Cruise Refund

[TSmith48]

Our May 6th Viking river cruise was cancelled by Viking on 31st March, and we requested a refund on 6th April. We received 100% of the monies we paid on May 18th, so not quite 6 weeks. Viking were good to deal with, as was our TA.

Now we wait to see what the cruising world will be like in the future. A big disincentive for us is the many hours of flying to get from Perth to Europe (or almost anywhere, for that matter!).


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[begagirl]

We had two cruises booked (one with Oceania from Buenos Aires to Lisbon on 4 April and the second Dublin/Dublin with Celebrity at the beginning of May).  Our travel agent received full refunds from both companies about a week ago and the money has been put into our bank account (we had paid with cash rather than a credit card).  Still waiting for refunds from Air New Zealand, KLM and Singapore Airlines.  

 

[ozziepost]

Hi we had two cruises booked with Princess through our local TA one was in April and the other in September this year.

I received both refunds today with the only outstanding item being our flights with Virgin which is still being processed by Princess. I had used FCD's for both trips which will be refunded when the 2 year limit expires unless they are used for a future cruise. Overall a great job by our local TA.

[getting older slowly]

My mum is still waiting for refunds Azamara cruise and Edihad airfare.. cancelled by Azamara early March for late March cruise..... She did get her monies for shore excursions back a couple of week ago....

 

I bit slow ......

 

Cheers Don

[windsor26]

I got the future cruise credit for my cancelled March cruise but not yet given the monies for taxes and port fees which should be cash back to credit card    I have to watch the My Princess a/c as they keep trying to put my credits against booked cruises before payment date

[Sallyandtex]

On 6/6/2020 at 7:43 AM, Beanb41 said:

My partial refunds too date have been paid two ways. My deposits which I paid direct have been paid direct back to me. I paid the balance through my TA and so far my partial refund has been returned via my TA and I am advised that the balance will be returned via the TA. Where I see an issue arising is the TAs commission. What part of that am I going to see. I can see further issues surrounding such things being taken up with my Travel Insurance company. It will also be an indicator how much the TA wants future business from me as to what he charges me for cancellation fees. He is hurting alot over COVID 19 so we may have to have some discussions regarding this matter.  

It appears that different jurisdictions pay suppliers differently. In the USA I am informed TA pay the cruise line using the clients credit card details and the cruise line then pays the TA the commission. Here in NZ we pay the TA the full fare, they deduct their commission and then pay the cruise line the balance using their  financial system hence refunds come back to them.

Different strokes for different folks.

I have made enquiries on the Holland American forum, but as they are mainly US citizens, I guess our rules might be different?

I waited over 90 days, and finally notified by my TA the refund is now being processed and will take 7 days to got my account.

Problem is, there is a $754 shortfall. Explanation is the $50 cancel fee and $704 commission not "recoverable".

Now, my agent says they will give me a discount of the $704 on any trip worth over $7000. Ok i say, not your fault BUT over on the Hal forum they are saying they got full refunds AND "honoring agents commission" which is "very generous "  of Hal.

Very confused am I, how would HAL afford to pay back everyone in full and also find the 10% commissions in extra cash?

[Beanb41]

SallyandTex different cruise lines and jurisdictions have different rules regarding payment of commissions. As far as I am aware TAs in the USA pay Celebrity the full amount using the customers credit card number and then the cruise line pays the agent the commission. This is why refunds are paid directly back to the cruiser.

Here in NZ we pay the TA and the TA pays the cruise line less commission hence refunds are made to the TA not the cruiser.

I am still waiting for my refunds and as of today the TA has heard nothing from the cruise line for three weeks.

I don't know if I am going to be charged a commission fee for the work my TA has done too date . I will have to wait until I get a final settlement statement stating the pluses and minuses. I will then put in a claim for the shortfall to my travel insurance company. My cancellation is not related to the pandemic otherwise I would be whistling Dixie like a lot of others.

The delay in refunding the monies and the possibility of COVID 19 hanging around for what could be years makes me very wary about cruising going forward.

[The_Big_M]

New Zealand may be different, but if you're getting a refund on an Australian booking it should be entire (except maybe for credit card fees). Commission should not be deducted.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

The delay in refunds could also be attributed to staff working from home . 

[MMDown Under]

16 hours ago, Beanb41 said:

SallyandTex different cruise lines and jurisdictions have different rules regarding payment of commissions. As far as I am aware TAs in the USA pay Celebrity the full amount using the customers credit card number and then the cruise line pays the agent the commission. This is why refunds are paid directly back to the cruiser.

Here in NZ we pay the TA and the TA pays the cruise line less commission hence refunds are made to the TA not the cruiser.

I am still waiting for my refunds and as of today the TA has heard nothing from the cruise line for three weeks.

I don't know if I am going to be charged a commission fee for the work my TA has done too date . I will have to wait until I get a final settlement statement stating the pluses and minuses. I will then put in a claim for the shortfall to my travel insurance company. My cancellation is not related to the pandemic otherwise I would be whistling Dixie like a lot of others.

The delay in refunding the monies and the possibility of COVID 19 hanging around for what could be years makes me very wary about cruising going forward.

