Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[billco]

1 minute ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

You don't excuse someone's bad action because someone else also behaved badly.  If they are all doing it, then they are all guilty of behaving unethically.  Why is it okay that any of them do it?

Not saying I am excusing anything. Just thinking if they all have similar policies there might be other reasons than acting unethically, some of which were mentioned in the article.

[ShoMeChiefsFan]

Update- in reference to my earlier postings. I was scheduled to cruise on the Grand Princess, on 4/20/20 (16 day cruise from San Francisco to Hawaii). We never cancelled the cruise. Princess sent us a email and cancelled our cruise. Shortly after filing for our refund, we choose option #2 by the way. We never received a email, phone call ...nothing from Princess, to advise us that our form had been received. 
 

I then followed up with the cruise line after waiting for over 30 days. When I contacted multiple reps, the answer was that they had received my requests for refund and had initially was told 30 days, then couple weeks later, then was checking up on the status of the refund, and was changed to 60 days. 
 

After the 30 day period went bye, I then started getting concerned about my monies, I then called back in and was then told it would be 90 days or longer for a refund, due to the small unit who had been assigned to manually refund each person’s monies.

 

Well this did not sit well with us, so at this time, I then filed a credit card dispute with my two credit cards used for this cruise. 
American Express immediately refunded the monies to my card. Bank of America took approximately 3 weeks additional time, but I am happy to report, all my expenses for this cruise have been returned back to me by my credit card companies.

 

I still have yet to be contacted by a Princess, by mail, phone, or email in regards to my claim.

 

i wish everyone good luck in getting your refunds, I don’t believe a Princess has the intention to return the monies.

[springfire]

9 minutes ago, KcFanNindy said:

Update- in reference to my earlier postings. I was scheduled to cruise on the Grand Princess, on 4/20/20 (16 day cruise from San Francisco to Hawaii). We never cancelled the cruise. Princess sent us a email and cancelled our cruise. Shortly after filing for our refund, we choose option #2 by the way. We never received a email, phone call ...nothing from Princess, to advise us that our form had been received. 
 

I then followed up with the cruise line after waiting for over 30 days. When I contacted multiple reps, the answer was that they had received my requests for refund and had initially was told 30 days, then couple weeks later, then was checking up on the status of the refund, and was changed to 60 days. 
 

After the 30 day period went bye, I then started getting concerned about my monies, I then called back in and was then told it would be 90 days or longer for a refund, due to the small unit who had been assigned to manually refund each person’s monies.

 

Well this did not sit well with us, so at this time, I then filed a credit card dispute with my two credit cards used for this cruise. 
American Express immediately refunded the monies to my card. Bank of America took approximately 3 weeks additional time, but I am happy to report, all my expenses for this cruise have been returned back to me by my credit card companies.

 

I still have yet to be contacted by a Princess, by mail, phone, or email in regards to my claim.

 

i wish everyone good luck in getting your refunds, I don’t believe a Princess has the intention to return the monies.

I believe you just might be right!

[remydiva]

2 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

It is almost starting to feel criminal with the amount of monies Princess owes passengers and yet seemingly almost no one on CC has received a cash refund to their CC and Princess seems to be continually lying about refunds.  

 

This is going to leave a sour taste in many people's mouths for a long time.  

 

Damn, even our Auto/Home insurance issued us a 20% refund to our CC for driving less this year due to COVID-19 and we did not even ask for it.  Guess which cruise line we will probably not use again and which Auto/Home insurance company we will probably stick with for a long time.

 

Wake up Princess and be honest about $$ refunds......It's Business 101.....and the RIGHT THING TO DO!!

Great news re auto refund.

I’m curious tho if Princess is a line you will ‘probably not use again’, which cruise line Would you use that you see is knocking it outta the park ?

 

[Cruise Raider]

24 minutes ago, KcFanNindy said:

Update- in reference to my earlier postings. I was scheduled to cruise on the Grand Princess, on 4/20/20 (16 day cruise from San Francisco to Hawaii). We never cancelled the cruise. Princess sent us a email and cancelled our cruise. Shortly after filing for our refund, we choose option #2 by the way. We never received a email, phone call ...nothing from Princess, to advise us that our form had been received. 
 

