So I got my $5300 refund five days ago.

[tallnthensome]

So, I finally got my $5300 back. My case is probably different than most here and from what I have read around the web, not a cruise critic, my thoughts have changed on the refund process.  It has become somewhat apparent that certain cancellations are much easier and faster than others. I cancelled my Sun cruise to Alaska for August back on March 20th. This was before NCL cancelled all Sun Alaska cruise about three weeks later. I was paid in full and was at day 146 outside the 120 final payment cutoff. I called to cancel and was immediately sent a cancellation email. No form to fill out. I was told 7-10 business days for the refund. Well, that never happened and I too thought I was going to get screwed. I was just about to go the chargeback rout as I used my personal bank debit card and not a standard credit card. Well, at day 32 I got everything back to my bank to my relief. I started wondering why comparatively speaking that I got my refund before many others. I too kind of figured it should be as easy as pressing a button and in my case it pretty much was. Got the email and then the refund albeit 32 days later. I’m guessing, just guessing that once you get inside 120 days that NCL’s system is designed or forbids an instant refund because in most cases outside this virus it can’t just happen. Against my previous thoughts it very well may be that each of these bookings has to be done manually and with short staffs and so many bookings it was going to take 90 days. Many were saying this is exactly what was happening and most believed they were delaying purposely. I was a skeptic but now that I have my personal funds back it gives me hope for everyone else that they will indeed get their refund because I am no more important than anyone else to NCL it’s just that I went an earlier and different route cancelling. I’ve read reports of others doing the same thing I did and getting their refunds as well. Let this just be a glimmer of hope for all those that believe their money is gone ....even as I once did.

Edited April 28, 2020 by tallnthensome

[ggTexasGal]

22 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

So, I finally got my $5300 back. My case is probably different than most here and from what I have read around the web, not a cruise critic, my thoughts have changed on the refund process.  It has become somewhat apparent that certain cancellations are much easier and faster than others. I cancelled my Sun cruise to Alaska for August back on March 20th. This was before NCL cancelled all Sun Alaska cruise about three weeks later. I was paid in full and was at day 146 outside the 120 final payment cutoff. I called to cancel and was immediately sent a cancellation email. No form to fill out. I was told 7-10 business days for the refund. Well, that never happened and I too thought I was going to get screwed. I was just about to go the chargeback rout as I used my personal bank debit card and not a standard credit card. Well, at day 32 I got everything back to my bank to my relief. I started wondering why comparatively speaking that I got my refund before many others. I too kind of figured it should be as easy as pressing a button and in my case it pretty much was. Got the email and then the refund albeit 32 days later. I’m guessing, just guessing that once you get inside 120 days that NCL’s system is designed or forbids an instant refund because in most cases outside this virus it can’t just happen. Against my previous thoughts it very well may be that each of these bookings has to be done manually and with short staffs and so many bookings it was going to take 90 days. Many were saying this is exactly what was happening and most believed they were delaying purposely. I was a skeptic but now that I have my personal funds back it gives me hope for everyone else that they will indeed get their refund because I am no more important than anyone else to NCL it’s just that I went an earlier and different route cancelling. I’ve read reports of others doing the same thing I did and getting their refunds as well. Let this just be a glimmer of hope for all those that believe their money is gone ....even as I once did.

Good news!  I'm glad that is now settled for you.

[shof515]

another problem that makes a refund a bit harder to process is the cancellation window. if the cruise is canceled within that window that has a fee/penalty for canceling, Norwegian needs to override that mostly likely by manually refunding it or canceling the cruise in a different way so there is no penalty

 

on a different cruise line, they sent out automatically cancellation emails that listed a penalty fee which was an error since they was no penalty of canceling. that caused a lot of confusion from what i saw

[tallnthensome]

19 minutes ago, shof515 said:

another problem that makes a refund a bit harder to process is the cancellation window. if the cruise is canceled within that window that has a fee/penalty for canceling, Norwegian needs to override that mostly likely by manually refunding it or canceling the cruise in a different way so there is no penalty

 

on a different cruise line, they sent out automatically cancellation emails that listed a penalty fee which was an error since they was no penalty of canceling. that caused a lot of confusion from what i saw

Yes, a lot can happen to individuals, certain cruises, or the company all together like we are seeing now in a 120 day period. It’s pretty apparent that their system only allows for a couple of different options to the reps and not a variety of scenarios that we have seen lately. If your case is different than mine (standard or typical ) or different than the usual cancellations in the past (most are now) NCL’s system must be like launching a nuclear missile in difficulty and BS for the reps and done manually. Going forward they will need a “cancel all and immediately refund” button on their end. Enough of the 90 day waits and useless irrelevant forms to fill out and process manually. 

