Price drop on DX pkg. How long is refund taking?

[Wilson]

There is a small price drop on the DX package for an upcoming cruise. I don't bother canceling and repurchasing unless it's going to save me at least $20. This one would be a total savings of $42, but I don't want to wait up to 90 days for the refund. Do these transactions get put in the que with canceled cruises? 

In the past it only took about 4 days.

[KristiZ]

I did the cancel-and-rebook thing about 10 days ago on an internet package. The refund took 5 days. Longer than normal, but no where near 90 days.

[CGTLH]

Was fairly quick for me as well, about a week. Now a cancellation due to Lift and Shift, going on 3 weeks and still waiting.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Me three.  During the busiest and slowest time for fare refunds, it only took about 15 days for my Cruise Planner cancellations (repricings) to be refunded.  Obviously a completely different process than cancellation fare and CP refunds.

[SpeedNoodles]

I canceled something on a still-scheduled sailing on May 9 and have not received a refund. They told me to expect it to take 45 days to get the refund (I assume 45 business days).

[KathyC]

I cancelled something on May 13th and have not received the refund yet.

[Baked Alaska]

I'm at 4 weeks now for CP REFUNDS. A little over $3000.

I'm going to dispute the charges at 45 days so that I'm within the 90 day window.

[Wilson]

Seems like a mixed bag. Thx for the replies. I am not going to mess with it. 

[CruzOnBye]

Has anyone applied their Cruise Planner FCC and then seen a price drop afterward? Our DX Drink Package is on sale (after I just booked it 2 days ago at a higher price). Should I cancel online and rebook? Or call them? I have never cancelled and rebooked cruise planner stuff before, let alone while using FCC. Just curious what yall are doing in these cases.

[sk8erguy1978]

Not recently, but on April 22nd I canceled and re-booked a spa treatment, the refund posted on April 26th.

[whitsmom]

In April, I cancelled and re-booked the UBP and received my refund in 7 days.  In May 17th and cancelled and re-booked my VOOM and I still haven't received my credit.  When I looked into it, they told me that it will take 30 days...

[AnnieBanannie]

We cancelled and re-booked drink packages on April 20th, still haven't seen the refund. I believe today marks 45 days. 

[cookie10*]

We did a S&L and cancelled our drink and dinning packages on  April 26 and still have not received our credit... 

[AshleyDillo]

On 6/4/2020 at 9:19 AM, CruzOnBye said:

Has anyone applied their Cruise Planner FCC and then seen a price drop afterward? Our DX Drink Package is on sale (after I just booked it 2 days ago at a higher price). Should I cancel online and rebook? Or call them? I have never cancelled and rebooked cruise planner stuff before, let alone while using FCC. Just curious what yall are doing in these cases.

When you use OBC to make a Cruise Planner purchase, it will be refunded immediately.  You should easily be able to cancel and repurchase if it's with OBC.

[CruzOnBye]

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

When you use OBC to make a Cruise Planner purchase, it will be refunded immediately.  You should easily be able to cancel and repurchase if it's with OBC.

You are correct! I did it this morning! I cancelled on the website and they put it back on my FCC cruise planner credit. I went from $130 in leftover cruise planner FCC to $320, yay! Now I just need to actually set sail in August!

 

[Wilson]

2 hours ago, CruzOnBye said:

Now I just need to actually set sail in August!

 

Same here. Purchased our DX/Voom combo and Ultimate Dining Pkg  Ultimate Dining was only $26 per day.

[Jill]

On 6/4/2020 at 9:19 AM, CruzOnBye said:

Has anyone applied their Cruise Planner FCC and then seen a price drop afterward? Our DX Drink Package is on sale (after I just booked it 2 days ago at a higher price). Should I cancel online and rebook? Or call them? I have never cancelled and rebooked cruise planner stuff before, let alone while using FCC. Just curious what yall are doing in these cases.

I did today. I booked our CP stuff with the 125% OBC during the Memorial Day sale. This new sale I had some price drops so canceled (OBC was put back) and rebooked. 

[tcneal]

I have been wondering the same thing.  I have a Labadee Cabana booked and the price have dropped twice in the last few weeks.  I re-booked each time and now I have money for 3 cabanas outstanding.  I know I will get the money back but it's got me thinking about changing my re-booking strategy.   They will all hit the credit card in the same cycle, which is not good but I will eventually get the credits.

