Cancelling Cruises because of the C word

[Selbourne]

9 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

You must be using the wrong TA, ours only requires payment a week earlier, and as long as you are paying by debit or credit card over the phone you can persuade them to wait until the last day.

I don’t use one John, I book direct as I have an excellent relationship with an individual who used to be my Personal Cruise Specialist. Although that role has officially gone, she still deals with all my bookings and is superb and has really looked after us well. For reasons that I can’t go into I also get additional OBC which equates to the usual TA discount % that cruise specialists offer (as often quoted on here), so we don’t pay extra for the privilege. I only mentioned that TA’s require payment several weeks earlier as a number of posters earlier in this thread (and others) had expressed anxiety about what to do, as their TA’s balance due dates were 2 to 3 weeks before the P&O 90 days that I work to. 

[Josy1953]

12 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Not sure if this is the right place to post this or not, but am sure it can be moved if needs be.

Have spent weeks worrying about our cruise, fretting and wondering what to do.

Then we saw this and it put our probably cancelled holiday into perspective ----

If you haven't seen this, just give it a few minutes and get your tissues out

 

 

Thank you for posting this, it is absolutely uplifting to see Italians making the best of a dreadful situation.  We are in touch with my husband's cousin in Veneto who told us that the sitting at home waiting for something to happen is the worst thing.

[brian1]

5 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

Thank you for posting this, it is absolutely uplifting to see Italians making the best of a dreadful situation.  We are in touch with my husband's cousin in Veneto who told us that the sitting at home waiting for something to happen is the worst thing.

They're getting fed up of me singing "bubbles",it's all I know,lol.

[AndyMichelle]

4 minutes ago, brian1 said:

They're getting fed up of me singing "bubbles",it's all I know,lol.

At least the Hammers will stay unbeaten for the next few weeks... 😊

Andy 

[brian1]

2 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

At least the Hammers will stay unbeaten for the next few weeks... 😊

Andy 

Just thought,Branson must be offering incentives.Any bloke who signs up for an "Oliver Read",gets a free unlimited tats package.You could have "WHU","West Ham" or my preference "West Ham United Football Club".

 

5 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

At least the Hammers will stay unbeaten for the next few weeks... 😊

Andy 

 

[janny444]

35 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

See Janny444s post above, she managed to cancel for a full refund because she is over 70, although I'm sure she looks about 25...😊

Andy 

Ha ha...flatterer....but I like it 😄

[kalos]

mmmmm .... A 25 year old with over  45 years experience 😁😏

[jeanlyon]

Can anyone tell me if an FCC is ever refundable?  Example, you cancel and get an FCC.  You then can't go on that cruise, can you get a refund of that FCC even if losing deposit

 

Also, what happens to an FCC is the Cruiseline goes bust?

Edited March 15, 2020 by jeanlyon

[emam]

1 hour ago, emam said:

 

On the email I got the next paragraph is.

 

Alternatively, you are also entitled to a full refund. If you are cancelling due to concern over an underlying health condition, your refund will be subject to providing proof of your underlying medical condition.

 

Don't cancel for health, cancel because of age as per gov advice. 

 

Christine, Sorry, I have just realised I quoted what you had earlier about the full refund.

 

Someone on here said to send an email, possibly Staygulf, to cancel a cruise. Maybe he will repost the address to send it to. You can type something like

 

Dear...

 the current government advice is for people aged 70 and over not to cruise at this time. As I fall into this category, therefor I would like to cancel my cruise on (ship and date). 

 

Would you please refund me the money I have paid.

 

 

I'm sure when more people come on here as the day goes on they will confirm or deny whether they think this is acceptable.

[Hampshire Steve]

I have just found this on Princess.com.

Seems somewhat more generous than P&O offer and has helped make up my mind regarding asking for a refund.

[jeanlyon]

Normally I wouldn't worry about the FCC, it would be fine, but is it worth anything if the cruiseline goes bust?

[emam]

Princess have suspended all operations for 60 days.

[crompton21]

1 minute ago, jeanlyon said:

Normally I wouldn't worry about the FCC, it would be fine, but is it worth anything if the cruiseline goes bust?

your best comparison is what happens to store voucher holders when the company the vouchers are for go bust.  In most cases if the store goes in to admin the vouchers become worthless.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

At least the Hammers will stay unbeaten for the next few weeks... 😊

Andy 

Sunderland too.

[staygulf]

9 minutes ago, emam said:

 

Christine, Sorry, I have just realised I quoted what you had earlier about the full refund.

