Uniworld River cruise cancellation

[Roz]

15 minutes ago, bubbulz said:

Plus you normally have to purchase within 14-21 days to get coverage for pre-existing conditions. That has saved us 3 times over the last 3 decades or so (twice this year). It’s not just about Covid ...

 

Exactly.  I have a congenital heart defect so I can't wait to purchase the insurance.  I do it within a day or two of booking my cruise.

[bubbulz]

1 minute ago, Roz said:

 

Exactly.  I have a congenital heart defect so I can't wait to purchase the insurance.  I do it within a day or two of booking my cruise.

Yep, and as we get older it’s hard to avoid  pre-existing conditions.  Even when I was younger I still got it though since I was concerned that an older parent could get sick or die of something that was pre-existing and would cause us to need to cancel. 

[NCollierville]

59 minutes ago, Tbird Gal said:

 

You learned a good lesson early.   However, some lines give you a nice discount for an EFT rather than a credit card payment.   You never figure a pandemic is going to hit!

 

As for travel insurance, I will never take a trip of more than $5k without it if going overseas.    We were to travel with three other couples for a Spain land tour and one of the men broke his hip a week prior.    We all had the insurance and were all able to cancel since we wanted to do the trip together.    The company (Tauck) was very understanding and we had their insurance.     I'm not sure I understood your comment about purchasing travel insurance for cruises that get cancelled.    Did you mean purchase the insurance AFTER they were cancelled?    

Our traveling companions did an EFT instead of credit card.  They received their refund 90'ish days.  But they threatened Uniworld to go to social media and hire an attorney.  I just went to FaceBook and they removed my comment. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, bubbulz said:

Plus you normally have to purchase within 14-21 days to get coverage for pre-existing conditions. That has saved us 3 times over the last 3 decades or so (twice this year). It’s not just about Covid ...

 

Actually, no.  The Allianz 'Journey Plan' sold by travel agents waives pre-existing conditions even if bought at the time of final payment.  The reason I buy minimum coverage at the time of deposit is to insure that deposit against vendor default.  Otherwise I could just wait until final payment and buy the full coverage.  Because of this feature, it's the only third-party travel insurance I consider.  [My most recent purchase was Windstar's own coverage, because they offer 90% CFAR coverage at a very reasonable price and I am not worried about them going out of business.]

[bubbulz]

4 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Actually, no.  The Allianz 'Journey Plan' sold by travel agents waives pre-existing conditions even if bought at the time of final payment.  The reason I buy minimum coverage at the time of deposit is to insure that deposit against vendor default.  Otherwise I could just wait until final payment and buy the full coverage.  Because of this feature, it's the only third-party travel insurance I consider.  [My most recent purchase was Windstar's own coverage, because they offer 90% CFAR coverage at a very reasonable price and I am not worried about them going out of business.]

Interesting.  We have purchased through the travel agent several times but usually do it on our own so we have to at least get the policy for the minimum early. But yes we add to it as more amounts become non-refundable overtime.

[agidor63]

I started this, and I will finish with good news.  We have received our refund from Uniworld after waiting almost 100 days.  Now waiting for insurance refund.  We will never sail with Uniworld.  They are not truthful.  You just have to keep bugging them.  

[NCollierville]

We received our refund after I posted on the Uniworld Facebook page.  I had to follow up on the IM communication after Uniworld did not give me a date after 1 week.

[JudeB]

We were booked on a Uniworld cruise in Germany early June.  We asked for a full refund which we were entitled to under UK law. This was agreed on June 11th. We were told it would take up to 16 weeks. We received our money this week, so that was an 8 week wait.

[Tbird Gal]

2 hours ago, JudeB said:

We were booked on a Uniworld cruise in Germany early June.  We asked for a full refund which we were entitled to under UK law. This was agreed on June 11th. We were told it would take up to 16 weeks. We received our money this week, so that was an 8 week wait.

 

Congrats!   Perhaps being from the UK made the difference.   I don't know of US laws that protect cruise refunds.    I do know I will never go on a Uniworld cruise again after waiting over 4 months for the refund.   I've been looking at a future trip on Vantage which we've never used but now see negative comments on their refunds as well.   I think all travel companies and cruise lines should watch their reputations because this can happen again.    I'll probably only book on lines that refunded promptly with no problems.

[iMarco46]

10 minutes ago, Tbird Gal said:

...I do know I will never go on a Uniworld cruise again after waiting over 4 months for the refund...

 

Are you still waiting?

 

Received any updates or assurances?

[Tbird Gal]

14 minutes ago, iMarco46 said:

 

Are you still waiting?

 

Received any updates or assurances?

 

We were refunded after waiting 4 months and MANY assurances that the refund was "processing".   It apparently "processed" for 2 months.   One of our group (an attorney) contacted their credit card company.   Our TA called repeatedly and kept getting assurances.    We cancelled months before the deadline to do so and had expected a refund within 2 months at the most.     We've travelled a lot and used different lines.   Will be very careful in the future about who we trust with this much money held for over a year.   I believe going on Facebook as NCollierville did was very smart.    

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, Tbird Gal said:

I'll probably only book on lines that refunded promptly with no problems.

Good luck finding one. I don't know of very many companies that have come up smelling like roses over this one.

 

I'm still waiting for a refund from Lufthansa for a cancelled flight booked through Expedia. It is now more than 3 months.

[Tbird Gal]

Sorry to hear about Lufthansa as I like flying them.    I have heard from our TA that Viking has refunded promptly, and sometimes even earlier than expected.    

[radioman]

1 hour ago, Tbird Gal said:

Sorry to hear about Lufthansa as I like flying them.    I have heard from our TA that Viking has refunded promptly, and sometimes even earlier than expected.    

