chicagomelinda

28 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

My insurance DID cover because we cancelled, not Cunard, so we got nothing back from Cunard. My point was that, although the overall trip was interrupted, neither cruise was interrupted, so we were reimbursed for "cancellation" of the cruises, which paid 100%, not "interruption," which would have paid more. 

Exactly. Thanks for clarifying for us. 

10 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The "trip" commences on the date you specified in your insurance. DH became ill in England before our first of two cruises. We had a few days in England, then a HAL cruise, then a day or two in England, and then QM2 home. Because the individual elements of the trip weren't interrupted, our insurance paid for the cancelled cruises (100%) but not interruption (150%). Interruption is worth more than cancellation because the extra covers the costs of re-working the interrupted trip. 

According to your account, your insurance would cover. According to my reading of our policy, we are not covereed if the cruise is canceled (if we must cancel, we are covered.) The cruise is refunding your costs, and that would be made clear when you provided “proof” that the cruise was canceled. Thay won’t reimburse what has already been reimbursed. If yours does, let me know. Ours certainly won’t. 

4 hours ago, lissie said:

Oh it never occurred to me that you'd be calling Cunard - I  meant calling airlines and hotels to make alternative arrangements - or a TA if you used one - I believe that's part of their job 

Apparently, Cunard put people up on the ship until their flights left. We didn’t contact our TA because it was 2 am or so her time when we were alerted. They sent her an email saying that international passengers could be accommodated on the ship, but by then we had paid for three nights at a cheap hotel. Oir cabin with meals (Princess Grill), would have been far better. But hay, ho. We’re fine, but not likely to sail QM2 again. 

46 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

I’m wondering if the trip delay provisions of insurance policies provide a little bit of coverage?   I read my policy and it looks like “reasonable expenses” would be covered.  I would think that the airline tickets home and hotel costs are reasonable.  

Trip delay provisions are not applicable. This was trip cancellation. Service was not rendered and funds are refunded. According to my reading of my travel insurance policy, we will not be covered. 

3 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

californiagirl Whilst they are wonderful with the disabled and elderly, Cunard is not a care facility and make their limitations with regards to the disabled and potentially infirm, very plain when booking and it’s up to individuals to be aware of this

 

Equally, those t&cs lay down their company obligations in certain circumstances. As I have already indicated, I have total sympathy for those who have had their holiday plans thwarted but whilst Cunard appear to be adhering to their contractual obligations to those who arrived on, and have onward travel on QM2, they seem to have no obligations to those who have yet to start their travel on Cunard.

 

No one expects 'things' to happen but if they do, that's what decent travel insurance is for and as far as onward/rearranged travel is concerned, that is when an excellent travel agent will come into his/her own. I bang my drum re agents all the time and like insurance, it's only when unforeseen circumstances occur, you realise how vital they are, good ones at any rate.

 

It is more than unfortunate when uninsured losses occur and it's very easy for me to say 'suck it up' from the comfort of my sitting room but sadly, it's a hard world out there these days. 😕

 

 

I encourage you to read your travel insurance policy carefully before getting too excited. Cunard refunded your money. I doubt any if us will see a penny. 

10 hours ago, lissie said:

Well it is - its specifically mentioned in my travel insurance as being different clauses.  I don't see  how the state of health of customers should change the way Cunard deals with them. Basically  Cunard only has to provide alternative transportation if you booked a package with them -and if that alternative is a flight then obviously the airline will deal with any special needs. 

 

From a practical point of view you need to be on your phone checking for options - the same way as you do if a flight is cancelled 

Just to b clear, no phone numbers were provided by Cunard. Viking offers travelers an emergency number for day of travel emergencies. Cunatd did not and was impossible to reach.

Like another poster, we lose significant OBC $750 yhat we had for the cruise for booking on board last year. Further, our travel insurance will not cover anything since Cunatd has given us our money back. So, essentially, we’ve spent $5,000 to stay in a mediocre hotel near Heathrow, eat simple meals and fly home on Wednesday. Not exactly Princess Grill, which we were so looking forward to. 