Edited April 28, 2020 by tallnthensome

[YVRBassElectric]

I requested refunds of deposits paid on Mar 3 & 24 (cruise not canceled) haven't received either

[Roger88]

All I can say is that I am happy for you my friend. Its some good sum of money you got back. You are lucky in a way cause there are plenty of people who are still waiting for a refund. I also wonder what type of cruise you were booking that costs that much. I thout the medium range was something between 2.5-4k for a premium type of cruise. Anyway, I am glad you got your money back, hope your next cruise wont be cancelled 

[tallnthensome]

1 minute ago, Roger88 said:

All I can say is that I am happy for you my friend. Its some good sum of money you got back. You are lucky in a way cause there are plenty of people who are still waiting for a refund. I also wonder what type of cruise you were booking that costs that much. I thout the medium range was something between 2.5-4k for a premium type of cruise. Anyway, I am glad you got your money back, hope your next cruise wont be cancelled 

It was a 12 day to Alaska on the Sun with my wife and two young daughters.

 

9 minutes ago, YVRBassElectric said:

I requested refunds of deposits paid on Mar 3 & 24 (cruise not canceled) haven't received either

Were you inside or outside of the 120 day cutoff for your cruise(s)? 

[YVRBassElectric]

2 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

 

Were you inside or outside of the 120 day cutoff for your cruise(s)? 

outside - deposit paid for Sept cruise, final payment was due May 24

[tallnthensome]

5 minutes ago, YVRBassElectric said:

outside - deposit paid for Sept cruise, final payment was due May 24

All things considered I would expect (hope) in the next 5 business days. Did you get an emailed cancellation invoice? 

[YVRBassElectric]

Just now, tallnthensome said:

All things considered I would expect (hope) in the next 5 business days. Did you get an emailed cancellation invoice? 

yes, I followed up with PCC when my April cruise was cancelled and he confirmed it will be 90 days for each refund. Unfortunately my CC company considers 90 days to be reasonable in these extraordinary circumstances .

I am grateful that I can stay safely at home & my vacation fund will be replenished before we are able to travel - lots of other people have worse things to worry about.

[tallnthensome]

5 minutes ago, YVRBassElectric said:

yes, I followed up with PCC when my April cruise was cancelled and he confirmed it will be 90 days for each refund. Unfortunately my CC company considers 90 days to be reasonable in these extraordinary circumstances .

I am grateful that I can stay safely at home & my vacation fund will be replenished before we are able to travel - lots of other people have worse things to worry about.

It will be interesting to see if the deposit refund for September cruise comes first somehow. 

[beach Friday]

I cancelled a cruise for end of August only had deposit before final payment. I already received deposit back took 2 weeks

[NW Pacific]

I canceled  Sept. 14 cruise on March 30, Had a $1500.00 deposit.  Final payment not due until May 17th.  Got my deposit back to my credit card on April23.  Was told 7-10 days upon cancellation so was getting a little stressed.

[tallnthensome]

Yea, it certainly appears to hold true. Lots of people who cancelled on their own for cruises farther out even around the same time as the mass cancellations are getting their money back quicker. Seems like those outside final payment are not thrown into the huge buckets of returns for cancelled sailings ..... two different refund groups and maybe system processes. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by tallnthensome

[Georgia_Peaches]

I'm really glad you received your money!  You've certainly put some thought into what might be going on with the refunds and your logic seems spot on.  Do you think that if NCL were to just put out a statement regarding the reason behind the 90 day time frame that explains the process, people might feel a little less stressed about the prospect of losing their money?  It seems to me that if they were just a bit more transparent about the obstacles that need to be handled manually, it would remove some of the speculation and stress.  It's human nature to fill in our own blanks when there's a lack of information coming straight from the source.