 

Besides Viking can anyone share with me other cruise lines or tour companies that refunded people money promptly (not cruise credit)?

I would like to book another river cruise but concerned about getting all my money back if there is another virus outbreak.

Thanks Paul

 

[Ride-The-Waves]

Also still waiting for a refund from Uniworld, even a partial promised three months ago.  Uniworld cancelled our "Grand France" cruise for June and health complications have since made any future cruise extremely unlikely: will not be able to obtain health clearance to fly or travel outside the US.  Instead of understanding this and working with us, Uniworld has steadfastly claimed "policy" to not refund.  FCC being the only option, which doesn't work.  Enough waiting and four months of email exchanges with Uniworld and the TA, two weeks ago I filed a charge-back with the credit card company for the final payment which does not fully cover what Uniworld is withholding ($16,001).  We have sailed with Uniworld for about 10 years and really enjoyed the experience.  Once a great company with excellent ships and fantastic crews, it now operates as a grifter lying and obfuscating everything.  Horrible.  Its true greed by the family owners of "The Travel Corporation"

[bubbulz]

3 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Also still waiting for a refund from Uniworld, even a partial promised three months ago.  Uniworld cancelled our "Grand France" cruise for June and health complications have since made any future cruise extremely unlikely: will not be able to obtain health clearance to fly or travel outside the US.  Instead of understanding this and working with us, Uniworld has steadfastly claimed "policy" to not refund.  FCC being the only option, which doesn't work.  Enough waiting and four months of email exchanges with Uniworld and the TA, two weeks ago I filed a charge-back with the credit card company for the final payment which does not fully cover what Uniworld is withholding ($16,001).  We have sailed with Uniworld for about 10 years and really enjoyed the experience.  Once a great company with excellent ships and fantastic crews, it now operates as a grifter lying and obfuscating everything.  Horrible.  Its true greed by the family owners of "The Travel Corporation"

If you are medically unable to travel (for a reason other than Covid-19) why not get a letter from your doctor and file under your insurance?

[Ride-The-Waves]

21 hours ago, bubbulz said:

If you are medically unable to travel (for a reason other than Covid-19) why not get a letter from your doctor and file under your insurance?

Next step.

[iMarco46]

Uniworld has now cancelled through Sept 15.

https://www.uniworld.com/en/already-booked/travel-information/

 

[gnome12]

Uniworld has now cancelled through Sept 15.

https://www.uniworld.com/en/already-booked/travel-information/

 

 

Wow. Just 33 days from the date of their announcement. Talk about short notice.

 

 

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[netravelingteacher]

We chose Uniworld for a 50th anniversary cruise, because we wanted the best. Unfortunately, the pandemic happened, and the trip was CANCELLED ( not suspended, which was Uniworld's wording). Unfortunately, we cannot review our travel experience, but we can review the CANCELLATION experience, which was unsatisfactory. Viking immediately offered clients a full refund or a voucher worth 125% of the purchase price. Our first refund offer was purchase price minus a $200 cancellation fee for each passenger and no insurance refund. The partial refund was contrary to the terms of the invoice, and contrary to California law which governs 

 

Uniworld as a seller of travel. This invoice also governs the insurance money collected by the cruise line. According to the invoice, they were required to return all monies in the event of a cancellation. During the entire process Uniworld seemed to want to litigate the point that the cruise was not cancelled, in effect wanting the customer to bear responsibilityfor the pandemic. Of course, these are difficult times for all cruise lines. I appreciate the stress of their situation. However, other travel entities seemed to have handled the crisis with more efficiency. We automatically received refunds for our cancelled air flights. It was only through extensive negotiations and a relentless travel agent that we were finally able to collect the cruise funds owed to us. We initially chose Uniworld because of its excellent reputation. This was not our experience with the cancellation process.

[iMarco46]

Updated - 

https://www.uniworld.com/en/already-booked/travel-information/

[iMarco46]

Some good news --

 

Thanks to our wonderful and tenacious TA, Uniworld has refunded our full cruise fare and waived the $200/pp cancellation penalty !

 

Timeline for Frankfurt to Baden-Baden cruise originally scheduled to sail July 02 2020:

 

Initial Deposit: Feb 01, 2020

 

Final Payment: March 04, 2020

 

Cancel policy in effect on date of final payment:

 

Uniworld cancelled the cruise on Jun 01 2020 and promised our TA a full refund within 60-90 days.

 

Uniworld official cancellation of our booking:  June 02, 2020

 

Refund payment posted to our credit card: Sept 05, 2020.

 

Happy with the final result, but wow... what an ordeal !

 

Gold stars to our TA !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[radioman]

If you were planning a river cruise for the fall of 2021 and still concerned about refund policies, which river cruise company would you use?  Thanks  Paul

[Tbird Gal]

We have already booked another river cruise for October 2021 and are using Viking.   Our TA said they refunded all of her clients promptly, sometimes even earlier than stated expectation.    

[Sullivans10]

I am a travel agent specializing in cruises. Hands down, Viking was out of the gate and publishing what they would do for clients from day one.... Full refunds OR 125% of what you paid to entice you to rebook on ANY of their products! If you wanted to switch from a Riverboat to one of their gorgeous Ocean cruises, no problem. If you preferred to use your voucher for a Red Carnation hotel, that was good too.  And...you did not have to rebook right away, only let them know which option so they could promptly send a voucher or the refund. All of my clients were thrilled with their transparency.

I have to say that Azamara also did a good job getting information quickly to me so that I could share it with my clients. Not all lines were as good as these particular ones, although I must be honest in saying that I do not book many of the larger ships so I cannot speak fairly about what they did or did not do.