Uniworld River cruise cancellation

[TikiIslandGirl]

8 hours ago, Arizona said:

They were about 20% less than I could get direct or elsewhere online. 

I think it was more than 20% for me.  It was way better than booking it on my own

[Host Jazzbeau]

I booked through the cruise line once or twice, when we were willing to fly in Economy.  But since we decided that at our age that is not health-friendly, I haven't found good Premium Economy or Business fares from my cruise lines.  I have, however, been treated very well by the airlines in changing or cancelling my flights.

[Ride-The-Waves]

20 hours ago, Arizona said:

They were about 20% less than I could get direct or elsewhere online. 

AA was $5 less that Uniworld - so booked directly with AA.

[agidor63]

Since I started this thread, I will do an update.  We cancelled the cruise before Uniworld did.  We are waiting for our money our TA said 6-8 weeks.  We filed insurance claims with ANON the insurance company Uniworld uses.  We filed under medical issues since we have 3-4 of the Covid-19 health risks, submitted doctor forms etc.  That was about 2-3 weeks ago, now we wait.  Since we made our own air reservations Delta cancelled the flights, credited our credit card , and that was done within a week.  We will not travel with Uniworld again!  Not passenger friendly. My bucket list will have to be re-evaluated.

[Ride-The-Waves]

On 5/17/2020 at 10:22 AM, agidor63 said:

Since I started this thread, I will do an update.  We cancelled the cruise before Uniworld did.  We are waiting for our money our TA said 6-8 weeks.  We filed insurance claims with ANON the insurance company Uniworld uses.  We filed under medical issues since we have 3-4 of the Covid-19 health risks, submitted doctor forms etc.  That was about 2-3 weeks ago, now we wait.  Since we made our own air reservations Delta cancelled the flights, credited our credit card , and that was done within a week.  We will not travel with Uniworld again!  Not passenger friendly. My bucket list will have to be re-evaluated.

 

We mare in exactly the same "boat."  Working both directly through our TA and with Uniworld the "best" they have offered on our fully paid 2-week cruise through France is about a half refund and half as FCC.  We are in our mid-late 70s, still very active and healthy.  Do have several of the "underlying" conditions that come with maturity, all controlled with medication.  Canceled flights with AA and had full refund back on the CC in 2 weeks.

 

Have cruised with Uniworld on at least a half dozen times, to include land/river across China several years ago.  All great and first class.  Have no issues with the ships and crews.  However, Uniworld's excellent reputation is being tarnished by its owners, The Travel Corporation, a privately held company.  TTC owns 30 travel related business from hotels to travel services to cruise lines like Uniworld.  With no one traveling for pleasure - no one able to travel under the current circumstances, TTC is taking advantage of monies collected by Uniworld to fund future cruises to enable them to help fund the loses associated with the other businesses.  In essence, destroying Uniworld for their own selfish profit and benefit.

[iMarco46]

As noted by Babcia7 in another thread, Uniworld has cancelled everything through the end of August. Their web site removed the affected cruise offers on May 29.

 

Our TA has yet to receive a notification from Uniworld as to the cancellation of our planned cruise and is still awaiting a reply to her inquiry.

 

 

[22travel2]

We had booked the  April 9,2020 Portugal Douro cruise which was cancelled by Uniworld on March 16. We also had the option of the cash refund which we wanted to have. We paid for this cruise in March 2019 which is along time for them to have our money. For the last 12 weeks they kept telling our Travel agent that the refund was coming. No such luck  we filed a dispute with our credit card company and now a credit has been issued.. Now it’s up to them and Uniworld to sort this out. This was our 1st cruise with them and will not travel with them in the future.

 

If anyone else is having problems try filing a dispute it worked for us.

 

f

[Babcia7]

On 5/30/2020 at 7:10 AM, iMarco46 said:

As noted by Babcia7 in another thread, Uniworld has cancelled everything through the end of August. Their web site removed the affected cruise offers on May 29.

 

Our TA has yet to receive a notification from Uniworld as to the cancellation of our planned cruise and is still awaiting a reply to her inquiry.

 

 

Did you ever get a reply from Uniworld via your TA?  My TA said Uniworld had not yet suspended cruises beyond July 1.

[iMarco46]

1 hour ago, Babcia7 said:

Did you ever get a reply from Uniworld via your TA?  My TA said Uniworld had not yet suspended cruises beyond July 1.

