Ncl refusing to refund cash.

[BonnieJeanne]

Last year, I had booked and completely paid $6100 for NCL JeweI Penthouse Suite out of Seward, AK on June 1, 2020. I have a similar problem of NCL refund refusal after having faith that my NCL Personal Cruise Consultant would be honest about refunds, after I continuously communicated that I wished to get a refund unless I could use FCC in the event that I could use them to cruise this summer of 2020. I spoke with my NCL PCC several times in March and early April as cruises were beginning to cancel, but my cruise on 6/1 remained uncancelled. Our plan was to hope that the cruise sailed and enjoy it, but to let NCL cancel cruise, not myself through NCL Piece of Mind if the cruise were to cancel. On April 24, I received the COVID-19 letter from NCL officially cancelling cruises that included mine. I immediately called my PCC to discuss what my refund options were. I noticed and was suspicious of the letter's odd blurb about an online refund request form that would be available May 7-13, so I brought it up to PCC. I asked if I could wait to see if a desirable Summer 2020 cruise would sail uncancelled and THEN use the FCC, which, by the way, I never asked for or accepted (all NCL actions), towards the cruise, but still be able to get a refund later this summer if all cruises were ultimately cancelled. I was emphatically and clearly told, "Yes, I could absolutely request a refund later without using the online request form during the one-week May period.". She dismissed the dates given in the letter as only applying to the dates when customers could request refund on their own online. The letter does not mention anything about forfeiting any option for a refund if online form is not completed during one-week period. It just says form is available then. I had no reason to doubt my PCC, since we had several conversations over many weeks about options. She was well aware that I wanted to sail this summer, or not at all with a refund. In June, NCL effectively killed any chance of a Summer 2020 cruise when they cancelled everything through October. I then immediately call my PCC direct NCL phone number, only to get a different PCC. Apparently, "Reem" was no longer with NCL. I went on to explain to my new PCC, "Ralfy", that I wished for him to process a refund request for me. He explained that it was too late. I told him about what my PCC told me, and he understood why I would be upset. He suggested that I submit an online Guest Relations claim describing what happened with name, date/time, phone #'s, etc. I did exactly that three times. Each time I received a boiler plate email explaining how they must refuse a refund in all fairness to other passengers without mention of what I described about their employee's wrong, misguided advice. I listed the specific date, time, phone numbers, and duration of the call. I pleaded for them to listen to the call log and that it would clearly corroborate my claim within the first two minutes of the 24-minute phone call. She may have been just mistaken, but NCL actions give me doubt to whether or not she was just following NCL script to avoid as many refunds as possible. I just initiated a charge back request through my Navy Federal Visa, but I don't give that much hope. I have cruised multiple times on NCL and was always aware of their "gotcha" tactics for $$$, but enjoyed their personal butler service enough to stick with them anyway. I won't go so far as too say I can't cruise for the next two years, but next year is not an option, so I was clearly in a "2020 cruise-or-bust" mode. If I am ultimately denied a refund, along with many others, I'm sure, I will try to sell my FCC. If that doesn't work, I'll use my FCC for my last NCL cruise. If they do ultimately refund me, I will still be raw, but perhaps forgiving enough, given the circumstance, to buy another cruise through them.  

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[BonnieJeanne]

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[tfran8]

My understanding is, in the past, you could get your FCC cruise back as a cash/credit refund, as long as NCL cancelled the cruise on you. (At least that's what my TA said.) So the argument is that they changed it without informing us. My cruise has been booked and cancelled three times. All I want at this point is my money back. I am scared of the company going under, and I also am unsure I would want to cruise in the "new normal" - masks on the lido deck, social distancing on the ships, only cruise sponsored excursions. 

 

I know that airlines were forced to give refunds (and not credits) during the pandemic. I got a direct refund from an airline and they didn't even cancel on me, I cancelled on them! I wonder if there is an entity that can force the cruise lines to do the same?

