Refund for cruise that Princess cancelled, How long did you wait?

[Level six]

Princess recently cancelled two cruises on the Sapphire10/2022.  I opted for the money back.  How long has it taken before you see the money?  I want to book another cruise on a different cruise line and I want to have the money already paid to Princess ($1600). Anyone with any past experience on how long it took to get the refund?  Thanks. 

[Syracusefan44]

My wife and I received a refund for our cancelled 9/29/21 Alaska cruise within two weeks. 

[Level six]

31 minutes ago, Syracusefan44 said:

My wife and I received a refund for our cancelled 9/29/21 Alaska cruise within two weeks. 

Thanks, I hope I do too.

[LACruiser88]

One of our refunds took 6 weeks!

[Level six]

2 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

One of our refunds took 6 weeks!

BOOOOO, I hope ours doesn't.  I mean, they are the ones who cancelled.  They should be able to easily refund the money to our credit card.  Well, at least you got it.  Thanks

[LACruiser88]

18 minutes ago, Level six said:

BOOOOO, I hope ours doesn't.  I mean, they are the ones who cancelled.  They should be able to easily refund the money to our credit card.  Well, at least you got it.  Thanks

We have had a total of 14 cancellations, some we took FCC, some the move over offer, and the others a refund.  The fastest refund took about 3 weeks...

[Level six]

1 minute ago, LACruiser88 said:

We have had a total of 14 cancellations, some we took FCC, some the move over offer, and the others a refund.  The fastest refund took about 3 weeks...

14!!!!  EEk, so sorry.  Have you been able to cruise yet?  I hope so.  

I didn't want the FCC, just want my money back and then I can decide who to give my cruise dollars to.  Thanks. 

[kiwimum]

4-6 weeks for a couple of our cancellations.

[LACruiser88]

3 minutes ago, Level six said:

14!!!!  EEk, so sorry.  Have you been able to cruise yet?  I hope so.  

I didn't want the FCC, just want my money back and then I can decide who to give my cruise dollars to.  Thanks. 

No not yet!  Our 1st cruise is November 1st on the Grand for 19 days (4 day mini Ca coastal and 15 day Hawaii).  After that cruise, we are off and running with a cruise about every other month!

[EMS8]

It took us about 6 weeks to get refund on our b2b cruises in March 2021 that Princess cancelled.  

[Level six]

 

So, it looks like 4-6 weeks...........thanks everyone.  I hope we can all cruise soon. 

[caribill]

They give you a deadline to select the option you want (FCC, refund, move over).

 

Sometimes they do not process any of the refunds until that decision date is reached, even if you did respond earlier.

[Level six]

11 hours ago, caribill said:

They give you a deadline to select the option you want (FCC, refund, move over).

 

Sometimes they do not process any of the refunds until that decision date is reached, even if you did respond earlier.

Oh really?  I called Princess and the rep said it was in the queue.  I don't know.  Hopefully they will start processing them sooner than that.  If people have already selected which they want, why wait?  It seems it would be more complicated to do it that way. 

[Momperson3]

We canceled our November 5, 15 day Hawaiian cruise on 9/3.  Got our refund (minus our $200 deposit) on 9/13.  However, less than a week after we canceled the cruise— Princess canceled all Hawaiian cruises until January.  So not sure if others will take longer.  
last cruise we had at start of Covid took over 2 months (Royal)

[Level six]

Just now, Momperson3 said:

We canceled our November 5, 15 day Hawaiian cruise on 9/3.  Got our refund (minus our $200 deposit) on 9/13.  However, less than a week after we canceled the cruise— Princess canceled all Hawaiian cruises until January.  So not sure if others will take longer.  
last cruise we had at start of Covid took over 2 months (Royal)

It is annoying that they can legally take so long.   I have cancelled a few cruises on NCL and got the money back the next day, plus the cruise next credit the same day on my account. When Holland cancelled a cruise, our card was credited in a few days.  Why does Princess think they can cancel a cruise and drag their feet about a refund?  This might be the last straw for Princess for us.  After taking all the perks(internet, OBC, etc), this may very well be the last transaction with Princess.   I didn't cancel the cruise, they did.  They knew this was coming and they should have had all the issues worked out so people don't feel frustrated with the process and get a quick refund.  It is literally a click of a button.      Yep, no refund for me yet and not happy about it.  

[azbirdmom]

Princess definitely takes longer to process the refunds for the cruises they cancel vs. the ones that a guest cancels.  It was explained to me that they wait until the date posted on the notice that provides the cancellation options to start processing the refunds.  And the explanation was that it allows time in case the guest changes their mind and decides to go with FCC or move to the new cruise offered.  I asked why that would hold up the refund of EZAir and excursions.  There was no explanation given.  Our Antarctic cruise was cancelled by Princess on August 26 and I don't expect to see our $$ back until after September 30th.

