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Cunard's Coronavirus Cancellations/Refunds (Merged threads)


LittleFish1976
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We are writing to give you some important information about your forthcoming voyage on board Queen Elizabeth.

Following the evolving and dynamic situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have been taking advice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Health England. We have been focused on mitigating the risks to our guests and crew, and are making appropriate adjustments to our operations to protect all on board our ships.

As a result of the above, we are very sorry to advise that Queen Elizabeth’s Asia programme that was due to commence in March has been cancelled and will be replaced with an extended season in Australia. The health and safety of our guests and crew is of utmost importance to us and given the uncertainty in the region, we have had to make this difficult decision, which we hope you understand is due to factors beyond our control.

As Queen Elizabeth will no longer be visiting Asia, your above booking will be cancelled and you will be given a full refund, as well as a future cruise credit worth 25% of your original cruise value. This credit will be automatically applied to your account and you will be able to use this on any Cunard voyage currently on sale, booked before 31 May 2020.
 
If you have booked flights or any additional packages via a travel agent or third-party tour operator, we advise you to contact them directly. If any arrangements have been booked independently then you should contact your travel insurance provider for details of how to submit a claim.

If you are unable to recover charges incurred due to this unavoidable and unexpected cancellation, we would encourage you to contact us so that this can be discussed further.

Queen Elizabeth’s new extended season in Australia will comprise two six-night Tasmania voyages, two 11-night New Zealand voyages and her first ever 27-night full circumnavigation of Australia. Queen Elizabeth will then sail a 25-night Transpacific crossing from Sydney to Vancouver via New Caledonia, Hawaii, Los Angeles and San Francisco. These voyages will be available to book from Friday 21 February.

Cunard will resume Queen Elizabeth’s Asia programme in September this year as already published. If you wish to use your future cruise credit to book any of our holidays, please contact your travel agent, visit us at www.cunard.co.uk or call us on 03453 550300.

Once again, please accept our apologies and we do hope to see you on board very soon.

Yours sincerely,
 
simonpa.jpg

Simon Palethorpe
President, Cunard

 

Looks like I’m looking for another holiday!

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Too bad for us - we were so looking forward to our Japan cruise in April.  But Cunard is due credit and respect for a timely decision and what I think is fair and generous compensation - full refund and 25% credit towards another cruise.   No penny  pinching there, and it goes a long way towards easing stress over the lost trip.  Now I'm curious to see those new Oz itineraries....

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Received this email today:

 

 

 

 

We are writing to give you some important information about your forthcoming voyage on board Queen Elizabeth.

Following the evolving and dynamic situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have been taking advice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Health England. We have been focused on mitigating the risks to our guests and crew, and are making appropriate adjustments to our operations to protect all on board our ships.

As a result of the above, we are very sorry to advise that Queen Elizabeth’s Asia programme that was due to commence in March has been cancelled and will be replaced with an extended season in Australia. The health and safety of our guests and crew is of utmost importance to us and given the uncertainty in the region, we have had to make this difficult decision, which we hope you understand is due to factors beyond our control.

As Queen Elizabeth will no longer be visiting Asia, your above booking will be cancelled and you will be given a full refund, as well as a future cruise credit worth 25% of your original cruise value. This credit will be automatically applied to your account and you will be able to use this on any Cunard voyage currently on sale, booked before 31 May 2020.
 
If you have booked flights or any additional packages via a travel agent or third-party tour operator, we advise you to contact them directly. If any arrangements have been booked independently then you should contact your travel insurance provider for details of how to submit a claim.

If you are unable to recover charges incurred due to this unavoidable and unexpected cancellation, we would encourage you to contact us so that this can be discussed further.

Queen Elizabeth’s new extended season in Australia will comprise two six-night Tasmania voyages, two 11-night New Zealand voyages and her first ever 27-night full circumnavigation of Australia. Queen Elizabeth will then sail a 25-night Transpacific crossing from Sydney to Vancouver via New Caledonia, Hawaii, Los Angeles and San Francisco. These voyages will be available to book from Thursday, February 20th at 2pm PST/ 5pm EST.

Cunard will resume Queen Elizabeth’s Asia programme in September this year as already published. If you wish to use your future cruise credit to book any of our holidays, please contact your travel agent, visit us at www.cunard.com or call us on (800) 728-6273. 

