Cancelled Cruises Refund Tracker/Discussion (merged topics)

[GottaKnowWhen]

29 minutes ago, hcat said:

Thanks..sev reasons come into play.

Yes,  I forgot about labor issues.  In Hawaii   we went on  an excursion  and were joined by some employees of the  cuise line with American  regis ships  that cruised Hawaii, and chatted with them.  They did make more $  than  crew on our ship but had their own gripes.  The best part from Passenger perspective was they could do a Hawaii Island cruise without a foreign stop..wonder if those ships are still sailing??

 

We have been looking at some U.S. River Cruises..U.S.  company..possibly for the future...very interesting itins!

We have been quite interested in Great Lakes cruises as well. On a land vacation, long weekend, on Mackinaw Island we saw a small cruise ship docked. We’ve driven much of the shorelines, but a cruise would be a nice variation!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

14 minutes ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

We have been quite interested in Great Lakes cruises as well. On a land vacation, long weekend, on Mackinaw Island we saw a small cruise ship docked. We’ve driven much of the shorelines, but a cruise would be a nice variation!

 

I've been looking at those as well.  Have only driven the Lake Superior Circle tour (which was fabulous) but would enjoy one of these.  Have to shake my money loose from Celebrity first!  They have a lot of it.  I'm giving them 30 days and then it's dispute time with AmEx.

[helen haywood]

Can you really dispute a charge on your credit card (Capital One) that I made last December for a March 29th Cruise?  I used the link in the email Celebrity sent me to request a refund but have not received any confirmation or anything.

[denamo]

4 hours ago, twentyknots said:

If RCL goes bankrupt than my travel insurance will have to pay.

Unfortuantely, our insurance was refunded.  So no backup there!

 

[Essiesmom]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

Thanks..sev reasons come into play.

Yes,  I forgot about labor issues.  In Hawaii   we went on  an excursion  and were joined by some employees of the  cuise line with American  regis ships  that cruised Hawaii, and chatted with them.  They did make more $  than  crew on our ship but had their own gripes.  The best part from Passenger perspective was they could do a Hawaii Island cruise without a foreign stop..wonder if those ships are still sailing??

 

We have been looking at some U.S. River Cruises..U.S.  company..possibly for the future...very interesting itins!

For ships to be registered in the US, they have to be built in the US.  There are no longer shipyards in the US building large cruise ships.  The Pride of America still sails in Hawaii as her hull was built in the US, was abandoned, then purchased and towed to Europe where she was finished.  EM

[harz99]

3 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Can you really dispute a charge on your credit card (Capital One) that I made last December for a March 29th Cruise?  I used the link in the email Celebrity sent me to request a refund but have not received any confirmation or anything.

Probably not, here in the UK there is a 100 day limit from transaction to claim date for S75 CC claims, I guess elsewhere will be similar or shorter as I seem to recall 60 days being mentioned previously. 

[sunlover33]

9 hours ago, hcat said:

Lets stick to the tracker thread..

The reason I started this thread was as described in the question, a simple yes received full refund or no still waiting, rather than have to wade through 15 pages of discussion and debate  and topics going off track.  Thought it would be easier to see just how many people have had their money returned. It may help us all to spot a problem or trend quicker. 

[Pennstatedj]

Not yet.

[Ontario Cruiser]

Cruise paid waiting for air which is was told would be credited to my credit card OntarioCruiser

[mafig]

12 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Can you really dispute a charge on your credit card (Capital One) that I made last December for a March 29th Cruise?  I used the link in the email Celebrity sent me to request a refund but have not received any confirmation or anything.

 

We disputed ours (also March 29) at the 94-day mark.  I still don't know what the limit is (BOA).  DH did it and forgot to ask.

 

What's stopping you from calling them?  Each day only makes it longer.

[Sticks5315]

• It looks like Celebrity parent co. Royal Caribbean ,  got a payment deferment agreement from a long term debt hold holder Euler Hermès which is a subsidiary of Allianz, an insurance co. The Securities & Exchange Commission filing indicates the debt was from long term financing for a couple of ships. If you look at the RCCL financial statements you will see they show customer deposits owing of over $3billion. They show cash on hand of about $250 million. Essentially they collect cruise fare deposits and use them to fund current operations. Revenues run about $900 million per month. So we paid in December for a March cruise, but they use those funds to operate their business in December. Pretty good business model until a pandemic comes along. All the cruise companies do this.
• If the CDC shortens their no sail order these guys will probably be fine. I find it ironic that the CDC announces the 100 additional days to their no sail order on April 10 and then on the following Monday, April 13, our various government leaders are scrambling to see who gets the privilege of announcing if and when the economy will re-open.
•  

[MakingUpForLostTime]

The reason refunds are not being issued is not logistical. It's not that they are working from home or have such a large volume that they need all this time.

