Seabourn and the current issues surrounding the Corona Virus

[Ubiquiti]

Cruise: Sojourn, Capetown->Singapore (re-routed to Fremantle)
Cancelled (re-routed and cut short) by: SB
Amount claimed: USD555 per passenger
I have read somewhere there is a limit on these claims of approx (don't quote me on this) USD1700 pp

 

[ab21au]

27 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

If you can comment - did you receive the full amount of your claim and was it in 3 or 4 digits? I am just wondering if they have a “ceiling” for these claims.

Yes I asked for the airline cancellation fee (in excess of $1000). I provided SB with the total paid and also the refund paid to me by the airline.  I asked for the difference.  

[Paulchili]

Thank you both for your helpful replies.

My airline claims have to do more with fees for mileage deposits (3 flights) and in one case to buy more miles for a changed flight when we could no longer travel on our original route via HKG.

It’s in the neighborhood of $2K.

Here is hoping for the best 🙂

[B-HQC]

Point of reference - a few years back Seabourn changed the origin of our sailing from Istanbul to Athens due to security / political instability. About 2 weeks before the sailing we had to cancel our flights on TK and rebook on another carrier.

 

Our last minute flights to ATH ended up costing thousands more, literally a good portion of the cruise fare itself, but Seabourn ponied up quickly and without a fuss. It was my first time on Seabourn, I was very impressed, and have been coming back ever since.

 

Right now the cruise industry is dealing with a far bigger crisis, but I really hope Seabourn can invest in their customers, knowing that it will build loyalty long after the expense has been forgotten.

[zimflyer]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

I submitted my claim for airline ticket change fees refund on 3/2 but have not heard back from SB.

I called them yesterday and left a message. The call was returned today and after investigating my claim, the rep found it as being received on 3/6 and they are currently working on claims from around 2/27 or so. In addition, she is working from home and EVERYTHING is done mannually so it takes a lot longer.

At least I know that they have the claim and I know it will be a while before they get to it.

Probably the same for my tax refund.

Well that is the most enlightening statement of the last 2 weeks on this forum, even if not from SB directly.

 

Thank you Paulchili !

 

Now for those who dont get it, would it not have been better to get an email from SB saying just that...!!!!!

 

Idiotic, why ? Because if you don't  know you worry and you phone* , just wanting to know, just seeking reassurance.........   - THAT  is what fills up phone lines....!!

 

*(FYI to the denigrators out there:

I have had ONE conference call to SB three weeks ago via agent. Have sent 1

ONE email 3 times in last 4 weeks. The ONLY contact FROM SB was 4 weeks ago regarding sending reimbursement costs for amended itinerary). 

 

So not having overstressed SB unduly I feel, would it not be a whole lot better on their staff and on me IF SOMEONE in charge of communications  or customer service used at least the last 14 days to fix that. 

 

All I can say is that there appears to be a lot of Carnivalesque responses here...

[cruiseej]

Seabourn's 5 ships have roughly 1,250 staterooms, and if they've cancelled roughly 20 cruises so far, that's about 25,000 bookings they have to cancel and refund/exchange. Plus all the excursions with tour operators worldwide. Plus all the air travel and hotels booked through the cruise line. Plus getting some 1,500 crew members from their ships to home (and figuring out how to get them back again when the time comes). Plus dealing with containers of supplies sitting at ports where ships are not coming, and getting containers of supplies to ports where ships will eventually be going, at a time worldwide shipping is significantly disrupted. And making logistical arrangements for their ships at sea… and trying to figure out where to send them… and reprograming computer systems to do things they were programmed not to do… and rearrange dozens of cruise itineraries for late spring… and developing plans C, D and E for later resumption of travel. That's not to mention the tens of thousands of people with cruises not yet cancelled who are making inquiries, cancelling and rebooking. And even some people booking for cruises 6 or 12 or 18 months in the future. And they're doing this with a staff that has been told to work from home.

 

I don't know how many people work at Seabourn. And of those, how many are on the team that deals with consumers and travel agents. My guess is that it's probably 100 or fewer. (Perhaps some on this forum know the answer.) Whatever the case, my only point is that simply responding to just one message from each of the 25,000+ cancelled cruise bookings -- and many probably have multiple messages somewhere in the queue from the passengers and or their travel agents -- is probably a multi-week process. Just unwinding everything relating to each customer's trip -- the cruise fare paid, previous adjustments as itineraries were changing, commission to agent, recalculated port fees, cancelled excursions, air, hotel -- likely takes a bit of time… and they need to do 25,000+ of those! With more coming in every day.

