Kindly Princess - Any luck with cancellations anyone?

[berlingo]

For the second time in three years it looks like we are going to have to cancel our annual Princess cruise due me having serious, sudden health problems.

 

Reading the booking conditions I know we can get a 75% refund. We are 63 days away from our cruise. However it also states that on a discretionary basis Princess may be able to transfer your funds to a later cruise.

 

Has anyone had any success with asking for a transfer?

 

Any advice gratefully received.

[Dudleydog73]

I assume you did not take out the travel insurance? This may be a tough lesson, but there is a reason that travel insurance exists. People always wish they had purchased it when they suddenly need it, but not fair to folks who actually do if you are given a full refund without purchasing.

[berlingo]

Thank you for your sympathetic reply.

 

We have purchased travel insurance and at some significant cost due to my health problems. My question was not motivated by greed. We just thought it would be more convenient to simply transfer our booking to another cruise.

[moki'smommy]

IF Princess allows you to transfer your funds, some travel insurances allow you to move the insurance one time. Others do not allow you to move the coverage and you simply lose it if you cancel the cruise.

 

I have no experience with cancelations on Princess--but good luck with both the cruise line and the insurance company.

 

And if Princess turns you down, you file a claim for the funds that were not refunded.

[fishywood]

At 63 days out you are entitled to have all but your deposit amount (assuming a cruise under 30 days length) directly refunded in the manner you paid. And I assume the difference would be covered by your insurance.

 

Take the cash refund. Do not transfer the funds to another cruise even if you are ready to book right away. The big issue will be obtaining cancellation insurance on the replacement cruise since your method of payment for it will not legally be considered a payment made by you but a cruise line credit. If heaven forbid you have to reschedule again you will not be able to obtain a refund even if within the cancellation deadline.

 

As you said Princess may allow you to do a "move over" on a "discretionary basis". Which translates to totally on Princess' terms; unlikely you would be price-protected on whatever promotion was in place at the time you originally booked. Just cancel your booking completely and rebook when ready under the best possible terms available--which will certainly be better than Princess' "discretionary basis".

 

I do hope your medical issue is very short lived and you are back to planning your next cruise forthwith.

[GUT2407]

For the second time in three years it looks like we are going to have to cancel our annual Princess cruise due me having serious, sudden health problems.

 

Reading the booking conditions I know we can get a 75% refund. We are 63 days away from our cruise. However it also states that on a discretionary basis Princess may be able to transfer your funds to a later cruise.

 

Has anyone had any success with asking for a transfer?

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Sorry to hear about the health issues.

 

All you can do is ask, what's the worst they can say?

 

Lay it all our before them including proof of the medical condition.

[caber]

I don`t know about the US passengers but in the UK personaliser we have to put in the details of our travel insurance and an emergency medical contact number. I don`t know whether or not you would be able to print off boarding cards etc. if this information was incomplete.

[SwissDave]

I assume you did not take out the travel insurance? This may be a tough lesson, but there is a reason that travel insurance exists. People always wish they had purchased it when they suddenly need it, but not fair to folks who actually do if you are given a full refund without purchasing.

 

Why would you assume that?

OP is from UK and it is a condition of booking that we have insurance.

[moki'smommy]

I don`t know about the US passengers but in the UK personaliser we have to put in the details of our travel insurance and an emergency medical contact number. I don`t know whether or not you would be able to print off boarding cards etc. if this information was incomplete.

 

US passengers have to list an emergency contact--not "emergency medical contact," but someone not on the trip who could be contacted in ANY emergency, death, etc.

 

There is a space where we can list insurance information but it is not required. I cruise Princess without listing insurance information. My logic is that I purchased privately so it is between the company and the purchaser--it doesn't involve Princess. In the event of a claim, it is my responsibility to obtain the needed documentation from Princess anyhow.

[Dorset Cruiser]

I assume you did not take out the travel insurance? This may be a tough lesson, but there is a reason that travel insurance exists. People always wish they had purchased it when they suddenly need it, but not fair to folks who actually do if you are given a full refund without purchasing.

 

Pays never to 'assume' anything 😉

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[fishywood]

 

My logic is that I purchased privately so it is between the company and the purchaser--it doesn't involve Princess.

 

Well its a good thing you don't live in the UK as that logic doesn't fly there. If one does not purchase Princess insurance it is mandatory to provide proof of your own medical evacuation coverage or you will be denied boarding. And frequently Princess will not sell passengers their insurance for certain promotional or last minute bookings leaving one to purchase a private age-based policy that costs substantially more.

