Oceania’s Ridiculous Loop Hole on Your Refund - not impressed!

[marylovestotravel]

We met a couple when we were doing our "social distancing" walk the other day. Coincidentally, they were booked on an Oceania cruise that was cancelled as well.  Oceania was not going to reimburse them for payments they made for tours booked with O. 

 

Someone suggested that they contact their credit card company, who agreed with them that it wasn't right for them to have to pay for something that would not be provided and  they got their money back.

 

Has anyone talked to their credit card company?

 

Mia

[basor]

Especially as, I read a post on the "insignia Around the World cruise, Jan8, 2020" Page 55, post#1352, someone commented on Mar4 that they had received an offer of 25% discount on a future cruise and a full refund. I scanned for more details, but couldn't find any. (ie)they were given an offer before we were.

 

 

I personally know a couple on this cruise and this is not correct - they received a refund for the remaining portion of the cruise they did not travel plus a 25% FCC for the value of what they paid on the unused portion of the ATW cruise...    this was offered after it was determined that they could not cruise to Asia and a complete new itinerary was put together.....also they were offered 2 different options, they could depart in Capetown and receive one offer or stay onboard for the new itinerary and receive another offer...it all became mute as the cruise was ended in Rio 2 days ago and they all flew home.

 

Don't base any comments on something your read on a CC roll call but do not have all of the information!

[clo]

4 hours ago, Sun Queen II said:

We are contacting our lawyer as well.  

Must be a family member or I'd think their fees would be prohibitive.

[clo]

18 minutes ago, marylovestotravel said:

Has anyone talked to their credit card company?

 

I've probably missed a discussion of this. But I've understood that if you don't get what you paid for then the credit card company will reimburse you. Yes or no?

[cruisinjoan01]

I was caught up in that same loophole.  The gov't came out and said 'don't go on cruises' on 3/9.  There were 6 of us and we all cancelled on 3/9 and 3/10.  The cruise was leaving on 3/18.  Their email came out on 3/13 about the 125%-150% FCC when THEY cancelled the cruises and I was informed by my agent at O that my FCC was only for 100% since I had cancelled prior to 3/13.  Still waiting on the refund of the shore excursions.  Already got the refunds from the Viator shore excursions I had booked.

Also, it's a good thing that there were 6 of us traveling because my husband and I did not get the 2 notifications on 3/6 and 3/13 from the president of O.  Luckily, the others rec'd the info and forwarded it to me.  My agent has been looking into this since 3/6 and hasn't come up with a solution yet as to why my husband and myself didn't receive the notifications, the one on the 13th being the cancellation of the cruise.  My husband and I are supposed to go on a world cruise with Regent in January.  It's just the 2 of us this time and I'm wondering if any missives have gone out from this cruise that we haven't rec'd.

[cruisinjoan01]

9 hours ago, marylovestotravel said:

We met a couple when we were doing our "social distancing" walk the other day. Coincidentally, they were booked on an Oceania cruise that was cancelled as well.  Oceania was not going to reimburse them for payments they made for tours booked with O. 

 

Someone suggested that they contact their credit card company, who agreed with them that it wasn't right for them to have to pay for something that would not be provided and  they got their money back.

 

Has anyone talked to their credit card company?

 

Mia

I was told by my O agent that I would receive a refund for all of the shore excursions (3) that I had booked.

[cruiseaholic78]

I have looked but just wanted to check one thing, having our first FCC and not having read the thousands of mails that came later we applied this to a cruise in September. Now we have realised it would be sensible to apply this just before FP is due in July does anyone know if Oceania will allow us to do that and have our FCC reinstated? We are hoping that the situation might be clearer by then.

Rosalyn

[LHT28]

10 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

You know, if you're sitting in the back of the plane being flown by a pilot that has access to all the dials, gauges and meters to which you have no access, it's not easy to second guess the pilot's decisions in real time.  It's much easier to crticize the decisions with 20-20 hindsight.

