Temporary Cancellation Policy Announced

[disneycruisinsusan]

We got a call from our TA this morning regarding our two back-to-back Hawaii cruises in April on the Grand Princess. Princess is telling us we can cancel up to the end of March and our fares will go 100% to a future cruise to be used by the end of 2021 OR we can still go (as if) and receive an onboard credit of $200.00!  Right. 200 bucks is not gonna make me get on a ship that has been entirely exposed to COVID19. They really should cancel cruises on the Grand for at least a month, if not longer. They need to really clean this ship up just like the Diamond! I

 

I am praying for those onboard this second ship now exposed...🙏🙏🙏🙏💙💙💙💙

 

We will talk with my hubbys best buddy who works on the ship today some time to see how he is holding up and how things are going onboard. 

[cng062000]

9 minutes ago, FolsomFamilyCruisers said:

Princess has come through and honored their cancellation offer for March 7/8 cruises as well -- grateful!

Just got off the phone and so happy Princess did the right thing with these sailings! 

[dog]

26 minutes ago, cng062000 said:

Just got off the phone and so happy Princess did the right thing with these sailings! 

You worked on this all day. Glad it worked out in your favour!

[hetulot]

What if you have a FCC for a cruise that you cancelled and you book another cruise that is less than the certificate Do you lose the remaining amount or do you need to book another cruise by the end of 2021?

 

[Musky Ike]

3 hours ago, Prolificc said:

So when do we see the OBC? I'd like to book an excursion.

I would imagine after the new 72 hour cancel window has passed for your cruise, but who knows?

 

[itching2cruiseagain]

5 hours ago, dog said:

Did you call Princess and get this info?

I got it from their website. 

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

[dog]

8 minutes ago, itching2cruiseagain said:

I got it from their website. 

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

They are offering same policy for my cruise March 7 th now 

[Loreni]

I am glad to hear this.  Overall, it seems like a good cancellation policy.  Although I’m not sure what I think about the financial incentives for passengers to keep their bookings.  It appears a bit unseemly to potentially try to lure people into a situation that might be dangerous especially right in the middle of the Grand Princess situation where we don’t yet know what is going on with the health of those onboard.  
 

I think the new policy would have been cleaner without the offers on onboard credit.

[itching2cruiseagain]

I am glad.

[stive1]

We were booked on the Crown that is sailing today....we cancelled last night.  I called our TA today after getting the email from Princess overnight to ask her to request princess to allow our $$ to be used on a future cruise even though it doesn’t fall under their exact dates.  Fingers crossed!!

[jwattle]

18 minutes ago, Loreni said:

I am glad to hear this.  Overall, it seems like a good cancellation policy.  Although I’m not sure what I think about the financial incentives for passengers to keep their bookings.  It appears a bit unseemly to potentially try to lure people into a situation that might be dangerous especially right in the middle of the Grand Princess situation where we don’t yet know what is going on with the health of those onboard.  
 

I think the new policy would have been cleaner without the offers on onboard credit.

I think that they are just trying to than those who plan to cruise anyway. There aren't always goblins behind the trees.😀

[lahore]

8 hours ago, Stevie17 said:

That is correct! 

 

9 hours ago, cruisekel1 said:

rookie question. We have until tomorrow to cancel for 50% cancellation fee. Does that mean we get our govt taxes and fees totally refunded, we get 50% of the base cruise fare refunded and then the other 50% of the cruise fare we get back in future cruise credit? 

 

Where are people reading this detail?  My email (in Australia) said nothing about this and nor did the website when I last looked.   We are at 75% cancellation stage.  I guess it doesn’t matter much to me whether i get credits, money refunded or a combination, but I’m interested to know which.

 

EDIT: Never mind,  I get it.  Early morning brain.  I was assuming we would get the full fare as FCC, but it’s most likely 75% of full fare as FCC and the rest as a refund.

Edited March 6, 2020 by lahore

[lahore]

For people in Australia:

 

If you’re wondering what will happen when you try to get through here is my experience. 

