Cruises in the near future - Contingency plans?

[sunbrookgal]

5 hours ago, hamrag said:

 

Why should they? Right now, there is no reason to.....but that may change in the coming days and weeks!

On the surface you are correct. Why should they care. However, and as an example. Yesterday we received a notice from Viking Cruise Line. We can cancel and or reschedule now. I personally will not forget a company that puts its corporate police above the people who utilize that service. No matter what or who. Hey not a diss on any company. Just the facts for us. Peace and safe travel. 

[DreadPirateRobert]

We have no intention of canceling our May 3rd cruise on the Star through the British Isles.  However since there are many 

other factors in play I've begun to explore backup plans. Both my wife and I have to schedule vacations pretty far in advance we would have to have something if NCL or some governmental entity caused our cruise to be canceled. 

[luv2kroooz]

20 minutes ago, sunbrookgal said:

On the surface you are correct. Why should they care. However, and as an example. Yesterday we received a notice from Viking Cruise Line. We can cancel and or reschedule now. I personally will not forget a company that puts its corporate police above the people who utilize that service. No matter what or who. Hey not a diss on any company. Just the facts for us. Peace and safe travel. 

Well said. It's the difference between A+ customer service and average customer service. It's easy to be average....but a great opportunity to recognize a company going above and beyond what they are required to do. Well done, Viking!

Edited March 5, 2020 by blcruising

[Sand and Seas]

We are planning to go on our April Caribbean cruise leaving from Miami.  We know this thing is going to spread so we will be careful in enclosed spaces.  Like everyone else, we will take along the sanitizing wipes. 

We wouldn't have a problem with a quarantine as we are retired, but in good health.

[Ms BumbleBee]

I am in this situation now.  My company has discontinued all travel not approved at the executive level and encouraging employees not to travel internationally and limit travel domestic to areas where the virus is.  I am supposed to fly to Seattle and do an Alaskan cruise and my concern is getting stuck on the other side of the country from my animals.  

 

I show dogs and it is difficult to find people to pet sit (you cannot board because they are intact) at my house and follow their schedule.  I also cannot take weeks off of work so for me I am hoping NCL will let me push the cruise out and if not I will just lose the cost of the cruise unless things get better,

 

And no I am not worried about getting Coronavirus - I am concerned about getting stuck. 

[chris1]

We’re on an NCL cruise out of New Orleans in early April.  Still some time to see how things shake out but I’m honestly a bit apprehensive.  Somewhat about someone getting sick but more so about potential disruption.  This is an unprecedented situation which is evolving quickly.  NCL- and other companies, be it cruise lines, airlines, hotels, etc are simply going to have to modify policies to deal with this.  People are going to cancel trips no matter what and all travel related companies are going to take a huge, huge, hit over the next several months.  Emails are flying (no pun intended!) all over the corporate world this week outlining travel restrictions.  Basically- don’t take a trip unless it’s of profound importance and can’t be done remotely via phone/video.  This is only getting worse by the hour.   The best case scenario for these companies is to maintain loyalty for when things go back to normal.  

[Signal Mtn]

We are on the Jewel leaving March 20th from Papeete,.   Found out yesterday that we needed a medical certificate stating we were free from signs of the Coronavirus or cannot board the plane.  NCL acts like they've never heard it of course. We struggled most of the day yesterday talking our primary care doctors into it.  So now we have to pay for an office visit to get our temps checked before we can fly.  Many are having issues getting someone to give them this certificate so I suspect if our cruise really does leave that it will not be full.

[hftmrock]

I am going Monday on the Sky (03/08). I do not plan to cancel. if the ship cancels for whatever reason, I will still fly down to Miami and take my family to Universal/Disney and still have a great time. Already discussed plan B with the family.

 

But I expect all will be fine. I am not concerned

[Gimmiethebeach]

No plan B for us! We leave out of New Orleans 3/22 and I’m taking extra meds and my laptop just in case.

But I do wish everyone would think beyond the immediate and remember that these companies would be crippled if they let everyone rebook to a later cruise. Same reason the airlines are not waiving change fees unless it is to those international hot spot cities. Think about this...if they just let people rebook, ships would probably be sailing at let’s say at 50%. But the cost for crew and actually operating the ship does not change. If they flat out cancel all cruises for say 6 months then they still have crew contracts they have to pay. If they don’t pay out the contracts then those crew don’t earn money. That’s 250,000+ people. Either way they are operating at a major loss. The ports who depend on the cruise industry also lose tons of money. It’s just a bigger problem than one individual. 🤷🏼‍♀️


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[2specialkidsforme]

So we were scheduled to sail the Dawn out of Venice May 24th.  I read on cruise critic if your cruise was 60+ days out they would let you change cruise provided new Cruise was same or more money and you sailed by June 30th.  I called Tuesday and our reservation was changed to sail the Encore to Bermuda May 24th.    We were worried because for the Greek Islands Cruise we were only taking one of our two teens because our son has severe food allergies and special needs.  My mom would be staying with him at home and what if we were quarantined out in Italy or Greece.  NCL even let us add him to our Bermuda reservation since we have taken him on cruises to Bermuda before.   Our total increased $560 because we added him, but we got a $200 OBC and all the free offers.  We used miles from United to book our flights to Venice and they waived our fee and let us re-deposit the miles into my account.   Luckily the hotel in Venice I did not pay in full, just had a guarantee reservation.  
 