BINGO

I agree 

 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, cruisinjoan01 said:

I was told by my O agent that I would receive a refund for all of the shore excursions (3) that I had booked.

That is usually the case  & others have reported receiving  the $$  separately  on their CC

 

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, cruisinjoan01 said:

.  My agent has been looking into this since 3/6 and hasn't come up with a solution yet as to why my husband and myself didn't receive the notifications, the one on the 13th being the cancellation of the cruise.  My husband and I are supposed to go on a world cruise with Regent in January.  It's just the 2 of us this time and I'm wondering if any missives have gone out from this cruise that we haven't rec'd.

Is your email up to date on  Your account  online with O  &  Regent?

 I would sign in  & check  or have your TA  make sure your email is on your file with O

I usually get notices from  O & my TA  when changes are made  with the itinerary

[cruisinjoan01]

23 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Is your email up to date on  Your account  online with O  &  Regent?

 I would sign in  & check  or have your TA  make sure your email is on your file with O

I usually get notices from  O & my TA  when changes are made  with the itinerary

I've been getting all the notices from my TA at O, plus all the statements from O.  The emails that went out on 3/6 and 3/13 are from a totally different email address and are coming from the president of O.  My TA at O can't figure it out and has handed it over to the IT dept.  Who knows when they will figure it out.  I still haven't gotten the cancellation notice which I've asked for at least a dozen times.  Luckily I have the copy that my fellow traveler forwarded to me.

Edited March 19, 2020 by cruisinjoan01
Needed to add information

[MadManOfBethesda]

16 hours ago, eldaradoe said:

That is absolutely not true.... Yes they did change their policy as the situation evolved. And if they and another cruise line goes into bankruptcy those cruise credits will do you absolutely no good. They didn't stop the virus they're doing the best they can and your still whole.... You didn't lose anything but you want extra.

 

16 hours ago, Jancruz said:

Plus 1

Jancruz1

 

15 hours ago, Pedro22 said:

Precisely why I do not want to sit with FCC - they could likely go BK!

 

I seriously doubt that the cruise lines are going to go out of business.  If they end up filing for bankruptcy, it will be under Chapter 11, not Chapter 7.  Stockholders will most likely be wiped out, but I doubt that they'd do anything to hurt customers, such as wiping out FCC.  That would actually be counterproductive.  For comparison purposes, I would look to what's happened in the past when airlines filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11.  Although not an exact comparison, frequent flyer miles remained intact. 

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

I continue to agree with MaryLovestoTravel.   This seems very negative and underhanded.

Again, especially when for many high risk people, lives are at stake.

They did what they did.

There continues to be no justification.

 

The presence and appearance of unequal unfairness is never a good thing.

 

No hindsight here, at all.

And, I am not assuming that in all cases that we can trust a company or the pilot.

Edited March 19, 2020 by PRINCESS Sweet Pea

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

Madman,  yes I would hope that in any eventuality, guest who were affected by these cancelled and ill-fated cruises would get the very first consideration.

 

Still doesn't mean I would want FCC.  Nope.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, cruisinjoan01 said:

I've been getting all the notices from my TA at O, plus all the statements from O.  The emails that went out on 3/6 and 3/13 are from a totally different email address and are coming from the president of O.  My TA at O can't figure it out and has handed it over to the IT dept.  Who knows when they will figure it out.  I still haven't gotten the cancellation notice which I've asked for at least a dozen times.  Luckily I have the copy that my fellow traveler forwarded to me.

seems odd  then

 

[PaulMCO]

12 hours ago, marylovestotravel said:

We met a couple when we were doing our "social distancing" walk the other day. Coincidentally, they were booked on an Oceania cruise that was cancelled as well.  Oceania was not going to reimburse them for payments they made for tours booked with O. 

 

Someone suggested that they contact their credit card company, who agreed with them that it wasn't right for them to have to pay for something that would not be provided and  they got their money back.

