MSC refund policy coronavirus

[GatorMomInNC]

5 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

I ve recived my refund for our april 4 TA in the YC, this week. No problem.

The cruise was cancelled from MSC not from us.

When did you request a refund?

 

[Até]

7 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

I ve recived my refund for our april 4 TA in the YC, this week. No problem.

The cruise was cancelled from MSC not from us.

I believe you are in Switzerland with a German booking?  I have not seen any refund reports for the US since mid March.

[Nikita4]

Our TA did it for us. I think on the sail date, but we are from Switzerkand and have a german TA.

And i have two other YC Sailing reservations in July. I will lock how it works for this two sailings, we are speaking about some thousends of Euro for all 3 sailings with 4 Persons...

[GatorMomInNC]

I just called my TA again but I didn't ask her to call MSC again yet - I will wait until Monday or Tuesday.  She said they are seeing things take up to 3 mos.   It is very frustrating because I want to book a new cruise for next year - I am holding off on rebooking all of my flights and everything until I book the cruise.

 

To give you a DIFFERENT customer service experience, Southwest Airlines just called ME to find out if I still intend to travel over Memorial Day weekend since my flight was changed.  I told them that I as going to visit relatives who are self quarantining because they are in their 60s and I'm pretty sure they don't want us to come up there after a plane trip.  They refunded me the money I had paid for early bird; rebanked my points I had used on my son's flight; issued me a travel voucher for my flight (I had used a travel voucher that would have expired in September, they extended it for 2 years).  Also, they have extended my companion pass for another 6 mos.  

[danielbanks]

We were due to leave MIA on 15 March on Meraviglia. UK based with a German TA Vacations at sea. I am not waiting until Jan 2021 for a refund as I work for British Airways and maybe about to lose my job.  Guess another email to try and get them to do something! 

[Seanocelt]

My 8th May YC booking was cancelled by MSC. Spanish agent. Latest from T.A.  is, MSC emphasise rebooks/refunds will be processed properly when the state of emergency in Spain is lifted. I have been livid about the lack of refunds, but i do see some sense in this, as when the initial phase was to expire by June, cancelled guests rebooked for Aug, only to realise even then is unlikely, starting another series of cancellations and attempted rebookings.

 

So, whilst still disgusted by their attitude, it seems " sit tight as we have no way of planning yet" makes some sense. The itineraries in the Western Med are Italy/Spain/France orientated mainly.

 No sign of any international travel in those countries anytime soon.

Of course refunds would be more acceptable.

[sidari]

Another sensible option would be to extend the time of the FCC to the end of 2022 as other cruise lines have done.

[yorkshirephil]

I would imagine that FCC will be extended at some point in the future. We have several thousand pounds with MSC that we will not be able to use before the current deadline, so either they extend or give us a refund.

 

[Pet]

MCC have cancelled our Med cruise on Seaview departing 23 May and have sent an email saying we can have a 125% FCC. Apparently they are issuing these in cruise date cancellation order so we are not able to book another cruise until we get it. According to their UK website once we receive the FCC we need to "cash" it by 31 January 21 for any cruise departing prior to 31 Dec 21 and such cruise must be in the same geographic location as the one previously booked (i.e the Mediterranean), also if we don't want to take up the 125% FCC offer then the original balance will be refunded after 31 Dec 21. However, on another article on their UK website it states that I could apply for a full refund of the original balance now but that it may take up to 120 days to receive it. Given that we would only have a fairly small window to undertake a cruise next year as school children are involved I am inclined to cut and run now and maybe rebook sometime next year - all things being equal.

[BoundForSea]

This probably has been asked and maybe even beaten to death, can FCC be applied to a booking already on deposit or does it have to be a new reservation? If so ill end up cancelling my current, (waiting for my deposit to be refunded I guess)  and booking it as new and applying the FCC? 

 

Thanks

[dexddd]

14 hours ago, BoundForSea said:

This probably has been asked and maybe even beaten to death, can FCC be applied to a booking already on deposit or does it have to be a new reservation? If so ill end up cancelling my current, (waiting for my deposit to be refunded I guess)  and booking it as new and applying the FCC? 

 

Thanks

The terms when I took FCC said 'any sailing'.  Nothing else.  Look at what it said when you took offer.

 

To me, 'any' means exactly that within the timeframe given.

[Até]

I saw it posted in another thread that MSC USA changed the refund policy back to 60 days from date refund is requested.  It applies to all MSC cancelled cruises.  That makes a lot of people officially overdue so hopefully we will start seeing a lot of refunds processed - or a lot more credit card disputes.

 

Request a Refund
We hope you choose to reschedule your cruise for a future date. However, we understand this may not be the ideal option for you. If you choose not to take the Future Cruise Credit, a refund will be issued 60 days from the date the refund is requested. 

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-itinerary-changes-and-cancellations/canceled-cruises-miami

[Rob-Bob]

I am on day 60.  No refund yet.

[skiierx131]

22 hours ago, Até said:

I saw it posted in another thread that MSC USA changed the refund policy back to 60 days from date refund is requested.  It applies to all MSC cancelled cruises.  That makes a lot of people officially overdue so hopefully we will start seeing a lot of refunds processed - or a lot more credit card disputes.

 

Request a Refund
We hope you choose to reschedule your cruise for a future date. However, we understand this may not be the ideal option for you. If you choose not to take the Future Cruise Credit, a refund will be issued 60 days from the date the refund is requested. 

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-itinerary-changes-and-cancellations/canceled-cruises-miami

Awesome, I see the updated language too. This now matches, again, with my original cancellation email (60 days). But I am now past the 60 days, I'll probably give it another week and if we don't start seeing refunds contest the charge.

[djhstevens]

Day 62 since they cancelled our 3/14 sailing. No refund yet. Was told earlier this week it would be on there at 60 days.

