DrHedgehog

3 minutes ago, zimflyer said:

Thank you for dragging us back to SB and the coronavirus...

Seems to me very few of us here are actually affected with bookings right now or in near term....

 

Unlike so many people who cant wait to compare health choices...

 

Anyone been offerred a refund yet?

Almosr every line in Australia has offered fair and free cancellation, sometimes with generous FFC see below... P&O Australia is probably our least luxury cruise brand,  yet they and Princess have been absolutely fair, even generous. All are Carnival brands, it seems you don't get whay you pay for.

 

Still waiting on SB USA to reply to my email if 10 days ago....not even acknowledgement... so much for individual attention.

SB is not even close to this so far.

I got a reply after 5 days of waiting that they will refund all taxes and port fees plus 25% of the cruise fare. Refund of the residual is subject to their special consideration. 
 

my original cruise was from Benoa to Singapore with 5 ports of call on the way. The final offer was from Darwin to Colombo with all sea days. Totally different cruise without even a single common port! now they insist that the cruise is amended and the refund is not guaranteed.

I seriously consider moving to Chrystal after this issue.

3 minutes ago, longton said:

I'm not planning on taking the Ovation March cruise from Colombo to Dubai. The original cruise had an interesting itinerary.

 

But this revised itinerary is, in my opinion boring, particularly the second half from Muscat to Dubai. The ports are all close to one another and four ports - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Qatar are very similar. Mainly tall glass buildings, shopping malls and sand.

 

Cases of Coronavirus have appeared in all or nearly all countries of the Gulf region and these could well increase given the number of Iranians who live and work in these countries. The Gulf states are all concerned about their economies and public image and will likely hide the true number of cases in their country.

 

At least it won't be too hot in March / April.

Thanks for your feedback: you’re absolutely right about these new ports of call. I was residing in Gulf region for years and sometimes you may not distinguish Kuwait City from Doha.

Did you get your cancellation / rebooking options from Seabourn? What do they offer? 

7 minutes ago, teamflames said:

No, she didn’t want to expand on the other details.She hinted it will be similar to the others so I think there will be the option to cancel and you can apply for airfare relief.

 

Interestingly on our website it says to call for itinerary changes on our cruise and the one before yours but not yours. The Syd cruise shows it ending in Darwin.

i am not sure what this means for yours? Maybe implies Darwin to Colombo but that seems like a very drastic change to the current itinerary? 
She told me none of the amended itineraries can be booked at the moment as I did enquire booking your leg to make it a b2b instead of flying to Colombo but was told it might be weeks before they can be booked

To me this is a complete game changer and I just returned from 14 days vacation in Sri Lanka. So, can’t imagine  myself going back there.

i suspect there is a chance Encore will take the way directly from Darwin to Colombo and we all get refunded. Currently this is an only option that we consider.

But again, there is no official cancellation email and it makes us a bit nervous. 

41 minutes ago, teamflames said:

The Australian website shows changes on the map and says to call the office about itinerary changes. When you select the cruise it still has the old itinerary. I called the number and was told that Colombo is definitely the new embarkation point but that their systems were not yet updated. We will be formally notified by the end of the week.

Thanks for the update!

did they mention anything on refund / board credit for those who do not want to accept the changes?

I am on Encore cruise for 10 days from Benoa to Singapore in April and wonder, if it is still good to go. Likely, not anymore.