BP99

5 hours ago, Sam.Seattle said:

And I continue to be amazed!!!!  My April 12th cruise was cancelled and I am still waiting for over $4,700 to be retuned to me.

Hi,

Don't be too "amazed". I am still waiting for an April 5 cruise. But it's "only" been

74 days since I applied for a refund! I'm waiting for it and the following (B2B) and

have $10K invested. After 2 months they did the trick (which happened to many) and

gave me FCC instead of a refund. After several (many) complaints to my TA and 

Celebrity they decided to change it to a refund but my reward would be waiting

longer. I think you are punished if you complain and go to the bottom of the pile.

2 hours ago, onyourmark said:

Cruise date May 11 on Solstice Hawaii to Vancouver.  Celebrity cancelled in the second announcement of suspensions and we selected full credit vie email link on March 24.  I made a screen shot of the instant confirmation, but didn't get any subsequent email for that.

After a few weeks they still sent FCC.  My emails to have this corrected were ignored.  Finally called Captain Club on May 15, and she had someone from Accounting call me back and got FCC changed to a Refund. She said it should be another week or less.

Full refund finally appeared on the credit card, dated May 19 and posted May 21.  It is in 4 amounts showing the initial deposit, taxes, interim and final payment.  The details show Celebrity, Paris France.  (I suppose that's where they consolidate their international credit card processing.)

 

  

Hi,

You are very lucky!! Many (like you and me) asked for a refund BUT got FCC

after waiting close to 2 months (applied March 15). They are doing this trick

to prevent giving cash refunds. I also complained to Celebrity (twice) and 

my TA (twice). They said they would change it. Sill waiting 2 weeks. It could

also be a bit more complicated because it was 2 cruises (B2B) and would

require them to refund more cash then they would like.

18 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Today I see credits for our April 5th sailing that Celebrity notified me they cancelled on March 13.  I used the link in the email and requested a refund on March 14.  I had booked via a travel agent; I did not involve them in the refund request.  That balance is exactly what was due.  However, for a March 29 cruise Celebrity cancelled on March 13 that I requested a refund for on March 16....for that one I received several credits on April 29 but they were $148.68 short.  After a couple of weeks I called Celebrity and they told me they could not discuss the refund with me as I booked via a travel agent.  I sent my TA an email today and hopefully that will be resolved too.  

 

So much for the theory that they only process refunds on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Hi,

I think? I booked the same cruise as you (Silhouette April 5th).

I did EXACTLY what you did. Applied for 100% refund, online form that was emailed

to me, did not use my TA etc.

This week after 56 days the sent me FCC NOT a refund!

You were very fortunate and one of the few LUCKY ones.

Most who filled out the online form got FCC.

As I mentioned earlier, I think the refund department get bonuses

if the screw up and delay giving refunds!! (I have my tinfoil hat on)

Yes, I now contacted my TA and have be rewarded by waiting longer!

On 5/15/2020 at 12:44 AM, az_tchr said:

Should be able to do through your TA - I did - or via an email or online to Celebrity.  My refund request ended up being a FCC as well.  My TA fixed it quickly.

Hi,

Thanks for your post. 

You said "My TA fixed it quickly". Does that mean you got a refund quickly?

My TA also fixed it quickly BUT I am being punished with waiting again.

I see many are now getting refunds for much later cruises. But...

Again, are they doing ANYTHING to stall some payments? I'm waiting

for $10K? Do they get rewarded (bonuses) for errors and making people wait?

I hate to be sceptical but many are being subjected to their errors.

1 hour ago, barb-ottawa said:

It's good to see that some people are seeing the refunds on their credit cards. I understand completely that it is going to take some time to clear all the accounts. But I find it frustrating to hear that people whose cruises were in April and May are getting their refunds and I have yet to see anything from my March 23rd cruise. What possible criteria are they using to issue refunds if not by date?

