And what about future cruise deposits while onboard--are they refundable--or not?

[SLSD]

I have a question that staff at Seabourn has been unable to answer.  WAY back in 2019 Mr. SLSD and I put down a future cruise deposit  ($500/ea) for a future cruise (exact cruise to be determined) which would have included a 5% discount.  We were assured that this was a no risk proposition and would be refunded after 4 years if we had not used it

 

 We felt very comfortable about it because we had done it previously and used it.  Then, the pandemic ensued.  We did not cruise for 3+ years.  Now, we HAVE booked another cruise (but through an agent with which we did not use this deposit as the agent had a block of suites).  In looking at my SB account online today, I saw that they say I have to cruise by June 2023 to use this already paid deposit (that I was told was refundable) or lose it.  I called SB.  The agent I talked to said we would lose the deposit.  I am so puzzled as I was told it was refundable.   Can any of you shed any light on this issue?  If so, I would appreciate it. 

 

The terms and conditions on the SB website clearly state it is refundable.  But, you have to search for it--and staff is not divulging this.  

Edited February 21, 2023 by SLSD

[galeforce9]

24 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I have a question that staff at Seabourn has been unable to answer.  WAY back in 2019 Mr. SLSD and I put down a future cruise deposit  ($500/ea) for a future cruise (exact cruise to be determined) which would have included a 5% discount.  We were assured that this was a no risk proposition and would be refunded after 4 years if we had not used it

 

 We felt very comfortable about it because we had done it previously and used it.  Then, the pandemic ensued.  We did not cruise for 3+ years.  Now, we HAVE booked another cruise (but through an agent with which we did not use this deposit as the agent had a block of suites).  In looking at my SB account online today, I saw that they say I have to cruise by June 2023 to use this already paid deposit (that I was told was refundable) or lose it.  I called SB.  The agent I talked to said we would lose the deposit.  I am so puzzled as I was told it was refundable.   Can any of you shed any light on this issue?  If so, I would appreciate it. 

 

The terms and conditions on the SB website clearly state it is refundable.  But, you have to search for it--and staff is not divulging this.  

I got mine repaid about a year ago when I realised I wouldn’t have time to use it before expiry. My travel agent sorted it without any problem and it was repaid to my account fairly promptly.  Good luck. 
 

Edited - I bought it onboard in December 2019. 

Edited February 21, 2023 by galeforce9

[SLSD]

3 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

I got mine repaid about a year ago when I realised I wouldn’t have time to use it before expiry. My travel agent sorted it without any problem and it was repaid to my account fairly promptly.  Good luck. 
 

Edited - I bought it onboard in December 2019. 

Thank you. 

[katiestan1]

The cruise deposit will automatically be sent back to you if you haven’t used it within 4 years. You may also call and get it back at any time.

[SLSD]

3 minutes ago, katiestan1 said:

The cruise deposit will automatically be sent back to you if you haven’t used it within 4 years. You may also call and get it back at any time.

 Yes, that is what I always thought, but when I called today, I was told it would be forfeited.  And that was also the message on my Seabourn account online.  I was surprised.  

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by SLSD

[SLSD]

Here is what Mr. SLSD found buried on the website--which is what we signed up for, read at the time of giving the deposit and were told: 

 

Failure to apply the savings to a booking within the four year period will result in forfeiture of the 5% savings and a refund of the deposit amount held to secure the discount. Monetary deposits on Future Cruise Deposits are fully refundable if unapplied. Once applied to a reservation, the deposit is subject to standard booking conditions and cancellation structures. This offer is not combinable with any industry rates.

 

Unfortunately, this is not the information conveyed on our SB account online OR when we called to SB directly.  This was not good customer service.  

Edited February 21, 2023 by SLSD

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, katiestan1 said:

The cruise deposit will automatically be sent back to you if you haven’t used it within 4 years. You may also call and get it back at any time.

Calling to get it back was what I did today.  They did not offer to refund it--but told me I would lose it if I did not use it on a cruise and sail before June. 

 

We are sending a letter to demand the refund.  

Edited February 21, 2023 by SLSD

[JSC77]

I put down a FCD in 2017.  We applied it to a Norway and Baltics cruise in 2020 that was obviously cancelled due to covid and the FCD sat in our account for over a year. 
In 2021 I was talking to Seabourn and the representative said we could have the deposit refunded, but that we could also extend it for a year or even two years if we wished to do so. This would also extend the 5% discount benefit. All it took was my verbal request on the phone and our FCD with the discount was extended for two years. So last fall, when we booked a cruise for July ‘23, we used the FCD and received the discount. 
I got the feeling that this was a standing policy, not just because of covid, but I’m not 100% certain. So extending the FCD expiration date might be an option for others who are coming up to the 4 year mark but don’t want to lose the future benefit yet. 

