Cancelling Cruises because of the C word

[eddie11]

You can (or at least I can) appreciate the company’s dilemma.

There must be a lot of lost sleep at Carnival House & in Florida and at every cruise company HQ

 

How long do you think it would take for the companies to be in financial ruin should, for instance, all foreign travel was banned under emergency powers?  All planes, trains & shipping. Eek

 

Or, emergency legislation compelling the companies to allow 100% refunds for cancellations?  Or to compel insurance companies to refund?

 

Of course, if things came to that holidays would probably be well down our lists of worries

 

”May you live in interesting times” is reputed to be a Chinese curse.  Seeing as this originated in China, it feels like we are living it.

 

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

13 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I don't think we will cancel,  but it is a worry, not that I will catch the virus, just that I might be stuck in my cabin for 14 days, although they have found that doing that was the wrong thing on diamond Princess.

 

So called virus experts reckon that the ship was acting as an incubator, picking off the passengers one by one. I’ve never been keen on the ships air conditioning systems.

[Tablelamp]

For what it is worth, I have been speaking to a friend of mine this morning, (a financial wizard!)  He is quite definitely saying.   Wait!......  Do not cancel yet as P and O may be forced to cancel and then they will refund your money.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

11 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I know Jean, but health officials are talking about banning public gatherings, some countries have already done this, cruises must come under that criteria.

Can't help things are going to get much worse before they get better... 

Andy 

The decision should be left with the passengers at no penalty.

[jeanlyon]

Eddie, yes I feel for them too.  Just had a conversation about cancellation with my husband.  we have exacty 8 weeks to go.  As you say, either this thing is going to balloon and nobody will be travelling anywhere ( I sort of doubt that as it is mild symptoms for 70%) or it will get a bit better.  we shoud listen to Trump who says it all overblown - thilly thod!

 

He thinks we wait and see how bad it gets, so I guess that's what we are doing.  My friend on the other hand may cancel on grounds that she is not well enough to go.   easier decision.

[jeanlyon]

also just read on Facebook that it is a temp check at Southampton (those who just left on Aurora) and if necessary a discussion with Medical people as to whether you should go.

Edited February 29, 2020 by jeanlyon

[janny444]

19 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I know Jean, but health officials are talking about banning public gatherings, some countries have already done this, cruises must come under that criteria.

Can't help things are going to get much worse before they get better... 

Andy 

This is the dilemma....do we hang on thinking that cruising may come under " public gatherings" and then be entitled to a full refund or cancel now and lose the given percentage.

I wonder if P&O have something " hidden away"  in their T&Cs that would give them a loophole to avoid that government directive.

[AndyMichelle]

15 minutes ago, PRINCESSTHE BEST said:

The decision should be left with the passengers at no penalty.

Ideally, yes. 

Probability... None. 

Who pays... It would cripple the cruise companies and cost thousands their jobs. 

The only chance of this is if things seem to settle and not everyone cancels, but given the choice, I think everyone would cancel at the moment... 

Andy 

[Tablelamp]

I’m afraid that both P & O and our Insurance Companies have hidden loopholes, very cleverly disguised.   I have paid for my flight tickets from the C.I.s to Southampton as well.  Speaking to you all this morning, I feel much better.  Those of us that have paid our balances are all in the same boat.  (No pun intended).

[Vampiress88]

Anyone else wondering where this random virus has just sprang from? 

Think I must have lost my head as I’m starting to believe conspiracies. 

 

I feel like I should stop worrying over this as it’s proper stressing me and there’s not really much any of us can do about it. 

 

Really want my excitement back.

 

Apparently p&o are looking into the policies. I have mentioned to them that saga are setting their customers at ease and p&o are not. 

 

I understand and from a business point of view that this will be financially awful for them but it makes me cross that they can refuse boarding for any reason knowing full well peoples insurance will not cover that. 

 

They will lose loyal customers in the long run if people feel mistreated. 

 

Im not cancelling as I’d lose too much. But I am panicking having my April cruise and my may holiday to Florida cancelled will lose me a hell of a lot. 

 

This is depressing. 

 

Need the holiday excitement back

[SarahHben]

Sorry if I've missed this mentioned earlier on in the thread but do you think the checks, temperature etc will be done by medical persons? We've just checked our insurance, although we aren't sailing until end of June, and our insurance states that we are covered if medical personnel deem us unfit to travel.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

7 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Ideally, yes. 

Probability... None. 

Who pays... It would cripple the cruise companies and cost thousands their jobs. 

The only chance of this is if things seem to settle and not everyone cancels, but given the choice, I think everyone would cancel at the moment... 

Andy 

Not necessarily, a lot of younger people say between 18 and 50yrs would take the risk that the virus would be mild. In that case they would still travel and possibly be carriers and infect others. The main people at risk are the elderly eg over 60s and people with other medical conditions. These are the categories that cruise companies should be concerned about and protecting.

[kalos]

6 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

Sorry if I've missed this mentioned earlier on in the thread but do you think the checks, temperature etc will be done by medical persons? We've just checked our insurance, although we aren't sailing until end of June, and our insurance states that we are covered if medical personnel deem us unfit to travel.

Reading this I would say your insurance would cover you ....

Looking after our guests and crew
The following control measures have been implemented for our ships.
Pre-boarding screening will be conducted for all guests, crew and visitors in all embarkation ports with further medical evaluation if necessary.

 

    please see ...     https://www.pocruises.com/travel-health-advisories

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, janny444 said:

Hi....yes I too am having a problem accessing CC with Chrome on my computer...as you say there is an overlay on the screen. No problem when I use Edge although it is rather slower to load  when using Edge 

Glad it's not just me, I can get CC satisfactorily on my phone using the Firefox browser however, but still can't get it properly on Chrome.

