Credit or refund?

[Newleno]

16 minutes ago, brovol said:

You may want to consider holding off on the legal analysis, as people may read it and think it has merit.  Miss-information is a lot worse than no information at all.

🤔

[Newleno]

2 minutes ago, brovol said:

You and I can argue all day over this, and offer tit-for-tat, but it becomes counterproductive. (I was admonished last week by the moderators for arguing over something similar, which surprised me because it wasn't overly contentious).  I have already conceded that I hold no expertise in bankruptcies of this nature; and I suspect you know less than I do in that department.  If you have your refund in hand already, then I wont dispute it is past being a guarantee; it is actual history.  But the original question came from someone who was still deciding, and therefore doesn't have the refund, so that option still speculative.  One thing I am pretty sure about is that if NCL did file bankruptcy today, the refunds that haven't yet been issued would be, at best, frozen.  What happens after that is questionable I guess.  But for now, why dont we agree to disagree?

You state you have no expertise in the area and then suspect someone else knows even less?  Just dont see the point to all of this, once again 🤔

[brovol]

15 minutes ago, Newleno said:

You state you have no expertise in the area and then suspect someone else knows even less?  Just dont see the point to all of this, once again 🤔

I practiced law in the bankruptcy court for about 20 years, but did not actually handle any corporate bankruptcies, and as a result I don't profess to be an "expert" in the particulars of the type of bankruptcy NCL would file, if it ever filed at all.  The other poster though, I suspect, never practiced law in the bankruptcy court at all, and I don't think she mentioned even being an attorney. This is how I conclude that (1) I am not qualified to give expert analysis, and (2) she is likely even less qualified?  Fair enough?

[Beer Belly]

Geeze folks, we're talking a bout a few thousands dollars or so, not your entire bank account.

[krittykat]

Personally, I took the FCC then booked for a much higher cabin in Dec for the same cruise (Haven penthouse) with no out of pocket for me.  Of course I took out the insurance.

I know there is a risk of the company going under - but I live in Washington state - there is a law here that all insurance must cover under trip cancellation if the travel company (ie: NCL) files bankruptcy.  I have seen it in writing in the policy. A nice little security blanket - but of course most likely difficult to claim if it comes to that.

Unfortunately - most states do not require this.

[Near Philly]

We anticipated back in early March our 4/19 cruise would be cancelled “someday”.

We then booked basically the exact same cruise, same dates for 2021 at the bare minimum deposit and waited for NCL to formally cancel the 2020 cruise.

We’re going the Refund route instead of putting FCC towards next year’s cruise.

We think it’s better to only worry about NCL’s finances for a few months as opposed to a  full year.

 

[RoKa95]

I’ve got over $9000.00 in this cruise plus $3900.00 in airline tickets. 4 of us was going. I think I will take the cash and try to get my money back from United air lines also.

[Gershep]

Take the cash.

[tomworldwidewaftage]

Viking cancelled our April 3, 2020 29 day cruise Mumbai to London on March 11th.

We told Viking on March 11th we wanted a refund.

 

Viking said 21 business days for our refund, which would have been April 9th.

On April 10th Viking said refunds were going out by the following week.

Now Viking is saying 90 days for our refund.

Still waiting.

 

Stock analysis are say the public trading cruise lines will be burning a Billion dollars a month.

 

I convinced Viking won't stay out of bankruptcy before we get our refund.

[Ozzieru1e]

Take the money & run!!!  There is too much uncertainty as to if & when everyone will be able to cruise again.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Ozzieru1e
Word change

[Roger88]

I would go for a refund if I am not planning on cruising after the cancellation. But, if I plan to cruise no matter what it doesn't make any difference would it be credit or real cash cause in any scenario you will still deliver them money. Also, If I am not mistaken the credit is higher than actual refund. I think they do it on purpose for you to stick up with the company until your next cruise 

[Ozzieru1e]

I would rather have my money in my pocket than in NCL’s account.  Yes, FCC is higher than the refund but I hear NCL have also increased cruise fares so you are not really getting a bargain.  

[BirdTravels]

On 4/22/2020 at 2:18 PM, Beer Belly said:

Geeze folks, we're talking a bout a few thousands dollars or so, not your entire bank account.

There are many people who booked a vacation cruise well within their means, only to find themselves with the millions and millions of people out of work. And that few thousand dollars would help in times of uncertainty. It maybe what is needed to keep a roof over their heads. Or keep the kids fed.

 

Just because some states are "opening back up" doesn't mean that 100% of the people out of work will be immediately re-employed. 

[RoKa95]

I Talked to Expedia today and in about a hour on the phone I got all my money back from the Hotel and United airlines.

[delaware32]

Okay. So we cancelled our September 2020 Mediterranean cruise . We were just fine with a FCC . Just didn't want tp lose our money . ( No fiscal judgement please ) . As it turned out we were refunded for the cruise in less than 3 weeks.  Still happy with NCL and planning to cruise March and possibly in the Fall once itineraries shake out .

