Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[CJinSF]

For anyone who is still waiting patiently for a refund after 30, 60, or even 90 days, read this interview with the CEO of Carnival Corp (owner of Princess) and see if it doesn't make your blood boil: https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-ceo-admits-i-dont-know-when-well-sail-again/

 

In this interview, CEO Arnold Donald calls their decision to announce new cruises "a mistake," "confusion" (on the part of passengers!) and a "miscommunication." Really? They SOLD the cruises they announced. And now they're telling anyone who bought them to get in line for refunds behind the thousands of people already owed.

 

It couldn't be any clearer that Princess and Carnival are using OUR money to operate. They are slow-walking our refunds until they sell enough future cruises to improve their balance sheet. And they're doing this with full knowledge that the cruises they are selling may never sail.

 

I will no longer believe the ever-changing excuses that the blameless customer service reps are being handed to give us. They are being lied to also and just trying to keep their jobs.

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, CJinSF said:

And they're doing this with full knowledge that the cruises they are selling may never sail.

as should the cruisers who are booking them, and sending in money🤑

[dog]

17 minutes ago, voljeep said:

as should the cruisers who are booking them, and sending in money🤑

True. No guarantees in these times. We have a choice whether we re book now or later or never. 

[CJinSF]

15 hours ago, tpbrownec said:

When I spoke to them last week, they said that the Pacific Princess would be processed LAST since it was the last ship to return to port with passengers aboard.

 

Also not true. I was on this ship also (and for others reading this, we CANNOT charge back to credit cards, due to our situation).

 

Two passengers from our voyage were told last week by Princess "we are processing your voyage at the end of this week or the beginning of next." I personally was told this week by Customer Relations "we are processing your voyage now." I am aware of ONE passenger from our voyage who has received a refund of her partial cruise fare (although not of her OBC), and of 3 passengers who have received their airfare/baggage reimbursement. I have received nothing at all.

 

Sadly, I have to say we can believe NOTHING we are told by Princess. We are being lied to because the people answering the phones are being lied to.

[voljeep]

14 minutes ago, CJinSF said:

Two passengers from our voyage were told last week by Princess "we are processing your voyage at the end of this week or the beginning of next." I personally was told this week by Customer Relations "we are processing your voyage now."

"processing" = getting the amounts ready to be disbursed to the correct accounts = put in the pipeline for payment

 

now, when the magic person punches the button to release the funds … well 🥃

[Schonert]

18 hours ago, Grayce said:

I was part of the phase 2 pause. I had a May 17 Alaska cruise cancelled by Princess. I put in my request for a refund the very first day (April 14) and I did get an email confirmation. I have been checking my Princess account daily to see if the FCD I used to book with, was put back into my account. Just today I see that it is back, which gives me hope they are beginning to  process my refund. I did check my credit card and there isn't a refund yet.

I also saw that FCD on mine today, we were scheduled for a B2B starting 23 May.  
I could really do with the refund before my next cc bill is due..
 

[Italy52]

9 minutes ago, Schonert said:

I also saw that FCD on mine today, we were scheduled for a B2B starting 23 May.  
I could really do with the refund before my next cc bill is due..
 

If you don't mind me asking, what ship and departing from where?  We were scheduled on the Coral Princess to Alaska for a B2B leaving out of Vancouver --- have seen nothing yet.

[mbglib]

14 hours ago, Conal4749 said:

We cancelled March 6th, for a May 16 cruise on the Regal.  This was when their first offer to cancel with no penalties was offered.  There had been no cancelled cruises yet.  We are still waiting for our refund.  Today I was told it was in a que (whatever that means).  97 days and still waiting.  😡

A few cruises had been cancelled before March 6...my March 7 Grand Princess cruise was cancelled by Princess on March 4. 

[Aulanis]

@WF2747

Hi  Thank you for your reply
I am not keeping a spreadsheet though it would have been useful to keep all Princess's stuff together.

  I have looked at the date you mentioned  and
I think it is on this cancellation advisory
https://www.princess.com/plan/impacted-and-cancelled-cruises/
Then to find the ship here

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/plan/impacted-and-cancelled-cruises/pause-extension-remaining-summer-2020.pdf

It also included the link to the form you mention and has a few Q & As and also another  link to the General FAQ page.
https://www.princess.com/plan/impacted-and-cancelled-cruises/#faq

among others Q 3
Q What if I cancelled a booking on a cruise that Princess is now cancelling?
A You can check the relevant cruise details on this page to see if you qualify for any additional compensation.

