Cunard's Cancellations/Refunds Update 9th June 2020

[Coathanger]

The refund for a May 9 cruise appeared on my Westpac credit card this morning.

 

• Direct booking with Cunard Australia
• Refund requested 30 March
• Followed up via phone 2 June, refund request escalated to 'finance'
• Refund received 18 June

Total of 79 days between refund request and receipt.

[jland]

Thanks frantic36 for keeping me up to date on refunds, you have me worried as to whether Cunard have received my refund request. Your TA has looked after you, trying to get in touch with mine is a nightmare. Taking heart that at least some of you are getting your money back.

[frantic36]

1 hour ago, jland said:

Thanks frantic36 for keeping me up to date on refunds, you have me worried as to whether Cunard have received my refund request. Your TA has looked after you, trying to get in touch with mine is a nightmare. Taking heart that at least some of you are getting your money back.

 

jland I am sorry to worry you. We also called Cunard Australia direct last week to see if they could give us a timeline. Maybe we were lucky but the wait time wasn't too bad, around 10 minutes. It does seem like it goes to a call centre but they did tell us it was processed on the 9th June. It just took awhile to hit our bank account.

 

Maybe try phoning Cunard if your TA is difficult to get hold off?

[jland]

YIPPEE, just got an email from Cunard to say our refund was processed on 16th June. They did say we will wait 20 days to get our money but we don’t care about that, at least we know the money is coming.

Thanks to frantic36 we have taken on board to always take a screenshot when sending forms. Valuable lesson that.

Hope everyone else soon get their refund especially Bazzsaw.

[JuniorCruisers]

Encouraging to see some more Australians receive their refunds; will give it a couple more weeks for ours, seems as though things are progressing.

[JuniorCruisers]

13 minutes ago, JuniorCruisers said:

Encouraging to see some more Australians receive their refunds; will give it a couple more weeks for ours, seems as though things are progressing.

 

Haha, well shut my mouth, I just checked my credit card balance and the money was there! Refunded 12 June - not one word from Cunard yet though, but that's okay. We used a different card to pay the deposit to the balance so the two amounts were refunded separately to the two different cards but it's the full amount together. I guess everyone will just need to continue exercising their well-used patience... the money is coming!

[bazzaw]

3 hours ago, frantic36 said:

 

jland I am sorry to worry you. We also called Cunard Australia direct last week to see if they could give us a timeline. Maybe we were lucky but the wait time wasn't too bad, around 10 minutes. It does seem like it goes to a call centre but they did tell us it was processed on the 9th June. It just took awhile to hit our bank account.

 

Maybe try phoning Cunard if your TA is difficult to get hold off?

What phone number please??

[Crafty_Yearnings]

Another Aussie here with a refund for 15/3 QE cruise. Booked and paid direct with c/c. Emailed for refund 18/3. Submitted online form 6/4. C/C refund shown today from 12/6 (no emails or anything from them). 

 

So we now have excursion, cruise and interstate travel expenses all refunded. I feel like I can finally exhale and leave this saga behind me. Good luck all.

[jland]

15 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

What phone number please??

Bazzaw we found out about our refund when I emailed cunard.aspac@canivalaustralia.com

I received a reply almost immediately informing me of my refund. I had booked with a TA.

Have you tried that email address before?

[resordanis]

We also found out by me contacting Cunard and we booked thru a TA. 

[frantic36]

3 hours ago, bazzaw said:

What phone number please??

 

Sorry bazzaw, I just saw this. The number was the same as on the booking form we had...13 24 41.

 

The first time we rang towards end of May they told us it should be in by 1 June. We rang again on 10 June and they told us it had been processed on 9 June. Which is also what they told our TA. But it did take until now to be seen in our credit card.

 

Julie

Edited June 18, 2020 by frantic36

[RJChatsworth]

If a refund of many thousands of pounds is made to my Amex card, how do I transfer that to my Lloyds Bank account, please?  I do not want such a large credit amount on my Amex card for months on end before it is discharged.  I have looked on the Amex site and unless I am missing something, I can't see how to make the transfer.

 

Someone might suggest I telephone Amex, but at this time I am sure they are inundated and perhaps have reduced staffing so I didn't want to bother them.

[AnnieC]

This happened to my daughter on her Amex card. She messaged them via live chat on their website and they transferred the funds to her current account (with another bank).

[orchestrapal]

Our experience has been if you do not charge against it in 30 days

they will send you a check.

 

[Dahani]

Carnivals 2nd quarter results report released to the stock market. 