[Tablelamp]

If P & O said that if you have paid your balance and wish to cancel for whatever reason,    we will refund 50%, I wonder how many people would be tempted.  I think I would, just to take the worry away.    I’m sure P & O are keeping tabs on this discussion.

[Bazrat]

Just reading through the posts the majority would like to cancel there cruises with full refunds, in a perfect world that would be reasonable but the consequences for the companies that supply the cruise ships would be catastrophic, the smaller suppliers would be left with stock nobody wants so obviously no money coming in,the cruise lines would lay off staff obviously you would not need as many on reduced sailings.

The bottom line is when it blows over those companies that have survived would need the crew back but what kind of service would you get from them, the suppliers which are left probably would be the big companies and the price’s would be higher. 

[SarahHben]

14 minutes ago, kalos said:

Reading this I would say your insurance would cover you ....

Looking after our guests and crew
The following control measures have been implemented for our ships.
Pre-boarding screening will be conducted for all guests, crew and visitors in all embarkation ports with further medical evaluation if necessary.

 

    please see ...     https://www.pocruises.com/travel-health-advisories

Thank you for your reply, I did read it but my brain must have skipped over the last bit.

 

 

[hollyjess]

We had a cruise booked for June which had to be paid by March 18th. Just phoned P and O to cancel spoke to a very nice lady who was very helpful.. If you wish you can now transfer to any cruise at any price within 12 months. They will also transfer any future cruise deposit to another cruise as long as it is in the 12 month period. Hope this into is helpful to cruisers. Anybody brave enough to book another cruise for the future?

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

4 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Just reading through the posts the majority would like to cancel there cruises with full refunds, in a perfect world that would be reasonable but the consequences for the companies that supply the cruise ships would be catastrophic, the smaller suppliers would be left with stock nobody wants so obviously no money coming in,the cruise lines would lay off staff obviously you would not need as many on reduced sailings.

The bottom line is when it blows over those companies that have survived would need the crew back but what kind of service would you get from them, the suppliers which are left probably would be the big companies and the price’s would be higher. 

I think there are a number of issues here, if the WHO recommend that cruises cease for say a three month period and governments agree, the cruise lines will have no option. I would imagine that crew from the Philippines, India etc are also stressed about having to be on board. In the case of the Diamond Princess I read somewhere that crew members were not happy staying on board and wanted to go home. It is a diminishing world for cruising and there are fewer places for ships to visit. Imho it may be better financially for cruise lines to put their cruises on hold and perhaps use the ships for cargo, commercial purposes until this situation is resolved.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

2 minutes ago, hollyjess said:

We had a cruise booked for June which had to be paid by March 18th. Just phoned P and O to cancel spoke to a very nice lady who was very helpful.. If you wish you can now transfer to any cruise at any price within 12 months. They will also transfer any future cruise deposit to another cruise as long as it is in the 12 month period. Hope this into is helpful to cruisers. Anybody brave enough to book another cruise for the future?

I presume this won’t apply if you’ve paid the final balance.?

[Bazrat]

8 minutes ago, PRINCESSTHE BEST said:

I think there are a number of issues here, if the WHO recommend that cruises cease for say a three month period and governments agree, the cruise lines will have no option. I would imagine that crew from the Philippines, India etc are also stressed about having to be on board. In the case of the Diamond Princess I read somewhere that crew members were not happy staying on board and wanted to go home. It is a diminishing world for cruising and there are fewer places for ships to visit. Imho it may be better financially for cruise lines to put their cruises on hold and perhaps use the ships for cargo, commercial purposes until this situation is resolved.

No doubt the crew on board are not particularly happy but you avoided the rest of my post no small suppliers could survive that length of time, just think of the transport required to move the supplies those lorries off the road the fresh goods having to be dumped if they cannot be sold.

there would be no commercial operation that could run a cruise ship without paying cruisers.

[Bazrat]

Just out of interest what are the airlines doing about the situation.

[jeanlyon]

Can you just imagine if there was a government directive banning travel.   What do you do with all the empty cruise ships.  Most of them should be sailing at any given time.  Obviously in that case there would be refunds, but it would cripple the companies for a while.

 

I've just checked my April cruise on Arcadia and there are only a handful of cabins left, so folk don't seem to be cancelling ours.

Edited February 29, 2020 by jeanlyon

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

5 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

No doubt the crew on board are not particularly happy but you avoided the rest of my post no small suppliers could survive that length of time, just think of the transport required to move the supplies those lorries off the road the fresh goods having to be dumped if they cannot be sold.

there would be no commercial operation that could run a cruise ship without paying cruisers.

I think where there is a credible threat to life, decisions have to be made. There was an article yesterday saying that governments may have to decide whether to accept massive economic hits or allow a percentage of the population to die. China apparently decided to take the economic hit and shut down industries, towns, etc and it appeared to have worked. To answer your question, suppliers may go out of business to save lives. Who knows at this stage?

[davecttr]

As far as cancellations are concerned I am in the happy position of not yet paying the balance on my summer cruise. almost £2200, however I will lose the deposit of £200 but that was paid back in May 2019 so as far as I am concerned that money has long gone. My next two cruises with P&O have final payments due in late June and November with deposits of £70 and £80 forfeit. So I could just keep booking cruises and cancelling!. I wonder how long before they realise this and try and lock you into paying the full amount?

 

The way things are going I am pretty certain to cancel the June cruise and noted that we now have a COVID-19 patient who they can't trace the 'patient zero' for. This is worrying as it could mark the start of stage two of the epidemic with the authorities moving from containment to mitigation. The next few weeks should clarify matters.