emm126

here you go...

I think you should have received a refund back to the original form of payment. I don't believe it is part of your cruise fare and I am sure you had to pay in full when booked. I would ask your travel agent to speak to NCL on your behalf. Good Luck! 

5 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

How do we get tested mid cruise to get back home?

i believe so far, it is only for Air Travel. Nothing on cruises that depart from and return to the US. Yet. 

7 hours ago, pentiumvi said:

I'm not so sure that's a good analogy though. When you exchange airline tickets, you aren't getting a voucher, and then applying the voucher to a ticket.

 

Booking a new cruise with FCC isn't an "exchange". You opted to pick the FCC as your form of refund when first offered (and likely getting a bonus amount). All subsequent cruises booked with said FCC is no longer really associated with your original booking you paid for in cash.

 

And to be fair, NCL did offer you the ability to refund back to our original form of payment, but offered you a bonus, if you picked the FCC. That was unfortunately the decision some of us made.

 

So basically, NCL enticed us by giving us bonus FCC credit, but failed to mention explicitly the strings attached.

Thank you. It is the failing to mention explicitly the strings attached I have a problem with. I am good, I did not have any cruises booked with NCL but with 2 other cruise lines and received a refund on both. I do also have an open ticket or credit for non refundable airline tickets If I do not use them after the year I have left, I will be able to apply for a refund so I thought it was a good example lol

take care,

5 hours ago, hallux said:

 

Actually...  Cancellation after final payment gets you refund of a percentage of the fare in the form of FCC, no option for cash refund.  The terms were amended to allow a shorter time frame for cancellation with no penalty but the terms still didn't allow for a cash refund if the customer cancelled, only if the cruise line cancelled.  The "original form of payment" portion of the refund terms comes in before final payment - if you cancel a cruise before final payment your deposit is refunded to the original form of payment.

 

If you're going to argue about falling back on the cruise contract, understand what the cancellation terms are...

I am not trying to argue about or with anyone, especially with someone I do not know. I was giving my opinion and trying to be helpful to someone who might lose a lot of money. That is all. I am not sure how we got to cancellation penalties when we were talking about refunds but I will take your word on what the cruise contract says. Take care,

21 hours ago, hallux said:

Some thoughts -

It could be argued that it doesn't need to be.  While the first cruise was paid with "cash", the second was paid with FCC.  The cruise contract indicates that refunds are to the original form of payment.  In the case of the FCC-paid cruise, that would be FCC. 

 

 

I think if you are going to fall back on the cruise contract, that refunds are to go back to the original form of payment, then the only option from the beginning should have been refunds. But we know that is not the case. So if the cruise line can change and offer 2 options when it benefits them, they can also offer 2 options all the time. IMO. 

For the record, if I buy an airline ticket on a credit card and then exchange it several times, if it needed to be refunded, it is to the  ORIGINAL form of payment, credit card, not vouchers or exchange tickets etc. Cruise Lines seem to have their own thoughts on what is original. 

On 12/2/2020 at 10:30 AM, UTRIPUMP said:

I know the FCC is good until Dec 2022, but this is the 2nd time NCL has cancelled a cruise(first was 4Apr20 Breakaway and 2nd was 24Jan21 Joy) and at this point I'd prefer a refund instead of more FCCs.  I understand that the payment for the 2nd booking was FCC, but does anyone have suggestions for getting NCL to refund me for the cost of the first cruise staterooms/reservation numbers.

 

I am open to ideas, suggestions, or direction.    I first called customer service who advised FCC credit is my only option and when I voiced opposition she said only recourse was a email to customer relations which I just did, not expecting different outcome.

 

Do I have any other recourse beyond this?

 

Thanks in advance for advice.  

by any chance do you have the original cancellation letter from NCL for your April cruise? I don't think that was part of the information given and you agreed to when you accepted the 1st  FCC ( if your 2nd cruise was cancelled what would happen to a refund request). I do know after a couple of rounds of cancellation NCL added it. To me they would have to offer a refund if it was not stated when you accepted the FCC that you could never get a refund. Worth a try. Good luck.

23 hours ago, hallux said:

 

 

Now..  You accepted the terms of the FCC from the initial cancellation, and the 25% boost for accepting that.  You then used that boosted value FCC to book a cruise which YOU then chose to cancel.  When you cancel, the refund is to the original form of payment, FCC in this case.  Check other lines, they're probably doing the same thing.  Is it right?  Possibly not, but it what the cruise contract allows them to do.