On 10/4/2022 at 7:17 PM, Hlitner said:

We read the posts regarding SB deciding to allow smoking in the Sky Bar!  I would assume this would be enough to cause some folks to cancel future cruises  This new policy is completely contrary to SBs own policy:

 

ON SEABOURN VENTURE AND SEABOURN PURSUIT:

We are implementing a “no smoking” policy on Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit, our two expedition ships, which includes e-cigarettes. Expedition travel visits many remote and rarely visited environments that are pristine, with diverse ecosystems and wildlife. We have implemented this policy to eliminate the possibility that cigarette butts and other smoking materials would end up harming the environment.

 

We have an upcoming cruise (in Antarctica) but not sure why we should believe that SB will follow their own rules on that cruise since they apparently have been ignoring their own rules on recent cruises. Will give them a call tomorrow and ask for clarification.  If smoking is OK inside the vessel (on the recent cruise it was allowed in the Sky Bar) than we will cancel and request a full refund.

 

Hank

The sky bar is outdoors. I believe it was located right next to where the hot tubs were. We were at the hot tubs on deck nine, and there was a guy there smoking a cigar that nearly put me out. I can assure you, however, that there is no smoking anywhere indoors on the venture. Hi would love to know that they are in forcing a non-smoking policy outdoors as well, but I don’t believe that’s the case. I believe they are allowing smoking in some outdoor locations.

1 hour ago, FlyingScotSailors said:

 

It may be the nature of the route through the Canadian Arctic.  We were on the previous two week's cruise, with the same expedition and entertainment crew (a few expedition members did change in Reykjavik).  As Expedition Leader Juan said, "We have a Plan B and Plan C".  We had a shift in schedule due to fog, and two changed ports due to ice blockage.  Also, when the weather did not permit submarine operation, (free) zodiac rides were substituted instead at least once.

 

The expedition team were quick to admit that the route was new to them and Seabourn.  Also, the weather has never been predictable far in advance, and nowadays, even less.   

We were on for the first two weeks as well. I would say they handled those changes and plans very well.

The challenge for us was virtually eight days at sea with no attempt to do anything other than to add a few talks by the expedition team. For those of us who had seen most of the talks the first go around, the additional talks didn’t really help. There was so much more they could have done. While I do love Seaborn, this one was a huge miss for us. Everyone to try to make the best of it, but eventually, it all just got very old. We were very happy to see land this morning.

On 9/29/2022 at 3:18 PM, travelordie said:

We were last able to get off the Venture on September 24th at Pond Inlet.  The stops at Dundas Harbour and Crocker Bay were cancelled by the Captain due to unfavourable weather conditions. The stop at Beechy Island on September 26th was cancelled as the Captain suspected that our exit route would potentially be blocked by impassable ice.  September 27th and 28th were scheduled days at sea.  The stops near Lady Franklin Island and Monumental Island today were cancelled due to unfavourable weather conditions.  September 30th and October 1st are scheduled days at sea.  When we arrive in Newfoundland on October 2nd, we will have had seven consecutive sea days.  We realize that the Venture is an expedition ship and were anticipating some cancelled stops and a backup plan.  This is probably a new itinerary for Seabourn and there appears to be no backup plan for the multiple cancellations.  It would have been nice, for example, to have alternatives to the relatively large number of cancellations.  Given the daily cost of this cruise, at minimum Seabourn should be offering financial compensation, future cruise credits or shipboard credits to the many disappointed passengers on this segment of the cruise.

We would have to agree with you. We were on the 28 day sailing for this cruise. For the last 14 days, we spent nearly 8 of them at sea. We do understand safety is a concern, but if Seabourn had done some research they would have been aware of what the weather here would be like. We were in an OB cabin, which is the cheapest cabin you can purchase, and it was $2000 per day for the two of us. Not an insignificant amount of money.

I should also note that we were on another cruise line when Covid first hit. We were at sea for 14 consecutive days, and the Druise Director and entertainment team and staff went out of their way to put together some really marvelous days for us. We didn’t see any kind of that effort on the part of Seabourn. There was, as many people noted, no Plan B. If you’re going to sail under these possibly negative conditions, there must be a Plan B.

We will be extremely unhappy if we are not recipients of some form of compensation for the last week of our cruise. For the 14 days that we spent at sea during the Covid “cruise,” we were pleasantly surprised to receive a complete 100% future cruise credit for that cruise, despite the fact that we had a great time. This latest cruise was a case where a lot of passengers had put their trust in Seabourn to give them an extraordinary adventure. Unfortunately, the last week did not deliver.

