How long will the refund take?

[nlcruiser01]

Thanks so much for your quick reply, drakes2!!

[cachouonacruise]

On February 12, our Millenium March 14 cruise was cancelled. 

 

We received a 50% refund on February 21. I was quite happy. 

 

Another refund corresponding to excursions and specialty dining was received last week.

 

As of March 18 a bit more than a month after the cancellation of the cruise, I am still waiting for the remainder of the 50 % refund on the cruise and the FCC.

 

I am beginning to find the delay a bit long. This said, I am thankful for the refund.

 

 

[hcat]

I called today and received an update on our refunds:

 

We cancelled our May cruise on Summit on March 10th under the Cruise with Confidence offer...still waiting on  a $2000 refund plus tax and fees for 1/2 cruise fare   ( all excursions & dining credits are back on the card already)

 

We cancelled  our Nov APEX  outright on  March 14th.. deposit refund , $ 500 , was initiated on March 17th..nothing yet.  ( excursion, dining and 2 spa already credited back to card.)

 

Rep  says they are backed up...but will send an email to move the first  one along

 

NOTE : CRUISE CARE INS ( AON) &  CRUISE WITH CONFIDENCE CANCELLATIONS!      Our Cruise care premium ( administered by AON ins) for the Summit was not refunded as part of the Cruise with Confidence Cancellation Program, so we lost $378 for that.. 

 

In NY, by law,  we have to buy it sep from AON rather than add to final payment

(same ins, pain in the neck to purchase).  We contacted AON,  and they refused to refund citing a 10 day cancellation period.,.. bummer!    Celeb rep said even if the Cruise Care was on our invoice  for final payment, it would not have been refunded because that charge was not part of the With Confidence refund  offer, and we cancelled after final payment.  Seems someone  is making alot of money on that. We will not use  the AON ins again.   More trouble than it is worth, in NY.

 

Not sure what the deal is on Cruisecare for  other Cancellation programs in effect at other times or when X cancels one's cruise. 

 

We still remember when booking a cruise &, getting to the ship, was easy peasy;   and cruising itself was pure joy ..Hope those days return!

[Fogfog]

Does anyone know WHY the refund takes 30 days...

They are happy to charge my Visa and typically a refund from a retail agent is back on the card within 7-10 days (which is also ridiculous in the age of digital transfers etc)

We cancelled a sailing for August-- Celebrity has had the deposit since the cruise was announced almost 2 yrs. ago...

The big box sent a confirmation within 24 hrs that it was "processed"... now we wait for the $.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Fogfog

[cachouonacruise]

 

12 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

On February 12, our Millenium March 14 cruise was cancelled. 

 

We received a 50% refund on February 21. I was quite happy. 

 

Another refund corresponding to excursions and specialty dining was received last week.

 

As of March 18 a bit more than a month after the cancellation of the cruise, I am still waiting for the remainder of the 50 % refund on the cruise and the FCC.

 

I am beginning to find the delay a bit long. This said, I am thankful for the refund.

 

 

 

Today, March 19, I am glad to finally be able to say that we received our last refund payment from Celebrity. Our refunds now cover 100% of expenses paid.

 

Thank you Celebrity!

 

 

[Cruising89143]

People just need to be patient. The cruise lines are overwhelmed. All refunds are being handled differently. Once you call in the cancellation it is then sent to a supervisor to be processed. There is now an extra step. I have three refunds due to me. The first was processed last Tuesday and it hit my credit card two days ago. I can only imagine how some people are treating the cruise line reps. It’s not their fault. They can only do so much. I feel sorry for them. Not the cruise lines but the customer service reps. 

[drakes2]

8 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

People just need to be patient. The cruise lines are overwhelmed. All refunds are being handled differently. Once you call in the cancellation it is then sent to a supervisor to be processed. There is now an extra step. I have three refunds due to me. The first was processed last Tuesday and it hit my credit card two days ago. I can only imagine how some people are treating the cruise line reps. It’s not their fault. They can only do so much. I feel sorry for them. Not the cruise lines but the customer service reps. 

One refund was processed March 13 in 3 separate amounts and hit my CC March 17.  Was short a third of my refund so called celebrity rep and accounting walked him through the refund process so hopefully I will see it by Friday. With the two small FCCs I have I plan on doing a B2B probably on different celebrity ships when all is good.

