Here's what's happening following my Positive cancellation

[GottaKnowWhen]

I was scheduled to sail on May 23. I did the eMed online test on Saturday May 21. I showed a slight Positive, which was not a total surprise; I had a Positive PCR on May 6 and CDC says that any tests might show Positive for up to 90 days. I did have in hand a Certificate of Recovery which would have allowed me to board my Celebrity cruise to Bermuda, but Bermuda (and most Caribbean Islands as well) do not currently accept anything but a recent Negative test.)

 

So, on the 21st I cancelled my hotel reservations, cancelled airline, cancelled my private tour on Bermuda, and called Celebrity Engagement Center. I was on hold for a bit, explained to the person who answered that I needed to cancel, was transferred, explained to the next person that I needed to cancel. She took my name, reservation number etc., verified all of that, and asked me to email a copy of my Positive test result. I did that. I couldn't be sure that they had received the email so on Monday 23rd I emailed my CVP and asked him to check; he emailed back that my records showed the cancellation and that refunds etc. were in the queue.

 

Meanwhile on May 22 I booked a June 19 cruise, but NOT to Bermuda or Caribbean.

 

Today, June 1, I received an email from Celebrity acknowledging the cancellation and outlining the following:

   - charges to my onboard account had been refunded to my OBC account.

      = Excursion cancelled, credit to OBC

      = Specialty dining cancelled, credit to OBC

   - Upgrade from Classic to Premium Alcohol Package - refund pending to my credit card, to be credited within two billing cycles.

 

Ok, I didn't have a Specialty Dining reservation, but no harm, no foul. My OBC account now shows zero charges against it.

 

Unknowns: 

    - What happens to my OBC?

    - What happens with my cruise fare? FCC or Refund?

 

I could speculate based on others' experiences I've read about here, but I am content to just sit and wait to see what happens. Stay tuned for updates.

 

Stan

Edited June 1, 2022 by GottaKnowWhen
typo

[PSU]

Thank you for the information. Keep us informed please.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Your OBC was for this cruise.  When you cancelled of course the OBC was cancelled as well.

Glad all refunds went well.

[Lastdance]

TBD..., but so far, so good.  It sounds like you may want the refund in time, so you can pay for your next cruise.  Please let us know how the rest is refunded.  FCC would be a pain unless you can just switch it over to the new booking, but that's just my opinion.

Edited June 1, 2022 by Lastdance

[LB_NJ]

I have heard that if you want cash (and not FCC) you need to specifically ask for it, assuming you paid cash and not a FCC to book the cruise.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

I was scheduled to sail on May 23. I did the eMed online test on Saturday May 21. I showed a slight Positive, which was not a total surprise; I had a Positive PCR on May 6 and CDC says that any tests might show Positive for up to 90 days. I did have in hand a Certificate of Recovery which would have allowed me to board my Celebrity cruise to Bermuda, but Bermuda (and most Caribbean Islands as well) do not currently accept anything but a recent Negative test.)

 

So, on the 21st I cancelled my hotel reservations, cancelled airline, cancelled my private tour on Bermuda, and called Celebrity Engagement Center. I was on hold for a bit, explained to the person who answered that I needed to cancel, was transferred, explained to the next person that I needed to cancel. She took my name, reservation number etc., verified all of that, and asked me to email a copy of my Positive test result. I did that. I couldn't be sure that they had received the email so on Monday 23rd I emailed my CVP and asked him to check; he emailed back that my records showed the cancellation and that refunds etc. were in the queue.

 

Meanwhile on May 22 I booked a June 19 cruise, but NOT to Bermuda or Caribbean.

 

Today, June 1, I received an email from Celebrity acknowledging the cancellation and outlining the following:

   - charges to my onboard account had been refunded to my OBC account.

      = Excursion cancelled, credit to OBC

      = Specialty dining cancelled, credit to OBC

   - Upgrade from Classic to Premium Alcohol Package - refund pending to my credit card, to be credited within two billing cycles.

