Viking Cruise Cancellation

[NavyIC3]

Has anyone had a cruise cancelled by Viking and requested a refund instead of a cruise credit? If so, how long did it take to get the refund credited back to a credit card?

[scoreboard]

you may want to ask this on the cruisecritic message boards. They have a group for Viking.

[orlandoman]

If you don't want a future cruise credit, the normal cancellation policy is:

Cancellation Fee Schedule Effective for Cruise Tours (other than Grand & World Cruise Voyage) booked on and after August 1, 2018:
Written Notice received Days Prior to Departure Date - Cancellation fee Per Passenger
120+ - $100.00
119-90 - 20% of Full Fare
89-70 - 35% of Full Fare
69-50 - 50% of Full Fare
49-30 - 75% of Full Fare
29-0 -100% of Full Fare

[galawdawg]

If you don't want a future cruise credit, the normal cancellation policy is:

Cancellation Fee Schedule Effective for Cruise Tours (other than Grand & World Cruise Voyage) booked on and after August 1, 2018:
Written Notice received Days Prior to Departure Date - Cancellation fee Per Passenger
120+ - $100.00
119-90 - 20% of Full Fare
89-70 - 35% of Full Fare
69-50 - 50% of Full Fare
49-30 - 75% of Full Fare
29-0 -100% of Full Fare

Viking cancelled the cruise, not the OP.

I second the recommendation to check the Viking message boards on Cruise Critic .

[tibbitts]

If you don't want a future cruise credit, the normal cancellation policy is:

Cancellation Fee Schedule Effective for Cruise Tours (other than Grand & World Cruise Voyage) booked on and after August 1, 2018:
Written Notice received Days Prior to Departure Date - Cancellation fee Per Passenger
120+ - $100.00
119-90 - 20% of Full Fare
89-70 - 35% of Full Fare
69-50 - 50% of Full Fare
49-30 - 75% of Full Fare
29-0 -100% of Full Fare

That doesn't apply when a cruise company cancels the cruise.

[David Jay]

The cruise companies are all in a severe cash-flow crunch. They are doing everything they can to not disburse cash. They will delay until the last possible day that the contract allows.

60 to 90 days is not unusual. I have not yet received my refund for an April cruise, I check my credit card account regularly.

[rockylou]

Yes, we had a Viking cruise scheduled for April. They offered a voucher plus 20% To be used within 2 years or full refund. We decided to take the refund As who knows what will happen. It took awhile, maybe 6 weeks but we got the entire amount, including airfare. They are a great company to deal with!

[ResearchMed]

The cruise companies are all in a severe cash-flow crunch. They are doing everything they can to not disburse cash. They will delay until the last possible day that the contract allows.

60 to 90 days is not unusual. I have not yet received my refund for an April cruise, I check my credit card account regularly.

No surprise, this is happening with many cruise lines.

Question: If the company ontinues to drag their feet, could one file a dispute and let the charge card company deal with it?
They'd typically give a temporary credit back, while they deal with the seller.
That also might get the cruise line's attention at the top of the pack of those wanting refunds (?).

There are some deadlines for filing disputes, but I think that in at least some cases, it starts later than the "purchase date" when services/product was not expected until some future time.

RM

[czaj]

Here's my experience with a Chase credit card dispute with a Princess cruise FWIW.

I prepaid for a September 2020 cruise with Princess back in January. Princess notified me that the cruise was canceled in early May. I called Princess customer service (no wait time, which felt strange) and they weren't able to provide a timeline on when the refund would be received, and that they would be manual working/refunding in order of cruise date. I feel like if they wanted to refund me, they could've just done it while I was on the phone with them, but they didn't.

After hearing that, I disputed the transactions with Chase because I didn't want to wait in line while Princess slowly goes bankrupt. The cruise was paid in two transactions, and one was just outside the 60-day dispute window. For the one within the 60-day window, I've already been notified by Chase that the dispute has been resolved and that temporarily posted credit is now permanent. I'm still waiting to hear on the 60+ day dispute. I think that one will take a bit longer to be fully resolved because I had to submit a form via secure message so it is more manual. But I have been given a temporary credit for it while the dispute is pending.

