What have they done to your Cuba cruise?

[cruiserking]

double post

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by cruiserking

[Russ Lomas]

2 hours ago, Ms BumbleBee said:

 

I have zero interest in either locations - specifically at the premium price I paid.  I will be staying home and working on my yard versus a sub par cruise on a ship with no amenities and locations I have zero interest in.  I have been to both and have no interest in returning.  Cuba is a cultural destination and we all paid a premium to go.  Our payment window closed prior to April so we had no worries of cancellation when we paid.

 

Again I am not blaming RCL or even the gov't other than I wish they had made a grandfathering clause for people who had paid in full before changes were announced. 

 

 

I feel sorry for all those in your situation.  Only issue I see with grandfathering clause (which the government likely would not permit anyways) for those who paid could be that if the ship has 50% paid in full and 50% not, that means RCCL would have to run the ship half empty, which they obviously would not do.

[theEvilQueen2]

As of today I was 95 days out from my Empress cruise (9/7)), so was able to cancel and put the money towards going on the Symphony the same day. If I can't go to Cuba, I really don't want to float around the Caribbean in a small ship in the middle of hurricane season. It looks like this time 'great leaders' order is immediate and there will be no grandfathering, certainly not 95 days out. So I'm out and, although very disappointed, feel lucky that I got to change just  under the wire. 

This would have been our 2nd time to Havana, so I feel lucky to have gotten the chance at all. Maybe we can try again in 2 years (if you catch my drift). 

Happy Cruising. 

[mcatmcat]

I hope they dont send all those ship to coco cay at the same time😘

[mcatmcat]

3 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Not sure why Royal is delaying informing passengers beyond June 5th and 6th sailings, its stated pretty clearly by the Trump Administration. Unless Royal has some lobbying power up its sleaves 🤔

Because I'm sure they dont know where to send those 2 ships now 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Send those ships to California [emoji3] (Just in case Royal is reading)

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[ONECRUISER]

4 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

Isn’t “tomorrow” June 5, not June 6?

Online release was few hrs Early

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Not sure why Royal is delaying informing passengers beyond June 5th and 6th sailings, its stated pretty clearly by the Trump Administration. Unless Royal has some lobbying power up its sleaves 🤔

 

Maybe to see how this might relate to the cruises already booked.

 

Group people-to-people educational travel — the broad category under which cruises from the US were also allowed to operate — is ending, too. However, this travel would be 'grandfathered' for consumers who have already made a transaction, such as buying a flight or reserving accommodation, by June 5.

 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

4 hours ago, mcatmcat said:

Because I'm sure they dont know where to send those 2 ships now 

Certainly the logistical changes alone will keep a team busy as they sort out and pivot schedules.

[Loveynj]

12 hours ago, DrDani226 said:

Any word yet on what the itinerary changes for the June 5th and 6th sailings will be?

I called RCCL last night because I am on the 6/10 sailing they said they are still deciding but for now they are changing 6/5 and 6/6, I asked to where (cause I am nosey, lol) and he said Cozumel.

[Ms BumbleBee]

3 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Certainly the logistical changes alone will keep a team busy as they sort out and pivot schedules.

 

Understand this - this is a nightmare for the cruise industry.  You have customers who paid a premium for a specialty cruise.  You marketed this premium cruise and the people flocked to it.  This premium cruise is on boats that do not meet the luxury standards of your fleet for this niche cruise and it is growing in size.

 

The government makes noises of shutting it down and the industry takes a pause and then re-starts the bookings.  They are not idiots, they must have been assured of grandfathering or some kind of loopholes.  And then it comes out and there is no loophole and no grandfathering and it is immediate.

 

These are all facts.  And now they have to figure out what to do with the ships that are 100% at capacity with people who paid a lot of money for a specialty destination.

