NO CRUISES TILL NEXT YEAR

[Scriv]

12 hours ago, wowzz said:

I agree about the insurance issues. 

Nit so sure about the young couples saving money. You only get paid 80% of your salary, up to a maximum of £2500 per month, which is not very much, and not for an indefinite period. Again,  the self employed are being severely hit. If this drags on for another  6 months, the only people left who can afford to travel will be us pensioners,

 

The other thing about young couples with children is that many, like my daughter,  still have to pay  full childminder fees even though the childminder isn't working. And if they themselves are also on reduced income, that can be quite hard  for them.

[Scriv]

3 hours ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

On the flip side of this, P&O are taunting me with the September Canada cruise down to £1660, which I've long fancied for my 50th.

 

However, I really would be staggered if cruising returned before the last quarter, if at all this year.  There are so many other factors beyond passing the peak. 

 

Plus, with the current hoo-ha mentioned on other threads about refunds and FCC, that's not a stress I'd want to risk putting myself through.

 

So for me, it's bite the lip time, and just look to seeing that my better half and are still around at the end of all of this (and see which lines have made it through too!). 

We're booked on that one to Canada but unlikely to be paying the balance, due mid June...

[Scriv]

3 hours ago, glennbtn said:

I heard today that Carnival are borrowing against a bond for $6bn in cash to keep them afloat @ 12% interested. So in theory they should be ok for a while especially as their costs will be dropping.

 

I have a cruise booked for August around the British Isles which is due to be paid towards the end of May but still can't decide if I should pay or cancel (guessing I will loose the £440 deposit) I can always reboot if the cruise goes ahead but then no guarantee I can get the insurance as I get it on a holiday by holiday basis.

 

 

 

 

Glenn, if you go to the P&O Website, you will see that there is a section on the new flexible bookings policy re existing bookings from mid May - end August. You can transfer your deposit to another cruise or you can  cancel on line  and get your deposit back as FCC.

 

[Scriv]

1 hour ago, Denarius said:

I am not convinced that this will be so, mainly because of the decision of most (all?) travel insuance companies not to extend covid-19 cover to new bookings. I believe that most people will defer making future bookings unless and until they can get full health cover for them. To fall ill with covid-19 overseas without any health insurance cover would be a financial nightmare.

 

Yep, my travel insurance won't cover for new bookings. There also seems confusion about whether a transferred/postponed booking counts as a new booking.

[jh1809]

20 hours ago, lindyloo22 said:

Just read this on another site they were watching the news and thy said no cruising till next year

wonder how true this is going to be.

If I had to hazard a guess, it would be this September, but guessing is all anyone can do at this point.

[AndyMichelle]

3 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

If I had to hazard a guess, it would be this September, but guessing is all anyone can do at this point.

My guess is a few short Christmas Market cruises may go ahead with trepidation in December... 

Then, if all OK, back to some sort of normality early next year. 

Andy 

[mercury7289]

42 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

My guess is a few short Christmas Market cruises may go ahead with trepidation in December... 

Then, if all OK, back to some sort of normality early next year. 

Andy 

My guess nothing further 2020, and nothing in 2021.

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

My guess nothing further 2020, and nothing in 2021.

If that is the case, the cruise industry as we know it today will disappear.  The two major cruise corporations will go out of business.

[mercury7289]

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

If that is the case, the cruise industry as we know it today will disappear.  The two major cruise corporations will go out of business.

May well happen.

 

This Plague needs only one person to continue its devastation.

 

cannot play chicken with it!

[terrierjohn]

15 minutes ago, wowzz said:

If that is the case, the cruise industry as we know it today will disappear.  The two major cruise corporations will go out of business.

Afraid that I agree with that assessment wowzz, I think that Carnival and RCI will be desparate to re-start some cruises this year, and unless there are major setbacks in Europe I think that pressure will mount on all govts to start relaxing things sometime around June. 

So I still have hope for our Sept cruise.

Edited April 3, 2020 by terrierjohn

[Scriv]

2 hours ago, Hampshire Steve said:

Our next cruise was to be J012 but as we are still waiting for a refund from last months cruise, there is no way cruising will be back to normal by the due date for full payment for this one, so we have moved our deposit forward.

 

I spoke to a friend in Canada last night and it is only just beginning there and many have not come to terms with what is to come, although the local sports shop had sold out of hunting knifes, machetes, rifles and ammunition! We obviously have differing shopping lists this side of the pond!

 

Our view now is not to invest any new money into P&O (or any other) until we know things are assured. We prefer to pick a cabin and normally pay that premium but we are more likely to book holidays just a few days before for the near future, may not help their (P&O) planning but saves us being annoyed at being treated as a free loan agent.

 

Thank you for your insight into the situation in Canada . It is helping me feel justified in not intending to pay the balance for our cruise in September when it becomes due.

[the english lady]

2 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

May well happen.

 

This Plague needs only one person to continue its devastation.

 

cannot play chicken with it!

Unfortunately it will be countries down the plug hole, not just cruise lines. No country can go into total lockdown for longer than 6 months I would guess. Financially no government can just keep on paying out paying out, paying out. What we will probably end up with is a vaccine like the flu one. You have to have it every year. I am assuming with all the brains around the world working on it a vaccine late this early next year. If you can prove you've had it this year (with that blood test) you can a go back to work, b go on a cruise ship. Then when there is a vaccine you just prove you've had it.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

If that is the case, the cruise industry as we know it today will disappear.  The two major cruise corporations will go out of business.

2021 will be no problem. We will do this year's Vancouver/Alaska/Rockies next June. Caribbean this December will be ok as well. