as400guy

1 hour ago, arcticprincess said:

do they mail the checks?  Snail mail?  Fedex?  With 50k owed,

With $50k USD at stake I think I would consider hopping one of those empty airplanes and camp out at the Princess corporate headquarters and make myself so annoying (by tweeting/facebooking/calling media, etc.) they'd write a check to make me to go away.

 First of all I am NOT a Lawyer, CPA or Carnival Corp insider.   I am an avid cruiser who is retired and has way too much time on his hands...

I spent some time today looking through all the documents Carnival Corp has filed with the Securities Exchange Commission since March 16.  I think we're looking under the wrong tent flap to reverse-engineer Princess' "dark" refund process.

First of all as of February 29, CCL reported a $4.7 billion liability in customer deposits.  In their SEC disclosures they estimated 45% of those offered FCC or refunds will choose refunds.  My back-of-the-envelope calculation makes that about a  $2 billion cash requirement just to refund those requesting it (option 2) at that point in time.

Second, on February 29, CCL reported approximately $1.354 billion Cash and cash equivalents on hand.   This money of course has to be available for all corporate purposes.  Elsewhere they estimated their current cash burn rate to be about $1 billion per month.

STARTING HERE IS MY UNEDUCATED OPINION:

So here is the problem.  Even with the April stock sale and deposits and payments from current customers there is not enough  cash to pay refunds.

This takes us to my third point: the $4 billion loan.

The loans are  to be disbursed to CCL in four releases of $1 billion each.  Each release (of CASH) is dependent on CCL perfecting the collateral (proving it exists and is not encumbered by other loans/obligations/indentures/claims) allocated to each of the releases.

I hope you read this far because this might be good news.   As long as CCL has not been cooking the books (stockholders will OWN the auditors if this is the case) cash should be flowing when the lenders are satisfied that corporate staff and lawyers can prove the collateral is available.

I have been of the thought that we might not see see our refunds for quite a while, but I'm a bit encouraged now.   My theory is that  corporate downstreamers have been working the refunds and approving the no-cash-required FCCs.   But the cash refunds are probably being held up  by  normal everyday cash reserve requirements (from existing loan covenants or board policy - pretty standard stuff).   When the loan funds are released (in four chunks) Carnival will be able to begin cash refunds.

Knowing what I know now I'm inclined to be a little more patient than I have been.   That being said I filed a credit card dispute on April 5.  😉

Don't be too hard on my in your responses.   It's been a long time since B-School.

All figures in USD.

If anyone wants a little light reading:  https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?CIK=ccl&owner=exclude&action=getcompany

27 minutes ago, as400guy said:

Star Princess

EMERALD Princess, not Star Princess.  I'll blame social distancing for that mistake!  😷

10 hours ago, 2 cruises a year said:

 

Has that happened to anybody else?

My FCD was returned to my Princess account with the original expiration date.

(One of my FCDs will expire 5/19/2020.  I'm curious to see how long it takes Princess to refund my FCD as per conditions of FCDs.)

Cruise scheduled: Star Princess,  April 29,  15 days booked and paid in full February 26.

Option 2 requested and confirmation email received on March 12 .

FCD returned to my account approximately  approximately April 20.

Credit card dispute filed with Chase April 6.  Still unresolved.

No REFUND, no FCC and no correspondence from Princess.

11 hours ago, Carnevale said:

 

 They are destroying customer loyalty exactly at a time they need it most.

 

Not on topic, but at the very least I suspect we'll see some pretty terrific offers from surviving or successor cruise lines offering status matches,  competitive match discounts and maybe even honoring some portion of FCCs from Princess.  Princess has squandered their goodwill capital.

Are you listening other-cruise-lines?  🛳️  😉

2 hours ago, winnie#1 said:

Yah, not only did they cancel the cruise, they sold the fricking ship!

Which ship(s) did they sell?

Source of this information?

Thanks!

2 hours ago, marybrodo said:

with my credit card company (MasterCard).  I have until 60 days after the first day of the trip to cancel.