 

Ok, I didn't have a Specialty Dining reservation, but no harm, no foul. My OBC account now shows zero charges against it.

 

Unknowns: 

    - What happens to my OBC?

    - What happens with my cruise fare? FCC or Refund?

 

I could speculate based on others' experiences I've read about here, but I am content to just sit and wait to see what happens. Stay tuned for updates.

 

Stan

 

Hi Stan -

 

Sounds like things are moving along.  

 

OBC -  goes away as your cruise was cancelled it was a part of your original booking - it was a perk of your original booking and has no cash value.

 

Cruise Fare -  For me they are refunding my fare to any credit card I wanted.   They issued 3 credits to credit cards (2 of which  I have never heard of)   One which I do recognize was for the Taxes and Port fee but they issued $350 and $350 to cards I don't recognize.   Working on those and the full refund which I haven't seen yet.

[GottaKnowWhen]

8 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

I have heard that if you want cash (and not FCC) you need to specifically ask for it, assuming you paid cash and not a FCC to book the cruise.

The phone lady said “cruise fare will be refunded to your card…” which surprised me, I was expecting FCC, never asked for a refund. I didn’t question her. Either is fine with me.

[GottaKnowWhen]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Hi Stan -

 

Sounds like things are moving along.  

 

OBC -  goes away as your cruise was cancelled it was a part of your original booking - it was a perk of your original booking and has no cash value.

 

Cruise Fare -  For me they are refunding my fare to any credit card I wanted.   They issued 3 credits to credit cards (2 of which  I have never heard of)   One which I do recognize was for the Taxes and Port fee but they issued $350 and $350 to cards I don't recognize.   Working on those and the full refund which I haven't seen yet.

Jim, if your taxes and port fees show up on my cards by mistake, I will be sure to buy you a really nice drink sometime.

Too many cancellations and changes over the last 27 months. I know that my August 19 Iceland trip was paid off in early May 2020, the funds and perks moved forward to 2021 and more recently to 2022. Along the way I picked up a new perk, the Indulge package. Eight other booked cruises, all at least partially paid for, were cancelled along the way. Some refunds, some FCC.

I don’t know how my Bermuda trip was paid for. FCC?  A moved cancelled reservation? Credit card? I have started to dig back through old emails and Booking Confirmations and credit card statements, just out of curiosity. And I don’t know if it matters in terms of retaining OBC or not. I can’t say I am anxious or concerned, just curious to see how it comes out.

Stan

[abbydancer2003]

I had to cancel our Alaska cruise this week because I missed the Covid days limit.  I cancelled 2 days before, and I don't know if we're getting a refund or FCC.  I don't really care, as long as it one or the other.  

They did cancel my shore excursion.  Oh, well, 5 power up points gone.

 

We rebooked for a couple months later.  It helped take the sting out of it that two days before we cancelled, they changed the one port I wanted to go to.  New cruise has that.  And it also helps that it's the California Primary and I can work that instead.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

23 hours ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

Jim, if your taxes and port fees show up on my cards by mistake, I will be sure to buy you a really nice drink sometime.

Too many cancellations and changes over the last 27 months. I know that my August 19 Iceland trip was paid off in early May 2020, the funds and perks moved forward to 2021 and more recently to 2022. Along the way I picked up a new perk, the Indulge package. Eight other booked cruises, all at least partially paid for, were cancelled along the way. Some refunds, some FCC.

I don’t know how my Bermuda trip was paid for. FCC?  A moved cancelled reservation? Credit card? I have started to dig back through old emails and Booking Confirmations and credit card statements, just out of curiosity. And I don’t know if it matters in terms of retaining OBC or not. I can’t say I am anxious or concerned, just curious to see how it comes out.

Stan

I'm sure it wasn't a mistake.    The agent told me they refunded them immediately upon testing positive.    The amount of the expected refund for the cancelled cruise given was exactly  the price I paid less the Port and Taxes.  

 

It was only about $203 so I didn't even notice it when it hit my account while I was still in Europe. 

