Cruise Refund/Reschedule: Under Official Review

[kannons610]

My parents booked a Disney Cruise for our whole family (14 people in 4 cabins) set to depart on August 8. Needless to say none of us feel comfortable going. We are currently past the window to cancel without incurring a fee. The penalty is currently 20%. It amounts to approximately $6000. After a lengthy three-way conversation on the phone today with the vacation rental company with whom my parents booked the rooms through and a few levels of Disney Cruise representatives, they agreed to put our case for a full refund or fee-free reschedule “Under Review”. They are supposed to notify the vacation rental company within 24-48 hours of their decision. Has anyone had experience with a similar situation? Is there any Disney-Official recourse if we are denied? I am still hoping that they extend the cancellation dates but we need to decide what to do within 10 days or else we move into the lose 50% phase. Thanks.

 

[ahain]

I don't have experience with a situation like yours. Technically, you wouldn't have any recourse because they have a posted policy that they are following. We recently cancelled a cruise right before the PIF date because we didn't want to risk the 20% cancel-after-PIF penalty. If I was going to guess, I think DCL may grant an exception for you. But quite honestly, if they do, I think I would keep it quiet and not post it here on the boards...They may make an exception for you, but if others find out, then EVERYONE feels they should get the same treatment. Just my $.02

 

[lanejudy]

After a lengthy three-way conversation on the phone today with the vacation rental company with whom my parents booked the rooms through and a few levels of Disney Cruise representatives, they agreed to put our case for a full refund or fee-free reschedule “Under Review”. They are supposed to notify the vacation rental company within 24-48 hours of their decision.

I agree with PP above -- while DCL will probably grant an exception, technically they don't have to do so. PIF for August cruises would have been after the whole virus and cancellations started, so presumably people were aware of the risk when they make final payment.

As to "official recourse" -- did you purchase travel insurance? That may cover, but read the policy as some are denying coverage for anything related to the virus. If you purchased the plan offered by DCL, it does offer a 70% (of the non-reimbursed amount) as credit to be used within maybe a year.

ETA: I'd be surprised if DCL is sailing in early August. But I understand the desire to cancel and get your money back just in case.

 

[cvjw]

We had a May cruise where the PIF date was before the whole coronavirus came to be. We knew what the cancellation policy was and lived with it. We didn’t ask for a virus exception. If Disney does give you an exception, it really isn’t fair to all of the other customers who didn’t get the exception. Just my 2 cents.

 

[CmdrThor]

I don't have experience with a situation like yours. Technically, you wouldn't have any recourse because they have a posted policy that they are following. We recently cancelled a cruise right before the PIF date because we didn't want to risk the 20% cancel-after-PIF penalty. If I was going to guess, I think DCL may grant an exception for you. But quite honestly, if they do, I think I would keep it quiet and not post it here on the boards...They may make an exception for you, but if others find out, then EVERYONE feels they should get the same treatment. Just my $.02

I completely disagree on keeping quiet about it. If Disney is starting to make exceptions for some, they absolutely should do it for anyone who is also uncomfortable cruising.

Although I also think Disney will have several more rounds of cancellations and there is no way they are cruising anywhere on August 8th. They are still working on getting crew off the boats.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

they absolutely should do it for anyone who is also uncomfortable cruising.

And how long will the "uncomfortable with cruising" exception last? It could be years before we have any real control over this virus.

If someone is uncomfortable with taking a cruise, and chooses to cancel before an actual cruise line cancellation, then they should be held to the agreed to contract regarding refunds. If they roll the dice and take the chance that a cruise line will cancel the cruise (after what would have been the penalty period kicking in) it's quite likely they will get a full refund.

It's a crap shoot.

 

[jcbftw]

I would honestly recommend waiting a bit more to see if Disney officially cancels the cruise themselves, unless you need the cash ASAP. At least then you would be entitled to a full refund or a credit for future use.

 

[CmdrThor]

And how long will the "uncomfortable with cruising" exception last? It could be years before we have any real control over this virus.

If someone is uncomfortable with taking a cruise, and chooses to cancel before an actual cruise line cancellation, then they should be held to the agreed to contract regarding refunds. If they roll the dice and take the chance that a cruise line will cancel the cruise (after what would have be the penalty period kicking in) it's quite likely they will get a full refund.

It's a crap shoot.

I'm not saying Disney should allow the exception. Just that if they do for anyone, they should offer it to all.

 

[insureman]

My parents booked a Disney Cruise for our whole family (14 people in 4 cabins) set to depart on August 8. Needless to say none of us feel comfortable going. We are currently past the window to cancel without incurring a fee. The penalty is currently 20%. It amounts to approximately $6000. After a lengthy three-way conversation on the phone today with the vacation rental company with whom my parents booked the rooms through and a few levels of Disney Cruise representatives, they agreed to put our case for a full refund or fee-free reschedule “Under Review”. They are supposed to notify the vacation rental company within 24-48 hours of their decision. Has anyone had experience with a similar situation? Is there any Disney-Official recourse if we are denied? I am still hoping that they extend the cancellation dates but we need to decide what to do within 10 days or else we move into the lose 50% phase. Thanks.

