  Holding on to someone's money, when you cannot give them what they paid for, does not inspire trust or good feelings.  And, while I realize this is a once in a generation occurrence, as some have pointed out, Princess acts awfully quickly to bring our $ in... I post a payment, and it is on my credit card in a nanosecond.  It is hard to believe, when they are the ones that cancel the cruise, that they cannot return the $ as quickly as they accept it.

Wish there was a convenient way we could keep track of all of this info.  Data always helps me, I know.

Cruising date:                May 9th

Cancellation done by:  Princess.  (i.e., Princess cancelled the cruise in its entirety, not me)

Date Cancelled:             March 12th

Date Filled out FCC/Refund

options form:                 March 12th

Excursions?:                  Yes.

Final payment made:    Yes

Status:                            Not a penny refund as of 3/28.

BTW, (sorry if this has been covered already), spoke to Princess yesterday and excursions will not be refunded for 30 to 60 days, either.  There is info out there that excursions are cancelled and refunded immediately, as they are separate from the cruise.  They may be separate from the cruise, but they are not going to be refunded immediately.

Thank you for everyone's support as we try to be patient together.

We cruise the Grand 5/9 to Alaska and it posted yesterday (3/7) morning.

Thank you for this very helpful info, but would appreciate a response to this sort of twist on it:

 We have purchased everything through Princess for a 5/9 Alaska on the Grand: Princess Air, cruisetour, shore excursions, and we have made final payment (it was due on 2/9).  We are willing to go on the cruise if it sails.  Our worry is that our flight to Seattle (we are flying there, then taking Amtrak up to Vancouver) might be canceled, as the airlines are beginning to cut back on their routes.  We live in Chicago, so driving is really not an option.

We have CFAR insurance, if this plays into the question.

If the airline reservations that we made through Princess are canceled, will they refund everything to us since we won't be able to take the cruise under those circumstances?  

Thank you for any info.

Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences and advice.  We have a PBP for the Grand (Alaska, May, 2020) and I was wondering about this and very much appreciate the direction.  I don't want to have to deal with inaccurate charges after the fact... am looking forward to not having any "extras" on the bill when we disembark!

Thank you all; you helped me make my decision and I have now purchased the four device package for our May Alaska cruise!

Thank you all so much; this gives us even more to look forward to!

I am sorry if I missed this in the boards; I did do a search, with no luck.

We are looking forward to a cruise to Alaska on the Grand in May of 2020. 

1. We know that you need to get to the theater early to get a seat, and were wondering if you are allowed to bring alcoholic beverages into the theater.  We thought sipping on an after dinner drink might be a nice way to pass the waiting time .

2. Do they have Movies under the Stars on an Alaskan cruise in May?

Any help is much appreciated.  Thank you.

We did not cruise to Sydney, but stayed at the Marriott at Circular Quay for five nights and do recommend it.  We liked the hotel and the location is great.   This may be outside of the scope of the board, but here goes: a "can't miss" walk in Sydney:  Coogie Beach to Bondi Beach.  

LStone and Jagoffee, thank you for your comments.  We are taking the Whittier to Denali train, and it sounds like I should be more optimistic.  I appreciate your help, and will look forward to the trip!

Wow, this is discouraging for me.  Princess raves about "luxurious" rail experience, so I never imagined that it could include backward seating.  I just called Princess and they were totally and completely dictatorial "it's first come, first served"... and they seemed to get kind of mad at me when I called it a scrum.  

So, does anyone here know: are there any ways to ensure that you can get to the train "early" and snag those precious forward facing seats?  Or, would appreciate comments about an experience, good or bad, riding backwards for nine hours.

Thank you in advance.  Also, thank you to the OP for letting me know what I might be in for.  At least I will be prepared.

Favorite excursions would be much appreciated; any info welcome.  Thank you very much for offering and look forward to it.

Absolutely was crazy about Australia, but highly recommend that you go in July, their so-called winter.  We were there in July of 2018 and I would hate to have you ruin the gorgeous, gorgeous tour of the Red Centre and Uluru by going when it will be overwhelmingly hot (in January).  It was plenty warm in July; try to plan for that.