Oceania Refunds - Has anyone actually received any cash yet?

[sailfar]

Today we received another portion of the cancelled Oceania Marina May 1, May 15 and May 25  fully paid cruise funds.  We are in the USA and funds were directly deposited into the credit card we used for payment.   The excursions we charged on another credit card have not come in as of yet and about 10% of additional paid funds are yet to be  paid to the other card.  

 

Our first recommendation to all is:  be patient and hopeful.  We have not called our credit card companies or our Travel Agent.  It was all Oceania's action.

 

The closer we get to a vaccine, the happier we will be.  We have so many more cruises we would love to take.  And, we have so enjoyed our Oceania experiences over the years.  Our second recommendation is to start early in your adventures because you never know what things will come your way:  personal health, pandemics, etc.  

 

Best wishes to all of the wonderful staff and cruisers we have met over the years!

 

 

 

 

[CintiPam]

1 hour ago, sailfar said:

Today we received another portion of the cancelled Oceania Marina May 1, May 15 and May 25  fully paid cruise funds.  We are in the USA and funds were directly deposited into the credit card we used for payment.   The excursions we charged on another credit card have not come in as of yet and about 10% of additional paid funds are yet to be  paid to the other card.  

 

Our first recommendation to all is:  be patient and hopeful.  We have not called our credit card companies or our Travel Agent.  It was all Oceania's action.

 

The closer we get to a vaccine, the happier we will be.  We have so many more cruises we would love to take.  And, we have so enjoyed our Oceania experiences over the years.  Our second recommendation is to start early in your adventures because you never know what things will come your way:  personal health, pandemics, etc.  

 

Best wishes to all of the wonderful staff and cruisers we have met over the years!

 

 

 

 

Thank you, sailfar, for writing such a lovely post.  Stay well and stay strong!

[Medeba]

Good news Glenndale and royallondon.  I think those of us in the UK have learned a valuable lesson about TA T&Cs.  Whilst I got frustrated with the refund process I seem to have fared better than many others.   I consider myself lucky to have got my deposit back as my TA T&Cs (as do others in the UK) say that you lose your deposit if you cancel.  So my TA gets brownie points for doing the decent thing but loses out on paying me more than 3 weeks after they received the money from Oceania.

 

I use a TA primarily for getting a lower fare, or if it's part of a package holiday to take advantage of our consumer protection laws, and this worked well for longer cruises.  So, if we ever cruise again I will probably book directly with the cruise line for shorter cruises and forgo any small reduction the TA might offer. I don't want to run the risk of losing a deposit especially for Oceania as the deposit is much higher.  BUT I will definitely be looking at the T&Cs in great detail before I part with any money!  

[Glenndale]

8 minutes ago, Medeba said:

Good news Glenndale and royallondon.  I think those of us in the UK have learned a valuable lesson about TA T&Cs.  Whilst I got frustrated with the refund process I seem to have fared better than many others.   I consider myself lucky to have got my deposit back as my TA T&Cs (as do others in the UK) say that you lose your deposit if you cancel.  So my TA gets brownie points for doing the decent thing but loses out on paying me more than 3 weeks after they received the money from Oceania.

 

I use a TA primarily for getting a lower fare, or if it's part of a package holiday to take advantage of our consumer protection laws, and this worked well for longer cruises.  So, if we ever cruise again I will probably book directly with the cruise line for shorter cruises and forgo any small reduction the TA might offer. I don't want to run the risk of losing a deposit especially for Oceania as the deposit is much higher.  BUT I will definitely be looking at the T&Cs in great detail before I part with any money!  

Not such good news after all😕

I've just come off the phone from my CC bank as I wanted to transfer the credit showing on my balance to my bank account.

The amount is illusionary, I cannot access this 'money' until they have received the refund from my TA.

Ever felt like you're banging your head against a brick wall?