[tallnthensome]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I'm really glad you received your money!  You've certainly put some thought into what might be going on with the refunds and your logic seems spot on.  Do you think that if NCL were to just put out a statement regarding the reason behind the 90 day time frame that explains the process, people might feel a little less stressed about the prospect of losing their money?  It seems to me that if they were just a bit more transparent about the obstacles that need to be handled manually, it would remove some of the speculation and stress.  It's human nature to fill in our own blanks when there's a lack of information coming straight from the source.

Yes, transparency is key. NCL should be honest and lay it all out on the table. Just tell people who is going to get their refunds first. Tell us which types of cancellations will be done first. Are they doing refunds ship by ship? I agree, people are short on patience and answers so we speculate. Even if the news isn’t what some want to hear in regard to timelines, the honesty may actually help retain customers.  

[esm54687]

On 4/28/2020 at 3:19 PM, YVRBassElectric said:

Unfortunately my CC company considers 90 days to be reasonable in these extraordinary circumstances. 

Thanks for including this!!! All those advising people to dispute charges are under some romantic notion that all things are normal!! 

[JimS4210]

20 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

I canceled  Sept. 14 cruise on March 30, Had a $1500.00 deposit.  Final payment not due until May 17th.  Got my deposit back to my credit card on April23.  Was told 7-10 days upon cancellation so was getting a little stressed.

I hope my case ends like yours... I cancelled my Dec 12th cruise on April 4th. Put down a deposit of $1500 and was told it'll take up to 90 days to get my deposit back. Looks like yours took a little over 3 weeks to get refunded. That's where I am right now.

 

Jim

[Loucat]

Thank you for sharing you received your refund. Gives those of us still in line some hope. We had 2 cruises cancelled; one in March and the other in May. NCL cancelled both. I applied for a refund for the March cruise and need to wait until May 5th to request a refund for the May sailing. I do not want any FCC's at this time.

I want to see how this all rolls out and how pax and crew can be safe on these ships.

Imagine social distancing in an NCL elevator? Usually, we are pressed in like sardines.

Just when you think you cannot lose 1 inch of space, there is a last minute pax pushing their way into the elevator. Take a deep breath and hold your stomach in!

That is something they will need to work on.

[NW Pacific]

JimS4210, hopefully your refund  being processed, I was told 7-10 days, not 90 on March 30th.  and yes it was under 30 days that I got refunded.  think every situation is different in who gets in line for refunds first.  think deposits only like ours was easy for them to refund, but still not in time frame they told me.  BUT, am thankful to have $$ back.  We have cruised with NCL 20 plus cruises, enjoyed all, but those days I fear are long gone. so sad, that was our retirement enjoyment.

[JimS4210]

15 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

JimS4210, hopefully your refund  being processed, I was told 7-10 days, not 90 on March 30th.  and yes it was under 30 days that I got refunded.  think every situation is different in who gets in line for refunds first.  think deposits only like ours was easy for them to refund, but still not in time frame they told me.  BUT, am thankful to have $$ back.  We have cruised with NCL 20 plus cruises, enjoyed all, but those days I fear are long gone. so sad, that was our retirement enjoyment.

Got my $1500 refund onto my credit card today! One less thing to worry about in these crazy times...

 

Jim

[NW Pacific]

Good for you!  agree one less thing to stress over, as if there are  not enough in daily life already!!  Hoping all others get their $$ refunded soon.

[acl12345]

We canceled our Jan 28 Gem cruise April 16 and got full refund yesterday.  13 days.  Very happy considering all that's going on..

[tallnthensome]

2 minutes ago, acl12345 said:

We canceled our Jan 28 Gem cruise April 16 and got full refund yesterday.  13 days.  Very happy considering all that's going on..

Another case of cancelling outside final payment and getting a refund somewhat quickly ....... Good for you, happy I”ll bet as was I. 

[deefer]

1 hour ago, tallnthensome said:

Another case of cancelling outside final payment and getting a refund somewhat quickly ....... Good for you, happy I”ll bet as was I. 

Here’s another one .... we cancelled on April 21st (by phone)  for a Sept cruise (final payment was due at the end of May).  We were told it could take up to 90 days.  Got the cruise next certificates back in our account within 3 days and the remainder $1000 credited to our credit card on April 29th - 8 days!  Nice surprise.