Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[qqwer123]

24 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

Nothing Princess has said in the past regarding refunds to me has been or come true and I have gotten different answers and different timelines from different Princess CSR's.  Princess has not put anything into writing and sent it to me regarding a timeline which I find even more suspect.

 

 Anything anybody is saying from Princess now I consider to be a bold face lie.

 

Filed dispute with my Credit Card Company and if Princess loses and I win the bank gets to charge them a penalty for a pay back and I get my money back.  

 

We need less Princess propaganda now and more true results, like someone actually getting a refund.  I am no longer willing to play the Princess "the check will be in the mail wait game."

I’m just posting info I found out in case people were wondering. It’s just info I was told by somebody I’ve been dealing with at Princess for years so I thought it would be useful. Please don’t shoot the messenger. I’m waiting for a sizeable refund as well. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by qqwer123
Wanted to change what I said

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, Aulanis said:

It has been posted that in Canada you have to wait 60 days before you can dispute

a charge on your credit card.  Insurance is not usually a requirement.  Maybe google

"(name of card issued)   dispute application"

You don't have to wait 60 days.  You can dispute as soon as you have an issue or spot an issue in the statement.  The 60 days is the normal max limit to file a dispute.  However, there is an exception such as advance purchase of a vacation trip and then you have 60 days from date you were supposed to travel. 

 

[Desert Cruisers]

40 minutes ago, qqwer123 said:

Future cruise credits are processed in order of the dates you put your request in.

credit card refunds are processed according to sail date. They said allow 60 days from your SAIL date. So If your cruise was on March 14, expect the refund around May 15. 
The FCC,s and the credit card refunds are processed by two different departments. This is why some of us are getting fcc and no cc refund yet. 
the Tex and port fees are a separate refund that will be on your account that Princess can see. Those can be used as on-board credit. 
Even if you had a previous cruise booked, you can use the new fcc,s towards them (if you choose. That way, if you had a cruise booked next year with some perks you don’t want to lose you can pay for it with the fcc,s you get. 
I spent time on the phone with my Princess vacation planner and got the info above. She helped me pay off three future cruises with the fccs yesterday and answered all my questions. Hope this clarifies and helps. 

Port taxes are refunded to your credit card regardless of what option - FCC or full refund - you may choose.  Princess can't automatically hold back these funds and put them into future OBC.  Perhaps you can "buy" OBC with these refunded port taxes.

[smithmlmx]

8 hours ago, jan54 said:

If you file a dispute with your credit card company will they actually get your money back? Don’t you have to have a card that has travel insurance coverage? The Visa credit card I used (Canada) has an annual fee which covers for insurance but it has a maximum of $1500 each. Our friends used a card that has no insurance coverage. Can they still file a dispute? Are they just completely out of luck if Princess doesn’t come through? 

Yes, Visa, MC and Amex will give you your money back. Time line for filing a dispute depends on issuer. I paid with a TD Visa Infinite card for a cruise on SKY departing March 28. I called TD a few days ago, asked for the dispute dept. Told that i have "up until 120 days" after sail date to dispute. Also told if nothing from Princess after about 90 days - call them back and they will process it. Lived in Winnipeg for 30 years - a little warmer winters in London but do miss the blue sky and sun dogs.

[qqwer123]

1 minute ago, Desert Cruisers said:

Port taxes are refunded to your credit card regardless of what option - FCC or full refund - you may choose.  Princess can't automatically hold back these funds and put them into future OBC.  Perhaps you can "buy" OBC with these refunded port taxes.

Not with me. I chose option 1 and the port Fees and taxes went into a holding account. I already requested them to be put for obc on next March cruises. 

[Desert Cruisers]

4 minutes ago, qqwer123 said:

Not with me. I chose option 1 and the port Fees and taxes went into a holding account. I already requested them to be put for obc on next March cruises. 

A quote from the "Voluntary 60-Day Pause of Global Ship Operation" announcement that we received in March:

Government Fees and Taxes, Princess Vacation Protection and any pre-paid items will be refunded, regardless of option chosen.

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Desert Cruisers

[qqwer123]

5 minutes ago, Desert Cruisers said:

Even though we chose option 1, we had port taxes automatically returned to credit card.  So, if you would rather have the money than an OBC for a future sailing, you might want to call Princess back.

