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Cunard's Cancellations/Refunds Update 23rd April 2020


rog747
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1 hour ago, jimdee3636 said:

For some reason, I can't quite grasp the 125% FCC concept. My wife and I just had our September QE Vancouver-to-Yokohama cruise cancelled. Not including taxes and port charges, the price we booked it for was about $4,000 per person (actually a little less, but it's easier to do the math using this figure). Because we had booked it while on the QM2 this past summer, we only had to put down a $300 pp deposit. Does this mean that if, say, we find a future cruise we like that costs $5,000 per person we would have to pay only $4,000 pp?

 

You get a credit note for the total amount you paid plus 25% so in your example $5000pp: if you then book a $5000pp cruise it's 'free', if you book a more expensive cruise you get $5000pp off the price. If you book a cruise for less than $5000pp it's 'free' and the balance of the credit is held against your account and can be used towards another booking. If you already have a booking you can use your credit towards a paid upgrade but you can't otherwise use it as part payment for that cruise.

 

T&Cs may differ according to where you booked your cruise, and changed for UK customers yesterday when the extension of cancellations was announced.

Edited by kentchris
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Very good questions, jimdee3636.

 

The problem as I see it, is that jimdee3636 hasn't yet paid the full $4000 for his cruise in September since it hasn't reached final payment yet. All he has paid prior to the cruise being cancelled is the $300 deposit while booking on board. So he can't expect to receive FCC for 125% of the full $4000 cruise fare (FCC=$5000).

 

Prior to the latest round of cancellations, all those canceled cruises had reached final payment and thus were fully paid. In that case it is clear that the FCC amount issued by Cunard would be 125% of the full fare that had been paid.

 

But now, what happens for those cruises in the most recent round of cancellations that have not yet reached final payment?

 

I don't know what the answer is, but one possibility would be for Cunard to issue FCC for 25% of the $4000 that jimdee3636 would have paid if the cruise had been paid in full (FCC=$1000). Another less generous possibility is that he might only receive FCC for 125% of the $300 deposit he has paid so far (FCC=$375).

 

It will be interesting to learn how this is actually going to work in practice. This might require a call to Cunard (or travel agent) to determine how FCC amounts will be calculated for the cruises that have been canceled prior to their final payment dates.

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I only expect the 125% FCC on the deposit amount we paid... We had also not made the final payment yet.

Of course, once we talk to our Travel Agent, we will confirm all.

At this point we are planning on just keeping the cruise credit on this deposit amount and not asking for a refund.

 

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2 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I would have expected it to be 125% of the amount paid not the price of the cruise.

 

2 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

I only expect the 125% FCC on the deposit amount we paid... We had also not made the final payment yet.

Of course, once we talk to our Travel Agent, we will confirm all.

At this point we are planning on just keeping the cruise credit on this deposit amount and not asking for a refund.

 

In retrospect, I expect that's correct. Some may have paid in full early, while others were waiting for the final payment date. And deposit amounts vary according to the booking terms. It could get pretty complicated trying to determine FCC amounts based on anything other than 125% of what each customer has actually paid for a cruise up to the point of cancellation.

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1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

 

 

In retrospect, I expect that's correct. Some may have paid in full early, while others were waiting for the final payment date. And deposit amounts vary according to the booking terms. It could get pretty complicated trying to determine FCC amounts based on anything other than 125% of what each customer has actually paid for a cruise up to the point of cancellation.

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

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16 hours ago, pollywaffle said:

Cunard cancelled our QM2 Cruise 14/3/20 just hours before we went to board in Fremantle.

I received a call from Cunard Aust at 11am the day of embarkation asking me if I wanted a voucher or a refund. I said refund please, as we are in our 80’s we don’t know if we will want to travel for some time.  Since that call, we have heard nothing!

With the way Cunard have dealt with this, I doubt we would ever book with them again even if we are still fit to travel in coming years.

