Cancelled, requested refund and actually received one?

[SWEMarcus]

14 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

Check the price of a similar cruise that they cancelled on you for next year. You will probably find that the € 200 on board credit is not worth the paper it is written on. They offered me the same deal, I checked the same cruise and itinerary for 2021 and the price for the same outside cabin that I booked was € 500 more than I paid this year. So I will have had to pay another € 500 for them to gift me € 200, which I would have to spend on their ship, I am stupid but not that stupid. 

I think that accepting a Future Cruise Credit voucher and paying even more for the same cruise is playing Russian roulette with my money, no thanks.

 

 

Yes - exactly the same with our Baltic cruise as well that got cancelled today.

 

Roughly €500 more expensive in total that we have to pay to go same time next year. It's unclear if the onboard credit is refundable or not, thinking this is Costa it's probably non-refundable and we are forced to spend them.

 

Wow, what a deal....

[dethman]

On 5/4/2020 at 4:45 AM, jerseylily said:

So going back to the original question...has anyone has a refund paid by Costa yet?

 

cancelled way back in late february.  been over 65 days nothing yet.

[Lauren Spray]

Our cruise on the Costa Pacifica was due to depart April 17th as a piggy back from another cruise (not Costa).  We cancelled in March.  So happy about that!  All we received was an FCC and a small incentive to be used within a year.  I don´t think so.  Would have preferred the cash.  I do not have much confidence that Costa will be around next year.  I love cruising and I am one of the ones who hope to sail again one day.  A lot has to change before then.

 

[SWEMarcus]

Our cruise in June got cancelled. We respect the decision and have no objections towards that, but the e-mail from Costa mentioned only FCC and no refunds. Just like our cancelled cruise in March.

 

Funny detail is that two times I have sent an email with details about our rights as passengers to get a monetary refund and not vouchers. Worked for both our cancelled cruises and they are processing refunds. Shame that they don't present that option official and that you have to argue about your rights as a passenger.

 

Feel for the passengers who took FCC's and didn't feel like they had an option 🤔

Edited May 11, 2020 by SWEMarcus

[SpeedySal]

Hello Marcus

Glad you stood your ground and they gave way. All of this is very time consuming and, frankly, quite tiring! I hope you actually receive your refunds and if you wouldn’t mind, could you let us know if you do get lucky in that respect, please?

I think lots of us are waiting and hoping for our refunds but no one seems to be receiving anything from Costa whether the passenger has cancelled a cruise or cruises or Costa themselves have done the cancelling (at the very last minute in many instances).

Don’t know if other cruise lines are any better. I can tell you from experience the airlines are pretty appalling too.

[SWEMarcus]

1 hour ago, SpeedySal said:

Hello Marcus

Glad you stood your ground and they gave way. All of this is very time consuming and, frankly, quite tiring! I hope you actually receive your refunds and if you wouldn’t mind, could you let us know if you do get lucky in that respect, please?

I think lots of us are waiting and hoping for our refunds but no one seems to be receiving anything from Costa whether the passenger has cancelled a cruise or cruises or Costa themselves have done the cancelling (at the very last minute in many instances).

Don’t know if other cruise lines are any better. I can tell you from experience the airlines are pretty appalling too.

 

Absolutely I will update when we receive any form of refund. Our cruise was cancelled in March and over a month ago we got an email confirming they are processing a refund to our credit card. I talked to Costa in Sweden today a few hours ago and they had no update in regards to refunds. It's centrally administered from Italy and it's really no point in asking them.

 

I agree with you all the way. It is very time consuming and the time it takes to read your rights. What Costa presents to you is that you should be happy with a FCC (voucher) and that's it. We have the same issue and I know for sure that airlines are in no ways better than Costa. 

 

From experience I can tell that RCCL is more open in a way that they actually give you an honest option of monetary refund whilst Costa tries to convince you that FCC is your only option. Not ok!

[jerseylily]

I emailed them about our cancelled cruise after getting the formal cancellation letter quoting their UK ABTA number and their terms and conditions as applicable to our booking regarding refunds.  Received this reply....

 

"With regard to the total refund request, I've added the request in our database and we will proceed with it as soon as possible using the same credit card you used originally to pay. Since we are facing an unprecedented case and having a very important backlog, we will proceed with the refund as soon as possible. It will be a long wait since we have a huge backlog"

 

I will let you know when I hear anything new or get refunded.
 

