Cancellation?

[MrSchwump]

Is it better to let Princess cancel our October Med cruise or should we cancel ourselves?  Payment isn’t due until July. I’m thinking if we let Princess cancel it they might be more forthcoming with perqs that if we drop out on our own.  Thoughts?

[awhcruiser]

Let Princess cancel and you will have options of the kind of refund you want.

[Musky Ike]

I would wait until closer to final payment to make that decision. If princess cancels, it may not be until after that date and you will have to make a decision if you want to risk more $$ If you have an alternate cruise in mind now it may be better to see if the deposit can be moved and avoid the refund hassle and delay. 

[voljeep]

90 days !

[Tak8]

I would wait until close to final payment.  If there are another round of cancellations due to further delays in cruising, I doubt Princess would offer much extra to those who pre-cancelled.  

[Steelers36]

IDK why anyone would rush to cancel ahead of FP date when typically all that is down is $200 or 2 FCD's.

[Coral]

I would cancel. It will takes months to get your money back from Princess and most media reports indicate that the cruise lines have a year's worth of money. What if they declare bankruptcy before you get your money back?

[thelindseyann]

If I cancel BEFORE final payment, do I get my deposit back? What is the easiest way to cancel currently? I don't want to sit on the phone for hours in a queue. 

 

[konatyme]

Just got off the phone with our travel agent. She said if we cancel before final payment (June 14) for our Sept. Med. cruise, we will get our deposit back. I suppose it could depend on your circumstances, though--maybe it's not true for everyone. Even though we will probably wait until a bit closer to the final payment date, I'm 99.9% certain that we will cancel. We don't want to chance getting on a ship that won't be allowed to stop in the ports. We also don't want to make final payment, tie up a large amount of money, and then have Princess cancel. We don't want any kind of Future Cruise Credit that would force us to take a cruise by a certain date.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, thelindseyann said:

If I cancel BEFORE final payment, do I get my deposit back? What is the easiest way to cancel currently? I don't want to sit on the phone for hours in a queue. 

 

It depends on how you booked. Some allowed for full refunds, others did not. Check your statement when you booked or call who you booked through. I hear that you can probably get through to Princess quickly.

[thelindseyann]

We booked directly through Princess. 

[DMaugle]

We are to sail on the Island's next cruise, 7/9, from Copenhagen.  Our $ is due 5/9 and I cannot see this cruise happening even though we'd be game to go.  Our hope is that they allow final payment later than the specified 60 days but if it stays at 60 we will be out.

 

[Grayce]

Don't wait for Princess to cancel. We took a "wait and see attitude" for our May 17th Alaska cruise. They did eventually cancel us, no extra perks if you want you money back (and several months wait to actually get your money back). I am not confident that Princess actually has the money to refund everyone. They only offered a bonus of an extra 25% if you took FCC. 

[darknightsdespiser]

I am in same dilemma; cancelled June  (which had been fully paid) and rebooked for August; now 6 weeks into waiting for refund for the June one. Looks like the August one won't be going but reluctant to cancel and get into waiting another 60 days to get THAT (deposit) money back when it may be easier to wait fir FCC!

[leck57]

Personally I'd find it weird handing over thousands of $ to a company for a cruise that isn't going to happen.

As someone mentioned above Princess are slow with the refunds. The first cancellation we had with them the cruise cost itself was refunded in about 6 weeks which isn't too bad. However the EZair fare and out of pocket expenses are now out to over 10 weeks for what is a decent amount of money.

[gmjc2]

22 hours ago, MrSchwump said:

Is it better to let Princess cancel our October Med cruise or should we cancel ourselves?  Payment isn’t due until July. I’m thinking if we let Princess cancel it they might be more forthcoming with perqs that if we drop out on our own.  Thoughts?

Wait till the day before due date. They maybe be back in control of the schedule by then. Don't cancel now as you have nothing to lose by waiting. We waited till they cancelled and will get a full refund. It might take a while but we already have the shore excursion back on our credit card. 

[ChattTenn]

I might be wrong in this but I would not put any more money into Princess and hope for FCC or whatever baits they are offering.  If they are another pause in July with more cancels.

