Figuring out refunds

[pcur]

I need some help from those of you that are tracking multiple refunds.  The issue I have is RCCL takes your payment as a lump sum, and then slices-and-dices the money when it comes to refunds.  For instance: $500 total paid for XYZ cruise, then RCCL cancels it, and they start slicing up that $500 until it's unrecognizable into FCC and refund(s).

 

I'm going nuts!  I'm trying to track 5 FCCs and 11 "pieces" of refunds: prepaid gratuities, port taxes, transfers, Cruise Planner purchases.

 

Add to this confusion that there's no telling when the refund will hit your credit card.  Plus, I used multiple credit cards (for bonus point to get obc and free airline points).  The benefits of multiple cards outweighs the hassle of checking for refunds in multiple places.  

 

I got a refund 2 days ago for a "mystery amount".  I had no idea what it was for; just that it came from RCCL.  I finally did a "search all emails" for the dollar amount, and found it was for a price drop that my travel agent and RCCL insisted there was no refund due.  This was on 9/2/21, and the refund popped in my credit card on 1/26/22.

 

Does anyone have any way of tracking this stuff?  Yes, I have a spreadsheet, but it would be like the Federal Budget if I sliced all the little bits up in it.  I have a lot of booked cruises.

 

I have no idea why they give all this detail in the bank transaction, but RCCL cannot give the reservation number.

 

Any thoughts?  Just trust them?  Thanks for any help.

[molly361]

I'm sure it's not the answer you want but I had to call them and they can give you all the $$ amounts and cc numbers for the bookings

[Ferry_Watcher]

With my refund, I received the port taxes and fees quickly.

[ILCTCRUISER]

Yes, call but make sure you have your record of dates you made payments and the amounts.  I took a refund for an Anthem sailing last September.  I got a refund but it didn't match what I knew I had paid. When I called I was at one time told that there was no longer any money left in the booking to be refunded.  The rep knew the cruise fare as well as the payments I made.  I was dumbfounded by the response.  It was, after all, a matter of addition and subtraction.  I needed to escalate the matter.  In the end I was made whole.  I was told that the balance that still needed to be refunded had been "coded" incorrectly, which goes along with @pcurmention of how fares are often broken up and deposited into different buckets (accounts).  I can understand why RCCL wants to segregate taxes/fees and pre-cruise purchases.  

Edited January 29, 2022 by ILCTCRUISER

[pcur]

16 minutes ago, molly361 said:

I'm sure it's not the answer you want but I had to call them and they can give you all the $$ amounts and cc numbers for the bookings

Wow!  I did not know that!  It's the answer I need, but not necessarily want.......I see a loooooong TA phone call in my future.  Thanks!

[orville99]

We always get a copy of our final booking invoice that shows all of the line items that we paid for a cruise. We pull those out and find the matching refund amounts, since they refund by line item.

[pcur]

8 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Yes, call but make sure you have your record of dates you made payments and the amounts.  I took a refund for an Anthem sailing last September.  I got a refund but it didn't match what I knew I had paid. When I called I was at one time told that there was no longer any money left in the booking to be refunded.  The rep knew the cruise fare as well as the payments I made.  I was dumbfounded by the response.  It was, after all, a matter of addition and subtraction.  I needed to escalate the matter.  In the end I was made whole.  I was told that the balance that still needed to be refunded had been "coded" incorrectly, which goes along with @pcurmention of how fares are often broken up and deposited into different buckets (accounts).  I can understand why RCCL wants to segregate taxes/fees and pre-cruise purchases.  

 

I am having this exact experience on one of my FCCs. I usually start nagging after 45 days. I will probably have to escalate it by next month; it's been 3 months already.

[pcur]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

We always get a copy of our final booking invoice that shows all of the line items that we paid for a cruise. We pull those out and find the matching refund amounts, since they refund by line item.

My TA does not provide me with that detail, but I'm to the point where I think I'm going to book with RCCL and transfer all future cruises.  I'll get this detail, plus the D+ desk knows what the heck a DP340 discount is, too!

[read2learn]

RCCL canceled my Serenade cruise that was to be departing today.  ☹️ My refund has been in 4 payments but $100 is still owed. I hope they refund that before I have to call and deal with them. I could figure out 2 of the payments but the other 2 amounts were strange.  Good Lick!!