 

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/CCL/carnival-reports-summary-second-quarter-results/14583074

 

SCHEDULE A

SECOND QUARTER 2020 SUMMARY PRELIMINARY INFORMATION

• U.S. GAAP net loss of $(4.4) billion, or $(6.07) diluted EPS, for the second quarter of 2020, which includes $2.0 billion of non-cash impairment charges. 
• Second quarter 2020 adjusted net loss of $(2.4) billion, or $(3.30) adjusted EPS. 
• Total revenues for the second quarter of 2020 were $0.7 billion, lower than $4.8 billion in the prior year. 
• The company's guest cruise operations have been in a pause for a majority of the second quarter. In addition, the company is unable to definitively predict when it will return to normal operations. As a result, the company is currently unable to provide an earnings forecast. The pause in guest operations is continuing to have material negative impacts on all aspects of the company's business. The longer the pause in guest operations continues the greater the impact on the company’s liquidity and financial position. The company expects a net loss on both a U.S. GAAP and adjusted basis for the second half of 2020.
• Cash burn rate in the second quarter 2020 was generally in line with the previously disclosed expectation.
• Second quarter 2020 ended with $7.6 billion of available liquidity, and the company expects to further enhance future liquidity, including through refinancing scheduled debt maturities. In addition, the company has $8.8 billion of committed export credit facilities that are available to fund ship deliveries originally planned through 2023.
• Total customer deposits balance at May 31, 2020 was $2.9 billion, including $475 million related to cruises during the second half of 2020.

[FedupwithCarnival]

Have just sent Carnival, aka Cunard, a letter before going to small claims court ( see Which website), as I have been waiting since March 31st for repayment of Queen Mary crossing plus flights which they had to cancel because of Covid 19. It is impossible to understand why they have not repaid according to their terms and conditions, given that they have all the bank details of customers. We all know how easy it is to pay online! They took my money very easily.  Cash flow is their problem, no doubt. But their customers shouldn't have to suffer for this situation. Cruising in the future looks uncertain given the poor behaviour of companies. I have been a good Cunard customer over the years. So angry to be treated like this. 60 days I was told for repayment to be made!  79 days and counting. My patience is at an end.

[Ray66]

A lot of us have had to wait that long. I got my cheque last week after cancelling earlier in March than you. You don't say which country you're from but I expect you'll get your refund in the next few days. 🙂

[njpln]

We live in the US.  Our July Fiords cruise was booked via a TA, and it was cancelled on April 23rd. I did the form requesting a refund myself that day.

 

Today I decided it’s time to follow up. I called Cunard and only waited a minute or two for an agent. He told me that it had been processed on June 16 and should take 7 to 10 days to show up on our credit card as a refund.

 

Very happy to hear!

[CorkSerene]

World Cruise on QM2 from Southampton curtailed in Fremantle/Perth. Booked through Cunard in UK.

 

Refund for remainder of cruise claimed on 31/03/20 and received by cheque today!

 

I don't begrudge Cunard the wait - two months is nothing in the scheme of things.

 

Was glad not to have been on one of ships quarantined, where different decisions were made.

 

Looking forward to reading Captain Hashmi's memoirs in due course!

[markham]

How odd. 
 

We were to be on the same cruise to Southampton that was cancelled in Fremantle. We claimed our refund a week before you, on 23 March. That was 87 days ago, nothing like 2 months.

 

What difference does it make? To me, it does! No acknowledgment of our online claim - ever - by Cunard. How could we know we were even in the queue? And then there were those gratuitous videos on Cunard.com by its President Simon Palethorpe. Who obviously is not “engaged”, as he would like you to believe, or we would not be left guessing as to what was what. Ridiculous.

 

Anyway, and after much angst directed needlessly all over the place, our TA confirmed today that Cunard paid our credit cards today. So, and if that is true, we will see the credits for the deposit and final payments on those ccs‘ online statements in a few days.

 

This is all very poorly managed by Cunard. Communications and candour are everything in times of distress. And I hasten to add that this is not an insignificant sum. Palethorpe can hold back his videos going forward for all I care.
 

I won’t be booking an expensive long cruise with Cunard again. Sad, and I have over 410 days on Cunard. There are smarter and better value brands, we know what they are, and I have considerably more days on them. Maybe that Fremantle to Southampton itinerary did hit the spot as it was unique. But the management is, sadly, tone deaf.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[bazzaw]

FINALLY!!! - I have got an email from Cunard (written by a human being) that says they have paid a refund cheque to our TA on 12 June . This only happened after I wrote them a cranky email asking for a personal reply and not an automated reply saying "We are busy - don't call us,  we will call you" because they never do call!!!! This was for a cruise which was cancelled by Cunard on 19 February, almost 4 months ago - one of the very first cancellations.  At least I have an indication now that something is moving - rather than the total silence from all concerned up until now. 

[jland]

1 hour ago, bazzaw said:

FINALLY!!! - I have got an email from Cunard (written by a human being) that says they have paid a refund cheque to our TA on 12 June . This only happened after I wrote them a cranky email asking for a personal reply and not an automated reply saying "We are busy - don't call us,  we will call you" because they never do call!!!! This was for a cruise which was cancelled by Cunard on 19 February, almost 4 months ago - one of the very first cancellations.  At least I have an indication now that something is moving - rather than the total silence from all concerned up until now. 

bazzaw, really pleased you, like us, have nearly received your refund. How long our TA will take to refund our money is anyones guess but at least we know it is on its way.

[majortom10]

I must be really lucky because Cunard so kindly refunded me twice for the same cruise.

 

[PORT ROYAL]

2 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I must be really lucky because Cunard so kindly refunded me twice for the same cruise.

 

 

And you immediately advised them of their mistake....

[majortom10]

23 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

 

And you immediately advised them of their mistake....

Of course.