Letter from CCL RCL and NCH Top Brass

[marieps]

I didn't see a posting about this.  You may find this in your email, as I did...

Cruise Critic Members, During this time of uncertainty, we want to express our immense gratitude to you, our dedicated cruise community. Though we’re not currently cruising, the Cruise Critic community has served as a beacon of hope for so many during this incredibly challenging time. We’ve seen you come together and support one another through some truly difficult days – providing incredible acts of kindness and encouragement when it’s been needed most. Together, as leaders of the world's largest cruise organizations, we are bonded with you by one common thread – our love of exploring the world by sea. We share the thrill that comes from a sailaway on a beautiful evening, the connections made with fellow guests and crew onboard and the joy that comes from reliving our cherished cruise memories year after year. Put simply: You are what makes cruising so special. You inspire us, encourage us and push us to return even better than ever. It is a privilege to serve you – something we don’t take lightly – and we are committed as industry leaders to overcome these current challenges as a unified team. We are resilient–as individuals, as a community and as an industry – and when the time is right, we look forward to welcoming you back onboard to feel the thrill, connection and joy we’ve all come to hold so dear. Until then, be well and stay safe. We will get through this together and truly can’t wait to see you again.

[cruisestitch]

4 hours later and no, no mention of this from any other posters and nothing in my email but the question that comes to mind is how would they know who we Cruise Critic posters are?  Does Cruise Critic provide the cruise lines with our email addresses?

[Vagabond Knight]

6 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

4 hours later and no, no mention of this from any other posters and nothing in my email but the question that comes to mind is how would they know who we Cruise Critic posters are?  Does Cruise Critic provide the cruise lines with our email addresses?

 

The email came from Cruise Critic, not from the individual cruise lines.

[jelayne]

The only thing I got from it was what 1 does the others do.  Appreciate the effort but if they really wanted to connect with this community they could have been a bit more upfront about the challenges of cancelled Cruises & refunds and how they think the resumption of cruising could occur.  The things that are on the minds of their frequent cruisers.

[Doubt It]

Insulting and condescending. Address the real concerns of the CC community - not hard to figure out.

 

Their collective silence on proceeding with cash refunds in an open and transparent manner tells me they have limited to no intentions of providing cash refunds. 

 

For my dear friend, I assisted with a "third party default" with her credit card company to cancel a cruise in 2021 - they quickly opened a case. They asked everyone to do the same as they (Master Card) is very interested in the credit worthiness of suppliers. Repeated breaking of contracts and unreasonable delays in returning funds puts a company on a black list.

 

I would recommend everyone do the same - stop playing the bank for the cruise line.

[cruisestitch]

Ok, so the email was generated at Cruise Critic Not from the cruise lines, but has anyone else received it?  Nothing here so far.

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

Ok, so the email was generated at Cruise Critic Not from the cruise lines, but has anyone else received it?  Nothing here so far.

No email received either, but I've read it here so I don’t need a copy.

[rustycruzr]

12 hours ago, jelayne said:

2 hours ago, Doubt It said:

 

Their collective silence on proceeding with cash refunds in an open and transparent manner tells me they have limited to no intentions of providing cash refunds. 

 

Repeated breaking of contracts and unreasonable delays in returning funds puts a company on a black list.

 

 

 

 

When I saw this yesterday, it made my blood boil. The collective tone deafness about a major issue facing a good proportion of their customers is astounding. Do they really believe they have no problems here? No acknowledgement, no statement of "this is what we're doing to address the backlog". Instead, crickets...unbelievable!

 

[4774Papa]

3 hours ago, Doubt It said:

Insulting and condescending. Address the real concerns of the CC community - not hard to figure out.

 

Their collective silence on proceeding with cash refunds in an open and transparent manner tells me they have limited to no intentions of providing cash refunds. 

 

For my dear friend, I assisted with a "third party default" with her credit card company to cancel a cruise in 2021 - they quickly opened a case. They asked everyone to do the same as they (Master Card) is very interested in the credit worthiness of suppliers. Repeated breaking of contracts and unreasonable delays in returning funds puts a company on a black list.

 

I would recommend everyone do the same - stop playing the bank for the cruise line.

