Cunard's Cancellations/Refunds Update 23rd April 2020

[Clagmeister]

5 hours ago, Fishgirl01 said:

Thank you Cunard, money back in our account at 55 days, so within the promised 60 days.

Day 69 and still waiting and my booking and contact was directly with Cunard . Originally promised 7 to 10 days. Then within 45 days and my refund was being processed and would be with me soon. When that passed I was told it was 45 working days (less weekend and bank holidays) . Well that has passed too. Oddly, in my exchanges 60 days has never been mentioned though I know that 'within 60 days' is on the Cunard website. Still waiting patiently in anticipation 😕

[Ray66]

1 hour ago, PORT ROYAL said:

 

Just a thought... Could be?

1st - VIP (Unofficial) Diamond (Big Revenue Bookers)

2nd - Diamond

Then so on....

 

 

 

Doubt it. We're Diamond. We should be on the QM2 now (20th May cruise). We cancelled with online TA on 15th March and their acknowledgement email was on 23rd March. Over 60 days now and heard nothing since.

[beakerone]

Hello

 

I wonder if anybody can help me with a telephone number for Cunard that works?  I've been trying to call for three weeks to have a cruise that we have booked for this week moved to next year as well as move a deposit for an end of August cruise to a future booking.  We need accessible rooms and have onboard booking benefits so I want to make sure they are moved properly to the correct type of room.

 

I've tried 0800 052 3841 (this one gives me a message about recording the call and then cuts to another message saying their lines are busy and to try later.  It then cuts me off) and 0344 3388641 (this gets through and there is a message about cancelling cruises.  It then plays some music and cuts me off). I don't mind waiting on hold until somebody can help, but three weeks of trying at all times of day and it is always the same.  Does anybody have a number which I can eventually get through to somebody on?  I am being chased for the balance of my cruise payment by email but don't really want to pay out an extra £2k right now and would rather move the cruise.

 

Sympathies to everyone waiting for refunds.  I'm pleased to say that BA were very good about issuing a flight refund.  15 minutes on hold and then through to a helpful lady who said to allow 28 days, but refund received within 10 days.  

 

Many thanks

 

Beaker

[phbr]

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Dont know who has given you that information but with regards to Cunard UK it states if you have a cruise booked after 31st August you can transfer it free of charge to any up to March 2022 as long as done before 31st August. This  is not a new offer as we have a cruise booked 2nd Oct on QM2 for 28 nts and balance due end of June and I will not be paying the balance and cannot book any for 2021 because we already have 3 booked so been looking at March 2022 on QM2. This has been available since there last lot of cancellations because I am hoping before my balance due they will announce cancellations for October so I can request a cash refund.

 

Transferring your booking.

If you are sailing after 31 August 2020 then you can take advantage of our new flexible transfer policy (in place until 31 August 2020), but we will require notice prior to the balance due date.

This means that guests, who have a booking on a Cunard Fare or Early Saver fare, sailing after 31 August 2020, can now:

• Transfer your booking to any Cunard voyage currently on sale (and not just to those within the next 12 months).
• Transfer your booking to a voyage of higher or lower value (and not just of a higher value, as is usually the case).
• Transfer your booking an unlimited number of times (and not just once).
• Transfer your bookings free of charge, as we will waive the current £100 administration charge for each transfer made.

My booking was through a US Travel Agent.

 

Different rules apparently. What I was told refered to US based bookings not anywhere else.

Edited May 23, 2020 by phbr

[PORT ROYAL]

14 minutes ago, beakerone said:

Hello

 

I wonder if anybody can help me with a telephone number for Cunard that works?  I've been trying to call for three weeks to have a cruise that we have booked for this week moved to next year as well as move a deposit for an end of August cruise to a future booking.  We need accessible rooms and have onboard booking benefits so I want to make sure they are moved properly to the correct type of room.

 

I've tried 0800 052 3841 (this one gives me a message about recording the call and then cuts to another message saying their lines are busy and to try later.  It then cuts me off) and 0344 3388641 (this gets through and there is a message about cancelling cruises.  It then plays some music and cuts me off). I don't mind waiting on hold until somebody can help, but three weeks of trying at all times of day and it is always the same.  Does anybody have a number which I can eventually get through to somebody on?  I am being chased for the balance of my cruise payment by email but don't really want to pay out an extra £2k right now and would rather move the cruise.

 

Sympathies to everyone waiting for refunds.  I'm pleased to say that BA were very good about issuing a flight refund.  15 minutes on hold and then through to a helpful lady who said to allow 28 days, but refund received within 10 days.  

 

Many thanks

 

Beaker

 

Send your Cunard PCS an Email for a call back.  They usually will act promptly.

 

[LGC100]

On 5/23/2020 at 2:00 PM, Ray66 said:

 

Doubt it. We're Diamond. We should be on the QM2 now (20th May cruise). We cancelled with online TA on 15th March and their acknowledgement email was on 23rd March. Over 60 days now and heard nothing since.

