Compensation - Millennium Alaska - Interrupted and Canceled Cruises

[sandyss]

It would be very helpful to share information on Celebrity's promised compensation.

 

Was your claim processed in a timely manner? Were any parts of your claim rejected?

 

When did you receive your cruise refund?

 

When did you receive your voucher towards another cruise?

 

Please post your experiences here.

[M&Dcruisers]

Was refunded shore excursions right away. Still waiting for cruise refund. I used the FCC right away to book a cruise at the same time period. New cruise was 3K more than original cruise, but they upgraded me from the lowest level Oceanview to a 2A balcony.

[micruiser12]

We were on the 8/09 itinerary cancelled cruise. Have received our full refund as of last week on our credit card. While we were still on the ship we received the "other fees" refund (port charges or taxes?).

 

Still waiting for the promised FCC so we can apply it to a cruise we booked for next year while on the ship.

 

Good luck to all of you that also are supposed to receive other expenses incurred from the 8/16 cruise such as hotels and transportation expenses. I hope Celebrity comes through for all of you and is generous with their reimbursements.

 

This is a good post to see if Celebrity comes through as promised for everyone.

[cruisestitch]

Great idea for a thread

 

1. shore excursions and airport transfer refunds went onto my SeaPass account immediately while I was still on board and that has been refunded to my credit card already

 

2. Cruise fare has not been refunded to my credit card

 

3, Future Cruise Certificate has not been received as yet

 

4. Haven't submitted receipts for meals for the two days where they put me up at a hotel in Vancouver yet -- will do that late in the week

 

5. Ditto for airline change fee and difference in airfare -- will do that later in the coming week

[Cindy]

I was supposed to be on the September 13th Pacific Coastal Wine cruise. So far, I have not received any refunds for cruise fare, excursions, or specialty dining.. It sure would be nice for it to come before my credit card statement closes, since I had to book and pay for another cruise so we could salvage some of our arrangements.

The cancellation hurts a little less today than it did yesterday. I just booked my "Dream Cruise" to the Baltics and Russia for next May. That's the cruise that I'll apply my FCC to.

[sandyss]

We were on the August 16 cruise. So far all we've received is an apology letter from Michael Bayley's staff (in response to an email that I sent).

[Montana]

I was supposed to be on the September 13th Pacific Coastal Wine cruise. So far, I have not received any refunds for cruise fare, excursions, or specialty dining.. It sure would be nice for it to come before my credit card statement closes, since I had to book and pay for another cruise so we could salvage some of our arrangements.

The cancellation hurts a little less today than it did yesterday. I just booked my "Dream Cruise" to the Baltics and Russia for next May. That's the cruise that I'll apply my FCC to.

 

The Baltic cruise was our favorite cruise. We used Red Octber for our St. Petersburg tours, pricey but worth every dime. No refund here either. Just submitted our air change fees.

[Cindy]

I just received a call from Celebrity. My air change reimbursement is being processed...they had to call and get the credit card number because it's a different one than the card that's on file. The gentleman I spoke with said I should see the refund on my credit card statement by Friday.:D

[to-see-the-world-is-grand]

We travelled with my wife's cousins, booking both of us through Costco at the same time. We had the cruise and land tour, while they only had the cruise (due to time constraints). We had identical rooms next to each other. Their cruise only was about 69% of the cost of our combined tour. One might then believe that the land portion was about 31%? Well it sounds like they will get reimbursed about 92%, while we will only get 43%! I would have expected about 64% or so. Well Celebrity claims we bought a "package" without itemized cruise and land portions, so they are free to apportion it as they see fit. It doesn't seem fair but I guess one lives and learns - probably better to book ones own land tour in a case like this to avoid shenanigans like this! The penalty here will actually be doubled, as the cruise credit will supposedly equal the refund?

 

The land tour itself was great - We were in the 30% club (ie. We could see Denali with a clear sky) 3 days in a row. It sort of made up for "Ground Hog's Day in Ketchikan". It would just be nice if they didn't mess around with the numbers like that to skew it in their favor.

Edited September 5, 2013 by to-see-the-world-is-grand

[sandyss]

We travelled with my wife's cousins, booking both of us through Costco at the same time. We had the cruise and land tour, while they only had the cruise (due to time constraints). We had identical rooms next to each other. Their cruise only was about 69% of the cost of our combined tour. One might then believe that the land portion was about 31%? Well it sounds like they will get reimbursed about 92%, while we will only get 43%! I would have expected about 64% or so. Well Celebrity claims we bought a "package" without itemized cruise and land portions, so they are free to apportion it as they see fit. It doesn't seem fair but I guess one lives and learns - probably better to book ones own land tour in a case like this to avoid shenanigans like this! The penalty here will actually be doubled, as the cruise credit will supposedly equal the refund?

 

The land tour itself was great - We were in the 30% club (ie. We could see Denali with a clear sky) 3 days in a row. It sort of made up for "Ground Hog's Day in Ketchikan". It would just be nice if they didn't mess around with the numbers like that to skew it in their favor.

 

Glad to hear that your land tour to Denali was great. I've heard the same report from a couple of other people.

 

Have you received or been told what your refund will be? I'm confused as to how you calculated your numbers. Or are you referring to your Future Cruise Credit?

[h2dcruise]

I sent in our airline cancellation confirmations last night via email for the reimbursement. No acknowledge or response as of of yet. I also inquired about our refund and FCC since we haven't gotten those either.

[Cworld473]

We were on the cancelled Sept. 13 cruise. We purchased the air through Choice Air and the insurance. After it was confirmed that the total air was not going to be refunded, I called the credit card company that we used. They took down the facts, looked it up on our charge history and told me that they would get the refund and they did. Our credit card account was credited for the entire amount within 48 hours!

