Refunds from cancelled excursions

[minikiss]

Just wondering if anyone who has cancelled a Princess tour recently had their money back yet?

When Princess gave us the all clear that we could go ashore independently, i cancelled the 4 places i had booked on the Titanic tour next Friday.

At $99 each that a lot to be waiting to go back on my C.Card. 

Every day i check the bank and nothing. 

What makes me nervous is  i had nothing from Princess to say i had cancelled the places, only that they no longer show in the booking.

Plus i could have sworn something flashed up to say it would take 24 hours for the refund to clear. It's been 7 days now and nothing.

So i wondering what any one else's experiences are when it comes to refunds.

As we board in 4 days if nothing by then i will chase it onboard. Oh i tried calling but guess what on hold and no one answers. 

[Dar & Bob]

From the excursion FAQs -

 

If there is no shore excursion balance for the guest named on the reservation being cancelled then the pre-paid amount will be refunded to the credit card used to pre-pay the shore excursion. All refunds will be processed in due course, but delays should be anticipated. Please allow sufficient time for us to manage this process and know we are doing everything in our power to expedite where possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

[franktown]

I cancelled a Princess tour about a month ago and received my refund back to my credit card in 2 days.  I'm not sure of the exact policy but if you cancel your tour close to sailing they give you refundable OBC.  I know when I cancelled a tour the day before sailing the refund was given to me as OBC.

[starboardcruiser]

I dealt with this over the summer. The first time, it took 2 days; the second time, it took 9 or 10 days. Since you are sailing so soon, you will likely be best dealing with it on board. There was a price reduction on one of my remaining excursions and they refunded it back to OBC (which I had used to book). I confirmed that by phone this morning, which I mention in case you booked with any OBC. Good luck and bon voyage!

 

ETA: Thank you, @franktown! The rep on the phone could not tell me whether my OBC was refundable, but your experience gives me hope it may be.

Edited August 27, 2021 by starboardcruiser
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[minikiss]

thanks for the replies. Mine and my husbands were booked used $25 each OBC, whicj did go back straight away. My in laws were paid for by me in full.

I guess i'll just keep checking  the bank and if nothing by the time we sail i'll chase it then with a real person.

But i'm hoping it in by then as the bill is due and i'd prefer to off set the balance with it. 

[Shelly97060]

 Last week I requested a refund for flexible fare EZAir that was refared and the rep said it could be up to 10-15 business days before the refund showed on my credit card.  Be patient, it could take a few weeks.
 

 

[CynCyn]

I had to cancel my cruise for August 8.  I got my refund for my excursions in 2 days.    I just checked and my onboard credit purchased with gift cards has been refunded. My FCC’s are back in my account.  I am still waiting for refund to card for taxes/fees and EZAir.  

[caribill]

12 hours ago, minikiss said:

But i'm hoping it in by then as the bill is due and i'd prefer to off set the balance with it. 

 

Just contact the card issuer and let them know the refund is coming and not to have you pay for the charge. Basically challenge the charge so you do not have to pay it at this time.

[busymumofthree]

This is helpful for me, too - I cancelled our Liverpool and Glasgow tours a few days ago as we can now travel independently and I was nervous about not receiving an email acknowledgement - it seems this is standard practice.  And I'll relax about not seeing the money yet back on our credit card!

 

 

[trvlwrld]

I had $2800 in excursion refunds and Princess refunded it in 3 days...it was my bank that didn’t put it back to my account for another week after that!

[Shone216]

We received a refund today …cancelled shore excursion when Princess announced we were allowed to go ashore independently 

[minikiss]

1 hour ago, Shone216 said:

We received a refund today …cancelled shore excursion when Princess announced we were allowed to go ashore independently 

that's good to hear as i cancelled a few days later. so hopefully it will be only be a few days more for me. 

[Chai8]

We were on the 8/8 cruise on Majestic out of Seattle. Our excursions in both Juneau and Ketchikan were canceled at literally the last possible second. I spoke to the bursar on board and strenuously (but politely) requested that the credit our credit card and was told that that can only be done by corporate. We've now been back more than two weeks and still haven't seen the credit. My husband has been on hold with Princess for coming up on 90 minutes with no results yet. 

