Yet Another Future CRUISE Question

[boblerm]

My heart goes out to travel agents who are no doubt being inundated with questions, requests, complaints, not to mention unrealistic expectations. I don't know what any ta can do, other than to proceed "as if" scheduled cruises are in place and deal with the inevitable changes as they come, as best as they can.

[Travelcat2]

7 minutes ago, boblerm said:

My heart goes out to travel agents who are no doubt being inundated with questions, requests, complaints, not to mention unrealistic expectations. I don't know what any ta can do, other than to proceed "as if" scheduled cruises are in place and deal with the inevitable changes as they come, as best as they can.

 

Agree with you.  No one on this board knows when this will end.  We have booked a cruise for May and if it is cancelled, we will be prepared.  On the other hand, if it isn't, we'll have a great time in Istanbul and the Greek Islands.  People like "us" are booking cruises and if we wait to see if/when the crisis will subside, there could be little left to book.  Based on the number of new bookings, there is strong support in the U.S. for Regent.  I would not believe any of the "fake news" that NCLH might go bankrupt.  

 

Also, hope that posters are paying attention to where in the world a poster lives since the rules are different and it is possible that their perspective may also differ (depending upon what their government and news media are saying).  

[ronrick1943]

All true, Regent of course cancelled one of our cruises, Miami to New York.  We booked that cruise with a $1750.00FFC from another cruise.  Now they cancelled- not us, we than tried to book another cruise using that $1750.00FFC--guess what, Regent said that FFC isn't good any more because now we'll be over the time limit (read the fine print).  Remember they cancelled no9t us and we can't use the FFC we had.  Not right, TA thinks it wrong.  Honestly, if we don't get it this FFC back we will think about not booking Regent again.  I know it's trouble times, but really..........

[Travelcat2]

49 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

All true, Regent of course cancelled one of our cruises, Miami to New York.  We booked that cruise with a $1750.00FFC from another cruise.  Now they cancelled- not us, we than tried to book another cruise using that $1750.00FFC--guess what, Regent said that FFC isn't good any more because now we'll be over the time limit (read the fine print).  Remember they cancelled no9t us and we can't use the FFC we had.  Not right, TA thinks it wrong.  Honestly, if we don't get it this FFC back we will think about not booking Regent again.  I know it's trouble times, but really..........

 

Can you still get a refund from the cruise that Regent cancelled?

 

[cruiseluv]

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Agree with you.  No one on this board knows when this will end.  We have booked a cruise for May and if it is cancelled, we will be prepared.  On the other hand, if it isn't, we'll have a great time in Istanbul and the Greek Islands.  People like "us" are booking cruises and if we wait to see if/when the crisis will subside, there could be little left to book.  Based on the number of new bookings, there is strong support in the U.S. for Regent.  I would not believe any of the "fake news" that NCLH might go bankrupt.  

 

Also, hope that posters are paying attention to where in the world a poster lives since the rules are different and it is possible that their perspective may also differ (depending upon what their government and news media are saying).  

 

I doubt there'll be "little left to book" right after this crisis subsides, but hope I'm wrong. Out of curiosity, and unless its for some reason privileged information, where do you find the information about number of new bookings?

[ronrick1943]

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Can you still get a refund from the cruise that Regent cancelled?

 

That's all been done, no problem.  But since we used the $1750.00 on the cruise they cancelled they won't transfer that to any other cruise period they say now.  Sorry but that is unacceptable since it's our FFC and we didn't cancel they did.

[JMARINER]

6 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

That's all been done, no problem.  But since we used the $1750.00 on the cruise they cancelled they won't transfer that to any other cruise period they say now.  Sorry but that is unacceptable since it's our FFC and we didn't cancel they did.

I would give it a few days to get it worked out. Regent HQ is dealing with getting the people off the World Cruise that ended in Perth today and getting all those people home,   plus the other million thing that are going on in the Company right now. 

 

I cannot believe they would stiff you and hold you to such a penalty that was there making and not yours. As bad as thing are right now,  they would not want the bad publicity it they treated their customer (you) this way. 

 

I will be watching and waiting to find out how they treat you on this issue.

 

J

[cruiseluv]

3 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

All true, Regent of course cancelled one of our cruises, Miami to New York.  We booked that cruise with a $1750.00FFC from another cruise.  Now they cancelled- not us, we than tried to book another cruise using that $1750.00FFC--guess what, Regent said that FFC isn't good any more because now we'll be over the time limit (read the fine print).  Remember they cancelled no9t us and we can't use the FFC we had.  Not right, TA thinks it wrong.  Honestly, if we don't get it this FFC back we will think about not booking Regent again.  I know it's trouble times, but really..........

 

If they dont resolve the FCC to your satisfaction, I hope you will not leave your money parked with RSSC. That in itself is a risk

[Travelcat2]

3 hours ago, cruiseluv said:

 

I doubt there'll be "little left to book" right after this crisis subsides, but hope I'm wrong. Out of curiosity, and unless its for some reason privileged information, where do you find the information about number of new bookings?

