Who is planning to cancel? Who is planning to get OBC?

[outdoors27]

I haven't read all the posts but we would never cancel unless things take a drastic change. We are sailing on the Panorama in late June. I could be hit by a car or worse being the nature of my employement. Cruises are my family vacation once or twice a year and I dont plan on changing that as of now. 

[jjcruiselover]

I booked using a casino rate and got the letter for our Breeze cruise leaving March 14th.

[TXcruiser13]

Finally got through by phone today and canceled our 8-nighter on Freedom leaving on 3/14. Parlayed rapidly falling cruise rates into a wonderful 14 night Panama Canal cruise on Freedom instead next January. It only cost us several hundred more dollars. Couldn’t be happier, very grateful to Carnival and their great employees. 🙂

[crusinpsychRN]

On 3/6/2020 at 5:50 PM, Globetrotter21 said:

I’m sailing in May out of Seattle and thinking of canceling. Group I’m traveling with is concerned about being quarantined. Curious about what others are thinking. Also, I’m new to the group and I think it’s pretty cool this Board exists.

 

Welcome to CC!

[13cheermom]

1 hour ago, TXcruiser13 said:

Finally got through by phone today and canceled our 8-nighter on Freedom leaving on 3/14. Parlayed rapidly falling cruise rates into a wonderful 14 night Panama Canal cruise on Freedom instead next January. It only cost us several hundred more dollars. Couldn’t be happier, very grateful to Carnival and their great employees. 🙂

Congrats to you on taking lemons and making lemonade!  That's what we all need to do is make a good decision that works for us individually and move forward.  That's also a bucket list cruise for us and would love to do.  Hoping our Alaskan cruise also gets to move forward this summer.  

 

[MonumentalMac]

1 hour ago, TXcruiser13 said:

Finally got through by phone today and canceled our 8-nighter on Freedom leaving on 3/14. Parlayed rapidly falling cruise rates into a wonderful 14 night Panama Canal cruise on Freedom instead next January. It only cost us several hundred more dollars. Couldn’t be happier, very grateful to Carnival and their great employees. 🙂

Did they make you rebook at the time of canceling or could you have waited to do some research and book at another time?

[sapphire_407]

I just chatted with someone who is a travel agent mainly booking cruises and she was laid off Friday.  She said the damage is massive.  No one is booking. The only people going are those who have already paid in full. 

[EngIceDave]

Travel - State Dept

 

@TravelGov

 

U.S. citizens, especially with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. #CDC notes increased risk of #COVID19 on cruises. Many countries have implemented screening procedures, denied port entry rights to ships and prevented disembarking.

 

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/cruise-ship-passengers.html?fbclid=IwAR23mRlu4-382HLuSM8i0KWQBSaZ4heDniggmxR3kBR6e2EgWiKr6B0EseM

[TXcruiser13]

16 minutes ago, MonumentalMac said:

Did they make you rebook at the time of canceling or could you have waited to do some research and book at another time?

Your cruise credit is good for one year; you do not have to rebook at the same time. 

[lensonlife]

6 hours ago, tattoos said:

Thank you all for your comments.  I certainly understand that it is a difficult decision to cancel a cruise.  

 

FYI, I am sailing on April 29th and received my email from Carnival this morning (3/8) with all the info regarding OBC (WOO HOO) and instructions for cancelling.  I am on an 8 day cruise and will receive $200 OBC.  That will cover a few dirty martinis, shore excursion, gambling.  If we are isolated, I can't think of a better place to be quaranteed than on a cruise ship.  

 

I am 80 years old and can catch coronavirus in my local Publix, Dunkin Donuts, dentist, doctor's office, etc. I can also get it from family members if they are carriers.  Staying in my house with the curtains drawn is not an option.

 

I've been looking forward to this cruise which I booked a year ago and can't wait to go.  At this point in my life, I have lived through being a prime caregiver for my husband who battled brain cancer and I have lived through taking care of my twin sister who battled liver cancer and have made it through my own battle with breast cancer.  There isn't much in this world that I fear....well, maybe running out of olives for my martini. 

 

Asking for an upgrade as I get closer to sail date is a great idea. 

 

My family and I are definitely sailing on the beautiful Magic and taking advantage of our $200 OBC.  We look forward to gambling, drinking, snorkeling (yes, I still snorkel at my age).  I hope there are a lot more cruises in my future but you can't count on that, so....TOWANDA!!!!!!!!!

 

  

 

 .

