Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[dag144]

After following this thread on and off for a couple of weeks, I decided to file a dispute with Citibank.  As background I booked a cruise on the Emerald, round trip L A to Hawaii.  I paid the down-payment on 12/18 and the final two payments in January.  On March 12th when Princess sent me a cancellation notice I opted for the cash refund with the 25% FCC.  I think that puts me in group 3.  After waiting for more than sixty days, I've had enough.  Citibank will give me a conditional credit.  I will keep you fellow sufferers up to date on my situation.  Thanks for relaying your experiences.

[ceilidh1]

3 hours ago, MarkieMark16 said:

Here's my update - my TA's direct quote was "I think you'll get your refund but I don't know when and no one at Princess knows either." 

 

61 days from the day Princess cancelled my cruise.  Two emails, nothing else. 

 

That;s the exact message TAs (and customers) are being given. FWIW I still believe it to be true - I think Princess WILL give refunds. The issue, of course, is WHEN! I think anyone that has waited out the 60 days has been more than reasonable/patient. I'm sure credit card disputes will be flooding in to Princess around now. Maybe this will spur them in to action or nudge them to offer additional rewards for those that don't go the dispute route. Or maybe they will just continue as they were and ask us all to "stick with them". Who knows. If I were running the business I would be doing everything in my power to try to smooth this mess over and at least try to retain some of my customer base - the fact that Princess are not communicating, grovelling, or even being consistent/transparent with this is mind-boggling.

[Doubt It]

1 hour ago, nho9504 said:

 

Sorry to make the mistake.

 

In comparison, Delta has processed One Million REFUNDS since March as the links provided by 2 posters,  Delta also has 5,000+ daily flights a day,  assuming average load factor is 150 passengers,  that would be 750,000 passengers carried, IN A SINGLE DAY.

 

The number game some posters insist to play in order to give Princess the excuses for NOT give you back your own money is the reason why we got into this discussion. 

 

Yes, numbers matter -  the fact of airlines also suffer and much more than the cruiselines yet still are processing refunds should tell people at least 2 things -

 

1) The airlines have government overseeing agencies, which also govern the international airlines to make sure they cannot use customers money to bankroll their own financial troubles, even though such were not their fault.  DOT said it does not matter.

2) The airlines passengers do not find excuses to defend they are being fleeced by the carriers.  The airlines passengers WANT their rightful refunds for that is THEIR OWN MONEY.  They have not signed a contract with the airlines that they would loan their own money to the airlines for extended time with NO SIGHT when the airlines would pay back the "loan".  They signed a contract to pay for a service which is never rendered.

 

Not sure why the above concepts are so hard for some to grasp, and we keep circling in the irrelevant things that do not help us the passengers a bit. 

 

Excellent post thank you.

The cruise lines are deliberately avoiding refunds - I believe it is because they think everyone is in awe of them.

 

I am not, and will boycott cruise lines for the foreseeable future due to their arrogance and anti-consumer practices.

 

Cruise lines require the same oversight as airlines and hotel chains - they seem to have, up till now, less oversight.

 

Many cheerleaders on the boards who fundamentally are throwing their rights as a consumer out the door. Sad.

[ceilidh1]

4 hours ago, dan4182 said:

 

 

I spent about 15 minutes on the phone with a Princess rep yesterday AM.

Two things from our little chat:

They are processing CC refunds based on the scheduled date of sailing. They are issuing refunds for May sailings currently and the refunds are being “hand done” on a case by case basis so everything is going really slowly.

It was a HUGE mistake on their part to ever have mentioned 60 day refunds and Princess’s public image is going to suffer some serious long term damage over this whole SNAFU.

A few random, out of order refunds may have been issued but month by month, sailing date by sailing date is the norm.


Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

I think 98% of people on CC and FB would call BS on what the rep told you. To put it into perspective, my sailing date was March 14th - essentially one of the FIRST cancelled sailings. No refund, no FCC. I know I'm not alone or random in that fact. Princess NEVER told me 60 days. They told me 7-10 days. That changed to 30 days with submission of the form to select option 1 or 2. Somewhere along the way, it changed to 60 days. So Princess got it wrong on 3 counts?