[alliebdive]

I have been speaking to Costa in the UK every couple of weeks since our cruise was cancelled for March 14th.  We asked for a refund, which they agreed to at the time and also they agreed to refund our air fares back to the uK from Dubai, where the cruise started.  Since then, the promises on when the refund would happen have moved backwards.  We were erroneously sent a FCC voucher which we have refused and they have acknowledged was a mistake.  Their latest advice is that these vouchers were sent out to everyone erroneously and they need to be removed before refunds can be processed.  They told me they only got instructions on how to reverse the vouchers 2 days ago and they now have 1 part time member of staff going through everyone's records on the database to reverse the vouchers.  Then the database will be forwarded to the accounts department for the refunds.  She was unable to give me any estimate on how long this might take and when we will get our money back.  Shortly after the call I got an email from them acknowledging our refunds were in the system and that they would eventually be made but again pushing the idea of accepting the FCC voucher.  It is extremely unsatisfactory and I have no confidence at all that Costa will ever pay this money.  I have spoken to our travel insurer and because they have offered a voucher, it cannot be claimed as a loss.  If they went bankrupt, then we could claim.  I could claim (I think) some of the money back from our credit card provider but not the deposit which we paid on debit card and is now too far in the past.  Neither could we claim for the flights home that way.    It's a very bad situation.

[jerseylily]

If you paid with plastic from uk you should be protected via your card issuer. They will refund you and charge Costa.  Check out section 75 of the consumer credit act for credit cards  on sites like money saving expert or which. Regards debit cards there is another recourse called chargeback check out money saving expert for that. That is what I will do if I don't get my money. Carnival is saying 90 days delay for its cancellations to process refunds.  Costa are also IATA and ABTA bonded in the UK so you have the right to go to IATA for example for money if flights etc were included.

Edited May 13, 2020 by jerseylily

[tenpin]

While I agree with everyone's claims on here for their refunds I have dealt with Costa for 30 years & do think eventually you will get your money back, I cancelled two cruises early this year & have been refunded.

 

To refund 12 ships roughly 1500 couples a week over what 10/twelve weeks is a huge number to even start sorting out, on top of that FCC has always been cruise Companies first call, that has to be taken off your files before any refund can be given.

 

It is a huge undertaking, but Costa are now booking for 2021 & hopefully won't go bust, so I think you will be repaid, either by Costa, Carnival or your credit card.

Cruising is never going to be the same, & we must all now be very careful booking, we use to book cruise only (lost percentage of our flights & hotels) now everything will be booked via TA or Cruise Line, 

 

[alliebdive]

I think our options are Section 75 for the main payment of the cruise.  Chargeback for the deposit (from my debit card).  That just leaves the flights....  We couldn't use either of the above for the flights because obviously we did receive them, used them, and it Is a matter of Costa agreeing to pay for them and then actually doing so.  Am concerned that if we go the clawback route they may just never pay the flights.  There is also some doubt regarding the time limit on use of the debit card ie 120 days often from date of transaction which was January 2019, but it can be from date of service which was March 14th 2020.  Probably ok with that.    I think we will give Costa 90 days which will take us into June and if they are still prevaricating, we will go this route.  Let's all keep in touch on it.  Yes, we have been offered the voucher but frankly after this shambles, I wouldn't want to cruise with them and I have my doubts they will survive long.

[SWEMarcus]

30 minutes ago, tenpin said:

While I agree with everyone's claims on here for their refunds I have dealt with Costa for 30 years & do think eventually you will get your money back, I cancelled two cruises early this year & have been refunded.

 

To refund 12 ships roughly 1500 couples a week over what 10/twelve weeks is a huge number to even start sorting out, on top of that FCC has always been cruise Companies first call, that has to be taken off your files before any refund can be given.

 

It is a huge undertaking, but Costa are now booking for 2021 & hopefully won't go bust, so I think you will be repaid, either by Costa, Carnival or your credit card.

Cruising is never going to be the same, & we must all now be very careful booking, we use to book cruise only (lost percentage of our flights & hotels) now everything will be booked via TA or Cruise Line, 

 

 

I'm sorry, but a lot of posts you do is aiming for feeling sympathy for Costa as a cruise company.

 

They have made a voluntary decision to cancel their cruises due to the ongoing pandemic. If you made the same decision and stall your payment towards them you would be penalised and they would give you no sympathy what so ever in regards to your situation.

 

The case is simple, they have accepted your money and for a few months they have been keeping our money within their company interest free with no excuse really. A refund process is not really rocket science.