 

The first two cruises they are offering 50% OBC.  These cruises had 1 day in Cuba and 2 other non Cuba stops.  So my question is - what about my 8 day Cube immersion cruise - we had 3 stops in Cuba when we booked (Santiago was taken off and a second day in Havana was added) and then CoCo Cay.  Our entire cruise is wiped out save CoCo Cay.  There is no way RCL can wave a magic wand and give us an equal experience.

 

And the worst part is that it is not their fault, it is not my fault and it's really not even the government's fault (although I do believe we should have been allowed a grandfathering period).  We were sold on the Four Seasons at Times Square and may end up being offered the Motel Six in Long Island City.

 

For my family - we don't want a generic cruise on a tiny boat with no amenities so depending on what happens the ship will have 2 empty cabins.  For some any cruise is fine - for me it is not.  I feel sorry for the crews of these ships, I feel bad for the industry for being thrown into this with no warning and I feel bad for the entrepreneurs of Cuba who will see their hard work disappear.

 

We will see what today brings. 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

9 minutes ago, Ms BumbleBee said:

Understand this - this is a nightmare for the cruise industry.  You have customers who paid a premium for a specialty cruise.  You marketed this premium cruise and the people flocked to it.  This premium cruise is on boats that do not meet the luxury standards of your fleet for this niche cruise and it is growing in size.

Many good points...and no doubt there is plenty of impact to passengers with existing bookings.

 

It's fair to assume that since the whole "Cuba cruises permitted" thing is still pretty new...that a "Plan B" in case things changed was considered by the cruise lines from the get-go. Processing all those changes is certainly a challenge.

Edited June 5, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001

[boscobeans]

2 minutes ago, Ms BumbleBee said:

 

The government makes noises of shutting it down and the industry takes a pause and then re-starts the bookings.  They are not idiots, they must have been assured of grandfathering or some kind of loopholes.  And then it comes out and there is no loophole and no grandfathering and it is immediate.

 

These are all facts. ????????????????????????????

 

 

Actually they have already issued a "Grandfather Clause".  The Following is directly from the US Treasury Department's website:

 

"In accordance with the newly announced changes to non-family travel to Cuba, OFAC is amending the regulations to remove the authorization for group people-to-people educational travel.  OFAC’s regulatory changes include a “grandfathering” provision, which provides that certain group people-to-people educational travel that previously was authorized will continue to be authorized where the traveler had already completed at least one travel-related transaction (such as purchasing a flight or reserving accommodation) prior to June 5, 2019."

 

In effect all previously purchased cruises will be allowed.

 

How many cruises are booked with enough passengers to make it worth any line's effort to complete? 

That's the question.

[Ms BumbleBee]

3 minutes ago, boscobeans said:

Actually they have already issued a "Grandfather Clause".  The Following is directly from the US Treasury Department's website:

 

"In accordance with the newly announced changes to non-family travel to Cuba, OFAC is amending the regulations to remove the authorization for group people-to-people educational travel.  OFAC’s regulatory changes include a “grandfathering” provision, which provides that certain group people-to-people educational travel that previously was authorized will continue to be authorized where the traveler had already completed at least one travel-related transaction (such as purchasing a flight or reserving accommodation) prior to June 5, 2019."

 

In effect all previously purchased cruises will be allowed.

 

How many cruises are booked with enough passengers to make it worth any line's effort to complete? 

That's the question.

Considering the 6/5 and 6/6 cruises were 100% at capacity and they eliminated Cuba your FACTS are incorrect.  You really need to read that cruise ships (at this time) are not grandfathered.  That is the clarification the industry is trying to figure out. 

[Judyrem]

9 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I must tell you, I really like your profile picture 

 

i was 101st Airborne. 

So was my husband.

[boscobeans]

2 minutes ago, Ms BumbleBee said:

Considering the 6/5 and 6/6 cruises were 100% at capacity and they eliminated Cuba your FACTS are incorrect.  You really need to read that cruise ships (at this time) are not grandfathered.  That is the clarification the industry is trying to figure out. 

