Cancelled Cruises Refund Tracker/Discussion (merged topics)

[Saab4444]

We asked for a refund on March 10 for a fully paid May cruise, cruise is still active in the cruise planer, no confirmation email, nothing. If Celebrity continues to treat loyal customers like this I will for sure book with other cruise companies in the future. 

 

We made very good experience with refunds from hotel brands like Best Western, Premier Inn and Marriott even for non refundable bookings, they replied and refunded fast and fair within a week or two. Celebrity currently treats customers just bad and unfair! Cruise with confidence is a joke....

 

[BP99]

9 hours ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

I am always amused by people who rant about how somebody should fix their IT issues. I wonder if they have ever written a program, set up a complex data structure, set up a network, ... It seems that they think this is all a simple process that can just get “ fixed!”

Frustration under our circumstances is understandable, but I don’t get why so many people talk about getting “their “ money back. It is not their money, they gave it to Celebrity! It is done, gone, spent. Oh, ok, now due to circumstances totally beyond Celebrity’s control, they can’t provide the product the customer had purchased. So they are graciously sending their money back to the customers. Sure, I will enjoy getting back the money I spent on my planned April TA, but it is not as though I was counting on that money to buy a new car or pay my taxes or whatever. It was budgeted for a trip including the TA. It was spent, gone from my account last fall sometime. Once it comes back, I am sure I can find a way to use it, but I can wait.

 

Relax folks, be grateful you are not trapped aboard a quarantine ship or in a foreign port. Stay safe, stay distant, enjoy the solitude, and think good thoughts about the trips coming up in a year or two.

Stan

Hi,

Glad you can relax and wait months for your refund.

But after several months of relaxing and waiting there might not be a cruise company.

Then try to get your refund!

[harz99]

27 minutes ago, BP99 said:

Hi,

Glad you can relax and wait months for your refund.

But after several months of relaxing and waiting there might not be a cruise company.

Then try to get your refund!

Precisely, I think that is the worry for a lot of us.

 

In addition those of us across the pond who have booked with NRDs as that is our only option, are now being faced with making final payments for cruises starting weeks beyond the current arrangements expiry date, also with the same fears of ever getting a refund. I for one have no interest in FCC, the only consideration for me would be a protected price for an essentially the same cruise in 12 months time, but that is not on offer.

 

So cancel now for an August cruise and lose NRDs, or give the cruise lines more cash which you may never recover if a cruise line or corporation goes under. Neither idea makes me happy.

[BP99]

5 minutes ago, harz99 said:

Precisely, I think that is the worry for a lot of us.

 

In addition those of us across the pond who have booked with NRDs as that is our only option, are now being faced with making final payments for cruises starting weeks beyond the current arrangements expiry date, also with the same fears of ever getting a refund. I for one have no interest in FCC, the only consideration for me would be a protected price for an essentially the same cruise in 12 months time, but that is not on offer.

 

So cancel now for an August cruise and lose NRDs, or give the cruise lines more cash which you may never recover if a cruise line or corporation goes under. Neither idea makes me happy.

Hi,

YES, I had the same issues. I had 2 cruises in earlier April that were cancelled.

Waiting for a refund. I cancelled 3 cruises booked for September 2020 and

lost my NRD (will get some back as FCC that will likely expire before any cruises

resume). I could NOT give them anymore money in the form of a final payment!

This would be as they say "chasing good money after bad" and I would

likely lose more. It was also a tough call but I had to cut my losses.

[hcat]

There are apparently some very patient people making  excuses for X. 

 ( not us anymore).  If anyone else you have done business with treated you this way would you be so patient and accepting ? A few friends doing business with Viking are having much better results .

 

Our refunds are apparently  in a black hole somewhere because they are not  back on our cedit cards,  despite X saying they were processed electronically days ago. Only Celebrity knows the answers.  Is it really that difficult sending a credit to a card electronically???

