Princess Cruise refund and third party insurance...

[Cruising Forever!]

I called Princess today... I don't think I waited at all to talk to a live person once I'd navigated the menus on the phone... an extremely nice and well informed woman.  We discussed my upcoming cruise that Princess cancelled (along with all the others back in mid-March), and I expressed my concerns about not yet receiving my refund.  (We opted for Option 2 which was 100% refund and FCC)  She thanked me for our patience, and looked up my booking and she confirmed everything is still in their system and it will be worked on and of course, she said that they are experiencing delays and that this could take another month to process, but that it would be processed.  I won't speculate on why this delay is there other than to say the whole world is reeling right now.  I just wanted to be assured that everything is still being worked on as promised.

 

Many may already know about this stuff, but if you're out there and you are understandably upset, I am typing what I found out today and maybe this will help calm your nerves. (It did that for me!)

 

My first question was, since I purchased my airfare through Princess, would that be refunded as well or did I need to contact the airlines?  Answer: it will be refunded as it was via Princess' EZAir service.  I informed her that I did not purchase Princess travel insurance and she said that this was not an issue.  (I purchased travel insurance from a third party, but more on that below)  So, as long as you've purchased your air travel through Princess, you're covered on the refund!  You do not need to call those airlines.

 

My second question concerned how the refunds were going to be returned.  I paid for my cruise/air via one charge, while I used another charge for my excursions, Enclave Spa, water bottles, soda package, transfers, etc.  She assured me that each item is returned as paid.  In other words, my cruise/air will refund to the specific card I used to pay for it... and the rest will be returned to the other charge.  I had asked elsewhere here on CC and was told the same thing, but I thought I'd like to hear it directly from Princess.  So, yes, refunds are handled as paid.  (I work in a customer service environment, and when handling returns, I'm often asked what happens if that charge has been paid off or that account closed?  My answers at my store would differ... so I highly recommend calling Princess if that's a concern for you.)

 

As I said, the woman I talked to at Princess was courteous and very professional.  I felt like I was talking to an old friend.  I can't wait to call them again and book a new cruise once all of this subsides (probably many months off till cruising gets back online, in my opinion).

 

Now, as to third party insurance, I also have good news!  Again, I've never had a situation where a cruise was cancelled (in almost thirty years of cruising) and I was holding a cruise travel insurance policy.  My insurance was via a travel agent and she said I should call the insurance company directly for the best answers.  The insurance company, Allianz, which I've dealt with favorably in the past (a hurricane ripping by Bermuda cut short a day there and they refunded that port day on a cruise years ago!), was the insurer for this cancelled cruise with Princess.  Again, the phone was answered almost immediately, and by a very nice woman.  Before calling I saw a message on their website that made me feel that Covid19 was not covered at all by any of their policies, so I thought here... things might not be happy news.  At any rate, I explained my predicament and she said that while I could not get a refund (they do provide a refund for up to 15 days after initial purchase, but I purchased this back in December 2019), that I could send an email off to their sales support to see if they would consider it due to the Covid19 causing the Princess cancellation.  But rather than do this, I was more interested if this policy could be transferred to a future cruise... and guess what?  You can!

 

Obviously, being an avid cruiser, I'm going to cruise again... and being a SMART cruiser, I'm definitely going to need insurance.  Because of the Covid19 pandemic, Allianz (and perhaps other travel insurance companies are doing this or something similar) is allowing 770 days (!) from the date of original insurance purchase for you to reassign your policy to a new cruise!  In other words, since I purchased the insurance in December 2019, I can reassign this policy all the way out to about mid January 2022!  This is GREAT NEWS!

 

Again, perhaps many of you are rolling your eyes and saying this has all been covered elsewhere, but there might be some out there who've not heard any of this.  This post is for them!  Hang in there and stay healthy!!!

Edited April 10, 2020 by Cruising Forever!

[susantx3]

Sounds like a bad deal.  They should pay up now.

[mevs904]

Thank you for your informative post.  We’re in a little different situation.  We were booked on the March 2021 South America/Antarctica cruise and decided to cancel.  Our down payment was totally refundable and our TA assured us that we would receive our refund, as you described, on the credit card that we used for the down payment.  I had also purchased travel insurance through a third party (Travel Insured through USAA) but only put a minimal deposit on the policy.  I haven’t called Travel Insured yet to cancel the policy, but assumed that my deposit was not refundable.  I was especially interested to hear that Allianz would let you use the funds from your cancelled cruise on a future trip and hope that that option might be offered to me as well by my insurer.

     Best wishes on your future travel!

[Cruising Forever!]

2 hours ago, mevs904 said:

Thank you for your informative post.  We’re in a little different situation.  We were booked on the March 2021 South America/Antarctica cruise and decided to cancel.  Our down payment was totally refundable and our TA assured us that we would receive our refund, as you described, on the credit card that we used for the down payment.  I had also purchased travel insurance through a third party (Travel Insured through USAA) but only put a minimal deposit on the policy.  I haven’t called Travel Insured yet to cancel the policy, but assumed that my deposit was not refundable.  I was especially interested to hear that Allianz would let you use the funds from your cancelled cruise on a future trip and hope that that option might be offered to me as well by my insurer.

     Best wishes on your future travel!

