Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[Cruisin_Vol_Fan]

We canceled our May 11 cruise on March 24 (64 days ago) not long before Princess would have canceled it any way. We are awaing our refund. There is no sign of a FCC in my account, either. 

Our total amount out of pocket isn't huge by some standards, but with a job furlough for me and a large pay cut for my husband, that money would really help cover some costs right now. The inability of Princess to refund our money has confimed we will not sail with them again. Other cruise lines do not seem to have this problem based on friends and family reporting their experiences.

[suzyed]

18 hours ago, nho9504 said:

 

I am told by the Customer Relations rep on how the refund is processed when I asked why cruises behind ours in Mid to Late Apr, even the first week of May, have seen FCC / Refunds while our Apr11 still being "In Process".  He explained to me the handling is by sailing, all independently.   The more competent / more thorough employees would get things done correctly on first attempt, versus those who are less competent / less detailed minded counterparts.  Also when mistakes were made, it meant start all over and therefore delayed the process.

 

Obviously whoever is responsible handling our booking, made a major mistake by "forgetting" a particular step which prevents the refund being processed.  Actually he said it prevented him to further assist me - until that particular step was done.  He did not tell me exactly what step it was.  Our booking cannot be simpler as it is a straight forward cruise only booking, nothing add-on, no prepaid, no air - just the cabin only.  I cannot see anything simpler than that - yet, the person who handled it still managed to mess up...  Go figure.

I think they make it up as they go along.  I am pretty sure the ones that answer the phone really don't know anything about the whole process and just read from a script.  If you're lucky enough to talk to a specialist, you might get a little more info, but not sure it has anything to do with the reality of the situation. 

[remydiva]

4 minutes ago, Cruisin_Vol_Fan said:

We canceled our May 11 cruise on March 24 (64 days ago) not long before Princess would have canceled it any way. We are awaing our refund. There is no sign of a FCC in my account, either. 

Our total amount out of pocket isn't huge by some standards, but with a job furlough for me and a large pay cut for my husband, that money would really help cover some costs right now. The inability of Princess to refund our money has confimed we will not sail with them again. Other cruise lines do not seem to have this problem based on friends and family reporting their experiences.

I am sorry for your refund delay; many of us could use the money given the financial impact CoVid is having on the world.

 

I don't wish to be contrary but I am curious tho what 'other cruise lines' you know of that do not seem to have this problem.?

 

Many here have also said 'never again' but NOW is the time to find out how other cruise companies are handling this situation.

In fact, I worry about whether Viking (who we have cruised with a few times)will even be around in a year after they had to offer a $600 million 'junk bond' with 13% return.

From my limited research on line, I can't find any that are doing any better.  Please share if you have found some! TIA

[CruisePrincess6]

Remydiva—To answer your post—if you put in the contract the clause—Time is of the essence, the contract can be voided and your money refunded after due date.  This can’t be done with our money that Princess is holding and they know it. Again, very bad customer relations.  Canceled a cruise to Europe with Celebrity for this October and deposit was refunded in 2 days.  Would not hesitate to sail with them in the future.

[suzyed]

27 minutes ago, remydiva said:

Just a thought re: 'legality'.

 

...is this really any different than the situation people are in when they purchase a condo or house pre built. There is a contract with a due date but many MANY times unforeseen circumstances and delays cause the postponement of the build completing on time.

I know in my own neighbourhood of condos with promised move in dates last fall that aren't finished. Builder 'is holding onto their money' and the purchasers...more often than not...are not only without the money and their new home, but also incurring extra costs like storage and renting other places.

Just musing....stuff happens.

And if you are buying a house, you include a "drop dead" date for completion of your new home...if it's not finished on time THEY pay YOU for each day beyond the agreed upon date of completion.   Maybe a pandemic would let them alter the completion date but that should be discussed or stated in the contract.
We are at the mercy of many others in this situation...we don't get to actually sign a contract that protects us...they have all the power.

[suzyed]

7 minutes ago, remydiva said:

I am sorry for your refund delay; many of us could use the money given the financial impact CoVid is having on the world.

 

I don't wish to be contrary but I am curious tho what 'other cruise lines' you know of that do not seem to have this problem.?

 

Many here have also said 'never again' but NOW is the time to find out how other cruise companies are handling this situation.

In fact, I worry about whether Viking (who we have cruised with a few times)will even be around in a year after they had to offer a $600 million 'junk bond' with 13% return.

