Refunds for cruises cancelled due to COVID

[Andianfru1tbat]

We (three couples) were scheduled to cruise on May 19th, 2020 with Croisieurope. The cruise did not sail due to Covid-19. Of course, our flight was cancelled as well. We had purchased the travel insurance through Croisieurope. We were told by Croisieurope that we would receive a full refund for our tour. Then, their offices shut down. It is now almost a year later and still, no refund. We hear very little from the company. Each time, I am told they are "confident" they will be able to refund the money for the cruise. According to their website, they are booking tours again. This review would have been on their website, however, they have no reviews there, this is telling. This is a company that wanted all money for the cruise up-front, which we paid on-time, and, purchased the trip insurance. They have not refunded our money, which amounts to over $10,000. I contacted the trip insurance company and had no luck. This, in my opinion is very poor business practice.  I don't recommend Croisieurope. 

[Bo1953]

I Am sorry to hear about the challenge with getting a refund...

 

I can only say that going forward, it may be wise to purchase insurance from a third party, as you can now see what happens when everything is purchased in one place, for convenience I know.

 

Good luck and keep us in the loop as to how you make out with getting the refund.

 

bon voyage

[Coral]

This maybe too late but you can try to contact your credit card and see if they can assist. Many of us did this last year.

 

I also recommend a 3rd party travel insurance. Though, I think most had luck through their credit cards over insurance.

 

Unfortunately a lot of companies had problems with reimbursement.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Coral

[Host Jazzbeau]

Another point in favor of third-party insurance is that you can roll it over to a future cruise, and duke it out with the cruise line (or your credit card) for reimbursement on the cancelled one.  We have done this several times – our TA was again invaluable in getting the insurance company to extend their roll-over limit [but of course, as NY residents, our TA pointed out that their alternative was a full refund!]

[Andianfru1tbat]

Thanks for the good advice.  Of note, I did contact my credit card company.  After an exhaustive email exchange, I finally gave up.  They wanted a letter from the cruise company that they were not going to reimburse us, and, that is not possible.  Croisieurope continues to say they will make good on their promise to refund our money.  We have traveled yearly to Europe since 2015, and, have taken other tours.  As I mentioned previously, I won't be using Croiseurope in the future.  

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Andianfru1tbat said:

Thanks for the good advice.  Of note, I did contact my credit card company.  After an exhaustive email exchange, I finally gave up.  They wanted a letter from the cruise company that they were not going to reimburse us, and, that is not possible.  Croisieurope continues to say they will make good on their promise to refund our money.  We have traveled yearly to Europe since 2015, and, have taken other tours.  As I mentioned previously, I won't be using Croiseurope in the future.  

I am sorry about that. I had better luck with my Costco Citicard than my United Chase card, though both reimbursed me. Those who had the best luck had AMEX cards. In the future, when I start booking cruises again, I will book them with an AMEX card (don't currently have one). AMEX took care of their people!

[jklc123]

Just want to complement Pearl Seas Cruises, which had to cancel our Great Lakes cruise, scheduled to sail at the end of this month. We opted for a full refund instead of a voucher and were told it would arrive in about 10 business days. It was more like 15, but that was fine. We have deposited for the same trip next year, not wanting so much money tied up for so long and wanting flexibility in case family health problem impact future travel.