 

Someone on here said to send an email, possibly Staygulf, to cancel a cruise. Maybe he will repost the address to send it to. You can type something like

 

Dear...

 the current government advice is for people aged 70 and over not to cruise at this time. As I fall into this category, therefor I would like to cancel my cruise on (ship and date). 

 

Would you please refund me the money I have paid.

 

 

I'm sure when more people come on here as the day goes on they will confirm or deny whether they think this is acceptable.

It’s on their website. Go to contact us at the bottom of the page

[jeanlyon]

3 minutes ago, crompton21 said:

your best comparison is what happens to store voucher holders when the company the vouchers are for go bust.  In most cases if the store goes in to admin the vouchers become worthless.

 

Yes that's what concerns me.

[devonuk]

It is what is says on the tin... a credit and it is my view that it will be worthless if the cruise line goes bust. We often read about how other Companies in credit with another Company loses out when it goes to the wall. This will also no longer be covered by ‘credit card’ back up I guess? For me cash is King and it’s better in your account than theirs as who’s to say you will be able to use the FCC when it suits you. I had a tentative look at booking a number of cruises next year on my terms ie with my chosen cabin and near to travel companions etc and failed on each occasion 😞

[Selbourne]

7 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Can anyone tell me if an FCC is ever refundable?  Example, you cancel and get an FCC.  You then can't go on that cruise, can you get a refund of that FCC even if losing deposit

 

Also, what happens to an FCC is the Cruiseline goes bust?

I do not claim to be an expert on this Jean and neither do I claim to be an expert on the law (but fret not, as a few on here are!) but I do understand business. My understanding is that FCC is not refundable, hence P&O’s desire (and other cruise lines, to be fair) to ‘lock people in’ by freezing their cash via FCC. It helps with cash flow (which is going to be critical for them over the next few months) and guarantees future business, which will help shore up the share price (seems illogical given the share price crash, but the fall would have been even greater if ALL payments had been refunded). In the event of a company failure, any FCC would be lost. Customers fall at the bottom of the list of claimants against assets in the event of failure , with financial institutions at the top. The asset values plummet (anyone for a used cruise ship??) so nothing is ever left for us mere plebs. You may have recourse through your credit card company, assuming that was your method of payment (always wise for reasons such as this). I wouldn't think that having agreed to FCC weakens your claim but, again, I am not an expert on this aspect. I don’t feel that any of us are well placed to give others advice in this fast moving and unprecedented situation, but my personal approach is to sit tight and wait for the cruises that we have booked to be cancelled. We will then get 100% cash refunds. I’m not interested in FCC for the reasons stated (also, no cruises between now and March 22 that we are interested in, other than those already booked). If the cruise line fails in the meantime (unlikely, I would suggest) then I will claim through my credit card. 

[crompton21]

4 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

 

Yes that's what concerns me.

To be positive, if you had fcc to the value of say 25% of the cruise cost there may be a commercial view to accept them.  Not sure if vouchers to 100% would be viewed in the same way though....

[jeanlyon]

Thank you for that.  I would agree with what you said.  Unfortunately, I took the 40% refund and 60% FCC before they brought out the over 70 cancellation.

 

My answer was for Selbourne.

Edited March 15, 2020 by jeanlyon

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, emam said:

 

I am no expert, but to me you cancel because gov. advice is for over 70's not to cruise. That way you get a refund and don't have to say you are unfit to travel. 

I don't believe the over 70 advice gets you a full refund from P&O, they only offer a refund as per T&Cs and you get a FCC for the normal cancellation amount., whereas a doctors letter seems to offer the full refund.

[janny444]

7 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Thank you for that.  I would agree with what you said.  Unfortunately, I took the 40% refund and 60% FCC before they brought out the over 70 cancellation.

 

My answer was for Selbourne.

Jean....not sure how feasible this would be and if actually it would work but could you book a future cruise but one which is low deposit and the least possible price....use your FCC then at some later point cancel the cruise....would you then be able to have a cash refund for your FCCs and just lose your low deposit...just a thought

[crompton21]

Carnival has a problem with debt (as a result of current events).  If that causes a covenant breach then it would be possible for the shareholders to be wiped out and ownership to change, in which case you would probably be fine.

if it goes into administration because the bond holders choose to let it, then that would be a worst case scenario where the fcc would probably be lost.

[AndyMichelle]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I don't believe the over 70 advice gets you a full refund from P&O, they only offer a refund as per T&Cs and you get a FCC for the normal cancellation amount., whereas a doctors letter seems to offer the full refund.

Janny444, can you advise how you managed it please? 

Andy 

[Gettingwarmer]

https://www.pocruises.com/travel-health-advisories/flexible-cancellation-policy
 

see above. Over 70 can get full refund of money