arcticprincess

We received everything owed, which was substantial.  However, the future cruise credits that we received, which was a huge amount, was under our fcc section up until today.  I found 0.00 left.  As I had not applied them or even one of them, I found that they applied it not to our next cruise, in October, but instead to next March.  That would not have been our choice to use, as we have 4 b2bs, and wanted the chance to apply it to the 29 day trans Pacific.  I think it should have been made clear should you choose Op 2 to apply to the cruise of your choice.  However, I think the fact they did not choose to apply it to a 35 day cruise in Oct 2020 means it is a no go and will be cancelled.

This morning Princess completed credit card refund for the last of our 3 b2b May 9. First week after pause on March 12, we got a fcc for this last cruise.  Our first two April/May cruises have been refunded, exactly a week ago today,but no fcc for either as yet.  Not sure what is up with that.  Happy for the refunds, tho.

On 5/21/2020 at 9:39 PM, dog said:

 

happy for all of you!!! So much going on this week. 

On 5/21/2020 at 1:03 PM, dog said:

So happy for you!!!

glad you posted. 

Still waiting for refund on the Grand May 9 Alaska cruise.  We asked for Option 2.  We have not received as yet cruise credits for first two cruises.  We are grateful for the close to $42k refund we got Friday!  Very appreciated!  Anyone else get refunds but no cruise credits?

20 minutes ago, dog said:

This is the largest refund I ‘ve seen!!!

I bet,  we had gone overboard on owner's suites, first class on Virgin Australia, this was a bucket list cruise.  We have rescheduled for next year, but itinerary not identical, so we added an additional cruise around NZ, to see what they are not cruising to next year that they were this year.  We had friends to see in Sydney and Christchurch, so was tough as they had made plans too. 

2 hours ago, hm9912 said:

Yes! Apr 4th Sky Princess

59 minutes ago, dog said:

So happy for you!!!

glad you posted. 

Just received second cruise cc refund, probably because first two cruises were linked, so waiting for two more , 3 & 4 on the b2bs starting with the April 4 Ruby, ending May 16 on the Grand.  So far, over $41,000 refunded!  No future cruise credits, but that was not our greatest concern!   I received so far everything we paid, except for fcd, but that's ok!  So refunds are coming everyone!

2 hours ago, arcticprincess said:

Still waiting..on Option 2....we too were to be on that cruise and two more b2b. All air was on Princess Air, so nada on that too. Except for fcc for last cruise, an Alaska on Grand. So much for working the cruises by date. I will inform if we receive any of the 50k owed us!

Whoa!  Just got the 38k refund for April 4 Ruby sail!  Can not believe it!  No fcc yet, but hey, they are doing refunds!

28 minutes ago, hm9912 said:

Yes! Apr 4th Sky Princess

Happy for you!  Praying our April 4 Ruby is refunded soon

1 hour ago, TeaBag said:

No refund, just an email.  I tried to deposit the email but the bank wouldn't take it.

Just about spit my coffee out!  Too funny!😂

50 minutes ago, trvlwrld said:

 April 4 Ruby cruise....FCC, CC, FCD.....nothing, nada, non, none, zilch !!!

Still waiting..on Option 2....we too were to be on that cruise and two more b2b. All air was on Princess Air, so nada on that too. Except for fcc for last cruise, an Alaska on Grand. So much for working the cruises by date. I will inform if we receive any of the 50k owed us!

1 hour ago, rlbeck said:

Just received FCCs for our cancelled 04/04/20 Ruby 35 day TP. We selected Option #2 and it appears we were somehow switched to Option #1. Hope this is only a temporary situation. So far no cash refund back to credit card.;;;;;;; Why am I starting to think that our chances of getting our cash back would be much easier to get in a Princess casino? TA and Princess reps just keep giving us the yeah yeas.....

Well that has now scared the c**p out of me!  I was on that same trip, beginning 1 of 3 b2bs!  Nothing yet for us except for the May 9 fcc for husband and I, with filing for this 15 min after receipt of March 12 pause.  We requested Option 2, as this was penthouse accomodations, owners suites for all 3.  Hoping to see refunds soon.  Otherwise disputes we head.  I feel might have better chance in Judge Wapner's courtroom.

I got a FCC only for #3 of 3 btb cancelled by Princess in first pause, of which we asked for Option 2, as the $50k owed we wanted back.  Dates were 4-4-20, 5-2-20, 5-9-20.  If they are going by dates, why would last cruise fcc arrive first?  I double checked the second cruise total and amount for fcc did not match.  So still waiting, figure refund for first cruise by June 4, second would be July 2, final refund July 9.