I then followed up with the cruise line after waiting for over 30 days. When I contacted multiple reps, the answer was that they had received my requests for refund and had initially was told 30 days, then couple weeks later, then was checking up on the status of the refund, and was changed to 60 days. 
 

After the 30 day period went bye, I then started getting concerned about my monies, I then called back in and was then told it would be 90 days or longer for a refund, due to the small unit who had been assigned to manually refund each person’s monies.

 

Well this did not sit well with us, so at this time, I then filed a credit card dispute with my two credit cards used for this cruise. 
American Express immediately refunded the monies to my card. Bank of America took approximately 3 weeks additional time, but I am happy to report, all my expenses for this cruise have been returned back to me by my credit card companies.

 

I still have yet to be contacted by a Princess, by mail, phone, or email in regards to my claim.

 

i wish everyone good luck in getting your refunds, I don’t believe a Princess has the intention to return the monies.

 

They really told you 90 days?  I'm not questioning your integrity as much as theirs, as they've put nothing in writing.  When they keep pushing it back, it makes me believe they don't have the money to actually make any refunds.  That coupled with the changing rules on refunds and the use of FCCs makes it seem suspicious.  We have finally gotten our FCCs but those are worthless at the present time.  I even saw them giving some pretty decent upgrades to passengers ... probably in an attempt to keep people from canceling their bookings on cruises that they knew will never happen.  And, to continue to sell cruises that they knew couldn't possibly happen ... well, it's all starting to add up.  I hate to put so much doubt in them but perhaps, they really don't have the funds to provide actual cash refunds with no revenue coming in.  

When talking to my PVP down at Princess, I asked what would happen to my pending cases if I filed a cc dispute for a cruise that was paid in full rather recently.  He told me that it won't speed my refund up if that's what I was thinking ... actually, it was just the opposite .... I didn't want it to slow things down on the remainder of my refunds!  I know these employees are all just working on the front lines and probably getting it from all sides but, at this point, a little honesty would be so appreciated.  When their documented notifications say it will be 60 days, it really should be 60 days and they shouldn't just continue to extend it out further and further.  

[BRANDEE]

14 hours ago, arcticprincess said:

Yes!  This was a bucket list cruise with suites at Four Seasons Sydney and premium suites at rear of the ships.  We generally do Club Class MS, but this was the big splurge.  We have dear friends in Adelaide and Christchurch that we were going to see so I had suite in Sydney with livingroom and access to the private area top of hotel for meals.  So yes, we put out alot and were heartbroken as we were to leave in 10 days for time in LA to insure we got our biz class Virgin Australia flight.  We had private limo reserved from airport to Four Seasons.  We would have been on close to fourth week of the six plus weeks we would have been gone!  I just don't get the credit for the last cruise of the trip, with no others given.  And no credit card refunds yet either!  I am beginning to panic.  If they have a system for this, would be nice to know!

I spoke to Princess rep, and as we all know that does not mean what I was told is 100%..but she did say refund cash around 60 days from filing option1/2 paper.  I did hear this from a few other cruisers and also told on Princess web page (I have not seen it).  We a due quite a bit of money, too.  Our first cruise was stopped after 11 days and the b2b cancelled, so it involves tour money too, that has not been refunded.  We were on Ruby in New Zealand/Fiji.  Good Luck to all of us.

[BRANDEE]

2 hours ago, Aulanis said:

I dont know what the system is to claim for expenses if you have not cruised but

want to claim expenses - Maybe they will expect people to claim on their

Travel Insurance.

 

For those that were on a cruise that was cut short they were given a claim form

and a letter which said they would consider refunds requested.  Our claim is in

but  I expect they will come back and ask for more detail.  Our main problem was that

we were unable to change the return air tickets and could not contact our T/A.

The ship originally said they would sort everything out and we should enjoy our last

few days as we cruised back to Sydney.  When we heard nothing after 2 days we asked at

CS desk and they advised there was nothing they could do as we had not booked 

flights through Princess we had to make our own arrangements!.  Had they told

us that originally  there may well have been time.