[Jay23]

42 minutes ago, Medeba said:

Good news Glenndale and royallondon.  I think those of us in the UK have learned a valuable lesson about TA T&Cs.  Whilst I got frustrated with the refund process I seem to have fared better than many others.   I consider myself lucky to have got my deposit back as my TA T&Cs (as do others in the UK) say that you lose your deposit if you cancel.  So my TA gets brownie points for doing the decent thing but loses out on paying me more than 3 weeks after they received the money from Oceania.

 

I use a TA primarily for getting a lower fare, or if it's part of a package holiday to take advantage of our consumer protection laws, and this worked well for longer cruises.  So, if we ever cruise again I will probably book directly with the cruise line for shorter cruises and forgo any small reduction the TA might offer. I don't want to run the risk of losing a deposit especially for Oceania as the deposit is much higher.  BUT I will definitely be looking at the T&Cs in great detail before I part with any money!  

As you know Madeba, we now have the money for our BA flights that were booked separately for the August cruise.  After several attempts at getting a refund from BA on the phone (they   simply disconnected ) we wrote an e mail to BA Customer Services asking how we could get a refund if the phone was constantly being cut off.   They wrote back! " The refund team would get in touch within three weeks".   After about 10 days my husband found the full amount refunded on his credit card.  No e mail or phone call, just the money.    Not complaining, very pleased it is all sorted.   J

Edited July 16, 2020 by Jay23

[roger b]

1 hour ago, Glenndale said:

Not such good news after all😕

I've just come off the phone from my CC bank as I wanted to transfer the credit showing on my balance to my bank account.

The amount is illusionary, I cannot access this 'money' until they have received the refund from my TA.

Ever felt like you're banging your head against a brick wall?

 I am in the same position had email from T.A on promising that my deposit refund would paid within 10 days to my CC on the 28th of June, 10 days past and then told they had not received the money from Oceania.

   On contacting Oceania I find that the money was not sent to T.A until 6th July , the outcome of all this is that I will have wait 14 days for the money to reach T.A from that date then another 10 days for the T.A to release the deposit to me.

             Has nobody heard of Bank transfers ??? 

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, Medeba said:

I use a TA primarily for getting a lower fare, or if it's part of a package holiday to take advantage of our consumer protection laws, and this worked well for longer cruises.  So, if we ever cruise again I will probably book directly with the cruise line for shorter cruises and forgo any small reduction the TA might offer. I don't want to run the risk of losing a deposit especially for Oceania as the deposit is much higher.  BUT I will definitely be looking at the T&Cs in great detail before I part with any money!  

Can you book direct with Oceania  then transfer the booking to a TA within  the 30 day time limit  to get the protection in the UK ?

Not sure it would make much difference in the end if the TA takes the payment then passes it on

But if you use an agency the passes the CC info direct to O with out hitting their account  it might  work out

 Just a different system to what we are used to here in Canada

 

[Medeba]

8 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Can you book direct with Oceania  then transfer the booking to a TA within  the 30 day time limit  to get the protection in the UK ?

Not sure it would make much difference in the end if the TA takes the payment then passes it on

But if you use an agency the passes the CC info direct to O with out hitting their account  it might  work out

 Just a different system to what we are used to here in Canada

 

I'm not sure if we can do that; I'll check it out.  We have booked on board and then transferred to our TA.  I know at least one TA who passes on the deposit direct to Oceania without the money going through their account.  

[Pet]

HI - Grateful for advice, especially fellow UK Oceania cruisers who seem to have been in a similar position. Booked on Marina's cruise on 21 Nov from Europe to USA but have today advised my Travel Agent that I wish to cancel before the 121 days before departure stated in the T&Cs which I read to show that at worse £200 pp would be taken from our deposit for admin charges. However the TA suggests that the whole deposit would be lost if I cancel now, This doesn't seem to be the outcome for other  members who have cancelled prior to the stated 121 days minimum. The TA suggests transferring the deposit to another Oceania cruise but that doesn't appear very practical in the foreseeable future or would it be best to ask for a FCC?

