FCC, 2 cruises, & onboard credit... will this work?

[MomOTwins]

Yup, the totals were what was left as FCC after paying off both this cruise and my August Wish cruise. Email was received yesterday. It's definitely rough if people aren't paying attention and think that whatever they don't use on their first cruise will still be available on later cruises or to use later for a deposit!

Hmm this definitely is an ambiguous case. This is FCC that was partially applied to this cruise fare so it is attached to this booking, which could be why they are saying it will automatically convert to credit. Or it could be they are converting all FCC to onboard credits. It is definitely not clear.

Also still not totally clear to me that if you cancel the throwaway cruise the amount will go back to FCC rather than being forfeited, given what they say about it being nonrefundable.

I guess it’s your money to gamble, but wow this is all very unclear.

 

[cmarsh31]

Hmm this definitely is an ambiguous case. This is FCC that was partially applied to this cruise fare so it is attached to this booking, which could be why they are saying it will automatically convert to credit. Or it could be they are converting all FCC to onboard credits. It is definitely not clear.

Also still not totally clear to me that if you cancel the throwaway cruise the amount will go back to FCC rather than being forfeited, given what they say about it being nonrefundable.

I guess it’s your money to gamble, but wow this is all very unclear.

Well, this FCC has been canceled & rebooked 5 times already... because... covid... and each time I've canceled a cruise, the FCC just came back automatically.

 

[lanejudy]

Or it could be they are converting all FCC to onboard credits.

To my knowledge it's been in the documentation from the start of the Covid-FCC that any unused amount not applied to a specific cruise would convert to non-refundable OBC on your next cruise. This may not be true for FCC received for other reasons, it's specific to FCC received for Covid-cancelled cruises.

 

[MomOTwins]

Well, this FCC has been canceled & rebooked 5 times already... because... covid... and each time I've canceled a cruise, the FCC just came back automatically.

Me too, but it was “wholly unused” FCC—so refundable/reusable. The question is can you get it back once it has been partially used.

To my knowledge it's been in the documentation from the start of the Covid-FCC that any unused amount not applied to a specific cruise would convert to non-refundable OBC on your next cruise. This may not be true for FCC received for other reasons, it's specific to FCC received for Covid-cancelled cruises.

I guess I’d like to see that because I read back through all my emails from DCL and the only reference I’ve seen to it being converted to OBC is once you have actually applied it to cruise.

 

[Colo17]

We had a similar situation as OP. Fantasy booked 2020, then 2021 then Christmas. Plus I added two cruises last January that got cancelled. So huge FCC (I thought) for Christmas. And I booked two replacement short cruises for this February.

Got on Fantasy and the $2500 OBC which was leftover from three cruises was only $47. Huh? Thought that any leftover FCC became OBC on the first cruise! Guest Services checked and was told that each FCC is handled separately and only one could be applied to each cruise. Because of the order they were applied the big FCC would be on second cruise in February. Guest Services asked them to fix this and next day we did have the large OBC on Christmas cruise. Not sure if they made an exception or just swapped the OBC around. Will find out next month.

The OP may not actually have a single large FCC left and it might not show up on their first cruise. Since they now have two cruises booked they might have two separate leftover OBC. Booking another cruise might just split those into three. Need to check with booking folks to see what the OBC will actually be on the two existing cruises and how those would convert if you book a third. Ask specifically what the OBC is currently for the upcoming cruises.

 

[cmarsh31]

All of my original FCC is from one cruise, 125%. I haven't gotten any "extra" since then, or paid any more cash since then.

 

[cmarsh31]

Me too, but it was “wholly unused” FCC—so refundable/reusable. The question is can you get it back once it has been partially used.



I guess I’d like to see that because I read back through all my emails from DCL and the only reference I’ve seen to it being converted to OBC is once you have actually applied it to cruise.

I'm not trying to get any of it back as cash. I've definitely gotten it back as FCC after canceling an April 2021 (prior to it being canceled by DCL) and then rebooking this Feb 2022 when booking became available.

 

[lanejudy]

the only reference I’ve seen to it being converted to OBC is once you have actually applied it to cruise.

I don't have it in writing, I just remember discussions going back probably a year ago that unused FCC would become OBC. But we may be talking the same thing using different words -- to my knowledge, you can't "apply" FCC as onboard credit. The FCC is applied to the cruise fare plus any additional costs (taxes, fees, transportation, flights, pre-cruise hotel, etc.) of one or more cruises. If you still have unassigned FCC at the time you then cruise, it converts to OBC.

So as a simple example: you have $10K FCC from one 2020 cancellation. You apply it towards a less expensive $6K cruise and another short $3K cruise, still leaving $1K unassigned. That $1K automatically becomes OBC when you take that first ($6K) cruise.

It can be more complicated because FCC amounts are further split by passenger. If 1 or more passengers do not cruise, I don't believe their FCC converts to OBC. And complicated further if someone had multiple FCCs from multiple cancelled cruises. So there is really no 1-size-fits-all answer.

 

[MomOTwins]

Well I give up. OP, you can do what you like but just be prepared to lose your payment on the throwaway cruise. I’m a lawyer by trade so I go by what I see in writing, and what I see is this:

Your leftover FCC needs to be used as nonrefundable OBC on your February sailing or applied to a new cruise fare. If you opt to use it as a deposit for a new cruise, it becomes nonrefundable and nontransferable.

Based on that, I think Disney has the legal right to declare your FCC forfeited if you opt to you cancel the “throwaway” cruise. Maybe they will let you keep it and use it as OBC on the Wish or maybe they won’t, but I don’t see anything that obligates them to let you use it for anything other than (1) OBC on your February Cruise, or (2) cruise fare for a new sailing booked before end of Sept 2022.

 

[Colo17]

All of my original FCC is from one cruise, 125%. I haven't gotten any "extra" since then, or paid any more cash since then.

Ours was originally from cancelled 2020 9 day Fantasy. Rebooked for 2021 9 day. Then it was cancelled and was rebooked as a six and three day (2 cruises with original 25% extra). Then rebooked as Christmas 7 day. Not sure the other two January 2021 cancelled cruises helped - at that point we had four FCC, all with extra 25% going into three new cruises.

 

[Mommb]

Just to add complication: Does it matter if some FCC is from deposits/fares paid “out of pocket” and some is from the “bonus” 25% provided when Disney cancelled a cruise? I would like to think any money that was actually paid for a cruise is fully refundable if the cruise to which it was applied is cancelled before penalties kick in, but I have seen rumblings that previous payments may turn into OBC along with the “bonus” amount once a cruise to which some of the FCC is applied begins.

 

[lanejudy]

Does it matter if some FCC is from deposits/fares paid “out of pocket” and some is from the “bonus” 25% provided when Disney cancelled a cruise?

If you accept the FCC and subsequently take a cruise that used some of that 125%, it all becomes non-refundable. That's my understanding. Hence why some people are looking for ways to spend the OBC. I don't think DCL is specifically applying $X was paid by customer vs $Y was 25% bonus.