cruisepsycho

Yes, Sunday brunch on the high seas on the Regent Explorer, doesn’t get much better than that!  I’m also  looking forward to dining at the Pacific Rim restaurant which isn’t on the Mariner.

Yes, looks like we have lucked out. According to the letter that was sent to my TA by Regent, it will be a direct transfer to an equal suite category on the Explorer. All previous bonus incentives and FCC will apply. The calls to Antigua and the Bahamas will be replaced by Puerto Plata DR and Bridgetown Barbados with one extra day at sea.

Ok by me.

On the bright side though,  we received notice from our TA that Regent is transferring or 10 day Dec 8th Mariner Caribbean booking to an 11 day cruise on the Explorer that will leave on Dec 9. Needless to say we are ecstatic with the upgrade to their newest ship and an extra day at sea. I would think they would have at least offer all the canceled Asia passengers some incentive to re-book on one of the new Explorer itineraries. But in the words of that famous British musician and songwriter: ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on bra!

Thought it would be interesting to see how many cruises anyone has had canceled due to the pandemic. Can be any cruise line but since this is a Regent board should include at least one Regent Cruise. My cruise on the Mariner last Oct was canceled and rebooked for this Dec.(which by the grace of God will sail). Besides this, five other cruises were canceled on Seabourn, Celebrity, Crystal, Oceania and Windstar. 6 total. Took FCC only on Regent, all others have been refunded. I don’t think the experience will ever be the same again.

Put Me On A Ship, in the words of the great jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin : Don’t worry, be happy! My July 4th 2021 cruise on the Pride has been cancelled, as was my March 30th Celebrity cruise on the Eclipse and May 9th cruise on Seabourn Ovation. I still have one cruise left booked for Oct on the Regent Mariner which they haven’t canceled yet but I will cancel before final payment is due. No cruising for us likely until 2022 when hopefully all is back to as normal as possible.  I intend just to not worry any more about cruising,  be happy and stay safe.

Ms Cantara24, I got it genius!

Why are you asking me to chill?

Why of course I meant March 30th. An honest mistake that anyone would understand. But perhaps you’ve never made a mistake in your life. Mr. Perfect.

Carnival Corp. delays announcement about further cruise cancellations until May 30th. What are these clowns waiting for? Is Micky Arison  hoping Trump will bail him out over the weekend? Cowards the lot of them!

I choose to let it go when SB cancels my cruise.

Shame on Mr. Del Rio and his smarmy, sleazy lot of executives at Norwegian cruise holdings.

Perhaps are fearless, misinformed leader? God help us all.

OK. Carnival has officially canceled cruise operations in Australia until May 15th. Therefore they must soon announce similar cancellations for their US and Europe operations, would they not? Then their Seabourn division would follow suit and a new world order will be established (at least til May!) And finally my med cruise will be cancelled! May the force be with the rest of you shipmates whose cruises are being held hostage by this virus. 

And can you all believe that Seabourn is still allowing bookings and taking payments on their web site  for Alaska cruises in May and June even though Canada has closed all ports through July 1st. What a travesty! Have they no shame!

Bravo Zelker. Very well said indeed!

Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain has posted a video on the RC blog site, which he made from his home on his I-Phone,  shortly after announcing earlier this week RC’s extended worldwide cruise cancellations for all its cruise lines into May and for Alaska into July. You should all, especially the seabourn homies posting here, take a look at it. This is how a cruise line head honcho should communicate with their consumers during this difficult time. If only the Seabourn and Carnival Corp. executives could be so honest and straightforward with us.  I am still waiting for SB to cancel my May med cruise on Ovation which I was so much looking forward to. I suspect this will happen soon. But after this experience seabourn has lost me (and I suspect many others) as a customer. 

Formal announcement from Carnival Corp. should be forthcoming by the end of this week. As of yesterday, Carnival cruises accepting new bookings only after May 12th. 

Seabourn will follow suit.

RC just announced cessation of all cruises until May 11th. Carnival Corp ( and SB) suspect will soon follow. Means my May 9th Ovation Cruise should be canceled FINALLY! Thank God, free at last of this nightmare.

Ka Honu, c’ mon man. Give me a break! This was to be my first Seabourn cruise for which I paid thousands of dollars for a cruise that has about the same chance now of sailing as a blizzard in Honolulu. So excuse me for pointing out the obvious with my “whining and strident complaints”. And if my thoughts are not in keeping with your vision of this “altruistic” cruise line, well then too bad, so sad. All I want from seabourn is my hard earned money back!

Seabourn will have no choice but to cancel all cruises in May as well. We know it, and they now it, but they will hang on to our money as long as possible. They will hope that we cancel for a FCC before they are forced to cancel and refund our money. Stay calm, we have  the winning hand. Don’t fold, stand firm and call their bluff. Just be patient and our refund will be forthcoming later. I have a med cruise booked on Ovation in May and will patiently shelter in place while I wait for my refund.

Well isn’t this special.  Now for a safer cruise experience in the time of Covid -19, the chief medical officer for carnival corporation will be recommending that ship passengers practice “social distancing” while on board. Which means passengers should maintain one empty seat next to them at all times when dining. Wow, so no more sitting next to a perfect stranger at meal time. May have a hard time keeping an empty seat next to me at the martini bar( guess I could always just cough several times), no one better sit next to me in the theater either, nor stand next to me at mister drill. Well I don’t have any carnival cruises booked and I’ve already canceled my upcoming pacific coast celebrity cruise so guess I’ll just plan to stay home and relax. But what about my Seabourn Med cruise in May. They do fall under the Carnival umbrella. Oh how I long for the good old days of cruising. Life was just so much simpler then. 

Well I’ m done. Made my decision. Love to cruise, but this is not like love in the time of cholera. I will be canceling my pacific coastal cruise on the Eclipse set for later this month. I will not subject myself and wife to a potential floating Petri dish for Covid -19. Screening asymptomatic passengers is no guarantee of no infection. For me  the risk ,although some feel may be small, is not worth it. There will always be another cruise on the horizon during safer times. To those of you who have decided to cruise during these uncertain times, I wish you all safe journey, fair winds and following seas.

Sunviking, while  I’m sure we all hope this pandemic runs it’s course soon with as minimal consequences as possible, it would be prudent for the cruise lines to plan early for contingencies should it not.

At the risk of sounding alarmist, Forbes is reporting that British Airways is canceling over 50 flights from London to Italy, and Trump Administration is considering new travel restriction to Italy as well.  Things here are progressing rapidly.

Well it’s happened. Now CDC is advising no non essential travel to Italy due to Covid-19. There goes my med cruise on Ovation in May.This is massive for the cruise industry. How will Seabourn respond. Your guesses are as good as mine. Buckle up fellow cruisers. We may be in for a wild ride!