I put them on some future cruises for obc. The only thing I am waiting for is my excursions and on board spending money I put on my account. I already got everything else sorted out but thanks.it seems to be one big mess. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by qqwer123
Added something

[flamingo lover]

I put them on some future cruises for obc. The only thing I am waiting for is my excursions and on board spending money I put on my account. I already got everything else sorted out but thanks.it seems to be one big mess. 

Do u know how they will show up
We see cruise and pre post pkg on our statement but nothing about shore excursions
Lots of money tied up there
Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[qqwer123]

4 minutes ago, flamingo lover said:

Do u know how they will show up
We see cruise and pre post pkg on our statement but nothing about shore excursions
Lots of money tied up there
Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

They said to me 60 days. I’m really hoping. I have about 2500.00 tied up with three cancelled cruises with shore excursions, cash I put on our stateroom, etc. As soon as anybody gets a refund I hope they post it so we know there’s hope. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by qqwer123
Spelling error

[waterbabyfish]

33 minutes ago, Desert Cruisers said:

A quote from the "Voluntary 60-Day Pause of Global Ship Operation" announcement that we received in March:

Government Fees and Taxes, Princess Vacation Protection and any pre-paid items will be refunded, regardless of option chosen.

 

Well I just got my FCC'S minus the port charges, I was never given any option,I just assume they will go back on the credit card! When I checked my cruise personlizer for the fcc I also checked the obc's and nothing was there. I booked thru a TA should I call Princess to find out where my taxes and fees are? My fcc's were posted on the 23rd.

[cherylandtk]

2 hours ago, Desert Cruisers said:

A quote from the "Voluntary 60-Day Pause of Global Ship Operation" announcement that we received in March:

Government Fees and Taxes, Princess Vacation Protection and any pre-paid items will be refunded, regardless of option chosen.

 

Yeah, that’s what they said in March, but this is what they did in April:

(from post #678 by Ceilidh1 in this thread back on page 27)

 

Note that they call it Money, not an FCC, and others have reported being able to get it refunded after contacting Princess and asking for the refund. But that is one more step you have to take (and sit on hold to get through to a rep) to get your refund.  
 

If you are planning on booking another cruise soon to use up your FCC, it might be less hassle to apply the funds to the new cruise; but everyone has to make their own choices based on how much cash is being held by Princess vs. how much cash you need/want to have under your own contro.

[qqwer123]

26 minutes ago, cherylandtk said:

Yeah, that’s what they said in March, but this is what they did in April:

(from post #678 by Ceilidh1 in this thread back on page 27)

 

Note that they call it Money, not an FCC, and others have reported being able to get it refunded after contacting Princess and asking for the refund. But that is one more step you have to take (and sit on hold to get through to a rep) to get your refund.  
 

If you are planning on booking another cruise soon to use up your FCC, it might be less hassle to apply the funds to the new cruise; but everyone has to make their own choices based on how much cash is being held by Princess vs. how much cash you need/want to have under your own contro.

Yes, this is correct. This is the latest info I got from my Princess rep as well. Thanks for posting this. 

[ringers0815]

7 hours ago, LDVinNC said:

 

Not sure how it works in Canada, but in the US when you file a dispute, the cc company gives you a provisional credit then they go to the cc company to see what is going on.  If the dispute is resolved in your favor, your temporary credit becomes permanent.  If the vendor "wins" the dispute, the charge goes back on your card.  This process can take a while.

 

It has nothing to do with insurance.

 

13 hours ago, jan54 said:

If you file a dispute with your credit card company will they actually get your money back? Don’t you have to have a card that has travel insurance coverage? The Visa credit card I used (Canada) has an annual fee which covers for insurance but it has a maximum of $1500 each. Our friends used a card that has no insurance coverage. Can they still file a dispute? Are they just completely out of luck if Princess doesn’t come through? 

Yes you get your money back. We disputed 2 cruises with Amex and got our money back within a few days of filing the dispute. It works as per LDVinNC's post ie they suspended our disputed charges (even though they were paid months ago), investigated and then ruled in our favour and the suspension became a credit. We left the credit on our card but you can ask the credit card company to refund you with a cheque.

