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Cruise Canceled; Credit Card Payment Due


lvz2cruz
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I too have applied for a refund. I have no idea when it will arrive and Celebrity has been silent on the subject. I had to pay my AMEX bill in full as it came due and am waiting to see my $6,500 credit hit and put me at a credit balance. I may have to see what AMEX can do, but I do not think it is disputable at this point. I will try to keep you all posted

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3 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Just pay the min due on the credit card until refund hits...I don’t see the issue here?  
 

If after the refund hits, and you have a negative balance, The credit card issuer will issue you a refund...

 

2 hours ago, Wolf 8 said:

 

My hope is that they pay the balance in full rather than pay the minimum and incur the ruinous interest rates that credit card issuers levy.

I have to agree with @Wolf 8 in this case. Not all financial institutes are willing to forgive interest payment, and different credit cards have different policies on a range of issues. DS and his family cancelled a trip to Mexico earlier this month along with several other families in his group. Those who had booked using Visa cards recovered their fees, while those who had booked with MasterCard have hit a stone wall. 

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In January, I booked an April 5 cruise that was one of those cancelled by Celebrity. I filled out the on-line form requesting full refund on March 14. I paid with a credit card back in January. I paid the Visa bill in full the following month. I received an email today telling me a have a "Cruise with Confidence" Future Cruise credit for a fraction of our fare! I just spent an hour on the phone on hold with Celebrity without getting through. Got tired of listening to the commercials for Edge, the Galapagos, blah, blah, blah, over and over, and will attempt to call another day. We have Elite status and have cruised with Celebrity for many years. Not happy with X right now - at all!

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18 hours ago, Sorcerer Tim said:

I too have applied for a refund. I have no idea when it will arrive and Celebrity has been silent on the subject. I had to pay my AMEX bill in full as it came due and am waiting to see my $6,500 credit hit and put me at a credit balance. I may have to see what AMEX can do, but I do not think it is disputable at this point. I will try to keep you all posted

Due to refunds, I have a credit balance on my card. When my DW saw it she said " no problem, when the handbag shop reopens, the can have it".

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On 3/30/2020 at 12:20 AM, Shadow9612 said:

It is disappointing that companies can take your deposit 'instantaneously' to book a cruise,  but take weeks (or more) to give a refund. 

 

Aeroplan is sometimes worse in refunding taxes paid on a cancelled booking, bordering even on unreasonable (admittedly,  not always).

 

 

Aeroplan refunded our points immediately & refunded the taxes within a week, we cancelled March 11.

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Thanks to hcat for the call early suggestion. For anyone else who needs assistance, although the phone lines open at 7 Eastern time, there is no one with access to refund info and such until after 9. If anyone runs into the issue I had, know that it was caused by an attempt to expedite FCC's electronically. The program they ran included the penalty that was applicable to people who cancelled prior to cruises being cancelled by Celebrity. For some reason, my online refund request was "lost", even though it said it was accepted when I entered it. The rep I spoke to was very helpful, and I anticipate a refund, although it may take 30 days to be credited to my Visa. Considering the tens of thousands of transactions they are processing, a little patience is required.

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OP. I would call the credit card issuer and explain the situation and see how they want to handle it. I agree that in general this would not be a "dispute" of a charge situation. But if that is the only thing on there they may be willing to waive the payment and interest in lieu of the upcoming credit. There's not need to take an adversarial stance toward celebrity which is how I have always experienced a dispute process to be. If the credit card is unwilling to work with you, you can pay it and when there is a positive balance you can request them send you a check for the amount.

 

My concern with trying to "dispute" the charge and initiate a charge back would be that celebrity may stop your refund process because they wouldn't want you to receive a refund and a charge back. If the credit card company ultimately found that a charge back wasn't appropriate then you would have to start the refund process over.

Edited by sanger727
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On 3/29/2020 at 9:02 PM, az_tchr said:

They have promised you either a refund or FCC.  The contract that you accepted covers that.  They certainly have a legal responsibility to refund your money, but you need to tell them if you want a FCC or refund. 

You certainly can do as you see fit, but the charge was definately legitimate. You booked a cruise.

Calling their bank that issued the credit card is a good idea.  The terms of the credit card Are with the issuing bank - not Celebrity.  They can easily and quickly transfer the refund to another account if they do not agree to waive you paying the amount due.

This is simple and just requires a bit of your patience.

 

 

Theyve also promised FCC's and refunds in far shorter time than it appears to be taking. On 3/9 they told me 10 days and I'm waiting...not so patiently any more,...

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OP here.

I called BOA and told them situation.  They put a dispute on account and said not to pay.

 

I'm grateful for those in similar situation who posted their experience.   The ones posting opinions as fact not so much.

