Refunds/FCC Specifically to UK bookings

[Ron the Rev]

Has any one who has booked a cruise in the UK had a refund and or FCC since canceling it due to the pandemic?

In march Princess issued a notice which included a paragraph regarding people with pre existing medical conditions being denied boarding. Subsequently that paragraph was deleted.

Upon reading this I canceled all 5 of our cruises for this year. The first cruise which was to have departed on 30th May which had been paid in full was partly refunded to my credit card with a promise to put FCC to my account,( some 25% of the cruise cost) This FCC to date hasn't happened. The other 4 cruises between dates 02 AUG and 06 Nov were canceled with the promise of  refunds of the substantial deposits to my various cards again to date nothing has happened .

What are your experiences ? Thanks, but as I say only UK bookings. 

[darknightsdespiser]

Cancelled June cruise on 18 March, was given no indication that there would be a wait for a refund, heard nothing since. They don't answer their phones. 

[pines46]

Hi

Princess cancelled our cruise 15th February, 11 days before we were due to fly to Singapore for 21 night cruise, and I have a letter from them saying we will get a full refund plus FCC 50% of cruise fare. As of today 14th June despite phone calls and emails no refund yet, If we have not received within next two weeks I am going to our Credit Card and ask for a charge back.

 

We booked through Cruise2. who have said to be patient , under UK rules we are entitled to refund within 14 days, I think 3 months is patient enough considering we were one of the early cancellations with Princess, are Princess just refunding USA?

 

We have another cruise in November with Princess Singapore to OZ.

 

 I would also like to know if any other from UK have had their refund yet for Sapphire Princess cruise,

[bluang3l]

I'm in the UK and was in the phase 2 cancellation group for a Coral Princess cruise on 13th May - booked directly with Princess.

 

Filled in my cruise refund request form on 14th April.

 

I requested excursion refunds around mid March - can't remember the exact date as I didn't receive an email confirmation.

 

On Friday I received a Paypal notification of a refund of one of the excursions.  Today when I logged in to check my credit card, that and the other excursion I paid for directly with my credit card have both been refunded with a transaction date of 12th June.

 

I've only received the excursion refunds so far, hopefully the cruise refund will come through soon! 

 

I haven't chased Princess for any updates or filed any credit card disputes.

Edited June 14, 2020 by bluang3l
update re: chasing for refund

[ohnonotmeagain]

I cancelled  March 12th for a May 15th cruise.Got refund to CC few days later, approx 75%,less cancellation fees.We were assured this would be returned as FCC ,but not yet! I have it in writing, or rather, email  that this WILL happen at some point .They said 30 days, then 60,who knows.I willing them every now and again, just to make sure that I don't fall down the cracks. 

 

Booked direct, no TA,if that helps. 

[pines46]

Did you book through a T/A in the UK? Also it's 4 months since Princess cancelled our cruise, my T/A not really bothered.

 

[Ron the Rev]

40 minutes ago, pines46 said:

Did you book through a T/A in the UK? Also it's 4 months since Princess cancelled our cruise, my T/A not really bothered.

 

I booked direct with Princess. It's been a long wait and still waiting.

[favouriteplaces]

Received our 25% FCC on 22 May for a transpacific cruise sailing 12 April 2020. Princess cancelled on 12th March & we opted for Option 2 on March 17th. No refund of cruise fare & air yet! No refund of shore excursions or other on board purchases. We booked directly with Princess 

[Aulanis]

I started a similar thread in the UK Cruiser section

 

It doesnt see a lot of action 🙂

I have been on the main refund thread as well and not many UK.

Will not repeat the detail here but  we were cancelled mid cruise  and

they really messed up  

I try and encourage  naming the ship and cruise date as without that

I feel posts  lacking.  Ours was Sea Princess   10 March.

We booked through a TA and did not involve them at first  but needed

to to get more details of our flights.

It has been a long job buts we got our home bound travel expenses back

last Friday ( No  Refund of Cruise Fare FCC s Port fees ) but  hopeful of more soon though Princess did say it could be another 60 days!!

