As was expected we received notice from our cruise line that our travel plans to Europe had been cancelled. Another email followed about 6 days later from our travel agent saying that our flight schedule had changed and to give them a call.
None of this was unexpected and I had dealt with my disappointment a long time ago. I am sharing the process I have gone through in hopes of shedding some light on what can be achieved in these uncertain times and what may be beyond our control. Establishing expectations will help everyone deal with the process in a positive way.
We had purposely waited to see if the cruise company and airline would cancel as we felt that was our best bet for getting full refunds, and as far as the cruise company goes that was indeed the case. Royal Caribbean offered one of two options; a full refund or a 125% future cruise credit for the amount paid. This offer seems to be consistent with most of the cruise lines as a friend received the same offer from Norwegian. Despite the future cruise credit being a generous alternative the time allocated to use the credit did not meet our travel needs. As we are still working I only get vacation once a year and we already have plans for 2021. Thus we applied for the refund and we told it would be reimbursed to the credit card used in about 30 days. The largest amount of our paid funds were looked after and that was a relief.
After numerous attempts I finally got in touch with the travel agency that booked our flight. Air Canada is issuing a voucher for the amount of the cancelled flight that is good for travel in the future. The representative from Air Canada confirmed it had to be used within 24 months which is fine with us as we have already started planning for our 2021 travels.
I know a number of folks are upset about the credit versus a refund issue as their flights were a one time only event. I am sure this will be addressed in the future, whether in the courts or by the government, but that does not help anyone right now.
My next email was to Airbnb about cancelling the room for our post cruise stay in Madrid. The host responded to my email immediately and directed me to cancel through the company. It took a bit for me to find the correct path but once there it gives you the option to cancel due to the extenuating circumstances. In order to get a full refund you do need to submit cancellation documentation for them to consider before approving the refund. We attached the emails from the cruise company and our travel agent and that was sufficient for them to approve.
I have also emailed the company through which we had booked shore excursions while in Europe and they readily refunded our deposits. I then emailed other sites for which we have pre-purchased tickets for tours or events and they also responded quickly. The amount refunded varied with a full refund being the norm and reduced amounts based on pre-purchase criteria.
We had booked train tickets to travel while in Spain and knew at the time we booked that they were non-refundable. I will however continue to check back as our travel dates draw closer to see if that has changed due to the circumstances.
In these unprecedented times the travel industry has responded at intervals with great compassion and at others with more of an eye to their bottom line. As someone who plans well in advance, who pre-book tickets and excursions as early as possible to guarantee our participation and rarely takes into consider cancellation policies, this situation has made me take a closer look at how we travel. Not if, but how.
As each of us deal with cancellations, self isolation and inconceivable changes in our day to day life I hope that you too will find solace as you untangle the web of today, and look forward to tomorrow.
Update: After patiently waiting the 30 days for the cruise refund to hit our credit card I called Royal Caribbean to follow up and according to the service representative I spoke to we had never cancelled, despite having an online confirmation from March 25th. I now have to wait up to another 30 days for the refund. I asked for a confirmation email that I had indeed been cancelled and a refund was pending but they refused to do so.