[ringers0815]

4 hours ago, qqwer123 said:

They said to me 60 days. I’m really hoping. I have about 2500.00 tied up with three cancelled cruises with shore excursions, cash I put on our stateroom, etc. As soon as anybody gets a refund I hope they post it so we know there’s hope. 

We cancelled a March 10 cruise on March 6 and our excursions and prepaid gratuities were refunded on our credit card within a week of cancelling. But we had to wait for port fees and taxes and ended getting those back via a dispute with our credit card company.

[qqwer123]

13 minutes ago, ringers0815 said:

We cancelled a March 10 cruise on March 6 and our excursions and prepaid gratuities were refunded on our credit card within a week of cancelling. But we had to wait for port fees and taxes and ended getting those back via a dispute with our credit card company.

We were included in the set of cancellations that happened when Princess did it’s 60 day pause of operations. Our cruise was to be March 14. They cancelled on I think 12 or 13. So it’s a whole different circumstance..Since they cancelled all ships for 60 days it’s far more time to wait for refunds to the credit card now. I got my fcc. As for the charges on my cc...I consider it money spent as I would not have it (if we had of cruised that is) so when it comes it comes I guess lol.I will worry further if it goes over the 60 day period. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by qqwer123
Added stuff

[ceilidh1]

For me, the most frustrating aspect of all of this is the lack of communication and conflicting information with constant changes. I appreciate this is a tough time and that they have a lot of work to do, and I really don't have  a huge issue waiting 60 days or so for my FCCs/refund. What I do have an issue with is that the terms appear to be constantly changing without any communications about the changes to customers, and the fact that Princess themselves are giving conflicting info to the point that I'm no longer sure what is correct. Today, I called Princess on two separate occasions, with two separate booking numbers. I think I might have mentioned previously that I had a client booked on a March 14th sailing and I cancelled her on March 9th. At that time, Princess had not cancelled and she was offered FCC in the amount of cancellation fee and the remainder refunded to credit card. The credit card refund was processed within 4 days but still no sign of her FCC so I called about it today. The second call was for my own booking, on the same March 14th sailing. I cancelled on March 10th under the same terms as my client but have received neither refundable amount to credit card nor FCC. Both sailings were later covered under the first pause and the form selecting option 1 for both of us was submitted immediately on March 12th. My two calls today could not have been more different - I have no idea which was "correct" and am passing this info on only as a "what I was told today" piece....

 

Call 1: Calling as a TA for a client. The rep looked up the booking and confirmed it had been cancelled March 9th. He said it was "in process". When I pressed what that meant he said that an FCC for the cancellation fee had been issued on March 19th but was later cancelled. The amount he gave for that FCC was the exact cancellation fee amount (this would have been correct under the initial terms of cancellation). I asked where in the process this booking was, given that it now fell under the initial pause. He was not able to tell me and was not able to tell me if it was being worked on or had gotten "lost". He said that all he could tell me was that the FCCs and refunds were to be processed within 60 days of SAILING date. When I mentioned that the website states 60 days of when the refund request was received and in departure date order, he again repeated that the info they had been given was 60 days of SAILING date. He said that he had been getting cases where people on the same sailing and even in the same cabin may have received their FCCs while others had not. He admitted it made no sense but had no answer. I asked if there was any way he could flag the booking to make sure it would be worked on. He said there was not. He said revenue would get to it as soon as they could. He really seemed disinterested and couldn't have cared less. I didn't pursue from here as I sensed I wouldn't get anywhere and my client isn't in a mad rush for the FCCs right now (and she is one of the lucky ones that received a refund before this whole mess).

