Trip cancelled after refund period but Princess gave full refund

[KyRoamer]

Less than three weeks before my scheduled Ruby Princess cruise I developed a serious back condition. I keep hoping it would improve but five days pre-cruise I notified Princess that I had to cancel. i was told that my agent needed to cancel the trip.

 

Before I could reach my agent, Princess called to say the cruise was oversold and if I confirmed cancellation I would get a full refund! My agent called me and I confirmed. Now, I am just waiting for the credit to show on my credit card.

 

I was not concerned as I had trip insurance but the paper work could be a hassle. I figured that Princess would just resell the room and keep the money. I was surprised, shocked even, that Princess on its own without urging from me did the right thing.

 

So often travel companies stick with their refund policies even if they are able to resell the seat, cabin or room. When was the last time an airline or hotel said that it was oversold and refunded a nonrefundable fare or room payment?

 

Princess has certainly earned my loyalty even though the sole financial beneficiary of its generousity was my trip insurer. Delta too gets a big thank you as I was flying on frequent flyer miles and it waived $300 in redeposit fees.

 

So often people complain, I thought Priness and Delta deserved public recognition.

[bhopal21]

Great news! Good for you.

 

I hope your back problems improve just as well.

 

Mike:)

[Toto2Kansas]

Good for you! I have heard of this happening before, and although you can never count on a cruise being overbooked, sometimes it really works out to your benefit.

[Druke I]

Very nice that it was resolved in this manner.

[jagoffee]

Congratulations. Thank you for taking the time to post. Great to hear about everything working out. Good luck with your back.

[Pam in CA]

Glad this worked out for you but boy, were you lucky! I hope others don't count on this happening.

[Woobstr112G]

Less than three weeks before my scheduled Ruby Princess cruise I developed a serious back condition. I keep hoping it would improve but five days pre-cruise I notified Princess that I had to cancel. i was told that my agent needed to cancel the trip.

 

Before I could reach my agent, Princess called to say the cruise was oversold and if I confirmed cancellation I would get a full refund! My agent called me and I confirmed. Now, I am just waiting for the credit to show on my credit card.

 

I was not concerned as I had trip insurance but the paper work could be a hassle. I figured that Princess would just resell the room and keep the money. I was surprised, shocked even, that Princess on its own without urging from me did the right thing.

 

So often travel companies stick with their refund policies even if they are able to resell the seat, cabin or room. When was the last time an airline or hotel said that it was oversold and refunded a nonrefundable fare or room payment?

 

Princess has certainly earned my loyalty even though the sole financial beneficiary of its generousity was my trip insurer. Delta too gets a big thank you as I was flying on frequent flyer miles and it waived $300 in redeposit fees.

 

So often people complain, I thought Priness and Delta deserved public recognition.

 

Glad everything worked out for you.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Colo Cruiser]

A great ending.

[KyRoamer]

I did get lucky. Don't count on luck. Always buy trip insurance. I use Travelex Select through insuremytrip dot com. Many of its coverages are primary and that simplifies claims. I avoid using the ship's because several years ago a lot of people got burned when their cruise line went bust. Doubt that is much of a risk at Princess.

 

Do you all recommend third party coverage or coverage from Princess?

[MaryPoppinz]

Nice to hear something that worked out for everyone involved!

 

Hope you improve quickly and are able to reschedule!

 

(We use Princess' platinum....or rather, we buy it. We've never *used* it.)

[sunsetbeachgal]

Glad it all worked out, and hoping your back condition improves. It is nice to read a story with a satisfactory ending for everyone-so many times on these boards we hear those complaining about Princess not refunding their money when cancellations are made for a variety of reasons, and in many cases they did not even have travel insurance or do the research like you obviously did.

[Colo Cruiser]

I did get lucky. Don't count on luck. Always buy trip insurance. I use Travelex Select through insuremytrip dot com. Many of its coverages are primary and that simplifies claims. I avoid using the ship's because several years ago a lot of people got burned when their cruise line went bust. Doubt that is much of a risk at Princess.

 

Do you all recommend third party coverage or coverage from Princess?

 

 

We like to use Princess coverage.

[Coolmama_1]

Glad it all worked out for you!

[unboringuy]

A few years ago I had to cancel for a reason not covered by insurance (this was before the "cancel for any reason" option was available). The ship was oversold. Princess did not make me the same offer, unfortunately, so I simply forfeited my cruise fare.