 

 

I hope that when I’m 80 years old I have your mindset and tenacity!! I hope you get to enjoy every second of your vacation in happiness and in good health, and may there be plenty of olives for your martinis! Also, I now want to watch Fried Green Tomatoes! 😂

[mistyinca]

We are canceling our 4/25 Panorama. To be clear, I have zero worry about catching Corona virus. My fear is of either being quarantined, delayed, denied embarking, denied debarking, or getting an 11th hour cancelation from the cruise line. Too many unknowns and I think the hysteria is going to get worse before it gets better. 

 

[Kellyann]

3 hours ago, bstel said:

we are on May 3 Legend cruise out of Tampa.  not cancelling yet.  i havent gotten the letter yet, is there a deadline you have to make the decision by?

 

For now, one positive thing is that people have obviously cancelled because this cruise was sold out, but now it appears back on the Carnival site, so i am going to monitor for price drops.

You have to decide whether to cruise and take the $200 obc or cancel by March 31.  We are also on that cruise and using the future cruise credit that we rec'd from our September cruise that was a bust due to hurricanes.  I can't believe this rebooking is now problematic.  I'm afraid my group of 4 seniors will want to cancel because they're afraid the ports will be closed and we know what it's like to cruise to nowhere.  I hope it works for you.

[WorkerBee74]

56 minutes ago, mistyinca said:

We are canceling our 4/25 Panorama. To be clear, I have zero worry about catching Corona virus. My fear is of either being quarantined, delayed, denied embarking, denied debarking, or getting an 11th hour cancelation from the cruise line. Too many unknowns and I think the hysteria is going to get worse before it gets better. 

 

 

We've changed our minds about 17x in the past 48 hours, and I'm now pretty close to rebooking for a Caribbean sailing at the end of next March.  We were on a one-way from Honolulu to Vancouver April 10, and quite honestly with the absolute nightmare that US ports are going through right now (I'm also Canadian and wouldn't be sure that the US Government would take care of us much if we got quarantined in any Hawaiian port, let alone the risk of coming into Vancouver on one of the first ships to Canada of the season).   We are pretty close to still going to Hawaii for the duration, picking up a one-way flight between Honolulu and Vancouver the weekend of April 18/19 then picking up our one-way flight home from Vancouver we had set for the 20th.

 

The gongshow around cruising right now and the US response to now what seems to be all ships at any port sounds like such a damn nightmare that I don't want to think about every second of my cruise if I still go.  Going to wait until closer to the 31st to make a final decision, but ugh.

 

I feel better having typed that out now.  This year can go away already!!!!!!!

[rudoja00]

I'm of the opinion that over the next few weeks the industry and government will settle in on a plan to mitigate this going forward that doesn't involve quarantine of entire ships.  For those of us sailing next month, that March 31st deadline to change plans is plenty of time to let the situation develop more.  No need to be hasty at this time.

 

 

[CTSwimCoach]

21 minutes ago, rudoja00 said:

I'm of the opinion that over the next few weeks the industry and government will settle in on a plan to mitigate this going forward that doesn't involve quarantine of entire ships.  For those of us sailing next month, that March 31st deadline to change plans is plenty of time to let the situation develop more.  No need to be hasty at this time.

 

 

That is exactly what I am telling my wife. I need my April 11th trip for my mental sanity. Lol

[embarkation75]

4 hours ago, TXcruiser13 said:

Finally got through by phone today and canceled our 8-nighter on Freedom leaving on 3/14. Parlayed rapidly falling cruise rates into a wonderful 14 night Panama Canal cruise on Freedom instead next January. It only cost us several hundred more dollars. Couldn’t be happier, very grateful to Carnival and their great employees. 🙂

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise as it should be a fun trip! Keep in mind covid-19 likely isn't going away completely this summer with January typically in the peak flu season. I strongly expect another winter of covid-19 cases as the odds of an antiviral being available before January are pretty low. Best window to cruise without covid-19 concerns will be in the next couple weeks or wait until Jul-Oct.

[bmwdod02]

If I remember correctly, the OBC only applies to sailings up until May31st?? We leave June 6th! UGGHHH Come on Carnival! Extend it a week later!!! With the OBC i'm going to get from buying carnival stock at a bargain price I could use that extra $200 from this!

[fallen4ever84]

Our cruise leaves March 15th. We have gone back and forth a ton over the weekend but have decided to cancel and rebook. Especially with the recent State Department warning. We would be sailing with a 6 year old and 2 year old, an extended quarantine in our cabin with the kids would be my worst nightmare. And I realized the cruise wouldn't be enjoyable because we would be worrying about that possibility, catching the virus, etc. Plus the possibility of missing a lot of ports. Just not worth it.