[njhorseman]

12 minutes ago, tfran8 said:

My understanding is, in the past, you could get your FCC cruise back as a cash/credit refund, as long as NCL cancelled the cruise on you. (At least that's what my TA said.) So the argument is that they changed it without informing us. My cruise has been booked and cancelled three times. All I want at this point is my money back. I am scared of the company going under, and I also am unsure I would want to cruise in the "new normal" - masks on the lido deck, social distancing on the ships, only cruise sponsored excursions. 

 

I know that airlines were forced to give refunds (and not credits) during the pandemic. I got a direct refund from an airline and they didn't even cancel on me, I cancelled on them! I wonder if there is an entity that can force the cruise lines to do the same?

Your understanding and your travel agent's advice are wrong.

 

Once you accepted the FCC for the first cancelled cruise you will only receive FCC for subsequent canceled cruises that were paid with that FCC.

 

That's how it's been from day one.

 

You were offered a cash refund initially and could have accepted it then but chose to take FCC instead...and you no doubt accepted a 25% bonus FCC by doing so.

 

Sorry, but it was your choice and there's no undoing it now.

 

 

[sanger727]

5 hours ago, tfran8 said:

My understanding is, in the past, you could get your FCC cruise back as a cash/credit refund, as long as NCL cancelled the cruise on you. (At least that's what my TA said.) So the argument is that they changed it without informing us. My cruise has been booked and cancelled three times. All I want at this point is my money back. I am scared of the company going under, and I also am unsure I would want to cruise in the "new normal" - masks on the lido deck, social distancing on the ships, only cruise sponsored excursions. 

 

I know that airlines were forced to give refunds (and not credits) during the pandemic. I got a direct refund from an airline and they didn't even cancel on me, I cancelled on them! I wonder if there is an entity that can force the cruise lines to do the same?

 

Your TA informed you incorrectly. NCL has never allowed FCC to be returned as cash. Once FCC, always FCC, regardless of how many cruises are cancelled. Your best shot at "forcing" a refund would be through your credit card company. You could try escalating this through your TA since they gave you bad information but hard to say if they would be in the position to help at this point. 

[MoCruiseFan]

On 6/29/2020 at 7:09 AM, penlanspice said:

Anyone having the same problem.

We were on an original sailing in April which was cancelled and paid via a credit card, then we re-booked with the fcc and discount to a cruise in Sept on thejewel which has now been cancelled. Called ncl for a refund as we're not going to rebook due to the inflation of prices and they've told us we can only have it as cruise credit as that's what we paid with for this cruise! When we rebooked we were assured if this cruise was cancelled we'd get a cash refund we never would of booked otherwise.

Absolutely furious at this stage.

 

 

They are only holding those of us who opted for FCC to the terms and conditions that WE AGREED TO.

As listed on the NCL page...

What happens if the cancelled booking had a previous FCC applied?

 

The original FCC amount will be returned to the guests' profile. If an affected booking has a previously applied FCC (as a result of a previous suspended sailing), the enhanced value future cruise credit will not be applicable. Bookings under this circumstance are not eligible for a cash refund and will receive the original value of the FCC back to the guests’ profile.

Note FCCs have no cash value and cannot be redeemed for cash. If a guest opts to retain the FCC provided, the guest hereby agrees to all of NCL’s terms and conditions associated with the FCC, which can also be found on www.ncl.com/cruise-faq. Please be advised that at no time will an FCC be redeemable for cash, including but not limited to situations of possible future cruise suspensions, displacements, cancellations or if the FCC exceeds the time in which it must be used.

Those of us who took the time to read the Terms and Conditions know this.  Those who did not, well shame on them.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 6/29/2020 at 8:21 AM, sanger727 said:

 

I"m not sure that the expectation is unreasonable. But I do think OP is out of luck. The way they put the time limits on applying for a refund, it's not too late to get a refund for the april cruise. And the September cruise is simply being refunded to the same method of payment. I do think it's a poor business practice. At this point I think Norwegian is trying to hang onto every dollar they can get in the short term rather than trying to hang onto customers for the long term. 

 

OP, you could try a charge back and see how far you get with that. You booked a cruise and they failed to provide the service. 