 

We may ultimately be out several thousand dollars but over the long run,  X has lost very loyal customers since Century and  Mercury days when the cruise  line was outstanding !  We are now down to 2 bookings and no more  will be forthcoming  unless management and customer services change.

 

Venting over...will try to get through to my Credit Card Co today ...

Edited April 4, 2020 by hcat

[mafig]

9 hours ago, son3cruisers said:

Exactly.
I actually called our credit card company, and the policy we have with our card is the purchase  must have been with 100 days. That’s fine for the move up bid  we made to be refunded but we paid off our cruise in Sept. 

Not sure what other cards will do, but that’s what I was told . 

 

Thanks for your post.  I didn't realize there was a 100 day rule.  I just counted the days since we paid, and it's 94 days!  Will be calling our credit card company today.  Was going to wait and give Celebrity the benefit of the doubt, but no longer.

[hcat]

UPDATE:

This morning,  our BOA  credit card  accepted our dispute for investigation regarding unrefunded 50 % of cruise fare plus tax &  fees,  which X has promised and claimed were sent back to the card but were  definitely NOT. .

 

 We had to mail them our orig booking invoice and final payment confirmation. We added a summary of the charges due back and  our recent unsuccessful contacts  with Celeb cruise line.

 

Card rep said there would be no interest or payment due for disputed charges  ( I think) but we have a credit bal anyhow from cancelled excursions  Seems they are receiving quite a few disputes  for Royal and Celeb so it must be a "corporate issue".

 

Obviously, all the  double BOA points awarded will be  taken back.

 

 Btw..Our cancelled cruises have been wiped off our cruise planner quick to do that......but yet no fare refunded!

 

I will file a dispute for our APEX cancellation if the deposit refund does not show up next week!

Edited April 4, 2020 by hcat

[mafig]

Good for you, hcat!

We have BOA too.  How long did you have to wait on the phone?  DH is holding now for 25 minutes.  He's much better at this than I, he stays calm while I get upset.

 

 

[hcat]

1 minute ago, mafig said:

Good for you, hcat!

We have BOA too.  How long did you have to wait on the phone?  DH is holding now for 25 minutes.  He's much better at this than I, he stays calm while I get upset.

 

 

Called at 8 am.. they said 14 minutes  wait time but it was about 20 to 25..not that bad if you can put on speaker phone and do other things,  my  excellent rep was in Ca working from home at 5 am ish..

 

Yesterday...during the day they said wait was 48 min so I hung up...

 

Good luck!

[mafig]

5 minutes ago, hcat said:

Called at 8 am.. they said 14 minutes  wait time but it was about 20 to 25..not that bad if you can put on speaker phone and do other things,  my  excellent rep was in Ca working from home at 5 am ish..

 

Yesterday...during the day they said wait was 48 min so I hung up...

 

Good luck!

 

Done!  30 minutes. 👍

 

 

[ginrom]

I'm glad I saw this thread this morning. I booked our Edge cruise 98 days ago so I'm currently on hold with Bank of America too. I know they're going to issue a refund but I'll feel better calling to dispute the charges just in case. 

[mafig]

Hi, ginrom!

 

We were supposed to be on the same Edge cruise.

 

 

[son3cruisers]

Just to add...

We were given travel credits to use (up to one year from booking) for our flight with Delta,  They also returned our upgraded seat fees of over $500 - (would have been our first time in first class) . Unfortunately we booked our flight so far in advance, the travel credits would expire in May of this year. We were happy to have received our seat refunds so quickly, not a big loss on a one way ticket.   

AirTransat  allowed us to pay a transfer fee of $200 to move our return flights to next year. Both flights with both airlines were non refundable tickets, so we were satisfied with that. 

We did this on March 13th. 
Since then, both Delta and Airtransat have changed their original offerings. Now, Delta has extended travel credits for 2 YEARS FROM DEPARTURE DATE. Much better. They were able to change this for us. 

And Airtransat is offering the same. So I called Air Transat this morning and was refunded my $200. Very impressed. Very quickly. Emails sent immediately. 
I’m posting this in case there are others like me, who can benefit from these new policies. 