 

I will never, ever sail with this company again, so help me God. It's been one thing after another. 

[Loki S]

We cancelled a shore excursion early last week and by the end of the week received notification of the refund. However the refund amount was incorrect, so escalated back to Princess on the weekend and received an email this morning that this has been rectified but will take 2 weeks to be received. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the refund being received.

[Chai8]

Update: FINALLY got through to someone at Princess. 

 

For reasons that they cannot explain, all shore excursion refunds have to be issued in the form of a check. (Note: Of course they do. Princess gets to hang onto the funds longer plus not have to pay the CC co. its various fees for refund. This is a win-win for the cruise line.) Check distribution is taking "six to eight weeks" per our rep. 

 

We were assured repeatedly on the ship that they'd refund our credit card as soon as the folio was settled. 

Fine. We'll dispute it with our credit card company and maybe it'll be sorted out in six to eight weeks. 

 

My first and last cruise with this cruise line. If anyone asks, I'll be sure to tell them to avoid it like the plague. 

[starboardcruiser]

12 minutes ago, Chai8 said:

Update: FINALLY got through to someone at Princess. 

 

For reasons that they cannot explain, all shore excursion refunds have to be issued in the form of a check. (Note: Of course they do. Princess gets to hang onto the funds longer plus not have to pay the CC co. its various fees for refund. This is a win-win for the cruise line.) Check distribution is taking "six to eight weeks" per our rep. 

 

We were assured repeatedly on the ship that they'd refund our credit card as soon as the folio was settled. 

Fine. We'll dispute it with our credit card company and maybe it'll be sorted out in six to eight weeks. 

 

My first and last cruise with this cruise line. If anyone asks, I'll be sure to tell them to avoid it like the plague. 

I'm so glad you got through to someone. This is not encouraging. Pre-sailing, I canceled a shore excursion that the operator indicated would not be available (yet Princess was selling). It took so many phone calls and hours on hold to sort it out that I can only imagine the frustration of having the cancellation happen on the ship. I hope that you recover your funds on the speedy end of 6-8 weeks.

 

I know the shipboard operations are not the same as the corporate operations, but this seems excessively complex for something you have to pay for up front. I'm sure there's a reason they switched to paying up front instead of charging excursions to your folio and paying on board (which avoided refund issues like this), but it is ridiculous that their stance seems to be that passengers don't mind having hundreds or thousands of dollars outstanding for weeks or months on end.

[Chai8]

1 hour ago, starboardcruiser said:

I'm so glad you got through to someone. This is not encouraging. Pre-sailing, I canceled a shore excursion that the operator indicated would not be available (yet Princess was selling). It took so many phone calls and hours on hold to sort it out that I can only imagine the frustration of having the cancellation happen on the ship. I hope that you recover your funds on the speedy end of 6-8 weeks.

 

I know the shipboard operations are not the same as the corporate operations, but this seems excessively complex for something you have to pay for up front. I'm sure there's a reason they switched to paying up front instead of charging excursions to your folio and paying on board (which avoided refund issues like this), but it is ridiculous that their stance seems to be that passengers don't mind having hundreds or thousands of dollars outstanding for weeks or months on end.

Thanks. I wholeheartedly agree. There’s no excuse for it; these things can be batched and run in no time at all. It’s pure greed and incompetence on Princess’s part. 
 

What Princess forgets is that at some point, they’re going to ask something of either their customers or the government. Those of us who’ve been jerked around have long memories. I’ve no problem letting my Congress critter know that the industry doesn’t deserve any special treatment when the cruise industry comes knocking. If you look Princess up on the BBB website, they’ve got a terrible rating. I know I’m not an isolated case. And before anyone says “Think of the crew,” I do. 
 

