Refunds from Oceania

[Paulchili]

7 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

It was the Tokyo-SF segment of the Insignia ATW voyage that had commenced in January.

Thank you.

[bbqoug]

Oceania cancelled our April 1st cruise on March 13th.

We requested the 100% refund option and received a cancellation verification on March 15th.

We also cancelled an excursion for that same cruise on February 28th.

 

We were told it could take up to 90 days to receive our refund for the cruise, but others on our same cruise have already received their refund.

Hopefully we receive our refunds soon.

[amusea]

Very recently I cancelled my July Oceania 22 day cruise and requested a refund of 75% since it was during the 25% penalty period.  I asked my cruise agent for the amount of the refund which I had already calculated. She forwarded to me the amount calculated by Oceania and it was less than the 75% I was expecting.  It turns out the reason was that the 'taxes and fees' category was also penalized 25%.  This is in contrast to my cancellation in February of a Seabourn cruise during the 50% penalty period where Seabourn excluded charging any penalty on the 'taxes' and refunded that amount in full. 

[vlthom]

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

FWIW to those who are finding some discrepancy in what is the refund amount you're expecting/getting, recognize a few possible explanations beyond accounting error:

 

If you've cancelled the cruise, remember the penalty deadlines. Also, if you had booked onboard, any bonus SBC you had received will be deducted from your refund (or charged on that CC).

 

If Oceania cancelled, you should be getting the 100% "fare paid" refund promised (yes, that includes port taxes et al fees). But, if you split any payments across multiple CCs, the refunds will go to those multiple cards. And, you may see multiple credits (deposits, visa fees, final pay...). Also, O excursions purchased (beyond O Life) will be a separate refund. Obviously, do ALL the math before getting upset.

 

 

I am still awaiting word from our TA regarding the refunded amounts that we'll receive.  The invoice that was forwarded to me yesterday included an accounting of everything -- pre--paid excursions, deposit, etc, plus the amount going to my credit card.  At the bottom of the tally was a remaining amount, indicating that it was NOT going on my credit card.  My hypothesis after reflecting on this is that the travel agency received their payment from O before we cruised and thus THEY owe the missing balance as O would not be on the hook for it twice.  I don't know that this is the case, but it is what I suspect has occurred.  Realistically though, O has an arrangement with the TA.  They owe me the refund of the full fare, as promised and should be working out the other with the TA.  And perhaps this is how it will all flesh out in the end.  We'll see.

[YoHoHo]

40 minutes ago, amusea said:

Very recently I cancelled my July Oceania 22 day cruise and requested a refund of 75% since it was during the 25% penalty period.  I asked my cruise agent for the amount of the refund which I had already calculated. She forwarded to me the amount calculated by Oceania and it was less than the 75% I was expecting.  It turns out the reason was that the 'taxes and fees' category was also penalized 25%.  This is in contrast to my cancellation in February of a Seabourn cruise during the 50% penalty period where Seabourn excluded charging any penalty on the 'taxes' and refunded that amount in full. 

Oceania listed price includes taxes & port fees. It is one of the things that attracted me to them in the first place. I dislike the surprise of the "required /hidden extras" (i.e. only once have paid so called hotel Resort Fees.)  The price listed (after the reduction from the foolish "brochure price") is the price you pay.

 

Other lines such as Seaborn the taxes & fees are an add-on. Looking at an Alaska cruise for example, price is $5000 and in small print lower down "Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses are additional up to $530". I believe the CLs were forced to either include them or display them early on in the booking process so that the surprise would not come at the end after you were perhaps already hooked.

 

So it makes sense to me that with Seaborn the "fees" are treated differently than with Oceania. This concept has been posted on here previously but in terms of "where is my port charge refund becasue we did not dock in X"

[Pies4u]

We just received notification of our refund for the Marina cruise which was scheduled to commence on Sat 4 April. It is, quite frankly, staggering. It bears no resemblance to any figure that we have actually paid, I have no idea how they arrived at that particular figure. In fact, even the FCC figure barely equates to the basic cruise price we paid. I have no idea what explanation they have for that but Ihave registered a dispute with them and they are, to be fair, saying that they will look into it further. The UK reservations dept do seem to accept that the calculated figure is wrong.

 

I regard 100% refund to amount to the figure that we actually paid to Oceania directly. I can see no reason for them to withhold the monies paid for business class air or the enforced hotel accommodation. None of our contracts are with the airline or hotel, they are directly with Oceania. Offering us a figure that is £5k short of our actual outlay is pretty poor in my view. Very disappointed with that tbh.