Sorry, could you provide more specific details as to your complaints?

[marieps]

1 hour ago, 4774Papa said:

Sorry, could you provide more specific details as to your complaints?

I think the poster was pretty clear, complaining about a lack of transparency regarding refunds.

[zitsky]

I received it.  Was not impressed.  A feel good letter.

[4774Papa]

8 minutes ago, marieps said:

I think the poster was pretty clear, complaining about a lack of transparency regarding refunds.

I know that NCL told its customers that a refund could take 90 days.   Everyone is very angry on the NCL thread.

From what I read, a few people have received refunds from X with about a month, but most have not.  Yes, X could provide an estimate.   I guess that is where the transparency could be better.

[Bo1953]

7 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

Ok, so the email was generated at Cruise Critic Not from the cruise lines, but has anyone else received it?  Nothing here so far.

There was a notice from CC in my inbox about a response, so yes I received this and it was from CC.

 

bon voyage

[Bo1953]

7 hours ago, Doubt It said:

Insulting and condescending. Address the real concerns of the CC community - not hard to figure out.

 

Their collective silence on proceeding with cash refunds in an open and transparent manner tells me they have limited to no intentions of providing cash refunds. 

 

For my dear friend, I assisted with a "third party default" with her credit card company to cancel a cruise in 2021 - they quickly opened a case. They asked everyone to do the same as they (Master Card) is very interested in the credit worthiness of suppliers. Repeated breaking of contracts and unreasonable delays in returning funds puts a company on a black list.

 

I would recommend everyone do the same - stop playing the bank for the cruise line.

What is your contract with X about refunds?

 

I have yet to see or hear anyone on this board indicate that they had a contract concerning refunds, other than what is the policy as posted on X's website.

 

Unless they created a contract on refunds and many of us were unaware of it. Where do we sign up for it?

 

bon voyage

Edited April 25, 2020 by Bo1953

[Doubt It]

Bo1953:

 

Good evening. My friends credit card company (Master Card) was most interested to proceed with a case against X. She provided her invoice and the cancellation policy provided along with the invoice. Done deal.

 

They will be crediting her card shortly and issuing a case against Celebrity.

 

Time to take care of the consumer first, cruise lines last.

 

My friend will never book a cruise again after this situation.

[rustycruzr]

Contrary to what one seems to believe, you don’t need a contract. You’re trying to obtain a refund, not start a class action suit. The lever that one would use to preserve their rights is the credit card companies charge back provision. Using this, the consumer needs to show:

 

-A failure to deliver service already paid for by use of the credit card.  

 

-Attempts to obtain a refund by working with the merchant who was to deliver the service.

 

-The policy surrounding delivery of refunds as evidenced by pronouncements on the website or written documents sent by the merchant to the persons seeking the refund. These will spell out WHEN and how refunds will be delivered.

 

-And lastly, a failure to deliver said refunds as promised in the document or as posted on the website.  That refund failure triggers the charge back for failure to deliver services.

 

You don’t need to show you signed a contract to preserve your rights in this. You just need to show that you paid, you didn’t receive the service, and you worked with the vendor to get a refund for the service within a reasonable timeframe.

 

People are aware of what’s going on. They understand volume and how sheer numbers can slow down a process.

 

But people are also trying to get refunds within a reasonable timeframe. To have these timeframes moved from 30 days to 45 days to 90 days without communication is what is driving much of the angst on this issue.

 

They’re not asking for anything that doesn’t belong to them. This is their money!

 

So it’s not unreasonable for them to be upset about this, especially given the fact that many of these individuals are now suffering financial hardship as a result of being laid off during the Covid 19 crisis. They are simply trying to get their money within a reasonable timeframe.

 

A little empathy might go a long way. You may go through this one day and I’m sure you’ll appreciate it when folks empathize with you…

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by rustycruzr

[rustycruzr]

43 minutes ago, Doubt It said:

Bo1953:

 

Good evening. My friends credit card company (Master Card) was most interested to proceed with a case against X. She provided her invoice and the cancellation policy provided along with the invoice. Done deal.

 

 

 

 

Glad your friend had a good result and would encourage anyone else to do the same.