[tenpin]

Mt post are about Costa in general although I am loyal to them, it seems to me that most post on forums are against Costa yet you book with them, the worst being heard on board "it's full of Italians"

 

I have dealt with the for year often with concerns & maybe suggestions, I was given a full refund and another cruise after 9/11 when we did a different itinerary to the one booked since then I have always had a reply to all my e-mails & met with the staff in Savona.

Yes you are entitled to a full refund (less £50) & I personally think you will eventually get it, however Costa is not the only Company holding back or offering FCC I still wait a refund for a Carnival cruise cancelled, 

You seem to think that they can just give refunds at the blink of an eye, it take rather a long time, sometimes months given the huge number & supplies, Crew, Port Fees, laying ships up & trying to get crew home that have completed their contract.

 

'Voluntary Decision' they had no choice but to cancel hundreds of paid for cruises all over the world, to our benefit & safety due solely to the Corona virus. 

[SWEMarcus]

4 hours ago, tenpin said:

Mt post are about Costa in general although I am loyal to them, it seems to me that most post on forums are against Costa yet you book with them, the worst being heard on board "it's full of Italians"

 

I have dealt with the for year often with concerns & maybe suggestions, I was given a full refund and another cruise after 9/11 when we did a different itinerary to the one booked since then I have always had a reply to all my e-mails & met with the staff in Savona.

Yes you are entitled to a full refund (less £50) & I personally think you will eventually get it, however Costa is not the only Company holding back or offering FCC I still wait a refund for a Carnival cruise cancelled, 

You seem to think that they can just give refunds at the blink of an eye, it take rather a long time, sometimes months given the huge number & supplies, Crew, Port Fees, laying ships up & trying to get crew home that have completed their contract.

 

'Voluntary Decision' they had no choice but to cancel hundreds of paid for cruises all over the world, to our benefit & safety due solely to the Corona virus. 

 

Me and my wife got a our train ride cancelled for next week. Phoned them up 2 days ago for a full refund. Showed up on our account today and no hassle at all.

 

I still can't seem to grip that a refund process is simply quite a simple process apparently for some companies whilst not for others. All fair that Corona has an effect on things in the world and for business, but does it really justify that companies withholds your money with no further explanation or compensation for several months?

[gerryuk]

Does anybody know whether this applies across the board or is this policy just for Americans? I believe I found this update on Costa America site, but not sure.

 

 

Updates on fleet activities

The global health situation requires unprecedented actions to ensure health protection worldwide. For the first time in 70 years, we have decided to suspend the activities of our ships until the end of June. We want to cruise again with you and we will do it as soon as the emergency ends.

 

Cruises in stand-by:

Last update May 4, 2020

 

Costa Diadema	Cruises canceled until July 5.
Costa Fascinosa	Cruises canceled until July 3.
Costa Favolosa	Cruises canceled until July 7.
Costa Fortuna	Cruises canceled until July 2.
Costa Magica	Cruises canceled until July 4.
Costa Mediterranea	Cruises canceled until July 4.
Costa Smeralda	Cruises canceled until July 4.
Costa Luminosa	Cruises canceled until July 5.
Costa Pacifica	Cruises canceled until July 3.
Costa Victoria	Cruises canceled until July 5.
Costa Deliziosa	Cruises canceled until July 4.
Costa neoRomantica	Cruises canceled until July 14.

Do you have a confirmed booking for one of the cancelled cruises?

Due to the emergency situation linked to the global Covide-19 pandemic and with the introduction of further containment measures (such as port closures and the restrictions of the movement of people), Costa Cruises has decided to extend the voluntary suspension of its cruises until June 30.

Costa Cruises is taking steps to inform travel agents and guests affected by the changes.

Guests booked through the North American office will receive a future cruise credit voucher.

 

Future Cruise Credit Voucher Information for Canceled Cruises
If your cruise has been canceled by Costa Cruises due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you will receive:
A FUTURE CRUISE CREDIT VOUCHER OF 150% For cruises originally scheduled in March, April and May A FUTURE CRUISE CREDIT VOUCHER OF 125% For cruises originally scheduled in June so that you can continue to visit the world plus a bonus to spend on cabin category upgrade and itinerary options. No need to contact us, vouchers will be sent by May 30, 2020 to the email on record.
Terms & Conditions: Only valid for FIT bookings made through retail agencies and directly with Costa Cruises. Excludes group bookings and bookings made through Group suppliers, Tour Operators, or retail agencies booking through Tour Operators. The voucher will be sent to the email of the primary contact guest. If you choose to deny the voucher and forfeit its greater value you will only receive 100% of the payment Costa has collected in the original form of payment. To submit your request please fill out the Refund Request form here. Refund will be issued no earlier than 90 days after the request.