 

 

I do not know about every cruise line however RC and Carnival are giving refunds if requested by the guest,  for a cruise where they took the future cruise credit for the 1st cancelled cruise and the re-booked cruise was cancelled as well. So the refund going back to the  original form of payment in this case doesn't seem to be true. 

I am curious when NCL added that policy. It was not there in the 1st couple rounds of cancellations. And really don't blame them, i mean who could have thought this could happen but to me , If the OP booked when it wasn't a "policy" NCL should honor that. 

I don't think NCL or the other cruise lines will cancel unless they are told to. I think Princess cancelled in an abundance of caution because of the bad press they got in March/April. They will play a wait and see game, see what is working and what is not and go from there. If they started sailing with everyone else and there was an outbreak on 1 of their ships or was stuck at sea like they were in April with no place to embark passengers, it would probably be the end of them. My 2 cents. 

6 hours ago, crooooze said:

For those who have received refunds, did you get any type of email or notification that the refund was issued? Or did you find out by noticing the credit on your credit card or when new gift cards pleasantly showed up in your mail?

I had 2 cruises cancelled- The one cruise I received the refund for, my TA got an email  with refund details that she forwarded it to me. Good luck!

They can't change the terms of the FCC after you have agreed/accepted the original terms? I would ask NCL to show you in writing where it states you must purchase the insurance when you accepted the FCC.

They can't force you to purchase insurance or any item unless it said in writing and you agreed to it when booked or before you pay for it in full?  (only exception was years ago when all the cruise lines were charging additional for fuel however you knew before you might have to pay extra for fuel up to the time of sailing) If you are paid in full and have a confirmation to that fact, they can't say now, oh you need to take out insurance and pay additional? it doesn't work that way. 

Insurance is not mandatory to travel. 

It is a money grab, pure and simple. I wonder are they self insuring these bookings? I wonder will most people not know any better and purchase the insurance? Just when you think you have seen it all, along comes a ploy like this. Definitely unethical and I would say illegal as well. 

It's funny to me how some think it unethical or dishonest that cruisers file a dispute with their credit card company however find nothing wrong when NCL basically lies in their 70 plus page reply and states the cruiser "chose" the FCC, so no refund is due. I have seen the cancellation email, you can choose a refund or FCC. OP picked cash refund. NCL knows this when they answered the dispute? but that is not dishonest?

9 hours ago, clhayes said:

I have a similar offer. Looking at the 10-day in Feb’22.  My offer includes a $600 OBC, which covers the $208 pp cruise rate, taxes and port fees.  DOU everywhere onboard and $1500 in fun play.  I prefer the Elite cruise, but think we may book this tomorrow. We would definitely depart from Sydney with pre-cruise stay, as evandbob mentioned above.  

In answer to your question regarding you status transferring over to AU, see  VIFP Terms and conditions on CCL website. Excerpt pertaining to VIFP points below. 
 

 

I have a similar offer, it is the EA4 and was seriously considering it but I don't think i can take that long of a flight. I am a great cruiser but a bad flyer- lol. I would suggest pricing out a suite. It was only a little over $30 per person, per night more and I think it is a great deal. Not sure if you realized though, the OBC and fun play is in Australian dollars not US. Enjoy your cruise!!

49 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

 

If your TA is out of business there is no way for your card to be charged is there? Since Carnival is not the agent of record but you could still lose your deposits if not canceled by file payment date.

Unless the agent sets it up to automatically charge the card on the final payment date. My agent does that for me. 

T

4 hours ago, gerig said:

Is this for any amex platinum card?  I have the delta platinum card and just booked 4 cruises.  Two are with a travel agent and two on my own.  How to go about getting this OBC?

HI Gerig- it is not with the Delta platinum card, just the regular platinum card and I think one of the business platinum cards. Another benefit that I like that amex offers for RC is the Family plan (not sure of exact name) however you get a free meal at Johnny Rockets for 4 and children under 17 get the soda package free. I combined both the Cruise Privileges and Family plan when I booked with Amex. Great savings. 

The 14 quarantine for those traveling to Hawaii is set to expire on June 30. Obviously could be extended however that is the latest info.

My favorite is the mushroom soup in the dinning room, although it has changed in the last year, I still love it. I look at the menus for the week when I get on board and plan my specialty dinning so i can have the soup! 🤷‍♀️

Every day people and companies are put in difficult situations, most times thru no fault of their own. It is how you handle the situation that sets you apart from others. Lying to your employees? especially about life and death situations is never the answer. Putting a cost over the well being of an employee is never the answer as well. 

