Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[mbglib]

1 hour ago, jat1977 said:

I am waiting on a partial refund to a gift card (for leftover monies that had been converted to onboard credit).  I initially cancelled shore excursions and prepaid gratuities that had been paid with gift cards on my own prior to Princess cancelling the cruise.  Those monies were refunded immediately.  And after the cruise was cancelled, I called Princess about the onboard credit going back on my gift card.  I have been given varying stories, the latest of which is that since the cruise was cancelled, that money will now be refunded with the money for the cruise itself (we selected option 2).  I have not been refunded for the cruise itself yet, but when I do receive that, I will make sure I got the refund for the purchased OBC too.

Did the amounts for the shore excursions and prepaid gratuities come back to the original gift card or did you receive a new one?  My cruise was cancelled before the option 1 and option 2 selections were offered and I received the refund within a day to my credit card for the part paid with that credit card and to another credit card for the other items (prepaids) I had used to pay for the other items, but I haven't received the rest of the refund (for the base cruise fare) that was on the gift card.  I also had a FCD that came back to my account, but then it expired a few days later.  I was told it will be refunded to the credit card that I used to buy it two years ago, but I have not received that yet.  Those are the only two amounts ($500 gift card and $200 fcd) that I am still owed.  I do feel fortunate to have received that much back, but I really hate to be out $700 too!  I am still hopeful I will receive it though.  I will probably never use gift cards on cruises again.  The small amount of savings is not really worth it to me. I am currently holding a $1000 Carnival gift card that I may or may not ever use.

[jat1977]

6 minutes ago, mbglib said:

Did the amounts for the shore excursions and prepaid gratuities come back to the original gift card or did you receive a new one? ... I will probably never use gift cards on cruises again.  The small amount of savings is not really worth it to me. I am currently holding a $1000 Carnival gift card that I may or may not ever use.

Yes, the monies for the shore excursions and gratuities went back on the original gift card.  

 

Like you, we have over $1000 in gift cards at least partially tied up.  I've gotten just over $800 of it back, and I really hope we can use it in the future at some point.  But my first thought when all this started was that I wished I hadn't put all that money on gift cards because if Princess goes under, that money is gone with the wind. 

[Bgwest]

April 11 cruise cancelled by Princess on March 12.

We selected Option 1.

Just this afternoon (nothing showing this morning) the full amount matching 150% FCC deposited into our accounts. 1/2 in mine, 1/2 in wife's. Exactly correct to the dollar.

Our deposit ($200) was paid with FCDs. That $200 was refunded as a part of the larger total FCC received.

The FCCs were applied as two separate line items. One line item was the cruise fare. The other was the 50% bonus. 

Nothing yet applied to the original credit card ($260) to pay port fees and taxes. 

[voljeep]

6 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

April 11 cruise cancelled by Princess on March 12.

We selected Option 1.

Just this afternoon (nothing showing this morning) the full amount matching 150% FCC deposited into our accounts. 1/2 in mine, 1/2 in wife's. Exactly correct to the dollar.

Our deposit ($200) was paid with FCDs. That $200 was refunded as a part of the larger total FCC received.

The FCCs were applied as two separate line items. One line item was the cruise fare. The other was the 50% bonus. 

Nothing yet applied to the original credit card ($260) to pay port fees and taxes. 

cancelled by Princess … yet, your FCD was not put back into your account as a FCD, but in the combined FCC

 

so, the next cruise you book, you'll have to use 'another' previously purchased FCD, or come out of pocket for the deposit

 

shame on you, Princess

[dan4182]

According to Princess' web site:  "it may take up to 60 days from the date we receive your choice for a refund or Future Cruise Credit. "

It sure did not take them 60 days to collect my $ when I booked the cruise originally.


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[Bgwest]

24 minutes ago, voljeep said:

cancelled by Princess … yet, your FCD was not put back into your account as a FCD, but in the combined FCC

 

so, the next cruise you book, you'll have to use 'another' previously purchased FCD, or come out of pocket for the deposit

 

shame on you, Princess

Absolutely correct. Fortunately we keep multiple FDCs available. Because of this process, we are each now down to our very last FCD. Hope it won't be needed but if so, it's there. Now, if we need a second one??? Who knows.

 

Just got off a 1:43 call with Princess so have to modify my earlier post a bit. I stated, "Nothing yet applied to the original credit card ($260) to pay port fees and taxes". This is incorrect. 

 

The agent confirmed for me what others have posted. Princess has indeed created a "holding account" for each pax into which paid port fees and taxes are placed so as to be available to apply to upcoming cruises. She advised that these holding accounts are NOT available for we passengers to view in our Cruise Personalizers or anywhere else.

They are filed in the Princess system by pax last name. She asked for mine then searched the holding account information. She did not find my name which indicated to her that my account has not yet been created. Not surprising in that the FCCs were just issued today.  She said these accounts are created within 5 business days of the FCC being issued so I'll check back next week to see if my $260 is there. 