Celebrity? Crickets.......

[Sam.Seattle]

14 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

I Am so sorry that you cannot be accommodated to your desire at the time you want it.

 

Notwithstanding that not every agent who receives a call has the capacity to do this 'special request'.

 

Unfortunately, each one of us will have to wait and create our own paper trail that we did cancel when we said we did and the type of refund, if applicable, requested.

 

I Am sure you will get something, just not on your clock, as there are thousands of others before you who require attention, for sure, this is not to say that your request is not as urgent or valid as yours, but not in the que for immediate attention, unfortunately.

 

Please give them time for things to work through the system, as most of us know about 'IT issues' not only at X, but at other cruise lines as well. This is not an unique situation to X.

 

bon voyage

Hello,

I always enjoy reading you posts and your voice of calm realism.  I hope to cruise with you someday!  Stay healthy!

[NC State]

Sail date March 28th

Celebrity canceled cruise on March 13th

 

Called March 14th to see about moving to August 1st.  Requested the same route and cabin (it was open) I was told I would lose all 4 perks AND it would be additional $1,100. (I knew we had a great deal) I asked when is it due, he said NOW. I told him I couldn't do it now so please send my refund.

 

March 16th went online just to see if the cabin was still open for the August 1st sail date.  It was and if I booked it online the final payment due May 3rd.

Now I'm very angry he didn't tell me that.

 

March 24th received a refund for the two tours we had purchased.

April 3rd Delta sent an email that our credit will be good for 2 years!

 

April 4th still no refund for the cruise or the bus shuttle to return to the airport.

[ginrom]

45 minutes ago, mafig said:

Hi, ginrom!

 

We were supposed to be on the same Edge cruise.

 

 

Hello! I'm still hoping to be able to cruise in November but if not I'll book again for next March. Delta extended our vouchers for 2 years so there isn't pressure to book something before the end of this year anymore. I also just disputed my BOA charge just in case there were any issues in receiving the refund. 

[Cruising89143]

Still waiting on X to refund our two cruises that they canceled. We were due to board on Monday. B2B. I asked for a refund on 3/15. I was told this week at least up to thirty days. Of course I have nothing in writing from X concerning this. Our luggage tags arrived last week.🙂

 

We also had a cruise booked on MSC’s Seaside for 5/09 that was canceled this week. I went onto their website and with a few clicks our refund request was accepted and I received an email within thirty seconds showing the refund request along with a case number for our records. Amazing that RCCL is that far behind in technology.

[harz99]

6 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

Still waiting on X to refund our two cruises that they canceled. We were due to board on Monday. B2B. I asked for a refund on 3/15. I was told this week at least up to thirty days. Of course I have nothing in writing from X concerning this. Our luggage tags arrived last week.🙂

 

We also had a cruise booked on MSC’s Seaside for 5/09 that was canceled this week. I went onto their website and with a few clicks our refund request was accepted and I received an email within thirty seconds showing the refund request along with a case number for our records. Amazing that RCCL is that far behind in technology.

They're not that far behind, just holding onto the money as long as they can! MSC is part of a massive family shipping company, in fact cruising is a small part of their shipping interests, unlike RCCL Corp. whose sunsidiaries have loads of shareholders to feed from cruising alone. 

[mafig]

30 minutes ago, harz99 said:

They're not that far behind, just holding onto the money as long as they can! MSC is part of a massive family shipping company, in fact cruising is a small part of their shipping interests, unlike RCCL Corp. whose sunsidiaries have loads of shareholders to feed from cruising alone. 

 

Celebrity could still sent a email acknowledgement like they stated they would.  Then I for one would be a little less concerned about them using our money as their bank.

[Cruising89143]

41 minutes ago, harz99 said:

They're not that far behind, just holding onto the money as long as they can! MSC is part of a massive family shipping company, in fact cruising is a small part of their shipping interests, unlike RCCL Corp. whose sunsidiaries have loads of shareholders to feed from cruising alone. 

