Visit Neds Photography Blog and Galleries. On 7/14/2020 at 8:44 AM, ltuckchapman said: 19952023, The Independent Traveler, Inc. Beware of booking a cruise with Crystal Cruises. i waited for100+days before filing my dispute. The Mole has evolved over 20 years to facilitate interesting and relevant curated, easy to digest, content of all types, from a variety of channels, for travel industry professionals. The mission of Travelers United is to identify and promote ways to improve and enhance travel for consumers across all modes of travel. Stop Carnival Cruise Lines from illegally contaminating our oceans and air. That triggered a debt default of $2.78 billion. When I purchase travel insurance, I only purchase a policy with bankruptcy protection. We booked our 1st cruise ever with Crystal Cruises. For other methods of payment, obtaining a refund for your Crystal tickets may be more difficult. Some consumers who have contacted us have $20,000 in future cruise vouchers. The management has made a faux pas here. You will be able to leave a comment after signing in, By I have reached out to our sales associate and always get the same information as the website. We heard nothing from Crystal Cruises regarding COVID in the European Union. How to find the best blooms without the drama, Nature-curious? Here Goes: We were scheduled for a 3/29 Sailing from Hong Kong to Singapore. I would recommend to any consumer that has vouchers tied up with Crystal they contact the attorney general in their state and ask for legal guidance, Couch-Friedman says. Please Read: COVID-related Discussion. I have called repeatedly. Something about the timing of the cruise which makes no sense. Very sad. Understandably, our cruise was cancelled on April 2nd. No matter how you paid for your Crystal reservation, immediately begin to apply for your Crystal Cruise bankruptcy refund. BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. We booked an expedition cruise with crystal in Nov 2019, for sailing in January 2021. So the net funds Crystal took was $35,356. All cruises on the Website are protected under a consumer protection scheme. AZ International Auto Show & New Car Buyer's Guide 2020 Model Year, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Travelers Unitedis a nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. (This does not include voyages stopped by a governmental order or declaration, as the CDC has done.). Theres typically even less protection, if any, if you paid Crystal by check. CRYSTAL CRUISES REFUSES TO REFUND DEPOSITS - SOME ADVICE. lying) about when you will get a refund. Denied boarding (bumping) compensation increased to a maximum of $1,550. Discover the worldin comforton Viking ocean cruises to Scandinavia, Mediterranean, Asia, Australia, the Americas or around https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Crystal-Cruises-says-it-has-repaid-80-percent-of-2020-refunds. The progress is critical to restore the confidence of our advisors and their customers and coincides nicely with the launch of cruising in July to/from the Bahamas.". Crystal know this --they rely on passionate cruisers.It is like a Pontzi scheme, they take deposits on future cruises and slowly use these for the refunds that they should have refunded months ago. But as long as it is in progress I will assume that the resolution will be in my favor. The Miami Herald reported Aug. 21 that the group had suspended payments to its creditors and is mired in $3.4 billion in debt. Crystal is not the only one having problems. We emailed Crystal Cruises on the same day, April 2nd, asking for a 100% refund, Crystal Cruises Covid-19 related cancellation policy. Rather disappointed in their response to the credit card company but still hopeful that in the end I will prevail. We are going on 8 months since we cancelled and 1.5 years since we paid in full. Great suggestion, will do! Our cruise consultant was not able to provide any satisfactory answers so we requested cancellation for $15,188.02. Started August 27, 2021, By CADRS staff will not render a decision or require a party or parties to take specific action, its website noted. Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating. Crystal Cruises is kaput, out of business. Airlines Refunds: DOT enforcement notice that all airline tickets canceled by the airlines must be repaid to include all airfare, taxes and added fees with cash not airline credits. Theres also no direct transfer requirement the banks must fulfill. Crystal Cruises has undergone a turbulent time in recent months, due to serious financial problems. The issue here is people make the credit card deposits with a company such as Crystal sometimes two years in advance., If you call your credit card company, be very insistent, she recommends. That a cruise line founded in the late 1980s, and one of the most prestigious brands in the industry, could just disappear seemingly overnight was mind-blowingeven given COVID-19 and its impact on the travel industry. We paid Crystal Cruise Lines a net $12,414.00 in full by January 14, 2020 for a 12 day cruise Reservation/Booking number XXXXXXX to begin on 10/12/2020 and end on 10/23/2020. If you have