 

Hoping for some clarity in the next few days.

[YoHoHo]

31 minutes ago, Pies4u said:

We just received notification of our refund for the Marina cruise which was scheduled to commence on Sat 4 April. It is, quite frankly, staggering. It bears no resemblance to any figure that we have actually paid, I have no idea how they arrived at that particular figure. In fact, even the FCC figure barely equates to the basic cruise price we paid. I have no idea what explanation they have for that but Ihave registered a dispute with them and they are, to be fair, saying that they will look into it further. The UK reservations dept do seem to accept that the calculated figure is wrong.

 

I regard 100% refund to amount to the figure that we actually paid to Oceania directly. I can see no reason for them to withhold the monies paid for business class air or the enforced hotel accommodation. None of our contracts are with the airline or hotel, they are directly with Oceania. Offering us a figure that is £5k short of our actual outlay is pretty poor in my view. Very disappointed with that tbh.

 

Hoping for some clarity in the next few days.

Sorry to read there is a large discrepancy. A couple of things, first off as you are in the UK and different rules that might be part of it and so what I say could be totally off. As to the additional air fee that might be coming separately. I understand in North America they are refunding the cruise fare and then the other charges are refunded, perhaps each of those separately as they each are identified, confirmed and processed.

 

I have cruise, air add-on, and La Reserve to be refunded. I have not seen an accounting and do not anticipate a refund for several months and believe they will arrive a two perhaps three refunds. Hmmm. likely four refunds as the deposit was on a different card than final payment.  Yes, I would feel better if I had a break down of what is to be refunded and when but expect the work to produce that is much of the the same work as to make actual refund.

 

Come back and let us know how it works out once you get the final answer.

[LHT28]

I wonder  even those  taxes & fees are included in the bottom line  if  in the current refunds situation 

they are  handled by different depts for the different payments

 I have seen others  say they got  refund of  Tax/fees 

then another refund for the deposit amount & yet  another refund for the fare

refunds for excursions separately  etc

Just guessing

 It is too bad it could not be all rolled into 1 refund amount

 

[PaulMCO]

Could be they used a different Credit card to charge the original payment.  We got our Shorex and down payment back in two separate payments via Amex and the balance on our VISA.  Excursions are a separate department and profit center , so they are always separate.

[Flatbush Flyer]

8 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Since the FCC is tied to your Oceania account and not to a specific TA, any TA booking a cruise for you should see it. Even if you book the cruise yourself it will become available just like when you are booking a shore excursion with OBC.

I haven't done this with Oceania but I have with another line where FCC was tied to my account but not visible unless you or your TA was booking a cruise.

I may be wrong but, it is my understanding that TAs need to contact O to get the info about FCC info including amounts and book/cruise deadlines. In other words, they do not see your O Club account info.

[Paulchili]

10 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I may be wrong but, it is my understanding that TAs need to contact O to get the info about FCC info including amounts and book/cruise deadlines. In other words, they do not see your O Club account info.

Not sure how they can access it and thus won't speculate but I know that they can see it one way or another.

[sitraveler]

When I bought a FCC, O contacted my TA.   

[Flatbush Flyer]

46 minutes ago, sitraveler said:

When I bought a FCC, O contacted my TA.   

FWIW: a purchased FCC (Certificate), usually obtained onboard is (like any book onboard cruise) assigned to the travel agent you used for that cruise unless you specify that you want it assigned to yourself (so you can shop it around for transfer in the 30 day post-cruise window). The other FCC (Credit) is what's been/being provided to folks affected by Covid-19 related cruise modifications/cancellations. It has different restrictions/conditions and is assigned to your Oceania Club "member account." This one has nothing to do with TAs unless you use it for a booking. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

Not sure how they can access it and thus won't speculate but I know that they can see it one way or another.

See my previous post. There are two kinds of FCC (certificate - basically a deposit on an unspecified cruise AND credit - an IOU+bonus [if you choose it instead of refund] or an "inconvenience" gift accompanying an actual refund).

[Zesty Italian]

Sorry, I have not read this whole series of posts, but it is about refunds.  We were pleasantly surprised to get a refund on our credit card today.  Had a Mar. 31 TA that was cancelled by O and told not to expect refund for 90 days.  The not pleasant part was that we paid almost $900 more than the refund!  It came in 2 payments on same day, but does not add up to our total payment.  We used same credit card, did not have air and only onboard credit that came with O life.  Can't talk to TA till Monday, but wondered if others have answers?