Last night, the same minute that the email arrived I got through on Chat after a five minute wait.  The person on chat said I couldn’t cancel over chat because it’s not encrypted so had to phone this morning (Saturday).  The call centre in Sydney is open 8-4 today (Sat).   Phoned this morning at 9am (slept in).  45 minute wait.  Call centre person sounded extremely confused and contradicted herself three times before admitting that they were inundated and not coping very well.  She told me she has to enter a code because they are not allowed to cancel (huh?) and that I won’t get an email, but then later told me I will get an email.  Don’t ask me to explain, she couldn’t, clearly she was learning as she went or - more worryingly - making it up as she went. After going around in circles and her becoming more and more embarassed/defensive I figured she had entered the code and all I can do now is wait to see the credits appear on my account.  If they haven’t shown up in ten days I’ll call back.  

[BIGADORF]

Anybody know how the mechanics work for the refundable deposit for the new cruise you are making a reservation for? Since you need to make a deposit on your credit card for the new cruise at the time of booking and the future cruise credit will not be available for approximately 10 days, per Princess, what happens to the new deposit, will it just be refunded to your credit card account?

Also what happens to the onboard credit from the original cruise I cancelled, do I just lose it or is it transferable to the new cruise?

Edited March 7, 2020 by BIGADORF
added question regarding OBC

[cujosmom]

Even before receiving the email this morning, we had decided to cancel our March 26th TransAtlantic to Barcelona cruise.  We will cancel before or on March 11 as that's the last day to get the 25/75% option. We have the Platinum CFAR insurance so everything should go smooth according to previous posts.  We also purchased Princess EZ Air which should also be Refunded or EZ Air credits????  We purchased seat upgrades to Economy Plus for $500 directly through United after the EZ Air flight had been ticketed. I assume Princess will not be responsible for our upgrades. My Questions are: When Princess cancels the air what happens to our upgraded seats? I am assuming they will go "poof" as soon as EZ cancels the seats and we will be out $500. Has anyone else had any experience with independently purchased upgrades and a canceled EZ Air flight? I plan on contacting United this weekend to see if they will refund our upgraded seats also but was hoping someone has had some experience in this matter and how it turned out.  Thanks.

[travellover39]

15 hours ago, Stevie17 said:

I just got the email as well, and we will be cancelling our March 29th cruise and taking future cruise credit. This was such a good move on Princess's part. What a relief!

We’re rescheduling for a future cruise also.  I was getting pressure from family to cancel so I was relieved to see my email. In my county 34 people have the virus due to one person that got the virus. They call it community spread, the good news Is he’ll recover. Excellent move on Princess and I thank them very much. Till the next crisis, I sure hope not. 
 

[cujosmom]

1 hour ago, BIGADORF said:

 

Also what happens to the onboard credit from the original cruise I cancelled, do I just lose it or is it transferable to the new cruise?

 

I would like to know the answer to this question, too.  We had pre-paid gratuities and $250 OBC.

 

[SJunie]

Hello, I am hoping someone can help on here. I have been trying to get ahold of my TA to cancel our March 21st cruise under the new cancellation policy. Today is the last day to cancel at a 75% cancellation penalty fee. Tomorrow, it goes to 100%. I have been on hold with Princess forever, and their voice recording says I have to go through my TA to cancel, but she has not gotten back to me.

Is there a way to do it online? I am looking at my account on the Princess site, and I can't find anything. Help! It's evening here, so I am now worried that everything is out of office hours.

[oskidunker]

ookings on cruises and cruisetours in all markets globally.

Date of Departure*	Benefit
April 3, 2020 or earlier	Cancel up to 72hrs before sailing to receive Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for 100% of cancellation fee

[SJunie]

3 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

ookings on cruises and cruisetours in all markets globally.

Date of Departure*	Benefit
April 3, 2020 or earlier	Cancel up to 72hrs before sailing to receive Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for 100% of cancellation fee

My understanding from reading the T& C is that the FCC is 100% of whatever the normal cancellation fee is. So for example, under normal circumstances, if my cruise cost $1000, and today is the last day to cancel at a 75% cancellation fee, my FCC would be $750 under this new temporary policy. If I cancel 4 days before my cruise, under normal circumstances, it would be a 100% cancellation fee, so under this temporary policy, my FCC would be $1000. Did I understand that correctly?

 

If I did, then I definitely want to cancel today as at least I will get 25% of the fare refunded back on my credit card.

[nho9504]

6 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

Read  https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/temporary-cancellation-policy.html instead of relying on second hand information.