Hi,

It could be that they did not process it as a refund. I was waiting 55 days for

a refund and was wondering the same thing (why are others getting money

for latter cruises). Well, this week the sent me a FCC certificate, NOT a refund

that I requested. They have done this TRICK to MANY!! I think? they are taking

their time (at least longer) for FCC.

Contact them (or your TA) by email or phone to make sure before you wait LONGER!

The Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) invested 1 Billion into RCL last year.

Lost about $750 million so far. Luckily for Pensioners that was only

a small portion of our fund. CPP is somewhat like Social Security in USA.

We pay into it when we work but it's definitely not enough to survive on 

if it's you only source of money.

22 minutes ago, tiggy85 said:

Still waiting...

 

I cancelled our cruise on March 23rd and was told the refund would take 7-10 days. Nothing.
 

I called back April 6th and was told it actually takes 14 days. Nothing.

 

I called back April 21st and was told it actually takes 30 calendar days and I should see the refund within the week. Nothing.

 

I called back May 6th and was told that my booking was sent for an automatic refund on 3/24 BUT the system was overloaded and it just kinda of “sat there”. Apparently when I called on 4/21 the agent realized it was sitting there (Didn’t tell me anything) and “manually pushed it through to the accounting department”.
 

My new estimated refund date is May 22nd. If I don’t have my refund by then I will contact my bank and see if they can make any progress. It’s not a whole lot of money but it’s my money and I’d like to be done with all the follow up calls and account monitoring. 
 

For reference, I was supposed to be on the April 25th Summit cruise out of San Juan.

Hi,

Your story sounds similar to most of us. Many are still waiting for refunds

for March cruises (when Celebrity started cancelling). I was waiting for

a refund for a April 5 cruise (filed on March 14). A few days ago they sent

me a FCC certificate NOT a refund. So, after 2 months I have t start

the wait again!! In your phone calls did you specify a REFUND? 

I think they use REFUND and FCC interchangeably!! 

I filled out the 100% refund online on March 15th.

Yesterday (after 55 days) they sent me an email giving me FCC

instead of a REFUND.

I have seen them do this trick with others on these boards.

They will do ANYTHING to prevent you from get your money

back!!

Now do I have to wait hours on the phone to months to FIX this??

Got an email from Celebrity today.

Instead of 100% cash refund they gave me FCC.

It was for an April 5th cruise that was cancelled by them.

I applied online for a 100% refund on March 14.

After >55 days waiting I get FCC instead of a refund.

I have read on these boards that they have done this

trick to others.

After I complain, do I have wait another 2 months???

I think they will do anything possible to avoid giving refunds.

I'm UPSET!!!!

1 hour ago, zekekelso said:

Just me, but I really hate that name. 

If they keep holding up our money they could

call it "Refund of the Seas".

7 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

I never said they should not refund the money.

Sorry. From your opening statement, I wasn't sure what you meant.

You were quoting and thinking about what others have posted but

I misinterpreted where you stand.

5 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Yes, I haven't said it, but all of these posts made me think of the people on here who are always saying "If you're having to budget that closely you shouldn't be cruising." and lecturing about having enough savings in case of emergency.

 

And I'm pretty sure that some who have done the chastising previously are among those freaking out that they haven't gotten their money back yet.

Yes, most of us that can afford 3-5 cruises a year will still survive if we never see

our money again. HOWEVER, I worked long and hard for most of my life and for many

years saved for being able to enjoy my retirement. I still can't throw my money away!

Also supporting Billion dollar companies with a donation is not my idea of fun!

8 hours ago, heakja said:

Same here. For my cancelled May 1 cruise I have gotten two odd amounts refunded to the creditcard used for the deposit. Still nothing on the card used for final payment. Should.I expect the rest to pop up the next weeks? My TA is less helpsome and Celebrity points to him.   

Hi.

I would be extremely happy to get odd amounts!! I like most have NO amounts.

Waiting for refunds for April 5 and april 17 cruise.

Many are still waiting for mid March cruises. Is there any order to refunds?

