Seabourn and the current issues surrounding the Corona Virus

[teamflames]

16 minutes ago, DrHedgehog said:

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.

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

[DrHedgehog]

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. 

[teamflames]

1 minute ago, DrHedgehog said:

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. 

Yes it could be they just cancel and relocate the ship, I can’t think what the itinerary would be if they kept it?

here are screen shots

[ab21au]

3 hours ago, dalliowner said:

In the UK it still shows going from Singapore, I am sure you are correct but Seabourn should really control their websites better

It may have nothing to do with Seabourn.  They may have updated their server but the page has been cached on some server somewhere and that it what your seeing. It happens often.
 

When I uploaded web pages to our work server, it sometimes took quite some time to refresh.  We are in Australia and our server is in Denver, Colorado.  

[longton]

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.

[DrHedgehog]

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? 

[oceanviewer21]

17 minutes ago, longton said:

 

 

Edited February 25, 2020 by oceanviewer21
supposed to be in next message

[oceanviewer21]

They are obviously saving fuel by pottering around Oman.We so wanted to go to Myanmar but I think we are going to go just for the sunshine its sadly been lacking here for months. And who knows where in the world we will be able to go within the next year if we take the FCC.

[SLSD]

Evidently, the virus has arrived in Sri Lanka as well.  No surprise there.  Of course it's just one known case, but with the stealth way this virus travels with people showing no symptoms, who knows how many actual cases there may be.  What a difficult time for many.  https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/coronavirus-outbreak-sri-lanka-suspends-visa-on-arrival-chinese-citizens-confirming-1st-case-1640802-2020-01-28

 

[rols]

3 hours 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.

Oh good thanks for calling and confirming that. 

[Paulchili]

17 hours ago, MPCakes said:

The Encore is now scheduled to end in Darwin instead of Bali on April 7th.  No Komodo Island either.

Yes - I confirmed this with Seabourn.

No Komodo or East Timor (or Bali).

I am going to cancel - compensation terms not available yet.

[nzlife]

We are on the Bali to Dubai cruise April 7 . The segment before this now ends in Darwin and the next leg leaves Colombo on the 17 th . Where do we go in the 10 days ?

Very poor communication from SB .

[Paulchili]

5 minutes ago, nzlife said:

We are on the Bali to Dubai cruise April 7 . The segment before this now ends in Darwin and the next leg leaves Colombo on the 17 th . Where do we go in the 10 days ?

Very poor communication from SB .

I agree for personal reason but can you imagine the number of changes and cancellations they have to deal with - especially with cruises that are currently under way and before your cruise on April 7th

[nzlife]

Yes , I do understand but surely they have a plan for the 10 days , the only obvious options are to float around for 10 days or see the west Australia coast , neither option appeals and the altered itinery  around the Middle East isn’t great either . This has been going on for some time now and the communication should be far better so that affected people could make an informed decision rather than having to speculate .

If I did not look at this site I would have no idea that there were going to be any changes and would be happily going ahead booking hotels and excursions .

[SLSD]

Here's the most nuanced and, at the same time, most stark assessment of the new Corona Virus that I have read.  The upshot is that scientists do not think it can be contained.  Read the article to learn why and what can or should be done.  https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/02/covid-vaccine/607000/?fbclid=IwAR3oB7x59KUv6HzhXrqeUD0npfO-Rb2dvkkklzeEXSNfqMDPLjihntqNFdI

 

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

Here's the most nuanced and, at the same time, most stark assessment of the new Corona Virus that I have read.  The upshot is that scientists do not think it can be contained.  Read the article to learn why and what can or should be done.  https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/02/covid-vaccine/607000/?fbclid=IwAR3oB7x59KUv6HzhXrqeUD0npfO-Rb2dvkkklzeEXSNfqMDPLjihntqNFdI

 

Very informative (and scary) - thanks.

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

Very informative (and scary) - thanks.

I agree Paulchili.  I am just home from my yearly checkup with my internist.  He tells me that he is very concerned about this virus--and about the fact that there may be a severe drug shortage if plants are closed down and borders closed.  I had not thought of that.  I did hear that Apple thinks they will run short of components for their computers/Iphones---and that auto manufacturers are concerned about the same.  I had not thought about a drug shortage. 

 

Meanwhile, friends that we met on Seabourn are emailing us their upcoming itineraries, hoping we will join them.  Would love to--but I am a bit cautious watching those of you struggling with current itineraries and not knowing what the future of this virus is.  There are those who say, "why are you more concerned about this than about the flu?"  My response is that I've had life threatening pneumona at age 32 and know how bad it be.  I have no desire to revisit that at age 68.  But---that's just me---Ms. Overcautious.  

[zimflyer]

4 hours ago, nzlife said:

Yes , I do understand but surely they have a plan for the 10 days , the only obvious options are to float around for 10 days or see the west Australia coast , neither option appeals and the altered itinery  around the Middle East isn’t great either . This has been going on for some time now and the communication should be far better so that affected people could make an informed decision rather than having to speculate .

If I did not look at this site I would have no idea that there were going to be any changes and would be happily going ahead booking hotels and excursions .

Could not agree nore, our 38 day Sojourn trip thru Asia and then o Darwin Qld has turned into a Perth via every bus stop port thru to Sydney and on to NZ. Ports that any Aussie would either know well or could fly, rail  drive or stay...

 

Yet there has been no offer of cancellation and refund despite a 100% different itinerary AND a completely altered start and finish port.

