How to Cancel Upcoming Cruises

[Bkmat]

We have decided to cancel two upcoming HA cruises.  Since we are doing this before final payment is due, I am grateful that we will get our deposit refunded.  One of the cruises is for 9/20 and the other is 5/21.  I was going to wait on the 5/21 cruise, but all in all I don’t see cruising in our future.  I actually love cruising the smaller, older HA ships, but have not been impressed with how this current situation has been managed.  After the Princess Cruise debacle in Japan, I am surprised that all the cruise lines did not put an immediate hold on further travels.  In the long run, it may have saved them some money.   Yesterday, I called my PCC to cancel and left a VM.  I also emailed her about our plans to cancel.  Originally I looked at our HA account to see if I could somehow cancel that way.  I am sure the PCC’s are deluged with requests and I would be fine with some type of a button that said “cancel this cruise”.   I do not feel the need to “speak” with someone and it would be easier if that option was available.  I imagine the company does not want to make it “too easy” to cancel, thus not having a cancel feature on the account.  After I left the VM for my PCC, I then realized she might not be working as all non-essential services are closed in the Seattle area.  I am coming to this knowledgeable community, hoping to gain insight about the cancellation process.  From reading other posts, I understand it will be awhile before we get our refund, but I am anxious to get the process going now.  I never thought these companies would go bankrupt until reading some CC post about that possibility yesterday.  I know many people love cruising and will continue to do so after this crisis pasts, but we will be looking at other options for travel in the future.  Appreciate any info regarding my cancellation questions.  Thank you and safe future travels to all!  

[AncientWanderer]

My understanding is that any of the HAL reps can handle this for you.  I don't think you have to communicate directly with PCC.  Just call HAL, follow the prompts and prepare to be on hold awhile.

The representatives are always very kind.

[CruiserBruce]

I would suggest some reading here, to further inform you on what is happening. For example, after the Japan/Princess issue (I will not call it any negative word, as I don't have any brilliant ideas on how a cruise line could force a country to allow docking and disembarking, nor I have heard any serious, informed, ideas on how they could have handled it better), most, if not all, cruise lines ceased sailing in Asia (the affected area) as quickly as possible, again, considering no cruise line can force a country to allow docking and offloading of pax.

 

There is no need to rush any cancelation of your cruises. Final payment for your September cruise should be sometime in June. You could wait until the crush going on right now (hopefully) slows down.

[Crazy For Cats]

I was talking with my PCC today.  They are all working from home.

[AncientWanderer]

Just now, Crazy For Cats said:

I was talking with my PCC today.  They are all working from home.

 

Well, they have always done that.  That is not new to this current situation.

[MudderBear]

I called and cancelled my 5/26 cruise on March 18th.  Have not gotten my refund yet....

[Hlitner]

We use some decent cruise agencies and cancelling is as simple as sending them a short e-mail.  I would hope that HAL would also be receptive to that kind of cancellation, but suspect that nothing is that simple when dealing directly with any cruise line. 

 

In your situation we would send an e-mail to HAL and, failing to get a response send a 2nd e-mail several days hence.  Make sure the 2nd e-mail says that it is your 2nd attempt to cancel.  Given them both a phone number and return e-mail address in the correspondence.  Make sure to keep a printed record and also document any phone call with date, time, outcome, etc.  

 

If all goes well you will not have a problem.  But if things do not go well you will need documentation to later deal with your credit card company and the cruise line.  These are bad times and bad things can happen to those who do not protect themselves.

 

Hank

[DeeniEncinitas]

21 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Well, they have always done that.  That is not new to this current situation.

I also agree with you! Our PCC for 10 years has always worked from home.

Denise😊

[Bkmat]

Update thus far:  I used the “chat” feature on the HA website and was given a number to call.  It ended up being the PCC number.   My PCC did not answer and I spoke with another representative who told me my PCC needed to cancel my cruise.  I called my PCC and left a second VM.  In trying to lighten the load of all the requests she must be getting, I told my PCC to cancel my cruise and then email she had done that.  I expect that won’t happen.  I will call again this upcoming week and send another email.  The emails are my proof that I have requested cancellation.  It’s unfortunate that I have to go through these hoops to cancel, when all they need to do is add a “cancel” button to my booking.  It would certainly make it easier for all involved.   This week I was able to cancel hotels and tours I had booked for my Sept trip and the response was gracious and immediate.  I was extremely impressed with these tour companies as they wished me best wishes and good health.  These were companies in Turkey and Greece and I can only imagine how difficult this will be for their business.  This is a crisis for the cruise industry and my heart goes out to all who will lose their jobs.  But, I am disappointed enough in the industries response to keep me from cruising in the future.  