 

Call 2: Calling as a customer for my booking. The rep looked up the booking and confirmed cancellation. She said that she did not see and FCC attached to it and she went in to check that the correct process had been done. She then said that because the booking had been cancelled BEFORE the pause, it hadn't been flagged for follow up (which was my main concern with both of the bookings). She did a little more research and found that my shore excursion money was being refunded by cheque, since I paid with Paypal and they had attempted to refund it on March 11th and March 12th and it had not gone through (I recall someone else saying the same thing with a Paypal payment). She said the cheque was issued March 13th and could take up to 60 days to arrive in the mail. I never received any communication/notification of this until now. She then said that refunds/FCCs were being processed in departure date order and I should have been toward the beginning of the process given the sailing date. She put me on hold and contacted customer relations. I was on hold for about 40 minutes but she kept checking back, letting me know that she was working through the booking with customer relations. When she got back to me, she confirmed that the booking had not been flagged correctly, but now it was in the process. She said to expect to see FCCs/refunds by mid May at the latest. I asked about the holding account and was told that this was in place for people planning on rebooking to avoid having to pay deposit/port fees etc. She said that if there was no new booking attached to the original cancellation then the money would be refunded rather than put into a holding account. She sounded very confident in her answer, and I do know that as a TA I can make notes in original booking for the funds from it to be transferred over to an alternate booking. However, the message to TAs was definitely that anyone with option 1 would have that money in a holding account (not just those with new bookings in process) unless they requested it to be refunded. I must say that this rep was one of the best I have dealt with - she was patient, helpful, and went out of her way to actually try to find out the problem (and YES, there was a problem). I will wait (patiently) until mid May and see if anything comes to light...

 

 

[LDVinNC]

Amazing.  The very LEAST they should do is get their stories straight.  I have just printed out "Refunds and Future Cruise Credits" from the website which clearly states the up to 60 days from the date "we receive your choice...".

 

I figure this will be backup documentation when I file my credit card dispute after 60 days. 

 

Perhaps before that 60 days passes someone at Princess will wise up and change it to reference sailing date since that is what some people are being told now.  I now have proof of what they originally said in writing. 

[dchan865]

We still haven't got our refund(Option 2) for our May 4th cruise 5 days from now. 😞

I called my BofA credit card company and ask them if its alright that I dispute it later in May(4 months after I paid the cruise in full) if I still don't get my refund after 60days. The rep told me that its okay. He told me he had customers that booked their vacation a year ago and  allowed them to dispute it.  He said my chance of winning is quite good if I end up disputing it. Only thing I am doing now is save all the press release/docs relating to cruise cancellation posted by Princess in case they fight my dispute.  Take care everyone. 

 

[arcticprincess]

2 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

For me, the most frustrating aspect of all of this is the lack of communication and conflicting information with constant changes. I appreciate this is a tough time and that they have a lot of work to do, and I really don't have  a huge issue waiting 60 days or so for my FCCs/refund. What I do have an issue with is that the terms appear to be constantly changing without any communications about the changes to customers, and the fact that Princess themselves are giving conflicting info to the point that I'm no longer sure what is correct. Today, I called Princess on two separate occasions, with two separate booking numbers. I think I might have mentioned previously that I had a client booked on a March 14th sailing and I cancelled her on March 9th. At that time, Princess had not cancelled and she was offered FCC in the amount of cancellation fee and the remainder refunded to credit card. The credit card refund was processed within 4 days but still no sign of her FCC so I called about it today. The second call was for my own booking, on the same March 14th sailing. I cancelled on March 10th under the same terms as my client but have received neither refundable amount to credit card nor FCC. Both sailings were later covered under the first pause and the form selecting option 1 for both of us was submitted immediately on March 12th. My two calls today could not have been more different - I have no idea which was "correct" and am passing this info on only as a "what I was told today" piece....

 

Call 1: Calling as a TA for a client. The rep looked up the booking and confirmed it had been cancelled March 9th. He said it was "in process". When I pressed what that meant he said that an FCC for the cancellation fee had been issued on March 19th but was later cancelled. The amount he gave for that FCC was the exact cancellation fee amount (this would have been correct under the initial terms of cancellation). I asked where in the process this booking was, given that it now fell under the initial pause. He was not able to tell me and was not able to tell me if it was being worked on or had gotten "lost". He said that all he could tell me was that the FCCs and refunds were to be processed within 60 days of SAILING date. When I mentioned that the website states 60 days of when the refund request was received and in departure date order, he again repeated that the info they had been given was 60 days of SAILING date. He said that he had been getting cases where people on the same sailing and even in the same cabin may have received their FCCs while others had not. He admitted it made no sense but had no answer. I asked if there was any way he could flag the booking to make sure it would be worked on. He said there was not. He said revenue would get to it as soon as they could. He really seemed disinterested and couldn't have cared less. I didn't pursue from here as I sensed I wouldn't get anywhere and my client isn't in a mad rush for the FCCs right now (and she is one of the lucky ones that received a refund before this whole mess).