Regarding a credit card dispute, the fine print on my Chase Visa says I have 60 days from the DATE OF THE STATEMENT on which the charge first appears.

I've also observed a lot of people on this and other similar topic boards are a saying they got a refund or FCC, but very few people have said they have RECEIVED a refund or FCC.  There is a big difference between a promise and delivery.  We're sweating out refunds from Princess and Viking but getting silence.

We are avid cruisers with Elite status on Princess, so we've spent a lot of time and money with them.  Worth every penny.  Enjoyed every cruise. That makes the fact that Princess/Carnival is treating its paying customers as cheap lenders especially unsavory.   Fess up Princess.   If you have loan covenants preventing you from giving us our money back, admit it.

1 hour ago, JennAngel9 said:

Why are you limited to 60 days to dispute the charge? Shouldn't it be 60 days from the date the sailing doesn't happen?

May I jump in here?

The credit card companies (at least Chase, so I assume others) allow 60 days after the date of the statement showing the charge for disputes of that charge to be made (60 days after the statement date showing the charge).

Call me crazy, but it appears the deafening silence of the cruise lines in response to our refund requests could be calculated, at least in part, to outlast the credit card dispute window.  

Whatcha' think fellow cruisers?   Are we being used for interest free loan purposes?  🙂

It looks like NO cash/credit card refunds have been actually made for sailings that were cancelled by Princess.

I did get a call this week from the Princess "Cruise Vacation Planner".   It appeared her  mission was to take the pulse of the customer and set up a phone meeting for a mid-April to discuss Princess cruises for the future.  When asked she had no information about refunds/FCC etc.  She dodged my questions and got off the phone as quickly as she could.

I have not received any correspondence from Princess other than the automated response to the Information and instructions for requesting a Future Cruise Credit or Refund are available online. ( https://princess.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3IPGcxcN0jSk6c5 ).

FYI:

March 12 Voluntary 60 Day Pause of Global Ship Operations

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/global-ship-operations-pause.html

Updated March 20 Cancellations, Refunds and Final Payments

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/temporary-cancellation-policy.html

May I ask the original question again:

Has anyone received a CREDIT TO THEIR CREDIT CARD  -or-  CASH REFUND?

I'm not interested in promises, FCCs or what someone at Princess/Carnival has said.  Has Princess performed on their cash refund promise for cruises cancelled by Princess?

On 11/8/2018 at 5:59 AM, TracieABD said:

Royal- 11/24- Caribbean

Booked an IF- upgraded to an IB (sideways interior).

Upsell offer for DB (Deluxe balcony- midship/ mid deck) for $99 pp.

 

Totally took the deal!

Great deal!

We'll see you on board.   We just booked this cruise Friday.

Another angle or two...

Pay with your Citi Costco credit card and it will likely be classed as "travel" and you MIGHT get an additional 3% as Costco annual credit card refund.

EDIT: I checked on Princess.com and they do not accept Paypal. Leaving the next suggestion here in case you might want to use it for any other Paypal purchases.

IF allowed on the Princess site, pay with Paypal (after signing up for this quarter's bonuses on your Chase Freedom card and adding the Freedom card to your Paypal account) and get 5% cash back on up to $1,500 of Paypal purchases. Be sure and specify in Paypal that you're using your Chase Freedom card for payment. Sorry if this is confusing, but every dollar counts!

Is there still English Breakfast Tea In the buffet ?

 

Thanks in advance .

It's always there when I've looked! If not, ask. I've rarely been denied anything I've asked for.

ENJOY!

Hi,

 

Have you stayed in cabins that's close to stairs, elevators

Our favorite cabin is high floor balcony, just rear of the aft stairs/elevator. We've stayed in that cabin or its look-alikes on other class Princess ships over a dozen times.

Never have had noise or traffic problems there. We never even hear noise from the Horizon Court!

For us, it's an ideal location for many reasons including relative price.

No mention of Princess Cruises here...

I'm a small stakes blackjack player (with the concessional Video Poker run), In 15 Princess cruises I've only had one casino offer for a discounted cabin. It was a mass mailing, not a specific offer for me. The offer amounted to about 50% off my best normal booking rate.