As for IF the employees will come back? many will because they have no other choice and it is what is best for them and their family doesn't mean if they come back that how they were treated during the last couple of months was OK. 

7 hours ago, morrisretired said:

Thank you to emm126 and Bird Travels for taking the time to reply. I put the majority of the blame on their travel company.. Our TA asked their Business Development Manager for help, and she said "that she could not do anything on her end." The BDM then connected our TA to NCL Guest Relation, to pursue it further with them. Sounds like the BDM knew they messed up! I said in an email reply to our TA if her company made a mistake, own up to it so we can move on. I agree the TA should handle our problem - and if they won't do anything - we will be finding a new TA real soon. My wife and I are both Platinum Plus Members with NCL  

I am glad to see you seem to be working toward a resolution. I didn't realize the TA wasn't working on it for you and they absolutely should be. Bottom line though, NCL is keeping money that is not theirs to keep and should be giving it back so I hope you receive the refund soon. Take care.

I have been on many cruises and have cancelled some cruises as well and I have never heard of where a cruise line will not refund your port taxes? Why would the ports  bill NCL for ports they did not go to? Makes no sense. Can they show you in writing where they have this policy?

As for the gratuity/service charge it states in their guest contract that you can adjust it at your discretion, if you had sailed you would be able to adjust,  I would tell them you still want that option and adjust it to 0. 

Good luck- $700 is a lost to lose. 

I wouldn't buy cheers because I always get DOU. I do order water and diet coke to my cabin before the cruise. I am not much of a day drinker so it works out for me. My friend I travel with is a day drinker, having maybe 2-3 but she still doesn't buy cheers. As it costs less to pay for the drinks then buy cheers. And we usually have OBC to cover the drinks we have to purchase. 

We usually meet in the casino before dinner, order a drink, play a little and request a table for dinner (thru the app) so we do have a drink for dinner. 

I actually have been impressed with RC and how they have handled the refund. I had 2 cruises booked, 1 with RC and the other with another cruise line. They were both cancelled with a day of each other. I received the RC refund in a month and still waiting on the other. (I was told 90 days).

 I did get an email from RC stating they are sorry for the delay and my credit should appear within a week and it did. Which I appreciated and it was obviously much different email than the one the OP received. 🙄

I wonder if it changed it to the FCC because the deadline to apply for refunds ended yesterday? Best of luck to you!

1 hour ago, hdmaninmb said:

 

I received cancellation letters from Carnival too. Honestly, the letters themselves hightened my concerns, and raised more red flags.

 

The pertinent language was:

 

"A refund of the government fees and taxes will be processed to the original form of payment...."

 

Read that closely, now read it again. What is missing? Oh, that's right, the "Cruise Rate" that makes up ~80% of the money I gave them- no mention about them refunding that...only mention of them refunding me "government fees and taxes", which make up only ~20% of what I paid them. 🤔

 

I interpret that to mean that they will refund me money that they would have had to forward to 3rd parties, but since no cruise, there are no taxes and government fees, so they MUST refund those to me, else they are opening another whole can of worms (like charging sales/local tax, but not forwarding tax collected to whichever government). 

 

The verbiage of the cancellation letter was not an example of incompetence, it was simply Carnival not wanting to put in writing that they will refund all of my money.  Not worried though, I'm sure my cc company will have zero issues making me whole. 😎

I am not sure if they MUST refund your government fees and taxes, NCL is not refunding that if you choose the FCC which personally I think it is wrong.To me, Carnival and some others are refunding money that is not "theirs" to keep and giving you a FCC for just the cruise portion.I think that is the right thing to do.

6 hours ago, OklaGirl32 said:

I'm sure this has been asked at least a dozen times, but I can't find a thread about it, sorry!

 

I had a casino offer & booked a cruise, and I get Drinks on Us while I'm in the casino. My husband and I also plan to purchase Cheers.  

#1- Will my husband ALSO get DOU while we are in the casino, or only me?

#2-  Will my DOU drinks count against my Cheers package? Or, are they two entirely separate things? 

Not that I would, but say I met my 15 alcoholic drink limit on Cheers, could I then go to the casino & have drinks while I gamble?

#3- Does DOU cover all types of drinks (beer, cocktails, pina coladas, etc) or are there any limitations?

 

Thanks in advance!

#1- it does depend on what cruise rate you booked if your husband get DOU.

#2- yes it is 15 drinks total per day.no matter which or both packages you use. Cheers or DOU

#3- yes covers most drinks but probably has $$ cap like cheers does. Also includes water, soda etc.