From my limited research on line, I can't find any that are doing any better.  Please share if you have found some! TIA

Agree, but I am also concerned that Princess will be around in a year.

 

[Cruisin_Vol_Fan]

2 minutes ago, remydiva said:

I am sorry for your refund delay; many of us could use the money given the financial impact CoVid is having on the world.

 

I don't wish to be contrary but I am curious tho what 'other cruise lines' you know of that do not seem to have this problem.?

 

Many here have also said 'never again' but NOW is the time to find out how other cruise companies are handling this situation.

In fact, I worry about whether Viking (who we have cruised with a few times)will even be around in a year after they had to offer a $600 million 'junk bond' with 13% return.

From my limited research on line, I can't find any that are doing any better.  Please share if you have found some! TIA

DCL - family scheduled to sail after us and canceled after us received their refund within a couple of weeks.

RCL - friends scheduled to sail this past Saturday received their refund before their original sail date.

I'm just disappointed that it is taking so long to release our money. It's not limited to cruises - we have thousands of dollars tied up in baseball leagues and tournaments that aren't happening and have not received any money back. Plus one of the leagues has issued a firm "no refunds" statement and envoking an "act of God" clause.

Maybe it's a case-by-case situation and we are just the "lucky" ones not getting money back from anyone... 

[remydiva]

9 minutes ago, CruisePrincess6 said:

Remydiva—To answer your post—if you put in the contract the clause—Time is of the essence, the contract can be voided and your money refunded after due date.  This can’t be done with our money that Princess is holding and they know it. Again, very bad customer relations.  Canceled a cruise to Europe with Celebrity for this October and deposit was refunded in 2 days.  Would not hesitate to sail with them in the future.

thanks for reply. Your cancelled cruise with Celebrity was in October so not in the Covid Crazy Time. I have cancelled with Princess before after full payment due to health issue and had the money back PDQ via insurance so again, not quite the same thing. I guess my ask was more during Covid, what cruise lines are hitting it out of the ball park?

[SCOOTERNINJA]

27 minutes ago, remydiva said:

Just a thought re: 'legality'.

 

...is this really any different than the situation people are in when they purchase a condo or house pre built. There is a contract with a due date but many MANY times unforeseen circumstances and delays cause the postponement of the build completing on time.

I know in my own neighbourhood of condos with promised move in dates last fall that aren't finished. Builder 'is holding onto their money' and the purchasers...more often than not...are not only without the money and their new home, but also incurring extra costs like storage and renting other places.

Just musing....stuff happens.

Yes, they are easily distinguished.  In the scenario you proposed, the builder actually performed under the contract by completing the build albeit with delay.  In the scenario posed here, the cruise company never performed its obligation under the contract (i.e. providing a ship to passengers to cruise the oceans with port stops).

 

A building contract is ONLY going to obligate the purchaser to pay for the home if it is actually built. If the builder decides not to build the house (or is otherwise prevented from  building the home), then the builder is not entitled to just keep whatever payments had already been made.  In the scenario you posed, baked into the builder's contracts will be clauses dealing with building delays and liabilities that might be associated therewith.  These contracts typically provide that builders will be on the hook  for any actual damages if the home is not built (such as amounts paid for the home build) but may be relieved from  liability for any consequential damages (such as amounts that a buyer may have to pay for a hotel due to building delay).  Under no circumstance can the builder just keep the money already paid because the builder cancelled the home build.

 

Here, the cruise company CANCELLED the cruise.  The cruise never took place and thus the cruise company never performed its obligation under the  contract.  The cruise company is not entitled to keep the benefit of the bargain (i.e. the cruise payments) for a contract that it never performed.  

 

Yes - stuff happens but that is called the risk and cost of doing business.  As a company, it is not right nor lawful to keep money that was paid for a service that was never provided.

[PompeySailor]

7 minutes ago, remydiva said:

I am sorry for your refund delay; many of us could use the money given the financial impact CoVid is having on the world.

 

I don't wish to be contrary but I am curious tho what 'other cruise lines' you know of that do not seem to have this problem.?

 

Many here have also said 'never again' but NOW is the time to find out how other cruise companies are handling this situation.

In fact, I worry about whether Viking (who we have cruised with a few times)will even be around in a year after they had to offer a $600 million 'junk bond' with 13% return.