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When did Celebrity announce the cancellations?  Trying to remember the actual date, because I asked for my refund about 2 days later with the online form..I guess I should have taken better notes...obviously no refund....was for 3-29 Edge sailing...

 

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30 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

When did Celebrity announce the cancellations?  Trying to remember the actual date, because I asked for my refund about 2 days later with the online form..I guess I should have taken better notes...obviously no refund....was for 3-29 Edge sailing...

 

I got an email on 13 March cancelling all cruises from 14 March - 14 April.  My Silhouette cruise was to have left on 27 March. I assume you may have got the same email on that date - it was not cruise specific.   I immediately opted for a full refund through the link in that email.  No money yet but I continue to get emails cancelling my excursions (all “bought” using Celebrity OBC) and my MDR dining times.  Latest such email was this morning.  These give me “hope” that my refund is in the process somewhere, but who knows?

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24 minutes ago, thon said:

I got an email on 13 March cancelling all cruises from 14 March - 14 April.  My Silhouette cruise was to have left on 27 March. I assume you may have got the same email on that date - it was not cruise specific.   I immediately opted for a full refund through the link in that email.  No money yet but I continue to get emails cancelling my excursions (all “bought” using Celebrity OBC) and my MDR dining times.  Latest such email was this morning.  These give me “hope” that my refund is in the process somewhere, but who knows?

Same here..thanks for the help.  I was thinking mid March...

 

My Cruise was last week, dinner at The Fine Cut on the Edge would have been nice.  The reminder they sent was a nice touch. 🙂

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On 3/30/2020 at 4:27 PM, Sorcerer Tim said:

I too have applied for a refund. I have no idea when it will arrive and Celebrity has been silent on the subject. I had to pay my AMEX bill in full as it came due and am waiting to see my $6,500 credit hit and put me at a credit balance. I may have to see what AMEX can do, but I do not think it is disputable at this point. I will try to keep you all posted

I opened a dispute online today with AMEX after not hearing or receiving anything from Celebrity. I described the problem, uploaded Celebrity's cancellation email and they credited my account in full in about 30 seconds. From the grain of salt department, it has not hit my AMEX account yet, but I believe it will. I will keep you posted.

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Our experience went like this:

  • Received cancel email March 13th for our March 22nd Edge and chose the refund.
  • Received credits for our Southwest flights that need to be used by October.
  • Received a 2nd set of luggage tags for the cruise on March 21st.
  • Never received any emails from Celebrity but read on CC others were told 30 days for the refund.
  • Waited 31 days (today) and called Celebrity customer service (1-800-280-3423) at 8:00 am Eastern Time because customer service doesn't open until then. We were told the payment was processed April 7th but they had no transaction numbers. They said it was two transactions, deposit and remaining payment.
  • Call Bank of America (Royal Caribbean Visa) and they had no record but said call back because it could take 5 to 7 business days to post. Will call them again on Friday if it doesn't appear before then.
  • Bank of America told us when the credit posts DO NOT use the website to transfer it to our bank account as there will be a transaction fee. They recommended we call them and they will transfer it with no fee.

I'll let you know if the refund appears.

 

Edited by Big_G
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On 4/14/2020 at 9:14 AM, Sorcerer Tim said:

I opened a dispute online today with AMEX after not hearing or receiving anything from Celebrity. I described the problem, uploaded Celebrity's cancellation email and they credited my account in full in about 30 seconds. From the grain of salt department, it has not hit my AMEX account yet, but I believe it will. I will keep you posted.

My full refund went back on my card today. Still have not heard from Celebrity. I was thinking of letting it that card go, but I will probably pay one more year of the annual AMEX fee because it was so easy.

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On 3/31/2020 at 4:43 AM, PTC DAWG said:

Just pay the min due on the credit card until refund hits...I don’t see the issue here?  
 

If after the refund hits, and you have a negative balance, The credit card issuer will issue you a refund...


And that will incur interest on the amounts you don't pay, plus anything else you put on the card will accrue interest until it is paid in full. 

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I'm in the same situation as many and had over $8,000 in charges that hit my credit card.    I contacted my Credit Card and disputed the charges.   The next day Chase applied a temporary credit to my credit card and no payment is due.   They said the Cruise line has approximately 45 days to respond or a permanent credit will be issued and a charge back to Celebrity will be made.