[deise17311]

We were on the cancelled Sept. 13 cruise. We purchased the air through Choice Air and the insurance. After it was confirmed that the total air was not going to be refunded, I called the credit card company that we used. They took down the facts, looked it up on our charge history and told me that they would get the refund and they did. Our credit card account was credited for the entire amount within 48 hours!

 

For the total amount of air or just the change fees??

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Cworld473]

We got the entire amount for the airfare. I wanted to change the air tickets and the price choice air was offering was double what I could get the air on my own. I told Chase the story and they said they would refund the entire amount. Hope that helps!

[Christine Frances]

We got the entire amount for the airfare. I wanted to change the air tickets and the price choice air was offering was double what I could get the air on my own. I told Chase the story and they said they would refund the entire amount. Hope that helps!

 

Hope that doesn't come back to bite you. The price Choice Air was offering was double to do what?

[Cworld473]

We were on a back to back Millennium Sept. 13 (cancelled) continuing from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale (Sept. 22). We had tickets to Vancouver on Choice Air. Because the cruise was cancelled we needed air to San Diego. The airfare Choice Air offered us was double what I could get on my own. We are now watching to see in the Millennium will sail on Sept. 22!

[nealberk]

Just a quick question. For those of us on the August 16th cruise, are we getting reimbursed for the taxes and port fees as well as the actual price of the cruise? I am not expecting it, but will be happily surprised if we do.

[Christine Frances]

We were on a back to back Millennium Sept. 13 (cancelled) continuing from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale (Sept. 22). We had tickets to Vancouver on Choice Air. Because the cruise was cancelled we needed air to San Diego. The airfare Choice Air offered us was double what I could get on my own. We are now watching to see in the Millennium will sail on Sept. 22!

 

Were the tickets refundable? Celebrity would pay the change fees to San Diego. Did you talk to Choice Air about the fare that you found on your own? I'd be amazed if Celebrity didn't dispute this. What am I not seeing?

[Christine Frances]

Just a quick question. For those of us on the August 16th cruise, are we getting reimbursed for the taxes and port fees as well as the actual price of the cruise? I am not expecting it, but will be happily surprised if we do.

 

Check your on board statement. I think I read somewhere that port charges were reimbursed while they were still on the ship.

[susaraymond]

Sandyss - thank you for starting this thread - very helpful.

 

Cindy - we did the Baltic cruise in June and loved it! We used Alta tours in St. Petersburg for a two day tour and were very happy.

 

Gig 'Em

[sandyss]

I called the Captain's Club to get answers to some questions that I have. I was told by a very helpful gentleman that the Future Cruise Credit can be applied to an existing reservation.:D

 

He also connected me to Guest Relations, where I inquired about the refund for our cruise and also reimbursement for our additional expenses (additional airfare and meals). I was told that the refund for our August 16th cruise is in the system and should hit our credit card within a couple of days. I was also told that requests for reimbursement that were mailed (as directed) to the Miami office would be scanned and sent to the guest relations office.:eek: (That sounded very time consuming.) She said that emails to their office get handled much quicker. I asked if I could email a copy of my reimbursement request along with copies of the receipts, and she gave me her name and the email address. She asked me to send my email request for reimbursement of our costs to her attention so that she could personally handle it.

 

There was virtually no wait to get connected to the Captains Club and Guest Relations. Both people that I talked with were very helpful.:)

 

Captain's Club: 1-800-760-0654

 

Guest Relations: 1-800-256-6649 celebrityguestrelations@celebritycruises.com

 

I will report when we actually receive our credits.

[sandyss]

The refund for our August 16th cruise hit our credit card this evening. 100% of the cabin and port charges were credited to our visa card.

 

While on the Millennium, 30% of the Government Fees were credited to our account. I don't quite understand how Celebrity came up with the 30% credit for Government Fees. My guess is that the percentage was an estimate of the amount of the cruise that was cancelled - based upon a Wednesday departure, rather than Friday morning.

[cruisestitch]

The cancelled cruise shows on my Cruise History, but with zero points. I called Captain's Club and the rep asked if I had received a comp cruise (as if I was a travel agent). I told her no and what I had paid. She then said, oh, it seems like the system sees the refunds and interprets that as meaning the cruise wasn't a revenue cruise, so she would have to manually add the Captain's Club credits in and to give that a few days.

 

So all who have had their cruises cancelled should check their Captain's Club accounts to see if the same happened to them. At that point, I hadn't received any refund but it was apparently in process.

 

I just checked my credit card and now I have a refund but not for the correct amount, so will call and see what's up with that. Thanks for posting those phone numbers!

[Cindy]

I just checked the applicable credit card account...my air fare change reimbursement has not been credited yet.:( I am still waiting on my refund from the September 13th cruise as well.

[sandyss]

The cancelled cruise shows on my Cruise History, but with zero points. I called Captain's Club and the rep asked if I had received a comp cruise (as if I was a travel agent). I told her no and what I had paid. She then said, oh, it seems like the system sees the refunds and interprets that as meaning the cruise wasn't a revenue cruise, so she would have to manually add the Captain's Club credits in and to give that a few days.

 

So all who have had their cruises cancelled should check their Captain's Club accounts to see if the same happened to them. At that point, I hadn't received any refund but it was apparently in process.

 

I just checked my credit card and now I have a refund but not for the correct amount, so will call and see what's up with that. Thanks for posting those phone numbers!

 

When I talked with the Captain's Club, I was told that we should get the credit for our cruise, since we were actually on the ship. He said that it should be posted within a week. I will call if the credit isn't posted.

 

How did your refund differ from your cruise cost? Was the difference the government fees?