 

There are a lot of passengers right now that have FCC’s from their cancelled cruises.  Depending upon the circumstance, some passengers have an additional 25%.   In checking itineraries so we can use our FCC’s, I noticed many cruises that are filling from the top down.  Upper suites were waitlisted while lower categories were not.  So, it appears that some people are using their FCC’s now for cruises next year.  

[papaflamingo]

8 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

That's all been done, no problem.  But since we used the $1750.00 on the cruise they cancelled they won't transfer that to any other cruise period they say now.  Sorry but that is unacceptable since it's our FFC and we didn't cancel they did.

May I ask? What was the source of the $1750 FCC?  The current problem is that we will all have significantly more FCC if we take it under the current crisis.  

[Portolan]

8 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

That's all been done, no problem.  But since we used the $1750.00 on the cruise they cancelled they won't transfer that to any other cruise period they say now.  Sorry but that is unacceptable since it's our FFC and we didn't cancel they did.

 

In a sane world, they should refund the cost of your fare including any FCC that's a part of it.  AT A MINIMUM, they should let you bump the FCC down the road.  One or the other.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Portolan

[boblerm]

14 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

If we cancel, I plan to cruise next year of 2022. So should be within the Insurance company's time frame.  Now if I can just get through to them. 

papaflamingo, on my Allianz policy, the allowed time frame between date of original policy purchase, and date of new travel is 770 days.  I don't know whether other companies have this rule.  But if so, it is doubtful that a cruise in 2022 would fall within this frame.

 

Do you have a credit card that includes trip cancellation/interruption insurance?.  I just got off the phone with Chase card services with questions.  For my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I have $20,000 of insurance even if a portion of the trip is paid with the card.  Since I am using that card to pay for the difference in cost between the cancelled cruise and the new cruise, I have that amount of insurance, and only have to insure the amount over 20,000, which I am able to do since my FCC is less than that amount.

[boblerm]

11 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

guess what, Regent said that FFC isn't good any more because now we'll be over the time limit (read the fine print)

I can only hope that your ta was speaking with a Regent rep who was only reading what the terms were in the fine print, and just spit that info back.  Hopefully, someone higher up on the chain will be able to see what a monumentally stupid business decision this would be and reverse it in your case.  Please keep us posted!

[ronrick1943]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

May I ask? What was the source of the $1750 FCC?  The current problem is that we will all have significantly more FCC if we take it under the current crisis.  

Sure, we were on anther cruise and something went really wrong and they made an offer of a FFC.  We took it and applied it to a new cruise (this one that was cancelled), so when we booked a cruise we transfer our FFC to the cruise-put they didn't (wouldn't) transfer the FFC we had credit for (stating it can't be used again--well it was never used-just taken back).

[SusieQft]

4 hours ago, boblerm said:

Do you have a credit card that includes trip cancellation/interruption insurance?.  I just got off the phone with Chase card services with questions.  For my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I have $20,000 of insurance even if a portion of the trip is paid with the card.  Since I am using that card to pay for the difference in cost between the cancelled cruise and the new cruise, I have that amount of insurance, and only have to insure the amount over 20,000, which I am able to do since my FCC is less than that amount.

Did Chase tell you that their insurance would cover the amount of the FCC?  As I understand it, a regular purchased trip insurance policy will not cover that.

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, SusieQft said:

Did Chase tell you that their insurance would cover the amount of the FCC?  As I understand it, a regular purchased trip insurance policy will not cover that.

SusieQft, it is correct that a regular purchased trip policy will not cover FCC.  However, as far as Chase insurance is concerned, it seems to me that whether the FCC portion is covered or not is moot, provided that ANY portion of the new cruse is charged to your card.  Once that is done, you are eligible for the full benefits, which for Chase Sapphire Reserve is $10,000 per person, maxed out at $20,000.

[SusieQft]

12 minutes ago, boblerm said:

SusieQft, it is correct that a regular purchased trip policy will not cover FCC.  However, as far as Chase insurance is concerned, it seems to me that whether the FCC portion is covered or not is moot, provided that ANY portion of the new cruse is charged to your card.  Once that is done, you are eligible for the full benefits, which for Chase Sapphire Reserve is $10,000 per person, maxed out at $20,000.

My question was not regarding whether or not you had paid for the FCC with your Chase card.

 

If you do not get regular insurance, then would Chase cover only the new payment (non-FCC), or would they cover the full cost if it is under $20,000?

 

Insurance companies usually do not allow you to double dip.  In other words, if you have regular travel insurance for the non-FCC portion, and Chase is only going to insure the non-FCC portion, then Chase is not providing any additional insurance above and beyond the regular insurance and you still would not be reimbursed for the FCC. 

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, SusieQft said:

If you do not get regular insurance, then would Chase cover only the new payment (non-FCC), or would they cover the full cost if it is under $20,000?

 

In this instance, Chase would cover you up to $20,000, irrespective of the amount of the new payment.

 

1 hour ago, SusieQft said:

Insurance companies usually do not allow you to double dip.  In other words, if you have regular travel insurance for the non-FCC portion, and Chase is only going to insure the non-FCC portion, then Chase is not providing any additional insurance above and beyond the regular insurance and you still would not be reimbursed for the FCC. 