 

What use is a 12 month future credit if you cannot find another 38 day block of time before March 2021...?

 

What if this carries on and future cruises only restart (full?), in late 2020...

 

What if your health , see previous posts, or medical does not enable you to rebook.

 

Time to be treated fairly, not profits before people... sorry, not happy here, other cruiselines are being fair to their GUESTS....

[Astride]

10 minutes ago, zimflyer said:

Could not agree nore, our 38 day Sojourn trip thru Asia and then o Darwin Qld has turned into a Perth via every bus stop port thru to Sydney and on to NZ. Ports that any Aussie would either know well or could fly, rail  drive or stay...

 

Yet there has been no offer of cancellation and refund despite a 100% different itinerary AND a completely altered start and finish port.

 

What use is a 12 month future credit if you cannot find another 38 day block of time before March 2021...?

 

What if this carries on and future cruises only restart (full?), in late 2020...

 

What if your health , see previous posts, or medical does not enable you to rebook.

 

Time to be treated fairly, not profits before people... sorry, not happy here, other cruiselines are being fair to their GUESTS....

 

[Astride]

Points well taken, Zimflyer. And what if a cruise line goes bankrupt due to Covid-19? Is it just me or does anyone else feel that a lot of people are wearing blinkers when it concerns the possible consequences of a pandemic on the cruise industry?

 

Judy

[zimflyer]

Yes I can see your point. Far better to keep trading than to be fair to your bread and butter.

 

Just the sort of company I would like to invest my money , trust and time in, knowing fully, that if something goes wrong its "Me first" for Seabourn  and we know how that plays out...

 

Really?

17 minutes ago, Astride said:

Points well taken, Zimflyer. And what if a cruise line goes bankrupt due to Covid-19? Is it just me or does anyone else feel that a lot of people are wearing blinkers when it concerns the possible consequences of a pandemic on the cruise industry?

 

Judy

This affects us all, and geographically more so each day...

 

Airlines, other cruise companies  hotels have all swallowed their conditions and done the right thing by offering refunds where no fair accommodation can be made.

 

In Australia we have just endured terrible bushfires. Anyone affected has been treated well by most companies. Mortgages frozen, insurers playing  fair by covering property they were not obligated to... etc etc.

 

My point is, if you order and pay online from the catalogue , then walk into Sears to collect a white wedding dress, they cant take your money and send you home with a yellow tuxedo snd say "Well thats what you get for your money, its all we can offer.." Or, you can get a white wedding dress when they come in, if there is stock, but only during next 12 months...if your wedding is in 3 weeks, well too bad"

 

Really ?

[RustyRollock]

Let’s remember that this rapidly evolving situation affects all cruise lines worldwide. Not only do they have to adjust/change itineraries or even cancel cruises, they have to try to position ships ready for the next cruising “season” in Alaska, Mediterranean, Caribbean, etc. It’s a logistical nightmare and I’m sure they are burning a lot of midnight oil trying to minimise the disruption to everyone involved.

 

Looking at the bigger picture, if the covid-19 outbreak is indeed an uncontrolled pandemic then I’d be cautious about travelling anywhere, let alone international flights and cruises.

[SLSD]

8 minutes ago, RustyRollock said:

Let’s remember that this rapidly evolving situation affects all cruise lines worldwide. Not only do they have to adjust/change itineraries or even cancel cruises, they have to try to position ships ready for the next cruising “season” in Alaska, Mediterranean, Caribbean, etc. It’s a logistical nightmare and I’m sure they are burning a lot of midnight oil trying to minimise the disruption to everyone involved.

 

Looking at the bigger picture, if the covid-19 outbreak is indeed an uncontrolled pandemic then I’d be cautious about travelling anywhere, let alone international flights and cruises.

You are saying exactly what I think.  I totally understand what the cruise lines are going through---and have trepidation about the virus spreading through communities worldwide.  While many will not have any symptoms, many others--those with disabilities, respiratory weaknesses, and the elderly with a myriad of medical issues, will be severely affected by this virus. 

[ab21au]

3 hours ago, zimflyer said:

Could not agree nore, our 38 day Sojourn trip thru Asia and then o Darwin Qld has turned into a Perth via every bus stop port thru to Sydney and on to NZ. Ports that any Aussie would either know well or could fly, rail  drive or stay...

 

Yet there has been no offer of cancellation and refund despite a 100% different itinerary AND a completely altered start and finish port.

 

What use is a 12 month future credit if you cannot find another 38 day block of time before March 2021...?

 

What if this carries on and future cruises only restart (full?), in late 2020...

 

What if your health , see previous posts, or medical does not enable you to rebook.

 

Time to be treated fairly, not profits before people... sorry, not happy here, other cruiselines are being fair to their GUESTS....

You obviously think it’s Seabourn’s problem that they had to change your cruise because of a virus in China. I look at it differently, I see it as they are trying their best to help provide interesting itineraries.  I would be very surprised if most cannot find a time to book a cruise within the time frame (from what I have seen, book within 12 months, not travel within 12 months).  If it’s not possible, I think an email to Seabourn might be in order explaining your position and asking for an extension to the period for you. 

[rols]

3 hours ago, ab21au said:

(from what I have seen, book within 12 months, not travel within 12 months).  

oh if that's the case then it's less-bad than I thought. I'd assumed it was book something to travel in 12 months, not that you have 12 months to find something to apply your credit to. 

Perhaps someone can confirm the wording.