Why Royal Caribbean is taking so long in doing refunds?!?!?

[Ivy86]

Has anyone received refunds on a cruise cancel by them ? They cancel my Cruise 3 weeks ago still waiting on refund. 

[bouhunter]

1.  They are processing TENS OF THOUSANDS more refunds than they were set up to do in the past.

2.  They need cash

 

Likely 1 and 2.

Edited May 9, 2020 by bouhunter

[mjkacmom]

11 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

1.  They are processing TENS OF THOUSANDS more refunds than they were set up to do in the past.

2.  They need cash

 

Likely 1 and 2.

The same as the other cruise lines.

[bouhunter]

6 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

The same as the other cruise lines.

I don't believe I referenced other cruise lines, or said RCCL was any different.

[Mark O]

I don't remember where I read this, so I am not sure if this is accurate, but i read somewhere that they are automatically issuing the 125% future cruise credit for cancelled sailings and that you have to request a refund - at which time they will cancel the future cruise credit and process a refund.  

[Armac]

Just received my money this week for cruise Royal cancelled on Feb 15

[djjoe]

We returned from our last Grandeur cruise on March 19, I have yet to see the refund. It's not just Royal, it's all the cruise lines, they have no reason to rush your refund, they need to hold the money as long as they can. Check the online travel sites, great prices on cruises that may never sail. Right now, their main source of revenue is deposits that are still coming in. Without those deposits, they can't pay refunds. They love to issue FCC, that's your money that they are borrowing at the 25% premium.  This info came from Royal Caribbean. 

 

"As of March 31, 2020, the Company had $2.4 billion in customer deposits.  This includes approximately $0.8 billion of future cruise credits related to previously announced voyage cancellations through June 11, 2020."

[mjkacmom]

50 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

I don't believe I referenced other cruise lines, or said RCCL was any different.

You didn’t, I was agreeing with you and adding the fact that it seems all of the lines are doing the same.

[Mapleleafforever]

1 hour ago, bouhunter said:

1.  They are processing TENS OF THOUSANDS more refunds than they were set up to do in the past.

2.  They need cash

 

Likely 1 and 2.

Yup. 

[orville99]

Already received taxes and fees refunds on two cancelled March and April cruises (Also received the FCCs on both), and full refund on a third one for July that was still outside of final payment date. Now waiting on the refund for the fourth cancellation for May 17 that was cancelled by RCL. If their website is correct, and past history is any judge, we should see that one by the end of the month.

[RosieRoo]

27 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

You didn’t, I was agreeing with you and adding the fact that it seems all of the lines are doing the same.

All the same. Waiting for refunds from Royal, Oceania and Princess. My Royal cruise was in the first round of cancellations by them and I still have not received back port charges/taxes. 

[CruisinNole]

2 hours ago, Ivy86 said:

Has anyone received refunds on a cruise cancel by them ? They cancel my Cruise 3 weeks ago still waiting on refund. 

It took 30 business days to receive a partial refund of our April cruise cancelled by Royal. We're still waiting for the rest of the refund. No rhyme or reason why we did not received the $422 still owed. I fully understand that Royal is swamped. What I do not understand is why they cannot:

1. Send an acknowledgment of receipt of refund request with a confirmation or tracking number.

2. Inform customers of approximately how long it will take to process refund -- 30 days, 45 days, 90 days. If they say 30 days but it's taking 45, pass that info on.

3. Send an email when the refund has been processed including the amount of the refund and information regarding that the refund may be separated into multiple amounts.

4. Include information about who to contact by email or phone number,  if there is a problem regarding the amount of the refund. 

 

These emails can be automated. I'm not expecting a phone call but I do expect some type of communication. Yes, it is wrong for people to be frustrated and to take this frustration out on the customer service reps but Royal is partially to blame for not doing a better job of communicating the status of refunds. 

 

 

[Ptroxx]

Be thankful you didn’t book a NCL trip that cancelled.    90 day wait.    