On 11/7/2018 at 11:24 PM, Mcampo said:

AQ has free access. But everyone can purchase a day pass or a week pass. There is not a promotion or discount for suites. Elite and above, do get one free day pass on a port day only. The  Day passes are not available online in the cruise planner but a week pass  is for an individual or couple. It is pricey at $399 plus 18% gratuity for a 7 day couple pass. We booked it because we were worried it might sell out given the Spa is new and has so much to offer. 

Very helpful. Thanks! Just one more question: if you buy the pass, does it provide unlimited access? It seemed to allow only for 15 minute prereserved appointment blocks, which seemed odd. We, too, are looking to purchase a pass. Thank you!

We’re new to Celebrity. We love the Thermal Spas, but it looks like they’re only available to Aqua Class guests (not Sky Suite). Am I reading this correctly? Is there an equivalent for Suite guests? Thanks in advance!

Wow! Thank you! Very excited.

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We had dinner with Captain Larsen last week. He was so charming and he told many stories about his life on the ice. It is clear that he loved it here.

For the passengers and crew, this is been a very difficult day. As passengers, it is hard to know what to do. I was very happy when I learned that we would be invited to the memorial service. My husband and I are sailing on all the way through to Monte Carlo. It’s hard to know when we will feel like enjoying this cruise again. For now, it’s just so sad for everyone, but I cannot begin to imagine with the crew is feeling.

The expedition crew has worked hand in glove with Captain Larsen for five years. Jan and he were also very close. Everyone has been incredibly professional today. Truthfully, I don’t know how they are doing it, but the person who said that Captain Larsen believed that life goes on is probably right.

I have asked our travel agent to contact Seabourn to express our thanks for everything this ship is doing. The crew has responded so admirably. I hope that Seabourn realizes that they have a really top-notch team here on the Quest who are going above and beyond during remarkably difficult circumstances.

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Our experience wasn't extremely positive. We booked the Nov. 3, 2019 28-day Rome - Ft. Lauderdale cruise on the Sky Princess (the newly announced ship). Problems were as follows:

1) When we called the general Princess booking number, the Princess travel consultant hadn't heard of the Sky Princess, nor did she know of the 24-hour Elite Booking bonus.

2) We decided to call the dedicated number offered in the Elite Booking Bonus "flier." The consultant we reached was outstanding BUT she didn't have access to deck plans (nor did we).

3) Although we were booking less than 10 minutes after the booking window opened (8 am PST) there were very limited cabins available. (Less than 5 balcony cabins and none on our preferred deck.) We had two choices: 1) select a cabin we didn't really want (which we did) or 2) take a guarantee.

This was such a frustrating experience for us that we've written an email to Jan Swartz. I don't know if she will get it but it should draw the attention of the customer service department. It should be noted that everyone we spoke with at Princess today has been highly professional. They just weren't able to meet customer expectations because they didn't have access to cabins (for a cruise nearly 2 years from now) or deck plans.

In sum, this is a great benefit for those who want to get early access to booking their preferred cabins, but it won't work if Princess holds back more than 95% of their cabins for the general public.

My husband and I just booked a seven day transatlantic on the QM2. We decided to go out and book the Queen’s Grill, assuming this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We would love to learn what is special about Queens Grill. Any tips for us for maximizing the experience?

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Crab Shack is priced same as Crown Grill. Like another poster here, we tried it on the April TA and were tremendously disappointed. For that price, I'd want something more than a few crab legs and an atmosphere that totally lacked character. We had high hopes for this, but it just didn't pan out. That said, the British Pub days were great fun. I do hope they bring back Sabatini's. Curtis Stone's "Share" which we did not try, was not getting good reviews...

We noticed this, too. I was awfuly disappointed, having seen her perform live many times. Could it be that there won't be any celebrity entertainers on board? Hope not. They had Marvin Hamlish last year, if I recall correctly...

Just read your update. So sorry to hear that she's got a family medical issue. Not so sure about Melissa Manchester, but going in with an open mind...

It appears that Patti LuPone may not be on the world cruise. She was supposed to be on board from LA to Honolulu. However, her name has been dropped from the information pages for the world cruise on the website. Has anyone heard what happened? If true, pretty disappointing - was really looking forward to seeing her perform.

We noticed this, too. I was awfuly disappointed, having seen her perform live many times. Could it be that there won't be any celebrity entertainers on board? Hope not. They had Marvin Hamlish last year, if I recall correctly...