Refunds from Explora cancellations

[sasejm]

2 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

My TA tells me I should receive my refund between 7-10 days, maybe sooner. Another client of hers had canceled last Wednesday and received his refund today.

So it seems that with the refunds Explora will do a good job.

Ivi

 

That's good to hear since my cruise has been canceled and I will probably pass on rebooking. My last experience with cruise lines was with the Crystal bankruptcy and I seem to be sticking out with my choices.  

[travelberlin]

42 minutes ago, sasejm said:

 

That's good to hear since my cruise has been canceled and I will probably pass on rebooking. My last experience with cruise lines was with the Crystal bankruptcy and I seem to be sticking out with my choices.  

Crystal has taught us a big lesson. We too are victims of that bankruptcy. Better to be careful, especially if an eventually rebooked cruise would be, outside of the refund limits from credit cards.

[sasejm]

10 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

Crystal has taught us a big lesson. We too are victims of that bankruptcy. Better to be careful, especially if an eventually rebooked cruise would be, outside of the refund limits from credit cards.

Good point.

[uktog]

2 hours ago, travelberlin said:

My TA tells me I should receive my refund between 7-10 days, maybe sooner. Another client of hers had canceled last Wednesday and received his refund today.

So it seems that with the refunds Explora will do a good job.

Ivi

Yet the payments for those on the cancelled inaugural are still to be made in many situations 

[travelberlin]

5 minutes ago, uktog said:

Yet the payments for those on the cancelled inaugural are still to be made in many situations 

Is this the refund of your full paid cruise what is missing? Or it is the refund of costs for hotels, flights and other costs?

Ivi

[uktog]

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

Is this the refund of your full paid cruise what is missing? Or it is the refund of costs for hotels, flights and other costs?

Ivi

My agent is still to be reimbursed because of the 60 day rule but in good faith have given me my cruise fare but I am still to wait up to another 30 days for airfare, hotels and airport parking 

[Stickman1990]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

Yet the payments for those on the cancelled inaugural are still to be made in many situations 

Just a thought but is it worth considering lodging a case with your credit card provider for non delivered services by the merchant?

They should credit you immediately while they investigate the case with the merchant. In my experience it generally causes the merchant to buck their ideas up and resolve the situation as they don’t want a black mark with the card provider 

[uktog]

6 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Just a thought but is it worth considering lodging a case with your credit card provider for non delivered services by the merchant?

They should credit you immediately while they investigate the case with the merchant. In my experience it generally causes the merchant to buck their ideas up and resolve the situation as they don’t want a black mark with the card provider 

Unfortunately that won’t work because the airlines and hotel are not guilty of non delivery 

The reason my agent paid over even though Explora hadn’t reimbursed them was because S75 card claim that we have in the UK was heading for them as they were the transaction owner. 
In the UK many many agents are set up in a true agency relationship so when you book a cruise you pay them not the cruise line. Your money is well protected by Trade Bonds but when things go wrong like this, it’s a minefield 

[bitob]

Even though my TA suggested I wait 30 days, I just filed a dispute with my credit card company.  I do not trust this cruise company.  Already burned by Crystal.  Fool me once . ..

 

Some encouraging news:  the credit card rep could see a "pending credit" from Explora on my account (I cannot see it) but it has been sitting there.  We are going it 3-5 days.

Edited September 6, 2023 by bitob

[AtA]

On 9/5/2023 at 8:12 AM, bitob said:

This is a cruise line to avoid. 

 

At least for now . .

You and I don't normally agree on much, but on this we are on the same page. 🙂

We took the refund for our cancelled cruise.

[jo-b]

OK reporting back 

 

UK based, neither our TA or her company had had any communication from Explora about the changes. I emailed her on Friday 1 September to tell her what we had read on here.

1 September lunchtime got a call back from her she had phoned Explora UK office, they had confirmed the changes and told her the options we had. We said full refund, she called them back and told them to refund the full payment we had made split across two credit cards. Later that day she emailed to say Explora had confirmed the refund process had been started and would take 5/7 days. 
 

This morning both CC statements show the refunds were received on 4 September. 
 

Whenever we pay for a cruise the payment taken by our TA is to the cruise company not to the TA, as far as I was aware this was a change made some years ago after the collapse of a large UK travel agency who had been holding customers money and not passing it on. I thought it was now a legal requirement to pay the cruise operator direct, but it may be that it is only certain cruise operators who insist on this. Certainly that is what happened here my CC payment was to Explora not the TA. 
 

We will keep an eye on Explora but very warily! Sticking to Oceania and looking at alternatives who may be a little more reliable. Good luck everyone whatever option you choose. 
 

Edited to add that our TA did all this whilst driving to Southampton to join Sky princess for a holiday! 