[CruisinNole]

5 minutes ago, Ptroxx said:

Be thankful you didn’t book a NCL trip that cancelled.    90 day wait.    

I'm OK with 90 days. Just tell me. My complaint is not with the length of time it is taking Royal to process refunds. It's with the complete lack of information they are providing in a timely manner. 

[later]

You may want to check their website. It lists the various wait periods and it seems to me it stated 45 days now for some.  That is probably business days.

[island lady]

Oh yes....45 day (or longer) use of your money...interest free for them!!  😉 

 

Though at the same time they are making sure I get lots of emails asking me for money to pay off two cruises that I am quite certain won't happen.  😉 

Edited May 9, 2020 by island lady

[h20skibum]

We had two that were cancelled by them, and both were reimbursed.  The longest it took was seven and a half weeks.  Still awaiting refund of some cruise planner items, and they say it may be a couple more weeks for those.

 

Some refunds come quicker than others.  Lots of info on here.

[KansasK]

Mine said 45 days from the day of cancellation, which was for me, April 17. So I am not holding my breath yet for the money to come in. The cruise planner items came within 10 days. 

[martinpj]

When mine was canceled and I asked for refund I was told 30 days.  At 30 days I was sent an email stating it was taking a little longer.  It ended up being 45 days.   Currently Carnival is stating 60+ days so RCCL is about 2 weeks quicker.  The cruise lines have old technology and that is what is hurting processing these refunds.   All the cruise lines got enough financing to basically allow them to exist thru the end of the year without sailing so it is a process issue more than a financial one.

[WeatherFx]

8 hours ago, Ivy86 said:

Has anyone received refunds on a cruise cancel by them ? They cancel my Cruise 3 weeks ago still waiting on refund. 

You have only begun to wait. We're almost at the 7 week mark.

Edited May 9, 2020 by WeatherFx

[Baowen]

I have waited 6+ weeks at this point. I am hoping to see the cash before the end of May. I absolutely agree with others that I am fine waiting but I would like to know how long it will take. I have been in the position in an old job of refunding money and the actual process is very easy if you have the original charge. You just pull up the original charge online and push refund.  I am assuming the wait has to do with the volume and their own internal controls.

[KsucAts]

They have stock in Cruise Critic and have learned that delaying refunds increased the traffic here.  😀

[irun5k]

12 hours ago, orville99 said:

Already received taxes and fees refunds on two cancelled March and April cruises (Also received the FCCs on both), and full refund on a third one for July that was still outside of final payment date. Now waiting on the refund for the fourth cancellation for May 17 that was cancelled by RCL. If their website is correct, and past history is any judge, we should see that one by the end of the month.

 

Ah, taxes and fees... so that is probably why my credit card was credited ~$450 the other day even though right now we're still just sitting on the FCC voucher and haven't requested a refund?  If so, that part of the refund took a little under two months.  

 

I was originally going to keep the vouchers but given the state of affairs now I'm trying to turn everything back into cash vs. vouchers.

[OHCruisinDad]

1 hour ago, irun5k said:

 

Ah, taxes and fees... so that is probably why my credit card was credited ~$450 the other day even though right now we're still just sitting on the FCC voucher and haven't requested a refund?  If so, that part of the refund took a little under two months.  

 

I was originally going to keep the vouchers but given the state of affairs now I'm trying to turn everything back into cash vs. vouchers.

 

Their refunds are broken up into different parts.  One part is the cruise fare and deposit.  Another any cruise planner purchases and the third are the taxes and port fees.  Each is handled by a separate department and as stated several times above, their Accounting folks handling refunds are swamped.  They have been posting 30 - 45 days in most cases.  I got FCC in about 35 days from Celebrity and Cruise planner refunds from Royal in about 30 days.  It's been nearly 6 weeks so far for Port fees and taxes I am waiting for.

[deliver42]

This same question is being asked on EVERY forum on CC.