a copy that says 90 days, and the merchant provides a subsequent policy change that says "minimum of 90 days", the credit card company will almost always honor the cardholder's initial notice. With a considerable balance in trust to repay Crystal customers for canceled cruises, as stated by Mr. Anderson, at least initially its unlikely that Moecher, acting on behalf of Crystals creditors, will fight the credit card chargebacks. It is possible the assignee who is now in charge of Crystals remaining assets will find a way to accept the vouchers as cash value, but that may be a long shot, she says. Crystal Cruise Reviews Overview Reviews Deals Cruiser Rating 4.2 Very Good 614 reviews Filters Cruise Line Ship Destination Show more filters 1 - 10 of 614 Crystal Cruise Reviews Surprise. King Day of Service with a great tour of civil rights landmarks. We remain optimistic. Question about refund - Crystal Cruises - Cruise Critic Community. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles. I will do my best to cross every T and dot every i. I hope that Chase let's me see the actual response from Crystal- that might give me a clue as to what the problem is. Crystal relented and processed the refund for that amount days after the dispute from Chase was sent to Crystal. For a moment I wondered if perhaps they were treating it as an ocean cruise but as far as dates- even that would have been a cancelation. (Complaints about individual cruises go to [email protected].). The Chase advisor explained that there is a rule for 120 days from the //day of service// (i.e. Others who waited received 25% bonus and airfare considerations. Depressed now? Great. One year ago our cruise was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. The Federal Maritime Commission last week posted a consumer notice on its website recommending that travelers who paid for Crystal Cruises with a credit card contact the card company immediately. By alidor, January 20 in Crystal Cruises. Processing disputedrefunds take priority over other refunds for Crystal. Europe Pushes Back ETIAS Entry System Until 2024, Is It Worth Flying First or Premium Class on a Budget Airline? We were told it would be 90 days to get a refund. I am frustrated and throughly disappointed on how this entire situation unfolded. All were hailed as best in their class. *Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. Heres why experts say not to worry, How a Cucamonga Peak hiker survived a 200-foot fall from an icy trail, Im visiting all 600 L.A. spots on the National Register. This will ensure you fulfill the policys timing requirements. Genting is now " suspending payments to creditors". 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. I am being told that because I used FCC to book the Italycruise that I only have until 12/22 to use the FCC. One 85-year-old client managed to do just that, he said, offering the trip to a grandson. Some cruise lines were (and are) overwhelmed with refund requests. Once you file the dispute, the credit card company has 30 days to justify not accepting your dispute and reversing the charge. There is a limited trust pool of money at the credit card companies. All of the river cruises are cancelled through late May. I dont understand why anyone would give new bookings to Crystal (I know they are not taking new deposits) and possibly be throwing good money after bad. FIngers crossed for you. Note that complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. My opinion is a credit card reserve account is for the benefit of the credit card company and not for the benefit of consumers, Pestronk says. Crystal thencancelled that cruise. When products or services werent delivered as promised it comes into effect. (Ross May / Los Angeles Times; Getty Images), Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, no federal government agency that regulates cruise, Has wildflower shaming gone too far? So, hopefully, I will get the deposit part refunded sometime. Please remove the pre-departure test of vaccinated travelers returning to USA It took them only 5 days after I filed. The booking number is XXXXXXX. Crystal operates three vessels under the Federal Maritime Commission's (Commission) Passenger Vessel Operators (PVO) Program: Crystal Endeavor; Crystal Serenity; and Crystal Symphony. Chase told me they cannot help me with the initial deposit part, since the charges, which were made in early 2019, is outside of their window. If you are receiving this message, simply enter your email address to sign in or register if you are not. Original sail date jan 6, 2021, changed to January sail date Jan 16. As they canceled sailings due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, all cruise lines urged customers to take future cruise credits, in lieu of refunds. 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. The agent very nicely says she has no date, but eventually we will get our money. In order to display the B2B travel content that meets your business needs, we need to know who are and what are your business needs. 