Since the casinos on the last two ships I've sailed have gone to 6-5 Blackjack (some with $6 minimum... do the math!) for under $25 tables (which were rarely open) I have not played on my last two trips.

I'm curious about incentives offered to others on Princess.

Does Princess offer huge comps for the top-tier players? Not-so-top tier players?

Is it worth it for me to go to the $25 tables?

I agree, especially your thoughts on TAs.

Since you mentioned TAs....

We have done about 14 cruises with one TA affiliated with a HUGE travel company. She is nice, efficient and has smoothed out a couple of issues for us over the years. BUT, we are dedicated bargain travelers and I just don't feel we're getting maximum benefit from her services.

We have and are willing to travel on short notice. We've done so a lot. Tons of airline miles. Retired. Love cruising. Frugal to a fault.

Would anyone discuss techniques you have profited from by using TAs... big agency / one-person shop / local group / etc. How did you find them?

Feel free to PM me.

 

I'm thinking of adding a few to mine, based on the pretty colors.

You made my day with your new signature block!!!

One of the nicest couples we ever met on a cruise were Elite members. They always booked interior because they saved money and were rarely in the cabin anyway.

Here's one I haven't seen listed: BONGO TIES (google them)

You know those slick chrome coat hooks on the Princess bathroom doors. Your towels and robes slip off them into the puddle from the shower? Wrap a Bongo Tie around each and they give you just enough rubber grip to keep your stuff on the hooks.

Other uses: Wrap up excess cable to your electrical extension cord, attach your umbrella to your carry-bag, attach about anything to anything else temporarily, Attach your bag to your chair, etc.

It occurs to me that Elite members have another value to Princess. Elite members are walking, talking advertising for Princess. How many times have you been at dinner and a black cardholder uses his card. Questions about cruising and Princess almost always follow.

Have you ever heard an Elite member say "... This is our 23rd cruise and we really hate cruising Princess. It's overpriced and we never have fun..."? I never have. The relatively minor concessions Princess makes to Elite members pays them back via a fortune in word of mouth endorsements and stories of past good cruise experiences on Princess.

You have to hand it to Princess. They know their marketing.

Our twelve Princess cruises have mostly been booked on short notice.

I began noticing late last year that reasonably priced last-minute deals had dried up. I also noticed Princess seems to be taking blocks of cabins out of service close to sailing date. Entire sections of cabins become "SOLD" overnight. Sometimes they never return as available before the cabin class shows as "SOLD OUT" for the ship. My speculation is they are shuttering cabins to reduce costs and show even higher per cabin pricing. I can't find how CCL calculates ALBD (Available Lower Berth Days), but I'm guessing by removing blocks of cabins as available they skew non-GAAP metrics. As a side effect, those who are cruising are paying extra for the empty cabins on CCL ships.

I know this kind of wonky but I'm trying to figure out why the bargain hunters among us are not finding many bargains on Princess these days. Of course, it could be that their new YMT tool is really, really good at extracting the last dollar from each cabin.

will miss the IC so much on the island when we cruise the Panama Canal next April.

We cruised the Island Princess to the Panama Canal in December and the Coffee Bar usually had a limited selection of "free" pastries, cookies, etc. in a small case on the bar. Not the International Cafe selection, but some good munchies.

We're getting closer to Elite and I am wondering exactly what a "mini-bar setup" contains?

 

Would anyone consider posting their "elite benefit letter" from their cabin (with personal information removed, of course)?

 

Thanks!

Cruise Critic people are the BEST!

Thank you all for the details!

We're getting closer to Elite and I am wondering exactly what a "mini-bar setup" contains?

Would anyone consider posting their "elite benefit letter" from their cabin (with personal information removed, of course)?

Thanks!

Potato Gnocchi in Provencale Tomato Sauce,

Andy,

Excellent photography.

What camera do you use?

Please add us to the Meet & Greet list.

Jeff & Donna Austin, TX