[Homosassa]

It is interesting to learn the difference between USA and UK bookings and the requirement for insurance.

 

We usually turn down the Princess insurance as we find better coverage (cancel for any reason, medical and evacuation) from private offerings.

 

We do not need to provide the insurance information for the on-line check in or at the pier before boarding.

[r2d2inltd2]

We recently canceled a cruise because our son was admitted to intensive care. We were on the Royal arriving into FLL on Friday morning and planned to continue on it to Europe for another twenty-five days. At 3am we decided to cancel while on the ship. Within a day

Princess refunded our taxes, transfers, and prepaid tips. I had already booked a later cruise and requested that the balanced be given as a credit although I could have asked for cash as the illness of a close relative was a legitimate reason for canceling with money returned. We were extremely impressed with how both Princess and their insurance company Aon handled this.

Always, always, always buy cruise insurance!!!

[fishywood]

Within a day Princess refunded our taxes, transfers, and prepaid tips. I had already booked a later cruise and requested that the balanced be given as a credit although I could have asked for cash as the illness of a close relative was a legitimate reason for canceling with money returned. We were extremely impressed with how both Princess and their insurance company Aon handled this.

Always, always, always buy cruise insurance!!!

 

I am glad this all worked out for you. But I do hope you understand that by accepting an FCC when you were actually entitled to a cash refund, and then applying that FCC to an existing future booking, that the portion of the cost of the future cruise paid for by the FCC is considered not insurable and will be neither credited nor refunded if heaven forbid you have to cancel or reschedule again--even for a covered reason.

 

For this reason I do hope the OP chooses a cash refund & insurance reimbursement rather than pay for 75% or more of their next cruise with "company credit".

[land lover]

I am glad this all worked out for you. But I do hope you understand that by accepting an FCC when you were actually entitled to a cash refund, and then applying that FCC to an existing future booking, that the portion of the cost of the future cruise paid for by the FCC is considered not insurable and will be neither credited nor refunded if heaven forbid you have to cancel or reschedule again--even for a covered reason.

 

For this reason I do hope the OP chooses a cash refund & insurance reimbursement rather than pay for 75% or more of their next cruise with "company credit".

 

 

This is very good advice in all your posts, i consider myself pretty knowledgeable when buying insurance since each trip needs r different. But never having to use it I never thought about a refund and how it might not be insurable. I am talking U.S.

 

So then if I had insurance that said cancel for any reason with princess, and i did cancel and received an FFC..a new booking would only cover any new payment made?

Edited June 18, 2016 by land lover

[Dudleydog73]

Why would you assume that?

OP is from UK and it is a condition of booking that we have insurance.

 

My apologies for not immediately knowing where "stourbridge" was located. If they are past final payment and have travel insurance reading the fine print of said policy should give all the details they need to know, not some random group of folks with no skin in the game on the internet.

[TW6cruiser]

Some of the comments about the future cruise not being "insurable" may not be accurate. I think it may depend upon the type of insurance the passenger has on the first cruise. We had insurance from Princess (upgraded level) and had a cancellation and rebooking at the same time and we do have our same level of Princess insurance now on the future cruise.

[moki'smommy]

I am glad this all worked out for you. But I do hope you understand that by accepting an FCC when you were actually entitled to a cash refund, and then applying that FCC to an existing future booking, that the portion of the cost of the future cruise paid for by the FCC is considered not insurable and will be neither credited nor refunded if heaven forbid you have to cancel or reschedule again--even for a covered reason.

 

For this reason I do hope the OP chooses a cash refund & insurance reimbursement rather than pay for 75% or more of their next cruise with "company credit".

 

We have not had this experience when moving insurance to a different cruise. The company I use allows one move. They DO reference the initial payment on the first cruise as the date in effect when looking at pre-existing conditions. That means that we don't have pre-existing coverage on the new cruise as we are beyond their "21 days after initial payment" clause. But our cruise is otherwise fully insured as a cash payment, not a "company credit." It may vary with different companies...maybe????