 

Has anyone talked to their credit card company?

 

Mia

There are two different departments  within O.  They will get two reimbursements under two separate timelines.  One for the cruise and the other for the shore excursion.  In our case the SHOREX was returned first.

[ORV]

O has Travel Agents? Hmm, I thought they just had customer service reps working for them. 

[Pedro22]

On 3/17/2020 at 6:34 AM, Wishing on a star said:

I am not so sure that they would make the responsible decision and not risk my well being when deciding that a cruise would “go” or not.   In fact, quite the opposite. 

 

They did did not cancel anything, did they, until forced by Presidential Order.   Shouldn’t a company have more concern than the President.  Having to force him to step in. 

 

It really is that simple. 

 

It it is not appropriate to place concerned customers with bookings in that position and then play these policy games. 

 

Even more more especially with the usual older demographic. 

See the lawsuit that was filed against NCL (which owns Oceania). They provided agents with scripted lies to communicate to customers who were either calling to cancel or tentative about booking. There is definitely support on your point that they would *not* make a responsible decision for any of our well-being.

 

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/coronavirus-norwegian-cruise-line-leaked-emails-show-booking-strategy-11590056

 

 

[Pedro22]

5 hours ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

 

 

 

I seriously doubt that the cruise lines are going to go out of business.  If they end up filing for bankruptcy, it will be under Chapter 11, not Chapter 7.  Stockholders will most likely be wiped out, but I doubt that they'd do anything to hurt customers, such as wiping out FCC.  That would actually be counterproductive.  For comparison purposes, I would look to what's happened in the past when airlines filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11.  Although not an exact comparison, frequent flyer miles remained intact. 

 

 

Stocks of cruise lines have collapsed and now there are lawsuits against them including NCL which owns Oceania for instructing their agents to lie to customers who called to cancel or were on the fence about booking. They are culpable and if they go BK, and for those of us who have their "FCC" - we are royally screwed! Call your credit card company and dispute the charges.

 

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/coronavirus-norwegian-cruise-line-leaked-emails-show-booking-strategy-11590056

 

 

[1985rz1]

18 minutes ago, Pedro22 said:

See the lawsuit that was filed against NCL (which owns Oceania).

 

 

I'm not justifying what the NCL sales office did in any way, and if true is reprehensible.

 

But NCL does not own Oceania.  NCLH does.  Each line owned by NCLH,  NCL, Oceania, and Regent operates independently.  

Edited March 19, 2020 by 1985rz1

[MadManOfBethesda]

5 minutes ago, Pedro22 said:

Call your credit card company and dispute the charges.

 

On what basis?  You cancelled your cruise and accepted their offer of an FCC for doing so.  Just because you are now unhappy with that decision doesn't mean that the cruise line violated the terms of their contract with you.  The fact that they are offering cash refunds to people who didn't cancel has no effect on their contractual relationship with you.

 

Now, don't get me wrong; I think that the cruise line as a matter of good public relations and good business practices should provide refunds to everyone who was booked on the cancelled cruises.  But they have no legal imperative to do so and the credit card company would have no justification for ruling in your favor and clawing back the money.

[Pedro22]

Under false pretenses. The agents were sent an email and told to lie to customers.

Edited March 19, 2020 by Pedro22

[Pedro22]

typo

[Pedro22]

40 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

I'm not justifying what the NCL sales office did in any way, and if true is reprehensible.

 

But NCL does not own Oceania.  NCLH does.  Each line owned by NCLH,  NCL, Oceania, and Regent operates independently.  

Not independent as they are 100% owned by NCLH

[Riverroad]

10 minutes ago, Pedro22 said:

Under false pretenses. The agents were sent an email and told to lie to customers.

Neither Oceania or its representatives lied or were told to lie to any of their customers. They made an offer which you accepted and now are unhappy about. Go ahead and sue and be sure to let us know the outcome.