 

I absolutely understand the desire for them to blast out mass communications more quickly, but there are so many variables in terms of what people paid, in different currencies, from different countries, through different sales channels, that passing on information en masse would inevitably be wrong for some people. (Just look at some of the messages on this forum, where people cancelled at X time, when some policy changed shortly after that and they want to be treated under the newer policy, or visa versa; a significant percentage of these situations require individual attention.)  Could they do a better job with a blanket message like "it will take us 3-5 weeks to get to processing your trip cancellation, and we apologize that we simply can't get it done any faster, and contacting us by phone or email only slows us further" Sure -- but that would likely anger some people, too.

 

So while I'm not disagreeing that they could likely push out some broad communications somewhat better, I'm also noting that they have an unprecedented, unimaginable, unenviable task they're trying to handle, while being short-handed and working from home with the loss of productivity that comes with that. So giving them some extra leeway to sort things out doesn't seem unreasonable under the circumstances. 

[teamflames]

I can compare Seabourn to Singapore airlines because I booked both in tandem. I have had one communication from Seabourn with zero follow up on details etc.
Singapore have hardly been great but my emails do get responses (not always favourable) within 24-48 hours , imagine how many cases they are dealing with.
Seabourn have been silent since the beginning, have left cancellations to within 24 hours of departure. Zero general management communication.
If it were not a cruise company and therefore treated like a favourite relative by people on this website there would be none of this forgiveness.



Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ab21au]

5 hours ago, zimflyer said:

Now for those who dont get it, would it not have been better to get an email from SB saying just that...!!!!!

I think patience is in order. You are not the only one asking SB for restitution. They would have received 200-300 claims per cruise and I assume they only have so many in guest services processing them.

 

Every post is sooo negative, I don’t know how you sleep at night 😉

[cruisepsycho]

Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain has posted a video on the RC blog site, which he made from his home on his I-Phone,  shortly after announcing earlier this week RC’s extended worldwide cruise cancellations for all its cruise lines into May and for Alaska into July. You should all, especially the seabourn homies posting here, take a look at it. This is how a cruise line head honcho should communicate with their consumers during this difficult time. If only the Seabourn and Carnival Corp. executives could be so honest and straightforward with us.  I am still waiting for SB to cancel my May med cruise on Ovation which I was so much looking forward to. I suspect this will happen soon. But after this experience seabourn has lost me (and I suspect many others) as a customer. 

[phillipahain]

Never mind cruises in med in May ...they have not faced the issues about April 22nd Rome to Athens where all the ports are closed never mind rampant Covid19 

[SLSD]

Judging from this article, Carnival is still trying to decide what to do going forward.  https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/03/25/carnival-still-isnt-sure-if-it-will-continue-its-c.aspx

 

From the article above, 

"Potentially bucking the trend other cruise lines are setting, Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) still hasn't decided whether it's on board with keeping its ships in port after the 30-day cruise suspension, which began on March 13, expires. A post this morning on the company's Facebook page said that the decision is still up in the air, but promised a final answer by this Friday, March 27."

Edited March 26, 2020 by SLSD

[cruisepsycho]

And can you all believe that Seabourn is still allowing bookings and taking payments on their web site  for Alaska cruises in May and June even though Canada has closed all ports through July 1st. What a travesty! Have they no shame!

[phillipahain]

Sure foes not give any confidance in Health and Safety of passengers never mind the crew who are of course expendable 

[Dusko]

This will be my last post on this thread which, I suspect, will make several people very happy. I've decided there are more important things in my life at the moment than a lost vacation in May.  It was discretionary spending, not required to maintain my life. The package cost was around $25,000. I've advised Seabourn that I'm cancelling. When they get round to it I expect to get some sort of refund or FCC. If that doesn't happen then I'll just get on with my life. I have enough frustration right now trying to order groceries on line without getting stressed, angry, bitter and twisted over a vacation. I don't want to be that person. Yes, this is money that I worked hard for over many years but what, I'm just saying is that it's a tiny sacrifice compared to that others are making right now. Let it go.

[ab21au]

3 hours ago, Dusko said:

This will be my last post on this thread which, I suspect, will make several people very happy. I've decided there are more important things in my life at the moment than a lost vacation in May.  It was discretionary spending, not required to maintain my life. The package cost was around $25,000. I've advised Seabourn that I'm cancelling. When they get round to it I expect to get some sort of refund or FCC. If that doesn't happen then I'll just get on with my life. I have enough frustration right now trying to order groceries on line without getting stressed, angry, bitter and twisted over a vacation. I don't want to be that person. Yes, this is money that I worked hard for over many years but what, I'm just saying is that it's a tiny sacrifice compared to that others are making right now. Let it go.

You’ve said it perfectly. We are alive, and while money (or the loss thereof) is important to me, my life is more important. Most of the deaths in AUS are from those returning from cruise ships. I bet those (mainly men) if they could, would now think the same. 

[cruisepsycho]

I choose to let it go when SB cancels my cruise.

[Joc123]

3years ago we took our 1st cruise on Ponant, turned out to be our last as we weren’t particularly impressed.