 

I also asked about the protocol about dealing with FCDs. As I'd already made final payment on this cruise, the FDC was combined with the FCC that was returned to me. Not altogether unreasonable, I suppose though I'd prefer to have it back as an FDC.  Princess cancelled two of our June cruises for which final payment had NOT yet been made. She said she expects the FDCs for these two cruises will be put back into our account as FDC. The key thing seems to be whether or not final payment has been made. She was careful to emphasize this is how she THINKS it will happen but said she could not guarantee it. Wise woman. 

[LDVinNC]

1 hour ago, Bgwest said:

April 11 cruise cancelled by Princess on March 12.

 

 

Same cruise as ours, plus May 9. 

Option 2.

 

Not a penny in cash or FCC received.

[nho9504]

1 hour ago, LDVinNC said:

 

Same cruise as ours, plus May 9. 

Option 2.

 

Not a penny in cash or FCC received.

 

In same boat.

Apr 11 Sky Princess.  Opt 2 submitted Mar 16.  Nothing shown in FCC.

I do not bother to check the loyalty travel booking dept of our bank (Chase), since it appears for anyone receiving the refund, FCC shows up first, Real Money takes extra days or even weeks to show on the payment cards.

In our case the card is the corporate card of loyalty travel.  (when they receive the refund they then refund the equivalent points to us.)

Edited April 23, 2020 by nho9504

[LDVinNC]

10 minutes ago, nho9504 said:

 since it appears for anyone receiving the refund, FCC shows up first, Real Money takes extra days or even weeks to show on the payment cards.

 

Very few reports of anyone getting any Real Money at all!

[Coral]

On 4/18/2020 at 2:16 PM, ceilidh1 said:

To add to this confusion, I have been reading the TA guide and some of the updated info contradicts some of the original info. I was definitely under the impression that taxes/port fees/refundable air/pre-paid items would go back to original form of payment if you chose option 1 for the FCC. Now there is talk of a "holding account" for some of these items? Has anyone heard of this? @Coral has your TA mentioned it? Here is a screenshot of the example:

 

 

(sorry it's so small)

Bringing this to the top.

[billco]

2 hours ago, Bgwest said:

April 11 cruise cancelled by Princess on March 12.

We selected Option 1.

Just this afternoon (nothing showing this morning) the full amount matching 150% FCC deposited into our accounts. 1/2 in mine, 1/2 in wife's. Exactly correct to the dollar.

Our deposit ($200) was paid with FCDs. That $200 was refunded as a part of the larger total FCC received.

The FCCs were applied as two separate line items. One line item was the cruise fare. The other was the 50% bonus. 

Nothing yet applied to the original credit card ($260) to pay port fees and taxes. 

I was booked on the same cruise and also chose option 1. Our FCD of $100 each showed up as a FCD separate from the two Voyage Goodwill FCCs.

[LuckEh]

I chose option 2 and I got the FCC applied yesterday, still waiting for the refund. I'm curious, is anyone receiving emails yet or they're just logging into the accounts and seeing the credit? If you did, how much longer after you saw the credit did you get it, or you got the email first?

[By The Bay]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

Bringing this to the top.

Slightly bigger. Might be easier to read.

Edited April 23, 2020 by By The Bay

[billco]

3 hours ago, billco said:

I was booked on the same cruise and also chose option 1. Our FCD of $100 each showed up as a FCD separate from the two Voyage Goodwill FCCs.

Oops I was wrong. Sorry

[Carnevale]

5 hours ago, Bgwest said:

Absolutely correct. Fortunately we keep multiple FDCs available. Because of this process, we are each now down to our very last FCD. Hope it won't be needed but if so, it's there. Now, if we need a second one??? Who knows.

 

Just got off a 1:43 call with Princess so have to modify my earlier post a bit. I stated, "Nothing yet applied to the original credit card ($260) to pay port fees and taxes". This is incorrect. 

 

The agent confirmed for me what others have posted. Princess has indeed created a "holding account" for each pax into which paid port fees and taxes are placed so as to be available to apply to upcoming cruises. She advised that these holding accounts are NOT available for we passengers to view in our Cruise Personalizers or anywhere else.

They are filed in the Princess system by pax last name. She asked for mine then searched the holding account information. She did not find my name which indicated to her that my account has not yet been created. Not surprising in that the FCCs were just issued today.  She said these accounts are created within 5 business days of the FCC being issued so I'll check back next week to see if my $260 is there. 

 

I also asked about the protocol about dealing with FCDs. As I'd already made final payment on this cruise, the FDC was combined with the FCC that was returned to me. Not altogether unreasonable, I suppose though I'd prefer to have it back as an FDC.  Princess cancelled two of our June cruises for which final payment had NOT yet been made. She said she expects the FDCs for these two cruises will be put back into our account as FDC. The key thing seems to be whether or not final payment has been made. She was careful to emphasize this is how she THINKS it will happen but said she could not guarantee it. Wise woman. 

I don’t understand the holding account.  Does this mean I will not be refunded the port fees and taxes we paid for?  We selected option 2 on March 11 and have absolutely nothing so far.  
 