Here is a form that is almost the same as ours - different ship- different problem but

the important bits are the same.

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/GoldenPrincessRefundRequestGuide.pdf

 It will give you some idea of what they might pay and the documentation they need

to prove the amounts claimed.

 

 

We booked through EZAir, but when our New Zealand cruise was cut short  we had to have Passenger service rebook us..  We could not do it even if we found better flight. It would be our personal expense.  Anyway, they split our family in two (two different surnames), and we came home economy, even though we paid for premium economy.  Now being told I can not get a refund for half air because they did get us home. 

[LDVinNC]

I was told 60 days by a Princess rep last week.  I am hanging my hat on that and the following from the Princess website:

 

. Given the volume and care being dedicated to make sure each booking is processed accurately, it may take up to 60 days from the date we receive your choice for a refund or Future Cruise Credit. (Underline and bolding mine)

 

if I do not see a refund by May 12th I will be filing a credit card dispute shortly thereafter.

[npcl]

19 minutes ago, LDVinNC said:

I was told 60 days by a Princess rep last week.  I am hanging my hat on that and the following from the Princess website:

 

. Given the volume and care being dedicated to make sure each booking is processed accurately, it may take up to 60 days from the date we receive your choice for a refund or Future Cruise Credit. (Underline and bolding mine)

 

if I do not see a refund by May 12th I will be filing a credit card dispute shortly thereafter.

The interesting thing in all of this is that future cruises are getting canceled at a much fast rate than refunds are getting paid.  Those of us from early march have still not received refunds and were told 60-90 days back in early April,  Now add the cruises for May, June, July into the mix.  If the delay is truly do to man power in processing refunds  what are backed up to now, a year or two.

[iancal]

If I were owed money and it was past 30 days owing to me since a cancellation I would initiate a dispute process with my credit card issuer.

 

The cruise lines are making their problem my problem.

 

I  would not care whether it is for administrative reasons or cash flow reasons.  Better to toss it back into their laps and the the credit card issuer and the cruise line work it out.  My objective would be to protect my money and get it back in my pocket as quickly as possible.  Sorry...no crocodile tears for any cruise line.

Edited April 27, 2020 by iancal

[ringers0815]

20 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Sadly, that isn't an option for me. My Canadian credit card company has a 60 day window from time of payment.

We use Amex and we were successful in getting credits from them for 2 cruises that we cancelled even though we had paid for one cruise last Fall. Because this cruise was paid many months back, Amex asked us to provide them with the cancellation notice from Princess, the cancellation policy (which quoted "up to 10 business days" for a refund) and the total fare we had paid. It took them just a few days to do their inquiry and resolve the dispute in our favour once we submitted the documents to them. 

[trrn2016]

Does anyone have copies of Princess cancellation  policies when I cancelled our cruise on March 5, 2020 or anytime around that?  I plan on filing a credit card dispute and getting together my information. Thanks!

[joe d]

3 hours ago, KcFanNindy said:

… I then called back in and was then told it would be 90 days or longer for a refund, due to the small unit who had been assigned to manually refund each person’s monies.

 

 

Why would any responsible company still have "a small unit" working on this.  Many of these refunds should be straight forward. It is such basic math that you could train someone to do the easier cases in no time.

[ceilidh1]

56 minutes ago, ringers0815 said:

We use Amex and we were successful in getting credits from them for 2 cruises that we cancelled even though we had paid for one cruise last Fall. Because this cruise was paid many months back, Amex asked us to provide them with the cancellation notice from Princess, the cancellation policy (which quoted "up to 10 business days" for a refund) and the total fare we had paid. It took them just a few days to do their inquiry and resolve the dispute in our favour once we submitted the documents to them. 

I use RBC Visa and it was a no-go for me....

[BRANDEE]

3 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I use RBC Visa and it was a no-go for me....

A few, and I repeat a few..not me yet..passengers from the Ruby Mar8th interrupted cruise are reporting that they have gotten their refund back on their credit card today.  Some had booked with a TA ..so there is hope.