From my limited research on line, I can't find any that are doing any better.  Please share if you have found some! TIA

We had cruises booked with

 

✅MSC x1 (FCC issued after 3 weeks of our cancelled cruise)

✅Royal Caribbean X3 (FCC’s issued after 4 weeks of cruise and some refunds)

✅P&O x1 (Refunds issued 3 days after requesting)

 

🤬Princess x1 67 days waited for items that were cancelled on March 21st, enough was enough. Filed a chargeback dispute with our credit card company today, will be 3 business days in our account.

 

So yes others are handling it much better and with more transparency and you can contact them in many other ways than just a phone call.

With Princess you cannot message on Facebook, they disabled that lifeline 

get told, 30 days, then 60, some people 90. 
Its amateur to say the least and bloody annoying.
 

Whenever I had to return a customers money onto their credit card, it took 3 business days max. Period (regardless of unprecedented times, blah blah blah)

 

Too many cheerleaders waving their Pom poms saying to be patient, if you are given dates and then those dates pass, people’s patience runs thin.

 

Rant over for today.

Flame away 

Happy Days!

 

[remydiva]

5 minutes ago, SCOOTERNINJA said:

Yes, they are easily distinguished.  In the scenario you proposed, the builder actually performed under the contract by completing the build albeit with delay.  In the scenario posed here, the cruise company never performed its obligation under the contract (i.e. providing a ship to passengers to cruise the oceans with port stops).

 

A building contract is ONLY going to obligate the purchaser to pay for the home if it is actually built. If the builder decides not to build the house (or is otherwise prevented from  building the home), then the builder is not entitled to just keep whatever payments had already been made.  In the scenario you posed, baked into the builder's contracts will be clauses dealing with building delays and liabilities that might be associated therewith.  These contracts typically provide that builders will be on the hook  for any actual damages if the home is not built (such as amounts paid for the home build) but may be relieved from  liability for any consequential damages (such as amounts that a buyer may have to pay for a hotel due to building delay).  Under no circumstance can the builder just keep the money already paid because the builder cancelled the home build.

 

Here, the cruise company CANCELLED the cruise.  The cruise never took place and thus the cruise company never performed its obligation under the  contract.  The cruise company is not entitled to keep the benefit of the bargain (i.e. the cruise payments) for a contract that it never performed.  

 

Yes - stuff happens but that is called the risk and cost of doing business.  As a company, it is not right nor lawful to keep money that was paid for a service that was never provided.

ok so the house build not the best example as I never meant to imply the builder KEPT the money...just the delay cost the buyer more so oranges to tomatoes comparison...mea culpa.

 

However as others have said many activities ARE keeping the money such as cancelled sports clubs my own grandkids swim club were offered 'we keep your money and you can do dry land training' (whoop de doh) OR you get most of it back and pay $25 to be first in line to register for next year. 

It's not a level playing field for sure. Good to hear from another that RCL and DCL paid quickly. My online forum showed unhappy RCL customers too.

In any case, I guess we will have to wait to see what tourism looks like all over the world. Cruises sailing maybe? Ports open? maybe? International flights? when? heck, our border Canada to US is closed so we are FAR from being normal.

Be kind. Be safe.

[amajaa]

7 minutes ago, PompeySailor said:

We had cruises booked with

 

✅MSC x1 (FCC issued after 3 weeks of our cancelled cruise)

✅Royal Caribbean X3 (FCC’s issued after 4 weeks of cruise and some refunds)

✅P&O x1 (Refunds issued 3 days after requesting)

 

🤬Princess x1 67 days waited for items that were cancelled on March 21st, enough was enough. Filed a chargeback dispute with our credit card company today, will be 3 business days in our account.

 

So yes others are handling it much better and with more transparency and you can contact them in many other ways than just a phone call.

With Princess you cannot message on Facebook, they disabled that lifeline 

get told, 30 days, then 60, some people 90. 
Its amateur to say the least and bloody annoying.
 

Whenever I had to return a customers money onto their credit card, it took 3 business days max. Period (regardless of unprecedented times, blah blah blah)

 

Too many cheerleaders waving their Pom poms saying to be patient, if you are given dates and then those dates pass, people’s patience runs thin.

 

Rant over for today.

Flame away 

Happy Days!