 

[JSC77]

In fact, I thought we were treated quite fairly by Seabourn in another respect as well. Part of our payment for the cancelled cruise was refunded, but part stayed in our account as future cruise credit, FCC. The FCC had the restriction that we needed to book by 12/31/21 and sail by 12/31/22. In 2021, we weren’t yet comfortable committing to sail in 2022 and we assumed we would lose the FCC. 

Some time in early 2022, I randomly logged into my Seabourn account, and was quite pleasantly surprised to say the least: the FCC was still there and the terms had changed, to book by 12/31/22 and sail by 12/31/23. I immediately checked my wife’s account and of course it showed the same thing. It would have been nice for them to tell us this was happening, but we felt they had done the right thing and treated us fairly.

[Techno123]

Be careful if you have changed bank accounts/credit cards. I also took out a future cruise deposit in 2017. Because it had not been refunded and because I had read that Seabourn were extending the time you had to use them because of Covid, I wasn't concerned when it wasn't refunded. Went to book a cruise recently, TA told it had been refunded to a card I didn't have - turns out it was a card I used infrequently which had been cancelled (took a bit of searching to find it (and I am still waiting for Seabourn to get back to me with more information re the account it was refunded to).

[SLSD]

What everyone is reporting is what I always assumed to be the protocol with these deposits put down while cruising.  The puzzling thing is that my SB account (accessed online) AND a phone call to SB yesterday both told me that we would be forfeiting this "no risk" deposit.  It took Mr. SLSD a while to find the exact language we had been told at the time we put down the deposit--that if it had not been used, it would be refunded.  

 

We are mailing them a certified letter asking for the refund.  

 

I am just puzzled by the message on our account and what a SP representative told me yesterday on the telephone.  

[SLSD]

3 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Be careful if you have changed bank accounts/credit cards. I also took out a future cruise deposit in 2017. Because it had not been refunded and because I had read that Seabourn were extending the time you had to use them because of Covid, I wasn't concerned when it wasn't refunded. Went to book a cruise recently, TA told it had been refunded to a card I didn't have - turns out it was a card I used infrequently which had been cancelled (took a bit of searching to find it (and I am still waiting for Seabourn to get back to me with more information re the account it was refunded to).

Thank you for this warning.  

[Isklaar]

Following with interest as we have a future cruise deposit that will expire in December this year. It looks extremely unlikely that we will be in a position to book a cruise before then (although I may cruise solo if I can find a suitable cruise line with a decent deal for solo travellers).

 

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, Isklaar said:

Following with interest as we have a future cruise deposit that will expire in December this year. It looks extremely unlikely that we will be in a position to book a cruise before then (although I may cruise solo if I can find a suitable cruise line with a decent deal for solo travellers).

 

I am really not worried as the refund info is clearly on the website--but hidden a bit.  I did quote it in one of my posts above.  We are going to make our request by letter (certified) as the SB representative decline to take my request.  Ours expires in June.  

[MightyQuinn]

2 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Following with interest as we have a future cruise deposit that will expire in December this year. It looks extremely unlikely that we will be in a position to book a cruise before then (although I may cruise solo if I can find a suitable cruise line with a decent deal for solo travellers).

 

 

We were in the same situation recently with our FCDs.  We knew we wouldn't be able to use them before the "sail by" date so we asked Seabourn if they would extend them.  We made the case that the FCDs sat in our account during the pandemic when SB ships were paused and/or cruises were cancelled, yet the clock kept ticking towards their expiry.  We asked for an extension and if that wasn't possible, we requested a refund to our credit card.  SB responded by reissuing the FCDs with the same numbers and a 2-year extension on the "sail by" date.  Worth a try?

[SLSD]

29 minutes ago, MightyQuinn said:

 

We were in the same situation recently with our FCDs.  We knew we wouldn't be able to use them before the "sail by" date so we asked Seabourn if they would extend them.  We made the case that the FCDs sat in our account during the pandemic when SB ships were paused and/or cruises were cancelled, yet the clock kept ticking towards their expiry.  We asked for an extension and if that wasn't possible, we requested a refund to our credit card.  SB responded by reissuing the FCDs with the same numbers and a 2-year extension on the "sail by" date.  Worth a try?

Worth a try--but I think we will go for the refund and if we want to, we can do another deposit on our next cruise as we do have one booked.  

[SLSD]

Just today, we have received an response from Seabourn about our request for a refund of our FCD purchased on our last SB cruise in 2019.  You may recall, that i had previously received a message that if we did not use the FCD, we would lose it in June.  