Is the vacation rental company a travel agent? I have never heard this term used for a cruise reservation.

 

[gotomu212]

And how long will the "uncomfortable with cruising" exception last? It could be years before we have any real control over this virus.

If someone is uncomfortable with taking a cruise, and chooses to cancel before an actual cruise line cancellation, then they should be held to the agreed to contract regarding refunds. If they roll the dice and take the chance that a cruise line will cancel the cruise (after what would have be the penalty period kicking in) it's quite likely they will get a full refund.

It's a crap shoot.

This will destroy the cruise industry if people are losing $10-$20k on August cruises. The number of people who would feel comfortable committing to upcoming PIF payments would plummet and the “pending reservations” that lines are using to bolster demand claims would evaporate. While so much is unknown about the virus and what things will look like 4 months from now, situations like this should scare anyone approaching PIF with the lack of information for what services, amenities, and refund policies will look like in 2020.

It would be a complete cutting off a nose to spite your face for DCL to hold refund policies on summer 2020 cruises- BUT take note everyone approaching PIF dates. Without concrete communication from DCL this is become beyond risky.

 

[MomOTwins]

We went something similar with our May cruise (though with lower dollar stakes as we were only trying to cancel one room). Our PIF date (i.e., when we moved into 20% penalty) was before the virus came to the U.S., and my mother in law (whose room we were trying to cancel) is immune compromised and her doctor told her she could not cruise. Even under those circumstances, DCL would not waive it, and in terms of "recourse" they are well within their rights to do so--the cancellation penalties are no secret, and it is a valid contract.

However, the silver lining is that when Disney did ultimately cancel the cruise, they refunded our 20% penalty retroactively. Based on reports on this board, it seems they have been doing that for everyone else who cancelled where DCL later cancelled the cruise. So even though there are no guarantees, if you cancel and then DCL eventually cancels the cruise, you could get your money back.

If it were me, I would push really hard for being allowed to reschedule. Rescheduling is easier for DCL to swallow than a cancellation and refund.

 

[Debbru]

We cancelled our May Hawaii cruise (before DCL cancelled it) during the "lose your deposit" phase. They refunded everything but the deposit. Then when they cancelled the cruise they sent us an email telling us that since they had now cancelled, they were refunding the deposit penalty. I believe they did this for everyone that cancelled before they did during March & April (for cruises that they eventually cancelled).

 

[brianvdb]

The airlines have thus far waived change/cancellation fees for those who no longer need/want to fly. I could see DCL doing the same thing, even if it is done quietly.

I’m okay with this, as it reduces the number of people on the ships. From a social-distancing perspective, this is a good thing.

 

[geegee14]

I’m curious to see what happens with your review. I just cancelled an October cruise because the PIF was coming up and we knew we weren’t comfortable sailing. The issue we had was that we were booked in a 1-bedroom and those deposits are non refundable. So we chose to cancel and lose our deposit. I didn’t want to move it to a different cruise. They would not make an exception to refund me so I’m filing a claim with our travel insurance. I’d hope if they make an exception for one, they would do it for all.

 

[CmdrThor]

I’m curious to see what happens with your review. I just cancelled an October cruise because the PIF was coming up and we knew we weren’t comfortable sailing. The issue we had was that we were booked in a 1-bedroom and those deposits are non refundable. So we chose to cancel and lose our deposit. I didn’t want to move it to a different cruise. They would not make an exception to refund me so I’m filing a claim with our travel insurance. I’d hope if they make an exception for one, they would do it for all.

Does your travel insurance have cancel for any reason? If not which covered cancellation reason are you filing your claim under?

 

[kuhltiffany]

We cancelled an NCL cruise the day before they officially declared it cancelled in March, and even with travel insurance do NOT qualify for a refund. We got a credit only.

 

[kannons610]

Does your travel insurance have cancel for any reason? If not which covered cancellation reason are you filing your claim under?

We do not have the travel insurance but we were also told that it would not have covered us anyway. We weren’t able to file the review claim under any specific reasons. We asked to give a reason but were told the review was a general review.

 

[ajo]

We were originally on the August 8 cruise and cancelled before PIF because we wanted to take a wait and see approach with Covid-19. I hope that DCL will treat everyone the same — if they allow anyone to cancel without penalty because they are uncomfortable sailing then they should give everyone that same opportunity.

 

[kannons610]

Review unsuccessful. No penalty-free refund allowed.

 

[figmentfinesse]

I was rooting for you. No reschedule either?