Email from TA below:

 

Thank you for your email.
Oceania have not cancelled your cruise at this current time and therefore if you wish to cancel the cruise, you would lose you deposit in total.
I would suggest you wait until nearer your balance due date 16/08/20, to see if they have made any further updates or cancelled the cruise and therefore they may offer you a cash refund but only if Oceania cruises have cancelled the cruise.
If Oceania do not cancel your cruise by the 16/08/20, I can look into transferring the cruise to a another ship and sail date to ensure you do not lose your deposit.
Many thanks

[jean163]

32 minutes ago, Pet said:

HI - Grateful for advice, especially fellow UK Oceania cruisers who seem to have been in a similar position. Booked on Marina's cruise on 21 Nov from Europe to USA but have today advised my Travel Agent that I wish to cancel before the 121 days before departure stated in the T&Cs which I read to show that at worse £200 pp would be taken from our deposit for admin charges. However the TA suggests that the whole deposit would be lost if I cancel now, This doesn't seem to be the outcome for other  members who have cancelled prior to the stated 121 days minimum. The TA suggests transferring the deposit to another Oceania cruise but that doesn't appear very practical in the foreseeable future or would it be best to ask for a FCC?

Email from TA below:

 

Thank you for your email.
Oceania have not cancelled your cruise at this current time and therefore if you wish to cancel the cruise, you would lose you deposit in total.
I would suggest you wait until nearer your balance due date 16/08/20, to see if they have made any further updates or cancelled the cruise and therefore they may offer you a cash refund but only if Oceania cruises have cancelled the cruise.
If Oceania do not cancel your cruise by the 16/08/20, I can look into transferring the cruise to a another ship and sail date to ensure you do not lose your deposit.
Many thanks

I would think the T&C at the time of booking would apply and they've been standard for years!  So it was a cruise of less than 15 days and you weren't booked in a suite?  If so, when you cancel more than the 121 days out you should get ALL your deposit refunded (in  £) with the exception of the administration charge.   Additionally, you can request the £200/pp admin charge be held on your account as a FCC.  We did this for a July cruise that was under deposit in March.  We cancelled prior to the 121 days, not Oceania, got all but the admin fee returned through a refund to our credit card and the FCC is on our account (and hopefully we'll be able to use it one day).  I'm in Canada so, unless Oceania's T&C differ by country you would be correct!

[ORV]

15 minutes ago, jean163 said:

I would think the T&C at the time of booking would apply and they've been standard for years!  So it was a cruise of less than 15 days and you weren't booked in a suite?  If so, when you cancel more than the 121 days out you should get ALL your deposit refunded (in  £) with the exception of the administration charge.   Additionally, you can request the £200/pp admin charge be held on your account as a FCC.  We did this for a July cruise that was under deposit in March.  We cancelled prior to the 121 days, not Oceania, got all but the admin fee returned through a refund to our credit card and the FCC is on our account (and hopefully we'll be able to use it one day).  I'm in Canada so, unless Oceania's T&C differ by country you would be correct!

Yes, they differ by country. As has been mentioned many times in this those in the UK have a different set of terms than those of us in North America. 

[jean163]

PET is talking about Oceania's T&Cs.  I took the TA's message to mean that the loss of the full deposit was because of an Oceania 'rule' and I haven't read here that O's T&Cs vary by country.  I have certainly read about the differences in the UK with the payments going through the TA rather than direct and that some TAs have their own overriding terms that mean any cancellation by the client, presumably at any time,  forfeits the deposit.  So maybe it's the TA that won't refund the deposit and nothing to do with O?  Is that right PET?

 

[Pet]

Thanks for advice guys. Just to clarify further:

The booking summary provided by the TA when we booked in February which is on Oceania headed paper,  entitled Guest Cancellation Schedule states that "The following cancellation charges will be assessed for all cancellations  received prior to departure up to the scheduled time of departure.

     121 days or more prior to departure              0% of full fare

      120 - 91 days prior to departure  24 July - 22 Aug 20    £200 pp"

We are booked in a PH3 suite and the cruise duration is 16 days. No mention is made of loss of total deposit anywhere in the documents sent by the TA. When we booked we were required to send the deposit direct to Oceania account by the TA and the transaction statement shows that was what happened, so I don't think the TA has access to the monies paid to date. Not sure that changes the position.

