Cancelling Cruises because of the C word

[kruzseeka]

I think the isolation bit in relation to Italy is academic as by the sound if things, no cruises are likely to call at Italian ports  - at least for a few weeks. 

[davecttr]

21 minutes ago, cruisenewbie1976 said:

 

Not quite right. You've only got to self isolate if you're returning from one of the original cities that was on lockdown in northern Italy. Everywhere else in Italy, you only need to self isolate if you've got symptoms. 

The FCO site has not kept up with the latest information. ALL of Italy is now locked down so that self isolation must extend to travellers from the whole of Italy. 

[cruisenewbie1976]

19 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I believe that was the previous advice, which has changed in the last hour, hence my comment (from Sky News). It was ‘Breaking News’ so is an evolving story, so worth fact checking in the morning. Apologies if I may have inadvertently mislead. 

 

Maybe it's not been updated yet but gov.uk is still saying the self isolate thing from north Italy only but does advise against all but essential travel to Italy. 

[cruisenewbie1976]

17 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The FCO site has not kept up with the latest information. ALL of Italy is now locked down so that self isolation must extend to travellers from the whole of Italy. 

 

FCO has been updated though to include restriction on travel. Maybe the rest will be updated tomorrow. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by cruisenewbie1976
Correction

[cruiselover04]

11 hours ago, Sousa60 said:

I am almost resigned to the fact that our Cruise may be cancelled as it is due to leave Valletta on April 2nd around the Greek islands and then we are due to stay in Malta for another 3 nights over Easter.

The immediate cruise before is from Southampton to Valetta, but itinerary includes Livorno and Cittevecchia, which I am presuming will be altered, but given the Maltease approach to other cruise ships I am not confidant at the moment.

Of course I am not cancelling but I am over 60 (just this is a 60th birthday cruise for myself and my other half) and I have a corrected heart condition but also a persistent cough which I have had for going on 5 months or more which concerns me as other passengers will feel uncomfortable in my presence if I have a coughing fit 😞

oh well

 

Kev

We are also on this cruise. We’re flying over to Malta a few days prior to the cruise. I hope we hear soon what’s going on. I’m sure the previous cruise will not stop at the Italian ports as the whole of Italy is now on lock down. 

Jenni 

[Selbourne]

7 hours ago, cruisenewbie1976 said:

 

Not quite right. You've only got to self isolate if you're returning from one of the original cities that was on lockdown in northern Italy. Everywhere else in Italy, you only need to self isolate if you've got symptoms. 

I was correct. BBC also reporting the same this morning. FCO website hasn’t been updated yet, but link to Department of Health & Social Care shows;

 

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if you’ve travelled to the UK from the following places, even if you do not have symptoms:

• Italy (since 09 March)

So this presumably means that anyone who has been / goes to anywhere in Italy and returns to the Uk from now on will not be able to join a cruise until they have completed a period of self isolation?

 

EDIT - Sky News also confirming this morning. Anyone returning to the UK from anywhere in Italy must self isolate for 14 days, not just those displaying symptoms. Worrying times. 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Selbourne

[Tommart]

30 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I was correct. BBC also reporting the same this morning. FCO website hasn’t been updated yet, but link to Department of Health & Social Care shows;

 

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if you’ve travelled to the UK from the following places, even if you do not have symptoms:

• Italy (since 09 March)

So this presumably means that anyone who has been / goes to anywhere in Italy and returns to the Uk from now on will not be able to join a cruise until they have completed a period of self isolation?

 

EDIT - Sky News also confirming this morning. Anyone returning to the UK from anywhere in Italy must self isolate for 14 days, not just those displaying symptoms. Worrying times. 

Still confusion over this, in that government websites are still not mentioning the period of self-isolation - not sure where Sky got their 14 days from, but the Guardian is saying the same.

 

"Returning travellers

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if you’ve travelled to the UK from the following places in the last 14 days, even if you do not have symptoms:

 

Iran
Hubei province in China
Special care zones in South Korea (Daegu, Cheongdo, Gyeongsan)

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if you’ve travelled to the UK from the following places, even if you do not have symptoms:

Italy (since 09 March)"

 

I wonder how many people are actually going to heed this 'advice'.

