Cunard's Cancellations/Refunds Update 23rd April 2020

[siforest65]

3 hours ago, longton said:

We have a cruise booked to Norway on Queen Victoria leaving Southamption on 7th August. 

 

We have to pay the balance of around £5,000 on Monday.

 

The cruise will almost certainly be cancelled. We are tempted to pay the balance and hope the cruise is cancelled and then get 125% FCC.

 

The cruise is still being advertised, and at 25% less than what we will pay.

 

 

A dilemma indeed. Imagine also having that plus waiting for a refund for an earlier cruise that’s already been cancelled. It’s happening and I bet with the amount of regular repeat cruisers who sail on Cunard is going to be very common in the next few months.

[VK3DQ]

5 minutes ago, siforest65 said:

A dilemma indeed. Imagine also having that plus waiting for a refund for an earlier cruise that’s already been cancelled. It’s happening and I bet with the amount of regular repeat cruisers who sail on Cunard is going to be very common in the next few months.

A Dilemma Indeed .. if it was me I would not pay Cunard another cent , you may not get it back or at very least will have to wait a log time before you get it back 

 

Regards

John

Edited April 25, 2020 by VK3DQ

[Host Hattie]

51 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

Hi Folks

 

still no cash refund for cruise cancelled by Cunard sailing 1-4-2020  I somehow doubt if we will see our cash again , the only way will be to petition for Cunards Bankruptcy and I dont think it will be long before some lawyer takes up the case

 

Regards

John 

When did you complete the request for your refund ? 

[VK3DQ]

5 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

When you complete the request for your refund ? 

Hi Hattie

 

From memory it was about a week before that sailing date , there was much confusion at the time and I filled in the application as soon as the request for cash refund was posted on Cunards website , if you recall its language was something like refuse 125% option or similar very confusing language 

 

Regards

John

[charlesspinney]

We got our letter this week and filled out the forms for refunds.  We called our Cunard planner and asker her what to expect.   She said the cruise refund goes through the UK office and could take up to 60 days.  The refund for excursions booked in North America go to the California office and they're processing them much quicker.

We've been dealing with this Cunard employee for many years now and she is not panicking.  I think patience is the big thing here.  Nothing is going to move very fast.

[bluemarble]

11 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

Hi Hattie

 

From memory it was about a week before that sailing date , there was much confusion at the time and I filled in the application as soon as the request for cash refund was posted on Cunards website , if you recall its language was something like refuse 125% option or similar very confusing language 

 

Regards

John

 

Ah, yes, that's when the refund from was originally called "Forfeit of 125% Future Cruise Credit." The first I noticed that form and posted about it on the previous cancellation thread was March 16th.

[charlesspinney]

14 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

Hi Hattie

 

From memory it was about a week before that sailing date , there was much confusion at the time and I filled in the application as soon as the request for cash refund was posted on Cunards website , if you recall its language was something like refuse 125% option or similar very confusing language 

 

Regards

John

You're right John, very confusing and threatening wording.   Even on the excursion refund form they give you two options:  1. An OBC for 110% of your purchase.  2. A refund that will take 60 days to process. 

Our main concern was, you cannot use an OBC to pre pay excursions.   All the best excursions don't last until you get aboard.

[VK3DQ]

7 minutes ago, charlesspinney said:

You're right John, very confusing and threatening wording.   Even on the excursion refund form they give you two options:  1. An OBC for 110% of your purchase.  2. A refund that will take 60 days to process. 

Our main concern was, you cannot use an OBC to pre pay excursions.   All the best excursions don't last until you get aboard.

Hi Folks

 

Well I just cannot afford to loose any more cash ... I have two lots of airfares involved with Virgin Australia where I will not see the money again and it most likely the airline will go under, then we have another cruise booked for November with Royal which will NOT happen due to Port closures and travel bans and then the Cunard QE trip which was supposed to sail on 1 -4 -2020 all in all a fair bundle of cash best part of $20k involved so no wonder I am a bit twitchy (Grin)

 

Regards

John

[charlesspinney]

This seems to be the most read thread right now.  I  have a question.  If your cruise is credited back to your credit card, how can you transfer all that money into a savings account without paying the exorbitant interest and administration fees?

[oskidunker]

3 minutes ago, charlesspinney said:

This seems to be the most read thread right now.  I  have a question.  If your cruise is credited back to your credit card, how can you transfer all that money into a savings account without paying the exorbitant interest and administration fees?

I think the credit card company will just send you a check if you ask.. just did that on another tour hereni the US. There are no fees to send me a check. There would be fees if you get a cash advance which is not what you want to do.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, VK3DQ said:

Hi

I would not be quite so sure .... track along four or five months with no income and their position will be quite precarious , and I dont see cruising starting (In Australia) for at least another year

 

How long before people in the USA cruise again  ???

 

And how long in the UK ??

 

 

Regards

John

But same applies to P&O UK,P&O AUS, Carnival cruises, Princess, Holland America, Costa and many others all companies owned by Carnival and they would all struggle with no income for next 4 or 5 months but none could go bankrupt individually it would just put the financial position of Carnival under pressure and would mean there would be a chance they go bankrupt as a whole company or being taken over but by whom.

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by majortom10

[hypercafe]

I don't know how much this helps here because I live in NYS. My June trip has been cancelled and I asked for a refund. I also asked the trip insurance company for a refund of the money I paid for the policy. The said OK and posted it to my CC in one day. This was very good news as at my age, 72, the policy was expensive.