Edited September 7, 2023 by jo-b

[uktog]

Our payment was to the agency which I believe is still allowed. But it looks like we suffer badly as a result. I’m going to follow up with them when I get back off my current cruise 

[Mr Luxury]

3 minutes ago, uktog said:

Our payment was to the agency which I believe is still allowed. But it looks like we suffer badly as a result. I’m going to follow up with them when I get back off my current cruise 

Will you change your TA after this fiasco.

[uktog]

2 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Will you change your TA after this fiasco.

Not if I can help it. It’s a relationship that goes beyond this debacle 

[bitob]

Good news

 

my refund posted to my credit card!!!

[hencoll]

So glad to read some folks are getting their refunds quickly.  I haven't received mine yet but I'm hopeful mine will be processed soon.  

[flossie009]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

Not if I can help it. It’s a relationship that goes beyond this debacle 

It may do, but in this case they do not seem to have done very well for you compared to others in the same situation with cancelled bookings on Explora Journeys.

Lots of warm words but no tangible results do not help your bank balance?

[uktog]

2 hours ago, flossie009 said:

It may do, but in this case they do not seem to have done very well for you compared to others in the same situation with cancelled bookings on Explora Journeys.

Lots of warm words but no tangible results do not help your bank balance?

I disagree I’ve seen how Explora have interacted with them (or not) starting from the non notification of the cancellation. Others in this latest wave of cancellations with other major agencies are having the same issue. 

[flossie009]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

I disagree I’ve seen how Explora have interacted with them (or not) starting from the non notification of the cancellation.

I agree that MSC/Explora Journeys have handled the start up of this new cruiseline very badly; leaving a sour taste with many customers & potential customers.

However, in your case your contract is with your Travel Agent and therefore IMO it is their responsibility to swiftly settle everything you are owed & have been promised; cruise refund, your expenses plus, I would hope, a gesture of goodwill for the disappointment, stress and time spent re-arranging your holiday.

How your TA recovers that money from MSC/Explora Journeys is their problem not yours.

[travelberlin]

My TA has contacted Explora to ask how long will the refund for my cancelled itinerary take. Explora says it will take 10-14 business days. 
 

 

[uktog]

5 hours ago, flossie009 said:

I agree that MSC/Explora Journeys have handled the start up of this new cruiseline very badly; leaving a sour taste with many customers & potential customers.

However, in your case your contract is with your Travel Agent and therefore IMO it is their responsibility to swiftly settle everything you are owed & have been promised; cruise refund, your expenses plus, I would hope, a gesture of goodwill for the disappointment, stress and time spent re-arranging your holiday.

How your TA recovers that money from MSC/Explora Journeys is their problem not yours.

Thanks. The flights and hotels I booked are my hit though and they are still not refunded. The agent did refund us recently although they still await settlement from Explora but there remain significant issues including the voucher that was used to part pay for that cruise. It’s certainly not been a £16k experience 

[AtA]

My TA only found out about the change in itineraries from this forum

[bitob]

My TA was notified and was on top of everything when news first broke.

 

But my TA is very "connected" and involved in lots of organizations that share information.

It is rare when I can tell him something I learned on CC that he does not already know.

He owns a huge on line agency.

He was way ahead on the Crystal debacle but unfortunately too late to save me from losing tens of thousands of dollars.😪

 

[flossie009]

8 hours ago, uktog said:

The flights and hotels I booked are my hit though

You incurred these losses as a direct result of the cancellation and therefore there is no question that you should be reimbursed (IMO your first claim should be made to your TA)

8 hours ago, uktog said:

there remain significant issues including the voucher that was used to part pay for that cruise

Who issued the voucher?

The ideal would be for your TA to issue you with a credit that you could then use on a cruise line of your choice rather than be tied to Explora.

 

I hope everything gets sorted for you very soon. You have had enough hassle over the unexpected & late cancellation of your cruise.

[uktog]

The flights are being reimbursed the claim was made late July however Explora are saying last week it will now be within the next 30 days to my bank account the details they have had since July

The voucher was issued by Explora in October 2022 in respect of an earlier cancellation by them. There’s no way it can be converted to a generic voucher for any line.  Right now we just need that back plus whatever is being given as “compensation” for the late cancellation and some transparency by Explora at how figures are arrived at. 
We already had a Caribbean cruise booked for this Autumn but as that was already paid for Explora won’t allow the 2022 voucher to be applied and a partial refund made. 
So we are boxed into having to make another booking. It gets worse, we had chosen what we wanted although because of the voucher messing around the booking couldn’t be confirmed- but then last week Explora cancelled that one!

It’s far too difficult to do business with them either directly or through an agent. You and your agent are treated as an MSC big ship customer - a number - not as someone to host which I believe is the onboard ambiance