Princess is dragging their feet on refund because they are low in the fund or whatever reason.  I hope they won't go under with my full paid cruise with it.  When I cancelled in March their people told my agent it will take 10 and 15 days to see the refund (it was a lie).  We are on the 60 days waiting now (per their people again) but my agent told me that it might be up to 90 days and they have 600,000 cancels to work on and now they are refunding by the sailing date.  

Princess is telling us they have a lot cancel to work on but in my working days if we have a lot works to do we have to work harder to catch up just can't sit and tell but would not touch the work. 

I questioned Princess on their FB and they deleted.  They only want a wonderful praises.  Princess is my favorite cruise line but I am re-thinking about it.

Good luck with your decision.

[ChattTenn]

3 minutes ago, gmjc2 said:

. It might take a while but we already have the shore excursion back on our credit card. 

What date is your sailing?.

[gmjc2]

Just now, ChattTenn said:

What date is your sailing?.

Ours was May 16th Alaska.

[ChattTenn]

3 minutes ago, gmjc2 said:

Ours was May 16th Alaska.

They refunded for the tour only but not the whole sum (?).  Our won't be June to Northern Europe no refund on tour or whatever so it will be a little longer for us.   

[gmjc2]

3 minutes ago, ChattTenn said:

They refunded for the tour only but not the whole sum (?).  Our won't be June to Northern Europe no refund on tour or whatever so it will be a little longer for us.   

They  said that the cruise price would come in 60 days and be separately refunded. The shore excursion and airfare would all come separately. The shore excursion showed up immediately. Have not seen the rest yet. Last week somebody posted that they had received their refund for a March cruise cancellation. I figure it will be all the April cancellations next then May will be coming from end of June into July.

[Italy52]

47 minutes ago, gmjc2 said:

They  said that the cruise price would come in 60 days and be separately refunded. The shore excursion and airfare would all come separately. The shore excursion showed up immediately. Have not seen the rest yet. Last week somebody posted that they had received their refund for a March cruise cancellation. I figure it will be all the April cancellations next then May will be coming from end of June into July.

Interesting comment about your shore excursion.  Our cruise is May 20th to Alaska.  Princess cancelled us.  We took Option 1.  We have NOT seen any money refunded to us for shore excursion, soda package, water package purchase (which were all cancelled independently on March 13th.)

[gmjc2]

Just now, Italy52 said:

Interesting comment about your shore excursion.  Our cruise is May 20th to Alaska.  Princess cancelled us.  We took Option 1.  We have NOT seen any money refunded to us for shore excursion, soda package, water package purchase (which were all cancelled independently on March 13th.)

Did you book directly with Princess or a TA. I believe that it makes a difference but not sure what or why!  We booked through a TA.

[Ride-The-Waves]

Somewhat amazing to me that some people still view cruise lines as their BFFs.  They aren't.  They are billion dollar corporations who want to separate you from your money, the more the better for them.  At the moment they are hoarding what money they have using delayed refunds and pushing FCC in lieu of a refund.  The 125 percent FCC is meaningless since future cruise prices will rise to that level or more.  Future cruise schedules are meaningless as the corporations have no idea when they will be incrementally ready to restart and which countries will accept thousands of people who may be asymptomatic carriers.  Ships are scattered to the four winds, some busy taking crew to their home countries.  New ships are being delayed, even the ones nearing completion.  Required maritime dry-docking inspections are being delayed and will require recertification before those ships can restart.  In the meantime these billion dollar corporations have told their reps to "keep selling" and "keep pushing FCC" and don't tell anyone anything other than the corporate line.  Not a pretty picture for them or for those of us who cruise.  What we do know is that "cruising" will not be the same as it was pre-COVID-19.  What exactly that means is something being speculated in the bowls of these corporations - and being kept very close-hold.

[AF-1]

23 hours ago, MrSchwump said:

Is it better to let Princess cancel our October Med cruise or should we cancel ourselves?  Payment isn’t due until July. I’m thinking if we let Princess cancel it they might be more forthcoming with perqs that if we drop out on our own.  Thoughts?

Hello from Cincy;  we have a Med cruise leaving 27 Oct out of Southampton.  Will wait until last minute to cancel or go;  I think by final payment at end of July;  the US will have a better idea if ships will be sailing at all; or limited itineraries.  Then I can make a better informed decision.  If I don't go this Oct; I will go sometime next year.  Not a big deal.  I already have some good perks for the Oct cruise.  Will wait it out. Cheers