 

I see three red flags. 1) They are holding all the cash as long as possible 2) Zero communication 3) Total lack of consideration to their most loyal customers.

 

I have reviewed their financial statements and read the articles of how they are getting funding.

 

I suspect that the senior management at RCI is waiting. How can they possibly make larger strategic decisions without any indication of what the future holds. Why release cash if their survival depends on it? If they are in a holding pattern no cash will be related and no information will flow. This is a normal reaction of a management team with no clear direction, and to be expected.

 

The cruising industry coming out of this event will be very different and there will be very different times that their business models will have to adapt to. One thing for sure is that the most important ingredient to the future recipe of cruising is being destroyed by the very people who will depend on it to survive and thrive: The loyal customer. 

 

Loyalty takes programs and years to develop and nurture. In a short period of time they have managed to destroy the concept of loyalty by doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing. A simple push of the button to refund me my cruise that was cancelled on March 10th (my 22nd cruise with RCI) has been replaced with over 10 hours of "Thanks for being understanding" emails and phone calls.

 

The only logical explanation is that I will never see this refund in my account.

 

Very Sad.

[MakingUpForLostTime]

3 minutes ago, Sticks5315 said:

• It looks like Celebrity parent co. Royal Caribbean ,  got a payment deferment agreement from a long term debt hold holder Euler Hermès which is a subsidiary of Allianz, an insurance co. The Securities & Exchange Commission filing indicates the debt was from long term financing for a couple of ships. If you look at the RCCL financial statements you will see they show customer deposits owing of over $3billion. They show cash on hand of about $250 million. Essentially they collect cruise fare deposits and use them to fund current operations. Revenues run about $900 million per month. So we paid in December for a March cruise, but they use those funds to operate their business in December. Pretty good business model until a pandemic comes along. All the cruise companies do this.
• If the CDC shortens their no sail order these guys will probably be fine. I find it ironic that the CDC announces the 100 additional days to their no sail order on April 10 and then on the following Monday, April 13, our various government leaders are scrambling to see who gets the privilege of announcing if and when the economy will re-open.
•  

You are absolutely correct on your financial observations. The money they do have and the credit available is being held very tightly. They are in a no win situation. I have accepted that my $10k was spend months ago and I will never see it again. Sad! What's worse is that after just completing my 30th cruise, how I am being treated will result in a loss of future revenue that they will depend on.

 

I have heard so many times that people will remember how companies treated them during this event and those who were treated well will thrive in the future and those who do not will not.  I am in full agreement and my loyalty comes at a high price. 

[hcat]

10 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

For ships to be registered in the US, they have to be built in the US.  There are no longer shipyards in the US building large cruise ships.  The Pride of America still sails in Hawaii as her hull was built in the US, was abandoned, then purchased and towed to Europe where she was finished.  EM

Yup, that  was the ship..What a shame!  Great name too Pride of America.

 

Def looking into some river and lake cruises close to  home...

[hcat]

36 minutes ago, mafig said:

 

We disputed ours (also March 29) at the 94-day mark.  I still don't know what the limit is (BOA).  DH did it and forgot to ask.

 

What's stopping you from calling them?  Each day only makes it longer.

We filed a  BOA dispute today for a promised $500 refund that was for a cruised we cancelled  30 days ago. Cruise was booked way before that.. 

 

 They accepted the dispute but no guarantee it will be sustained. Tel wait time 15 to 20 mins. We have to mail or fax them our orig booking  invoice, cred card statement and cancelled booking confirmation...which we have.

 

Learned today we can now  file disputes through the online system......we will do that on the next one   that we  have cancelled at the 30 day mark. We were not given any proof we cancelled but will work on that.

 

The more we get back the better for us!

[swjumbo]

13 minutes ago, hcat said:

Yup, that  was the ship..What a shame!  Great name too Pride of America.

 

Def looking into some river and lake cruises close to  home...

Yes, there’s no coronavirus near home where you are!

[hcat]

We have plenty of illness here in NY,  but are  thinking ahead for when things may be clear.

 

We want to see more of the US,  and can drive rather than fly  to many nice  rivers and lakes.  Cruises are offered on the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Fla Rivers, Pacific NW rivers, New England, Husdon River,  NY...etc.  Going to send for brochures and check things out on Cruise Critic,

 

The river cruises are not far from land or overly  reliant on distant ports. Of course you can get sick on a river cruise but  are closer to home.