I think most companies really are trying to work with their customers during this pandemic.  Good luck!

[sunnydrk]

Thank you for sharing your experience.  I hadn’t thought about calling the trip insurance company.

[LDVinNC]

Just yesterday we were able to transfer a policy from Travelsafe - just medical and evacuation, not trip cancellation - to new tentative trip dates. So, some companies are allowing changes.

We could have gotten a cash refund if we had proof that we got a refund for the cruise. We have not gotten the refund from Princess yet, and it could be a good long time before we do, if ever. Therefore, we chose the transfer option.

[skynight]

Thank you for the information. Looks like you were treated fairly all around.

[Coral]

According to Allianz website - they are also refunding your policy:

 

PLAN REFUND INFORMATION

Customers may change their plan’s effective dates to cover a new or rescheduled trip.  Alternatively, for a temporary period, we are offering refunds for the cost of your travel protection plan to customers who wish to cancel their travel protection plan if the customer’s travel supplier canceled the customer’s trip due to COVID-19, so long as no payable claim has been filed under the plan.  Please call us at the number listed on your plan and we will be happy to assist you.

 

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/coverage-alerts/2019-novel-coronavirus.htm

 

Though they are behind in issuing refunds also.

[capriccio]

8 hours ago, mevs904 said:

I had also purchased travel insurance through a third party (Travel Insured through USAA) but only put a minimal deposit on the policy.  I haven’t called Travel Insured yet to cancel the policy, but assumed that my deposit was not refundable. 

 

I just cancelled a June cruise that I too had insured with Travel Insured (thru the Trip Insurance Store) and Steve just responded to me yesterday with the following information that may help you:

 

Travel Insured has a Voucher Form you can use when your trip has been affected due to the Coronavirus:

https://www.travelinsured.com/vouchers/

 

If you would like to change the travel dates on your plan to cover a new or rescheduled trip (provided you are no longer taking the impacted trip due to COVID-19) you can fill out this form for a travel protection voucher. If you know your new dates of travel, Travel Insured will update your protection plan to reflect the new dates. If you do not know your new travel dates yet, Travel Insured will hold your plan voucher for future use. The future or rescheduled departure date must be within 3 years from the date of your original plan application date. Voucher for future use will be provided in an email format.

 

Voucher eligibility:

 - Original trip departure date is between March 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020

 - Travel has not and will not take place due to COVID-19

 - A claim hasn’t already been filed against the plan

 

 

[mevs904]

Thank you, capriccio.  I really appreciate this information.  Since the departure date for our cruise was March 2021 I’m not sure that a voucher will be possible but I will look into it.

 Off Topic: I always smile when I see your posts as I was a frequent traveler to the Shenandoah  Valley when my son went to JMU.  What a lovely area!

[capriccio]

10 minutes ago, mevs904 said:

Thank you, capriccio.  I really appreciate this information.  Since the departure date for our cruise was March 2021 I’m not sure that a voucher will be possible but I will look into it.

 Off Topic: I always smile when I see your posts as I was a frequent traveler to the Shenandoah  Valley when my son went to JMU.  What a lovely area!

 

I'm sorry I missed the date of your cruise!

 

Its a beautiful spring here in the Valley - the redbuds are in full bloom and the dogwoods began blooming this week.  Stay safe in New York!

[mevs904]

We love redbud and the dogwood in VA is so much nicer than upstate NY.  My son is now an established VA resident and my sister has lived in Williamsburg since 1978 so we love your state!  Best wishes to you and your family.  Stay well.

[bluehengal]

I had the opposite experience with Allianz and will never use them again.   We sailed March 1-8 on the Regal and were delayed arriving into port by 16 hours.  I submitted the claim for our airfare change and hotel.  They denied it due to Coronavirus.   I bought the policy in September 2019 before that was even a known word.  What a waste of money.   Never again!

[LDVinNC]

Sure seems like COVID-19 gave some companies an easy way to wiggle out of what their customers paid for!

[ghstudio]

Our third party insurance carrier already refunded out insurance payment for an April cruise that we cancelled.  Still waiting for Princess to refund cruise and air....but I'm waiting patiently for 60 days or so.  They have $6B so I am not fearful of bankruptcy at this point...but I know it will take time.

 

Note: they refunded the money because Princess is refunding me 100% of my payment....had I selected the FCC option, they would not have done the refund.  I sent them Princess's confirmation as proof that I was getting a full refund.

Edited April 10, 2020 by ghstudio

[teddie2]

Thanks for all this info.. I too just cancelled for an Alaska cruise which Princess should be cancelling because the Vancouver ports are closed till  July 1 but they are taking a wait and see approach.. not sure why.

In any case I don't think I will be comfortable cruising in June anyway so was within my timeframe for full refund

For those of you who have cancelled, did you get some kind of email confirmation that your booking was cancelled?

THe girl I spoke with was sweet but uninformed compared to the one I spoke with three weeks ago.  Most of what I had paid already was done via gift cards.. so the funds will go back to the gift cards but I don't have all of them.. she did not know how to deal with that but I saw on their website that they will give you a new gift card with the funds on it. Its just now that I go back into my account there is nothing there.  No mention of a trip that was cancelled or how much they plan to refund... Just wondering is that the case and I should not worry or should there have been something sent to me.

Thanks!