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Not much goodwill in the  world of X...sorry to say!. Refunds have been very slow coming,..and no mercy shown  for those who goofed in their timing or strategy,

 

We took the Cruise With Confidence deal....50% refund and 50% future cruise credit. This was okay for us at the time b/c we had several  booked future X cruises  for which we believed we could apply the credit.   We accepted the deal  BEFORE  they implemented the " Fit to Cruise" requirement  which would have effectively banned us.   Although the note is no longer required, we are unsure if folks with certain conditions  like diabetes will be accepted to sail once cruises start again. ...So our fcc may be worthless  because we have no idea how they will determine who can cruise.  We hope we can use our fcc for our one remaining X booking. Not booking any more til we know the rules

 

I recently  read on CC that  final payments  ( some quite large) must be paid for cruises that are likely to be cancelled.  Then X cancels after final payment date, and  folks must  wait for refunds of very large amounts.  Seems a bit cagey!

Not quite goodwill!

I AGREE!

That's why WE cancelled three September cruises. We are still waiting for refunds for

two April cruises (April 5 and 17) for > 50 days. Latest posts indicate that Celebrity

needs 80 days (not 30 like they said) to refund. By making final payment for

our three September cruises (even though there is an excellent chance they may

never sail- one from Vancouver) would be a HUGE gamble of never seeing

our big money again. Yes, many say they have a lot of funds BUT they have

lots if expenses. If they can't refund NOW on time what will it look like in September?

Still waiting for a 100% refund for April 5 and April 17 Silhouette cruises (B2B).

After waiting more that 50 days, I contacted Celebrity by email for information

on the delay.

They responded that it would take 2 weeks to RESPOND to my email.

4 minutes ago, Tangiera said:

Our April 5 Silhouette cruise was cancelled by Celebrity on March 14. I filled out the on-line form that day, requesting a full refund. Unfortunately, their system does not send any sort of confirmation. On March 30, I received an email stating that we would be receiving FCC for a fraction of the amount. After a few attempts at calling, I reached a very nice CSR who corrected the error. It seems some computer geek tried to help with the huge volume by running a program to make mass changes in their system, resulting in mass errors in many folks' accounts. That sure didn't help the call volume that ensued. I requested and received an email confirmation on April 1 that a credit would be processed, please allow 30 BUSINESS days. A former employer of mine used the 30 "business day" payment term, which usually equates to 45 days. I am guessing that the computer error above reset the clock on my refund by two weeks. It's now past the 30 calendar-type days from April 1, but longer since the initial refund request was made. I did receive a credit for around $262 a week ago, which I assume was for port taxes and fees. Hopefully, the somewhat larger amount of the cruise itself will follow.

Hi,

Sorry to hear this.

However, it is one of the most creative excuses I've read on these boards

over the last few weeks. They must be thinking really hard on how to 

tell customers that they are stalling to release refunds. A billion dollar

company hires a computer geek! Yea really?

1 minute ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Any type of refund I have ever had with any type of business or service the amount of time stated to receive the refund has been in BUSINESS days. That is not new and should not be a surprise.

However, they are open 24/7 for bookings. They also charge your credit card 24/7.

Yes it's not a surprise, BUT many (like me) are at day 35 (Business) and at

49 days (calendar). The MAJOR reason is stalling due to lack of funds.

40 minutes ago, eaflorida said:

On March 23rd, Royal canceled my Vision of the Seas transatlantic. On March 24th, I filled out the online request for electing to receive a cash refund. Today is May 2nd, and still no refund of my cruise fare. I am frustrated, but what can you do? Hopefully it shows up soon. Its been 40 days so far. 

 

 

Hi,

As far as i can tell from reading the boards, MOST Royal/Celebrity/Azamara cruisers 

are still waiting. I'm at day 49. I've only seen a few people from Mid March getting

refunds. Some still waiting for late March sailings. No where close to the 30 days

(or they meant 30 business days) that they said. They are stalling big time.