 

For me it was pretty easy to figure out how the cruise was paid for.   I did a search on my credit card for Celebrity and could see the full Credit Card Payment for the cruise less the deposit.   Luckily I burnt off all of our FCC's in October.    For me I lost all my OBC's except one.   I had a special OBC that had been applied due to a problem in October and they moved that $800 to my August Cruise.

[GottaKnowWhen]

I spent some time today digging back through paper and electronic files. In March 2020 we had a Celebrity transatlantic cancellation, just a week or so into the total shutdown. I took 125% FCC en lieu of a refund. Later applied that to some cruises (b2b2b) in Fall 2020. Those were cancelled. I applied the FCC to a Spring 2021 b2b Caribbean cruise. Those were cancelled. I think that was when I had the FCC applied to the Bermuda trip which we just had to cancel. Along the way, one of the notices I got from Celebrity said “ if you take the 125% rather than a refund, you’ll also receive $200 extra OBC”. 

I am just going with the flow now, waiting to see what happens next. It won’t change my life if I get $200 OBC or not the next time I try to roll the FCC forward. I will be upset, though, if the FCC vanishes!

 

Stan

[GottaKnowWhen]

As noted at the top, I cancelled the morning of 22 May. Today, 4 June ( only two weeks later) I received a note from a Credit Card that I had received a Merchant Credit from Celebrity Cruises. The $ value doesn’t match any specific charge on my Booking Confirmation, but this is presumably some portion of the taxes and port fees that they always refund rather than converting to FCC.

Stan

[GottaKnowWhen]

On 6/4/2022 at 9:44 PM, GottaKnowWhen said:

As noted at the top, I cancelled the morning of 22 May. Today, 4 June ( only two weeks later) I received a note from a Credit Card that I had received a Merchant Credit from Celebrity Cruises. The $ value doesn’t match any specific charge on my Booking Confirmation, but this is presumably some portion of the taxes and port fees that they always refund rather than converting to FCC.

Stan

Stranger and stranger! Today, June 8, I received 11 Credits on my Celebrity Bank of America card which is what I use for almost everything with Celebrity. Five of those are clearly refunds on the flowers, wine etc. that I had bought as "Bon Voyage Gifts" and on a beverage package upgrade. Another five are amounts that don't track to anything in my Booking Confirmation, and are amounts like $761.28? The total of those five credits is roughly $250 more than my total cruise fare as shown on my most recent Booking Confirmation. And then there is a total mystery, another $200.00 credit. Does this reflect OBC? 

 

My conclusions:

    1. I don't think I'll be getting back any of the FCC from 2020 that had been used to book this cruise.

   2. I don't understand the $ amounts! But I will not spend much energy trying to back-track all of this into Celebrity's somewhat convoluted financial system(s).

   3. I am quite pleased that this all seems to have been resolved within 18 days of my cruise-with-confidence cancellation.

 

Stan

[gotcha3]

On 6/1/2022 at 10:13 AM, GottaKnowWhen said:

I was scheduled to sail on May 23. I did the eMed online test on Saturday May 21. I showed a slight Positive, which was not a total surprise; I had a Positive PCR on May 6 and CDC says that any tests might show Positive for up to 90 days. I did have in hand a Certificate of Recovery which would have allowed me to board my Celebrity cruise to Bermuda, but Bermuda (and most Caribbean Islands as well) do not currently accept anything but a recent Negative test.)

 

So, on the 21st I cancelled my hotel reservations, cancelled airline, cancelled my private tour on Bermuda, and called Celebrity Engagement Center. I was on hold for a bit, explained to the person who answered that I needed to cancel, was transferred, explained to the next person that I needed to cancel. She took my name, reservation number etc., verified all of that, and asked me to email a copy of my Positive test result. I did that. I couldn't be sure that they had received the email so on Monday 23rd I emailed my CVP and asked him to check; he emailed back that my records showed the cancellation and that refunds etc. were in the queue.

 

Meanwhile on May 22 I booked a June 19 cruise, but NOT to Bermuda or Caribbean.