In my mind, it seemed like a win-win to go with the dispute option:
1. I believe Princess would have to respond within a certain amount of time (60-90 days?) with compelling evidence on why they haven't refunded me. This at least put a limit on when the refund would be received.
2. If Princess processed the refund while the dispute was ongoing, then the dispute wouldn't matter anymore.

In either case, I'd recommend filing a dispute if you can't be sure how quickly the cruise line will refund you. I haven't determined any negative consequences to filing a dispute (other than the dispute being resolved in Princess's favor, which didn't seem likely; or Princess blacklisting the credit card for future use, which I doubt they would reject future customers and I don't see myself on a cruise anytime soon).

[ClaycordJCA]

Yes, we had a Viking cruise scheduled for April. They offered a voucher plus 20% To be used within 2 years or full refund. We decided to take the refund As who knows what will happen. It took awhile, maybe 6 weeks but we got the entire amount, including airfare. They are a great company to deal with!

+2. Both my brother and I received full refunds for our June Rhine River cruise. Took about 6 weeks from the time Viking cancelled the cruise until the refunds hit our credit cards.

[JaneyLH]

I had Celebrity cancel a cruise just a few days before it was scheduled to leave Sydney, Australia. They offered either full refund or 125% future credit. I requested full refund. They set me up for future credit. I spoke with them and they told me it would take another 45 days for a refund “because that is the way their system works”.

I disputed the charge with my credit card because I am not convinced they intend to deliver the refund. I submitted their email offering the refund but the original cruise was March 20 so I think I’ve waited long enough.

[jcar]

The cruise companies are all in a severe cash-flow crunch. They are doing everything they can to not disburse cash. They will delay until the last possible day that the contract allows.

60 to 90 days is not unusual. I have not yet received my refund for an April cruise, I check my credit card account regularly.

I had a Princess cruise booked for 4-19 that was cancelled in early March. Princess told me 10 days for a refund then 30 days then 60 days. When I past 60 days I contacted credit card and they refunded within 2 days. The credit card representative told me he had personally done 60 of these. Recommend that route.

[NavyIC3]

Here's my experience with a Chase credit card dispute with a Princess cruise FWIW.

I prepaid for a September 2020 cruise with Princess back in January. Princess notified me that the cruise was canceled in early May. I called Princess customer service (no wait time, which felt strange) and they weren't able to provide a timeline on when the refund would be received, and that they would be manual working/refunding in order of cruise date. I feel like if they wanted to refund me, they could've just done it while I was on the phone with them, but they didn't.

After hearing that, I disputed the transactions with Chase because I didn't want to wait in line while Princess slowly goes bankrupt. The cruise was paid in two transactions, and one was just outside the 60-day dispute window. For the one within the 60-day window, I've already been notified by Chase that the dispute has been resolved and that temporarily posted credit is now permanent. I'm still waiting to hear on the 60+ day dispute. I think that one will take a bit longer to be fully resolved because I had to submit a form via secure message so it is more manual. But I have been given a temporary credit for it while the dispute is pending.

In my mind, it seemed like a win-win to go with the dispute option:
1. I believe Princess would have to respond within a certain amount of time (60-90 days?) with compelling evidence on why they haven't refunded me. This at least put a limit on when the refund would be received.
2. If Princess processed the refund while the dispute was ongoing, then the dispute wouldn't matter anymore.

In either case, I'd recommend filing a dispute if you can't be sure how quickly the cruise line will refund you. I haven't determined any negative consequences to filing a dispute (other than the dispute being resolved in Princess's favor, which didn't seem likely; or Princess blacklisting the credit card for future use, which I doubt they would reject future customers and I don't see myself on a cruise anytime soon).

You said that you prepaid for the cruise in Jan. 2020 and the cruise was cancelled in May 2020. When did the 60 day window start and end? If you paid in January wouldn't the window end sometime in March?

[stan1]

After hearing that, I disputed the transactions with Chase because I didn't want to wait in line while Princess slowly goes bankrupt. The cruise was paid in two transactions, and one was just outside the 60-day dispute window. For the one within the 60-day window, I've already been notified by Chase that the dispute has been resolved and that temporarily posted credit is now permanent. I'm still waiting to hear on the 60+ day dispute. I think that one will take a bit longer to be fully resolved because I had to submit a form via secure message so it is more manual. But I have been given a temporary credit for it while the dispute is pending.

