YORKI1

Our June European river cruise was cancelled in April and for various reasons did not want a future cruise voucher, or wait 23 months for a refund. We requested an immediate full refund. Emerald advised us that the cruise was suspended not cancelled, really and therefore we not entitled to a refund. We asked again for a refund and pointed out that we were legally entitled to one within 14 days and if they did not comply with our request we would take legal action.
 

We have now received our refund.

On 4/24/2020 at 6:41 PM, Canal archive said:

I’m wondering if the regulations are different in the U.K. or there are no Brits travelling on Scenic as there seems to be none joining this discussion. CA

Scenic cruises can be booked in the U.K, although I have never seen them marketed in this country. I believe Scenic are the parent company of Emerald which are heavily marketed in the U.K. Perhaps that is the reason not many Brits are joining this discussion.

5 hours ago, Herman The Cat said:

 

And their response? 

 

No response yet. If I have not heard from my travel agent by the 1 May I will give them a call.

20 hours ago, wowzz said:

I can imagine there might be an issue if a refund was credited to your card, after the statement date.  You would still have to pay the amount as per the statement as the refund would then be used as a contra for the following month,  if that makes sense. 

Yes it does.

Thank you.

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

If you have, say,  £2000 outstanding on your credit card, and receive £3000 refund, the refund will be used to clear the debt, thus leaving you in a credit position of £1000    on your card.

I may be wrong, but I don’t think this is correct. I am sure I thought this would happen once, when I received a refund, but it didn’t and I was charged debit interest because I had not made a payment.

My advice would be to check with your credit card provider.

7 hours ago, texasstar said:

Johartrog, Please report back and let us know the outcome.  We also had a Scenic cruise booked and have been told they will only offer a 110% FCC, and no refunds unless you wait until Dec. 2022.  The 110% FCC is really not 10% extra, because they have raised the price for the same category and even with the discount it will cost us $300 more. 

If you are entitled to a refund ask for one.

8 hours ago, Coral said:

Doesn't the British Government have protection that would allow a refund if it is a travel advisory to the destination? I thought I read this earlier.

Yes. It is called ABTA or ATOL protection, it covers most package holidays, although not all bookings are covered. Sadly many holiday providers are trying to ignore the rules at the moment by insisting people accept FCC, when they are entitled to a refund. I am having the same problem.

29 minutes ago, Johartrog said:

My cruise company is Scenic and I booked direct.  So far I have only had emails from them. I think a phone call is now due.

If you want a refund that is what you should ask for.

1 hour ago, Johartrog said:

Thanks for your responses. Our cruise is 26 days away so I am getting anxious that they won't formally cancel the cruise and

that means any cancellation on my part will bring the loss of deposit into play. Our strategy was to wait for cancellation but

it is looking less likely by the day. 

Johartrog,
 

Who are you sailing with? 
 

Did you book direct or via a travel agent?

8 hours ago, coevan said:

My T.A. says let them cancel and you will have better options. Ama also offered 115% FCC. Our cruise is July 20 and final payment is due May 20. We will wait and see if we know more.

Yes you should wait until the cruise line cancels.

This topic is from people who have had their cruise cancelled by the cruise line, or as the cruise lines like to call it “suspension”.
 

19 minutes ago, Johartrog said:

Our cruise in May has been "suspended" and a credit has been offered. Is this a way the cruise company is avoiding paying a refund by not "cancelling"? We would prefer a refund at this stage although we are very happy with the cruise company and will book again at some time. They are saying cancelling will be under normal T&Cs which means we could lose our deposit. It is quite evident that the cruise will not take place but we can't go anyway as we are over 70 and vulnerable etc but certainly can't afford to lose a substantial deposit.  Any advice appreciated. 

Emerald Waterways have “suspended” my June Danube cruise and have offered me a future cruise credit. I told Emerald, via my travel agent, you have cancelled my cruise and I expect a full refund.

3 hours ago, Denarius said:

An interesting one.