 

 We really enjoyed our Celebrity Ca Coastal cruise...great way to see US west coast and wine country. We were looking forward to Summit cruising along  US East Coast  to Newport, Charleston plus Bermuda,  but it is  no longer sailing this season.

 

Once are refunds are secured, sorted and associated  losses tallied, we can shift our  cruise budget into a different niche...hopefully.

Edited April 14, 2020 by hcat

[jc719]

17 hours ago, Wine-O said:

 

Call UA.  They charged me $125 to restore 40K miles back into my account.  They recently changed their policy.  I got a voucher for the $125 good for 2 years, and my wife got her $125 restored to the credit card.  🍷

Thanks.  I contacted UA Mileage Plus service center by online messaging and they issued vouchers within an hour.  Good until 4/2022.  Aside from my one status query to celebrity, I was able to completely avoid any human telephone interactions through this entire process.

[HS2BS]

Last week I called Chase about Celebrity’s lack of refund to my credit card, and was told to call back on Tuesday(today) to see if it appeared(21 days after refund date). It did not.

Booked the May 9 cruise last year and made final payment on 2/21, Celebrity cancelled on 3/25; as our card payment Date is 4/15.
Today, Chase rep put a hold on the need for a payment of the disputed amount and started a dispute resolution giving Celebrity 15 days to respond or the amount will be deducted from balance. Wait time was less than 10 minutes.

 

Hal

[Tigrou]

16 hours ago, harz99 said:

Probably not, here in the UK there is a 100 day limit from transaction to claim date for S75 CC claims, I guess elsewhere will be similar or shorter as I seem to recall 60 days being mentioned previously. 

 

I don't believe this is correct.  My understanding is that there is no time limit for making a claim under Section 75.

 

Many UK websites offer information on how to claim under S75, none that I've looked at make any mention of a 100 day limit.

 

 

[harz99]

1 hour ago, Tigrou said:

 

I don't believe this is correct.  My understanding is that there is no time limit for making a claim under Section 75.

 

Many UK websites offer information on how to claim under S75, none that I've looked at make any mention of a 100 day limit.

 

 

Your corrrect, my bad - too many refund claims against hotels and airlines.

 

So, for S75 in the UK no time limit, however the CC transaction must be for a minimum of £100 (which is where the 100 reference came from) , for Chargeback there is a limit of within 120 days of purchase or payment of service. more info here  https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/visa-mastercard-chargeback/

[hcat]

19 hours ago, hcat said:

We filed a  BOA dispute today for a promised $500 refund that was for a cruised we cancelled  30 days ago. Cruise was booked way before that.. 

 

 They accepted the dispute but no guarantee it will be sustained. Tel wait time 15 to 20 mins. We have to mail or fax them our orig booking  invoice, cred card statement and cancelled booking confirmation...which we have.

 

Learned today we can now  file disputes through the online system......we will do that on the next one   that we  have cancelled at the 30 day mark. We were not given any proof we cancelled but will work on that.

 

The more we get back the better for us!

 

Filed the dispute yesterday  morning around 7:30`am , and the $500 deposit refund was credited to our account by eary a.m today. It was one lump sum rather than in the 3 sep amts X  indicated.

Already called the auto system to  request a check for my credit balance which they indicate should arrive in 7 to 10 days.   ( We are still waiting on the other check from BOA.) We will also expect an eventual adjustment to our BOA cruise points down the line

 

Wondering if this is another coincidence or we are jumping the gun . We call and the credit comes through next day? But  It was at the 30 day mark from the cancellation date.

 

Also  received part of our LA fitness refund for auto  biling us  while Clubs are closed!

Would rather be enjoying all these things instead of chasing refunds.,.but  sadly that's not possible right now.

[swjumbo]

Have just chatted (webchat) to them online and they quoted 30 days from cruise cancellation. 

[vkb2751]

Just received this reply from TA in NH for 3/23 sailing that we requested refund on 3/13/20:

 

At this time, Celebrity has advised that refunds may take up to 30 days from the original sailing date, so you should be receiving it within the coming weeks.

 

New response

Edited April 15, 2020 by vkb2751

[harz99]

4 minutes ago, vkb2751 said:

Just received this reply from TA in NH for 3/23 sailing that we requested refund on 3/13/20:

 

At this time, Celebrity has advised that refunds may take up to 30 days from the original sailing date, so you should be receiving it within the coming weeks.

 

New response

Only a week to go then (maybe)...