CANCELED CHRISTMAS MARKET CRUISE

[USCAdventurer]

i really was looking forward to my second river cruise with crystal.  their danube cruise in december from budapest to vienna really excited me very much and i booked it over a year ago.  however, i just canceled the cruise for a few reasons.

flying from phoenix to london to budapest really didn't feel good to me.  then staying in a budapest hotel for three nights before the cruise didn't feel good to me.  then, being on a river ship with people from all over the world didn't feel good to me at this time.  and visiting christmas markets with hundreds of people mingling through the markets didn't feel good to me.  this just wasn't the time for me to take this journey this year.  crystal was wonderful about giving me a refund or transferring money to a previously booked ocean cruise in 2022.  they didn't charge me any cancelation fees at all.  and i have some money left over in my account that i will use for another river cruise in the future.

now, british airways is another story,  unless they cancel my flights, i'm not entitled to a refund.  if i cancel my flights, i will get back any taxes and fees that i paid.  i really don't think they are going to cancel my flights in november and december,  but i'm not canceling my flights until the very last minute just in case british does decide to cancel.  any thoughts?

[pbeach]

British Airways cancelled my flight from London to Istanbul scheduled for May 21.  My TA had to complete a form requesting a refund, which 

I received in about a week.

 

[USCAdventurer]

yes, once british airways cancels a flight, they are very good about giving refunds.  so i'll just have to wait to see if they cancel my flights from phoenix to london (nov 26th) and london to budapest and then vienna to london (dec 9th) and then london to phoenix (dec 9th).  hopefully they will but i'm not counting on it.

glad they treated you well.

[Coral]

I did the Danube Christmas Markets (with Crystal) in 2018 and LOVED it.

 

I get it!! I want to go back but I think December is too soon for me right now for all the reasons you list. And I am not even sure if the Christmas Markets are going to be the same given the situation. Will they still exist, will they be scaled back, etc...?

[KathyK13]

On 5/21/2020 at 2:57 PM, Coral said:

I did the Danube Christmas Markets (with Crystal) in 2018 and LOVED it.

 

I get it!! I want to go back but I think December is too soon for me right now for all the reasons you list. And I am not even sure if the Christmas Markets are going to be the same given the situation. Will they still exist, will they be scaled back, etc...?

I have reservations on an Avalon Christmas Market cruise in December with my sister and two friends; it will be their first river cruise.  I'm starting to think it may make sense to see if we an reschedule for the following year.  It's impossible at this point to know if there will be cruises in December and what the markets will be like, if they do have them.  We have refundable hotel reservations pre and post cruise, so we wouldn't lose any money.

[orchidj5]

We have an AMA Prague to Budapest trip booked for December-thinking seriously about moving my deposit to a 22  trip.  I think the Markets will not be the same this year and not sure i want to spend 10 hours on a Denver to Munich flight this year.  And despite the appearance that things are calming down the history of pandemic virus's doesnt make me comfortable that we willl be done with this thing for a bit yet.

[AF-1]

USC Adventurer;  does British Airways have e-credit if you cancel.  All the US airlines have that in place.  I have two e-credits with Delta;  I cancelled my flights and they gave me e-credits in my account.

[USCAdventurer]

My first British Airways flight is not until November 26th from Phoenix to London my second British Airways flight is on November 30th from London to Budapest and my third British Airways flight is on December 9th from Vienna to London and then my fourth British Airways flight from London to Phoenix on December 9th since none of these flights have been canceled and probably won't be canceled if I do the canceling I don't get any type of credit the only credit I would get would be for the taxes and fees paid for those tickets but British Airways will not give me as I'm sure and will not refund anything to me as of today I really need to wait until October and see what the status of those flights are at that time it's much too early to see about credits now

[AF-1]

such a shame they don't do like the us airlines.  