[LaRue1975]

36 minutes ago, embarkation75 said:

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise as it should be a fun trip! Keep in mind covid-19 likely isn't going away completely this summer with January typically in the peak flu season. I strongly expect another winter of covid-19 cases as the odds of an antiviral being available before January are pretty low. Best window to cruise without covid-19 concerns will be in the next couple weeks or wait until Jul-Oct.

Boy, I sure hope you are right! I rescheduled my April 4th cruise to July 25th, hopefully 4 1/2 months is long enough and the threat is gone or almost gone. I have been pessimistic today but then I remembered there are a lot of ships out there sailing today without issue. This too shall pass, happy cruising! 

Edited March 9, 2020 by LaRue1975

[LMaxwell]

19 minutes ago, bmwdod02 said:

If I remember correctly, the OBC only applies to sailings up until May31st?? We leave June 6th! UGGHHH Come on Carnival! Extend it a week later!!! With the OBC i'm going to get from buying carnival stock at a bargain price I could use that extra $200 from this!

 

Buy 500 shares and as it goes up sell off 300-400 of them.  

[DenaInWyo]

1 hour ago, rudoja00 said:

I'm of the opinion that over the next few weeks the industry and government will settle in on a plan to mitigate this going forward that doesn't involve quarantine of entire ships.  For those of us sailing next month, that March 31st deadline to change plans is plenty of time to let the situation develop more.  No need to be hasty at this time.

 

 

 

I agree.  They can't (well they could but let's hope not) just keep sending ships back out to see to float around for two weeks and more.  THe other option, the one I'm worried about, is that they just put a temporary travel ban on cruising all together.  Now THAT is going to suck.  We don't sail until May 5th, out of Galveston, so I am REALLY hoping things are settled by then.  I honestly wish we had even two more weeks past that March deadline, just to see how things go. 

 

We've made kind of a consolation plan B in case we have to cancel.  We're going to hang out in Galveston for a few days.  Drink margaritas, eat shrimp, enjoy the ocean.  It makes it sting just a slight bit less knowing we'll at least get a little break from work.

[friargirl]

@CTSwimCoach...also a CT Swim Coach here 🙂  Yes...we need this for our sanity!!! 

 

Cruising 4/25 on the Magic..my 50th birthday gift.  While we're in our early 50's, we're still on the fence and like @WorkerBee74, have changed our minds several times.  We were initially cruising with my parents and they just decided to cancel.  They have many health issues, are elderly, and I get it.  For us, that was the whole reason for the trip.  To try to reschedule is going to be tough with my school and swim schedule.  We're weighing all of the options right now, and they change minute to minute as the news changes. 

 

We also have a son in college.  If, god forbid, we were quarantined it's near the end of his semester and we wouldn't be able to get to him (I just thought of that....) and I also wouldn't want him to stress about us when he should be taking exams.  Unlikely to happen?  Sure.  But, it could...and I feel like I need to consider all angles before making a final decision.   

 

 

[jimbo5544]

3 minutes ago, DenaInWyo said:

 

I agree.  They can't (well they could but let's hope not) just keep sending ships back out to see to float around for two weeks and more.  THe other option, the one I'm worried about, is that they just put a temporary travel ban on cruising all together.  Now THAT is going to suck.  We don't sail until May 5th, out of Galveston, so I am REALLY hoping things are settled by then.  I honestly wish we had even two more weeks past that March deadline, just to see how things go. 

 

We've made kind of a consolation plan B in case we have to cancel.  We're going to hang out in Galveston for a few days.  Drink margaritas, eat shrimp, enjoy the ocean.  It makes it sting just a slight bit less knowing we'll at least get a little break from work.

Dismal failure by our government, feds and state and local on their inability to cope with situations.  If the recommendation had been across all travel industries, it would mean one thing.  This is a cop out of mass extremes, very disappointing.

[AandBmom]

26 minutes ago, fallen4ever84 said:

Our cruise leaves March 15th. We have gone back and forth a ton over the weekend but have decided to cancel and rebook. Especially with the recent State Department warning. We would be sailing with a 6 year old and 2 year old, an extended quarantine in our cabin with the kids would be my worst nightmare. And I realized the cruise wouldn't be enjoyable because we would be worrying about that possibility, catching the virus, etc. Plus the possibility of missing a lot of ports. Just not worth it.

We just made the same decision for the same reasons. 

[eedee]

On 3/6/2020 at 8:10 PM, beacha said:

We must cancel May 4 cruise. We are over 60 and following guidelines. I am sad to lose 1300$. One of us if an MD. This virus is going to kill so many people. Wish we were in our 30’s. Praying for all of you on ships to have a wonderful  and safe trip.

You shouldn’t lose your money. The cruise line is offering reimbursement to those who cancel. On board credit to those who don’t.