Cruise passengers struggle refunds amid the pandemic; federal agency report recommends changes
A Federal Maritime Commission official is recommending amending the agency’s regulations for cruise lines pertaining to their refund policies.
On Monday, FMC Commissioner Louis E. Sola released an interim report containing recommendations to create a uniform standard that is clear for passengers to understand how to obtain refunds.
“Our analysis revealed that, for the most part, consumers are satisfied with the responses they have received from the PVOs (passenger vessel operators or cruise lines) concerning the cruises canceled due to the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) no sail order,” Sola said in an FMC news release. “That said, we discovered some places where we, as a regulator, could improve our ability to protect the consumer; that is why I propose amending the Commission’s rules related to non-performance and refunds.”
The FMC is a federal agency responsible for the regulation of U.S. international ocean transportation.
Sola found that ticket refund policies were an area of concern amid a fact-finding investigation to look at COVID-19’s impact on the cruise industry, which was initiated in April, according to the release. During the investigation, the FMC conducted an “in-depth review” of cruise lines’ policies and practices for passenger ticket refunds.
“Among the more significant observations was the lack of consistency among thePVOs (cruise lines) when it came to their ticket refund practices,” the report reads.
Some passengers haven’t been able to get refunds, while others have been stuck waiting for months for refunds after they were promised.
The FMC wrote that its investigation came after thousands of passengers were put in the position of having to try to figure out how to get a refund after their cruises were canceled as a result of cruise line suspensions along with the CDC’s no-sail order as the novel coronavirus spread around the world. Some lines have issued suspensions past the CDC’s order – and one has already canceled most of its cruises into December.
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