[Neesa]

I did the cruise planner shuffle April 22, 2020 to take advantage of the lower pricing, close to 3,000 I am still waiting for. Like @Baked Alaska, I am waiting until the 45 days and then I am disputing on my credit card. Question please, does the 45 days count include the weekends, the Holiday?  I was not counting Memorial Day and Sundays. Thanks Everyone!

[Baked Alaska]

40 minutes ago, Neesa said:

I did the cruise planner shuffle April 22, 2020 to take advantage of the lower pricing, close to 3,000 I am still waiting for. Like @Baked Alaska, I am waiting until the 45 days and then I am disputing on my credit card. Question please, does the 45 days count include the weekends, the Holiday?  I was not counting Memorial Day and Sundays. Thanks Everyone!

Since Royal will bill me on weekends (as evidenced by my confirmations), I view the weekends as fair game in my 45 days. I am disputing the charges today. I'll keep you posted.

[Dad2Cue]

On 6/5/2020 at 1:32 PM, AshleyDillo said:

When you use OBC to make a Cruise Planner purchase, it will be refunded immediately.  You should easily be able to cancel and repurchase if it's with OBC.

Yes ... I really wish that I could just "buy" OBC instead of making cruise planner purchases with my credit card.  When there is a cruise planner sale,  I'm starting to think that saving $20 isn't worth the hassle of waiting and constantly wondering if the refund will materialize---no fun.

[KevinJ]

I think their system is overloaded, or not designed well to handle all this volume. When I did some Cruise Planner re books last November I got my card credited within a week. Currently I'm using CPC 125% credit and have been able to re book in real time, cancel, get OBC right away, re book. I needed to split my CPC credits between two cruises because between three of us I was going to have more than I wanted on the single cruise, that extra 25%. So I put two on one cruise and the third on a second. I didn't want to just spend OBC because I needed to.

[sk8erguy1978]

Edit: Never mind, google took me to the Australia site. Guess I'll leave the information for the Australia market.

 

2 hours ago, Dad2Cue said:

Yes ... I really wish that I could just "buy" OBC instead of making cruise planner purchases with my credit card.  When there is a cruise planner sale,  I'm starting to think that saving $20 isn't worth the hassle of waiting and constantly wondering if the refund will materialize---no fun.

Not a bad idea ...

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/how-do-i-purchase-on-board-credit-

Quote

Q: How do I purchase On Board Credit?

A: To purchase On Board Credit you will need to contact our Sales Experts on 1800 754 500.

Edited June 9, 2020 by sk8erguy1978
Specific to Australia

[JBC]

The system overloaded line is a bunch of crap.  They charge you immediately for any purchases you make, you should get refunded in a similar fashion.  3-5 days at most.  

I am waiting on about $1,000 in cruise planner cancellations currently, little over three weeks now.  Based on what I am reading from people here, I won't expect them anytime soon.  

[marti314]

Ill say it again, short term interest free loans go a long way in paying their 250 million dollars a quarter operating costs.  Should be 100% illegal 

[Dad2Cue]

19 minutes ago, marti314 said:

Short term 0% loans for 2-3 months... Should be 100% illegal 

 Especially when I have to pay the entire balance on my credit card because I will have to pay 20% interest if I don't.  

[jaredhamburg]

I canceled my Voom Internet package on 5/21 for a cruise in September 2020.  They told me today it had been processed on 5/31 for a refund and will take 30 days after that.....

[AnnieBanannie]

On 6/4/2020 at 9:02 AM, AnnieBanannie said:

We cancelled and re-booked drink packages on April 20th, still haven't seen the refund. I believe today marks 45 days. 

So I called RC on 6/6 and was told that it's only been 44 day since I cancelled so of course I wouldn't see my refund yet (but I cancelled on 4/20/2020... it's been more than 45 days...) So I called them again yesterday on 6/8, was told they'll look into it. Gave them my number, was told they'll give me a call back within an hour, never heard back. Also gave them my email for follow up, never received anything. So I don't know... I guess I'll keep calling once a week to get my $620 back 

[Neesa]

@Baked Alaska FYI I called Royal today for a "check" on the refunds due me. While I did not wait forever (maybe 30 minutes) OMG nightmare city. The young man was very polite but kept placing me on hold to "check things" so total time on hole almost 90 minutes and minimal information.

