PShelley

On 5/16/2020 at 5:14 PM, cccole said:

I understand the immediate refund of excursions and delaying refunds of actual deposits and/or final payments but doing it incrementally is a bit shocking. 

My agency representative was speaking generically, so this “incremental” business may not apply to HAL (if, in truth, to any of the lines), but he tried to explain it in terms of the uneven schedule for monies that have been paid out to the many cruise line contractors to supply a specific cruise would be paid back to the cruise line by those various contractors  - - and ultimately back to us.  Sounds reasonable, if understandably complicated.  And if true, I seriously doubt that credit card companies are ignorant of what’s happening behind the scenes.  If they suspect that refunds will eventually be made (as my agent is convinced they will be) who would expect a credit card dispute to do anything more than add to everybody’s frustration?

For what it's worth - - probably not a lot - - but my travel agent told me yesterday that, yes, people who opted for refunds are beginning to receive refunds of cruise fares and taxes but the refunds tend to be coming back incrementally - - in smaller amounts that will ultimately add up to the full amount owed.  He said his agency was being swamped with calls from people confused over getting these oddly random amounts, wondering if there were some mistake, etc., etc.   Though he was speaking generically, he told me not to be surprised if HAL would be refunding in the same, strange, incremental manner - - over as long as 120 days, he added.  It is also likely that credit card companies have also been apprised of the incremental refunds over extended periods in connection with covid, a factor we could assume would understandably impact in any "dispute" process and perhaps cause even further confusion and delay for everyone seeking a refund whether "disputing" or not.  It's hard to be patient under the circumstances, but we should please consider the broader circumstances before acting.

It probably bears asking again at this point:  has anyone yet received a refund of their cruise fare and port charges following their option to receive such a refund when HAL made its first cancellation announcement - - which I believe was on or about March 14??  If someone so chose on the day HAL cancelled (March 14), we should expect some people to be reporting the receipt of those refunds now that the 60-day period has passed.

Our own cruise departed after the dates included in the first cancellation announcement, so we had to wait until the second announcement to see what our options were - - which occurred on March 30, when we chose the refund option and now must wait until the end of May in hopes of getting our refund.

I am not really discounting the return of other funds - - for dining, excursions, drinks packages, and the like - - but judging how quickly those particular refunds were made in our case back in late February/early March when we had decided not to cruise regardless of what HAL decided, those refunds do appear to be made from a pot of income normally designated as fluid and is routinely refunded upon people changing their minds about the extras right down to the wire of disembarkation.

So the real question is whether the income that was not earmarked for potential refund will, in fact, be refunded as promised.

Does anyone happen to remember the exact date of HAL's cancellation of cruises that would include one departing April 17?  This would have been HAL's second announcement, extending the original cancelled cruise dates from those announced in mid-March.  I think HAL's second announcement was made on March 30 - - but I'm not 100% sure.  Thanks - - just trying to figure on when to start worrying about my requested refund.

5 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Do you have separate bookings or is it all one?

We're booked only on the second leg beginning in Barcelona on 4/17.  For the cruise to depart on schedule, we have to envision them sailing an empty ship over from Ft. Lauderdale - - which is sort of weird to imagine.  On the one hand, a subsequent cancellation is "probable," but what would it hurt for HAL to let us know something more definite?

Does anyone happen to know how HAL might handle cancellations with two or more legs involved?  In our case, the Nieuw Amsterdam begins in Ft. Lauderdale on April 4 (within the cancellation period) and picks up the second leg in Barcelona departing April 17 (after the stated cancellation period).  Should we expect that HAL will cancel this leg as well?  I'm assuming the ship will be stuck in Ft. Lauderdale.