Refund or FCC for quarantine on ship?

[quicklabs]

I will be in quarantine for 10 of 12 days of my cruise. My husband will be in quarantine for 6 of 12 days.   Is Celebrity giving a refund for those days or is it Future Cruise Credit only?  The paperwork they gave me is not clear on this point at all.

[cruisestitch]

So you are on board now?  

[quicklabs]

Just now, cruisestitch said:

So you are on board now?  

Yes.  We disembark in 2 days, but I couldn't produce a negative test, so in for the duration   Quarantine Concierge is vague on the subject, directing me to Celebrity Engagement center after we return home.

 

[hcat]

Try to get answers BEFORE leaving the ship..what does the current Online postings say or any of your paperwork.

 

We would prefer refund ( prorated)  rather than a FCC with theur stipulatiins and conditions,

[quicklabs]

12 minutes ago, hcat said:

Try to get answers BEFORE leaving the ship..what does the current Online postings say or any of your paperwork.

 

We would prefer refund ( prorated)  rather than a FCC with theur stipulatiins and conditions,

Believe me, I would if I could.  Paperwork says FCC or refund.  I don't know who makes that choice, Celebrity or me? 

 

[wwjd1947]

I was quarantined on Brilliance in May.  We were on a B2B and I got Covid on the 8th day.  We stayed on ship until I tested negative in Athens.  We just got a notification that the days I was quarantined were refunded to our credit card.  Before you leave the ship make sure you get a paper that states the first day you tested positive and get a seperate Certificate of Recovery.  Even though I was on RCCL the protocols seem to be the same.

[Jim_Iain]

They will give you a letter explaining it.    When you get home call in to make sure they have started the process.  My experience will be different as I tested positive prior to April 1 so they covered  isolation, food car etc in addition to the pro-ration of days in quarantine and the full cancellation of the next cruise.   

 

They refunded it to a credit card of my choice.      I just got the last part of it this weekend so took about 2 months. 

 

The refund / reimbursement for the days in isolation came through in about 1 month the cancelled cruise is what took longer.   They initially screwed up and only refunded about 70% but said it was an administrative error.  

Edited July 6, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[quicklabs]

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

They will give you a letter explaining it.    When you get home call in to make sure they have started the process.  My experience will be different as I tested positive prior to April 1 so they covered  isolation, food car etc in addition to the pro-ration of days in quarantine and the full cancellation of the next cruise.   

 

They refunded it to a credit card of my choice.      I just got the last part of it this weekend so took about 2 months. 

 

The refund / reimbursement for the days in isolation came through in about 1 month the cancelled cruise is what took longer.   They initially screwed up and only refunded about 70% but said it was an administrative error.  

Thanks, Jim.  It has been an ordeal already.

[Jim_Iain]

10 minutes ago, quicklabs said:

Thanks, Jim.  It has been an ordeal already.

I'm sure it's tough moving down to an Ocean View Room.   Our biggest problem was getting food.  Being the last night of the cruise no one was answering the Guest Relations Phones, Room Service etc.   We ordered at 6:00 and when I blew up finally got our dinner at 9:30.   The Retreat Manager was a total waste of space.    He was new to Celebrity and had never worked on a cruise ship. 

 

e-mail me and I will give you the contact information of the agent I worked with (in my signature).   He was pretty good of responding within a day to emails.     Calling only resulted in hour plus waits and then the person wasn't in.

 

Unfortunately we also missed the Norwegian Fjords something I was really looking forward to.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

5 hours ago, quicklabs said:

Yes.  We disembark in 2 days, but I couldn't produce a negative test, so in for the duration   Quarantine Concierge is vague on the subject, directing me to Celebrity Engagement center after we return home.

 

 

As Jim said reach out to the Celebrity Engagement Center and also be sure to get a letter from the ship outlining what is being offered. I didn't get my letter until AFTER I was in quarantine. I initially emailed Celebrity Engagement Center on May 28 and received no reply. Then I called and was told my travel agent needed to handle the refund so I referred it to him on June 5. @Jim_Iain then shared this phone # 888 305- 1427 and I spoke to Kenneth on June 10. He was very helpful and started the process for the refund. He couldn't tell me how much the refund would be as my booking was with a travel agent but, eventually, the refund posted to my credit card. It shouldn't be this difficult and hope your experience goes well. Safe travels home  too. 