Another lesson is never book through a TA.

 

Ours completely ignored our email request for a full refund on 9th April but acknowledged our online form request with a 90 day wait from the form filling date (last week). 

 

And no the TA didn't tell us we had to fill in an online form. I found it by accident after Googling the TA's website. 

 

Hope you've not got the same TA as us. 

[beaveh]

UK based TA

Well our TA contacted me over the weekend asking if I wanted to take advantage of Cunards generous 125% FCC. I told them I applied to Cunard ( using their online form) on 24th April as both they and Cunard had advised me to do that in their emails of the 23rd April if I wanted a refund rather than a FCC. I did advise the TA I had done this at the time.

 

The TA then emailed me back on Sunday saying they had contacted Cunard and requested a refund for me and it would be 60 days.

 

i had hoped it would be 60 days from my original request, not one that the TA had put in for me a whole month later.....

I’ll let you know what happens.

 

 

[bazzaw]

9 hours ago, beaveh said:

UK based TA

Well our TA contacted me over the weekend asking if I wanted to take advantage of Cunards generous 125% FCC. I told them I applied to Cunard ( using their online form) on 24th April as both they and Cunard had advised me to do that in their emails of the 23rd April if I wanted a refund rather than a FCC. I did advise the TA I had done this at the time.

 

The TA then emailed me back on Sunday saying they had contacted Cunard and requested a refund for me and it would be 60 days.

 

i had hoped it would be 60 days from my original request, not one that the TA had put in for me a whole month later.....

I’ll let you know what happens.

 

 

Similar thing happened to me. It seems like the TA's have a "normal" routine when it comes to cancellations - BUT cancellation routine is for when the passenger cancels the cruise- not when Cunard cancels it. Frankly I really do believe we will not get any refunds - Cunard cancelled my first cruise on 19 February - just how long do they need?????

[beakerone]

On 5/23/2020 at 2:42 PM, PORT ROYAL said:

 

Send your Cunard PCS an Email for a call back.  They usually will act promptly.

 

Thank you.  I've only ever booked onboard (apart from the first cruise booked online).  I'm presuming that a PCS is a particular person that has dealt with my bookings?  I have the gentlemen's name who made my booking but his card just has a telephone number for the QM2 and not an email address.  Does anybody have an email address I can use?  

 

Many thanks

 

Beaker

[Host Hattie]

Unfortunately the guidelines of this board do not allow the posting of PCS or Travel Agent details.

Thanks for your assistance.

[beakerone]

1 minute ago, Host Hattie said:

Unfortunately the guidelines of this board do not allow the posting of PCS or Travel Agent details.

Thanks for your assistance.

Thank you for your help.  I will keep trying to call.  Have tried a few times today and still being cut off.  After several cruises with Cunard, the stories on here and being unable to contact them has made me think I should look for a different cruise line in future.  

 

Good luck with the refunds.

 

Beaker

[Edithclara]

2 hours ago, beakerone said:

Thank you for your help.  I will keep trying to call.  Have tried a few times today and still being cut off.  After several cruises with Cunard, the stories on here and being unable to contact them has made me think I should look for a different cruise line in future.  

 

Good luck with the refunds.

 

Beaker

How frustrating for you. I received helpful replies when l sent tweets and direct messages on twitter to the cruise line. I hope you can sort out your booking.

[QM2Cruiser]

Hopefully I can give a glimmer of positivity with my post:

 

I was contacted today to ask for my bank details to process the refund. My cruise was in March and I submitted the refund request on day 1 of the online form.

 

Yes, it is over 60 days and Yes I was frustrated but like others have said, the sheer volume of refunds that need to be processed will take time. Add-in complications of home-working and a system that isn't designed for mass refunds and we are where we are. Also remember that some staff at Carnival House have been put under consultation for possible redundancies as reported in the press. I personally do not believe that Cunard/Carnival UK will be holding back cash unnecessarily - if they were found out, it would be pretty negative PR.

 

I suspect the priority would have been to issue the FCCs for those that opted for that - this allows them to rebook as soon as possible.

 

Unlike scheduled airlines that have IT Systems in place for mass refunds for cancelled flights, etc, cruise lines and tour operators do not because the number of cancelled cruises is usually less than minimal. 

 

Fingers crossed the refunds will start to be processed in larger numbers soon and we can all get on with booking the next one, whenever that may be.

 

I have suggested that Cunard update their website / comms with realistic timeframes for refunds.

[jsailox]

Yesterday a very helpful Cunard staff member credited my £3,368 FCC to a booking I had already made on QM2 sailing in 2021.
 