 

Wow you were lucky with the P & O one we just got  part of our money back after waiting 9 weeks. Still no sign of the rest

[remydiva]

8 minutes ago, PompeySailor said:

We had cruises booked with

 

✅MSC x1 (FCC issued after 3 weeks of our cancelled cruise)

✅Royal Caribbean X3 (FCC’s issued after 4 weeks of cruise and some refunds)

✅P&O x1 (Refunds issued 3 days after requesting)

 

🤬Princess x1 67 days waited for items that were cancelled on March 21st, enough was enough. Filed a chargeback dispute with our credit card company today, will be 3 business days in our account.

 

So yes others are handling it much better and with more transparency and you can contact them in many other ways than just a phone call.

With Princess you cannot message on Facebook, they disabled that lifeline 

get told, 30 days, then 60, some people 90. 
Its amateur to say the least and bloody annoying.
 

Whenever I had to return a customers money onto their credit card, it took 3 business days max. Period (regardless of unprecedented times, blah blah blah)

 

Too many cheerleaders waving their Pom poms saying to be patient, if you are given dates and then those dates pass, people’s patience runs thin.

 

Rant over for today.

Flame away 

Happy Days!

 

Heh that's great to hear about other cruise line responses. I've asked before and no one replied!!!

well, it IS a Princess site so guess that makes sense.... and I shall take note that as a past RCL cruiser too.

And you'll get No Pom Pom waving from me..finally .got my $$ after 70 days but no FCC yet.

 

Happy Days for sure! The world needs them.

[NRWPA]

6 minutes ago, remydiva said:

Heh that's great to hear about other cruise line responses. I've asked before and no one replied!!!

well, it IS a Princess site so guess that makes sense.... and I shall take note that as a past RCL cruiser too.

And you'll get No Pom Pom waving from me..finally .got my $$ after 70 days but no FCC yet.

 

Happy Days for sure! The world needs them.

I must have missed your previous post. I'm sure people are getting quite sick of me complaining about non-receipt of refund of my Regal 3/22 cruise payment but when I see people saying "all FCCs for March have been processed", "they're doing it in order by date of cruise", etc., I feel I have to post. My cruise was included in pause 1 cancellations on 3/12. I was offered 100% cash refund plus 100% FCC if I chose option 2. I completed their form for option 2 and received verification back via email on 3/16. On 4/25 or thereabouts points I claimed for OBC were returned to my credit card (I wasn't notified, the points just appeared back on my Princess credit card). I booked an additional cruise for January on 4/30, thinking since my points were restored the refund MUST be in the pipeline and I would be seeing it any day (silly me). On 5/16 I filed a dispute for the largest of several Princess cruise charges to my card with my credit card company. At this point I'm not even dealing with the other charges. I decided to call  Princess 5/22 to ask about my refund. I was told they never got my option 2 request - but I have an email verifying it was received! Doesn't matter. It's now 5/28, no FCC, no refund.  So that's where my refund for 3/22 Regal cruise stands - still in limbo. I have not even begun to think about my refund for 6/6 Caribbean Princess cruise canceled in second pause on 4/14...

 

But the reason I'm posting to you @remydiva is that I also had 2 bookings with Royal Caribbean for 5/3 and 5/11. They were both canceled by RC on 3/24. I did the paperwork, etc. on that date and received full refund for both cruises on 5/13. The credits were issued to the 3 different credit cards I used - 3 different cards and they still were able to process my refunds in a reasonable length of time. But 73 days since receiving verification from Princess for my refund request and still nothing.

[nho9504]

1 hour ago, suzyed said:

I think they make it up as they go along.  I am pretty sure the ones that answer the phone really don't know anything about the whole process and just read from a script.  If you're lucky enough to talk to a specialist, you might get a little more info, but not sure it has anything to do with the reality of the situation. 

 

The guy is at Customer Relations, not the front line rep.  He also can send emails to internal dept to request things to get done.  Plus he told me to call at more optimal time when the financial dept people report to work (started their work days at home, 9am Western time),  the Customer Relations side can direct conference with the financial dept folks and might get things resolved quicker.

[GottaLuvCruising]

March 15th Regal

 

Our cruise was cancelled by Princess 11 weeks ago today.  We received the correct FCC for all four guests.  

 

But where is the $975 they owe us for taxes, gratuities and water?  I've called and confirmed the amount.  I was told that we are "in queue" for a refund.  I'm about ready to dispute the charges to my credit card.  

[CruisePrincess6]

Remydiva—we called to cancel our October 2020 Celebrity cruise to Europe the beginning of April and the money was refunded in a few days. We called Princess to cancel our FCC that were sold to us as fully refundable about the same time and have been getting the runaround.