 

[ORV]

17 hours ago, jean163 said:

I took the TA's message to mean that the loss of the full deposit was because of an Oceania 'rule' and I haven't read here that O's T&Cs vary by country.

I can't see where the TA put it on Oceania. What wording makes you think that? 

 

Perhaps it's a matter of a misunderstanding by the TA, or they could be bluffing trying to keep the booking. 

 

As far as T & C's go, there are certain laws and rules that UK has that we don't, therefore Oceania's terms conform to those. Of course, as you said there are also individual TA rules, just like here. Many TA's here have cancel penalties, mainly the big online companies. Just one of many reasons I'd never use them. 

 

 

[jo-b]

3 hours ago, Pet said:

Thanks for advice guys. Just to clarify further:

The booking summary provided by the TA when we booked in February which is on Oceania headed paper,  entitled Guest Cancellation Schedule states that "The following cancellation charges will be assessed for all cancellations  received prior to departure up to the scheduled time of departure.

     121 days or more prior to departure              0% of full fare

      120 - 91 days prior to departure  24 July - 22 Aug 20    £200 pp"

We are booked in a PH3 suite and the cruise duration is 16 days. No mention is made of loss of total deposit anywhere in the documents sent by the TA. When we booked we were required to send the deposit direct to Oceania account by the TA and the transaction statement shows that was what happened, so I don't think the TA has access to the monies paid to date. Not sure that changes the position.

 

We are in the UK & cancelled a September cruise before the 121 days point and had a full refund of the deposit.(In our case less the OBC we had already had and spent as we booked it whilst onboard.) Your TA seems to be mistaken.

 

 

[royallondon]

3 hours ago, Pet said:

Thanks for advice guys. Just to clarify further:

The booking summary provided by the TA when we booked in February which is on Oceania headed paper,  entitled Guest Cancellation Schedule states that "The following cancellation charges will be assessed for all cancellations  received prior to departure up to the scheduled time of departure.

     121 days or more prior to departure              0% of full fare

      120 - 91 days prior to departure  24 July - 22 Aug 20    £200 pp"

We are booked in a PH3 suite and the cruise duration is 16 days. No mention is made of loss of total deposit anywhere in the documents sent by the TA. When we booked we were required to send the deposit direct to Oceania account by the TA and the transaction statement shows that was what happened, so I don't think the TA has access to the monies paid to date. Not sure that changes the position.

 

We were in the same situation a few months ago (no cancellation charges by “O” but TA told us we would lose the total deposit paid).   Fortunately in the end we were able to have the deposit transferred in full to the identical sailing next September.  I have noticed however, that the Chorley based TA has since changed its T&C’s to “Principal’s charge + £150pp.

 

As all monies have been paid to “O” direct and confirmation given on “O” headed paper is it worth emailing “O” direct to confirm what your position would be if you cancelled?

 

Regards
 

 

 

 

 

[Jay23]

We cancelled our August cruise well within the 121 days and got a complete refund within 23 days.   We had never taken the cancellation Ts & Cs  seriously as we had never been in a situation like this before, obviously.  If cancellation has not been done within the 121 days then graduation of monies is set out  for a claim: or you wait for Oceania to cancel the cruise.   It is pretty straight forward.  What isn't straight forward is the Covid 19 Virus pandemic.   J

[petcoke]

18 minutes ago, Jay23 said:

We cancelled our August cruise well within the 121 days and got a complete refund within 23 days.   We had never taken the cancellation Ts & Cs  seriously as we had never been in a situation like this before, obviously.  If cancellation has not been done within the 121 days then graduation of monies is set out  for a claim: or you wait for Oceania to cancel the cruise.   It is pretty straight forward.  What isn't straight forward is the Covid 19 Virus pandemic.   J

Did you book direct with Oceania, we cancelled a few cruises well before 120 days but still waiting for refunds from TA, I think we may look at them in a different light when this is over. It must be a big problem for them, but they do not appear to be handling it very well 

[Medeba]

20 hours ago, Pet said:

Thanks for advice guys. Just to clarify further:

The booking summary provided by the TA when we booked in February which is on Oceania headed paper,  entitled Guest Cancellation Schedule states that "The following cancellation charges will be assessed for all cancellations  received prior to departure up to the scheduled time of departure.