[LDVinNC]

I just finished placing cc disputes with the 3 cards I used for our 42 day B2B cruises.  Did it by phone, and it took maybe an hour total.  All agents were helpful and understanding.  Now we wait to see what develops.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, dan4182 said:

 

 

I spent about 15 minutes on the phone with a Princess rep yesterday AM.

Two things from our little chat:

They are processing CC refunds based on the scheduled date of sailing. They are issuing refunds for May sailings currently and the refunds are being “hand done” on a case by case basis so everything is going really slowly.

It was a HUGE mistake on their part to ever have mentioned 60 day refunds and Princess’s public image is going to suffer some serious long term damage over this whole SNAFU.

A few random, out of order refunds may have been issued but month by month, sailing date by sailing date is the norm.
 

 

 

 

In the Princess webinar for travel agents about the Pause 3 refund options, it was stated that all Pause 1 cancelled cruises had been refunded by the end of April.

 

Obviously by the number of posts on this and other threads asking why they have not received refunds of FCCs yet, there is a disconnect from what was stated in that webinar and by your phone rep when compared to reality.

[PrincessLuver]

16 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

Since Princess recently stated that refunds will arrive 15 to 30 days from May 31, and since that is the quarter end date for them, it is somewhat reasonable to assume that refunds will start in earnest beginning in June.  Needless to state, this is all speculation.

 

Soooooooooo there is a chance I am going to win PowerBall!  

[SCOOTERNINJA]

27 minutes ago, Doubt It said:

 

Excellent post thank you.

The cruise lines are deliberately avoiding refunds - I believe it is because they think everyone is in awe of them.

 

I am not, and will boycott cruise lines for the foreseeable future due to their arrogance and anti-consumer practices.

 

Cruise lines require the same oversight as airlines and hotel chains - they seem to have, up till now, less oversight.

 

Many cheerleaders on the boards who fundamentally are throwing their rights as a consumer out the door. Sad.

Cruise lines have an advantage of being flagged in and incorporated in foreign countries.  They thus are subject to international law with relatively little US legal oversight (although Congress could act to an extent if it so desired).  Thus a cruise line does not need to comply with US labor and largely consumer laws but it obtains the benefits of US bankruptcy courts if it so chooses...go figure. 

 

Although I do believe that the Federal Maritime Commission has some consumer protection regulations for cruise ships that depart from a US Port (specifically requirements relating to financial coverage) but it sounds like it lacks jurisdiction to ultimately resolve those disputes.  I'm surprised that it sounds like no one has reached out to the Federal Maritime Commission:  https://www.fmc.gov/about-the-fmc/notice-to-cruise-passengers/

[gmjc2]

Just got the "party line" from the Cunard and Princess customer service guy.  Sorry it is taking so long , it is all being done manually! Would you rather have the 125% FCC instead? 

Filed the claim with the credit card for March 17th cruise and for our Norwegian Air flight.

 

      😝😝

Edited May 13, 2020 by gmjc2

[dag144]

I was booked on the Emerald leaving 4/14.  Received notice from Princess on 3/12 that the cruise was cancelled. I immediately chose option 3, full cash refund plus 25% FCC.  Today 5/13 I filed my my dispute with Citibank.  Enough was enough.  I e-mailed my person at Princess on 5/11.  No response.  Citibank took my info this morning and immediately gave me a provisional credit for my cost approximately $7,250.  Said the final resolution will take no longer than 45 days.  At this point I could care less for the 25% FCC. 

 

Citibank was very responsive.  Let's see if shaking the tree bears any fruit.

[cruisequeen4ever]

On 5/12/2020 at 9:10 AM, Coral said:

I think everything is relative also. Some people are out $1000 while others are out $20,000. That is a huge difference in how one reacts potentially on their situation. There are also a lot of people who are suddenly out of work who never expected that and this refund could help them out tremendously. Not everyone's situation is the same - try to be sensitive to that.

You are absolutely right. Even though I am right there with you all wanting my money back,  I was looking at it from the perspective of “my money was already spent on the cruise, so I wasn’t planning on using it for anything until at least after the planned cruise dates anyway”. That does not account for the poor people who have had a loss of job/income, though, and my heart really goes out to them. Your point about the variance of dollar amounts owed was also of note; that’s relative, too. For one person, a $200 deposit refund could be as important as a $10,000 refund would be to someone else.
 