[quicklabs]

12 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

As Jim said reach out to the Celebrity Engagement Center and also be sure to get a letter from the ship outlining what is being offered. I didn't get my letter until AFTER I was in quarantine. I initially emailed Celebrity Engagement Center on May 28 and received no reply. Then I called and was told my travel agent needed to handle the refund so I referred it to him on June 5. @Jim_Iain then shared this phone # 888 305- 1427 and I spoke to Kenneth on June 10. He was very helpful and started the process for the refund. He couldn't tell me how much the refund would be as my booking was with a travel agent but, eventually, the refund posted to my credit card. It shouldn't be this difficult and hope your experience goes well. Safe travels home  too. 

Thanks so very much

[360Guy]

As Jim and Suzyluvs2cruise have given excellent information, my comment is why does Celebrity continue to make the process of quarantine such an administrative ordeal?  Why do people have to beg for lab test results or clear written communication regarding a refund (or FCC if that is what the customer wants?). It all seems as though return to service creaks along and COVID experience is sometimes a complete 180 depending on your ship passenger load and crew staffing.  We loved our Silhouette crew on 4/21 but COVID overwhelmed the ship’s ability to handle the needs.  I know others will say it was fine and be prepared, etc.  Just find it frustrating to see others still going through similar stuff three months later.

Edited July 6, 2022 by 360Guy

[quicklabs]

44 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm sure it's tough moving down to an Ocean View Room.   Our biggest problem was getting food.  Being the last night of the cruise no one was answering the Guest Relations Phones, Room Service etc.   We ordered at 6:00 and when I blew up finally got our dinner at 9:30.   The Retreat Manager was a total waste of space.    He was new to Celebrity and had never worked on a cruise ship. 

 

e-mail me and I will give you the contact information of the agent I worked with (in my signature).   He was pretty good of responding within a day to emails.     Calling only resulted in hour plus waits and then the person wasn't in.

 

Unfortunately we also missed the Norwegian Fjords something I was really looking forward to.

Thanks, Jim.  Sent email to you.   

[quicklabs]

8 minutes ago, 360Guy said:

As Jim and Suzyluvs2cruise have given excellent information, my comment is why does Celebrity continue to make the process of quarantine such an administrative ordeal?  Why do people have to beg for lab test results or clear written communication regarding a refund (or FCC if that is what the customer wants?). It all seems as though return to service creaks along and COVID experience is sometimes a complete 180 depending on your ship passenger load and crew staffing.  We loved our Silhouette crew on 4/21 but COVID overwhelmed the ship’s ability to handle the needs.  I know others will say it was fine and be prepared, etc.  Just find it frustrating to see others still going through similar stuff three months later.

Your point is excellent.  This should be a straightforward process.

[koolforkatz]

My husband and I were both quarantined on the Beyond June 4th sailing and carried on into the next sailing as well since I was still positive. We never actually got anything in writing outlining what would happen although I was assured by the fellow who was looking after us that everything would be taken care of at their end and I didn't have to worry about it. A couple of days after I got my two negatives they provided us both with our letters of recovery and positive/negative test documentation and then a couple days later we got off in Athens.

 

I was contacted by the Celebrity engagement team about 4-5 days after that asking for my credit card details. I got back to them and within 5 days the money was refunded back on my credit card. So things went pretty smoothly for us. Hope you have the same experience too!

[quicklabs]

We can hope!  I hope you are recovered fully.  Thank you.

[360Guy]

23 minutes ago, koolforkatz said:

My husband and I were both quarantined on the Beyond June 4th sailing and carried on into the next sailing as well since I was still positive. We never actually got anything in writing outlining what would happen although I was assured by the fellow who was looking after us that everything would be taken care of at their end and I didn't have to worry about it. A couple of days after I got my two negatives they provided us both with our letters of recovery and positive/negative test documentation and then a couple days later we got off in Athens.