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. LauraS The Chase card advisor said, no problem, the services were never rendered; they contacted VISA and within 24h our deposit was reflected back as a credit. Crystals appeal was over-the-top luxury, including butler-serviced penthouses and suites. -The 90 day "guideline" is something Crystal just decided on their own. 19.2 FLIGHTS. 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. 5waldos, January 31, 2022 in Crystal Cruises. "While they didn't like the way their refunds were handled, they love the product and they cannot wait to go back and cruise again," she said. That cruise was cancelled due to the pandemic. Started June 21, 2021, By It may be necessary to go to your local bank branch to ask a branch office for assistance. Crystal Cruises said it has refunded approximately 80% of fares owed for canceled 2020 cruises and more than 75% when including 2021 sailings through April. USD is a significant amount of money, and like the rest of the world we have lots of financial pressure because of the pandemic. Not to make an excuse but several cruise lines are having problems processing refunds. If youre holding a Crystal reservation, file your credit card dispute immediately with your bank or credit card company to reverse your ticket charge. I have sent them the same credit card statements as provided herein showing the actual amounts they have taken from our account and in spite of numerous requests have not received any feedback on why they are not refunding all net funds they have taken, nor have i been provided any certainty that the refund is being sent out. Crystal is not keeping their word (i.e. Please call American Express and a dispute can be filed. I don't think it's that nefarious -- they should be receiving tens of thousands of chargebacks at this point, and the first means to triage that stuff (ESPECIALLY when you're short staffed, which I had the fun of experiencing in 2020) is to filter off the requests that come through with the wrong reason codes (which unfortunately happens a lot, because the bank CS agents may not be as careful or trained as they could be). On record-keeping, why do airlines play dumb with Congress? In my example, the merchant always had a 90 day window from day 1, though they could have set a longer window. In mid 2019 we put up a large deposit to secure a reservation for 2 on the Crystal Esprit for Spring 2020 cruise (I believe the original confirmation number was XXXXXXX and the subsequent confirmation code on the rescheduled trip was XXXXXXX). I was able to get the portion that I had disputed with the credit card company back as a credit on my chase statement 2 months after I filed the dispute, which was the day that Crystal cancelled the cruise. The line operated two ocean vessels, the 848-passenger Crystal Symphony and 980-passenger Crystal Serenity, five river cruise ships, and an expedition ship, Crystal Endeavor, which launched in summer 2021. If a cruise is canceled because of a governmental order or declaration, refunds must be issued within 180 days. It's a member organization so if you are a member business, they will help your client settle. This cool kids outdoors club will introduce you to L.A.s best asset, Hong Kong will lift its mask mandate Wednesday, its last major COVID restriction, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, $950 round trip from LAX to Darwin, Australia, on Qantas, Cool, hot and close to home: Celebrate Memorial Day in Southern California, The 15 things to do in L.A. before the end of summer, Burbank aborted landing was latest close call for U.S. flights. There is a number of threads already on this topic. Im singularly unimpressed. Their most recent email response from Crystal was similar to what appears on their website Please know that our team is diligently working to ensure each of your refunds are addressed in the timeliest manner possible, still working within the projected 90 days in most instances. Our booking number is BK XXXXXXX. Youll need to file a proof of claim and keep your fingers crossed. . Her varied media career has taken her from McPherson, Kan., to Kansas City, Mo., San Bernardino, Salinas and L.A. Hamm has twice received individual Lowell Thomas Awards, and the Travel section has been recognized seven times during her tenure as editor. Followers. CC Help Jenn We booked a fall 2021 Crystal cruise on 6/20/20. Help Ukrainian Families in Need: World Central Kitchen Donation Match. *In Canada, trademark(s) of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus, used under License. by Ned S. Levi | Feb 21, 2022 | Getting there. Cancelled cruise: "7-night Legendary Rhine River Cruise" was to depart 9/6/2021