This is all going to take a long time to sort out, personally I think that a re start date in August 2020 is very optimistic and have considerable doubts about the viability of 2021 world cruises after the difficulties of this year.
Great time to buy shares in Carnival UK, £10 per share at the moment, assuming that they do not go bust. (Shareholder benefits of up to $250 OBC) . Jonathan 

 

[majortom10]

4 hours ago, jsailox said:

Yesterday a very helpful Cunard staff member credited my £3,368 FCC to a booking I had already made on QM2 sailing in 2021.
 

This is all going to take a long time to sort out, personally I think that a re start date in August 2020 is very optimistic and have considerable doubts about the viability of 2021 world cruises after the difficulties of this year.
Great time to buy shares in Carnival UK, £10 per share at the moment, assuming that they do not go bust. (Shareholder benefits of up to $250 OBC) . Jonathan 

 

Carnival shares were as low as £6 only a few weeks ago and are still very volatile so is a gamble unless you are prepared to keep them for a good few years because cannot see them getting to £45+ they once were for a very long time. The $250 shareholder benefit is a good bonus but it is not guaranteed and has to be agreed by the board at every AGM and I can see in current climate and dire straits Carnival are financially with big debts that it could be dropped in the near future.

[111222333]

Has anyone received a refund from Cunard ?

Our cruise from South Africa to Southampton (1 April) was cancelled by Cunard mid March. Our travel agent is supposedly claiming for us but we haven't really heard anything. Everytime we ask TA she says she's dealing with it....

 

[bananavan]

I am replying as an American. 
We were on the QV South America cruise when I contacted my TA to cancel the 2021QM2 World Cruise.  That was on March 12. 
We had used FCC and given a hefty deposit as we cruise in Grills. 
From what I was told by one Cunard rep the FCCs were put back onto my account, although I have no way of knowing that as the Cunard World Club does not seem to want to use my membership number on my account. 
I call Cunard every week. Every week I am told that the refund will happen soon. 
I have contacted my TA but she does not seem to knew any more than I do. The annoying thing is that I had booked directly and transferred the trip to an agent just before we left for the South America trip. 
I am now considering contacting American Express as we used that card to make the deposit. 
I had also used a big box store in the USA to handle the South America trip. They do not discount Cunard but give a refundable onboard credit. Not so fast folks, I am still waiting for that. It is almost 10% of the cost of that booking . Supposedly that is coming soon as well. One of the fellows who works in the "after cruise" department and I are now considering sending each other Christmas cards as we speak to each other more frequently than we do actual family members. Apparently my claim is now in the hands of the accountants. 
There is obviously a lot of money floating around for a lot of us. 

Edited May 27, 2020 by bananavan

[speedwell]

jsailox

 

Cunard told me that I couldn't use a FCC on an existing booking. Has the policy changed?

[exlondoner]

No, though you can use it to upgrade an existing booking.

[kentchris]

7 hours ago, exlondoner said:

No, though you can use it to upgrade an existing booking.

And/or add another cabin in case one isn't enough...

[bazzaw]

Just read a similar post to this - over on the Princess CC forum. Princess has of course a lot more ships than Cunard - but the thread over there is 106 pages long. They are talking in terms of "Pauses" = pause1,pause2,Pause3, etc - and it seems like refund money has started flowing from pause 1 ( whatever pause 1 actually is I don't know.  My cancelled cruise was cancelled on 19 Feb - ancient compared to the subsequent monthly "pauses" that Cunard later announced - but still no sign of any money to me 😞 

[8611202]

Glad to say I received my refund last week, 52 days after requesting it. I booked direct with Cunard in the UK. I also received separately by cheque the refund for the FCD used for the booking. I haven't received any email, phone or letter communication from Cunard to confirm the refunds, but at least I have the money!

Edited May 28, 2020 by 8611202
spelling

[Colin_Cameron]

46 minutes ago, 8611202 said:

Glad to say I received my refund last week, 52 days after requesting it...

Hi 8611202,

 

Could you tell us which cruise this was for? When it was cancelled? Etc. etc.

 

Trying to work out what system Cunard are using to prioritise refunds, since we know they're not working chronologically. Or maybe they're just picking names out of a hat.

[8611202]

QV 3 May 2020, selected refund option on Cunard website the same day cancellation notification email was received, which was 31 March. Cunard's subsequent cancellation invoice to me was dated 8 April but received via email on 11 April. Surname begins with B and we were booked in QG.

 

Hope that helps.

[majortom10]

We had e-mail on 30th March cancelling our QM2 cruise on 6th May. Requested cash refund and had no confirmation that it was received  Had e-mail 1st April from TA saying if we asked for refund it would be sent by Cunard within 45 days but possibly saying up to 60 days. Now on day 59 not counting cancellation date not had any communication from Cunard whatsoever and have tried to contact Cunard by PM on their Facebook page but they have totally ignored me. If I have not received any communication by tomorrow will contact credit card company and go down Section 75 route. Absolutely appalled by the treatment of Cunard and their total arrogance and contempt for their loyal customers as we have been cruising with them since 1997.