It is no secret that refunds for the cancelled Royal Caribbean cruises has been taking longer than expected. The cruise line has even apologized for the delay in getting money back to guests.
I wanted to know what our readers' Royal Caribbean refund status is, and how many have gotten their money back.
With thousands of guests impacted by the cancelled sailings, it is impossible to get a good sense of where things are, but talking to RoyalCaribbeanBlog readers helps provide some insight into the current status.
Royal Caribbean has announced cruise cancellations three separate times, beginning in March and extending over the last two months. Each time, a large swath of sailings were impacted and guests had to choose between opting for a refund or a future cruise credit.
Refunds were expected to take 30 days to process, but some refunds are taking up to 45 days.
If you browse the comments on this site, or most Facebook groups, you will quickly run across posts from cruisers that are frustrated by having not received their refund or credit yet.
I posted a Facebook poll asking, "If your cruise was cancelled, have you received your refund or future cruise credit yet?"
The poll ran for the last six days, and 585 people responded with their experience.
The leading poll answer was "no" (they had not received a refund or future cruise credit yet) with 327 votes. In second place was "yes" (they had received their refund or future cruise credits) with 167 votes, and "some, but not all" coming in third with 91 votes.
Comments from those that took the poll run the gamut of experiences, from people that received their refunds, to those that received some, and others that are still waiting.
"We were part of the first round of cancellations...we were told our Future Cruise Credit would appear by April 13. We got it late in the day April 10. I canceled all my cruise planner stuff early on so I got that refund within 72 hours."
"I was due to sail on Majesty today and it was cancelled on March24 . I got an email last night to say my Future Cruise Credit was sent to my travel agent but I haven't received any refunds for taxes and gratuities or Cruise Planner yet."
Refund status is also proving to be difficult to track for some, as there are add-on purchases that are refunded separately from the cruise fare refunds.
"Received refund for May 17 on Oasis but have not received drink package and beach club refund. That was really fast. Only 2 weeks"
It seems those that had multiple cruises cancelled were impacted the most, with some refunds being issued, but not all.
"We have thousands outstanding want to book more cruises but need the money to do so."
Have you received your refund or cruise credit yet? Share your Royal Caribbean refund status in the comments.