My hope is that we all get our money back soon and that Princess survives and can once again thrive. For some, the cruise line doesn’t matter; it’s just cruising that matters. For me and my DH, it’s about cruising AND Princess specifically because we value the Princess experience above other cruise lines. It’s the perfect fit for us, and we don’t want it to go away. 

[Roger88]

Everyone will get their money back sooner or  later. No company will try to exceed over permitted amount of days for processing our refunds. I wonder,  how many people have been waiting for 100+ days. The thing is that they have to announce the amount of days within which you will get your refund. If you didnt receive such a notification, maybe its better to contact the company? 

[dag144]

My refund due is about $7,250.  While I do not need the money, I feel a great need for more info from Princess AND a bit of courtesy.  After this I will stick to Holland America and not just for the free laundry!  While HAL might have done the thing to me, I will give them the benefit of the doubt (and thank the good Lord that they don't have any of my $)!

[LDVinNC]

34 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

Everyone will get their money back sooner or  later. No company will try to exceed over permitted amount of days for processing our refunds. I wonder,  how many people have been waiting for 100+ days. The thing is that they have to announce the amount of days within which you will get your refund. If you didnt receive such a notification, maybe its better to contact the company? 

 

They have to announce the amount of days to get your refund, you say?  They DID - 30 then 60 then 90 then who knows.  And those of us waiting HAVE contacted Princess and/or our TA's and keep getting non-answers.

[Aulanis]

Off Topic  but lots of people with enquiring minds on here 😉

 

Has anyone queried  what this means  I dont recall seeing it before - maybe they just

sneeked it in the same as they took out the Doctors note requirement but kept the

same date on the advisory

Which certain individuals??  anyone who looks over 70?

anyone with a hat on.  Anyone wearing a " Stay Calm - I got my refund after 90 Days. " tee shirt.

You sneezed/ coughed TWICE in the embarcation lounge.

In messing with this I see it was amended on  4/22 

Its the health advisory as dated 4/14

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/plan/Health-Advisory-and-Travel-Safety-Procedures.pdf

 

Ok if  you live in London and cruise from Southampton

Could be a bit tough if you live in  Ottowa and fly to Sydney.

[mfajxc99]

Hi guys,

 

I've just called Princess, got hung up twice but finally someone answered the phone.  Ok, the dude was really nice, he said he was told this morning by his supervisor who also oversees a refund team of 60 people, that they are currently working on CC refunds of pause one customers, they are on schedule to finish the pause one customers refund by the end of May.   I don't know if this is true or just another lie to get us off their back by the end of May.  I really don't know.   My husband told me to sit tight and wait but I just can't 😫

 

Janet😵

[LDVinNC]

20 minutes ago, mfajxc99 said:

Hi guys,

 

I've just called Princess, got hung up twice but finally someone answered the phone.  Ok, the dude was really nice, he said he was told this morning by his supervisor who also oversees a refund team of 60 people, that they are currently working on CC refunds of pause one customers, they are on schedule to finish the pause one customers refund by the end of May.   I don't know if this is true or just another lie to get us off their back by the end of May.  I really don't know.   My husband told me to sit tight and wait but I just can't 😫

 

Janet😵

 

See, the problem is this:  today is May 13th and there are only two weeks left in May.  So why aren't any people reporting getting refunds?  I simply cannot believe them any more.

[suzyed]

Day 60:

zip, zilch, nada

[Astro Flyer]

Like many others, for decades Princess has provided our best cruise experience for the price paid & we would’ve had over 500 days if not for our 4 cruises Princess had to cancel this year. After they canceled both of our early May cruises on 3/12 & we decided to support them by selecting Option 1 & received confirmation emails for both of them. Like others the date in their homepage Updates went from 14, to 30, to 60 days which has now been exceeded.

 

A couple of days longer isn’t too bad however a week before the 60 day timeframe Princess emailed us asking about which option we desired...what? Our TA emailed her PCL sales rep who stated that neither of our requests were in their system. My TA sent both confirmations but now their sales rep is no longer communicating with our TA.