The biggest thing he advised me of was that Royal does not count weekends in the 45 days (I said, "but when I book a sailing you take the monies instantly") I was kind to him though as I think I may have flustered him a bit, so now I'm consoling him!!!  WHAT the H just happened???? 

Long story short I was at 46 days he said 32 days but WAIT FOR IT.......He then proceeds to try to get me to purchase some "great excursions" for my sailing that are ON SALE tonight! 

Uh, really? NO I want my $3,000. back, YIKES.  Dear Royal, I am LOYAL but this has got to be handled :)

 

[Andrew72681]

17 minutes ago, Neesa said:

@Baked Alaska FYI I called Royal today for a "check" on the refunds due me. While I did not wait forever (maybe 30 minutes) OMG nightmare city. The young man was very polite but kept placing me on hold to "check things" so total time on hole almost 90 minutes and minimal information.

The biggest thing he advised me of was that Royal does not count weekends in the 45 days (I said, "but when I book a sailing you take the monies instantly") I was kind to him though as I think I may have flustered him a bit, so now I'm consoling him!!!  WHAT the H just happened???? 

Long story short I was at 46 days he said 32 days but WAIT FOR IT.......He then proceeds to try to get me to purchase some "great excursions" for my sailing that are ON SALE tonight! 

Uh, really? NO I want my $3,000. back, YIKES.  Dear Royal, I am LOYAL but this has got to be handled

 

So much of that ineptitude  is they dropped people into roles they were never trained on and just said here you go, here’s 10k pissed off guests. 

[Baked Alaska]

25 minutes ago, Neesa said:

@Baked Alaska FYI I called Royal today for a "check" on the refunds due me. While I did not wait forever (maybe 30 minutes) OMG nightmare city. The young man was very polite but kept placing me on hold to "check things" so total time on hole almost 90 minutes and minimal information.

The biggest thing he advised me of was that Royal does not count weekends in the 45 days (I said, "but when I book a sailing you take the monies instantly") I was kind to him though as I think I may have flustered him a bit, so now I'm consoling him!!!  WHAT the H just happened???? 

Long story short I was at 46 days he said 32 days but WAIT FOR IT.......He then proceeds to try to get me to purchase some "great excursions" for my sailing that are ON SALE tonight! 

Uh, really? NO I want my $3,000. back, YIKES.  Dear Royal, I am LOYAL but this has got to be handled

 

I called BOFA, the bank that holds my Royal Caribbean Visa, and I told them everything, faxed them my Cruise Planner cancellations, and they have put a 90 day payment hold on those purchases. She was incredious that Royal could charge me twice for the same excursion, but not refund me for at least the first one that I had cancelled (to rebooked for lower price). Then Lift and Shift happened, and now I am owed for the rebooked excursion. I told her there were a lot of uslike that.  I said that Royal could all of a sudden finally get their act together and we'd see the refunds. She said if that's the case, let them know and to cancel the disputes. Fair enough.

[DublinFC]

On 6/3/2020 at 4:26 PM, Wilson said:

There is a small price drop on the DX package for an upcoming cruise. I don't bother canceling and repurchasing unless it's going to save me at least $20. This one would be a total savings of $42, but I don't want to wait up to 90 days for the refund. Do these transactions get put in the que with canceled cruises? 

In the past it only took about 4 days.

I am going on a month waiting on a CP refund 

[VACruiser]

Reading these items makes me sad. I cancelled a cruise and I’m now at day 40 for a refund - my calculation and I’m sure not theirs. They did refund the excursions and I think insurance money within 3 weeks but the bulk of the money about $2.5k is sitting in crazy RCI limbo world.

What this has done to me is taken the shine off a company I once used to give money to readily for a cruise vacation. Now I can’t trust them with any money and I am questioning if I should ever go cruising again.

I’m very new to cruising and I liked it the four times I have travelled but this has really dampened my cruising mindset. It’s time to start looking elsewhere for my vacations. And, I’m sure I’m not the only one with this mindset. RCI may well weather this storm but loyalty has taken a hit on cruisers and they will lose valued customers.