Requesting a charge back would be attempted fraud.  The cruise that was paid for with the CC was settled when the OP agreed to accept FCC and agreed to the terms and conditions of doing so.  There was no "it is now months later and oops I changed my mind clause".  She booked a cruise and accepted the refund in the form of FCC.  A charge back is not a method of covering your butt when you later discover you probably made what in hindsight may have been a bad personal choice.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 6/29/2020 at 8:22 AM, penlanspice said:

When we re-booked we asked and confirmed twice that the cash would be refunded if the next one was cancelled, she told us yes. I dont expect to be lied to! I'm obviously going to believe what I'm told. To have my original form of cash is not costing them more money its just my original form of payment. We would never of booked knowing that we would be stuck as a fcc, not only that I have a time limit to spend it and the next 2 years I'm not going to be able to take a cruise.

It was your original form of payment for the FIRST cruise.  The original form of payment for the new cruise was FCC.  By your logic my original form of payment for my first ever NCL cruise in 2011 was cash so I should have gotten cash back for my free BINGO cruise that was cancelled in 2018!

[MoCruiseFan]

On 6/29/2020 at 8:25 AM, rachiem said:

Can you ask for a recording of your conversation?

It always makes me chuckle to read people think that every single conversation a company has is recorded and even if they were, that the recordings are kept for months or years...

[penlanspice]

This post was from back in July last year, but thats for you multiple quotes from my post and telling me I'm committing fraud and they don't record all phone calls etc, great reading 🤣

 

Just for your information they do record all phone calls and after listening to the call, which they also sent me, I had my cash refund for this cruise. I was told I'd get a cash refund and thats what I got. 

 

Thanks for your input tho.

[rachiem]

1 hour ago, penlanspice said:

This post was from back in July last year, but thats for you multiple quotes from my post and telling me I'm committing fraud and they don't record all phone calls etc, great reading 🤣

 

Just for your information they do record all phone calls and after listening to the call, which they also sent me, I had my cash refund for this cruise. I was told I'd get a cash refund and thats what I got. 

 

Thanks for your input tho.

Glad you got a good result in the end. It's taken me longer this year to unravel all our plans than it was to book them in the first place!

[MoCruiseFan]

On 6/30/2020 at 5:28 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

You were offered a refund or FCC to use on a future cruise. That is the transaction! Once you use the FCC on a future cruise both parties have completed their obligation.

 One the merchant is unable to provide what the terms of the original agreement defined, that constitutes a breach.

 

Merchant does not have the right to modify your original agreement without your consent. The letter that went out was very vague and NCL as the maker of the letter has the burden to hold up their end as specified.

Steve

 

 

There was no breach.  Both parties agreed that the FCC settled the first transaction 100%, done deal.  Noting going forward changes that.  The fact that future cruise might be cancelled was addressed in the terms and conditions of the agreement agreed to by both parties.  NCL is upholding their end of the agreement, it is the whiners who are trying to get out of it.

[sammee]

12 hours ago, penlanspice said:

This post was from back in July last year, but thats for you multiple quotes from my post and telling me I'm committing fraud and they don't record all phone calls etc, great reading 🤣

 

Just for your information they do record all phone calls and after listening to the call, which they also sent me, I had my cash refund for this cruise. I was told I'd get a cash refund and thats what I got. 

 

Thanks for your input tho.

Glad you got your refund, quite a few were told the same as you. I was told the same. I had to dispute mine too but won, situation was way different. They chose to take my free cruise away when they cancelled the second time and only give me fcc for tips, port fees and all those little extras that they wouldn't let me cancel back in March trying to avoid these problems. That didn't come near to getting a new cruise, so who are the fraudsters, lol.

[djkolp]

On 6/29/2020 at 7:09 AM, penlanspice said:

Anyone having the same problem.

We were on an original sailing in April which was cancelled and paid via a credit card, then we re-booked with the fcc and discount to a cruise in Sept on thejewel which has now been cancelled. Called ncl for a refund as we're not going to rebook due to the inflation of prices and they've told us we can only have it as cruise credit as that's what we paid with for this cruise! When we rebooked we were assured if this cruise was cancelled we'd get a cash refund we never would of booked otherwise.

