Cunard's Coronavirus Cancellations/Refunds (Merged threads)

[Windsurfboy]

It all depends on the way government view the balance of different policies. 

 

It's very clear Coronavirus kills in the short run. Poverty kills even more in the long run. Just look at life expectancy differences between rich and poor,  20 years!

 

At some point in the future governments will have to look seriously at the cost of the lockdown and make hard and perhaps unpopular decisions. The Dutch and Swedish governments have less severe lockdown but more effort into protection of the vulnerable.  Have to wait and see how things go. 

 

I expect  unless we get a miracle of a vaccine in the very near future,  things may go that way. But either way  NO CRUISES for some time.

[PORT ROYAL]

29 minutes ago, Trevor33 said:

Are you suggesting that cruise ships will be at anchor in 6-12 months time because of current situation?

 

Underwriters and Insurers, then bean counters decide when ships sail.  Not crystal ball gazers.

[Roger88]

Government has nothing to do with it. The US government has already give away like 20% of its countries worth to support people for losing jobs etc. Its none of governmental business what to do with all these refunds. Its a burden of the companies to give us an offer.. even if its offer will mean nothing. Sorry for being straight forward, but this is how the situation is 

[IB2]

1 hour ago, Trevor33 said:

when do you think the cruise ports will open as I am booked on World cruise January 2021 - do you think it will happen or if restricted ports what ones do you think will remain closed and would circumnavigation not be worth doing if same number of ports but in only a few countries?

That is a piece of string question and obviously no one really knows.  Personally I would guess that the odds are slightly against you.  
 

We know that the lead time for a vaccine extends beyond January 2021, and therefore the virus will remain a potential risk.  If you have insurance and made your booking before policy terms were amended (mostly mid March in the UK) then you are lucky; otherwise you’ll be uninsured for Corona risks and would be sensible to travel only if your physical and financial health are both in very good shape.

 

International travel will be at the tail end of the resumption, and cruising will be the last travel industry to return to normal.  Thus there’s a scenario where the world is over the worst but cruising is still shut down, because of factors such as the reluctance of ports to accept ships, and the perception of cruise ships as a high risk environment.  There’s another scenario where we appear to be returning to normal by the autumn but the virus returns in a second wave next winter, and everything shuts down again.

 

You have to weigh this against the scenario of a progressive recovery during the late summer and autumn, with everything running as normal by the New Year, even though the virus remains at large.  For cruising my guess is that this latter is a 40% chance against 60% for still being shut down.

[Trevor33]

I have just read the latest CNBC Carnival Report online released yesterday(it can be googled) it raises some questions!

[MandH]

 

Here's some more on the topic:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/business/coronavirus-cruise-industry-carnival.html

 

[Vogatrice]

good article. I was disappointed but not surprised to read in it that some Carnival cruises are now cancelled until Nov 1. In my ongoing efforts to relocate to Italy, I moved my May QM2 reservation to end of October. Hoping against hope that is far enough out. I also have a reservation for December as a backup. I'll just keep adjusting dates as need be, but since our puppy can't fly (flat nosed breed), I really really hope Transatlantic voyages resume and don't become just a charming plot device in historical novels.

[KetoCruiser]

On 4/6/2020 at 10:08 AM, Windsurfboy said:

 

 

No  I think it will be hard to raise prices, but if their costs have gone up by maybe $100 per cabin week due to interest payments  and prices come down, as I said in earlier post, in a few years time if this happens they will be in financial trouble. 

 

This is one reason I won't be booking a cruise for 2022

My thought is at  there’s a lot of FCC to be spent in the next year and a half, therefore putting up prices initially may not be palatable but people will probably pay it as it’s not real money it’s FCC and if they don’t use it then they loose it.  They will perhaps book a shorter cruise or lower cabin grade to compensate.  Once FCC has gone then prices will fall , as people will think more clearly and way up alternatives etc.
 

if you have FCC you are going to have to decide whether book now for 2022 or hang on to see if prices fall. It could go either way. Lucky for cruisers from US who have refundable deposits if they decide to cancel.  How does that work with FCC.

[resistk]

Has anyone actually seen these FCCs?  All I have is some cryptic email from my TA saying I will get some when I cancelled, but no commuication about FCCs or $$$ from Cunard.  I cancelled around March 12.

[PORT ROYAL]

3 minutes ago, resistk said:

Has anyone actually seen these FCCs?  All I have is some cryptic email from my TA saying I will get some when I cancelled, but no commuication about FCCs or $$$ from Cunard.  I cancelled around March 12.

 

Booked direct with Cunard, and have all our FCCs. They are not tactile, but reference numbers, which are held online together with our pot of FCDs to be used as/when.

Cunard confirmed all FCC references by Email, so suppose they are tactile in a way.