I'm very surprised Chase is taking your side on this using the dispute process, it's good for the consumer but surprised Chase isn't deferring to the Princess cancellation policy. Thanks for posting your results.

[galawdawg]

Here's my experience with a Chase credit card dispute with a Princess cruise FWIW.

I prepaid for a September 2020 cruise with Princess back in January. Princess notified me that the cruise was canceled in early May. I called Princess customer service (no wait time, which felt strange) and they weren't able to provide a timeline on when the refund would be received, and that they would be manual working/refunding in order of cruise date. I feel like if they wanted to refund me, they could've just done it while I was on the phone with them, but they didn't.

After hearing that, I disputed the transactions with Chase because I didn't want to wait in line while Princess slowly goes bankrupt. The cruise was paid in two transactions, and one was just outside the 60-day dispute window. For the one within the 60-day window, I've already been notified by Chase that the dispute has been resolved and that temporarily posted credit is now permanent. I'm still waiting to hear on the 60+ day dispute. I think that one will take a bit longer to be fully resolved because I had to submit a form via secure message so it is more manual. But I have been given a temporary credit for it while the dispute is pending.

In my mind, it seemed like a win-win to go with the dispute option:
1. I believe Princess would have to respond within a certain amount of time (60-90 days?) with compelling evidence on why they haven't refunded me. This at least put a limit on when the refund would be received.
2. If Princess processed the refund while the dispute was ongoing, then the dispute wouldn't matter anymore.

In either case, I'd recommend filing a dispute if you can't be sure how quickly the cruise line will refund you. I haven't determined any negative consequences to filing a dispute (other than the dispute being resolved in Princess's favor, which didn't seem likely; or Princess blacklisting the credit card for future use, which I doubt they would reject future customers and I don't see myself on a cruise anytime soon).

You said that you prepaid for the cruise in Jan. 2020 and the cruise was cancelled in May 2020. When did the 60 day window start and end? If you paid in January wouldn't the window end sometime in March?

Both Mastercard and VISA have extended protections for services that are purchased now for performance in the future. Those policies provide that a dispute timeline can be based on one of two start dates. Either the dispute must be initiated within 120 calendar days of the transaction processing date OR within 120 calendar days of the last date the customer expected to receive the goods or services (but not to exceed 540 days of the original transaction processing date).

(Mastercard Chargeback Guide, beginning at page 49: https://www.mastercard.us/content/dam/m ... -guide.pdf)

(Visa Chargeback Guide, beginning at page 687: https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/ ... public.pdf)

I do not know if AMEX and Discover provide similar protections.

There is no point in filing a credit card dispute unless it is clear that the refund is not coming or is past the date promised by the cruise line for delivery of the refund. Filing the dispute before that time frame doesn't provide any advantages, other than to perhaps move you ahead of other customers who are already waiting for a refund. Some cruise lines have been able to process refunds in 30-45 days, others appear to be taking 60-90 days. Considering the volume of refunds the cruise lines are having to process, patience is appropriate.

[czaj]

There is no point in filing a credit card dispute unless it is clear that the refund is not coming or is past the date promised by the cruise line for delivery of the refund. Filing the dispute before that time frame doesn't provide any advantages, other than to perhaps move you ahead of other customers who are already waiting for a refund. Some cruise lines have been able to process refunds in 30-45 days, others appear to be taking 60-90 days. Considering the volume of refunds the cruise lines are having to process, patience is appropriate.

The problem I had was that Princess could not provide any timeline on when the refund would be received, which I felt warranted the dispute. If they would've said 30 days, I would've waited.

As far as patience, I have trouble believing the volume is actually the main bottleneck. And that reviewing one by one and manually refunding was a necessary process.

I'm very surprised Chase is taking your side on this using the dispute process, it's good for the consumer but surprised Chase isn't deferring to the Princess cancellation policy. Thanks for posting your results.

What cancellation policy are you referring to? Allowing Princess to refund in order of cruise date, which could possibly take 60-90+ days for a September 2020 cruise?