I have an excellent vacation planner and hope he doesn't go anywhere. 

[funcruzer1]

Canceled back to back May cruises on March 7 and suppose to get some FCC and some credit back to credit card.  Few days ago received the card credit equal to one portion of cruise. Nothing on the other cruise at this point. TA seems overwhelmed at this point so I have reached out directly to Celebrity but no reply yet

[Lastdance]

Canceled at the beginning of February due to a companion getting a cancer diagnosis.  Thankfully, she has all of her money.  It was returned in early March.  Celebrity still owes two of us over 1,000 each, but we did get most of it in the early part of March...this had nothing to do with Covid-19, and was before all these cancelations.  I had to get the help of Celebrity, even though I was booked through the big box company...conundrum!  I have faith that Celebrity will correct this issue for me, but for the big box company...no faith at all due to my specific agent!

[pilgrimtraveler]

We were on the cancelled 2/15 Millie cruise out of Hong Kong.  We cancelled on Feb 5 (just prior to the cruise itself being cancelled).  This meant we would get a 100%FCC plus our Celebrity Air refunded (without penalty fees).  We received our FCC 3 weeks after cancellation.  We are still waiting for our refund.  At the beginning of March, we were told there was an accounting error and that Celebrity was resubmitting our refund. We were also told it would be 7 to 14 business days before we would see the credit.  Our TA has assured us that they will be following up again at the beginning of the week.  We have been receiving prompt responses to all our inquiries.  Doesn't stop us from being anxious to see that refund, though. 

 

For those of you who have posted your experiences, thank you!  The information has been very helpful.  

[helen haywood]

Banking question. If I do eventually receive the monies from two cruises that Celebrity, not I, canceled and I asked for the refund, not the FCC, is there anyway to transfer these funds from my credit card to my bank account?  I don’t really want to have thousands in credit sitting on my card.

[drakes2]

19 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Banking question. If I do eventually receive the monies from two cruises that Celebrity, not I, canceled and I asked for the refund, not the FCC, is there anyway to transfer these funds from my credit card to my bank account?  I don’t really want to have thousands in credit sitting on my card.

No it will go back to the original form of payment I.e credit or debit unless you have cancelled the card.

[simonph]

In the past I have had credit from cc transferred to a bank account. Once in credit the money belongs to you to do whatever you wish. That is my understanding in the UK.

[az_tchr]

On 3/19/2020 at 8:52 AM, Fogfog said:

Does anyone know WHY the refund takes 30 days...

They are happy to charge my Visa and typically a refund from a retail agent is back on the card within 7-10 days (which is also ridiculous in the age of digital transfers etc)

We cancelled a sailing for August-- Celebrity has had the deposit since the cruise was announced almost 2 yrs. ago...

The big box sent a confirmation within 24 hrs that it was "processed"... now we wait for the $.

 

 

Yes.  Tens of thousands of refunds compared to a few dozen.  Then the refunds need to involve to TA.

If you want to see why refunds are taking so long take a look at the lines at grocery stores.  Same situation. Both overwhelmed.

[az_tchr]

1 minute ago, simonph said:

In the past I have had credit from cc transferred to a bank account. Once in credit the money belongs to you to do whatever you wish. That is my understanding in the UK.

UK rules on both cruises and banking are very different from the USA.

[helen haywood]

27 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

No it will go back to the original form of payment I.e credit or debit unless you have cancelled the card.

I know it will go back to my credit card.  I am looking for ways to not just have thousands sitting in my credit card account.  If/when I see the refunds I’ll ask my credit card company.  I thought other people might have had similar experiences where monies of an substantial sum were credited to a credit card.

[GerScot]

2 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

I know it will go back to my credit card.  I am looking for ways to not just have thousands sitting in my credit card account.  If/when I see the refunds I’ll ask my credit card company.  I thought other people might have had similar experiences where monies of an substantial sum were credited to a credit card.

I am in Uk and called bank this morning, refund on credit card was transferred to my current account no problem. They actually said that I would be in breach of conditions if I left the card in credit for a period of time. Also said not to try and do credit card transfer myself as that would incur charges. Told me to call back with any further refunds and they would do the transfer.

[cachouonacruise]

53 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Banking question. If I do eventually receive the monies from two cruises that Celebrity, not I, canceled and I asked for the refund, not the FCC, is there anyway to transfer these funds from my credit card to my bank account?  I don’t really want to have thousands in credit sitting on my card.