I have no doubt that RCCL is holding onto our money as long as possible. My comment was more directed that MSC made it easier to request the refund plus I received an email stating as much. Nothing from X. 

[hcat]

Glad folks have been  able to file disputes..they will at some point  be investigated by the Card Companies, and maybe this  will shake our refunds loose.????   If they get the silent  treatment or confirm the disputes are valid,  they can charge back to the cruiseline..I think.

 

Appreciated hearing about MSC........maybe we can try them after the  refund fiasco plays out with X .    Do they have a  required med form for seniors?

Do they have any courtesy reciprocity  for X level?  We would  book Yacht Club..going to order a brochure.

[bdrcole]

22 minutes ago, hcat said:

Glad folks have been  able to file disputes..they will at some point  be investigated by the Card Companies, and maybe this  will shake our refunds loose.????   If they get the silent  treatment or confirm the disputes are valid,  they can charge back to the cruiseline..I think.

 

Appreciated hearing about MSC........maybe we can try them after the  refund fiasco plays out with X .    Do they have a  required med form for seniors?

Do they have any courtesy reciprocity  for X level?  We would  book Yacht Club..going to order a brochure.

We have Elite status with X which I sent proof of to MSC and they gave us their highest level (Black) for our cruise.  It came with the following perks, a wine & beer package, free dining in any one of their speciality restaurant ($100 US value), 2 solid chocolate ships which were very tasty, 2 MSC ball hats and express embarkation & disembarkation.  Their reciprocal status lasts for 2 years.  It you do not cruise within 2 years you have to request it prior to booking a new cruise.  It is a smart marketing ploy on MSC's part.

[Roger88]

14 hours ago, son3cruisers said:

We had the same response. Almost word for word. 2020 - that they can’t issue a confirmation by email. Very strange. 
FYI I cancelled our March 14th cruise on March 12th and they confirmed we would be receiving a refund for taxes/fees/booked items/ move up offer .  I followed up last week and they stated refund was issued to my credit card on March 17th. I had the agent recite back the credit card it was refunded to ( it was correct) and still no refund.

 Also followed up with our credit card company, no pending refunds. 
So, yes. Poor practice.
Hotels , airfares all refunded/ credit received with in 10 days of cancelling. They also all provided emails with confirmation of returns and credit issued. 10 days. 

We have trip insurance, so we might be going that route instead. I’m going to wait a few more weeks. We were hoping and waiting for our  125% FCC as promised, but with Celebrity’s handling of the refund so far, I think a full refund of the cruise fare might be a much better  idea. 

They will keep sending those responses as long as they are in business. No one know how long this crisis will last and until they will feel safe enough to start refunding people and plan new cruises, they will keep feeding people with worthless promises. I wonder what their higher management is up to at the moment. No matter how the situation turns out I hope everyone will be doing alright. 
I would suggest calling their office more often 

[mafig]

1 hour ago, bdrcole said:

We have Elite status with X which I sent proof of to MSC and they gave us their highest level (Black) for our cruise.  It came with the following perks, a wine & beer package, free dining in any one of their speciality restaurant ($100 US value), 2 solid chocolate ships which were very tasty, 2 MSC ball hats and express embarkation & disembarkation.  Their reciprocal status lasts for 2 years.  It you do not cruise within 2 years you have to request it prior to booking a new cruise.  It is a smart marketing ploy on MSC's part.

 

Don't forget 5% (at least) discount.  They also have extended the 2 year status (it's now 3, I think).

I really enjoyed my Yacht Club experiences.

[hcat]

Wow.. taking note of MSC perks.

I looked at  the website..it was much easier to negotiate and browse.  I liked the spa, Yacht Club and new ovt island,  How is the crew!

 

Ships  are not as appealing  as X and are very large,  but we may book once our  X  refunds come through.  Still have a fcc to use on a 2021  X cruise,..

 

please post if anyone gets a refund!