[fishywood]

We have not had this experience when moving insurance to a different cruise. The company I use allows one move. They DO reference the initial payment on the first cruise as the date in effect when looking at pre-existing conditions. That means that we don't have pre-existing coverage on the new cruise as we are beyond their "21 days after initial payment" clause. But our cruise is otherwise fully insured as a cash payment' date=' not a "company credit." It may vary with different companies...maybe????[/quote']

 

Since you were able to move your insurance over to the newly rescheduled cruise date with the day of original purchase still the effective date you should be fine. But in r2d2inltd2's case they moved the cancellation credit from one cruise to an existing future booking. If they had already engaged insurance for that future cruise in order to get pre-existing medical coverage it is very possible that the cancellation coverage will only recognize the net out-of-pocket they paid toward that cruise as the insured amount. They will not know nor care about the source of the rather large credit from Princess applied to their account--in the insurer's eyes it is exactly that, a credit off the fare not a payment.

[SteveH2508]

Well its a good thing you don't live in the UK as that logic doesn't fly there. If one does not purchase Princess insurance it is mandatory to provide proof of your own medical evacuation coverage or you will be denied boarding. And frequently Princess will not sell passengers their insurance for certain promotional or last minute bookings leaving one to purchase a private age-based policy that costs substantially more.

 

Not sure that this is accurate information. We have sailed Princess twice, once to Iceland and Norway, once round British Isles. Both times we just put EHIC in the insurance field (EHIC is the European Union mutual health cover). No problem either time.

[cherylandtk]

Fishywood is correct about how credits are treated by travel insurance companies. They are not payments made in cash and therefore are not insurable, whether by Princess insurance or third party insurance. There was a thread about two or three years ago where someone took a credit from Princess (cannot recall exact reason, may have been that big booking credit promo or may have been a move over offer, but it was a BIG credit, perhaps the full cost of the cruise). The subsequent cruise had to be cancelled for a covered reason. Upon filing the claim, they were refunded taxes, port fees and hotel prepaid costs, but NOT the cruise cost itself, as it had been paid in credits, not cash. And the credits (IIRC) were not transferable to a future cruise. I think the reason the credits could not be re-used was because they had an expiration date which would have passed, but I am not positive about that being the exact reason.

 

So do be careful when using credits and know how they are treated.

[berlingo]

My apologies for not immediately knowing where "stourbridge" was located. If they are past final payment and have travel insurance reading the fine print of said policy should give all the details they need to know, not some random group of folks with no skin in the game on the internet.

 

May I please refer you back to my original question?

 

I am enquiring about my fellow CC members experience of Princess Cruise Lines transfer policy. This is something which does not appear in the fine print of my travel insurance policy.

 

Thanks again.

[berlingo]

At 63 days out you are entitled to have all but your deposit amount (assuming a cruise under 30 days length) directly refunded in the manner you paid. And I assume the difference would be covered by your insurance.

 

Take the cash refund. Do not transfer the funds to another cruise even if you are ready to book right away. The big issue will be obtaining cancellation insurance on the replacement cruise since your method of payment for it will not legally be considered a payment made by you but a cruise line credit. If heaven forbid you have to reschedule again you will not be able to obtain a refund even if within the cancellation deadline.

 

As you said Princess may allow you to do a "move over" on a "discretionary basis". Which translates to totally on Princess' terms; unlikely you would be price-protected on whatever promotion was in place at the time you originally booked. Just cancel your booking completely and rebook when ready under the best possible terms available--which will certainly be better than Princess' "discretionary basis".

 

I do hope your medical issue is very short lived and you are back to planning your next cruise forthwith.

 

 

Thank you for your response. I had not considered many of the points you raise about the disadvantages of booking transfers. Maybe it is not as convenient as I imagined.

 

Unfortunately for UK bookings once the 90 days pre cruise point has past you loose signicantly more than your deposit so our shortfall would be over a £1000 plus additional costs such as car parking fees.

 

I would be hopeful to reclaim some of this via my travel insurance but as a family of 5 we have 4 different insurance claims to make. Therefore being that we fully intend to book again with Princess we thought a transfer would be a more straightforward option.

 

Thanks again.

[berlingo]

It is interesting to learn the difference between USA and UK bookings and the requirement for insurance.

 

We usually turn down the Princess insurance as we find better coverage (cancel for any reason, medical and evacuation) from private offerings.

 

We do not need to provide the insurance information for the on-line check in or at the pier before boarding.

 

 

Unfortunately Princess Insurance is not available to UK passengers therefore we have to use the private route which can be very costly.

[berlingo]

It is interesting to learn the difference between USA and UK bookings and the requirement for insurance.

 

We usually turn down the Princess insurance as we find better coverage (cancel for any reason, medical and evacuation) from private offerings.

 

We do not need to provide the insurance information for the on-line check in or at the pier before boarding.

 

 

Unfortunately Princess Insurance is not available to UK passengers therefore we have to use the private route which can be very costly.