Advice Needed: Prepaid Gratuities and Fees Not Refunded

[larsnyz]

Last year I went on a Panama Canal cruise and due to changes in cruise fares, I got a Future Cruise Credit, which needed to be used within a year. I was running out of time, so recently booked an Alaska cruise that was way cheaper than my FCC ($3000+ FCC, $900- cruise fare), and understood that I would forfeit the unused FCC. 

 

I prepaid gratuities and the port fees/taxes and purchased insurance for medical reasons, so the out of pocket cost ended up being about $1000. As I mentioned, the cruise fare was completely paid for by the FCC. I was told that if I cancelled, the prepaid gratuities and fees would be refunded. 

 

A week before the cruise my dad had a stroke. He is home now, but needs lots of care. So I cancelled the cruise two days before departure. 

 

Today I was told that since my cruise fair was more than what I paid, there would be no refund of gratuities and fees. WHAT?!?! I was told to submit an $800 claim to insurance. While I understand that I CAN do this, it seems completely wrong to me, and not what I was told. I have responded to my NCL contacts, but how can this be the policy? Any advice for how to get NCL to honor what they originally told me about refunds? 

 

After my last two experiences with NCL (the Panama Canal cruise had many, many sick people and it's the one where the gangway collapsed and injured several passengers) I am not so keen on doing business with them anymore. 

[larsnyz]

It was obviously a mistake to pre-pay for the gratuities, and I will never do that again. I'll update this post if they provide a better explanation or change their decision. 

[fredflint]

Do you have anything in writing?

[larsnyz]

I have a receipt showing what was paid, and their website states that service charges are refundable.

[Yesimapirate]

Personally,  I'd send them a nice but firm letter with a screen shot of the website saying the gratuities would be returned.  Keep it short, they don't need to know details about your father, etc.  I would give them a date to rectify the situation and let them know that if they don't fix their mistake,  you'd be filing a formal complaint with your states Attorney General and reserve your rights to take all legal action. 

[larsnyz]

They also need to refund the taxes and fees, as stated. I will wait a couple of days for a follow up response, and then plan to do exactly that. I don't understand companies that are willing to burn customers like this. 

[DCGuy64]

12 hours ago, larsnyz said:

I was told to submit an $800 claim to insurance.

Sorry to hear about your dad. I hope he is feeling better. That's gotta be tough to deal with, in addition to the woes with NCL. I agree with you that they should refund the prepaid stuff, for sure. I assume you paid these things out of pocket, right? They weren't part of what the FCC paid? If all else fails, then yes, submit the claim to insurance. You were smart to buy that, BTW!

[MeHeartCruising]

What does this mean? 

 

"Today I was told that since my cruise fair was more than what I paid, there would be no refund of gratuities and fees."

 

Is the "Today I was told that since my cruise fair was more than what I paid," portion of this sentence a true statement?  

 

Was your cruise fare really more than what you paid?  You paid $900 via the applied FCC, correct?  What are they saying your cruise fare was supposed to be and why wasn't the $3300 FCC applied to that?

Edited September 7, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[zqvol]

Seems to be a lot of detail missing from the original post.

[larsnyz]

You want more detail? Sure. 

 

BOOKING COMPONENTS PER GUEST IN USD

Guest Fare 860.00

Gov Tax/Port Exp/Fees 405.80

Travel Protection 199.00

Savings -861.00 *

Bev Srv Charge 196.20

Din Srv Charge 19.80

Prepaid Service Charges 180.00

Gross Total 999.80 **

 

One guest, so this was the total. They did apply a coupon, which deducted off an original cruise fare total of something like $1100. 

 

* The $-861 was the FCC. I forfeited the rest of the $3062.

** This was my out-of-pocket (CASH) cost for insurance, gratuities, and Fees.

 

What I should get back from NCL is $800.80. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by larsnyz

[larsnyz]

Here's the copied/pasted text from the email:

 

"I do not see any refunds on your reservation that you cancelled.  I believe you used a coupon off the voyage fare, so the actually cancellation fee was higher than the amount of voyage fare, so in this case, nothing was refunded back to you."

 

First, they applied the 15% coupon that took a few hundred off the cruise fare, which simply reduced the amount of FCC used. In any case, even with the coupon, the cruise was paid for in FCC. I don't see why the confiscated my entire gratuity and taxes/fees payment. The whole thing is super confusing and shady. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by larsnyz

[MoCruiseFan]

On 9/6/2023 at 10:22 PM, larsnyz said:

Last year I went on a Panama Canal cruise and due to changes in cruise fares, I got a Future Cruise Credit, which needed to be used within a year. I was running out of time, so recently booked an Alaska cruise that was way cheaper than my FCC ($3000+ FCC, $900- cruise fare), and understood that I would forfeit the unused FCC. 

 

I prepaid gratuities and the port fees/taxes and purchased insurance for medical reasons, so the out of pocket cost ended up being about $1000. As I mentioned, the cruise fare was completely paid for by the FCC. I was told that if I cancelled, the prepaid gratuities and fees would be refunded. 

 

A week before the cruise my dad had a stroke. He is home now, but needs lots of care. So I cancelled the cruise two days before departure. 

 

Today I was told that since my cruise fair was more than what I paid, there would be no refund of gratuities and fees. WHAT?!?! I was told to submit an $800 claim to insurance. While I understand that I CAN do this, it seems completely wrong to me, and not what I was told. I have responded to my NCL contacts, but how can this be the policy? Any advice for how to get NCL to honor what they originally told me about refunds? 

 

After my last two experiences with NCL (the Panama Canal cruise had many, many sick people and it's the one where the gangway collapsed and injured several passengers) I am not so keen on doing business with them anymore. 

 

The only prepaid gratuities would be on yoeu FAS drink and dining packages.  They were covered by yoru FCC so tehy woudl not be refunded,  As far as teh port fees and taxez, IN MY OPINION, if they were paid out of pocket, you should get a refund.  I am not sure what NCLs policy is though.

[larsnyz]

Tonight I talked to a couple of different people at NCL, and they said that there was a mistake in the cancellation penalty applied to my reservation. They are refunding all of the prepaid service charges and port fees/taxes. 

 

(In response to MoCruiseFan: The prepaid service fees were for drinks, dining, and daily service charges/gratuities. Those were not covered by the FCC.)

 

In the end, they did the right thing. My takeaway is to be careful about prepaid gratuities, and know what should be refunded. 

[laudergayle]

Glad it worked out for you.  I kinda thought you may have originally worked with a rep who wasn’t as sharp to spot the error.  Hope your dad’s health is improving.

[cruiseny4life]

I'm sorry you had to deal with added stress of NCL being silly. A lot of times they are! Also, good job staying on top of NCL to ensure they did the right thing. I wish there were a better takeaway than review all details, but that's it. Other than, buyer beware in regard to NCL (I know I always look closely at everything). 

 

Best wishes to you and your family!