[Level six]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

Princess definitely takes longer to process the refunds for the cruises they cancel vs. the ones that a guest cancels.  It was explained to me that they wait until the date posted on the notice that provides the cancellation options to start processing the refunds.  And the explanation was that it allows time in case the guest changes their mind and decides to go with FCC or move to the new cruise offered.  I asked why that would hold up the refund of EZAir and excursions.  There was no explanation given.  Our Antarctic cruise was cancelled by Princess on August 26 and I don't expect to see our $$ back until after September 30th.

I am sure that is what they are doing, but if someone wants their money and they call, they should refund the money!!!  OH, the Antarctic cruise was cancelled?  I was very interested in that one, I hadn't noticed.  Sorry, I hope you get to cruise soon.  Thanks for the reply, it makes me feel a bit better.............

[azbirdmom]

8 minutes ago, Level six said:

I am sure that is what they are doing, but if someone wants their money and they call, they should refund the money!!!  OH, the Antarctic cruise was cancelled?  I was very interested in that one, I hadn't noticed.  Sorry, I hope you get to cruise soon.  Thanks for the reply, it makes me feel a bit better.............

 

The only thing that I can say is that it's a lot better than it was at the beginning of the pause.  I waited more than 3 months to get everything back on a May 2020 cruise but fared better than others as I got most of it back quickly (I cancelled 2 days before the pause was announced).  And yes, Antarctica is gone for another year.  It would have been a return for us as we cruised that area with Princess in January 2020 and I was quite relieved when Princess cancelled.  I don't think that part of the world is ready for tourists just yet.  I did feel bad for others who would have been cruising Antarctica for the first time.

[Shelly97060]

I spoke to a Princess rep today regarding a Princess cancelled Hawaii cruise and rep said it would be approximately 40- 45 days before refunded. 

[Level six]

13 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

I spoke to a Princess rep today regarding a Princess cancelled Hawaii cruise and rep said it would be approximately 40- 45 days before refunded. 

Wow, that makes me super mad!  How can they do that?  What other business can take your money, cancel your trip and then keep your money for another 2 months??  Shame on Princess.  

[Shelly97060]

8 minutes ago, Level six said:

Wow, that makes me super mad!  How can they do that?  What other business can take your money, cancel your trip and then keep your money for another 2 months??  Shame on Princess.  

I think the rep  was giving me the worse case scenario and am hopeful that the refund will arrive sooner.  The rep said that with a cancelled voyage they have so many customers to refund, credit or put onto new voyages and she explained that each booking must be done individually based on what the customers preference was so it takes time to work through them all. No fun for anyone I am sure.

 

hopefully your refund will come quickly! 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 9/16/2021 at 8:53 PM, Shelly97060 said:

I spoke to a Princess rep today regarding a Princess cancelled Hawaii cruise and rep said it would be approximately 40- 45 days before refunded. 

My Hawaii cruise was cancelled also. I made final payment sept 8th and it was cancelled sept 9th. Has anyone else thought about just dispute charge with your credit card?  I called mine today and they said it was fine to do so especially given the long wait times for refunds. 

My statement hasn’t even closed yet. I have 60 days to dispute but it only makes sense to do so before my credit card balance is due.  I can dispute it and never have to pay the money to visa.  Then visa is the one waiting for Princess to “get around to it”.  They can better afford to have their money tied up than I can. 
Does anyone see a downside to this? 

[Level six]

2 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

My Hawaii cruise was cancelled also. I made final payment sept 8th and it was cancelled sept 9th. Has anyone else thought about just dispute charge with your credit card?  I called mine today and they said it was fine to do so especially given the long wait times for refunds. 

My statement hasn’t even closed yet. I have 60 days to dispute but it only makes sense to do so before my credit card balance is due.  I can dispute it and never have to pay the money to visa.  Then visa is the one waiting for Princess to “get around to it”.  They can better afford to have their money tied up than I can. 
Does anyone see a downside to this? 

I thought about it too, but I heard on CC that someone disputed a charge once and got banded from the cruise line.  Now, I am not sure if it was the same type of thing or if it was someone who charged a lot while on board or someone who cancelled after final payment, etc.  But?  I just don't know or remember. 

 

Anyway, the chances of getting the money back quicker are if we just let Princess process it.  Once I did that for a cancelled Asia Air flight and it took months.  But, unlike you, we had already paid the credit card, if you haven't paid yet???  

 

Well, Hawaii must not be meant to be for either of us in the near future.  Good luck whatever you decide to do. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

 @Level sixNo I haven’t paid my credit bill yet.  My statement hasn’t even closed. They literally cancelled the day after final payment date. I have a window here as do all the Hawaii cruisers on my sailing to simply dispute the charge. It is in my best interests to keep my $18k in my bank account instead of Princesses. If they ban me for it that’s okay by me. 
I called my credit card company to discuss my options and let them know I’m still trying to work this out with Princess so I can be guaranteed a speedy refund (must be before my cc payment is due of course). They can’t seem to do that. 
I don’t think I’ve missed any reason not to dispute the charges but I wanted to throw it out here to see other points of view. 

[PrincessDano]

We just cancelled ours last week,  final payment was due this week and we had the down payment back on the credit card in 2 days.  We were surprised to say the least!

Diane