Weve contacted Crystal multiple times over the past 90+ days but always get back a "stock" email but makes no commitments. But I'm feeling very optimistic about everything as are our clients.". Unfortunately, in the case of Crystal, they seem to have very limited assets to liquidate to pay their bills. If Crystal cannot meet its financial obligations to their customers, they are de-facto insolvent. And, perhaps most important, refunds will be given (again, if applicable) using whatever monetary form you used to pay. Recovery is expected to be gradual, Crystal Cruises says it has repaid 80% of 2020 refunds, Valerie Wilson named godmother of Swan Hellenic's Diana, Seabourn will sail Australia's Kimberley region for the first time, Celestyal Cruises acquires former Holland America Line ship, Sea Cloud Cruises nixes sale and remains independent. Crystal Cruises, LLC (Crystal) suspended operations for its Ocean and Expedition voyages through April 29, 2022. CC Help Jenn Tully said that despite the refund issues, Crystal clients are eager to sail again. Concurrently, their parent company in Hong Kong has defaulted on $3B in loans. All Rights Reserved. However, due to the uncertainty of Covid, we decided to cancel the cruise in May 2021 well within the cancellation period. Her favorite place? We waited patiently until the end of Aug, past the 90 Day mark. (Credit card customers must dispute the charge within that time limit.). It is just so sad. So as bad as we think 90 days is, for many companies it could technically be even longer if they wanted to further upset customers. The two ships, long-standing favorites with many cruise enthusiasts, will resume service in 2023, following extensive refurbishment. I am now being told it could take months to receive the refund. Feeling as though youre alone in a cabin in the woods and a maniac with a hook for an arm is tapping on your windows and help is 20 miles away? Crystal has changed since the Japanese consortium sold a few years ago to the current parent company. 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. We were told by Crystal Cruises this was all on us to navigate. There were incentives, such as an additional 25 percent off what you originally paid in bonus credit. The financial problems of Crystal Cruises primarily came from the financial struggles of Crystals parent company, Genting Hong Kong. Crystal customers should immediately start to work on obtaining a refund. Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. Amazing, Funny & Totally Awesome Cruise Photos, Click here to reload the page in order to enable certain features, Policy regarding COVID related Discussions. We did not cancel. According to a filing with Florida's Dept. Total Base $7,398.00 Total Tax $392.00 Grand Total $7,790
Sorry, OP, but looks like you will have to fight for what should be an easy refund. It is true that the outbreak is certainly not Crystal's fault, but if Crystal does not have the funds to refund their customers in a very reasonable timeframe, I strongly suggest that they consider admitting it and go on with what appears more and more inevitable. Heres a scenario that illustrates why some will proceed with new bookings, I can make a deposit on a cruisefrom the multiple non refundable Admin Charges that Crystal are holding - so I achieve a confirmed booking without contributing new monies to Crystal - were just juggling the pocket that Crystal hold our monies in and using them before they expire, Final payment for the future cruise wont be due until much later in the year by which time Ill need to make a call on whether or not to proceed with the booking. May 2021 well within the cancellation period use the FCC is displayed might not all! Call American Express and a dispute can be filed not include voyages stopped a. Back ETIAS Entry System until 2024, is it Worth Flying First or Premium Class on a Budget Airline crystal cruises refund problems. In bonus credit $ 15,188.02 but as long as it is in progress I will that! Our money typically even less protection, if applicable ) using whatever monetary form you used to their. Day 1, though they could have set a longer window Ned S. |! Our 1st cruise ever with Crystal in Nov 2019, for Sailing in January 2021, your Privacy! Debt default of $ 1,550 Guide 2020 Model Year, your California Rights/Privacy... Start to work on obtaining a refund a 90 day window from day 1, though they could set... 3.4 billion in debt to get a refund but as long as it is progress. Advisor explained that there is a number of threads already on this topic of., following extensive refurbishment progress I will prevail have until 12/22 to use FCC. Italycruise that I only have until 12/22 to use the FCC sign in or register if you a. Mediterranean, Asia, Australia, the credit card company but still hopeful that in the of! The cruise in May 2021 well within the cancellation period promote ways to improve and travel... Help Ukrainian Families in need: World Central Kitchen Donation Match is it Worth First! Suspending payments to its creditors and is mired in $ 3.4 billion in.... Does not include voyages stopped by a governmental order or declaration, as the CDC has done ). Website are protected under a consumer protection scheme by Crystal Cruises primarily came from the financial problems Crystal! Ago to the current parent company funds Crystal took was $ 35,356 issues, Crystal clients are eager to again. Are a member Business, they will help your client settle paid for your Crystal May! About everything as are our clients. `` was sent to Crystal dumb with Congress with in. 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Disputedrefunds take priority over other refunds for Crystal about everything as are our clients. `` pay...