Explorer Cancellation 7820 and 7821

One can always ask. Whether or not one receives is another matter. I could be wrong, but would expect a reply (from SS to a request for full reimbursement of such out of pocket expenses), in essence stating -

 

"We (SS) called your airline(s) and hotel(s). We are sorry to inform you they will not waive your non-refundable cancellation/change fees. Sorry... you should have bought travel insurance."

 

EDIT:

... and of course insurance will not pay because cancellation of the trip by the operator is not a 'covered reason'. ;)

I hope rojaan19 and drron29, indeed anyone else affected, is able to let us know if they are able to transfer the fcc to an existing booking and get a full reimbursement of their non-recoverable expenses. We shall see.

We shall see…

Indeed we shall , the outcome will be interesting.

I opine that this scenario is just another tick in the "have a good ta" box.

TM and tgh - We will keep CC in the loop ! And yes we have a good TA, we have used the same one for over 15 years and they are Virtuoso as well. We have booked all the cruises through them. Ron is making a list of our expenses ( and checking it twice !)

TM and tgh - We will keep CC in the loop ! And yes we have a good TA, we have used the same one for over 15 years and they are Virtuoso as well. We have booked all the cruises through them. Ron is making a list of our expenses ( and checking it twice !)

He'll find out who has been naughty and who has been nice!

I have submitted my list of out of pocket expenses to Silversea so will report back when I get a response. The email indicated that they would meet pre-cruise cost, however I have included post cruise costs as well - after all I wouldn't have been on Easter Island and needing flights from there if not for the cruise which they have now cancelled.

I also received the 'official cancellation email' yesterday - twice!

I have submitted my list of out of pocket expenses to Silversea so will report back when I get a response. The email indicated that they would meet pre-cruise cost, however I have included post cruise costs as well - after all I wouldn't have been on Easter Island and needing flights from there if not for the cruise which they have now cancelled.

 

I also received the 'official cancellation email' yesterday - twice!

Arguably your "pre-cruise" costs were all costs you incurred pre ie before the cancelled cruise, ;)

The use of language is avoidably ambiguous. The word refund is used in one context but bewilderingly assisting in mitigating when it comes to refunding nonrefundable consequential incurred expenses ie

"In addition to providing a full refund for your cruise as well as assisting in mitigating cancellation fees for air and land arrangements not made with Silversea"

Good luck.

Excellent point. I just rechecked the wording in the email I received and the reference is to pre-cruise hotel nights. This is why I felt it was only referring to pre-cruise costs, rather than all costs incurred before the cruise was canceled.

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It is bewildering that nonrefundable pre-cruise nights are specified but not nonrefundable post-cruise nights. I see no difference of principle.

Does that imply they will only refund non-refundable flight costs to the cruise but not the return flights to get you home from the cruise?

It is bewildering that nonrefundable pre-cruise nights are specified but not nonrefundable post-cruise nights. I see no difference of principle.

 

Does that imply they will only refund non-refundable flight costs to the cruise but not the return flights to get you home from the cruise?

That was how I interpreted the information I was given. However as I mentioned I disagreed with that interpretation and sent all costs to Silversea, both pre and post cruise. I was actually lucky that my flight IPC - SCL was fully refundable and my flight SCL - SYD was an award flight, so I just lost some points on that cancellation. Explora was refundable with the exception of a 3% reimbursement fee, and I passed this cost along to Silversea.

I await their response ....

Well the cancellation email said any Silversea cruise before April 1 2019 was eligible for the 25% discount.I am sure if SS deny us that the small claims tribunal will find them liable seeing the language they used in their email.

As usual about 2 months out I check all our hotel reservations for the upcoming trip and if the price has fallen then lock in a non cancellable rate.So there are some that SS is going to pay for,see above for what will happen if they don't.

I am being kind to SS as if we change our airline bookings now they will be up for a few thousand dollars but we are salvaging part of the trip and so changing dates after our trip commences will result in change fees less than $A500.

Also if SS does not meet our costs it will not only be CC that hears about it.

Update.have received the refund from SS for the cancelled cruise.However less than the amount we paid.

No decision yet on our other expenses or whether we get the 25% discount on the Muse cruise.

They refunded you less than the amount you paid?

Can I ask why you received a lesser refund amount than you paid? I am expecting a full refund.

I have been told verbally that my other costs (airfare, hotels) have been approved for refund, but haven’t seen any money yet.

I have no idea.The funds just turned up on my Amex card.I presume because Silversea transacts mainly in USD and the different amount is because of currency fluctuations.However we booked with our TA who deals with the Sydney office and we were billed and paid in AUD.

They must read CC.All good now!

I was thinking that it must have been some behind-the-scenes currency conversion. Glad they made it right!

They must read CC.All good now!

Bout time.

Glad you got it sorted drron

I have been advised that the other expenses will be reimbursed by the Monaco office and will take 3 - 4 weeks to be processed. Refunds will be to bank account only, no credit cards.

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I wish they had reimbursed the cruise fare to my bank account rather than my Amex.A couple of First class air awards just disappeared.:loudcry:

I wish they had reimbursed the cruise fare to my bank account rather than my Amex.A couple of First class air awards just disappeared.:loudcry:

Oh, that is annoying! I was asked to provide a credit card for the refund, so I provided a different card for that very reason.

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It is weird that a well-ordered company would take a refund route that appears to forgo both credit card charge rebates and TA commissions for the SS chargeable elements.

Unless that is there is a misunderstanding and that only non SS refund items will (obviously) be refunded directly to a bank account and all other direct SS refunds will simply take the normal credit card / TA account reversal route.

Credit card processing is quite strict in the UK. Under our merchant agreement any refund made against a purchase made on a card MUST only be refunded to that same card (or it’s replacement) and MUST NOT be refunded by any other means. Maybe SS have different card processing agreements.

Exactly.

The credit card company is jointly responsible and is only released from liability once a transaction is reversed and a refund has been made. This is to avoid customers receiving a refund AND making a Section 75 claim.

I have been advised that the other expenses will be reimbursed by the Monaco office and will take 3 - 4 weeks to be processed. Refunds will be to bank account only, no credit cards.

 

 

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They should only process refunds to the original card zigtraveller. it might be different in Oz but in the uk anything that you didn’t pay them for directly ie you paid for a hotel or airline directly but they are reimbursing you can’t be refunded through a card.

Got to laugh... I received the silver box for this voyage today :)