I didn't know NZ TAs paid cruise lines the cruise cost less their commission.  How could a TA charge you commission if you didn't cruise?  Commission is paid by cruise line to TAs, not by passengers.

[Beanb41]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I didn't know NZ TAs paid cruise lines the cruise cost less their commission.  How could a TA charge you commission if you didn't cruise?  Commission is paid by cruise line to TAs, not by passengers.

 

 

I will let you know when I get my refund.In this instance my TA should still get his commission as the cruise was a transfer when the Constellation was rerouted and Celebrity guaranteed agents therir commission should passengers cancel

 

[MMDown Under]

30 minutes ago, Beanb41 said:

 

 

I will let you know when I get my refund.In this instance my TA should still get his commission as the cruise was a transfer when the Constellation was rerouted and Celebrity guaranteed agents therir commission should passengers cancel

 

Exactly Celebrity guaranteed agents their commission.  Not passengers.

[peter1956]

For our May Holiday I have had full refunds through Airbnb and all excursions that I booked direct. Still waiting for a refund on the 2 Celebrity cruises, excursions and the air new Zealand airfare.

I still have my Fingers crossed.

[joejoe 59]

For our May cruises we were told to expect to wait 90 to 120 days, that would make it Aug/September....waiting waiting 

[Beanb41]

1 hour ago, joejoe 59 said:

For our May cruises we were told to expect to wait 90 to 120 days, that would make it Aug/September....waiting waiting 

It is treating us all with contempt. It really shows how much all the cruise lines value our custom. The Spanish cruise line half owned by RCCL  promantur or something like that has filed for bankruptcy 

 Wonder how many more will follow. 

[By The Bay]

1 hour ago, Beanb41 said:

It is treating us all with contempt. It really shows how much all the cruise lines value our custom. The Spanish cruise line half owned by RCCL  promantur or something like that has filed for bankruptcy 

 Wonder how many more will follow. 

The tip of the iceberg.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Received e mail this week with another incentive to make a booking .....however I would not book until  this was all in writing ....as P&O may not cancel but the liquidators could .

 

[By The Bay]

1 hour ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

Received e mail this week with another incentive to make a booking .....however I would not book until  this was all in writing ....as P&O may not cancel but the liquidators could .

 

They will not be getting any of hard earned money from me conditions.

[aussielozzie18]

Have just received our  $1k+ deposit refund from Princess for our August Alaska cruise which I booked direct with Princess and was cancelled in March.   Took 90 days. 

 

Have now un-subscribed from all online cruise TA emails and left the many cruise fan forums I was a member of.  As much as I love cruising,  I can't see myself cruising again for several years.  

 

[Beanb41]

I am still waiting for a refund now over 3 months. Have unfilled all the Facebook threads and will start ignoring CC threads once my refund comes in as the lack of refunds is the only relevant threads now as all cruises are effectively in balance with no definitive restarts despite cruise lines keep pushing start dates backwatds

[joejoe 59]

15 hours ago, Beanb41 said:

It is treating us all with contempt. It really shows how much all the cruise lines value our custom. The Spanish cruise line half owned by RCCL  promantur or something like that has filed for bankruptcy 

 Wonder how many more will follow. 

Ours are with Norwegian cruise line with Emirates flights plus hotels. We have to wait patiently i guess & hope for the best.

[By The Bay]

Refund received yesterday.

Princess Cruise was scheduled for 15 Apr 20

Option#2 selected on the 13 March.

Booked with an online TA in Australia.

Full amount paid direct into Bank Account

 

It took a long time, however I am a happy camper now.

[MMDown Under]

On 6/28/2020 at 7:55 AM, By The Bay said:

Refund received yesterday.

Princess Cruise was scheduled for 15 Apr 20

Option#2 selected on the 13 March.

Booked with an online TA in Australia.

Full amount paid direct into Bank Account

 

It took a long time, however I am a happy camper now.

I am pleased for you, although it took a long time.  

[MMDown Under]

On 6/27/2020 at 7:46 PM, aussielozzie18 said:

Have just received our  $1k+ deposit refund from Princess for our August Alaska cruise which I booked direct with Princess and was cancelled in March.   Took 90 days. 

 

Have now un-subscribed from all online cruise TA emails and left the many cruise fan forums I was a member of.  As much as I love cruising,  I can't see myself cruising again for several years.  

 

I am pleased you received your refund, although it took a long time. 

I can't see most people cruising or doing long haul flights to do so, until it is safe. 

I reluctantly threw out a lot of cruise brochures today, as it is not even fun dreaming of a cruise at present.

[JJG99]

We received our shore excursion refund today on our Sky Princess (cancelled by Princess with only 24 hour notice) Caribbean cruise which was due to sail on the 14th March. It had been 110 days since we chose option 1- we have received our 225% FCC but still have not seen our port charges/taxes refund.

Received an email from our Guru online agency yesterday informing us that our refund was now in a "queue" and should appear on our credit card within the next 4-6 weeks!!!!! for one of our booked cruises on HAL that was due to have departed on 5th April. No mention of the HAL cruise refund for the previous cruise that was due to depart on 22nd March (these were 2 B2B cruises) and the above mentioned Princess cruise that was just prior to these two cruises.

So we just continue to wait. C'est la vie

Edited July 2, 2020 by JJG99