 

For more information please contact your travel agency or our call center at 1-800-GO-COSTA (1-800-462-6782).

 

[gerryuk]

There is also a refund form on that Costa site, that I have never seen before.....

 

 

Canceled Cruises Refund Request Form

To submit a refund request, please complete the form in its entirety. This option is only available on Cruises that were canceled by Costa as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Terms & Conditions: Only valid for FIT bookings made through retail agencies and directly with Costa Cruises. Excludes group bookings ad bookings made through Group suppliers, Tour Operators, or retail agencies booking through Tour Operators. By submitting this Refund Request Form, you forfeit the right to a Future Cruise Credit and will only be issued a refund of the payment Costa Cruises has collected in the original form of payment. Payment will be issued no earlier than 90 days after the request. By submitting this form, this option will be for all guests in the booking. For additional information on our Term & Conditions please consult https://www.costacruises.com/general-conditions.html. For our Privacy policy please consult https://www.costacruises.com/privacy.html.

 

Required

 

 

1.Booking Number

 

 

 

 

2.Sail Date

 

 

 

192019211922192319241925192619271928192919301931193219331934193519361937193819391940194119421943194419451946194719481949195019511952195319541955195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024202520262027202820292030203120322033203420352036203720382039204020412042204320442045204620472048204920502051205220532054205520562057205820592060206120622063206420652066206720682069207020712072207320742075207620772078207920802081208220832084208520862087208820892090209120922093209420952096209720982099210021012102210321042105210621072108210921102111211221132114211521162117211821192120

May

 

 

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
27	28	29	30	1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31
1	2	3	4	5	6	7

TodayClearClose

 

 

3.Ship Name

 

 

Costa Smeralda

Costa Diadema

Costa Deliziosa

Costa Fascinosa

Costa Favolosa

Costa Fortuna

Costa Luminosa

Costa Magica

Costa Mediterranea

Costa Pacifica

Costa neoRomantica

Costa Victoria

 

 

4.Guest First Name

 

 

 

 

5.Guest Last Name

 

 

 

 

6.Phone Number

 

 

 

 

7.Email

 

 

 

 

8.I agree to the cancellation of the above named reservation, upon refund request, no further compensation will be considered. Payment will be issued no earlier than 90 days after request.

 

 

I agree to all Terms & Conditions (shown above) of this option on behalf of all guests in the booking.

Submit

 

[gerryuk]

Well that did not come out good, here is a link...

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=6bk3nt4FBkmwiVNvGWiQdNUtMXtuTalAr0wOBkHUlitUODBWRTdCUlFaN1gzTDlORFBNV01YTTM3UC4u

[tenpin]

23 hours ago, SWEMarcus said:

 

Me and my wife got a our train ride cancelled for next week. Phoned them up 2 days ago for a full refund. Showed up on our account today and no hassle at all.

 

I still can't seem to grip that a refund process is simply quite a simple process apparently for some companies whilst not for others. All fair that Corona has an effect on things in the world and for business, but does it really justify that companies withholds your money with no further explanation or compensation for several months?

Today my friend had a email from TUI after their cruise was cancelled refund should be in their bank in the next six weeks.

Italy was in total lock-down some staff ere working from home have told me that it Could take up to 90 minutes to get the okay to refund just one couple. Don't know how true this is , but do know they can't just issue them.

[Serengeti228]

Thought I could say "Yes" to the OP after 2 months of my booking cancellation. Based on Costa's response today on the refund, the answer is from not yet to indefinite....

 

Today's takeaway:

"Talking about the management of your refund, unfortunately we are not able to give you an answer right now due the exceptional situation which caused a huge backlog. We are constantly in contact with our Head Quarter accounting dpt. and it will be our priority to proceed as soon as we will have the opportunity to do so."

 

Background:

1. On 5th March 2020, I called Costa EU where I booked my Costa Fortuna cruise sailing on the 19th March 2020. I requested for refund on the basis that I would not be able to travel according to the then prevailing Costa protocol. The Costa agent agreed over phone and in writing for full refund based on the Costa protocol. I shortly received documents from Costa regarding my booking cancellation and an invoice relating to credit note that signified the refund process had commenced. The Costa agent mentioned in the email that I should be receiving the refund 2-3 weeks later.

 

2. Recall! On the 5th March 2020, there was no cancellation of any single Costa cruises due to COVID 19. The first cancellation by Costa itself was on 8th or 9th March 2020 for Costa Fortuna sailing on the 10th March from Singapore, and subsequently on the 19th. and on and on...........