Once again, please accept our apologies and we do hope to see you on board very soon.

Yours sincerely,
 
simonpa.jpg
Simon Palethorpe
President, Cunard
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We'll know QE's revised schedule soon enough, but here are some additional tidbits found on various cruise port schedules (including the previously reported call at Fremantle) indicating QE's circumnavigation of Australia will be in the counter-clockwise direction.

 

Darwin:  22 Apr 06:30 - 18:00
Fremantle:  27 Apr 06:30 - 28 Apr 18:00
Adelaide:  03 May 06:30 - 18:00
Kangaroo Island:  04 May 08:00 - 18:00

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We have just had notification from our travel agent that Cunard have cancelled our cruise, Q009D Queen Elizabeth, 

You may be aware that your upcoming cruise has been cancelled by Cunard as a result of the ongoing risk of coronavirus in the area.

We will automatically process a full refund for your total holiday cost with us. Please bear with us while we cancel down the elements of your holiday and process the refund. We are working as fast as possible to return monies paid to you and are aiming to refund within 14 days from the day of notification.

 

As a result of an increase in passengers wanting to rebook with us, we have set up a dedicated line for you to make alternative arrangements

Open from 8am - 8pm (Monday - Friday) and 9am - 6pm (Saturday - Sunday), our customer services team can be contacted on ************* 

Whilst we understand that you will be disappointed by the news that your holiday is cancelled, we sincerely hope that we are given the opportunity to help you find another ideal cruise.

Kind Regards,
The Customer Care Team at ******** Cruise

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Terribly sad for those looking forward to their cruise and holiday, we all know how much we wait and look forward  to these trips... 

 

But, ultimately, they had little choice and they "seem" to be handling it well so far. 

 

I am sure I would be disappointed, but happy to not be being exposed, as far as is practicably possible, to the virus. 

 

I hope all who are effected will get something worked out. 

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Here's what I'm seeing for some additional details about QE's revised itineraries. This is cobbled together from a variety of sources with a couple assumptions thrown in about some of the dates. Of course we should find out the full official details tomorrow, if not sooner.

 

  • Two 6-night Tasmania voyages from Sydney calling at Eden, Port Arthur, Hobart, Burnie and Melbourne. (Mar 9-15 and Mar 26-Apr 1)
  • Two 11-night New Zealand voyages from Sydney calling at Wellington, Tauranga, Auckland and the Bay of Islands. (Mar 15-26 and Apr 1-12)
  • 27-night circumnavigation of Australia from Sydney calling at Brisbane, Airlie Beach, Cairns, Darwin, Fremantle, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and Melbourne. (Apr 12-May 9)
  • 25-night Transpacific crossing from Sydney to Vancouver calling at New Caledonia, Hawaii (Honolulu and Maui), Los Angeles and San Francisco. (May 9-Jun 2)Note one day added crossing the International Date Line.
Edited by bluemarble
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21 minutes ago, Poole Boy said:

Plan for March 9 - 15 is

 

9th Sydney

10th  Eden

11th At Sea

12th Port Arthur

13th Hobart

14th At Sea

15th Sydney

 

The second Tasmania cruise will follow the same itinerary possibly starting on March 15th

 

Thanks for the update. That matches exactly what I had figured as the itinerary for the first Tasmanian voyage based on published port schedules. The port schedules aren't as clear for the second Tasmanian voyage, but based on what I'm seeing it looks to me like they are including Burnie in the second Tasmanian voyage and are going to alternate between the two 6-night Tasmanian voyages and the two 11-night New Zealand voyages (per the dates in my previous post). But all should be sorted shortly one way or another (in about 16 hours if I have the timing right for Cunard's announcement).

Edited by bluemarble
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4 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

  • 25-night Transpacific crossing from Sydney to Vancouver calling at New Caledonia, Hawaii (Honolulu and Maui), Los Angeles and San Francisco. (May 9-Jun 2)Note one day added crossing the International Date Line.

Hmm - 5 port days in 25 days - might suit some but not me!!!!  I know it is basically a relocation cruise but they could have made it far more attractive than this. The Pacific Ocean is a big place with LOTS of places to see!!!! Right now we have an excess of cruiseships in Australian ports doing the NZ, Islands and round Australia thing!!!! 