 

 

 

 

 

[emam]

I got an email yesterday morning (before mention of new terms).

 

It's never too early to plan the perfect holiday. So, why not start tailoring your cruise now?

It may be a little while until the start of your holiday, but the best things come to those who plan ahead. That's why it's a great idea to take a little time now to book your on-board activities and shore experiences. We've made it easy to arrange all those magical moments, so feel free to get started below.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Tommart said:

Still confusion over this, in that government websites are still not mentioning the period of self-isolation - not sure where Sky got their 14 days from, but the Guardian is saying the same.

 

"Returning travellers

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if you’ve travelled to the UK from the following places in the last 14 days, even if you do not have symptoms:

 

Iran
Hubei province in China
Special care zones in South Korea (Daegu, Cheongdo, Gyeongsan)

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if you’ve travelled to the UK from the following places, even if you do not have symptoms:

Italy (since 09 March)"

 

I wonder how many people are actually going to heed this 'advice'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with you. Communication of these changes is patchy and confused. Someone said earlier that the FCO website only updates once a day. That’s too slow in this fast moving situation. You can bet that there will be plenty of people returning from Italy over the past 24 hours (and beyond) who will believe that the requirement for self isolation still only applies to those visiting the former ‘red zone’ or if they are displaying symptoms, whereas everyone returning from anywhere in Italy should now be self isolating - symptoms or no symptoms. It is no wonder that these things become epidemics. 

[jeanlyon]

I can see a way round it.  Cancel with loss of deposit (£50 in our case) and rebook.  I've checked prices and they are still the same.

[janny444]

Bet we are all waiting " patiently" to see what P&O are going to allow us to do. To be honest the only 2 options that would work for me is either a full refund or being allowed to use the FCC against an already booked cruise.

If they only allow new bookings before March 2021 that would be of no help as I already have other cruises booked so would somehow have to squeeze another one in. Just had a look at prices for next year and they are considerably more than the price we have paid for our cruise in April 2020...for same cruise itinerary & cabin grade £300pp more

[Vampiress88]

27 minutes ago, janny444 said:

Bet we are all waiting " patiently" to see what P&O are going to allow us to do. To be honest the only 2 options that would work for me is either a full refund or being allowed to use the FCC against an already booked cruise.

If they only allow new bookings before March 2021 that would be of no help as I already have other cruises booked so would somehow have to squeeze another one in. Just had a look at prices for next year and they are considerably more than the price we have paid for our cruise in April 2020...for same cruise itinerary & cabin grade £300pp more

this is my issue. I’m already tak in g kids out of school for fisney( maybe if we aren’t on lockdown too) so I can’t take them on a cruise other than school holidays. I’ve looked for the next year and nothing fits. 
 

plus my next cruise is in July 21 and it’s £1k cheaper so they aren’t gonna transfer it to that either. 
 

rock and hard place

[Denarius]

But where can I store a years supply of toilet rolls? I cannot get into the bathroom for them!

But on a more serious note, I have now decided to cancel my early April cruise in Ventura whilst I can still get 25% back. I am not "panicking", I have thought long and hard about this and weighed up both sides of the argument but the recent advice from the US authorities was the straw that broke the camels back. I only hope that P&O do the right thing.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Denarius

[cruisenewbie1976]

9 minutes ago, Denarius said:

But where can I store a years supply of toilet rolls? I cannot get into the bathroom for them!

But on a more serious note, I have now decided to cancel my early April cruise in Ventura whilst I can still get 25% back. I am not "panicking", I have thought long and hard about this and weighed up both sides of the argument but the recent advice from the US authorities was the straw that broke the camels back. I only hope that P&O do the right thing.

 

Surely you're better off waiting for the announcement from P&O before you do that?  There's a good chance that you'll be able to cancel/change without losing 75% of your money. 

[jeanlyon]

Same here.  I have one cruise booked in October and 2 more next year, so only option would be an FCC against one of those.  It must be the same for a lot of people.

[Mc_Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, cruisenewbie1976 said:

 

Surely you're better off waiting for the announcement from P&O before you do that?  There's a good chance that you'll be able to cancel/change without losing 75% of your money. 