 

[kelship]

Cruising out of Port Canaveral in 36 days with 3 family member retirees, all in good health. 

 

No plans to adjust anything, and cant really see a scenario where I would choose to not to go.

 

A lot can happen in 5 weeks, so we shall see, but right now I'm still very excited!

 

 

[Freckles_51]

Our cruise is scheduled to leave Miami on Mar 29. Our contingency plans:

If it is cancelled before we leave home, we will likely stay home and try to get some kind of credit for our airfare. We took the chance on no cancellation insurance (but we have emergency medical) so it is what it is.

If it is cancelled after we arrive in Miami, we will stay for the week, maybe go to Orlando/Disney for a few days, and take the scheduled flight home.

If the cruise goes ahead but cannot dock at any ports, we really don't care.

If we are quarantined, I don't care, we have a balcony, I am semi-retired, might be a bit boring but a few more weeks off work would not bother me at all, but it would be financially difficult for my adult daughter, and would be difficult for the 2 teens with us as they would miss school and they would definitely go crazy if we were quarantined in the cabin.

Right now I am staying positive and looking forward to a great cruise.

[hamrag]

You may, or not, be aware the Spirit was scheduled to reposition from Rome to Japan via 4 long cruises totalling 80 days and have Yokohama as it's home port, doing repeat Japan & China cruises for the next couple of years, at least. With the outbreak that was changed, and the ship is now only going as far as Cape Town. The cruise scheduled for March 22 was originally going to Singapore, from Cape Town, with the cruise following completing the reposition in Yokohama.

 

They changed the itinerary, to get the ship back into Athens for the spring/summer/autumn season....that decision was taken a month ago when only China and some other Far East areas were affected. We are booked on that sailing, and now China cases are stabilising and falling with cases in Europe, and Italy (just across the Adriatic Sea from Greece, with daily ferries....eek) particularly out of control. By the time we arrive in Athens April 19th, it could be a disastrous picture......and China et al could (albeit unlikely) be virtually virus free by then!

 

Interesting times indeed but, right now, we are 'good to go' and do not require a contingency plan.

[Freckles_51]

8 minutes ago, hamrag said:

You may, or not, be aware the Spirit was scheduled to reposition from Rome to Japan via 4 long cruises totalling 80 days and have Yokohama as it's home port, doing repeat Japan & China cruises for the next couple of years, at least. With the outbreak that was changed, and the ship is now only going as far as Cape Town. The cruise scheduled for March 22 was originally going to Singapore, from Cape Town, with the cruise following completing the reposition in Yokohama.

 

They changed the itinerary, to get the ship back into Athens for the spring/summer/autumn season....that decision was taken a month ago when only China and some other Far East areas were affected. We are booked on that sailing, and now China cases are stabilising and falling with cases in Europe, and Italy (just across the Adriatic Sea from Greece, with daily ferries....eek) particularly out of control. By the time we arrive in Athens April 19th, it could be a disastrous picture......and China et al could (albeit unlikely) be virtually virus free by then!

 

Interesting times indeed but, right now, we are 'good to go' and do not require a contingency plan.

 

Hi Hamrag! 👋  Yes interesting times, hope all goes well on your cruise 😎

[hamrag]

2 minutes ago, Freckles_51 said:

 

Hi Hamrag! 👋  Yes interesting times, hope all goes well on your cruise 😎

 

You may recall being in contact a few years ago, for the San Fran to Hawaii post-refurb repositioning on POA, and we had to cancel due to my DWs health at that time? We followed the developing story on that cruise, specifically the day or two delayed departure, and how NCL (IMHO) handsomely compensated for that.

 

We have cruised a number of times since, including an 18 night HAL to Hawaii from San Diego....which was fabulous, and we are still going strong! Hope you are well.

[Freckles_51]

1 minute ago, hamrag said:

 

You may recall being in contact a few years ago, for the San Fran to Hawaii post-refurb repositioning on POA, and we had to cancel due to my DWs health at that time? We followed the developing story on that cruise, specifically the day or two delayed departure, and how NCL (IMHO) handsomely compensated for that.

 

We have cruised a number of times since, including an 18 night HAL to Hawaii from San Diego....which was fabulous, and we are still going strong! Hope you are well.

 

 

Yes I do remember!   Too bad you missed that cruise but good to know your DW recovered and that you are still cruising. 