Hello pollywaffle. How disappointing. All packed and ready to go. Lucky you didn't have far to travel home. I read about another cruiseline that cancelled a cruise after passengers were all onbi

Oard ready to depart. What a letdown...

We almost booked on the QE Fremantle to Sydney embarking 18 February. Fortunately we didn't as I recently read that anyone who'd been through Singapore was denied boarding. We went through Singapore on 12 February, so....

Even though Cunard called you, just wondering if you still needed to complete the Cunard online refund request form.

Stay safe..

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11 hours ago, sogne said:

Thank you for your recent email and for taking the time to contact us.

We’re sorry that you have not received your refund within the timescale previously communicated. COVID-19 is having a significant impact on our operations especially now that the vast majority of our team are working remotely.

Your request has been received and our estimate is that refunds are likely to take a minimum of 60 days to process. Refunds for bookings made through travel agents will be made by cheque direct to guests.  We appreciate that this is not the news you were hoping for but do ask for your patience and understanding at this challenging time.

In the meantime, please accept this email as our acknowledgement of receipt.
 

Once again, thank you for contacting us.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your recent email and subsequent emails.

We can confirm you will receive two cheques, one for each booking, as we process the cancellation and refund for each.

Once again, thank you for contacting us.

Kind regards,

Guest Relations

 

 

I cancelled 2 consectitive QV cruises for late April and early May and emailed  Cunard UK last week  the above  are the replies received  it seems likely they are dealing with cruises in date order. I successfully transferred another r QV cruise to QM" next year quickly and without fuss last week

Thanks for that info. We didn't know that "Refunds for bookings made through travel agents will be made by cheque direct to guests."

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Thanks for your good wishes.  Yes, I filled in their form online, which at the time said it may take 45days to action.  Now it says 60 days.... even worse is South African Airways who are bankrupt....so whether we ever get our refunds on the unused tickets,  is another doubtful!  They said we would have to lose $845 each if we wanted to have cash not a voucher, even though they cancelled all flights! Grrr!

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I submitted the form for a full refund today.  Now we patiently wait for a long time for processing.  The process made me so sad as we did want to cross the Atlantic (again!) on the QM2.  We will rush to do it in the future, but I am afraid that won't happen until there is a vaccine.  Stay safe everyone!

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2 hours ago, pollywaffle said:

Thanks for your good wishes.  Yes, I filled in their form online, which at the time said it may take 45days to action.  Now it says 60 days.... even worse is South African Airways who are bankrupt....so whether we ever get our refunds on the unused tickets,  is another doubtful!  They said we would have to lose $845 each if we wanted to have cash not a voucher, even though they cancelled all flights! Grrr!

That's a lot of money to lose. I heard in February that South African airways were in trouble. I've read on a few websites that if you've paid with a credit card, it might be worth trying to claim it back . My CC bank has a transaction dispute form. Might be worth  a shot? 

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7 hours ago, Edithclara said:

Thanks for that info. We didn't know that "Refunds for bookings made through travel agents will be made by cheque direct to guests."

 

 

I'm in the uk and booked through a uk travel agent.

The agent has emailed me to say I can apply for the 125% FCC. It will be added to my cunard account, the travel agent will tell me when that happens and I can rebook through the travel agent if I wish to.

 

They have also advised the alternative is to apply for a refund with Cunard directly. Cunard will handle the refund, missing the TA out of the loop. I hope they can refund by bank credit rather than a cheque!!

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58 minutes ago, beaveh said:

 

 

I'm in the uk and booked through a uk travel agent.

The agent has emailed me to say I can apply for the 125% FCC. It will be added to my cunard account, the travel agent will tell me when that happens and I can rebook through the travel agent if I wish to.

 

They have also advised the alternative is to apply for a refund with Cunard directly. Cunard will handle the refund, missing the TA out of the loop. I hope they can refund by bank credit rather than a cheque!!