[remydiva]

1 hour ago, trrn2016 said:

Does anyone have copies of Princess cancellation  policies when I cancelled our cruise on March 5, 2020 or anytime around that?  I plan on filing a credit card dispute and getting together my information. Thanks!

Here it is...was in the March 5, 2020 email see attached for PDF in case you need to print

Princess Cruises <info@em.princess.com> Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 11:41 PM
Reply-To: Princess Cruises <support@em.princess.com>

Click to view online.
March 5, 2020
Dear 
We continue to implement increased monitoring, screening and sanitation
protocols to protect the health of our guests, crew and the residents of the
destinations we serve. Our measures are designed to be flexible to adapt to
changing conditions and recommended best practices. For your reference, you
can read our Guest Travel Advisory.
Nevertheless, we know you have questions about your upcoming cruise.
Princess would like to share some policy updates that provide options and
flexibility should you want to reschedule your currently booked vacation that
sails between now and May 31, 2020.
Sailings departing between March 9 and April 3*: booked guests can
cancel up to 3 days prior to departure, receive a Future Cruise Credit for
100% of the cancellation fee amount, and move your booking to any
voyage that departs by December 31, 2021.
Sailings departing between April 4 and May 31*: booked guests can
cancel by March 31, 2020, receive a Future Cruise Credit for 100% of the
cancellation fee amount, and move your booking to any voyage that
departs by December 31, 2021.
*Date of departure is from the start date of your cruise or cruisetour, whichever
is earlier.

Call 1.800.PRINCESS,
Contact your Travel Advisor,
If you choose to keep your booking as currently scheduled for departures
between March 9 and May 31, you will receive the following Onboard Credit
amounts:
$100 USD/ $150 AUD per cabin for 3 and 4 day cruises
$150 USD / $225 AUD per cabin for 5 day cruises
$200 USD / $300 AUD per cabin for 6 day and longer cruises
For our guests booked on Crown Princess Mediterranean
itineraries, we are finalizing some itinerary changes and a special offer that we
will be sharing early next week.
Please note that Future Cruise Credits will automatically be applied to each
guest's Captain's Circle account after they have cancelled. The Future Cruise
Credit will not be available instantly and may take up to 10 business days to be
processed. Guests with Princess Vacation Protection should file a claim via
www.aontravelclaim.com in the first instance.
We appreciate your loyalty and look forward to welcoming you onboard.
Sincerely,
Jan Swartz

Page 1-2 Mar 5, 2020 New cancellation policy changes.pdf

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, ringers0815 said:

We use Amex and we were successful in getting credits from them for 2 cruises that we cancelled even though we had paid for one cruise last Fall. Because this cruise was paid many months back, Amex asked us to provide them with the cancellation notice from Princess, the cancellation policy (which quoted "up to 10 business days" for a refund) and the total fare we had paid. It took them just a few days to do their inquiry and resolve the dispute in our favour once we submitted the documents to them. 

 

26 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I use RBC Visa and it was a no-go for me....

 

We are RBC clients and although I have needed to file a dispute in the past (no issue), I am not in the situation with Princess as we only have FCD's on cruises at this point (first FP date is now AUG 8).  I book with a discount TA in USA, so I am always paying with USD credit card.  I am wondering if those have longer dispute times?  Our USD cards are issued by RBC Bank USA.  Perhaps another advantage to using US TA's.

 

It seems to me this limit of 60 days in Canada is unfair as in the case of purchasing something in advance that is not delivered/provided after the 60 day mark - like flights, cruises, vacation packages, etc.  I am thinking there has to be exceptions, or customers are left with no back-up.  I phoned in to RBC USA card services and the 60-day count begins from when the service was to be provided.  So, sure something you buy retail you have 60 days, but if paid for an airline ticket or cruise last year and service date was last month and you don't have a refund, you have 60 days from flight date or cruise date.  That is what I was told - and it makes sense.  How could anyone dispute a charge for something otherwise?