I agree, at least hold off till the 16 days before sailing when cancelling loses 90%. I can see no reason why they won't announce the same offer as the rest of Carnival tomorrow. 

[jeanlyon]

Definitely wait for the announcement.  No point in losing money if you don't have to.

[bee-ess]

1 hour ago, janny444 said:

Bet we are all waiting " patiently" to see what P&O are going to allow us to do. To be honest the only 2 options that would work for me is either a full refund or being allowed to use the FCC against an already booked cruise.

If they only allow new bookings before March 2021 that would be of no help as I already have other cruises booked so would somehow have to squeeze another one in. Just had a look at prices for next year and they are considerably more than the price we have paid for our cruise in April 2020...for same cruise itinerary & cabin grade £300pp more

Same for us, we have 4 booked and would like to be able to cancel our Med one in August and use any FCC against one we already have booked in Caribbean in Feb 2021. Somehow, I cannot see them allowing that though.

[AndyMichelle]

13 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes suits us too.  However, as we have 2 already booked, they would need to allow us to move the money to one of those.

I haven't delved into it Jean, but what is the Carnival offer regarding transfer/FCC as it sounds like P&O will be the same. 

Andy 

[jake 26]

5 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Definitely wait for the announcement.  No point in losing money if you don't have to.

 

Just had a look at the finer details on the Princess cancellation policy (provisional) and it says that the FCC will be applied automatically for people who have already cancelled cruises sailing between March 6 and May 31 2020,  as long as they cancelled on or after Jan 20 2020.

[arlowood]

6 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I haven't delved into it Jean, but what is the Carnival offer regarding transfer/FCC as it sounds like P&O will be the same. 

Andy 

The Carnival offer only applies to cruises up to the end of May. Cruises sailing after that date are an unknown quantity at present. Also the FCC offered by Carnival must be redeemed by end of March 2021. So not as flexible as some others - in fact quite restrictive if you don't want to cruise over the winter months. There doesn't appear to be a "use-by" date on the Princess offer.

My guess is that the P&O offers will reflect what Carnival has published but I await there statement with interest

[mrsgoggins]

25 minutes ago, Mc_Cruiser said:

I agree, at least hold off till the 16 days before sailing when cancelling loses 90%. I can see no reason why they won't announce the same offer as the rest of Carnival tomorrow. 

 

I'll definitely be waiting until 16 days before our April sailing before cancelling.  On a positive note,  easyJet have just cancelled my today's flight to Venice (and Saturday's return) and I've applied for a full refund, so here's hoping for something positive to also come from P&O very soon.

[Denarius]

31 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Definitely wait for the announcement.  No point in losing money if you don't have to.

That is what I intend to do, as long as it comes before thursday of next week, the final day on which I can cancel and still get 25% back. I believe that if P&O are going to change their stance they will have done so by then, and little would be achieved by hanging on further with the prospect of only getting 10% back unless they do so.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Denarius
clarification of date

[Twinkletoes47]

Due to depart on 4th April and no plans to cancel out of choice...

[kruzseeka]

1 hour ago, janny444 said:

Bet we are all waiting " patiently" to see what P&O are going to allow us to do. To be honest the only 2 options that would work for me is either a full refund or being allowed to use the FCC against an already booked cruise.

If they only allow new bookings before March 2021 that would be of no help as I already have other cruises booked so would somehow have to squeeze another one in. Just had a look at prices for next year and they are considerably more than the price we have paid for our cruise in April 2020...for same cruise itinerary & cabin grade £300pp more

 

You maybe in a different situation to me ie you have already paid in full but we have just cancelled a July cruise (before our full payment was due) and have been allowed to transfer our booking to a May 2021 cruise - so later than the March 2021 date you mention.  It is a new booking, not transferring the deposit to an already booked cruise but I must say the young lady i dealt with couldn't have been more helpful and there wasn't any admin charge.   

I know many of you are in a different scenario having paid in full and with different preferences for what you'd like P&O to offer and that it must be very unsettling waiting for details (I don't think it's been handled well) but I hope all it works out for you and proves to be as easy as my dealings with P&O yesterday.   Good luck!