Coaches meet the charter flights on the tarmac and transport you to the port where they take you direct to the onshore embarkation facility, from which you board the ship for the first time. You go through security there rather than on the ship. Once onboard, you are free to go ashore and to the shops in the terminal building. On returning to the ship, you go through the same building and security as those embarking the ship for the first time and the security people will not know or care to which group you belong; you show your pass on entering the facility and on boarding the ship, not in security itself. So if you return with a bottle you will be able to take it onto the ship unimpeded as the onboard desk for surrendering illicit booze does not operate on embarkation days.

Thank you, that’s helpful.

55 minutes ago, happy v said:

Suit yourself then! I don't care, I was just trying to be helpful.

It is not helpful to give incorrect advise.

13 hours ago, happy v said:

Yes but once you are in the duty free you have already checked in so anything you buy is not counted.

Rubbish. It’s a hand luggage allowance for the flight and anything you buy in duty free should be within the allowance. For various reasons this is not generally enforced when you board the aircraft, although I have seen people that have gone over the top in duty free and have had there hand luggage placed in the hold.

56 minutes ago, Hobson1754 said:

No I don’t think so - coach from the airport pulls up at ship & you need to pass through security with your hand luggage. What about buying Champagne at airport duty free before you fly?  We looked at duty free shops at Barbados port & didn’t find them cheap!

Thank you. I will probably have to buy at the airport before we fly. Problem is we are only allowed 1 x 5k of hand luggage each and depending on how full the flight is this allowance is enforced. 

Just to clarify, time is not the issue. 

According to P & O, “each passenger aged 18 and older can bring with them 1 litre of alcohol as they embark the ship for the first time only”.

Is it possible to visit the shops before I board the ship for the first time?

Thank you.

We fly with Tui to Barbados on Saturday for a 14 night cruise on Britannia. Can I visit the shops, in the port area, to buy champagne before boarding the ship?

Thank you.

My issue with booking a tour is that they hardly give you any time in Rhodes. Maybe we will just walk the town on our own. Any particular places we should check out?

I didn’t suggest booking a tour of Rhodes, I said “think about doing a walking tour of Rhodes town”. There is so much to see in Rhodes town it is impossible to see it all in one day. Consider visiting the Street of the Knights, Knights Quarter, Palace of the Grand Master, Archaeological Museum, etc etc. Have a look online or buy a guide book this should help you decide what interests you most.

Hi!

We are sailing this same cruise for our 10 year anniversary too next month! Congrats on your anniversary by the way! :)

 

We planned excursions in every port except Rhodes and Crete. I think in Rhodes we are going to head to Elli Beach - apparently it's not far from the ship dock and supposed to be nice.

 

What did you do in Rhodes and Crete? Any suggestions for us? I agree, the time in Crete is minimal so I'm wondering if we should even bother getting off the ship or just make it a spa day! LOL

 

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Hi KPRH921,

Rhodes in an amazing and beautiful island, in my opinion it would be a shame to spend all day on a beach. Think about doing a walking tour of Rhodes town, maybe hire a guide as there is so much history in the city. The ships dock just a few steps from Rhodes town, so if you get too hot and tired you can easily nip back to your ship.

Apparently, HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) is now refusing to accept credit cards for payment of taxes. :D

Interesting, one person posts that you have to disimbark, the other that you do not have to disimbark.

I am doing a similar cruise in January 2018.

The round one looks like a Europea socket.

You are talking about 10 square feet, which us about the size of a bath mat! Seriously, life is too short to worry about this.

I included the size of the cabin for information only. My question related to the bathrooms.

I am considering an EF balcony cabin on E deck:

E7 has a shower only and measures 266 sq ft

E14 has a shower over a bath and measures 256 sq ft

In my mind having a bath would indicate that the bathroom is bigger than normal. Is this a reasonable assumption?

Any other information on EF cabins would be appreciated.

I have previously cruised on the Azura, Oceana and Eclipse.

Thank you.

11 Friends of mine were on the same Crown cruise as you and I know at least 2 of them were having more than 1 entree in the MDR regularly without problems.