All good input. Agree bank credit is more convenient than a cheque. However, the key point for me is that Cunard handles the refund directly with the guest, bypassing the TA. 

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Is it possible to transfer our deposit to a new booking and therefore bypassing the need to pay the balance which is due in June for our cruise in October?  At the moment this is still 'active' but I can't see it going ahead, nor are we keen to sail so soon.  DH and I would be much happier if we could choose something late summer or even Christmas 2021 when there just maybe a vaccine available.  🤞

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6 minutes ago, babs135 said:

Is it possible to transfer our deposit to a new booking and therefore bypassing the need to pay the balance which is due in June for our cruise in October?  

Scroll down to 'All bookings departing after 31 August 2020': https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/contact-us/travel-health-advisories/flexible-cancellation-policy

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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.

 

 

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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.

 

 

I know your dilemma. I’m in a position of waiting for a refund.. rather than using the 125% FCC. 
 

I could have opted for the FCC but Cunard only has 3 ships with limited itininarys that don’t always appeal to us. In our case the 30th May cruise next year ( that could have replaced our 31st May cruise this year) costs more than 125% of what we paid. 
Also I didn’t fancy jumping through the travel insurance hoops if I booked a cruise next year...so I’ve gone for the cash.

 

it gives me flexibility to choose a line / destination  that I want and it can be done at short notice ( next summer) when there may be a clearer picture on how the travel industry will emerge from this.

 

yes I’d love to cruise again, with Cunard if possible but I want to see if and how this industry changes first.

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We agree with you totally

4 minutes ago, beaveh said:

I know your dilemma. I’m in a position of waiting for a refund.. rather than using the 125% FCC. 
 

I could have opted for the FCC but Cunard only has 3 ships with limited itininarys that don’t always appeal to us. In our case the 30th May cruise next year ( that could have replaced our 31st May cruise this year) costs more than 125% of what we paid. 
Also I didn’t fancy jumping through the travel insurance hoops if I booked a cruise next year...so I’ve gone for the cash.

 

it gives me flexibility to choose a line / destination  that I want and it can be done at short notice ( next summer) when there may be a clearer picture on how the travel industry will emerge from this.

 

yes I’d love to cruise again, with Cunard if possible but I want to see if and how this industry changes first.

We agree with you totally.  Who knows what the future will be and of course we are no where close to seeing the end of the current pandemic.  The future of travel and especially cruising is subject to all sorts of speculation - only time will tell.

We were on the QM2 world cruise.  Still waiting for whatever Cunard is going to do in terms of refund or more likely FCC for the 40 or so days of the cruise that were missed owing to the pandemic.  At one point, just before they officially cancelled the remainder of the cruise, we thought we might as well stay on until New York and booked that onboard.  A few days later everything was cancelled and we are awaiting a refund for the TA that should have finished yesterday!  

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On 4/23/2020 at 4:54 PM, beaveh said:

Yep, got the email. I was to be my first ever cruise with canard and I was looking forward to it. A similar cruise next year is more than 125% of what I paid for this cruise... So I'm out, waiting for my 60 day refund 😞

Likewise.  We looked at rebooking on the 22 June 2021

Alaska Cruise but the PG 1 cabin was 22% more with only $250 OBC. I'm sure we can do better with the cash refund and hold out for the inevitable sales.

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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 

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4 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 

Cunard cannot go bankrupt on their own as a company as they are part of Carnival. The whole company would have to go bankrupt affecting all of their cruise lines. The only way is if Carnival as a company decide to pull the plug on Cunard ceasing trading as a cruise line and I cannot see that happening.

Edited by majortom10
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21 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Cunard cannot go bankrupt on their own as a company as they are part of Carnival. The whole company would have to go bankrupt affecting all of their cruise lines. The only way is if Carnival as a company decide to pull the plug on Cunard ceasing trading as a cruise line and I cannot see that happening.

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

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