They are sending me email ads each day to book a cruise. They need people

to book so they can refund some of us. My MAJOR hope is to get refunded

before they go bankrupt. Their excuses for stalling are quite interesting.

7 hours ago, nps001 said:

Just a few points:    Don't know if any of you read the CC post but Celebrity is actually quoting 30 BUSINESS days for refunds and is one of the shortest times.   Some cruise lines are quoting 90 days for refunds.

 

As crazy as it sounds, credit card numbers are not permitted to be emailed which is why banks require a fax versus email.   It sounds crazy that a fax laying around is more secure than an email but if you've ever deal with a doctor regarding specific medial conditions or advice, they do the same---fax only, no fax.

Hi,

I filled out the online form for 2 cruises (first & second wave of Celebrity cancelled

cruises). After the form was done it said I would receive a refund in 30 days.

THEY did NOT say 30 BUSINESS days! I took a screen shot. ALSO the 

letter sent by the Celebrity CEO also said 30 days NOT BUSINESS days.

YES, there is a difference between calendar and business days BUT THEY

did NOT specify! It was their agreement to refund us in 30 days. We didn't

make this up! It's in writing from them. 

15 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Are their phones rotary dial?  Seriously, it's hard to believe in this day and age that fax or snail mail are the only options. Oh well...

It's like they want to make it difficult to apply for a refund (dispute).

Sound like somebody else you know?

Maybe their commodore 64's don't accept emails?

2 minutes ago, webecruzin2 said:

Well right at this very moment we should be at the airport waiting to  board our flight to SJU for a 2 night stay before our 7 night Summit cruise with our daughter and her family 😩
Our X PCC confirmed cancelation and my refund request on March 24th and said everything would be refunded within 3 weeks.
Two days ago after one short message to X,  I received a call back almost immediately from a rep in Kansas City MO who says she works "hand in hand" with Lisa Lutoff-Perlo and that my refunds should be received within 10 days to 2 weeks.
She explained the process to me and it's basically what we've all heard before, call me naïve but I had faith in what she said.  
This morning I received notice that our shore excursions refunds had been processed.
I have to say I was very impressed with the handling of my query and the quick response from Celebrity.
Everyone sit tight,  we'll start seeing our refunds shortly. 🙂


 

Hi,

Hope your right!

However, many on these boards (incl RCL boards) have yet to see 100%

refunds for March cruises that were cancelled (by the cruise lines). YES

they are trained to give you nice excuses but...

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

That must be what happens if you try to push too many dollar bills through one of those tiny little fiber optic cables. 🤣🤣

 

Just for kicks, I might have stayed on the line until someone could give me a technical explanation of how the system got "overwhelmed".  I think I would have been on the line a while.

LOL!

The major issue is the Commodore 64 (or VIC 20) that they use.

51 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

Good news for us.  Our Mar 15 cruise was refunded in full yesterday to Amex.  We received the taxes Apr 1.  We had originally booked through Celebrity and then switched to a TA.  The refund came from Celebrity, so this may answer some peoples' questions.  Nothing, not even taxes, for the Mar 30 cruise which was a B2B.   Maybe because it is charged to a CDN card?  I hope everyone soon has their money.

Hi,

Great to hear!

However, was that a 100% refund for the cruise portion?

Or refund with FCC?

Thanks

22 hours ago, MoniMommy said:

I am waiting for the return of a deposit. Thats probably just one bucket.  Still haven't seen a refund.

Hi,

I hope my bucket isn't labelled "TRASH", or "DREAMERS", or "FORGET ABOUT IT"

8 minutes ago, skywonder said:

Almost the same garbage story I was given. The first rep we called told us it was processed but the credit card has to release it.  The second rep said it was showing processed but was waiting for release by RCCL. They said it would be a day or two. That was over a week and a half ago. They are flat out lying!!!

Hi,

Yes, they are using a multitude of excuses (most are lies) for not giving

refunds.