 

I also contacted Celebrity today about a missing FCC for my 3/14 cruise.   I already received a FCC for the 3/21 and 3/28.   He got permission to issue the FCC to me and I received it while still on line.  He explained that on the Credit Card Credit they have to go through the Accounting Department which is a very small group.   He also enlightened me that they are tri-branded and are also processing credits for RCL and Azamara.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/14/2020 at 9:41 AM, Big_G said:

Our experience went like this:

  • Received cancel email March 13th for our March 22nd Edge and chose the refund.
  • Received credits for our Southwest flights that need to be used by October.
  • Received a 2nd set of luggage tags for the cruise on March 21st.
  • Never received any emails from Celebrity but read on CC others were told 30 days for the refund.
  • Waited 31 days (today) and called Celebrity customer service (1-800-280-3423) at 8:00 am Eastern Time because customer service doesn't open until then. We were told the payment was processed April 7th but they had no transaction numbers. They said it was two transactions, deposit and remaining payment.
  • Call Bank of America (Royal Caribbean Visa) and they had no record but said call back because it could take 5 to 7 business days to post. Will call them again on Friday if it doesn't appear before then.
  • Bank of America told us when the credit posts DO NOT use the website to transfer it to our bank account as there will be a transaction fee. They recommended we call them and they will transfer it with no fee.

I'll let you know if the refund appears.

 

 

Another 10 days later and a couple of phone calls and the refunds have started trickling in. Only another $6K to go.

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Edited by Big_G
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Perhaps I am missing something--

I don't think there is anything to dispute  -- Cruise was booked, paid for by credit card, and later cancelled.

As far as the credit card company is concerned it is a legitimate charge.

As on any credit card the balance is due in full by '' Payment Date '' or monthly interest charges will be incurred.

The fact the you have to wait for a refund from Celebrity has nothing to do with the credit card company.

 

 

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21 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Perhaps I am missing something--

I don't think there is anything to dispute  -- Cruise was booked, paid for by credit card, and later cancelled.

As far as the credit card company is concerned it is a legitimate charge.

As on any credit card the balance is due in full by '' Payment Date '' or monthly interest charges will be incurred.

The fact the you have to wait for a refund from Celebrity has nothing to do with the credit card company.

Yes, but it is a way to get an immediate credit or not pay that portion of the bill while waiting for X in processing the refund.

 

bon voyage

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On 3/29/2020 at 8:45 PM, lvz2cruz said:

I'm not sure it is a legitimate charge.   I paid for a service that the company is not providing and they cancelled.   
It doesn't make sense to me to pay for something which the seller has stated they will not be fulfilling and I know I won't receive.  

 

It is a legitimate charge by the Credit Card Company-- Because the cruise was cancelled , doesn't matter by whom, the refund will be processed onto the same card when Celebrity issues it. 

It's the same transaction as if you purchase a sweater and return it the next day.  You pay, the charge goes onto your card immediately, then the store issues a credit onto the same card when you return the sweater. The difference being the time it is taking for Cruise Lines to issue refunds due to the amount they have to process. 

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15 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

It is a legitimate charge by the Credit Card Company-- Because the cruise was cancelled , doesn't matter by whom, the refund will be processed onto the same card when Celebrity issues it. 

It's the same transaction as if you purchase a sweater and return it the next day.  You pay, the charge goes onto your card immediately, then the store issues a credit onto the same card when you return the sweater. The difference being the time it is taking for Cruise Lines to issue refunds due to the amount they have to process. 

Yes, you are quite correct in your posit, yet I would add that a sweater can, in many cases, be an impulse purchase costing less than $150.00 for a few of us (and an insignificant purchase at that, generally), while for a few of us here, to spend $5,000 to $20,000 on a sailing is, for the most part not impulsive as opposed to planned, spending. With lots of complexity which go along with this spending rather we sailed or not.

 

I agree totally about refunding of cruise fares, the volume which has to be dealt with and etc... which is causing delays by the cruise lines and frustrations by current/former passengers.

 

Some passengers are going so far as to confuse an issued memo by Executives as CoC's and legal requirement for the cruise lines to incorporate these memos as part of their TOS.... laughable, at minimum, for me.

 

Thank you and bon voyage

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10 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

a sweater can, in many cases, be an impulse purchase costing less than $150.00 for a few of us (and an insignificant purchase at that, generally)

LOL-- That's funny -- too bad we never met.

A-- Are there sweaters that cost more than $ 50.00 ??

B-- Does " Impulse " mean the same thing as " Need "--- other than a new set of golf clubs ???  Example-- When the salesman tells you your handicap will go from 17 to 3 in " no time ".  He's correct in " No Time " will your handicap come down from 17 to 3.

 

21 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Some passengers are going so far as to confuse an issued memo by Executives as CoC's and legal requirement for the cruise lines to incorporate these memos as part of their TOS.... laughable, at minimum, for me.

100 % correct . It's easy to tell " who's who " and their understanding of general business practices. 

 

 

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