[phissy]

We initially requested a FCC for our June cruise to Iceland on March 12.(, through our TA.)

At that time, cruises were cancelled by MSC ( through May 31) and received a  125% FCC.  Guests could get standard FCC for cruises from May 31 toJuly 31 cancellations.

3 weeks ago, received email from MSC. They cancelled our cruise and offered us a 125% FCC or refund.  Even though we had already submitted for FCC, we were instructed to make new selection for reimbursement choice.

We have 2 cruises booked for next fall but FCC would have been much more than those cruise fares so, TA applied for refund. 

He was told 60 days from request. Will post when (and if) we receive refund.

Cruise was put on card with travel protections so, we have that as back up.

Side note:

This morning, MSC sent us an offer to upgrade to Royal Suite on the June cruise! 

$1,150.00 pp.  It gave me a good chuckle... some things never change including MSC iT.

Edited May 15, 2020 by phissy

[Rob-Bob]

Day 61, no refund.  MSC has officially not met their promise.

[Rob-Bob]

I was looking at booking the Meraviglia next March but my wife is saying no.  She does not trust them over the whole refund issue.  It is a shame.  We did the Divina and the Seaside and loved both cruises.  I was really looking forward to finally getting to OC.  Oh well.  We will see.  Need to start worry about my June Celebrity cruise now that has not been officially cancelled yet.

 

Let the good times roll.  In all honesty life is good, just many inconveniences these days.  Lets hope they stay only inconveniences.

[djhstevens]

Update, after hours on phone. We were credited our deposit on the 12th and the TA will refund the rest they say within 10 days.  Can’t see anything pending yet but CC said it may take 3-5 days. Fingers crossed. No clue on cancelled excursions but that’s least of my concern

[GatorMomInNC]

So here is the update to my story.  June 20th Venice Cruise.  Prepaid in full in July 2019. 

Late February began to get nervous about cruising, cancelled all onboard prepaid activities and was refunded automatically.

March 2nd, called TA and cancelled my cruise well within time frame to receive full refund.  Was told "up to 2 billing cycles" for refund. 

Called a couple times to check in and was told by TA that they can see on MSC site that my refund was being processed. 

4/20 MSC told my TA they had processed refund, it would be 12 more days (I thought my TA told me 10 days, but they keep notes of all our conversations and their notes said 12 days).  

Called at 12 days and they said it should be anytime now. 

Called today.  75 days and counting since I cancelled.  26 days since MSC said 12 days. 

MSC has now told my TA they will not BEGIN my refund until my sail date and then it will take 2 billing cycles.  My TA argued with them, pointed out that I had cancelled within my time frame to get a full refund, no reason needed, that they had told us repeatedly they were processing and she went over all the different calls and different stories we were told.  MSC says they don't care that is what they are doing. 

So MSC is totally just lying to everyone and changing their story on a daily basis.  They have spent my money and don't have it to give back to me.   Given their dishonesty and incompetence, I fully expect they are going to declare bankruptcy and keep my money.  I have no faith in them whatsoever.

I want to book a cruise next summer before prices go up (obviously not with MSC) but they have all my money - and to be clear, by money I mean my actual cash deposit, and my reward points which have cash value. 

[psmarkle]

Here is the response I got yesterday from MSC Sales Service dept.  I'm on Day 62 now, I plan on waiting until June 14th before calling my CC to refute the charges.  Even in this environment, I feel like 90 days from my refund request should be ample time.

 

"MSC is working diligently to process refund disbursements. Due to the unprecedented volume it is taking longer than anticipated. It is our intention to issue refunds as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience. Thank you."

 

[panamapd]

I've got October booked as well, on the Preziosa.  We also have Virtuosa booked but according to another cruise criticer, she will be delayed.  However, no news from MSC.

 

There is also this,  from yesterday, which may slow up refunds!-

 

"According to a filing with the state of Florida, MSC Cruises USA has furloughed 128 employees, citing the COVID-19 crisis.

The furloughs include 55 cruise consultants, 10 home-based cruise consultants, five contact center supervisors, eight group advocates and various other titles.

The company has its U.S. headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and said it hopes the furloughs are temporary. 

MSC has four ships based in the United States with aspirations to grow. The Seaside, Armonia, Divina and Meraviglia serve the U.S. market. "

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 5/14/2020 at 12:12 PM, Rob-Bob said:

I am on day 60.  No refund yet.

I am on day 60 today, no refund yet either.

Edited May 17, 2020 by Itchy&Scratchy

[TampaGambler]

MSC's excuse that it will take 60 days to complete refunds is garbage and can be debunked with one simple example.

 

Currently, MSC's sole excuse is the shear volume of refunds, however, if that were the case then we would've already seen at-least some early passengers receive their refunds. I would be way more understanding if you could see they were processing refunds and were on only through some date in April. However, they haven't even processed any refunds for the famous Puerto Rico cruise that was supposed to get refunds. They are basically saying, "We need 60 days to process refunds, but within the 60 day period we haven't processed any refunds." Do they really expect me to believe they haven't processed any refunds "due to volume" and then they are going to process months worth of refunds overnight?????

 

I've been waiting on the hope that MSC would do the right thing. We really enjoyed our cruise on the Seaside in the Yacht Club, so are reluctant to dispute with my CC for fear they will say we cannot cruise in the future. However, the time is quickly approaching the point where I'll say screw it, dispute with my CC and cruise in the Haven again if they block me. 

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, TampaGambler said:

We really enjoyed our cruise on the Seaside in the Yacht Club, so are reluctant to dispute with my CC for fear they will say we cannot cruise in the future. 

 

I will go out on a limb here and suggest you have zero to fear.  Cruise lines will be scrambling for years to generate any new revenue.  Best to you.