[Host Hattie]

48 minutes ago, charlesspinney said:

This seems to be the most read thread right now.  I  have a question.  If your cruise is credited back to your credit card, how can you transfer all that money into a savings account without paying the exorbitant interest and administration fees?

That's a question for your Credit card company

[Host Hattie]

1 hour ago, VK3DQ said:

Hi Hattie

 

From memory it was about a week before that sailing date , there was much confusion at the time and I filled in the application as soon as the request for cash refund was posted on Cunards website , if you recall its language was something like refuse 125% option or similar very confusing language 

 

Regards

John

It's likely you have another 30 days to wait then.

[Colin_Cameron]

Can I suggest that if/when refunds start to come through we start a thread to track the progress.

 

Not for questions, speculation or comment but just, eg. cruise date, cancellation date, refund request date, received date, probably where in the world you are, booked direct or through a TA, any other relevant details.

 

This would give those waiting an idea of whether the 45/60 day schedule is being kept to, or allow them to reset their expectations.

 

Just a thought.

[Host Hattie]

Good idea, if someone starts it when they get their refund, I'll try to keep it tidy.

[Windsurfboy]

I cancelled my April  1st  cruise  Capetown to Southampton on March 16th, Thanks to this forum telling me about the forfeiture of FCC form.

 

It said I should have refund in 45 days, which will be April 30th

 

Will keep you posted. 

[naturelovergirl]

On a side note from all of our many steps surrounding this Cunard cruise cancellation- We were very pleased (surprisingly so, honestly) with the good customer service from our travel insurance, the airline, and our lodging in Vancouver... no cancellation fees and prompt refunds on the lodging and insurance... we will be waiting on the airline refund.

 

After pondering over it some more, we decided in the end to just take the refund of our deposit from Cunard. At first we were on the path of FCC, but we started talking about pros and cons of both ways. It was only going to be an extra $50 bucks we would be gaining in the FCC. Since it was only the deposit amount, and we were not going to rebook at this time, we decided to just wait on the deposit refund... So we will be in the waiting process like the rest of you... we shall see how long it does indeed take. 

We will still plan on returning to Cunard... and would love that to be next year... but in the end, we decided to make it our choice.

[Windsurfboy]

Could we keep the new thread simple , I think we need 3 pieces of information for those that recieve refunds.

 

Date of refund request (web form Submitted)

Date refund promised

Date refund recieved 

 

Could I  also suggest that people also keep us up to date on overdue refunds 

 

Date refund request

Date refund promised 

If the refund is not recieved  could they post a overdue notice

Then when it finally comes date refund recieved 

 

May be this will need two threads

 

Refund recieved 

Refund overdue

 

Hattie , Colin what do you think 

[Neuhoftraveler]

2 hours ago, hypercafe said:

I also asked the trip insurance company for a refund of the money I paid for the policy. The said OK and posted it to my CC in one day.

Would you mind telling us the name of your insurance company?  That might be helpful to others trying to get premiums refunded.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

18 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

Thanks to bluemarble and the others who offered comments and insights. Although I'd love to see the FCC based on the higher amount (the full price of the cruise), I have to admit that it's more logical to base it on the amount I actually paid. (Final payment wasn't due until early July). But if I learn something different I'll let you all know.

 

Jim

 

7 hours ago, longton said:

We have a cruise booked to Norway on Queen Victoria leaving Southamption on 7th August. 

 

We have to pay the balance of around £5,000 on Monday.

 

The cruise will almost certainly be cancelled. We are tempted to pay the balance and hope the cruise is cancelled and then get 125% FCC.

 

The cruise is still being advertised, and at 25% less than what we will pay.

 

 

IMHO that is not worth doing. Cancel now and accept the lost deposit as FCC. If you check current prices for 2021, you may find they are significantly higher than the launch date. The extra 25% is eaten up by the raised prices.

[hypercafe]

3 minutes ago, Neuhoftraveler said:

Would you mind telling us the name of your insurance company?  That might be helpful to others trying to get premiums refunded.

Sure, it's Starrtravel. I got it online from a site I have used for years, Squaremouth travel insurance.

[Colin_Cameron]

Windsurfboy,

 

I was thinking the cruise date / cancellation date / request date, would give us a clue as to which one they were using to prioritise refunds. 

 

I would hope that booking via a TA or direct wouldn’t have any impact but you never know.

 

And it’s always possible that, eg. the US office uses the sail date, the UK uses the cancellation date, and AUS uses the refund request date as their primary criteria. Or maybe one office just gets through their list faster than the others. 

[babs135]

41 minutes ago, PRINCESSTHE BEST said:

 

IMHO that is not worth doing. Cancel now and accept the lost deposit as FCC. If you check current prices for 2021, you may find they are significantly higher than the launch date. The extra 25% is eaten up by the raised prices.

Interestingly the same cruise in 2021 as the one we are booked on for October this year is cheaper (I checked a couple of hours ago out of curiosity) by approximately £500 PP.

 

 

[cdwise]

On 4/23/2020 at 12:32 PM, Ynox said:

Had my Alaska trip in August cancelled today. They'll be another time to go. It's a shame though - I've gone from 2 cruises this year to zero!

 

I booked my Alaska trip using a future cruise deposit I bought onboard. Does anyone know what's happening with these? Would I get it back to use on another trip?

We went from 3 to 0 so I feel your pain.