 

So Complete the form or not?  From my experience  whilst the form we were pointed to was not applicable to a mid cruise cancellation I completed it and  printed it off  and emailed it to Princess. But did not  send it electronically .     ( there were other reasons for not doing that are not applicable to you)
However they eventually sent another  ( allegedly to give me a second chance to take the FCCs instead of cash) and  this HAD to be triggered by 31 May. otherwise  the "System" would allocate FCCs.

So as others have said I would try again to trigger it and also send it off by email saying exactly what you want and advising the form doesnt recognise your Booking number.
 Hope that it is the correct cruise- round UK from Paris?   That will probably be the only type of cruise we are able to take  for some time :). Unless  they come up with a vaccine. 
 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Aulanis

[CHB007]

23 hours ago, jimmieg said:

Thanks for the heads-up.  Find it odd, but waited this long, anyway.  They may want to reverse the reward that was originally credited last year?

OK, Called Citi again today and got a rep that was fantastic and filled me in on the real story about negative balance refunds back to checking accounts.  The original 3-5 days I was told was wrong.  That is the case if the amount is less than about $500 (his estimation), there is no review or approval, and it automatically happens in that 3-5 day timeframe.  For my amount (Almost $6k), it requires review and approval by a supervisory manager, two levels up.  I do not know the amount for the first level supervisor approval threshold, somewhere over the $500 estimate but obviously less than $6k.  Today is my 3rd day for the supervisory manager to approve, but as is the case with a lot of things, Covid-19 has impacted their workforce.  After I do get approved, which apparently is not always a certainty, it should then happen in 3-5 days, so my total timeframe might be 13-15 days from my initial request.

On the reward question, I looked at my account and that was deducted from my award balance as soon as it hit as a credit, so that is not the hold-up, the amount of the transfer is the only issue.

[jimmieg]

4 hours ago, CHB007 said:

OK, Called Citi again today and got a rep that was fantastic and filled me in on the real story about negative balance refunds back to checking accounts.  The original 3-5 days I was told was wrong.  That is the case if the amount is less than about $500 (his estimation), there is no review or approval, and it automatically happens in that 3-5 day timeframe.  For my amount (Almost $6k), it requires review and approval by a supervisory manager, two levels up.  I do not know the amount for the first level supervisor approval threshold, somewhere over the $500 estimate but obviously less than $6k.  Today is my 3rd day for the supervisory manager to approve, but as is the case with a lot of things, Covid-19 has impacted their workforce.  After I do get approved, which apparently is not always a certainty, it should then happen in 3-5 days, so my total timeframe might be 13-15 days from my initial request.

On the reward question, I looked at my account and that was deducted from my award balance as soon as it hit as a credit, so that is not the hold-up, the amount of the transfer is the only issue.

Hmm.  Seems like it should be easier as they are refunding $$ that have been refunded to them.  But, I suppose such transactions are open to fraud.

OTOH, Citi was very quick in taking care of hundreds in fraudulent charges (Time-Warner cable fees, Netflix, some credit monitoring charges) that appeared on my account over a week.  New card overnight, too.

[Nauti-Lady]

Finally!!  We were in first phase with a May 9 sailing date.  I requested FCC about March 15 which I finally saw in my account about 6 weeks ago, but did not get other $1100+ in ppd expenses back and was concerned that they had "forgotten" all that.  Was planning to get all details with dates paid and write a nasty letter and possibly get with Visa.  However, I just happened to notice several credits to my Visa yesterday that posted on June 4th.  It was odd how they kept some items as separate credits for ppd gratuities, specialty restaurants, spa,. But then they lumped PPP,  airport transfers, and cruises taxes/port fees into a single credit.  It took me a bit to figure out what they had done but every penny was there. Still no communication at all!   Would have been nice to have gotten a notification when the FCC was done, letting me know my other refunds were pending.  It would also have been nice to get a notification when refunds were done and claim closed. Maybe a final statement with a break down?  Someone had to review and do refunds and just the extra little steps of communication would have made the long wait far less stressful.   

 

 

 

[polmcs]

Just checked my Captain’s Circle account and the FCD for my Alaskan cruise that was supposed to depart from San Pedro tomorrow (was cancelled on April 14 which coincidentally was final payment date) just showed up and the cruise has disappeared from my future cruises. 😉 I had booked this under a Non Refundable Deposit, so I’m glad to see it show up as a FCD, rather than simply being refunded to my credit card as there is a cruise we have our eye on for next April.