[dmdiver]

We went ahead & took the 125% FCC and booked the same itinerary for next year.  Our reasoning was that it is best to book Alaskan cruises as early as possible to get the desired cabin.  That was why we had booked almost a year in advance for the one that just got cancelled.  I feel like a year is plenty of time to get the virus under control.  The big risk, of course, is NCL going under.  I am remaining optimistic that the large mass market cruise lines will be able to stay afloat.  I know a lot of folks are saying that the fares are much higher on the cruises they are wanting to apply the FCC to, but we found the opposite.  The base fare was similar to what we paid.  Then, with the extra FCC and the 20% fare discount, we have $1800 left over that we can use for our excursions.  We did look into a cabin upgrade and we did go up from a BC to a BB - just one deck higher.  Mini-suite just didn't seem worth any extra money to us and while the Haven seems really nice, I don't see the value there either for the cost.  Plus, isn't it under the pool deck?  Anyway, I'm hoping things will settle down and we will get to see Alaska in 13 months.

[complawyer]

i would take the credit, keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. trying to get actual CASH from NCL  is like trying to squeeze blood out of the proverbial turnip. especially under the current circumstances. (just aint gonna happen)

[tomworldwidewaftage]

On 4/24/2020 at 10:11 AM, tomworldwidewaftage said:

Viking cancelled our April 3, 2020 29 day cruise Mumbai to London on March 11th.

We told Viking on March 11th we wanted a refund.

 

Viking said 21 business days for our refund, which would have been April 9th.

On April 10th Viking said refunds were going out by the following week.

Now Viking is saying 90 days for our refund.

Still waiting.

 

Stock analysis are say the public trading cruise lines will be burning a Billion dollars a month.

 

I convinced Viking won't stay out of bankruptcy before we get our refund.

Viking finally refunded our money, they way they did it was with no explanation.

All on the same credit card.

1. $500.00 

2. a week later another $4500.00 

3. a week later another $15,000.00

[sjbowler]

Most of you are saying take the refund over the credit because its better to have money in the bank.  Have any of you actually received a refund yet?  our cruise was cancelled March 21 and we opted the refund.  We have been told it could take up to 90 days (which will put it out into June) and we still have not gotten any refund.  

[Sam Ting]

39 minutes ago, sjbowler said:

Most of you are saying take the refund over the credit because its better to have money in the bank.  Have any of you actually received a refund yet?  our cruise was cancelled March 21 and we opted the refund.  We have been told it could take up to 90 days (which will put it out into June) and we still have not gotten any refund.  

You better dispute with the cc company before your claim times out and the company goes belly up. 

[zqvol]

On 4/22/2020 at 10:47 AM, kaprin02 said:

 

I'll jump in here - There's a lot more to this than you've mentioned.  In Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, the company does NOT cease to exist/cease operations.  Cruises would continue, and those of us who took our FCC and booked a cruise (or in my case cruises!) would still get to go on that cruise - right alongside any "cash" bookings.  In bankruptcy proceedings, cruises using FCC or cash to pay for them would be treated exactly the same - and since in Chapter 11, operations would continue, I would be able to go on my cruise, regardless of how it was paid for.  If I was holding on to FCC (not having booked a cruise with it), there could be loss of value or restrictions on use, but those things usually don't happen.  Creditors and bankruptcy trustees/judges understand that pissing off the entire customer base is a bad idea, and will hurt the business's ability to recover far more than allowing customers to keep their FCC.  This is why gift cards don't usually lose their value when a company goes through Chapter 11.  Yes, those types of things (FCC, gift cards, etc.) are technically "debts" on the books, but they are an extremely low cost debt, and something other creditors understand will help them in the long run.  

 

Yes, there is a risk of NCL actually going into Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but from everything I've read, that risk is very small.  In Chapter 7, NCL would cease operations, and basically we'd all be screwed - no matter what option you took.

 

I assume that you are a bankruptcy attorney experienced in maritime law.

 

Chapter 11 allows a company to reorganize . All these FCCs are simply unsecured debt and will likely be wiped out in any bankruptcy proceeding.

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, sjbowler said:

Most of you are saying take the refund over the credit because its better to have money in the bank.  Have any of you actually received a refund yet?  our cruise was cancelled March 21 and we opted the refund.  We have been told it could take up to 90 days (which will put it out into June) and we still have not gotten any refund.  

 

The credit is likely to be worthless, so if you don't get your refund you are in the same position you would have been in. Right now based on NCL's SEC filing I would not hold my breath for a refund. I hope that I am wrong,.

[Waquoit]

The only thing to do is to file a dispute with your credit card and withdraw the money the second it hits the account. That's one's best chance to escape this whole. 

[nicoleinwi]

We were tossing around the same scenario FCC or money back.  We had Alaska planned for May and we knew we'd rebook Alaska next May.  Just deciding if we did it with cash so we could cancel before final payment if something happens.  

 

We took the FCC.  I completely understand bankruptcy and FCC being worthless.  We applied all our FCC to the cruise so it shows the cruise is paid in full (plus we have a decent amount left over).  I'm hoping if FCC becomes useless then it would only effect our outstanding FCC that hasn't bee applied and we'd stay booked and show paid in full as we do now.  If we lose that we lose it.

 

I just can't see NCL or any other similar cruise line with these massive ships completely going under.  Reorganization, yes.    

 

We also are still receiving full paychecks during COVID so we do not have a financial burden that we might want the money back.  Some people in the situation of reduced income I see where getting the money back would make the more sense.