 

3. At the end March 2020, I emailed Costa EU for the progress and was told that due to the high volume of refund, my refund would be available at the end of April.

 

4. As of yesterday, I found no $ coming in. I messaged Costa EU and received the following message which indicates no definite timeline for refund. Instead, I "am induced" to accept the FCC.

 

Opinion:

It is just too ridiculous for the Costa agent to propose such a "out of the consideration" option at this stage when the refund processs had already been initiated by their very own colleague 2 months ago. My bottom line is to exercise my option to dispute the transaction with the credit card company on the basis of what the Costa agreed to refund but failed to deliver within the reasonable time....

 

 

QUOTE

 

From: Info Europe <info.europe@costa.it>
Sent: 15 May 2020 4:25 PM

 

Dear Mr. XXX

Good morning and thank you for your email.?

we would like to remind the VOUCHER offered by Costa Cruises as an alternative to the refund. The voucher is a easier and faster credit that you have with the our Company. It is valid for an entire year (from its issue date) and gives you the possibility to take your time and think about your future vacation, surely better times will come for travelling with Costa for an unforgettable 2020 or 2021 cruise. ?

This way with Costa, your dreams are not over, only postponed. ?

You are always in time to change your mind! Just advise us!?

Talking about the management of your refund, unfortunately we are not able to give you an answer right now due the exceptional situation which caused a huge backlog. We are constantly in contact with our Head Quarter accounting dpt. and it will be our priority to proceed as soon as we will have the opportunity to do so.?

Thanks for understanding?

Kind Regards

YYY

 

UNQUOTE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by Serengeti228

[jerseylily]

5 hours ago, gerryuk said:

Well that did not come out good, here is a link...

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=6bk3nt4FBkmwiVNvGWiQdNUtMXtuTalAr0wOBkHUlitUODBWRTdCUlFaN1gzTDlORFBNV01YTTM3UC4u

Where on the site did this come from if it were a valid Costa site why does it commence forms.office and not Costacruises.com? Forms.office.com is a Microsoft form design tool. Please be very careful with this.

Edited May 15, 2020 by jerseylily

[gerryuk]

25 minutes ago, jerseylily said:

Where on the site did this come from if it were a valid Costa site why does it commence forms.office and not Costacruises.com? Forms.office.com is a Microsoft form design tool. Please be very careful with this.

It is here...

https://www.costacruises.com/

Just click on the fleet updates at the top of the page, on that page at the bottom, "terms and conditions" there is a link to the refund form. I think this is Costa America site looking at the telephone number at the top of the page?

[jerseylily]

Still personally not happy about that form. I have asked Costa privacy team to look at it. 

[SWEMarcus]

We received a refund today. It was however not from Costa but we did a claim through our credit card provider and there was no problems at all.

[SpeedySal]

Hi all

Can I start by thanking everyone, Marcus, Jerseylily et al, for keeping us all in the loop re. any progress on refunds and everyone, Gerry for new info on whatever sites etc. THANK YOU ALL.

 

I am truly tired by all of this, would like my refunds (considerable amount of money for cruises I cancelled and for which I accepted Costa’s penalties so we have donated a considerable amount even though my cancellations were due to Covid and before Costa got round to cancelling any of them) so I can forget about Costa for a very long time indeed, probably forever.

 

Looks to me as if Costa keep moving the goal posts to obfuscate everything and simply hang on to everyone’s money as long as possible. If they spent less time coming up with devious ways to keep us all hanging on, they’d have more time to process refunds.

Marcus, so glad you got your refund. Do we all go down this same path?  Tenpin, glad you got your refunds, too, and if you don’t mind, could you tell us what date you cancelled and how long your refunds took, please? Did you need third party intervention? Thank you.
 

I had to book one lot of flights through Ryanair ( I had sworn NEVER to use them again but they truly were the only airline flying the route we needed) and they, I must say, are more appalling than Costa, refusing to refund anyone’s cancelled flights until the Coronavirus emergency is over ! What century might that be?! All our other flights, various airlines, will no doubt be as bad.
Please keep in touch everyone. Cheers.

[tenpin]

We had to cancel our two cruises booked this year in May & Sept, through my continuing decline in health.

 

Please note; this was in early February & before the virus was around. It took just three weeks to get our money refunded less £50 each pp per cruise. These were booked in 2019 & those were the terms & conditions then.

I also cancelled one cruise early last year although my wife went with her cousin they gave them a suite even though I was not on booking.

I do understand all the frustrations you are having, it must be bad, but I hope you eventually receive any payment back soon.