Nho9505–called Princess this morning about my money and they would not put me through to Customer Relations. 

[suzyed]

31 minutes ago, nho9504 said:

 

The guy is at Customer Relations, not the front line rep.  He also can send emails to internal dept to request things to get done.  Plus he told me to call at more optimal time when the financial dept people report to work (started their work days at home, 9am Western time),  the Customer Relations side can direct conference with the financial dept folks and might get things resolved quicker.

When then you lucked out when you that guy.  The front line reps only serve the purpose of referring to someone who may know the answer to your question. I never got a satisfactory answer from any of them.  Very frustrating!  At least that has been my experience.
 The ONLY person on the many phone calls I made, who knew anything was the "post cruise specialist".  
 

Edited May 28, 2020 by suzyed

[Cruise Raider]

20 hours ago, Ombud said:

I cancelled my September 4th cruise right before Princess did. I had 537 FCC paid on it, got that 537 FCC back this morning. So it's only 3 weeks to get access to previously applied FCCs on a cancelled cruise. 

 

Only for some!  I’ve seen people waiting for their FCCs for early March ... some others got it.  There is now way to ensure they will be posted within 3 weeks, even though it happened for you.  They are way past my sailing date on a very simple booking ... still, I don’t have my refund.  I was hopeful when I saw others getting theirs in order of sail date but, very disappointed mine hasn’t shown up.  My trust is gone!  

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, remydiva said:

Heh that's great to hear about other cruise line responses. I've asked before and no one replied!!!

well, it IS a Princess site so guess that makes sense.... and I shall take note that as a past RCL cruiser too.

And you'll get No Pom Pom waving from me..finally .got my $$ after 70 days but no FCC yet.

 

Happy Days for sure! The world needs them.

I received my full refund from Carnival within 30 days (I thought they would be the line I would have to fight with to be honest). Cancelled same day as Princess, sailing date a week after Princess.

 

Also cancelled same day was a sailing for later in the year with RCCL that had not yet been cancelled by the cruise line. Only deposit was paid but final payment was coming and I didn't think the cruise would sail. I received the refund within a week.

 

Fellow TAs in my office are reporting that Celebrity has been doing a good job - within 30 business days. They are (so far) not impressed with MSC and HAL and REALLY not impressed with Princess.

[ceilidh1]

5 minutes ago, suzyed said:

When then you lucked out when you that guy.  The front line reps only serve the purpose of referring to someone who may know the answer to your question. I never got a satisfactory answer from any of them.  Very frustrating!  At least that has been my experience.
 The ONLY person on the many phone calls I made, who knew anything was the "post cruise specialist".  
 

The front line reaps can't see/do much for refunds. You need to insist on customer relations - that is who the poster was talking to. Like everything, some at customer relations are far better than others! I have had a mixed bag, for sure. I'm done trying to resolve with Princess. My credit card company can do the legwork.

[Ombud]

8 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Only for some!  I’ve seen people waiting for their FCCs for early March ... some others got it.  There is now way to ensure they will be posted within 3 weeks, even though it happened for you.  They are way past my sailing date on a very simple booking ... still, I don’t have my refund.  I was hopeful when I saw others getting theirs in order of sail date but, very disappointed mine hasn’t shown up.  My trust is gone!  

This was not for initially getting the FCC. I got it April 20th & immediately applied it to the September 4th cruise. That's how I got it back in 3 weeks

 

Obviously credits are delayed! I'm just saying they 'refund' FCC's much faster than other refunds.

Edited May 28, 2020 by Ombud

[Fredette]

See, all the talk of "manually doing calculations" doesn't make sense to me.

I've only asked for a refund of my money.  No FCCs, no add ons, it's just one payment.  No calculation needed, just tick and flick.

Why does that take so long?

[Cruise Raider]

3 minutes ago, Ombud said:

This was not for initially getting the FCC. I got it April 20th & immediately applied it to the September 4th cruise. That's how I got it back in 3 weeks

I would like to think this is true for everyone and I understand how you got yours, but still think they have been inconsistent and not very transparent with the way they are handling refunds and posting the FCCs.  Again, I’ve lost my trust in the way they are handling these cancellations.  

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, Fredette said:

See, all the talk of "manually doing calculations" doesn't make sense to me.

I've only asked for a refund of my money.  No FCCs, no add ons, it's just one payment.  No calculation needed, just tick and flick.

Why does that take so long?

exactly!