 

Yes we did.

Our TA phoned her contact at Uniworld and received the following on Jun 1:

 

=====================================================================================

Hi [TA]

 

Thank you for the phone call. As discussed, we will submit the full refund for booking ####### and waive the $200pp administrative penalty. Please be advised it may take between 60-90 days for the guests to receive their refund. We thank you for your understanding regarding this timeline.

 

I will proceed with cancelling their booking, and moving forward with the refund...

=====================================================================================

 

So now we wait.

 

Current Uniworld Travel Information page:

Edited June 8, 2020 by iMarco46

[TikiIslandGirl]

12 hours ago, 22travel2 said:

We had booked the  April 9,2020 Portugal Douro cruise which was cancelled by Uniworld on March 16. We also had the option of the cash refund which we wanted to have. We paid for this cruise in March 2019 which is along time for them to have our money. For the last 12 weeks they kept telling our Travel agent that the refund was coming. No such luck  we filed a dispute with our credit card company and now a credit has been issued.. Now it’s up to them and Uniworld to sort this out. This was our 1st cruise with them and will not travel with them in the future.

 

If anyone else is having problems try filing a dispute it worked for us.

 

f

Just a FYI-the credit card company did a reversal of the charge while they are doing their investigation.  They can charge it back if they find in favor of Uniworld. Hope the reversal stays.

[iMarco46]

What is going on !!?

 

Uniworld's web site is currently (re-)listing July 2020 cruises.

 

https://www.uniworld.com/en/river-cruise/europe/rhine/rhine-moselle-and-blissful-baden-baden/2020-baden-baden-to-frankfurt/pricing/

 

 

https://www.uniworld.com/en/river-cruise/europe/rhine/alluring-amsterdam-and-vienna/2020-amsterdam-to-vienna/pricing/

 

[jbalter]

My wife and I booked two back-to-back cruises in France, departing on July 19. Because of the coronavirus epidemic, we cancelled them back on March 20 and were promised a refund within 3-4 weeks. That didn't happen. I made two more phone calls to Uniworld over the past two months requesting a refund of my deposit and each time was promised it within a time frame of a couple of weeks. None of those promises were kept. Today I made my last attempt and was promised a response by the end of this week. We'll see if Uniworld finally does what they say they will do.

 

We have taken Uniworld cruises in the past and always enjoyed them, but this failure to give me my money back almost three months after cancelling (!), despite their promises to do so, is very disappointing. There are many river cruise companies out there and we will choose one of them for our future cruises if this poor treatment continues. It takes them mere seconds to take a deposit or payment, so it shouldn't take them three months to process a refund. I have been patient so far but now I'm beginning to get angry. Uniworld needs to do the right thing.

[22travel2]

On 6/8/2020 at 6:36 AM, TikiIslandGirl said:

Just a FYI-the credit card company did a reversal of the charge while they are doing their investigation.  They can charge it back if they find in favor of Uniworld. Hope the reversal stays.

What a surprise to see that in our mail there was a cheque from Uniworld. We called them and advised us that we should cash the cheque and contact our credit card company to reverse the charges and cancelled the dispute. Why a cheque was sent and not credited to the card don’t know. 

[jbalter]

I’ll wait a couple of days and see what happens. If no adequate response, I’ll contact my credit card company. Thanks for the suggestion and your experience. 

[bczican]

We booked a MAY 2021 Ultimate France UNIWORLD CRUISE in January, 2020.  We paid in full.  Our TA informed us on May 5th, 2020 that UNIWORLD HAD CANCELED OUR CRUISE BECAUSE IT HAD SOLD OUT THE CRUISE TO A CHARTER.   

Uniworld sold a cruise to paid travelers and then resold it to a charter.

UNIWORLD SAYS IT WILL TAKE 60 -90 DAYS TO REFUND OUR MONEY.  We didn't cancel.  Uniworld did.  We have traveled with them several times.  We will never go on another Uniworld trip and our friends who were going with us, won't either.

We want our money!!  No word from Uniworld.  No apology.  

[kent9xxx1]

2 hours ago, bczican said:

We booked a MAY 2021 Ultimate France UNIWORLD CRUISE in January, 2020.  We paid in full.  Our TA informed us on May 5th, 2020 that UNIWORLD HAD CANCELED OUR CRUISE BECAUSE IT HAD SOLD OUT THE CRUISE TO A CHARTER.   