 

Call 2: Calling as a customer for my booking. The rep looked up the booking and confirmed cancellation. She said that she did not see and FCC attached to it and she went in to check that the correct process had been done. She then said that because the booking had been cancelled BEFORE the pause, it hadn't been flagged for follow up (which was my main concern with both of the bookings). She did a little more research and found that my shore excursion money was being refunded by cheque, since I paid with Paypal and they had attempted to refund it on March 11th and March 12th and it had not gone through (I recall someone else saying the same thing with a Paypal payment). She said the cheque was issued March 13th and could take up to 60 days to arrive in the mail. I never received any communication/notification of this until now. She then said that refunds/FCCs were being processed in departure date order and I should have been toward the beginning of the process given the sailing date. She put me on hold and contacted customer relations. I was on hold for about 40 minutes but she kept checking back, letting me know that she was working through the booking with customer relations. When she got back to me, she confirmed that the booking had not been flagged correctly, but now it was in the process. She said to expect to see FCCs/refunds by mid May at the latest. I asked about the holding account and was told that this was in place for people planning on rebooking to avoid having to pay deposit/port fees etc. She said that if there was no new booking attached to the original cancellation then the money would be refunded rather than put into a holding account. She sounded very confident in her answer, and I do know that as a TA I can make notes in original booking for the funds from it to be transferred over to an alternate booking. However, the message to TAs was definitely that anyone with option 1 would have that money in a holding account (not just those with new bookings in process) unless they requested it to be refunded. I must say that this rep was one of the best I have dealt with - she was patient, helpful, and went out of her way to actually try to find out the problem (and YES, there was a problem). I will wait (patiently) until mid May and see if anything comes to light...

 

 

Wow..so if you paid via Paypal to use a credit card safely rather than give credit card info to Princess, then checks are being issued rather than refund to card used on Paypal?  Geez.  I used multiple cards via Paypal for the $50k total for the 3 btb cruises.  

[PrincessLuver]

On 3/13/2020 at 5:35 PM, lahore said:

Hi,  I cancelled under the new cancellation policy on the day it came out.  I received an email but the money has not hit my account.  Obviously I know things are terribly unusual and Princess and Banks are no doubt terribly overburdened.   However, I was just wondering if people are starting to get their refunds trickling through?  My bank has - in the past - been very slow with refunds so I’m curious.  In Australia by the way.

 

So, since the OP's original post has anyone received a $$ refund who were under the Option #1 or Option #2 March 12th Princess offer?

 

[YWW]

I posted this same message on another topic "Currently on Coral Princess" ...

 

Since we have a credit balance of about $1,500 as of March 19, the day we disembarked Coral Princess due to canceled excursions and the credit has not shown up in our registered credit card, we called Princess today. They said all refunds including credit balance on completed cruises, canceled cruises, future cruise credits ... are taking 60+ days to process so the earliest we'll see the refund is mid May. Princess rep said the refunds are being processed in batches. In the past, credit balance was refunded to our credit card almost immediately after we disembarked but then this is not normal times. Give them a few weeks. If you don't see a refund in your registered credit card by mid or late May, give them a call to follow up.

[azbirdmom]

Well this stinks.  Princess just changed the language on their website and completely removed the timelines for sending back refunds and posting FCCs.  😡

 

[LDVinNC]

Really glad I printed out the previous version of this page! Might be helpful when I file our credit card dispute after 60 days.

 

And I agree that it stinks.

Edited April 30, 2020 by LDVinNC
Added sentence

[trrn2016]

3 minutes ago, LDVinNC said:

Really glad I printed out the previous version of this page! Might be helpful when I file our credit card dispute after 60 days.

 

And I agree that it stinks.

Would you share? I thought I had it but cant find it now. Filing credit card dispute. Thanks so much.

[LDVinNC]

1 minute ago, trrn2016 said:

Would you share? I thought I had it but cant find it now. Filing credit card dispute. Thanks so much.

 

i will be happy to share it. It will have to be tomorrow if that is ok.