[Janet76]

8 hours ago, MudderBear said:

I called and cancelled my 5/26 cruise on March 18th.  Have not gotten my refund yet....

We have not gotten our refund too,  We canceled our cruise on March 18th. as well. We were told processing  takes 2 weeks and some.  We shall see.  With another catastrophe with Carnival Cruise Line,  we hope to recoup our money in timely manner.  

 

J

Edited March 28, 2020 by Janet76
spelling

[bella1775]

I cancelled my cruise for October on March 12th. They said it would take 2 weeks to get a refund. No refund yet so I called back today and they said the accounting department is slammed with cancellations and it will take up to 60 days. I'm not exactly happy about that, but not much I can do.

[fatcat04]

Just now, bella1775 said:

I cancelled my cruise for October on March 12th. They said it would take 2 weeks to get a refund. No refund yet so I called back today and they said the accounting department is slammed with cancellations and it will take up to 60 days. I'm not exactly happy about that, but not much I can do.

This is what our PCC said about our FCC too. She said we will get an email when the credit is applied to our Mariner account. 

[Janet76]

Thanks for the update...We too are not happy about that as it wasn't a small amount we are talking about.

 

J

[funintehsun]

18 hours ago, Janet76 said:

We have not gotten our refund too,  We canceled our cruise on March 18th. as well. We were told processing  takes 2 weeks and some.  We shall see.  With another catastrophe with Carnival Cruise Line,  we hope to recoup our money in timely manner.  

 

J

Two weeks?  They are telling everybody who calls 60 days for refunds.  They didn't ask for my reservation or mariner number.

Edited March 29, 2020 by funintehsun
Added last sentence.

[bennybear]

My DH used the chat feature after logging in and we were able to cancel two cruises within 5 minutes, and we have a copy of the chat transcript. Super simple.   Don’t know if that works if you used a PCC.

[Bkmat]

Another Update:  Thanks to all who responded to my questions.  I received an email today from my PCC with an email noting cancellation of two upcoming cruises we had booked.  She said not to expect a refund until 60 days.  I wish it were going to be sooner, but we will be fine until it arrives.  With so many real problems and challenges happening now, I really can’t complain.  I am relieved that I did get a response from my PCC, who I can only imagine has been swamped with work.  Her email was professional and she did wish us good health.  She may be one of those who loses her job during this crisis.  I wish everyone reading this continued health and as a retired nurse, offer a big shout out to those who are on the front lines, caring for those who are ill in our society.  

[nyceve]

I really loved HAL until now.  They have not handled to cancellations and refunds in a professional manner.  Those who say they are dealing with many requests, miss the point.  I have not received a single email acknowledging my cancellation.  I did not even get an email telling me HAL had officially canceled my April 19th cruise.  I am a loyal Mariner. They are going to regret their behavior when many of us stop cruising. 

[Janet76]

We are still waiting.  First told 2 weeks then 60 days.  I do not want to hear if they are going to tell  me  to wait another 60 days. These corporations have billions of dollars.  Not acceptable... 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Janet76

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, Janet76 said:

We are still waiting.  First told 2 weeks then 60 days.  I do not want to hear if they are going to tell  me  to wait another 60 days. These corporations have billions of dollars.  Not acceptable... 

It has been reported that CCL is burning through about $1 Billion a month.   If they cannot resume operations within a reasonable amount of time and some how manage to fill their ships, the money will not last forever.  

 

Hank

[Janet76]

We have read about this too. CCL stock tanked like 90% of 52 week high. No government bailout.  

[CruiserBruce]

20 hours ago, Janet76 said:

We are still waiting.  First told 2 weeks then 60 days.  I do not want to hear if they are going to tell  me  to wait another 60 days. These corporations have billions of dollars.  Not acceptable... 

You know they have billions in cash in a savings account? No, they might have billions in assets, which need to be liquidated to pay their bills. That takes time. They are raising money by a number of methods. None of which is fast enough, apparently.