 

We purchase the Princess platinum coverage, primarily because it contains the "cancel for any reason" coverage.

[DavidsNana]

We had just the opposite happen to us. My husband had to have emergency surgery 10 days prior to our cruise and 4-6 weeks daily IV antibiotic treatments. We found out here on cruise critic that our cruise was oversold also but Princess told our agent that we had to file for our insurance 1st and then if denied, they will give us a credit under the "cancel for any reason" clause (we are elite so have platinum coverage). No problem, just some paperwork on our part and the doctor's part but would have been much easier your way. Also, some of our air was with American Airlines miles and they also charged us the reinstatement fee. Good for Princess and Delta for treating you well. Wish we would have had such good luck.

[Toto2Kansas]

I wonder if they take you up on the cancellation IF they actually need your stateroom category for the oversold sailing, and that might not be why some are able to do this while others are not? OR, just the timing jives????????????? Guess we will never know for sure. :confused:

[TracieABD]

Whew! Glad it all worked out for you!:)

[montgomeryfamily]

So often travel companies stick with their refund policies even if they are able to resell the seat, cabin or room. When was the last time an airline or hotel said that it was oversold and refunded a nonrefundable fare or room payment?

 

In our case, it certainly was not Princess. :( I'm happy that it worked out for you and that Princess refunded your money, but I agree with the others who have posted that you were lucky because Princess often (or perhaps "usually" would be more accurate) does not refund any monies even when they can and do resell the stateroom.

 

Last year over Thanksgiving, my DB was hospitalized and the doctor informed us that recovery would be at least 6-8 weeks, and no travel before that time. On the following Monday I called Princess to reschedule our cruise, as we had booked directly with Princess. I was informed that the final payment date was the day before, and I had missed that deadline by ONE DAY, so even though we were rescheduling for another cruise (for a time period of approximately four months later), we would lose our deposit and I would have to put another deposit down for the rescheduled cruise. Even talking to a supervisor didn't help as the supervisor was firm that there were no exceptions.

 

I actually was not surprised by Princess' attitude in this regard, as approximately four years before that I had to cancel a Princess cruise within ten days of sailing, as my son was hospitalized with an antibiotic resistant staph infection and was critically ill. I know that this cruise was oversold as several on our roll call received move-over offers. We had not received such an offer and Princess refused to extend that offer to us. I had to file to recover the costs through our trip insurance--a task made more difficult to deal with since I first had to deal with my son's funeral.

 

So I have yet to enjoy any compassion by Princess in regard to cancelling/rescheduling cruises. So while I am glad that you received consideration in your situation, I cannot concur as to their generousity. I posted of our experiences because I wanted to accord Princess equal public recognition for the situations we experienced.

[iv18-Diane]

Good for you! I have heard of this happening before, and although you can never count on a cruise being overbooked, sometimes it really works out to your benefit.

 

Hi, nice meeting you on the Emerald, it seems so long ago. My husband was not feeling so good on the cruise, and when we returned home, his doctor sent him to a cardiologist. For a man that was never sick, he now needs a heart transplant. Today, he's recieving a Heart Mate which should take him out of icu, and also the hospital. He's on the 1A list so priority. This device is a stepping stone to a transplant, when a heart becomes available. So far the surgury is going good. They call on a hospital appointed cell phone. I'm glad he made it home before this happened. Fortunatly Nashville has great hospitals.

 

Diane G

[Woobstr112G]

Hi, nice meeting you on the Emerald, it seems so long ago. My husband was not feeling so good on the cruise, and when we returned home, his doctor sent him to a cardiologist. For a man that was never sick, he now needs a heart transplant. Today, he's recieving a Heart Mate which should take him out of icu, and also the hospital. He's on the 1A list so priority. This device is a stepping stone to a transplant, when a heart becomes available. So far the surgury is going good. They call on a hospital appointed cell phone. I'm glad he made it home before this happened. Fortunatly Nashville has great hospitals.

 

Diane G

 

The best wishes for your DH.....:):):)

 

Bob

[ISABELLA]

I am gald it worked for you and I hope your back is better and you can go on another cruise, BUT if the ship was not over sold -they will not refund you money.

It cost company $$$ to " bump" people from one sailing to another by offering VERY good upgrades and very generous OBC. It happened to us once.