 

Here is the response we received today:  

 

Thank you for contacting Seabourn Cruise Line regarding the Future Cruise Deposits (ID XXXXXXX) you and Mrs. D. purchased with Seabourn in 2019.  We see that your travel advisor was unable to apply your Future Cruise Deposits to your booking #XXXX for the upcoming June 11th, 2023 Ovation; the reason for this is that the promotional rate under which you booked is exceptional and not combinable with FCDs.  

Before cancelling your FCDs we do want to offer you the option of extending the FCDs out for another year in the event that you might wish to apply them to another cruise (most of our cruises do not have the promotion pricing under which you have booked and therefore would be eligible for application).

If you still wish to proceed with cancelling your FCDs, we process this request immediately once we hear back from you.  The funds will be returned to the original credit card of purchase, a Mastercard ending in 3084, within 10 business days.

We look forward to your continued correspondence on this matter.  If you have additional questions or concerns, please include these in your message.  Thank you so very much for choosing Seabourn!

Best regards,

 

Faith

Guest Services

Seabourn | Luxury Voyages and Expeditions

o | 206.626.8692

w | www.seabourn.com

 

Just to refresh your memory, I had called in to SB to ask for a response and the representative I reached said we could not get a refund, but would lose our $1,000 deposit.  We knew this was not what we had signed up for. 

 

Just as an aside--I do all of our Seabourn cruise planning and contacts  (usually through our own travel agent) --even so, Seabourn ALWAYS sends emails addressed to my husband instead of to me.  This letter was no different.  Since my husband has nothing to do with our planning, he has to forward everything to me.  We have asked in the past for all communications to be sent to me--to no avail.   

Edited March 7, 2023 by SLSD

[SLSD]

SB has the credit card number wrong--so I didn't bother to change those numbers.  This is a bit disconcerting as we have a receipt which has the correct credit card number.  

 

We still are disappointed that when we called in to SB to ask for the refund, we were not offered the refund, but instead told that we would lose the deposit if we did not book another cruise before June.  

 

It is true that our next cruise was purchased through a promotion --which is how I convinced Mr. SLSD who was dragging his heels on cruising again post pandemic that we should go ahead and go.  

Edited March 7, 2023 by SLSD

[saminina]

It would have been so easy to HUCA.   Last year I turned in three and refund appeared within hours.

Great service by agent on other end of the line.

[cruiseej]

@SLSD Perhaps I'm missing something… they explained that your recently-booked cruise, with its promotional discounts, was not combinable with the FCD discount. And they're offering to refund your FCD, or extend it for another year. So isn't this the resolution you were seeking? (Perhaps you were just closing the loop and updating this thread; if so, thanks for doing so.)

[Mr Luxury]

2 hours ago, cruiseej said:

@SLSD Perhaps I'm missing something… they explained that your recently-booked cruise, with its promotional discounts, was not combinable with the FCD discount. And they're offering to refund your FCD, or extend it for another year. So isn't this the resolution you were seeking? (Perhaps you were just closing the loop and updating this thread; if so, thanks for doing so.)

Yes, a good outcome either way.

Extend or have it back.

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, cruiseej said:

@SLSD Perhaps I'm missing something… they explained that your recently-booked cruise, with its promotional discounts, was not combinable with the FCD discount. And they're offering to refund your FCD, or extend it for another year. So isn't this the resolution you were seeking? (Perhaps you were just closing the loop and updating this thread; if so, thanks for doing so.)

Yes, I was updating the thread.  I had reached a clueless agent on the telephone who said it could not be refunded or extended--so we wrote a letter and received this reply.  

[Isklaar]

9 hours ago, SLSD said:

Yes, I was updating the thread.  I had reached a clueless agent on the telephone who said it could not be refunded or extended--so we wrote a letter and received this reply.  

 

Thank you for the update. Ours expires in December. There is no possibility for us to take a cruise together before then so I will contact our TA to request an extension, or if that's not possible, a refund. 

[Dunnedg]

When we sailed in October 22, we were not contacted to ask if we wanted to make a FFD. They always did in the past but as they didn’t speak/contact us this time we didn't bother. We actually forgot all about it. Whilst we are cruising again in November 23 I suspect we have already been offered a special deal via the TA so wouldn't be eligible.

 

[cruiseej]

2 hours ago, Dunnedg said:

we were not contacted to ask if we wanted to make a FFD. They always did in the past but as they didn’t speak/contact us this time

 

Interesting… No one has ever reached out to us about a FCD; it's always been up to us to visit the Future Cruise Consultant onboard to make the deposit. (There's always been a sheet of paper in the suite one day promoting booking a future cruise while onboard, but no other outreach.)