 

It is not clear to me hence the question.

 

So what is your interpretation after you have read "the original" which is no different than the email we received this morning? 

Edited March 7, 2020 by nho9504

[oskidunker]

You should get a 100% cruise credit. No money. 

[mcrcruiser]

We cancelled 2  Royal Princess cruises Feb 28th  . They were B3B ,starting April 18th  .We were hit with $1158 .57 in penalties for these 2 cruises .now that Princess has come out with this temporary  cancellation policy we are hoping to  get this $1158 .57 in future cruise credit ;which we would use  on a new cruise .Time will tell 

[ceilidh1]

2 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We cancelled 2  Royal Princess cruises Feb 28th  . They were B3B ,starting April 18th  .We were hit with $1158 .57 in penalties for these 2 cruises .now that Princess has come out with this temporary  cancellation policy we are hoping to  get this $1158 .57 in future cruise credit ;which we would use  on a new cruise .Time will tell 

A Q&A on the policy sent to TAs states that guests who cancelled as of Jan 20th would get a retroactive 100% FCC on request. I don't believe the document is for public use so won't post it here, but this came direct from Princess to TAs

[Coral]

Temporary Cancellation Policy

Updated March 6, 2020

To assist guests' decisions regarding their upcoming cruise vacations during the evolving worldwide COVID-19 situation, Princess Cruises is temporarily making some changes to our cancellation policy for cruises and cruisetours departing between March 6 and May 31, 2020, and final payment terms for cruises and cruisetours sailing in June 2020.

Updated Cancellation Policy for cruises and cruisetours departing March 6, 2020 through May 31, 2020

The details vary by departure date. The following applies to new and existing bookings on cruises and cruisetours in all markets globally.

Date of Departure*	Benefit
March 6 – 8, 2020	Cancel up to sailing date to automatically receive a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for 100% of cancellation fees
March 9, 2020 - April 3, 2020	Cancel up to 72 hours before sailing to automatically receive a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for 100% of cancellation fees
April 4, 2020 - May 31, 2020	Cancel by March 31 and automatically receive a Future Cruise Credit for 100% of cancellation fees

*Date of departure is from the start date of your cruise or cruisetour, whichever is earlier. Excludes charter cruises.

For guests that have already cancelled a March 6-May 31, 2020 cruise or cruisetour on or after January 20, 2020, they will automatically receive Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for 100% of cancellation fees; no need to call Princess.

Future Cruise Credits (FCC) are non-refundable and non-transferrable. They may be applied to any new or existing booking not yet paid in full on a Princess cruise or cruisetour departing on or before December 31, 2021. The FCC does not have to be used on the same itinerary that was cancelled.

Future Cruise Credits will automatically be applied to each guest’s Captain Circle account after they have cancelled. FCCs will not be available instantly and may take up to 10 business days to be processed; no need to call to Princess before this time.

Special Offer for Guests Who Choose to Keep Bookings on March 6 through May 31, 2020 Departures

Guests who choose to keep their booking on cruises or cruisetours as currently scheduled for departures between March 6, 2020 and May 31, 2020 will automatically receive the following Onboard Credit amounts:

• $100 USD / $150 AUD per stateroom for 3 and 4 day cruises
• $150 USD / $225 AUD per stateroom for 5 day cruises
• $200 USD / $300 AUD per stateroom for 6 day and longer cruises

Guests will automatically receive their onboard credit amount on their folio, which may take up to several days after the ship has embarked.

Revised Final Payment Timing on June 2020 Departures

Additionally, we are amending Final Payment on cruises and cruisetours sailing June 1 through June 30, 2020.

Date of Departure*	Benefit
June 1, 2020 - June 30, 2020	Final Payment moves to 60 days prior to sailing

*Date of departure is from the start date of your cruise or cruisetour, whichever is earlier. Excludes charter cruises.

To ensure we cover guests who already made final payment, the revised final payment date means no cancellation fees will be assessed until 60 days prior to sailing.

Crown Princess Mediterranean Itineraries

For our guests booked on Crown Princess Mediterranean itineraries in Summer 2020, we are finalizing some itinerary changes and a special offer that we will be sharing early next week.

 

 

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

Edited March 7, 2020 by Coral