Maybe we were lucky but out contact at the TA (IGLU)  has been really helpful.

 

Anyone who booked direct  I would say if it has been more than 30 days

I would go the Cr/Dr Card Claim route.  From the way things are going it

looks like there will be another tranche of cancellations soon and I dont

really see how Carnival can keep going with very little income.  Most cruises

being booked with  small deposit and most of balance with FCCs

This is just my personal view. 

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by Aulanis

[Ron the Rev]

Bumped for all our sakes in the UK

[favouriteplaces]

I spoke to Princess just now & they told me our refund has been processed on 12th June for cruise fare & air, then 16th June for all of my onboard pre-purchases...Let’s see how long these take to appear back on cards. Fingers (& everything else) crossed!

[Aulanis]

Did you ask or did they give any indication of timescale.

[Ron the Rev]

I had a bunch of full deposit refunds about £2k to credit cards today covering 4 cruises sail dates between AUG 2nd 2020 and Nov 6th 2020  which Princes canceled.  Well done for that Princess, but I'm still waiting for promised FCC for cancelation charges for a cruise sailing date May 30th 2020 . Anyone been waiting for FCC to show up in their captain's circle account from that far back ? 😬

[pines46]

I received 28th June  FCC for 1st March 2020 sailing, I was expecting if to be more as it was a 21 day cruise, and we have to sail by 28th Feb 2021!! Hopefully it can go towards payment of our November cruise Singapore to OZ but I think possibly that won't go ahead.

Still waiting on refund for the cruise though, which Princess cancelled 15th February. I am now going down credit card route, as I think 137 days is way to long to wait for refund.

[Ron the Rev]

1 hour ago, pines46 said:

I received 28th June  FCC for 1st March 2020 sailing, I was expecting if to be more as it was a 21 day cruise, and we have to sail by 28th Feb 2021!! Hopefully it can go towards payment of our November cruise Singapore to OZ but I think possibly that won't go ahead.

Still waiting on refund for the cruise though, which Princess cancelled 15th February. I am now going down credit card route, as I think 137 days is way to long to wait for refund.

Hi pines I had an email from a Princess rep a couple of weeks ago with the promise that he could extend the FCC another year. Try talking to them and get the customer service person to confirm with their supervisor ( shout loud)

[pines46]

Yes I will, was going to wait until refund of holiday then phone them. The other FCC received from Crown cancellation are Book by march 2022, so don't really know why this is only 8 months to sail by, seeing as no cruises for few more months at least.

 

Thanks

[darknightsdespiser]

On 6/14/2020 at 12:03 AM, darknightsdespiser said:

Cancelled June cruise on 18 March, was given no indication that there would be a wait for a refund, heard nothing since. They don't answer their phones. 

Refund now here, very happy!

[ellie1145]

We were booked on a 2 week Caribbean Princess cruise, through 118 leaving U.K. on 21 May, sailing on the 23rd. 

 

So far they have issued a refund credit note for the cruise to be paid no later than September 30th, but still nothing for the flights.

 

So essentially we have nothing and not likely to get anything for another 3 months - if we are lucky!

 

Has anyone else had this experience? 

 

We worry that with the present situation of cruises being cancelled left right and centre, the end of September is a long, long way off and who knows if 118 will still be around by then.

 

We’ve had no luck with the credit card company who say we have a refund credit note (which really is only a promise, not a guarantee) so they won’t refund us anything. 

 

We are getting really frustrated.

 

Best company so far has been Hotels.com who refunded our non-refundable hotel stay without even being asked for the money.

 

Worst has been holidayextras who won’t even refund on a refundable booking. All we have is a voucher. 

 

 

 

 

[Aulanis]

Have you spoken to or emailed Princess?  They may try not to want to

give any information direct as you are booked through a TA but  they will if you escalate the matter.   It is still hard work - we are almost there its been

100 days or so  for us. Communication has been made worse by ABTA

guidance to their members increasing response time from 14 then 28 to

now 56 days.  If you have full details of your flights maybe try for a refund

from the airline.  Which ship were you booked on?