Uniworld sold a cruise to paid travelers and then resold it to a charter.

UNIWORLD SAYS IT WILL TAKE 60 -90 DAYS TO REFUND OUR MONEY.  We didn't cancel.  Uniworld did.  We have traveled with them several times.  We will never go on another Uniworld trip and our friends who were going with us, won't either.

We want our money!!  No word from Uniworld.  No apology.  

 

They couldn't offer to move you guys to a different date with 1 category upgrade and pay for all airlines change fee?  Is this company a joke now?

[bczican]

59 minutes ago, kent9xxx1 said:

 

They couldn't offer to move you guys to a different date with 1 category upgrade and pay for all airlines change fee?  Is this company a joke now?

Yes - it is a joke but not funny.  We have recommended Uniworld to many people.  No more.

[trurodoc]

On 4/18/2020 at 10:35 AM, agidor63 said:

We have cancelled!  We are taking a monetary “hit”, we will never cruise Uniworld again.  Our TA is fit to be tied.  Thank goodness for travel insurance.  We emailed the president/ceo of Uniworld and have not received a response.  They don’t care about the customer they care about the dollar.  So sad, since they are suppose to be a premier River boat cruise line.  Now we wait for Delta to cancel the flight.

Most of the submissions on this thread reflect our own experience, I had not expected Uniworld to be so difficult, but got quite upset with the almost daily changes in the cancellation policy. I finally cancelled a May 10 Rhine cruise myself on March 27, somewhat against the advice of my travel agent, because I couldn't stand the uncertainty. The Uniworld agent said I would get a 50% refund, but it has not shown yet. I do have insurance, fortunately.

 

Friends had also been due to travel at the same time, but they were booked on Ama Waterways. Their trip was to be entirely complimentary, because the year before, the water level was low and they did not get a full cruise. I never heard of Uniworld doing the same. Ama is now offering a certificate to health professionals to be used on a cruise before Dec. 31, 2021. I sent them my name and proof of license and am waiting to see how good an offer it is. This might be the end of Uniworld for us, as our impression of the line has sunk deeper than the Rhine.

[jbalter]

Update to my previous posting: I finally got a refund of my deposit for two back-to-back cruises still scheduled, as of today, to leave on July 17. I cancelled back in March, so it took 3 months. Was that too long? Yes. But everyone’s working from home under unusual circumstances and I gave them some leeway and consideration. It took 5 phone calls and being firm but nice to the people I spoke with, multiple “escalations” to accounting, and patience. Good luck to everyone else who are still waiting. 

[agidor63]

Fingers crossed we were told the week of July 20th we should have our money.  We have been waiting since April 17th.  I’m surprised no one has filed a Class Action suit against Uniworld.  Uniworld is a huge disappointment!  My next step is filing a complaint with the Attorney General of California.  I realize these are strange times, but frankly they should get their act together.

[kent9xxx1]

On 6/30/2020 at 1:35 PM, agidor63 said:

Fingers crossed we were told the week of July 20th we should have our money.  We have been waiting since April 17th.  I’m surprised no one has filed a Class Action suit against Uniworld.  Uniworld is a huge disappointment!  My next step is filing a complaint with the Attorney General of California.  I realize these are strange times, but frankly they should get their act together.

 

Call your credit card company.  

[Roz]

7 hours ago, kent9xxx1 said:

 

Call your credit card company.  

 

I agree with this.  I would only contact the AG's office if I thought I was a fraud victim or the company was running a Ponzi scheme.  Don't be surprised if the AG's office tells you to contact your credit card company.

[Cheekyrn1]

We are scheduled for China September 2020. Upon checking uniworld website our cruise is no longer listed. I assume cancelled, rightfully so...now waiting for uniworld to contact us and I anticipate a battle for a full refund vs a FCC

[Babato2boys]

You won’t get a refund!

[bubbulz]

On 6/9/2020 at 2:28 PM, 22travel2 said:

What a surprise to see that in our mail there was a cheque from Uniworld. We called them and advised us that we should cash the cheque and contact our credit card company to reverse the charges and cancelled the dispute. Why a cheque was sent and not credited to the card don’t know. 

We received a refund check also, as opposed to the credit back to our charge card that we had been told to expect. In our case, it was preferred since I would have had to ask AmEx to cut us a check for the credit balance, which would have just further delayed getting the money into our account bank account. Also, I was able to keep a bunch of AmEx points. 😉