 

Today, June 1, I received an email from Celebrity acknowledging the cancellation and outlining the following:

   - charges to my onboard account had been refunded to my OBC account.

      = Excursion cancelled, credit to OBC

      = Specialty dining cancelled, credit to OBC

   - Upgrade from Classic to Premium Alcohol Package - refund pending to my credit card, to be credited within two billing cycles.

 

Ok, I didn't have a Specialty Dining reservation, but no harm, no foul. My OBC account now shows zero charges against it.

 

Unknowns: 

    - What happens to my OBC?

    - What happens with my cruise fare? FCC or Refund?

 

I could speculate based on others' experiences I've read about here, but I am content to just sit and wait to see what happens. Stay tuned for updates.

 

Stan

I realize this doesn't help the situation much, but I'm also trying to get a handle on all of this covid versus cancel versus test stuff for a family cruise in July. Why didn't you take the EMED rapid antigen test versus a PCR test? The rapid antigen is supposed to filter out the "active" (contagious) genetic material from previous covid infections whereas the PCR does not, it shows ALL covid virus material active or not.

[abbydancer2003]

3 minutes ago, gotcha3 said:

I realize this doesn't help the situation much, but I'm also trying to get a handle on all of this covid versus cancel versus test stuff for a family cruise in July. Why didn't you take the EMED rapid antigen test versus a PCR test? The rapid antigen is supposed to filter out the "active" (contagious) genetic material from previous covid infections whereas the PCR does not, it shows ALL covid virus material active or not.

Sometimes.  I had Covid in May, and have since had 2 PCR after a negative antigen, and both were negative.

[gotcha3]

Sorry,

 you are correct. The PCR test MIGHT show indication of a previous covid infection or it might not. If it does, it's academic as it IS a positive test. Supposedly, the rapid antigen test (EMED)  differentiates between past covid infection genetic material and current active virus. I think that means less chance of testing positive if you don't actually have covid and have previously had the disease. I don't think enough people understand the differences between all the tests, too confusing. I'd NEVER take a PCR test if I had covid within the last 3 months.

 

[abbydancer2003]

6 minutes ago, gotcha3 said:

Sorry,

 you are correct. The PCR test MIGHT show indication of a previous covid infection or it might not. If it does, it's academic as it IS a positive test. Supposedly, the rapid antigen test (EMED)  differentiates between past covid infection genetic material and current active virus. I think that means less chance of testing positive if you don't actually have covid and have previously had the disease. I don't think enough people understand the differences between all the tests, too confusing. I'd NEVER take a PCR test if I had covid within the last 3 months.

 

I had to for an upcoming surgery.  Otherwise, I agree.

[Silkroad]

6 hours ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

My conclusions:

    1. I don't think I'll be getting back any of the FCC from 2020 that had been used to book this cruise.

   2. I don't understand the $ amounts! But I will not spend much energy trying to back-track all of this into Celebrity's somewhat convoluted financial system(s).

   3. I am quite pleased that this all seems to have been resolved within 18 days of my cruise-with-confidence cancellation.

Since you canceled due to a positive Covid test, I would think you’d get your FCC back. It may be worth a phone call to check.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your CWC experience with the community. It is reassuring to learn that the process can be completed fairly quickly.

[GottaKnowWhen]

2 hours ago, gotcha3 said:

I realize this doesn't help the situation much, but I'm also trying to get a handle on all of this covid versus cancel versus test stuff for a family cruise in July. Why didn't you take the EMED rapid antigen test versus a PCR test? The rapid antigen is supposed to filter out the "active" (contagious) genetic material from previous covid infections whereas the PCR does not, it shows ALL covid virus material active or not.

I took the PCR test May 6 as soon as I suspected we were infected, but first we did home antigen tests to verify our suspicion. The PCR test at the Urgent Care on May 6 was just to document that we did test Positive on that date, so we could start the countdown for the 11-90 day window during which we could sail with a Certificate of Recovery. Which did not help us in the case of the planned Bermuda cruise, since they don't accept COR. I tested 2 days prior to embarkation, showed (very slight) Positive on the eMed-proctored antigen test, and so then we started to cancel plans.