 

The trust we placed in Princess 2 months ago has been mishandled & if we resubmit our option now the 60 day clock begins again. I’ll check our options for a chargecard claim because we’re not waiting another 2 months. Like others we’ve received numerous emails containing videos asking us to patiently support our Princess family. And 2 months later all we get from them is no request was made despite providing them with their emails sent on 3/12 confirming our Option 1 requests...our patience has run out!

 

In this interview CCL CEO Arnold Donald stated after their recent sales of new stocks that “the company has enough liquidity to last at least through the year with no revenue”.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/14/carnival-ceo-despite-devastating-coronavirus-2021-cruise-bookings-are-strong.html

 

Obviously we want them to survive & supported them by accepting Option 1...FCC in lieu of a cruise fare refund. However taking nearly 60 days to learn that they had lost our requests & their unwillingness to correct their mistake it’s suspicious to me & appears to be a way to restart their 60 day timeframe. It’s an unacceptable way to treat the Princess family that they promote...we supported them & they fail to deliver as promised...sad!

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Astro Flyer

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, Aulanis said:

Off Topic  but lots of people with enquiring minds on here 😉

 

Has anyone queried  what this means  I dont recall seeing it before - maybe they just

sneeked it in the same as they took out the Doctors note requirement but kept the

same date on the advisory

Which certain individuals??  anyone who looks over 70?

anyone with a hat on.  Anyone wearing a " Stay Calm - I got my refund after 90 Days. " tee shirt.

You sneezed/ coughed TWICE in the embarcation lounge.

In messing with this I see it was amended on  4/22 

Its the health advisory as dated 4/14

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/plan/Health-Advisory-and-Travel-Safety-Procedures.pdf

 

Ok if  you live in London and cruise from Southampton

Could be a bit tough if you live in  Ottowa and fly to Sydney.

I would imagine it would be similar to the process they used to have back in the day, where you filled out the initial health questionnaire at check in. If you answered "yes" you were further assessed by the medical team onboard and they decided if you weere permitted to board or denied boarding. If permitted, you might be confined to your room for a period of time (obviously, in case of COVID that confinement would have to be 14 days?). No idea if this is correct, but that would be my guess?

 

Where this all falls down, of course, is that by the time you are "screened" you could have already infected other passengers already on the ship while you were waiting. Additionally, will this take place after every port of call? Who is to say you can't pick anything up when you go off the ship for the day?

 

Sorry, totally off topic...but it gives me a break from wondering where my refund is! LOL

[ceilidh1]

15 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Day 60:

zip, zilch, nada

I'm past the 60 days and same....nada!

I'm sure if we call we will be told it's 60 days from TODAY...lol

[npcl]

2 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I would imagine it would be similar to the process they used to have back in the day, where you filled out the initial health questionnaire at check in. If you answered "yes" you were further assessed by the medical team onboard and they decided if you weere permitted to board or denied boarding. If permitted, you might be confined to your room for a period of time (obviously, in case of COVID that confinement would have to be 14 days?). No idea if this is correct, but that would be my guess?

 

Where this all falls down, of course, is that by the time you are "screened" you could have already infected other passengers already on the ship while you were waiting. Additionally, will this take place after every port of call? Who is to say you can't pick anything up when you go off the ship for the day?

 

Sorry, totally off topic...but it gives me a break from wondering where my refund is! LOL

Or if you show a temperature during screening this fall during cold/flu season.

[Geoffa30]

Called Princess UK this morning. Was told our refund was processed yesterday and the money should with us within two weeks. I asked whether this meant it had to go through further processes at a Princess and was told no it’s my card company that will take this long. Was told the FCC element is being dealt with separately. We shall see but won’t start celebrating just yet.

[jat1977]

4 minutes ago, Geoffa30 said:

Called Princess UK this morning. Was told our refund was processed yesterday and the money should with us within two weeks. I asked whether this meant it had to go through further processes at a Princess and was told no it’s my card company that will take this long. Was told the FCC element is being dealt with separately. We shall see but won’t start celebrating just yet.

What was the date of your cruise and did you cancel on your own or did Princess cancel it? 

[Steelers36]

24 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I'm past the 60 days and same....nada!

I'm sure if we call we will be told it's 60 days from TODAY...lol

LOL.  Yes, everyone who calls in gets their counter reset to a new 60 days and the silent ones are moving up the list.