Let's say that you used $20,000 to book a $25,000 cruise, and you use your Chase card to pay the additional $5,000.  You take out insurance for $5,000.  If you have to cancel your cruise for a covered reason, you would first submit to your private insurance for the $5,000.  Then you would submit to Chase for $20,000. 

One limitation is that credit card insurance plans do not provide coverage for pre-existing conditions.  Chase has a 60 day look-back period.

 

Have I addressed your question?

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

None of our credit cards work for us, as insurance. Pre-existing conditions are not clearly defined, and I would not rely on it to cover the large sums of money we pay for a cruise. 
Better safe than sorry......

sheila

[SusieQft]

19 minutes ago, boblerm said:

Have I addressed your question?

Not really.  You have implied but not said specifically that Chase will cover you for a FCC, as opposed to insuring the actual cruise fare paid for that cruise.  The FCC is "above the line" and not considered part of the cruise fare.  I think the answer would have to come directly from Chase, not what you think they would do.  Or from someone who has actually had Chase pay them for the value of a FCC.

 

If Chase will actually insure the value of the FCC, which regular travel insurance will not, it dramatically changes the decision matrix on whether or not to get a Chase Sapphire Reserve card.  This is especially true now that so many people have such large FCCs.

Edited March 17, 2020 by SusieQft

[boblerm]

14 hours ago, SusieQft said:

Not really.  You have implied but not said specifically that Chase will cover you for a FCC, as opposed to insuring the actual cruise fare paid for that cruise.  The FCC is "above the line" and not considered part of the cruise fare.  I think the answer would have to come directly from Chase, not what you think they would do.  Or from someone who has actually had Chase pay them for the value of a FCC.

 

If Chase will actually insure the value of the FCC, which regular travel insurance will not, it dramatically changes the decision matrix on whether or not to get a Chase Sapphire Reserve card.  This is especially true now that so many people have such large FCCs.

The answer that I gave you did come directly from Chase.  I called Chase and posed the question about whether the amount of the trip that was booked using FCC was covered..  The answer I received was that it was.  I asked the question again, using the exact scenario that I posed in the above post.  I was again assured that it was.  The answer that I gave comes directly from a phone conversation with a Chase agent, that is the best that I can do. 

 

I am only reporting what I have been told, I would not want anyone to make any decisions of this type based on what I am saying here, so the best thing to do is to call the credit card company that you will be using and pose the question yourself.

 

If you do not have a card that provides travel insurance, here is an article that compares various cards:

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/credit-card-trip-cancellation-interruption-protection/

 

You may notice that the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred have similar insurance benefits, but they have a very different annual fee.  Here is an article that compares the 2 cards

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/chase-sapphire-preferred-vs-chase-sapphire-reserve/

 

Bear in mind that if you are using 2 Chase cards to pay for a trip, Chase will only provide benefits for 1 card.

[boblerm]

14 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

None of our credit cards work for us, as insurance. Pre-existing conditions are not clearly defined, and I would not rely on it to cover the large sums of money we pay for a cruise. 
Better safe than sorry......

sheila

Sheila, I agree with you, and since I have a pre-existing condition, I am inclined to bite the bullet and pay for private insurance rather than rely on credit card coverage.  However, in my situation, I cannot insure the cruise that I booked in 2021 using my FCC, since it exceeds the time frame in which I can change the dates of the original policy.  So this is the best that I can do for coverage.

 

 

[boblerm]

On 3/16/2020 at 9:51 AM, papaflamingo said:

In other words, does Regent consider FCC similar to Frequent Flier Points that get "re-deposited" into your account if you cancel the cruise?

Here is the answer that I received from Regent:

"We received your question from the regent website inquiring about the future cruise credit. Once its applied to a booking if you then cancel that booking and your only under the administrative penalty phase, which is the $100 per person, the credit would just go back to your seven seas society account. If you cancel the sailing though within percentage penalties you would lose the whole entire future cruise credit."

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

3 hours ago, boblerm said:

Here is the answer that I received from Regent:

"We received your question from the regent website inquiring about the future cruise credit. Once its applied to a booking if you then cancel that booking and your only under the administrative penalty phase, which is the $100 per person, the credit would just go back to your seven seas society account. If you cancel the sailing though within percentage penalties you would lose the whole entire future cruise credit."

Bob

You are correct. 
Also, I was able to change the dates on my insurance policy for our 3/14 Splendor cruise to our November 2020 cruise. We also used our FCC to pay in full for that cruise. We used the small balance to apply to our 2/21 cruise. 
I was told that if we cancel either cruise before penalty, we can apply it to another cruise.  So we are ok...I hope. 
Stay safe all my cruising friends!

Sheila

[SusieQft]

4 hours ago, boblerm said:

The answer that I gave comes directly from a phone conversation with a Chase agent, that is the best that I can do. 

Thank you, boblerm.  That does address my question very nicely.  The answer surprises me, but was very good to hear. I don't have either Chase Sapphire card, but it is something that I have considered.  It was also good to hear that Regent allows the redeposit of the FCC, before the penalty phase, and splitting it between bookings.