[caribill]

12 hours ago, CJinSF said:

For anyone who is still waiting patiently for a refund after 30, 60, or even 90 days, read this interview with the CEO of Carnival Corp (owner of Princess) and see if it doesn't make your blood boil: https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-ceo-admits-i-dont-know-when-well-sail-again/

 

In this interview, CEO Arnold Donald calls their decision to announce new cruises "a mistake," "confusion" (on the part of passengers!) and a "miscommunication." Really? They SOLD the cruises they announced. And now they're telling anyone who bought them to get in line for refunds behind the thousands of people already owed.

 

 

A couple of weeks ago Arnold Donald said that the original announcement about these cruises was not an announcement of new cruises.

 

It was an announcement of cancelled cruises and these remained on the schedule after all the others were cancelled.

[Schonert]

15 hours ago, Italy52 said:

If you don't mind me asking, what ship and departing from where?  We were scheduled on the Coral Princess to Alaska for a B2B leaving out of Vancouver --- have seen nothing yet.

It was the Grand 

[Spurschick]

Beyond irritated.

 

Called again yesterday regarding refund of excursions, drinks packages and internet that we cancelled before all the mass cancellations began in March.

 

Was told cruise was refunded to TA two weeks ago (even though we asked for refund as can’t get hold of TA so now probably going to have to do CC dispute to find that money).

 

That was a start but given we cancelled excursions etc weeks before the cruise was cancelled I asked why that had not been refunded. I was point blankly told we will not give you a date. I asked to escalate was told “this conversation is going nowhere”

 

i will call back again Monday🙄

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by Spurschick

[LDVinNC]

7 minutes ago, Spurschick said:

 

 

Was told cruise was refunded to TA two weeks ago (even though we asked for refund as can’t get hold of TA so now probably going to have to do CC dispute to find that money).

 

 

Who charged your credit card?  Princess or your TA?  Suggest you not use a TA in the future who takes your money, if that is the case.  Good luck.

[Spurschick]

Just now, LDVinNC said:

 

Who charged your credit card?  Princess or your TA?  Suggest you not use a TA in the future who takes your money, if that is the case.  Good luck.

Gave card info to TA to pay Princess. Appears they took payment then paid Princess, so therefore Princess made refund back to them.

 

trust me won’t use them again!

[LDVinNC]

Just now, Spurschick said:

Gave card info to TA to pay Princess. Appears they took payment then paid Princess, so therefore Princess made refund back to them.

 

trust me won’t use them again!

 

Wow...wonder why they did that.  Not the usual (and ethical) way to do it.  Sure hope you can get your money back.  I do think filing a dispute - since you cannot get ahold of the TA - is the way to go.

[Coral]

8 minutes ago, Spurschick said:

Gave card info to TA to pay Princess. Appears they took payment then paid Princess, so therefore Princess made refund back to them.

 

trust me won’t use them again!

Dispute the charge with your credit care ASAP.

[dog]

19 minutes ago, Spurschick said:

Beyond irritated.

 

Called again yesterday regarding refund of excursions, drinks packages and internet that we cancelled before all the mass cancellations began in March.

 

Was told cruise was refunded to TA two weeks ago (even though we asked for refund as can’t get hold of TA so now probably going to have to do CC dispute to find that money).

 

That was a start but given we cancelled excursions etc weeks before the cruise was cancelled I asked why that had not been refunded. I was point blankly told we will not give you a date. I asked to escalate was told “this conversation is going nowhere”

 

i will call back again Monday🙄

 

Dispute with credit card. You are not getting anywhere by calling  have all attempts to contact TA & Princess documented, receipts, cancellation. 

[Spurschick]

20 minutes ago, dog said:

Dispute with credit card. You are not getting anywhere by calling  have all attempts to contact TA & Princess documented, receipts, cancellation. 

Yes will do. As we found out yesterday the money was sent to them bank say we have to give them opportunity to respond to that claim so emailed them and have to give them 7 days to respond (or not 🙄)

[Spurschick]

30 minutes ago, LDVinNC said:

 

Wow...wonder why they did that.  Not the usual (and ethical) way to do it.  Sure hope you can get your money back.  I do think filing a dispute - since you cannot get ahold of the TA - is the way to go.

Thanks, we do have insurance as well but looks like this may take a lot longer to resolve than I had hoped.

[LDVinNC]

1 minute ago, Spurschick said:

Yes will do. As we found out yesterday the money was sent to them bank say we have to give them opportunity to respond to that claim so emailed them and have to give them 7 days to respond (or not 🙄)

 

You might want to send a certified letter with signature...

[Spurschick]

Just now, LDVinNC said:

 

You might want to send a certified letter with signature...

Thought about it but their office is closed and they are working remotely so I don’t have much faith in it getting to them.