6 hours ago, Ombud said:

Oops!! I just sent a screenshot of your getting it to Princess Customer Service asking why you got it for 3/29 & I'm missing bonus on 3/22 & $434 on 3/29 (got all cash back but only 50%FCC on 3/22/20. Got all FCC on 3/29 but missing $$)

Btw..I love your furbaby photo!  Makes me smile everytime you post!🥰😘👑

No.  3 B2B. $50k refund not yet received

         April 4, 2020 SYD-LA. Ruby

         May 2, 2020 LA-YVR. Ruby

         May 9, 2020 YVR-ANC Grand

15 minutes ago, Princess1999 said:

No symptoms from any crew or passengers on our ship as far as we know.  We were held off the shore of Ft Lauderdale the entire day, while the 2 crew members were tested and later received negative results.  We are healthy. Thanks for asking.

So happy for you on that score!

1 minute ago, Princess1999 said:

We were on the Regal for a 14 day cruise that began 3/1/20 but was abruptly stopped on 3/8 due to concerns that 2 of our crew members may have been exposed to the virus on their previous ship (no symptoms).     We received our promised fcc the day after we got home on our Personalizer.

Wow.  I am delighted for you that your refund has showed up for you.  Are you ok?  No illness since off ship?  Hugs!🌷

3 minutes ago, Princess1999 said:

Hello all!

I have been following your posts.  This is my first time posting, and have exciting news!   The refund portion of our cancelled cruise just appeared on our credit cards!  

Don't give up hope.    It’s so fresh, that the details don’t even show but it’s clearly a deposits for the amounts we expected!  I was so excited that I had to join this community and share!

Congratulations!  Do you mind my asking what date your cancelled cruise was?

8 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

IDK why giving credit card info to Princess is less secure than giving it to PayPal, but that would be another topic.  You should be happy (as in glass half-full) because you won't lose 50,000 in credit card points if a refund was processed.  You can cash the check and use it to pay off credit card balances, keeping your points (assuming you earn points).

Ok...here is the deal:  Our main bank account is not in the state where we live currently.  So to wait about 60 more days in addition to waiting for June 4 for possible refunding, would put us to almost August before receipt of checks.  Then we would need to wire transfer in which we lose at least 10% wire fee, or fedex the checks to our bank out of state.  Then how do they mail the checks?  Snail mail?  Fedex?  With 50k owed, I wouldn't want the checks just floating out there with perhaps no way to track them.  I would want to sign for it with tracking number.  They could be stolen.  Our bank where we live simply does not offer what the bank we have kept for almost 40 years does and forget using their debit card overseas as my husband tried to do while in Japan, while flying as a pilot.  So that was the reason I worried about refunds not going thru paypal.  I have had refunds thru paypal before, not from Princess, but still could not fathom the time and risk with such huge checks being out there with possibly never getting to us.

I chose paying via paypal for hopefully additional safety protection.  I don't want my cc information on tons of sites.  My Amex card has been hacked too many times.  Princess also had a serious data breach last year that had passenger and employee accounts compromised with ss numbers, credit card info possibly in peril.  Forbes wrote it was one of the most serious cases.  During that timeframe my Amex was hacked once again.  I use it for shipboard accounts and most of the cruise payments.  So paypal is my preferred way to pay online.  I know it is not foolproof as nothing is.

I spoke to a cruise assistant this am who checked on the paypal refund question directly with department handling refunds.  He got back with me and said they DO refund via Paypal on option 2 refunds!  He also said not to worry about the funds needed for our refunds as he said Princess has the funds.  He also hinted he knew of two cruiselines that will fold from the collapse of cruise industry during the virus explosion.  He would not give me the names, but he said we would be hearing about them in the coming days.  I have spoken to this agent before and he has been the best one we have dealt with Princess in the past, so I have every reason to trust his information.

2 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

For me, the most frustrating aspect of all of this is the lack of communication and conflicting information with constant changes. I appreciate this is a tough time and that they have a lot of work to do, and I really don't have  a huge issue waiting 60 days or so for my FCCs/refund. What I do have an issue with is that the terms appear to be constantly changing without any communications about the changes to customers, and the fact that Princess themselves are giving conflicting info to the point that I'm no longer sure what is correct. Today, I called Princess on two separate occasions, with two separate booking numbers. I think I might have mentioned previously that I had a client booked on a March 14th sailing and I cancelled her on March 9th. At that time, Princess had not cancelled and she was offered FCC in the amount of cancellation fee and the remainder refunded to credit card. The credit card refund was processed within 4 days but still no sign of her FCC so I called about it today. The second call was for my own booking, on the same March 14th sailing. I cancelled on March 10th under the same terms as my client but have received neither refundable amount to credit card nor FCC. Both sailings were later covered under the first pause and the form selecting option 1 for both of us was submitted immediately on March 12th. My two calls today could not have been more different - I have no idea which was "correct" and am passing this info on only as a "what I was told today" piece....

