Status of Privately Booked Cruise excursions

[PandaBear62]

I'm curious what is happening to others in terms of reservations made for cancelled British Isles cruises? I was expecting to sail in late June on the Regal Princess.

 

London Pass: We booked the London Pass for our time in London before the cruise. I intentionally purchased the insurance offered by the company, which essentially offers a refund for any reason prior to using the pass. They are now offering 24 months to use their pass instead of 12, but given I purchased the insurance I wanted a refund. The company ignored my attempts to contact them (I emailed twice and attempted through Whatsapp, which they have cancelled but it;s still on their website) and I disputed the charge with my credit card company on the 59th day.  As of now I have the charge reversed, but of course, the company has 60 days (I believe ) to appeal the chargeback.

 

Luckily I had not yet booked transport to Southampton, because I wasn't sure if we were going Saturday evening or Sunday morning. 

 

Invergordon Tours: This company changed their refund policy in light of the pandemic and will no longer offer refunds. They are allowing rebooking within 2 months of postponement, but unfortunately, I don't know if we will be on this itinerary within 24 months, dues to other commitments.

 

Discover Scotland Tours: I have email conformation that the will refund, but they are stating they cannot process any refunds until they are allowed to reopen their offices. I find that very hard to believe that nothing can be done remotely and assume that, like Princess, they do not have the money to refund and it's unlikely I'll get the money back. However, I cannot dispute this because they have stated they will refund.

 

Overlord Tours: I requested a refund and received it, less a 4% processing fee (which was noted in the original terms. I don't now if I will make it to Normandy on another cruise or a lang excursion to France, but I will definitely recommend this company and use it in the future. This was THE excursion that I was most looking forward to and am dreadfully disappointed.

 

We had one other tour that we were part of a group and it was cancelled early on (by the original bookers). I had not planned a tour for Guernsey and was using onboard credit for Dublin. We were indecisive about Liverpool, so hadn't booked yet.

 

What have others experienced?

 

 

 

 

 

[John Bull]

The law in the UK is very clear - if the provider cancels the customer is entitled to a refund in cash (or card).

Like most cruise lines & airlines, many providers are offering future-use credit instead. This is understandable because cashflow is ultra-important with no new cash coming in. But they cannot refuse to refund, even though some claim they're not obliged to.

There is also a maximum time-scale for refunds. I think it's 14 days, but with the high volume of refunds, some staff self-quarantining & other staff working from home, etc you need to allow some leeway. But a delay of months isn't acceptable - and that again is a problem with many cruise lines (lots of complaints about Princess).

 

If the customer cancels it's rather less clear-cut. I hear contradictory advice for when circumstances (closed borders etc) prevent the customer from travelling.

 

Invergordon Tours. The terms that apply to you are the terms which applied when you booked.

 

Discover Scotland. Sounds like nonsense - staff in many offices are working from home, and staff are permitted to travel to work  provided that they can maintain social distancing at work. That normally results in a smaller workforce in offices, but with a much lower demand for future business there should be ono problem dealing with refunds.. There just MIGHT be some secondary problem, such as access to a shared building - but I doubt it. 

 

Overlord.  If they were the ones who cancelled you should get a 100% refund with no admin charge. But it sounds very much like they're doing the right thing. 

 

JB 

[LondonTowner]

I agree with JB that in theory the law states they must refund. However, many companies will make you jump through hoops to get the money.

[nini]

I booked a tour with Highland Tours Inverness. This was for a group of 7 from our Roll Call.

 

Shortly after Princess canceled this cruise for September, I wrote the owner and he promptly

refunded our deposit. He said "under the circumstances" it would be refunded.

 

Because of the fluctuating currency exchange, we lost a few dollars, but because of his very timely response 

and the result, we will definitely book with this company if and when possible.

[nini]

I also canceled our hotel. I did not make a monetary deposit for the less

expensive rate. I filled out their online form and did not hear back from them

so I wrote a separate e-mail. They apologized that I did not receive an

e-mail confirming the cancellation but it had gone through.

[ontheweb]

17 hours ago, nini said:

I booked a tour with Highland Tours Inverness. This was for a group of 7 from our Roll Call.

 

Shortly after Princess canceled this cruise for September, I wrote the owner and he promptly

refunded our deposit. He said "under the circumstances" it would be refunded.

 

Because of the fluctuating currency exchange, we lost a few dollars, but because of his very timely response 

and the result, we will definitely book with this company if and when possible.

And that's an excellent reason for companies to do the right thing for their customers.

[Cotswold Eagle]

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

And that's an excellent reason for companies to do the right thing for their customers.

You are quite right, of course. The trouble for small companies relying on cash flow is that if they don’t have the cash to refund everyone, they will be forced to wind up the company - in which case the refunds are unlikely to be paid anyway and there will be no company for customers to be loyal to in the future. 
 

Very difficult times. 

[portiemom]

PandaBear62 - We might have been on the same cruise. We were to embark in LeHavre on June 20 for our British Isles cruise on Regal Princess.

 

Discover Scotland emailed me shortly after the cruise was cancelled to offer to move my tour to next year. They also stated we could get a refund but it would take some time for them to process it. We are planning to go in 2021. We booked a relatively inexpensive tour so I was okay with not asking for a refund while I see how things shake out.

 

Thistle Excursions in Inverness was our most expensive tour. I had worked with Maxine to create a private customized itinerary for Invergordon. She quickly refunded our tour cost, and I would book with Maxine again in a heartbeat. She was my best experience. I'll wait and see how things go with the pandemic before I rebook.

 

McComb's Coach Travel in Belfast was my worst experience. They're outright refusing a refund of my deposit but will apply it to a tour next year. Their terms are no refund "unless the ship doesn't dock due to weather" and they're sticking to it. As I already stated, that will be fine if we can sail next year. But their refusal given the circumstances has really put me off, and I'd rather not do business with this company.

 

[ROWSE]

We were booked for the May 4, 2020, Regal Princess, British Isles,  that was cancelled by Princess.

We had some group arranged tours off our Roll Call that was handled by someone else.  They were both "tours by locals" and all were refunded after a few weeks.

 

The tours I did myself were all refunded.  THEN, I rebooked the same cruise for Regal Princess September 25, 2020, and had to re-purchase all those excursions.  

DUMB!!!  I should have waited to cancel, but I did not realize I would try again for the September 25, 2020, cruise.  Later it was also cancelled.   I now have moved them all over to May 2, Crown Princess sailing of the British Isles and that was so much easier.  I will just keep my fingers crossed that they are all able to stay afloat.

 

The tour companies were:

 

Thistle Excursions for Invergordon:  Maxine is just wonderful and refunded, then rebooked, and now has moved my date over to May.  

 

Overlords for Normandy Beach tour:  They have been great to work with but did charge me a 4% fee on my initial cancelling but this second time has moved me over to May with no extra charge even though their prices have gone up. 

 

International Friends:  Tour for disembarkation day in Southampton.  They have been wonderful to work with and promptly refunded, then rebooked, and now have moved me over to my May 14 date.  

 

I am so sorry for any of you that have tour companies that have been difficult!  

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by ROWSE