[LHT28]

22 minutes ago, Zesty Italian said:

Sorry, I have not read this whole series of posts, but it is about refunds.  We were pleasantly surprised to get a refund on our credit card today.  Had a Mar. 31 TA that was cancelled by O and told not to expect refund for 90 days.  The not pleasant part was that we paid almost $900 more than the refund!  It came in 2 payments on same day, but does not add up to our total payment.  We used same credit card, did not have air and only onboard credit that came with O life.  Can't talk to TA till Monday, but wondered if others have answers?

Maybe a 3rd refund will still turn up

 From what I am reading here  the deposit $1500 or a discounted rate if you booked onboard  comes from 1 dept

Port fees/taxes comes from another dept

cruise fare (less port fees) come from yet another dept

[Zesty Italian]

That's helpful, maybe port fees and such from another dept.  First refund seemed like deposit, then larger amount, but couldn't come up with third area.

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, Zesty Italian said:

That's helpful, maybe port fees and such from another dept.  First refund seemed like deposit, then larger amount, but couldn't come up with third area.

If you've truly been reading all the posts on this topic, including all the roll calls that started the discussion (Insignia/Nautica February thru May 2020 cruises), you'd know that many of the refunds are in parts spread out over several days.

 

For the umpteenth time: 

 

Most refunds have come separately for deposit, balance, optional purchases (often adjusted to what you actually paid "out of pocket"' after any O Life or O Club SBC applications) separated by credit cards used. Not included are promised TA rebates (now withdrawn). And  note that onboard booking SBC you may have used during the cruise on which you booked the future trip will be charged back to you.

 

Though unusual (at least in the US), remember that, if your payments were made to a TA (for their invoice amount and to their business - instead of directly to Oceania), what you've paid out may include TA fees that Oceania will not reimburse (since they never got them). 

[Zesty Italian]

And I opened with "Sorry, I haven't read all the posts and certainly not all roll calls."  I have read my own roll call and we hadn't gotten refunds before it was taken down.  I appreciate the answers.  If you don't want to repeat, why not just let people do so that aren't bothered by it?

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 minutes ago, Zesty Italian said:

And I opened with "Sorry, I haven't read all the posts and certainly not all roll calls."  I have read my own roll call and we hadn't gotten refunds before it was taken down.  I appreciate the answers.  If you don't want to repeat, why not just let people do so that aren't bothered by it?

Because, if one has "notifications" set for subscribed threads, one's inbox is crammed with all sorts of unnecessary posts resulting from others' lack of simple research.

[bbtondo]

13 hours ago, Zesty Italian said:

And I opened with "Sorry, I haven't read all the posts and certainly not all roll calls."  I have read my own roll call and we hadn't gotten refunds before it was taken down.  I appreciate the answers.  If you don't want to repeat, why not just let people do so that aren't bothered by it?

I appreciate the information you've given.  I am on the second cruise after yours and it gives me hope that I'll get my refund soon.  Remember, there is an ignore button!

[bitob]

22 hours ago, Zesty Italian said:

Sorry, I have not read this whole series of posts, but it is about refunds.  We were pleasantly surprised to get a refund on our credit card today.  Had a Mar. 31 TA that was cancelled by O and told not to expect refund for 90 days.  The not pleasant part was that we paid almost $900 more than the refund!  It came in 2 payments on same day, but does not add up to our total payment.  We used same credit card, did not have air and only onboard credit that came with O life.  Can't talk to TA till Monday, but wondered if others have answers?

Just an Fyi - we got refund for the same cruise and there was no discrepancy.  Something is amiss

[Zesty Italian]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

Just an Fyi - we got refund for the same cruise and there was no discrepancy.  Something is amiss

Thanks to the two above posters.  That's why I gave my info and asked the question so that, if someone was on my cruise, we could share info..  I hope to look into the discrepancy tomorrow.

 

No, I am not willing to read every post or roll call here.  I looked through some that did not answer my specific circumstance.  Do not see the problem with ignoring something that bothers you or answering politely.

[workstocruise]

Zesty Italian-  

 

could you tell me how many weeks it took to get your refund?  Both of them.

[clo]

2 minutes ago, workstocruise said:

Zesty Italian-  

 

could you tell me how many weeks it took to get your refund?  Both of them.

My refund of deposit was a few days. That was a few weeks ago.