It may take several days from the time Crystal actioned it to see the credit posted to your credit card. Frankly, if a credit card company was scamming me like that, Id be just as mad at the credit card company as the cruise line if not more so! But I'm feeling very optimistic about everything as are our clients.". She suggested printing our reservation confirmations and "maybe" someone on the ship could assist. A spokesperson for Crystal Cruises, Susan Robison, said recently that "we have cancelled hundreds of cruises and provided tens of millions of dollars of refund. Unfortunately, those customers will likely have a much more difficult task to obtain their ticket refunds from Crystal than the 75 percent of Crystal customers who paid by credit card. This may offer a solution to one of the two problems you have if youre frustrated about getting a refund. Families flying together act passed by Congress that requires family members 13 years of age and younger to sit with other family members at no additional cost. Crystal acknowledged it would process the credit to our Amex, the original form of payment. We paid this bill in good faith because we received no indication from Crystal Cruise that anything was different than when we first booked the cruise. Voices, experts and personalities on the right and the left. Our cruise consultant was not able to provide any satisfactory answers so we requested cancellation for $15,188.02. Would you settle for a credit instead of a full refund? Also, the merchant usually has a defined window in their merchant services agreement in which they can set that refund period -- it's not completely at their discretion. 301 Route 17 N, Suite 1150, Rutherford, NJ Such a shame as they had a good product. Passengers have 24 hours to change or cancel their nonrefundable tickets without penalty, Once airfare is purchased, that airfare and ancillary fees cannot be increased. Crystal is not keeping their word (i.e. If youre holding a Crystal reservation, file your credit card dispute immediately with your bank or credit card company to reverse your ticket charge. ITR is free to our subscribers. Final payment due for a cruise to Germany & Austria. Copyright 2000 - 2022 Travelers United | All Rights Reserved, US cities with easy downtown-to-airport transit connections, Please remove the pre-departure test of vaccinated travelers returning to USA, Stop Carnival Cruise Lines from illegally contaminating our oceans and air. We remain optimistic. Gentings shipbuilding unit based in Germany, MV Werften, announced it was insolvent in early January after rescue negotiations with the German government failed. -The 90 day "guideline" is something Crystal just decided on their own. Details per Confirmation # *In Canada, trademark(s) of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus, used under License. We were only offered FCC. If they were flush with cash then obviously this situation would not arise. Have an issue with deceptive hotel pricing, resort fees or timeshares? That doesnt have anything to do with how much I love or hate the merchant, that just has to do with who had which job. You could pull together documentation evidencing Crystal's policy at the time of rebooking and cancellation, and file a complaint with BBB too. Nothing about refunding after months , and at their discretion. But dont get too excited. She was born in Syracuse, N.Y., to a peripatetic family whose stops included Washington, D.C.; Honolulu; and Manila. BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. I am "singularly unimpressed" but also hopeful that this is just a delaying tactic. Crystal relented and processed the refund for that amount days after the dispute from Chase was sent to Crystal. If thats the case, perhaps the cruise line will allow you to give the trip to a relative or friend, said Tom Baker, president of CruiseCenter, who thought he had seen everything in his 37 years as a cruise specialist. Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating. We waited patiently until the end of Aug, past the 90 Day mark. We booked a cruise with Crystal Cruise in April to tour Europe. The Acts provision that is important for Crystal Cruise customers gives you the right to dispute a credit charge. Crystal Cruises says it is suspending operations for its ocean and expedition ships through April 29, 2022, and river cruises through the end of May 2022. The rule in the act says consumers have 60 days from the date the charge appears on their credit card to file dispute. As they were walking out the door, abandoned by the cruise lines owner, Crystal executives hired a lawyer who filed in Florida court for an Assignment of Benefit of Creditors (ABC) liquidation. Guests who had their cruises canceled due to the. I will do my best to cross every T and dot every i. Windstars 2023/24 Middle East program kicks off in November. These accomplishments have been achieved by working closely with our members, national media, the travel industry, the Department of Transportation (DOT), Congress and many other agencies. Write to catharine@catharinehamm.com. Thus