More recently, home antigen tests are clearly negative for us. We are booked to board in Vancouver on the 19th; I probably will do the proctored test, expecting a Negative, just because I expect the check-in process at the pier (and then again coming back to the US) will be smoother, less complicated if we have a normal test result instead of a bunch of COR paperwork that the screeners may not understand.

 

Stan

[MarkusToe]

I'm really pissed on X.

Tested positive may 3rd, canceled cruise for 5th by TA. I've the copy of mail they sent.

What do we got from X.

Booked excursions back to card.

Some money back to card.

BUT: NO COMMUNICATION, NOTHING There are about 3k at X's hand....how about that....

 

[GottaKnowWhen]

1 hour ago, MarkusToe said:

I'm really pissed on X.

Tested positive may 3rd, canceled cruise for 5th by TA. I've the copy of mail they sent.

What do we got from X.

Booked excursions back to card.

Some money back to card.

BUT: NO COMMUNICATION, NOTHING There are about 3k at X's hand....how about that....

 

I was 18 days getting a full refund on a cruise I cancelled May 21. I thought that was very speedy. Of course it depends on the monthly cycle of your credit card.

[MarkusToe]

I dont want them to cash out.... At least not yet.... If they delay further... Hmmmm

I wont a cancelation proof for my insurance..... 

[GottaKnowWhen]

On 6/8/2022 at 9:10 AM, GottaKnowWhen said:

Stranger and stranger! Today, June 8, I received 11 Credits on my Celebrity Bank of America card which is what I use for almost everything with Celebrity. Five of those are clearly refunds on the flowers, wine etc. that I had bought as "Bon Voyage Gifts" and on a beverage package upgrade. Another five are amounts that don't track to anything in my Booking Confirmation, and are amounts like $761.28? The total of those five credits is roughly $250 more than my total cruise fare as shown on my most recent Booking Confirmation. And then there is a total mystery, another $200.00 credit. Does this reflect OBC? 

 

My conclusions:

    1. I don't think I'll be getting back any of the FCC from 2020 that had been used to book this cruise.

   2. I don't understand the $ amounts! But I will not spend much energy trying to back-track all of this into Celebrity's somewhat convoluted financial system(s).

   3. I am quite pleased that this all seems to have been resolved within 18 days of my cruise-with-confidence cancellation.

 

Stan

Follow-up:  today I received an email from Delta, I had booked my tickets to and from NJ through them using Miles in my account.. Full return of the Miles, full refund to my credit card of the $$$ I had paid for seat upgrades. But do note, I had paid extra originally for refundable tickets. 
Stan

[itsanita]

Why didn't you take the EMED rapid antigen test versus a PCR test?

 

 

The only 'Rapid Antigen Test' that I am aware of is a RT-PCR.  That test gets results within 2 hours.   Is that what you are referring to instead of the PCR that takes a couple days to get results?   

 

Or is there another 'rapid' test I am not familiar with?  EMED?

 

I'm asking as my grandson, who is supposed to cruise with us, was positive for covid.  I want to make sure he has no issues getting on the ship if he is still 'positive'.  We will make sure we have the COR paperwork, but would be simpler if he is just negative. 

[GottaKnowWhen]

11 minutes ago, itsanita said:

Why didn't you take the EMED rapid antigen test versus a PCR test?

 

 

The only 'Rapid Antigen Test' that I am aware of is a RT-PCR.  That test gets results within 2 hours.   Is that what you are referring to instead of the PCR that takes a couple days to get results?   

 

Or is there another 'rapid' test I am not familiar with?  EMED?

 

I'm asking as my grandson, who is supposed to cruise with us, was positive for covid.  I want to make sure he has no issues getting on the ship if he is still 'positive'.  We will make sure we have the COR paperwork, but would be simpler if he is just negative. 

To get the COR, you first need a PCR test. That establishes Day 1. On day 11 you can get a COR, and you can travel without further testing on days 11-90.