[bazzaw]

I suspect that in regards to cash refunds, Cunard is working according to a schedule of chronological date of departure of the cancelled cruise and not on chronological order of the date of cancellation. The cancellation of my cruise  was probably the very earliest of them - 19 February, but the cruise departure date is/was actually early May . On 19 Feb we received an email promising full refund plus 25% FCC - the FCC was put into our accounts immediately but NO SIGHT/SMELL/SIGN of the cash refund yet!!!!

[resordanis]

Our 15th March cruise was cancelled on the afternoon of the 14th March. Absolutely no communication from Cunard although they did say they would contact us on the evening of the 14th March to discuss our travel arrangements to get home!  Luckily we could do this ourselves but they were supposed to reimburse us!

We did request thru our TA (which I hope are still operating) a full refund, but have had no communication.
Looks like only time will tell when this will happen.

Edited April 9, 2020 by resordanis

[Trevor33]

I guess they are swamped with communications from those that have booked. Having said that one would have hoped that you would have contacted you by now as will soon be a month from your original departure date. I dont know whether you have booked with an ATOL/ABTA TA (or eqivalent) but they are normally very helpful.

[Trevor33]

Did anyone see the BBC Breakfast News channel piece on ABTA/ATOL bookings and requirement under European Law for 14 day refunds? I missed the first part, Can anyone enlighten as to what was said by the ATOL/ABTA spokesperson please? This is very important at this time especially

[Ray66]

1 hour ago, Trevor33 said:

BBC Breakfast News channel piece on ABTA/ATOL bookings

 

This article By Simon Calder in the Independent refers to Mark Tanzer on BBC Breakfast

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/abta-cancelled-holiday-atol-refunds-package-travel-regulations-a9458826.html

[Poole Boy]

CDC issue 100 day no sail order to US Cruise lines

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html

 

I guess Mary wont be going to NY for some time, or any of the others going to the USA any time soon.

 

FYI 100 days from today is July 19th

[BklynBoy8]

28 minutes ago, Poole Boy said:

CDC issue 100 day no sail order to US Cruise lines

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html

 

I guess Mary wont be going to NY for some time, or any of the others going to the USA any time soon.

 

FYI 100 days from today is July 19th

The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Redhook Brooklyn NY is a 2500 Temporary Field Hospital with heavy restricted access.

 

Definitely no Cunard or Princess Sailings will arrive or depart from this location.

[oskidunker]

Glad I cancelled my Sep 11 Mary cruise from NY.

[Host Hattie]

1 hour ago, Poole Boy said:

CDC issue 100 day no sail order to US Cruise lines

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html

 

I guess Mary wont be going to NY for some time, or any of the others going to the USA any time soon.

 

FYI 100 days from today is July 19th

It's not quite that simple, it's been widely discussed on other boards, this seems to be one of the clearest explanations I've seen. Thanks to @chengkp75 as usual for bringing some clarity to the situation.

 

[Trevor33]

What do you think QM2 will do for itinerary now? Or is it likely that other Countries will follow. Cunard website is saying no cruises up until 16 May(36 days time). Hopefully a vaccine will be discovered and mass produced very soon so the world can get back to normal.

[Ray66]

They've said a vaccine for the general public could be a year away.

 

BTW Trevor33, did you read the information you wanted on the link I posted above?

[IB2]

23 minutes ago, Trevor33 said:

What do you think QM2 will do for itinerary now? Or is it likely that other Countries will follow. Cunard website is saying no cruises up until 16 May(36 days time). Hopefully a vaccine will be discovered and mass produced very soon so the world can get back to normal.

I doubt any of the cruise lines will be back in operation until next year, anyway.

[Trevor33]

23 minutes ago, Ray66 said:

They've said a vaccine for the general public could be a year away.

 

BTW Trevor33, did you read the information you wanted on the link I posted above?

Yes many thanks, things sadly do not seem to be getting back to normal anytime soon

[Poole Boy]

Interesting article in the Guardian regarding the state of the Cruise industry.

 

Well worth a read alongs with the various links in the article

 

Not specifically Cunard, but the impact will be the same

 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/11/cruise-firms-face-off-the-scale-challenge-in-wake-of-coronavirus

 

[Windsurfboy]

On a completely different subject,  Cunard have accepted finally they are responsible for our airfare back from South Africa after cancellation of cruise M009 Capetown to Southampton.  We have just have to wait for the cheque to come , also waiting for refund but that will be to credit card.

 

Cunard were impossible to contact to get any help getting back,  just overwhelmed trying to get people back from Perth, and didn't think about people already being in South  Africa. We made the right decision, saw writing on the wall and came back asap.

 

I think that Cunard may have been overwhelmed in offering refunds etc, but that's understandable,  but they are far better than many holiday companies who are ignoring law and insisting on vouchers. 

 

In the end Carnival have come through, slow but honest.

 

Just waiting for them to cancel June cruise.

 

FCC no use as everything we want is fully booked in QG for 2021.