you may have more time than you thought, Kemmis said, but you dont want to tarry. We booked a fall 2021 Crystal cruise on 6/20/20. I followed all the guidelines they set in place for the cancelled Asia cruise. Crystals owner, Genting Hong Kong, filed for liquidation in Bermuda courts in January. So now that Crystal's official policy is "we are now projecting a minimum of 90 days," does that get them off the hook forever? LauraS I am at approx 150 days with another line. Its a more difficult situation, says Couch-Friedman. Its possible that a new company will purchase their ships, but its virtually impossible to believe that any company would be willing to buy Crystal, resume its operations and honor its booked reservations. I am now being told it could take months to receive the refund. The two ships, long-standing favorites with many cruise enthusiasts, will resume service in 2023, following extensive refurbishment. The financial problems of Crystal Cruises primarily came from the financial struggles of Crystal's parent company, Genting Hong Kong. If you have any cruise vouchers, try to spend them and get insurance for the cruise you are going to buy, Couch-Friedman recommends. Followers 1. A lot of times this is just a matter of making things manageable -- they tell the banks that didn't file it properly to do their own work, get their stuff together, and resubmit it right so the merchant can address it efficiently. It's not worth the risk. That was one week ago. Powered by Invision Community. Best wishes. Started October 12, 2018, Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. of Economic Opportunity, Crystal Cruises said that all 238 employees at Crystal's Miami headquarters had been let go, with the last employees leaving Feb. 9. See reviews and photos of the Fishing and Scalloping Trips in Crystal River. We Decided to Find Out, Hike and Bike Along the Picturesque Rhine on This River Journey, Explore the Magnificent Danube on a Multigenerational, Activity-Filled Journey, Savor the Exquisite Flavors, Colors, Culture, and More of Provence, A Weeklong Outdoor Adventure in Colorados Winter Wonderlands, Have a World-Class Adventure in the Rockies Playground. We are now at day 98, with no idea if and when well get our refund. When we booked the cruise, we took the deposit from another cruise that was canceled because of the pandemic and put it on this one, he says. Bookings Detail: The dispute resolution isnt necessarily going to be automatic. If you are receiving this message, simply enter your email address to sign in or register if you are not. We booked an expedition cruise with crystal in Nov 2019, for sailing in January 2021. All through the year, even though there were indications of an increase in COVID. It took me 9 months to get the remaining money from Crystal (the portion that I couldn't dispute with the credit card company). BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. We did not cancel. Submitting a response indicates a willingness to work with customers to make things right. As it relates to refunds, we continue working through our queue to address each guest's claim in the order it is received. Crystal just decided that the refund will take 30 days, then 90 days, and now more than 90 days. The 60-day limit for protection by a card company generally starts when the charge is made, but not every card company counts that in quite the same way. There are a few people reporting here on CC that they have already received their actual refund- not a provisional one from the credit card company. Crystal Cruises is kaput, out of business. That hasnt been independently confirmed. File a claim if it does. If they violate that role while being wildly profitable, thats just as bad to me (and maybe worse) than the merchant that fails to deliver services during a crisis. Followers. This x10! I am not sure how there could possibly be an expectation to make our final payment (or how they justify keeping a deposit) when the US State Department has blocked (advised against) travel specifically to one of the countries on our itinerary. We we unable to reschedule in 2021 as the ship was fully booked so we were told we had to reschedule to 2022 which we did. I am a financial creditor--because they owe me money. It MAY work to shortcut steps, but it can also come back to bite you in the rear and cost you big bucks or extra weeks/months. The cruise in question must have more than 50 beds and must have originated from a U.S. port, which would include Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Diego, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Very sad. Your post probably should have been added to one already in existence. Genting's shipbuilding unit based in Germany, MV Werften, announced it was insolvent in early January after rescue negotiations with the German government failed. If you paid with a card, the money goes back to the card. Award-winning investigations and consumer reporting that helps Arizonans recover hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. 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