Absolutely furious at this stage.

I just got off the phone with NCL and my situation is identical to what you posted. The email I received from NCL offered a 30% discount on top of the 10% if we booked another cruise by 2/11/2021. The problem is that even with the discount, booking the exact same cruise and stateroom would be $2000 higher than what we originally paid. I realize that the first rebooking was going to be a FCC, but I didn't think that the second cancellation would also be an FCC. Tough for everyone involved.

[tgloersen]

That's why I took my full 100% refund right away.  FCC is useless, unless you can actually use it.

[djkolp]

5 minutes ago, tgloersen said:

That's why I took my full 100% refund right away.  FCC is useless, unless you can actually use it.

I jumped on NCL's first and only email offer at the time, an FCC, and then a week later they were offering full refunds. 

[BirdTravels]

59 minutes ago, djkolp said:

I jumped on NCL's first and only email offer at the time, an FCC, and then a week later they were offering full refunds. 

All NCL-cancelled cruises have been offered cash refunds. We have had cruises cancelled in most of the rounds of cancellation (including the one yesterday). 

[edruth]

 Let me ask this question,  if you took option 2 the FCC and you happen to pass away before this thing is all over with can anybody in your family inherit your paid in full cruise or does it default back to NCL

[hallux]

@edruth I believe FCC can be transferred, someone just needs access to the account that "owns" it, or some way to prove to a CS agent that they have the right to transfer that credit...

[klfrodo]

8 minutes ago, edruth said:

 Let me ask this question,  if you took option 2 the FCC and you happen to pass away before this thing is all over with can anybody in your family inherit your paid in full cruise or does it default back to NCL

Not just "anybody".

When somebody passes away, the court assigns an Administrator (Executor) to the Estate of the deceased.

The Administrators job is to gather all the assets and debt's. The attorney and the administrator work out all the fine details. IF there are any assets left, then the court will have to approve how those assets are divided. Priorities are Court and Attorney fees, Executor fees, debts, then distribution of anything remaining.

[edruth]

So then my son who has power of attorney has the right to do what he wants with the cruise.. I have one for Alaska PIF for both me and my lady friend and I'm 73 in pretty good health but who knows. Thanks for the advice. 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, edruth said:

So then my son who has power of attorney has the right to do what he wants with the cruise.. I have one for Alaska PIF for both me and my lady friend and I'm 73 in pretty good health but who knows. Thanks for the advice. 

No, because typically once you've passed away the power of attorney is no longer valid. Upon your death control of your assets would move to the executor/executrix of your estate . 

 

Please consult with your attorney for advice specific to your state of residence.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 6/29/2020 at 7:53 PM, NayRN said:

Sorry - but when I read that the majority of TAs are being told they completed the forms incorrectly, I tend to not believe the cruise line. It’s got to be tough to not have trust and faith in people you know well.

 

 

What makes you think a majority have been told that?  Have you actually interveiwed every TA in the world or at least in the USA?

 

[MoCruiseFan]

On 6/30/2020 at 5:28 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

You were offered a refund or FCC to use on a future cruise. That is the transaction! Once you use the FCC on a future cruise both parties have completed their obligation.

 One the merchant is unable to provide what the terms of the original agreement defined, that constitutes a breach.

 

Merchant does not have the right to modify your original agreement without your consent. The letter that went out was very vague and NCL as the maker of the letter has the burden to hold up their end as specified.

Steve

The agreement between the cruise line and the customer to settle the first cruise with FCC is done and over once the FCC is accepted.  That contract has been completed and closed.  Booking with the FCC and the cruise being cancelled is a second contract and as agreed to earlier, the remedy is return of the FCC.  Return of the FCC satisfies the agreed to terms of the contract, there is no breach at all.

Twist it however you feel sounds best, when you book with FCC and the cruise is cancelled you get back the FCC that you used to pay for that cruise.

[edruth]

21 hours ago, njhorseman said:

No, because typically once you've passed away the power of attorney is no longer valid. Upon your death control of your assets would move to the executor/executrix of your estate . 

 

Please consult with your attorney for advice specific to your state of residence.