 

I was contacted by the Celebrity engagement team about 4-5 days after that asking for my credit card details. I got back to them and within 5 days the money was refunded back on my credit card. So things went pretty smoothly for us. Hope you have the same experience too!

That is very encouraging and pleased to hear the response was proactive.  Gives us hope the process is improving and we will consider cruising next year.  Hope you are both fully recovered!

[koolforkatz]

11 minutes ago, quicklabs said:

We can hope!  I hope you are recovered fully.  Thank you.

 

I am, thank you. Hope you both have a full recovery too. As you know, it's not much fun seeing all the ports you were supposed to get off and enjoy, but we were well taken care of. 

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

They will give you a letter explaining it.    When you get home call in to make sure they have started the process.  My experience will be different as I tested positive prior to April 1 so they covered  isolation, food car etc in addition to the pro-ration of days in quarantine and the full cancellation of the next cruise.   

 

They refunded it to a credit card of my choice.      I just got the last part of it this weekend so took about 2 months. 

 

The refund / reimbursement for the days in isolation came through in about 1 month the cancelled cruise is what took longer.   They initially screwed up and only refunded about 70% but said it was an administrative error.  

 

Jim: Did you test positive prior to April 1st or prior to May 1st?

 

My husband tested positive on April 30th on the Eclipse on what would have been a B2B.  We boarded on April 23rd.  Even though the April 23rd sailing was the return to passenger service our experience was different as different ships seem to handle the situation differently.

 

 I remained in our Suite while my husband was moved to an Ocean View stateroom on deck 3.  The Eclipse Suite Manager was excellent and was my point of contact.  He actually had been a waiter in Luminae in 2016 and remembered us from a sailing.  In any event, we were offered either reimbursement or FCC for both my husband's time in isolation and the second cruise leg.  While we were given the offer to remain on board for the second leg my husband was going stir-crazy in that Ocean View and we didn't know how long he would have to remain so we opted to leave the ship in Honolulu to continue his isolation.  Since we cruise frequently with Celebrity we opted for the FCCs.  I left the ship in Honolulu with four FCCs in hand -- one pair was pro-rated days of my husband's time in isolation and the second pair was in the amount of our cruise fare for the second leg.

 

We were instructed to save our receipts for hotel and food for the time in Honolulu.  We stayed in Honolulu longer than the five days he was to remain in isolation.  So we electronically submitted copies of  the hotel and food to the Celebrity Engagement Center.  I called to confirm they had received the copies and was told to expect about 30 days before being reimbursed.  About 25 days later I called again and the claim was submitted while I was on the phone.  We have just returned home after 14 days on the Solstice and while we were gone the claim amount was reimbursed on the credit card we had used to pay for the Eclipse cruise.  The amount reimbursed was exactly what we expected and was refunded in one amount.

 

While my husband was fully vaccinated and boosted he wasn't pleased about experiencing a break through case, but felt the care was excellent.  The Suite Manager and Retreat Concierges were calling frequently to check on his needs.  It is rather interesting to me that while the Eclipse had just returned to service they were more "on top" of the situation than some other ships.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

Jim: Did you test positive prior to April 1st or prior to May 1st?

 

 

 

 

I tested Positive on March 30th so had the good coverage.  The positive side was that we already had flight reservations to Scotland to visit Iain's Family at the end of the cancelled cruise.    UK had dropped all Covid Protocols so no quarantine was mandated but we quarantined for 5 days and took day trips to places where we were not in contact with people.   Celebrity did cover our AirBnB, Car and Food for 5 days. 

 

I tested positive on the B2B testing (after doing my own and passed the night before).    Iain tested positive the next day.   We both continued to test positive for 11 days and got COR to return to the U.S.

 

Our Suites Manager was a nice guy but didn't have a clue -  He was new with no ship experience his only experience was he ran a restaurant .    Luckily one of the Retreat  Concierges was a godsend and came to our rescue.  We are still in contact.   In the questionnaire I recommend they promote her.