 

POA was a great cruise albeit 1 day shorter than scheduled (1 less sea day for the crossing, no missed ports), and yes the compensation was awesome. We had to wait 3-4 months for extra hotel and/or flight change claims, but the future cruise credit was immediately applied, and it covered most of our fare for the next cruise.

 

Apologies to other posters for getting a bit off topic 🙃

[erin21497]

My family is also scheduled to sail on Epic in 4 weeks.  At this point we, like most others, are taking a wait and see approach.  Up until a few days ago I was not worried at all and in full speed ahead planning mode.  Over the past few days my feelings have shifted a bit and, if given the opportunity, I think we would postpone to a later date.  However, if the ship sails as scheduled we will not cancel (we do not have CFAR and are far past the refund date).  We'll be more diligent about sanitizer, hand washing, etc.  We are not too concerned with getting sick, but more worried about quarantine.  Fortunately both DH and I are able to work from home, but I do worry about our kids missing school for an extended period in that situation.

[MrMike45]

14 hours ago, blcruising said:

Well said. It's the difference between A+ customer service and average customer service. It's easy to be average....but a great opportunity to recognize a company going above and beyond what they are required to do. Well done, Viking!

You can't compare what a private company (Viking) 1/10th the size and a publicly traded company (NCL) do.  Now if Carnival or Royal offered the same deal as Viking, and NCL did not...different story.  But to my knowledge, none of them are offering this type of cancel/rebook possibility currently

[erin21497]

7 minutes ago, MrMike45 said:

You can't compare what a private company (Viking) 1/10th the size and a publicly traded company (NCL) do.  Now if Carnival or Royal offered the same deal as Viking, and NCL did not...different story.  But to my knowledge, none of them are offering this type of cancel/rebook possibility currently

Carnival announced a new cancellation policy this morning.

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-changes-cancellation-policy-offers-on-board-credit/?fbclid=IwAR367unZ5fbJsWxNchGMOcEA7-RecNSSs7F9hF5a_FwUoqAPkRKYyVVD_Yw

[luv2kroooz]

12 minutes ago, MrMike45 said:

You can't compare what a private company (Viking) 1/10th the size and a publicly traded company (NCL) do.  Now if Carnival or Royal offered the same deal as Viking, and NCL did not...different story.  But to my knowledge, none of them are offering this type of cancel/rebook possibility currently

Sure I can. And, in fact, I just did. If past behavior is any indication, I predict NCL will get there eventually. It will just be a very, very lengthy and drawn out process. They'll waste tons of employee time fielding inquiries from passengers....yada, yada, yada. We've seen them go down this road before.

[Daytonasailor]

6 hours ago, kelship said:

Cruising out of Port Canaveral in 36 days with 3 family member retirees, all in good health. 

 

No plans to adjust anything, and can't really see a scenario where I would choose to not to go.

 

A lot can happen in 5 weeks, so we shall see, but right now I'm still very excited!

 

 

Agree. We are leaving on March 13 for a short Sun cruise. Not really worried, but will take extra care in cleaning hands etc.

[MrMike45]

38 minutes ago, erin21497 said:

Carnival announced a new cancellation policy this morning.

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-changes-cancellation-policy-offers-on-board-credit/?fbclid=IwAR367unZ5fbJsWxNchGMOcEA7-RecNSSs7F9hF5a_FwUoqAPkRKYyVVD_Yw

 

Confused by this line:

For any guest who booked their sailing before March 6 who now wants to change their plans, Carnival will allow them to move their sailing to a new date and, the letter explains, “receive a Future Cruise Credit in the amount of the non-refundable cancellation fee.” This is valid for sailings between now and May 31.

 

So that means you can rebook, and pay fees, and receive a FCC for the amount you had to pay right?  But can't apply that FCC to the rebooking?  

 

So basically they are letting you pay to cancel and ONLY get your money back IF you plan to cruise with them again in the future (in addition to the cruise you have booked already).  

 

This is ok...but what if you don't plan on booking another cruise at this time?  Or a person who only cruises once ever few years?  This really won't help much right? 

Edited March 6, 2020 by MrMike45

[EBRB]

42 minutes ago, erin21497 said:

Carnival announced a new cancellation policy this morning.

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-changes-cancellation-policy-offers-on-board-credit/?fbclid=IwAR367unZ5fbJsWxNchGMOcEA7-RecNSSs7F9hF5a_FwUoqAPkRKYyVVD_Yw

This is great news. Hopefully NCL will follow suit.

[hamrag]

54 minutes ago, MrMike45 said:

You can't compare what a private company (Viking) 1/10th the size and a publicly traded company (NCL) do.  Now if Carnival or Royal offered the same deal as Viking, and NCL did not...different story.  But to my knowledge, none of them are offering this type of cancel/rebook possibility currently

Absolutely, and well said. A couple of folks on these boards just don't understand the difference!

[EBRB]

16 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Absolutely, and well said. A couple of folks on these boards just don't understand the difference!

Carnival just did. See posts above.