Cancelled Cruise FCC

We are a month away from our Caribbean Princess and unfortunately we are having to cancel. How long typically does it take Princess to credit your credit card with the refundable portion and how long does it take to get the FCC for the non-refundable portion (we have Platinum coverage)? We want to rebook at a later date.

We have had the refundable portion credited to our credit card the next business day.

Princess will refund the amount due based on the cancelation schedule plus port fees within 1-2 business days.

For the remainder, minus the cost of insurance, you will need to fill out and submit a form to the insurance company along with any documentation of what's already been refunded. Once your claim is received, it'll take 1-2 weeks to receive your refund.

Ours was pretty quick, within a few days.

Thanks loads. I've talked to both Princess and the insurance folks and know we will not be eligible for a cash refund of the non-refundable but that is okay with us as we plan on turning right around and rebooking so an FCC is fine. I was just wondering how long it would take to get both the refundable and FCC. Looks like we will be rebooking the Emerald in November with the same itinerary. We hate to cancel but just have some family issues we can't get away from right now.

If I've been reading the fcc posts correctly when a cruise is cancelled with Princess platinum ins. our FCC's should go back into our accounts.

We had to cancel b2b cruises for March 8 & 18 for health reasons. I received a partial refund from Princess, but the 4 fcc's that we used to book the cruises were not put back into fcc's. They all had expiration dates of 2016. I called Princess this a.m., and after a long time on hold the rep. told me that I lose the $400, and fcc's can't be redeposited. Who do I contact?

If I've been reading the fcc posts correctly when a cruise is cancelled with Princess platinum ins. our FCC's should go back into our accounts.

 

We had to cancel b2b cruises for March 8 & 18 for health reasons. I received a partial refund from Princess, but the 4 fcc's that we used to book the cruises were not put back into fcc's. They all had expiration dates of 2016. I called Princess this a.m., and after a long time on hold the rep. told me that I lose the $400, and fcc's can't be redeposited. Who do I contact?

Was the cruise booked with the condition of non-refundable deposit?

If so, the FCC used as the deposit is lost as far as Princess is concerned. However the cost of the FCCs (the deposit) should be covered by the insurance. Since the FCC is lost you will not get the benefit of using the FCC on a future cruise, namely using it for a deposit and OBC.

If I've been reading the fcc posts correctly when a cruise is cancelled with Princess platinum ins. our FCC's should go back into our accounts.

 

We had to cancel b2b cruises for March 8 & 18 for health reasons. I received a partial refund from Princess, but the 4 fcc's that we used to book the cruises were not put back into fcc's. They all had expiration dates of 2016. I called Princess this a.m., and after a long time on hold the rep. told me that I lose the $400, and fcc's can't be redeposited. Who do I contact?

I have a similar situation, we booked 1 month on the CB and canceled prior to final payment. We had 4 $100 deposit payments for each of us, so $800. They credited it back on my cruise personalizer but they were to expire 2/22 and now when I look at personalizer they are not there. Luckily I printed them out before they vanished. They were supposed to put them on our 2016 cruise, but did not. I have no idea what to do, that's $800 we paid to princess. I thought that the $ was supposed to be credited back to the credit card if not used.

Mellon1, it sounds as if your expiration situation is rather different than FritzG's. Your (now expired) FCC's have been removed from the Personalizer and the cost should show up on your credit card used to purchase them within a few days. The timing usually depends on how long it takes your bank to process the refund. You might be able to get them applied to your 2016 cruise, but now that they actually expired it will be difficult. But it is certainly worth trying by explaining that someone on the booking end failed to extend them and apply them as soon as they were redeposited.

It sounds to me that FritzG had NR deposit bookings and his FCCs are not refundable even if not expired. Fortunately, it also sounds as if his cancellation for health reasons is a covered event under insurance and could be claimed as a non-refundable expense under insurance.

Was the cruise booked with the condition of non-refundable deposit?

 

If so, the FCC used as the deposit is lost as far as Princess is concerned. However the cost of the FCCs (the deposit) should be covered by the insurance. Since the FCC is lost you will not get the benefit of using the FCC on a future cruise, namely using it for a deposit and OBC.

Thanks for that tip. I don't remember if we booked with a non-refundable deposit. We may have done that because we had no intention of cancelling either cruise. Unfortunately dh's heart had other plans for us. I'll have to check with my ta on Monday.

My ta did try to get the fcc's put back on our account when she did the cancellations, but all she was told is that "we don't do it that way anymore". That was pretty much the same answer I got from the Princess rep. If it was because we had a non-refundable deposit wouldn't it have been simpler to just say that?