In accordance with the newly announced changes to non-family travel to Cuba, OFAC is amending the regulations to remove the authorization for group people-to-people educational travel.  OFAC’s regulatory changes include a “grandfathering” provision, which provides that certain group people-to-people educational travel that previously was authorized will continue to be authorized where the traveler had already completed at least one travel-related transaction (such as purchasing a flight or reserving accommodation) prior to June 5, 2019.

 

The term "SUCH AS" does not limit the exception to just airlines.

The word "ACCOMMODATION" also is non limiting to just a hotel.    

Definition of accommodation

 

1: something supplied for convenience or to satisfy a need: such as

a: lodging, food, and services or traveling space and related services —usually used in pluraltourist accommodations on the boat.

 

Where does it say that purchasing "accommodation" on a ship is not grandfathered in?

 

The O.F.A.C. is aware that this ruling will shut down the cruises to Cuba industry very quickly, since ships scheduled 6 months or longer into the future may be far from capacity and are probably not worth completing and will be cancelled.

 

I don;t know what the cruise lines are doing but it looks like the cruises booked before 6/5 are still allowed.  

 

The decision whether to sail or not is up the the cruise line at this point and that will be a decision based on bookings vs capacity vs revenue and will be made by the bean counters....

 

No argument here just trying to decipher the statement released by O.F.A.C..

 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

22 minutes ago, Judyrem said:

So was my husband.

Thanks for his service and Milwaukee Eight as well.

 

I suspect based on your location...we are practically almost neighbors somehow...since we hang near the Ocee Elementary School area. 🙂

[Big_G]

53 minutes ago, Ms BumbleBee said:

And the worst part is that it is not their fault, it is not my fault and it's really not even the government's fault (although I do believe we should have been allowed a grandfathering period).  We were sold on the Four Seasons at Times Square and may end up being offered the Motel Six in Long Island City.

 

Don't let the government off the hook so easily. They could have easily announced the sanctions and pushed out the start date in order for the travel industry to get a grasp of their options.

[Judyrem]

I am going to the Ocee library today!  I live in St Ives Cruisefan!

Hey neighbor!😁

Edited June 5, 2019 by Judyrem

[jstcruizin]

I just saw on the morning news that they ARE allowing thos that have already paid to still go so now I would imagine its up to the cruise lines but i dont see them sailing if the ships are not full, i hope so for all those involved. 

[kendon]

4 minutes ago, Big_G said:

 

Don't let the government off the hook so easily. They could have easily announced the sanctions and pushed out the start date in order for the travel industry to get a grasp of their options.

Yes they could have, however the Cuban gov't could have made it miserable, or even dangerous, to tour there by taking it out on US citizens.  My cruise leaves in July and with this political decision, I'm hoping for an itinerary change.

 

[Ms BumbleBee]

Carnival sent emails out to people booked on cruises to Cuba through July that they are changing their itineraries.  They are offering:

 

Stay on the ship to the new ports and get a $100 OBC per person

Switch itineraries and get a $50 OBC per person

Full refund

[Zach1213]

11 hours ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

The cruise line will change itinerary.  Haiti and/or the Dominican Republic instead of Cuba.   I heard both are beautiful and welcome tourists (cruisers)$$$’s.  Very safe counties, so I’ve been told,

Good luck and enjoy.

 

Not to pick nits (though it is a hobby of mine) - Haiti and D.R. are not necessarily the safest countries. The pots where cruise ships go, yes, but as a whole, the countries are not. Not the worst by any means (I have spent time in both countries, far away from the ports/resorts, and been fine), but I would bet if you took most Americans/Canadians away from the resorts and ports, they would want out very quickly.

[GalCruzer]

Why does it seem you can still booka Cruise on the Carnival website?

[Big_G]

2 minutes ago, GalCruzer said:

Why does it seem you can still booka Cruise on the Carnival website?

 

I checked Royal's site and they also have Cuba cruisers still up.