 

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3 hours ago, bazzaw said:

Hmm - 5 port days in 25 days - might suit some but not me!!!!  I know it is basically a relocation cruise but they could have made it far more attractive than this. The Pacific Ocean is a big place with LOTS of places to see!!!! Right now we have an excess of cruiseships in Australian ports doing the NZ, Islands and round Australia thing!!!! 

 


Indeed, even for us Brits for some us the South Pacific is new to us, and I for one would have loved it if QE could have called at some more South Sea islands, and maybe NZ to on her way over to Vancouver - what a shame - Cunard could have made this one quite special in view of ob-virus reasons lol

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Cunard has pulled the plug on all QE's cruises during the (northern) Spring of 2020. She will not now call at any Asian ports during her transfer from OZ & NZ waters (ending March 08) to her Alaska residency (starting June 02). This also means her repositioning cruise from Japan and down the coast of Alaska to Vancouver has also been cancelled. Other than that, her summer residence in BC / Alaska has not been affected, nor has her return to Japan on September 08.

In place of the East Asia cruises, Cunard has announced the following cruises, which all originate from Sydney:

 

1. Q009N. March 09. 6 nights Tasmania

2. Q010N. March 15. 11 nights New Zealand

3. Q011N. March 26. 6 nights Tasmania

4. Q012N. April 01. 11 nights New Zealand

5. Q013B. April 12. 27 nights circumnavigation of Australia

6. Q015N. May 09. 21 nights transpacific to San Francisco

or

6. Q015C. May 09. 25 nights transpacific to Vancouver

 

There is also a 3-night option, Q016N, May 30, between San Francisco and Vancouver.
Then the Alaska season starts out of Vancouver on June 02, Q017, as planned.
There seems to be no Q014, presumably to marry up the sequential cruise numbers with the already-arranged Alaska season.

The circumnavigation of Australia sounds like a fine trip, taking in 9 ports of call in all of Australia's states, except Tasmania. There are 2 nights in both Fremantle and Melbourne.  It includes 15 sea days.
The 21 night repositioning cruise is less imaginative, also with 15 sea days, and just 4 ports of call before reaching SF: a day each in New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Honolulu and LA. 

Evidently, pricing for these new sailings are available from February 21, when they also go on sale.
I should mention that my source for the above information is a TA (which I can't disclose); not Cunard.

       
Edited by Canuker
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39 minutes ago, Canuker said:

... The 21 night repositioning cruise is less imaginative, also with 15 sea days, and just 4 ports of call before reaching SF: a day each in New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Honolulu and LA ...

 

That's some interesting new detail about the repositioning cruise. I had previous read (and reported on the "Cunard's Latest Travel & Port Advice, Asia itineraries, Coronavirus Cancellations" thread) that the repositioning cruise was going to call at New Caledonia, Hawaii (Honolulu and Maui), Los Angeles and San Francisco. The addition of Vanuatu (at the possible expense of Maui) does make it a bit more of an imaginative itinerary.

Edited by bluemarble
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15 minutes ago, Dahani said:

We have just booked the Circumnavigation. Our first time on Cunard and to Australia. There are some real bargain prices on offer as they have just been released today. 

 

I'm not seeing any of the new QE voyages listed on the Cunard website yet. My understanding was that they were to be released about 45 minutes ago. Are you seeing them on the Cunard website? Or did you phone Cunard or work with an agent that has the information?

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17 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

I'm not seeing any of the new QE voyages listed on the Cunard website yet. My understanding was that they were to be released about 45 minutes ago. Are you seeing them on the Cunard website? Or did you phone Cunard or work with an agent that has the information?

We are in the UK and we received an email from one of the big cruise agencies. We were already looking for a trip to Oz/NZ and this was less than half of what we were looking at. The agency said they weren't allowed to progress the booking til 10pm local time when the fares were due to be released as they had sent the email out early 'by mistake'. 

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6 minutes ago, Dahani said:

We are in the UK and we received an email from one of the big cruise agencies. We were already looking for a trip to Oz/NZ and this was less than half of what we were looking at. The agency said they weren't allowed to progress the booking til 10pm local time when the fares were due to be released as they had sent the email out early 'by mistake'. 