     121 days or more prior to departure              0% of full fare

      120 - 91 days prior to departure  24 July - 22 Aug 20    £200 pp"

We are booked in a PH3 suite and the cruise duration is 16 days. No mention is made of loss of total deposit anywhere in the documents sent by the TA. When we booked we were required to send the deposit direct to Oceania account by the TA and the transaction statement shows that was what happened, so I don't think the TA has access to the monies paid to date. Not sure that changes the position.

 

Pet. You should not have a problem getting back your deposit as you are in the same position as Jay23 who paid the deposit direct to Oceania.  You will still need to cancel via your TA (and don't delay as your 121 deadline is looming) but I would advise that you also email Oceania and ask them to confirm that, as far as their T&Cs are concerned, you are entitled to the return of your deposit (I did this and got a reply within a few days). You can then send their reply to your TA.  Once the TA has cancelled your cruise Oceania should return your deposit back to your credit card.  As the TA has never had your money I'm not sure how they can hold you to transferring the deposit to another cruise.  Good luck.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Medeba
Extra information

[Medeba]

Pet. I've just had another thought.  You need to check with your TA if they are saying you will lose your deposit because of their T&Cs and not Oceania's.  As you are probably aware from reading posts from UK cruisers, UK TAs have their own T&Cs which often state that you lose your deposit if you cancel your holiday.  This was the case with me but my TA refunded my deposit anyway.  That may be why they are offering to transfer your deposit to another cruise.  That's a very hard line to take under the current situation but they may be just mis-interpreting Oceania's T&Cs.  I hope that is the case for you.

[Glenndale]

1 hour ago, Medeba said:

Pet. I've just had another thought.  You need to check with your TA if they are saying you will lose your deposit because of their T&Cs and not Oceania's.  As you are probably aware from reading posts from UK cruisers, UK TAs have their own T&Cs which often state that you lose your deposit if you cancel your holiday.  This was the case with me but my TA refunded my deposit anyway.  That may be why they are offering to transfer your deposit to another cruise.  That's a very hard line to take under the current situation but they may be just mis-interpreting Oceania's T&Cs.  I hope that is the case for you.

Yes, I think the TA's T&Cs could be different to Oceania's.

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Glenndale

[Pet]

3 hours ago, Glenndale said:

Yes, I think the TA's T&Cs could be different to Oceania's.

 

Thanks again . The TAs T&C regarding cancellation simply refer to the appropriate  Cruise Company's policy, which I set out above in 788. Armed with your advice I have written back, copied to Oceania,. If that doesn't get the desired result I will go direct to Oceania 

[JVNYC]

Cancelled an August, 2021 cruise on July 6. Got the $1500 deposit refund to my visa today. I’m actually amazed it was that fast. 

[Paulchili]

4 hours ago, JVNYC said:

Cancelled an August, 2021 cruise on July 6. Got the $1500 deposit refund to my visa today. I’m actually amazed it was that fast. 

That is very fast indeed.

They must have caught up with the early crush of cancellations and refunds.

[Pet]

On 7/19/2020 at 10:52 AM, Medeba said:

Pet. I've just had another thought.  You need to check with your TA if they are saying you will lose your deposit because of their T&Cs and not Oceania's.  As you are probably aware from reading posts from UK cruisers, UK TAs have their own T&Cs which often state that you lose your deposit if you cancel your holiday.  This was the case with me but my TA refunded my deposit anyway.  That may be why they are offering to transfer your deposit to another cruise.  That's a very hard line to take under the current situation but they may be just mis-interpreting Oceania's T&Cs.  I hope that is the case for you.

TA has now responded saying that I was right that a full refund of the deposit should apply under the T&Cs and that they will contact Oceania to arrange it. So no money back yet of course but looks like a positive result so will hopefully be able to book a cruise with them next year once things are clearer. Just goes to show if you don't ask you won't get!