[USCAdventurer]

It's too bad that British Airways hasn't cancelled my flights yet once a flight is cancelled then things change it's possible to get a refund and it's also possible to get a voucher but before that happens British Airways doesn't owe me anything unfortunately here in the United States I believe it's the same thing I think that if the airline cancels a flight you are entitled to a refund but if they don't cancel the flight and you cancel a flight because you're afraid to fly or plate to go on a cruise somewhere I'm not sure what the policy is with us Airlines

[AF-1]

The big three US airlines Delta, United, and American; if you cancel your flight they will give you an ecredit to your account or cash;  it depends on what type ticket you bought.  I had Delta tickets for Oct trip to Zurich and come home from Amsterdam.  I cancelled my flight when my cruise cancelled.  Delta issued me a e-ticket; which is good for 18 months.  It took less than thirty minutes for them to do this.  I also cancelled a July Delta flight to Colorado.  Delta issued me a e-ticket for that flight too.  So the US airlines have been pretty good with some type refund.  Sorry about your British Airways flight

[iMarco46]

Our ATL-FRA non-stop flight on Delta was originally scheduled for July 1.  Reservation was booked on Feb 4.

 

On May 5, Delta dropped the non-stop from their schedule - substituting a connection through AMS. 

The change made our reservation eligible for a refund or eCredit even though the fares were "non-refundable".

 

We asked for a cash refund and received the credit to our VISA card on June 5. 

Kudos to Delta and our TA. 👍🏻

 

Edited June 9, 2020 by iMarco46

[AF-1]

iMaroco46;  glad you had a good result.  Have a great day

[scottjeanne]

I had overseas flights on British Airways this summer for a river cruise and the Passion Play.  I was told that I could cancel for a fee of $200 per booking.  If they canceled (which they did last week) I would receive 100% of my money back.  One flight I used miles and just paid taxes and they redeposited the miles into my account with no penalty and refunded the fees. The flight they canceled in May still has the refund pending, but the one they canceled in June was returned to my credit card in days.  British Airways has a new instant credit system in place, according to the agent I spoke with.

[AF-1]

scottjeanne;  good for you;  glad you got a refund for entire amount.  Good luck with the second refund.

[USCAdventurer]

lucky, lucky lucky me!

british airways just sent me an email cancelling my flight from phx to lhr on nov 26th.  they offered me a voucher, rebook on another date or a refund.  i chose the refund and received the refund in three days!  what great service.   the reason i got lucky is this.  british used to fly 7 days a week from phx to lhr but have cut back to 5 days per week starting oct. 25th.  since my flight was on a thursday, they had to cancel my booking which worked out perfect for me.

now if crystal would only send my refunds!

my two european tickets can't be refunded yet since those flights haven't been and probably won't be cancelled.  they are both relatively cheap tickets so if i have to take the loss, it won't hurt so much now that i got the british refund.  i guess this river cruise finally got canceled, right?  i self canceled in may so never received an email from crystal about it.

Edited August 10, 2020 by USC Adventurer

[MightyQuinn]

24 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

i guess this river cruise finally got canceled, right?  i self canceled in may so never received an email from crystal about it.

 

Yes David.  Crystal cancelled all river cruises through Dec 2020. 

 

 

[USCAdventurer]

Thanks for the information about all River Cruises being cancelled when I canceled my river cruise in May I had them put some of the money towards a Mediterranean Cruise I had booked for November of 2023 and then ask for a refund for the remaining money so I'm still waiting for that Refund Now sure hope I get the refund

[Coral]

1 hour ago, USC Adventurer said:

Thanks for the information about all River Cruises being cancelled when I canceled my river cruise in May I had them put some of the money towards a Mediterranean Cruise I had booked for November of 2023 and then ask for a refund for the remaining money so I'm still waiting for that Refund Now sure hope I get the refund

They are ahead of the other lines. Most have not cancelled that far in advance.

[USCAdventurer]

I think Crystal did the right thing by canceling the river cruises I canceled my Christmas Market River Cruise in May thinking that why would I want to visit Christmas markets with hundreds of other people not social distancing but being very very crowded besides the fact I did not want to sit on an airplane for 12 hours to go from Phoenix to Budapest and then the end of act to Phoenix after the cruise I'm going to try to do that same Christmas Market Cruise in 2023 I'm feeling better about doing a cruise on the symphony in 2022 and then hopefully the Christmas River Cruise in 2023 but I am waiting for my refunds before I make any new bookings on crystal