My experience, for what it's worth: my husband and I had booked and paid in full for our 11 day trip leaving on April 20th from Amsterdam back in October, directly with Uniworld. I booked my flights separately and did not take out travel insurance. As we are young and healthy (and stubbornly attached to our vacations/money), we held out with plans on travelling if the ship left the port. Unfortunately, it was not to be and I started processing my stages of vacation grief.
Since the announcement that our trip was "suspended", calling Uniworld had been on my ever growing to-do list. Much to my surprise, on March 30th Uniworld CALLED ME to discuss my options. I was left a voicemail with an extension to reach back out to, which I did today with zero wait time. I was told I can rebook the same trip (route, ship, room class) for any time in 2020 or 2021 (except September) without having to pay any price difference. My other option was a FCC for 110% what I had paid which could be used through 2022. They did not mention a refund and I did not ask for one (for a host of reasons).
I was pleasantly surprised with these options (maybe because everything else in the world seems so disappointing?) - we booked, in my opinion, a comparably inexpensive trip and would be able to get a trip worth easily $2000 more with the "price protection". Alternatively, the extra 10% credit would allow us to travel at the same time and upgrade our stateroom category. I had not heard about this "FCC bonus" coming from Uniworld, as I had with other lines, but am pleased that they've fallen in line.
This would have been our first river cruise and long awaited honeymoon, which we plan on taking next year at either a more expensive time or in a nicer room - but, with everything, I'm pleased that Uniworld has offered a little something to "sweeten the pot" and look forward to experiencing their product in the (hopefully) near future.
Uniworld Cancel Policy Update - COVID-19
in River Cruising
Posted
My experience, for what it's worth: my husband and I had booked and paid in full for our 11 day trip leaving on April 20th from Amsterdam back in October, directly with Uniworld. I booked my flights separately and did not take out travel insurance. As we are young and healthy (and stubbornly attached to our vacations/money), we held out with plans on travelling if the ship left the port. Unfortunately, it was not to be and I started processing my stages of vacation grief.
Since the announcement that our trip was "suspended", calling Uniworld had been on my ever growing to-do list. Much to my surprise, on March 30th Uniworld CALLED ME to discuss my options. I was left a voicemail with an extension to reach back out to, which I did today with zero wait time. I was told I can rebook the same trip (route, ship, room class) for any time in 2020 or 2021 (except September) without having to pay any price difference. My other option was a FCC for 110% what I had paid which could be used through 2022. They did not mention a refund and I did not ask for one (for a host of reasons).
I was pleasantly surprised with these options (maybe because everything else in the world seems so disappointing?) - we booked, in my opinion, a comparably inexpensive trip and would be able to get a trip worth easily $2000 more with the "price protection". Alternatively, the extra 10% credit would allow us to travel at the same time and upgrade our stateroom category. I had not heard about this "FCC bonus" coming from Uniworld, as I had with other lines, but am pleased that they've fallen in line.
This would have been our first river cruise and long awaited honeymoon, which we plan on taking next year at either a more expensive time or in a nicer room - but, with everything, I'm pleased that Uniworld has offered a little something to "sweeten the pot" and look forward to experiencing their product in the (hopefully) near future.