 

I did not call the RBC Canada card services, but surely they would have a similar exception.  Otherwise, I guess AMEX is the way to go!!  Also, hold queues for dispute calls are very long (30 - 60 minutes estimated).  

 

 

[Paula_MacFan]

2 hours ago, joe d said:

 

Why would any responsible company still have "a small unit" working on this.  Many of these refunds should be straight forward. It is such basic math that you could train someone to do the easier cases in no time.

Exactly!  This has been my argument all along -- especially for people (like me) who are waiting on simple refunds from original amounts paid.  My refund does not involve some complex convoluted calculation of FCCs and percentages.....I just want back my $$$ paid in simple deposits and excursions.  There is no excuse to be waiting 60 days for these types of refunds!

[ceilidh1]

9 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

We are RBC clients and although I have needed to file a dispute in the past (no issue), I am not in the situation with Princess as we only have FCD's on cruises at this point (first FP date is now AUG 8).  I book with a discount TA in USA, so I am always paying with USD credit card.  I am wondering if those have longer dispute times?  Our USD cards are issued by RBC Bank USA.  Perhaps another advantage to using US TA's.

 

It seems to me this limit of 60 days in Canada is unfair as in the case of purchasing something in advance that is not delivered/provided after the 60 day mark - like flights, cruises, vacation packages, etc.  I am thinking there has to be exceptions, or customers are left with no back-up.  I phoned in to RBC USA card services and the 60-day count begins from when the service was to be provided.  So, sure something you buy retail you have 60 days, but if paid for an airline ticket or cruise last year and service date was last month and you don't have a refund, you have 60 days from flight date or cruise date.  That is what I was told - and it makes sense.  How could anyone dispute a charge for something otherwise?

 

I did not call the RBC Canada card services, but surely they would have a similar exception.  Otherwise, I guess AMEX is the way to go!!  Also, hold queues for dispute calls are very long (30 - 60 minutes estimated).  

 

 

Interesting. Maybe if I get no joy with Princess by the end of the week, I will call RBC again. When I called to inquire about it (at that time I was just asking "in case' I needed to) they told me I had 60 days to dispute the charge. I assumed that meant 60 days from the time I made payment and didn't actually ask if it was 60 days from the date of the cruise that never happened...I guess the worst they can say is no, so no harm in checking again. Still hoping for Princess to come through and make this right...

 

I booked Princess excursions using paypal and know that I still have time to dispute those, so that's something....

[arcticprincess]

5 hours ago, BRANDEE said:

I spoke to Princess rep, and as we all know that does not mean what I was told is 100%..but she did say refund cash around 60 days from filing option1/2 paper.  I did hear this from a few other cruisers and also told on Princess web page (I have not seen it).  We a due quite a bit of money, too.  Our first cruise was stopped after 11 days and the b2b cancelled, so it involves tour money too, that has not been refunded.  We were on Ruby in New Zealand/Fiji.  Good Luck to all of us.

Yes.  Originally I had plenty of patience and sympathy for Princess.  But we are now going in 7 weeks now and no cc refunds.  I don't care whether they owe me $500 or the $50k I mentioned that is owed us.  We have several more cruises planned in the pipeline, including 5 weeks late Sept on b2b on Emerald to Tahiti, again in suites at rear of ship.  Patience I have extended, my bank on that is about depleted!

[trrn2016]

1 hour ago, remydiva said:

Here it is...was in the March 5, 2020 email see attached for PDF in case you need to print

Princess Cruises <info@em.princess.com> Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 11:41 PM
Reply-To: Princess Cruises <support@em.princess.com>

Click to view online.
March 5, 2020
Dear 
We continue to implement increased monitoring, screening and sanitation
protocols to protect the health of our guests, crew and the residents of the
destinations we serve. Our measures are designed to be flexible to adapt to
changing conditions and recommended best practices. For your reference, you
can read our Guest Travel Advisory.
Nevertheless, we know you have questions about your upcoming cruise.
Princess would like to share some policy updates that provide options and
flexibility should you want to reschedule your currently booked vacation that
sails between now and May 31, 2020.
Sailings departing between March 9 and April 3*: booked guests can
cancel up to 3 days prior to departure, receive a Future Cruise Credit for
100% of the cancellation fee amount, and move your booking to any
voyage that departs by December 31, 2021.
Sailings departing between April 4 and May 31*: booked guests can
cancel by March 31, 2020, receive a Future Cruise Credit for 100% of the
cancellation fee amount, and move your booking to any voyage that
departs by December 31, 2021.
*Date of departure is from the start date of your cruise or cruisetour, whichever
is earlier.