Also, it seems almost no one has received a refund and that at best, just a few have FCC.  Has anyone received their refund to their credit card from Princess?

[Bgwest]

1 hour ago, Carnevale said:

I don’t understand the holding account.  Does this mean I will not be refunded the port fees and taxes we paid for?  We selected option 2 on March 11 and have absolutely nothing so far.  
 

Also, it seems almost no one has received a refund and that at best, just a few have FCC.  Has anyone received their refund to their credit card from Princess?

I'm certainly NOT an expert on this. (Who is??) 

 

Also cannot comment on Option 2 as we selected Option 1. With Option 1 (and maybe 2) the "holding account" seems to me to be a vehicle by which Princess doesn't have to return cash to people but rather simply enter an equivalent amount as a bookkeeping entry to keep track of it. In our case, it was only $260 (a really small amount for taxes and port fees based on other sailings) but even this comparatively tiny amount multiplied thousands of times across the cancellation base represents a lot of $ that Princess gets to hang on to rather than "writing a check" for. 

In our case, it doesn't matter as we have final payments coming up on other cruises and moving the money from a "holding account" to another cruise is money we'd be spending anyway.

 

Nevertheless, it's a bit aggravating that they'd decide arbitrarily to create this new class of money storage vehicles. 

[Bgwest]

1 hour ago, billco said:

Oops I was wrong. Sorry

By that do you mean that your FDCs were also returned to you as FCCs?

[partybarbie]

I have not received any monies returned to my credit card, but I am very happy to report that we did receive our FCC credits today.  My fare (less the port taxes and fees) and the 50% Goodwill credit were both there.  My husband's credits were under his account.  Our Future Cruise Deposits have expired, so that $100 was included in the refunds.  We won't be able to use them now, but we won't have to wait for a separate check.  

 

Our cancelled cruise was on the Coral Princess, departing 4/21/20.  I applied for the credit on 3/12/20, and selected Option 1.  All we are waiting for now is a credit of $395 each for the port taxes and fees.  After reading the prior posts, I can see that this money may never go back to the credit card, but I will be able to apply it to future cruises.  We have two in October (if they sail) so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

I would like to say that our refund was pretty straightforward.  We didn't need refunds for airfare, hotels, shore excursions, etc.  It was just the cruise fare.  No one called me, or sent an email, but that's okay.  I'm just happy to see that Princess is working on our refunds. 

[4cats4me]

We have just received our option 1 150% credit for the canceled 4/18 cruise.  

Still awaiting refunded port charges to credit card though.  

[Musky Ike]

4 hours ago, Bgwest said:

 

Nevertheless, it's a bit aggravating that they'd decide arbitrarily to create this new class of money storage vehicles. 

And not communicate to us what is in it. At least put that information on my personalizer Princess please.

[Aulanis]

Well its good to know something is happening. We have received nothing FCCs nor Cash

and our cruise was on 10th March -  so much for them being handled in date of sailing order.😠.

Not sure it is legal for them to convert the port fees into anything other than cash!

 

What happens to those (possibly us) who ore not eligible to cruise under the new "Rules"?

Our port fees are 997USD  -I see a small claims court case coming up as I am not

letting them hang onto that sort of money.

[Roger88]

if paying by credit card was your only availble option at the moment of booking, the refund should be back on the account of a credit/debit card that you were paying with. And by the way, they will not refund you in cash unless there is a certain situation going. Usually, they have some obligations with banks and the money they get from passangers are going to cover certain fees and expenses by those cruise companies. What I am trying to say is that money you are getting refunded with are the money of the bank most of the time and not of the company. 

[Aulanis]

Just to clarify when I say "cash"  I dont mean  actual notes/coins  I mean  a credit to

my bank or credit card or a cheque,    Not holding onto it in a holding account or lumping it in with an FCC  FCD or RCN.

 

Sorry I dont understand your last 2 sentences.

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Aulanis

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Aulanis said:

Well its good to know something is happening. We have received nothing FCCs nor Cash

and our cruise was on 10th March -  so much for them being handled in date of sailing order.😠.

Not sure it is legal for them to convert the port fees into anything other than cash!

 

What happens to those (possibly us) who ore not eligible to cruise under the new "Rules"?

Our port fees are 997USD  -I see a small claims court case coming up as I am not

letting them hang onto that sort of money.

I think I saw a notation that if you don't want your money (port fees, taxes, insurance) in a holding account, they will refund them. I would check with them before looking at small claims court.

 

I don't understand the last 2 sentences either....

Edited April 23, 2020 by Coral

[LDVinNC]

1 hour ago, Roger88 said:

if paying by credit card was your only availble option at the moment of booking, the refund should be back on the account of a credit/debit card that you were paying with. And by the way, they will not refund you in cash unless there is a certain situation going. Usually, they have some obligations with banks and the money they get from passangers are going to cover certain fees and expenses by those cruise companies. What I am trying to say is that money you are getting refunded with are the money of the bank most of the time and not of the company. 

 

Frankly, I don't understand the whole post.