[pcur]

7 minutes ago, read2learn said:

RCCL canceled my Serenade cruise that was to be departing today.  ☹️ My refund has been in 4 payments but $100 is still owed. I hope they refund that before I have to call and deal with them. I could figure out 2 of the payments but the other 2 amounts were strange.  Good Lick!!

I am also waiting for refunds and FCC on that same cancelled cruise. I have received nothing so far.  $100 sounds like their system is keeping a "cancellation fee", as if you cancelled.

[orville99]

23 minutes ago, pcur said:

My TA does not provide me with that detail, but I'm to the point where I think I'm going to book with RCCL and transfer all future cruises.  I'll get this detail, plus the D+ desk knows what the heck a DP340 discount is, too!

Strange, because when we used a TA both the TA and we received a booking invoice.I’d try calling the C&A desk, giving them the booking number and asking if they can send you a copy.

[molly361]

5 minutes ago, pcur said:

I am also waiting for refunds and FCC on that same cancelled cruise. I have received nothing so far.  $100 sounds like their system is keeping a "cancellation fee", as if you cancelled.

I had lost track of my refunds as well when my husband got sick in November.  I just had my TA check on a couple of them a couple of weeks ago and for whatever reason Royal never did issue them.  I just got them back to my credit card recently.  Like you said it's hard to track them the way they issue them.  I wasn't really sure if I had gotten them or not.  You really have to stay on top of it 

[melbur]

I think they are using an abacus to calculate refunds. 

[gdwest]

We had three staterooms booked for Harmony back in 2021. Each room had a $500 deposit

(2 passengers-for $250 each).  When rebooked, only one stateroom pulled the correct FCC amount

After several frustrating phone calls, I was informed that when the original reservation was

cancelled, we were "over-refunded on our credit card" for two of the rooms. With all the small credits here and there for the fare, cruise planner excursions and drink packages... and many hours attempting to reconcile on my own (and my job is in accounting)..l gave up.  Honestly, I believe I have not

received the correct FCC amounts; however, I just don't have the time and patience to stay on the

phone with a rep. that can't tell me when and the amounts of "extra credits" I supposedly received.

 

SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[adolfo2]

Royal has been intentionally obfuscating refunds since COVID hit almost 2-years ago. No reconciliation just random refund amounts and good luck if it's for multiple sailings!

 

[LB_NJ]

5 hours ago, molly361 said:

I'm sure it's not the answer you want but I had to call them and they can give you all the $$ amounts and cc numbers for the bookings

They also screw that up from time to time.

 

I lost $50 and decided to just write that amount off.  FYI, tried calling several times to no avail.

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

Royal has been intentionally obfuscating refunds since COVID hit almost 2-years ago. 

 

Even pre COVID, RCI had a refund system with odd amounts like now. 

[twangster]

The odd amounts may depend on your credit card company and the merchant fees that companies like Royal pay.  There is some sort of advantage for refunding in multiple parts versus a single amount.   

[pcur]

Going forward, I'm just going to book direct and get the RCCL invoice, because it has more detail.  Then, transfer to my TA, because it gives me shopping cards.

 

Anything that is in an email I can search on, and that's how I found the "mystery" refund I got last week:  searched on the amount of the refund in my email archives.

 

But, that means I can never delete any cruise confirmation emails until the cruise is over, and I make partial payments, price drops, cabin upgrades ALL the time.  Sigh.....the price of doing business.

[CruisinNole]

I canceled a 31 January cruise on 17 January. Received the refund to my credit card today. It was broken into 4 separate transactions. Two I recognized as port charges, however the cruise itself was broken into 2 different credits which when totaled equaled the cost of the cruise. This happened to me once before and I had to call Royal to get the balance of my refund. The representative I talked to had no clue as to why it was broken up. I also received a refund for a cruise planner purchase today which I also canceled on 17 January. It was on a different credit card. I thought for sure I'd get that one right away. No complaints though since I was told to expect 8 to 13 weeks for Royal to process the refund. 

 

I have stopped booking through the TA I've used for 11 years. She's just too busy and if I'm going to have to call Royal to resolve an issue, I figured I might as well book directly with them.

Edited February 12, 2022 by CruisinNole

[nelblu]

I had the same issues and finally gave up.  Called RCL CS and they told me that I had to deal with my TA.  Called my TA and they were having problems identifying even after discussing with RCL.  One of the credits was for 30 cents.  Have an accounting background, but I was/am stumped.  I got extra credits and waiting for the day when they will take the money's back, if ever.😜