Call 1.800.PRINCESS,
Contact your Travel Advisor,
If you choose to keep your booking as currently scheduled for departures
between March 9 and May 31, you will receive the following Onboard Credit
amounts:
$100 USD/ $150 AUD per cabin for 3 and 4 day cruises
$150 USD / $225 AUD per cabin for 5 day cruises
$200 USD / $300 AUD per cabin for 6 day and longer cruises
For our guests booked on Crown Princess Mediterranean
itineraries, we are finalizing some itinerary changes and a special offer that we
will be sharing early next week.
Please note that Future Cruise Credits will automatically be applied to each
guest's Captain's Circle account after they have cancelled. The Future Cruise
Credit will not be available instantly and may take up to 10 business days to be
processed. Guests with Princess Vacation Protection should file a claim via
www.aontravelclaim.com in the first instance.
We appreciate your loyalty and look forward to welcoming you onboard.
Sincerely,
Jan Swartz

Page 1-2 Mar 5, 2020 New cancellation policy changes.pdf 98.63 kB · 4 downloads

Thanks so much.

[BRANDEE]

14 minutes ago, arcticprincess said:

Yes.  Originally I had plenty of patience and sympathy for Princess.  But we are now going in 7 weeks now and no cc refunds.  I don't care whether they owe me $500 or the $50k I mentioned that is owed us.  We have several more cruises planned in the pipeline, including 5 weeks late Sept on b2b on Emerald to Tahiti, again in suites at rear of ship.  Patience I have extended, my bank on that is about depleted!

A few hours after I posted this a few..very few..passengers from my Mar 8th interrupted cruise posted that they got their refund back on their cc.  I have not yet..but more hope now than this morning. Good Luck to us all.

[arcticprincess]

1 minute ago, BRANDEE said:

A few hours after I posted this a few..very few..passengers from my Mar 8th interrupted cruise posted that they got their refund back on their cc.  I have not yet..but more hope now than this morning. Good Luck to us all.

I totally understand the turmoil with mass cancellations for Princess.  However, there seems to be confusion on order of processing and accuracy of the refunds in fcc and cc refunds.  I have the last cruise of the 3 b2b that we received Wednesday 1 fcc.  I would think they would go by date.  I hope we all get what they promised.  The unease is growing here..best wishes dear.

[BRANDEE]

52 minutes ago, arcticprincess said:

I totally understand the turmoil with mass cancellations for Princess.  However, there seems to be confusion on order of processing and accuracy of the refunds in fcc and cc refunds.  I have the last cruise of the 3 b2b that we received Wednesday 1 fcc.  I would think they would go by date.  I hope we all get what they promised.  The unease is growing here..best wishes dear.

The order of the FCC does not make sense..if Princess is looking to confuse..they are succeeding!  Stay safe..we are fully recouped , but still not 100% about future cruises, however will have to decide what to do with all the FCC I am suppose to get..plus now I read about  chronic conditions and 70..again confusing!!  Even more confusing is the little, little print on our travel insurance policy  lol

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Interesting. Maybe if I get no joy with Princess by the end of the week, I will call RBC again. When I called to inquire about it (at that time I was just asking "in case' I needed to) they told me I had 60 days to dispute the charge. I assumed that meant 60 days from the time I made payment and didn't actually ask if it was 60 days from the date of the cruise that never happened...I guess the worst they can say is no, so no harm in checking again. Still hoping for Princess to come through and make this right...

 

I booked Princess excursions using paypal and know that I still have time to dispute those, so that's something....

Good luck and let me know how it goes.  Be prepared for long wait time to get to speak with an actual dispute rep.