Here’s the other thing: Had things gone more smoothly, they’d have had customers for years in us. We’ve returned over and over to vendors who’ve treated us well. We’ve got the discretionary income to travel. But poor treatment is a “one and done” thing. I don’t believe in rewarding bad treatment/service with repeat business. Ever. 

[caribill]

7 hours ago, Chai8 said:

We were on the 8/8 cruise on Majestic out of Seattle. Our excursions in both Juneau and Ketchikan were canceled at literally the last possible second. I spoke to the bursar on board and strenuously (but politely) requested that the credit our credit card and was told that that can only be done by corporate.

 

7 hours ago, Chai8 said:

Update: FINALLY got through to someone at Princess. 

 

For reasons that they cannot explain, all shore excursion refunds have to be issued in the form of a check.

 

Neither person you spoke with gave you the correct and full answer.

 

Pre-paid shore excursions that are cancelled while on the ship have the refunds of funds paid by you put to your on board account as refundable On Board Credit. (Note that no matter who paid for the excursions, the credits go to the accounts of the named individuals on the excursion reservations.) These refunds never go back to the original form of payment.

 

The final statements that Princess sent to you after the cruise ended should have shown the OBC added from the cancelled excursions.

 

Note that charges made during the cruise (photos, specialty restaurants, spa, etc.) are put on your account and the OBC from the cancelled excursions might be used to pay part or all of those charges. So the amount of the refundable OBC from the excursion cancellations that remains may be less that what the excursions had cost.

 

Assuming any refundable OBC is left at the end of your cruise, Princess does contract with a company to mail a check to you for the proper amount.  It can take 2 to 6 weeks for the check to arrive. It comes in an envelope that might look like junk mail and often people throw it away without realizing what it is. Note this check is for any leftover refundable OBC, not just that from cancelled excursions.

[Chai8]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

 

Neither person you spoke with gave you the correct and full answer.

 

Pre-paid shore excursions that are cancelled while on the ship have the refunds of funds paid by you put to your on board account as refundable On Board Credit. (Note that no matter who paid for the excursions, the credits go to the accounts of the named individuals on the excursion reservations.) These refunds never go back to the original form of payment.

 

The final statements that Princess sent to you after the cruise ended should have shown the OBC added from the cancelled excursions.

 

Note that charges made during the cruise (photos, specialty restaurants, spa, etc.) are put on your account and the OBC from the cancelled excursions might be used to pay part or all of those charges. So the amount of the refundable OBC from the excursion cancellations that remains may be less that what the excursions had cost.

 

Assuming any refundable OBC is left at the end of your cruise, Princess does contract with a company to mail a check to you for the proper amount.  It can take 2 to 6 weeks for the check to arrive. It comes in an envelope that might look like junk mail and often people throw it away without realizing what it is. Note this check is for any leftover refundable OBC, not just that from cancelled excursions.

Thanks for that information. It’s more than we’ve received from the cruise line. 
 

We made a single purchase using OBC for under $30. We prepaid everything else. The lack of transparency around this is really beyond the pale. 

[Tak8]

Cancelled two excursions last week.  Credit on account today.  Less than a week.

[caribill]

13 hours ago, Chai8 said:

 The lack of transparency around this is really beyond the pale. 

 

I do not think the people you spoke with were trying to hide anything. They just have never been trained to know the actual policy for this subject.

[minikiss]

Pleased to say the money was back on credit card yesterday. 

Today we get on board and so excited to be doing si. 

[Willwils]

Princess cancelled 1 of our Skagway AK expensive excursions several weeks ago due to issues with the White Pass Rail suspending service into Canada. We called Princess to replace it with a much cheaper tour so  they could take that off of our credit balance. Now they still owe us $200+. Their customer  service  & excursions people NO NOTHING or refuse to tackle the issue. They apparently can't  see the accounting. Several  reps say I need to talk with Princess "Customer RELATIONS" and warn me there will be a very long wait on hold. But after waiting one time 1 Hr. & another time 85 minutes  I gave up afterbeing cut-off from call! I have now emailed my travel agent to help even though the excursions were booked  directly with Princess. Sound familiar?