 

Thanks for the explanation. That explains it. Still not seeing anything on the Cunard website or any of the US online agencies I usually look at. Not that I'm actually looking to book one of those voyages, just interested in seeing the details.

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My apologies for any unecessary replication in my post #88 above, compared with what went before, but it was moved here from another thread by CC. As this topic heading now states, "Merged threads".
At least we are (literally!) all on the same page now.

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As I write this, it is still Feb 20 here on the NAm east coast. But I'm seeing Australia TAs (where it is now Feb 21) offering (in $Aus, which is about the same as the C$) these entry level prices:

Circumnavigation:     Inside $1,778, OV $1,864 and balcony $2,066.
Transpacific to SF:    Inside $1,764, OV $1,860 and balcony $2,052.

 

If anyone can come up with good value flights to Sydney, from NAm gateway(s), please post.
  

Edited by Canuker
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I finally found the complete QE itineraries on a travel agent website. Here are the details, with sea days removed for the sake of succinctness.

 

Q009N - Tasmania

09 Mar   Sydney

10 Mar   Eden

12 Mar   Port Arthur

13 Mar   Hobart

15 Mar   Sydney

 

Q010N - New Zealand

15 Mar   Sydney

19 Mar   Wellington

21 Mar   Auckland

22 Mar   Tauranga

23 Mar   Bay of Islands

26 Mar   Sydney

 

Q011N - Tasmania

26 Mar   Sydney

28 Mar   Burnie

29 Mar   Melbourne

31 Mar   Eden

01 Apr   Sydney

 

Q012N – New Zealand

01 Apr   Sydney

05 Apr   Wellington

07 Apr   Tauranga

08 Apr   Auckland

09 Apr   Bay of Islands

12 Apr   Sydney

 

Q013B - Australia Circumnavigation

12 Apr   Sydney

14 Apr   Brisbane

16 Apr   Airlie Beach

18 Apr   Cairns

22 Apr   Darwin

27 Apr   Fremantle

28 Apr   Fremantle

29 Apr   Bussleton

03 May   Adelaide

04 May   Kangaroo Island

06 May   Melbourne

07 May   Melbourne

09 May   Sydney

 

Q015C - Transpacific

09 May   Sydney

12 May   New Caledonia

13 May   Vanuatu

20 May   Kahului

21 May   Honolulu

27 May   Los Angeles

29 May   San Francisco

30 May   San Francisco

02 Jun   Vancouver

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3 hours ago, bluemarble said:

I finally found the complete QE itineraries on a travel agent website. Here are the details, with sea days removed for the sake of succinctness.

 

Q009N - Tasmania

09 Mar   Sydney

10 Mar   Eden

12 Mar   Port Arthur

13 Mar   Hobart

15 Mar   Sydney

 

Q010N - New Zealand

15 Mar   Sydney

19 Mar   Wellington

21 Mar   Auckland

22 Mar   Tauranga

23 Mar   Bay of Islands

26 Mar   Sydney

 

Q011N - Tasmania

26 Mar   Sydney

28 Mar   Burnie

29 Mar   Melbourne

31 Mar   Eden

01 Apr   Sydney

 

Q012N – New Zealand

01 Apr   Sydney

05 Apr   Wellington

07 Apr   Tauranga

08 Apr   Auckland

09 Apr   Bay of Islands

12 Apr   Sydney

 

Q013B - Australia Circumnavigation

12 Apr   Sydney

14 Apr   Brisbane

16 Apr   Airlie Beach

18 Apr   Cairns

22 Apr   Darwin

27 Apr   Fremantle

28 Apr   Fremantle

29 Apr   Bussleton

03 May   Adelaide

04 May   Kangaroo Island

06 May   Melbourne

07 May   Melbourne

09 May   Sydney

 

Q015C - Transpacific

09 May   Sydney

12 May   New Caledonia

13 May   Vanuatu

20 May   Kahului

21 May   Honolulu

27 May   Los Angeles

29 May   San Francisco

30 May   San Francisco

02 Jun   Vancouver

Cunard had made a allowance in the prices because of the late change, have just booked a Q4 for the transpacific for less than £100 pp per night.

 

There are some real bargains to be had with these cruises

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