 

Call 1: Calling as a TA for a client. The rep looked up the booking and confirmed it had been cancelled March 9th. He said it was "in process". When I pressed what that meant he said that an FCC for the cancellation fee had been issued on March 19th but was later cancelled. The amount he gave for that FCC was the exact cancellation fee amount (this would have been correct under the initial terms of cancellation). I asked where in the process this booking was, given that it now fell under the initial pause. He was not able to tell me and was not able to tell me if it was being worked on or had gotten "lost". He said that all he could tell me was that the FCCs and refunds were to be processed within 60 days of SAILING date. When I mentioned that the website states 60 days of when the refund request was received and in departure date order, he again repeated that the info they had been given was 60 days of SAILING date. He said that he had been getting cases where people on the same sailing and even in the same cabin may have received their FCCs while others had not. He admitted it made no sense but had no answer. I asked if there was any way he could flag the booking to make sure it would be worked on. He said there was not. He said revenue would get to it as soon as they could. He really seemed disinterested and couldn't have cared less. I didn't pursue from here as I sensed I wouldn't get anywhere and my client isn't in a mad rush for the FCCs right now (and she is one of the lucky ones that received a refund before this whole mess).

 

Call 2: Calling as a customer for my booking. The rep looked up the booking and confirmed cancellation. She said that she did not see and FCC attached to it and she went in to check that the correct process had been done. She then said that because the booking had been cancelled BEFORE the pause, it hadn't been flagged for follow up (which was my main concern with both of the bookings). She did a little more research and found that my shore excursion money was being refunded by cheque, since I paid with Paypal and they had attempted to refund it on March 11th and March 12th and it had not gone through (I recall someone else saying the same thing with a Paypal payment). She said the cheque was issued March 13th and could take up to 60 days to arrive in the mail. I never received any communication/notification of this until now. She then said that refunds/FCCs were being processed in departure date order and I should have been toward the beginning of the process given the sailing date. She put me on hold and contacted customer relations. I was on hold for about 40 minutes but she kept checking back, letting me know that she was working through the booking with customer relations. When she got back to me, she confirmed that the booking had not been flagged correctly, but now it was in the process. She said to expect to see FCCs/refunds by mid May at the latest. I asked about the holding account and was told that this was in place for people planning on rebooking to avoid having to pay deposit/port fees etc. She said that if there was no new booking attached to the original cancellation then the money would be refunded rather than put into a holding account. She sounded very confident in her answer, and I do know that as a TA I can make notes in original booking for the funds from it to be transferred over to an alternate booking. However, the message to TAs was definitely that anyone with option 1 would have that money in a holding account (not just those with new bookings in process) unless they requested it to be refunded. I must say that this rep was one of the best I have dealt with - she was patient, helpful, and went out of her way to actually try to find out the problem (and YES, there was a problem). I will wait (patiently) until mid May and see if anything comes to light...

 

 

Wow..so if you paid via Paypal to use a credit card safely rather than give credit card info to Princess, then checks are being issued rather than refund to card used on Paypal?  Geez.  I used multiple cards via Paypal for the $50k total for the 3 btb cruises.  

1 minute ago, BRANDEE said:

A few hours after I posted this a few..very few..passengers from my Mar 8th interrupted cruise posted that they got their refund back on their cc.  I have not yet..but more hope now than this morning. Good Luck to us all.

I totally understand the turmoil with mass cancellations for Princess.  However, there seems to be confusion on order of processing and accuracy of the refunds in fcc and cc refunds.  I have the last cruise of the 3 b2b that we received Wednesday 1 fcc.  I would think they would go by date.  I hope we all get what they promised.  The unease is growing here..best wishes dear.

5 hours ago, BRANDEE said:

I spoke to Princess rep, and as we all know that does not mean what I was told is 100%..but she did say refund cash around 60 days from filing option1/2 paper.  I did hear this from a few other cruisers and also told on Princess web page (I have not seen it).  We a due quite a bit of money, too.  Our first cruise was stopped after 11 days and the b2b cancelled, so it involves tour money too, that has not been refunded.  We were on Ruby in New Zealand/Fiji.  Good Luck to all of us.