[ohnonotmeagain]

11 hours ago, ellie1145 said:

We were booked on a 2 week Caribbean Princess cruise, through 118 leaving U.K. on 21 May, sailing on the 23rd. 

 

So far they have issued a refund credit note for the cruise to be paid no later than September 30th, but still nothing for the flights.

 

So essentially we have nothing and not likely to get anything for another 3 months - if we are lucky!

 

Has anyone else had this experience? 

 

We worry that with the present situation of cruises being cancelled left right and centre, the end of September is a long, long way off and who knows if 118 will still be around by then.

 

We’ve had no luck with the credit card company who say we have a refund credit note (which really is only a promise, not a guarantee) so they won’t refund us anything. 

 

We are getting really frustrated.

 

Best company so far has been Hotels.com who refunded our non-refundable hotel stay without even being asked for the money.

 

Worst has been holidayextras who won’t even refund on a refundable booking. All we have is a voucher. 

 

 

 

 

Holiday extras were a nightmare but eventually we go our money back, like you,refused repayment on a fully refundable booking. There is a FB page for like minded people trying for refunds. It took me 6 weeks!

 

However still waiting on Princess for FCC.....111 days

[ellie1145]

1 hour ago, Aulanis said:

Have you spoken to or emailed Princess?  They may try not to want to

give any information direct as you are booked through a TA but  they will if you escalate the matter.   It is still hard work - we are almost there its been

100 days or so  for us. Communication has been made worse by ABTA

guidance to their members increasing response time from 14 then 28 to

now 56 days.  If you have full details of your flights maybe try for a refund

from the airline.  Which ship were you booked on?

Thank you for your response. It was 2 weeks on Caribbean Princess.

 

Yes, we have been in contact with Princess, but as we booked through a TA they don’t want to know. But I will follow your suggestion and escalate it with them.

 

Our flights were with Virgin, say no more, they are apparently on their beam end (like so many airlines) so the TA says they have to claim on their insurance.

 

It’s going to be a long wait we think. 

[ellie1145]

23 minutes ago, ohnonotmeagain said:

Holiday extras were a nightmare but eventually we go our money back, like you,refused repayment on a fully refundable booking. There is a FB page for like minded people trying for refunds. It took me 6 weeks!

 

However still waiting on Princess for FCC.....111 days

 

Thanks for that information. 

 

They are, apparently, quoting a well hidden clause in their Terms and Conditions, which they say they added after the volcanic ash fiasco, years ago. This gives them the right to NOT refund even if you have a refundable booking. Who reads through the minutia of every T&C? The most outrageous thing is that they charge you extra for a refundable booking yet in reality it is no such thing, as they can refuse to give you your money back.

 

This sort of behaviour leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I will not use them ever again if I can avoid it. Hotels.com on the other hand gave us a full refund on a NON refundable booking without even being asked. The money just returned to our account. Great customer service.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I have every sympathy with the dire situation and how companies are struggling to stay afloat, but Holiday Extras takes the biscuit.

 

 

[favouriteplaces]

Happy to report that our full refund of cruise fare & air have been received (via cheque) this morning for our April 12th Ruby trans-Pacific, cancelled by Princess on 12th March. FCCs were received May 22nd, excursions & on-board pre-purchases received 21st June. No disputes raised. Happy Cruiser! 

[ellie1145]

3 minutes ago, favouriteplaces said:

Happy to report that our full refund of cruise fare & air have been received (via cheque) this morning for our April 12th Ruby trans-Pacific, cancelled by Princess on 12th March. FCCs were received May 22nd, excursions & on-board pre-purchases received 21st June. No disputes raised. Happy Cruiser! 

Glad to hear that! Well done!

[saint_em]

We just got our refund for an excursion we cancelled back in early April.

 

However... We missed the date for requesting a refund of our deposit so I think it gets turned in to a future deposit credit or something. Anyway, this might be a silly question, but where do we see that credit? Is it visible on the website somewhere?