 

I am from Canada and I was wondering about this question also having received cruise refunds. (rules can change from country to country and bank to bank).

 

As it turned out or me, I won’t need to test it, but in case it may be something worth looking into from your perspective: 

 

Someone mentioned to me the following: Normally, when going into an automatic teller to withdraw money, you can do so from your credit card. The caveat is that you then have to pay interest on the withdrawn money. However, if your credit card account is negative ( the bank owing you money), apparently, you can withdraw money without having to pay any interest.

 

If I were in your situation, I would call my bank to ascertain if this is a viable option.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, helen haywood said:

Banking question. If I do eventually receive the monies from two cruises that Celebrity, not I, canceled and I asked for the refund, not the FCC, is there anyway to transfer these funds from my credit card to my bank account?  I don’t really want to have thousands in credit sitting on my card.

I'm in the same situation and did a bit of research last week. It seems to vary from place to place, bank to bank and credit card to credit card, so in your shoes, I'd speak to my bank and credit card issuer if they aren't one and the same. The suggestions below may or may not apply in your case:

 

Call the bank and ask to have those funds transferred. If your bank and card issuer are the same, it shouldn't be a problem, but YMMV.

 

Take a cash advance on your card and deposit it in your bank account. If your credit card balance remains positive, you may not be charged any interest, but do check first to avoid any surprises. 

 

If your credit card issuer offers credit card cheques, you can write a cheque for the amount you want to transfer to your bank account then deposit it at your branch or by using your bank’s mobile app just as you would with a regular cheque. As with a cash advance, make sure that you understand the conditions and whether interest will be charged.

 

Edited March 21, 2020 by Fouremco

[helen haywood]

Thanks everyone.  I’ll wait until I have the refund and ask bank and credit card companies.  Not the same institution.  And I’m in the USA.  I’ll post what I find out.

[hcat]

We  cancelled 2 cruises in  early  March, and will wait another week to ten days.

 

We  will look  into filing  a dispute with our credit card company if refund is delayed much more than that period of time.  Not sure card will accept the dispute but we'll see,

 

Credits for cancelled  excursions,  dining and spa that we did online  were back on the card within days .   We already received our 50%  future cruise credit.  No reason to be dragging their feet on the  bigger refund to  our  card....One is a $ 500 fully refundable deposit so not much to do with that ;  and the other is 59% cruise fare plus fees and tax which the rep already calculated...and sent to processing dept.

 

We will deal with a large credit balance when it is on the card...or buy  some new furniture! ( in lieu of 2020  cruises)

[mitz18]

Cancelled March 9th.  As of today no cc credit for taxes/fees, no cc credit for items purchased (bev pkg upgrade, excursions, speciality dining) and no FCC credit or email. Only 9 working days since cancelling so still being patient, but not sure how much longer to wait before a phone call will be made.  Will give it 5 more biz days & then decide if call is needed.

[Schmoe38]

We cancelled our cruise on March 10/20 and it was suggested to us that we should look to receive our 25% cash refund in approximately 30 days. We cancelled under the original cancellation program (our choice) and not under the Cruise with Confidence program. We were 32 days from embarkation. We are claiming the remaining 75% under our Trip Cancellation policy. We were told that our insurance claim could take approximately 45 days. If we had an issue with the time frames for reimbursement, the appropriate course of action would have been to inquire at the onset, directly with Celebrity and our Insurance company, as opposed to alternative methods that are not nearly as helpful.

 

We have not called Celebrity asking about the status of our refund, nor have we called the insurance company asking about the status of our claim. We are only 11 days into the process.

 

Celebrity has been good to us in all of the years we have been cruising, and you can bet, that although we would welcome an early processing, we are going to be very flexible with the suggested time frames, even if they go over. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[downsmead]

10 hours ago, GerScot said:

I am in Uk and called bank this morning, refund on credit card was transferred to my current account no problem. They actually said that I would be in breach of conditions if I left the card in credit for a period of time. Also said not to try and do credit card transfer myself as that would incur charges. Told me to call back with any further refunds and they would do the transfer.

Thank you, very helpful information 👍 

[downsmead]

9 hours ago, hcat said:We will deal with a large credit balance when it is on the card...or buy  some new furniture! ( in lieu of 2020  cruises)

😂