Yes.  Originally I had plenty of patience and sympathy for Princess.  But we are now going in 7 weeks now and no cc refunds.  I don't care whether they owe me $500 or the $50k I mentioned that is owed us.  We have several more cruises planned in the pipeline, including 5 weeks late Sept on b2b on Emerald to Tahiti, again in suites at rear of ship.  Patience I have extended, my bank on that is about depleted!

3 hours ago, HUNKY said:

ArticPrincess did you get any money back on the Virgin Australia flights?  Especially since they are now voluntarily entering into administration?

I booked it through EZ Air on Princess.  Booked as Delta but operated on Virgin Australia.  Zilch on the air and anything except GeoBlue Med Insurance that I booked on my own.  I lost $700 with Fairmont Vancouver Canada Place as I had paid in advance for bayview  Gold Floor.  When I called to say Princess cancelled due to virus, they said thanks for calling, but that's it!  Getting uneasy as the amount we paid is the most we ever paid for a trip!

1 hour ago, roxievegas said:

$50K ?!! - I would be having a heart attack.  We are out $6,500 (two cruises) - I put a dispute on one of them and will be putting dispute on the other this week.  I totally get that they have a mess on their hands, and the cruise lines are not responsible for the virus - i still want my money back now.

One of our cruises was to Alaska and we will book in the future and come to your great State.  

Yes!  This was a bucket list cruise with suites at Four Seasons Sydney and premium suites at rear of the ships.  We generally do Club Class MS, but this was the big splurge.  We have dear friends in Adelaide and Christchurch that we were going to see so I had suite in Sydney with livingroom and access to the private area top of hotel for meals.  So yes, we put out alot and were heartbroken as we were to leave in 10 days for time in LA to insure we got our biz class Virgin Australia flight.  We had private limo reserved from airport to Four Seasons.  We would have been on close to fourth week of the six plus weeks we would have been gone!  I just don't get the credit for the last cruise of the trip, with no others given.  And no credit card refunds yet either!  I am beginning to panic.  If they have a system for this, would be nice to know!

Wednesday I received $607 Voyage Goodwill credit that appears to be for the last and  third cruise of our back to backs this spring.  Strange as certainly not in order of date.  No cc refund for that May 9 sail on the Grand.  Crickets for April 4 Ruby or May 2 Ruby paid in full suites accommodations.  We requested Option 2 on all, within 15 min of email from Princess for cancellation of all 3 sailings due to first pause on March 12.  So about $50k still out of pocket.  We have 3 back to backs on Sept 26 on Emerald for Tahiti/Hawaii.  It's anyone's guess how that will play out.  Might be reassuring if Princess would clarify order, if any, of refunds and credits.  Getting a TAD uneasy up here in Anchorage, where our state is reeling from the crash in oil prices and downright collapse of tourism.  Many of the excursion companies may go bust as being shuttered entire season for many is their income for the year.  Not sure how they will survive.  When and if cruising returns, Alaska's offerings may be much much less to experience than in years before.

19 minutes ago, remydiva said:

You highlight a valid point; others are struggling in different ways. And the drug chloroquine isn't actually proven to help CoVid but your daughter knows for sure it helps her lupus. Such a shame. 😔

Yes.  She is a single mom in demanding job as lead detective and hostage negotiator for police.  The drug in question does work in early stages of corona, but not in latter. A leading French virologist has tested this with great success.  But anyway, our daughter is brave.  She is suffering greatly but is being stoic about it.  She lives far away from us and has been a joy for us.  So yes,  this hurts us and we are very worried for her.

4 minutes ago, remydiva said:

!
 ‘We are out closeto $50k at least from Princess’

I take my hat off to you for your patience to wait for that much ; for me it’s a fraction but as I’ve said before, given the extraordinary circumstances I am prepared to be patient.
60 24/7 days isnt up until May 11. 60 M-F biz days not up until June. 
All this social isolation is hard on everyone and it’s just SEEMS longer we’ve been waiting .. and we all are disappointed since most of us would have been cruising right now. I think I would have been in the Azores today. 😞

Yes, it is alot.  We are trying to be patient as these are exceptionally tuff times.  We asked for option 2.  Trying to put things into perspective. Our daughter, who has lupus, is having difficulty getting her meds due to what she is on that gives her no side effects, in demand for corona treatment, so she is having flares now.