What has impressed us, however, is the amount of information from them during this time. We have received emails assuring us they are still there for us and giving contact details and a letter from the President of the company explaining what they are doing. Even if it is just a marketing excercise it makes you feel as though they are trying to be there for their customers.

All this and we have sailed a total of 16 days with them.

We have sailed 250+ with Seabourn and have received nothing!

We have cancelled our cruise and are ok with the refund/FCC but we haven’t actually seen any of it yet.

I really think Corporate could be doing better.

 

[zimflyer]

12 hours ago, ab21au said:

I think patience is in order. You are not the only one asking SB for restitution. They would have received 200-300 claims per cruise and I assume they only have so many in guest services processing them.

 

Every post is sooo negative, I don’t know how you sleep at night 😉

I do sleep at night, what annoys me is that comments such as that above DO NOT TAKE ANY ACCOUNT OF WHAT OTHER AIRLINES (100s of 1000s of bookings), my Grocery store and others are doing. Employees in ALL industries are losing jobs. We who have bad lungs, such as myself could well die if we get this virus....I am being honest here.

 

But all of your pro SB , anti-complainants posts do is incite me to reply again.

 

IF OTHER LESSER CRUISE COMPANIES , AIRLINES, MY GROCER AND LOCAL RESTAURANT CAN KEEP ME AND 100S OF OTHERS APPRAISED,  WHY NOT SB.

 

Monitoring feedback on many CC forums would professionally be a good thing...

 

ONE email to a client in all this time is poor, no matter what the Carnivalesque responses...

 

[marazul]

According to some media, Carnival will make an announcement tomorrow about future cruises.

[ab21au]

48 minutes ago, zimflyer said:

IF OTHER LESSER CRUISE COMPANIES , AIRLINES, MY GROCER AND LOCAL RESTAURANT CAN KEEP ME AND 100S OF OTHERS APPRAISED,  WHY NOT SB.

My airline, Qantas would not refund all my money, Seabourn refunded the difference. Ok, I had to wait for it, but at least I got the difference back. 
 

My, in excess of $500 travel insurance would not cover COVID-19 unless I had begun my travel (which I hadn’t) and Qantas would future credit the complete amount but only for 12 months from the booking date (not the travel date) because I booked in June 2019, I had to cancel, so Qantas kept $600 each. Seabourn paid that back to me. 
 

I admit they are not perfect but IMHO it is trying times for all and we need to cut some slack. 

[HappyFeet13]

Makes sense. Carnival runs the show. I'm sure Seabourn was told they couldn't make any deals or announcements until Carnival came up with a corporate policy that would apply to all their subsidiaries. Seabourn is only a tiny part of Carnival.

[SLSD]

The United States is not going to bail out the cruise lines.  I agree with this policy.  There are very few American employees and the cruise lines have done everything in their power to avoid paying taxes in the United States and have avoided the labor laws of the United States.  

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/26/cruise-line-bailout/?fbclid=IwAR00p8RZus7EXwpc4aMbd6yCTvcqXJXyxWm_ya9D4CAOi3kB6evAkQ8XYvY&utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

 

[Paulchili]

5 minutes ago, SLSD said:

The United States is not going to bail out the cruise lines.  I agree with this policy.  There are very few American employees and the cruise lines have done everything in their power to avoid paying taxes in the United States and have avoided the labor laws of the United States.  

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/26/cruise-line-bailout/?fbclid=IwAR00p8RZus7EXwpc4aMbd6yCTvcqXJXyxWm_ya9D4CAOi3kB6evAkQ8XYvY&utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

 

Agree. Can’t see taxpayers’ money going to anyone who does not pay US taxes.

In addition, cruise lines, like airlines, have significant assets (ships & planes)  that they can leverage to obtain essentially interest free loans to get back on their feet.

Most companies used the savings from recent tax cuts to buy back stocks and bonuses for execs instead of saving money for a rainy day - and it’s pouring rain now.

[HappyFeet13]

Maybe Liberia or the Bahamas will bail them out...that's where all the ships are registered.😄.

Oh, wait...they have my money. That means I probably won't get it back. 😢

[Swaxxy]

Seabourn is working on it. I filed this claim on March 4 and this is the reply I received today. 

 

This communication is to serve as a follow-up to your email and your Change Fee Reimbursement request.

 

After reviewing the information you included, we would be pleased to provide you with a refund in the amount of $ 817.80. Yet, we would like to take this opportunity to offer you an alternative. In lieu of the refund, we would like to provide a Future Cruise Credit for 125% of the refund value. As such, we would like to extend a Future Cruise Credit in the amount of $ 1,022.25. Kindly let us know which of the options listed below you wish to choose and we will proceed with your request.

 

A refund in the amount of $ 817.80

 

or

 

A Future Cruise Credit in the amount of $ 1,022.25

 

We thank you for choosing Seabourn and we hope to see you again in the future.

 

Kind regards,

Shawn Davidson

Guest Relations