If it was because we had a non-refundable deposit wouldn't it have been simpler to just say that?

If you did have an NR deposit, your TA will (should) know that from your booking record. If not an NR deposit, you should get a refund and an explanation about why they cannot be redeposited.

Yes. But perhaps you didn't have an NR deposit, or perhaps the rep doesn't know that FCC's can be redeposited (at least up until now they could be) or perhaps Princess has changed the FCC rules yet again and they no longer allow FCC's to be re-used if cancelled. That last is just conjecture on my part, but it wouldn't be the first time Princess changed the rules without warning. Your TA should be able to get to the bottom of it and give you a reasonable explanation on Monday.

 

If you did have an NR deposit, your TA will (should) know that from your booking record. If not an NR deposit, you should get a refund and an explanation about why they cannot be redeposited.

I agree with you, but both my TA and I talked to Princess reps., and we were both told "it can't be done anymore" so I suspect they changed the rules without any notification. The fcc's didn't expire until 2016 so that doesn't seem right. If you're going to change rules make it for fcc's purchased after that date.

When we're able to travel we're planning another b2b. Since those were our last 4 fcc's we'll have to put a larger deposit on each cruise, and we won't get any obc's.

I think I'll have to write a letter to Captain's Circle or try to find someone else who will listen.

FritzG, two quick questions:

1.Did you just purchase those FCC's last year? If so, and they were not NR deposits, then your TA should be able to get them re-instated as active FCCs to use on your new booking, especially if you are ready to make the booking. But do double check to make sure they are not NR deposits.

2. If these were older FCC's, was this the only time they had been used...you had not previously used them and had them redeposited?

Several years ago, I got sick a week before sailing. All money was refunded in less than 1 week. We had, also, booked with an FCC. It took a while to figure out why we had $100 extra on our refund.........until we realized they had included our FCC in the refund. It was not put back into our Princess account.

Mellon1, it sounds as if your expiration situation is rather different than FritzG's. Your (now expired) FCC's have been removed from the Personalizer and the cost should show up on your credit card used to purchase them within a few days. The timing usually depends on how long it takes your bank to process the refund. You might be able to get them applied to your 2016 cruise, but now that they actually expired it will be difficult. But it is certainly worth trying by explaining that someone on the booking end failed to extend them and apply them as soon as they were redeposited.

 

It sounds to me that FritzG had NR deposit bookings and his FCCs are not refundable even if not expired. Fortunately, it also sounds as if his cancellation for health reasons is a covered event under insurance and could be claimed as a non-refundable expense under insurance.

Thank you for your response. They assured me they did all this; however when I checked recently it was not done. When we are charged on the ship $800 and then there is no refund as they promised, or of course you could extend, which I thought was done, it was not. Wow, $800 still not put on our card. What about people not watching that makes me scared. Thanks for responding out of all the people out there, can't believe we are the only ones experiencing this.

Thank you for your response. They assured me they did all this; however when I checked recently it was not done. When we are charged on the ship $800 and then there is no refund as they promised, or of course you could extend, which I thought was done, it was not. Wow, $800 still not put on our card. What about people not watching that makes me scared. Thanks for responding out of all the people out there, can't believe we are the only ones experiencing this.

Called Princess today. And they did not the changes; however, no one took care of it. They assured me they would take care of this as it was their fault. I am impressed; however, I am glad I had all my info printed out to show them in case there were not any notes in the file.

Thank you for your help.

If I've been reading the fcc posts correctly when a cruise is cancelled with Princess platinum ins. our FCC's should go back into our accounts.

 

We had to cancel b2b cruises for March 8 & 18 for health reasons. I received a partial refund from Princess, but the 4 fcc's that we used to book the cruises were not put back into fcc's. They all had expiration dates of 2016. I called Princess this a.m., and after a long time on hold the rep. told me that I lose the $400, and fcc's can't be redeposited. Who do I contact?

Update--I finally called my TA, and we did have nonrefundable deposits, and they will be refunded by Princess insurance. Why they couldn't tell our TA or me that when I called is beyond me. The rep. didn't know why they weren't put back in our accounts, and he put me on hold for almost 10 minutes. The only answer he had was that they don't do that.

Now we don't have any fcc's for our next booking, but at least we didn't lose $400.

It's always important to pay attention to whether or not the deposit is refundable. Often people want to rebook for a lower fare and don't read the offer carefully and end up with a non-refundable deposit.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with a non-refundable deposit. People just need to be aware that is what they are booking.

Bummer about losing the FCC but, as you said, at least you didn't lose $400. Glad you finally got this resolved.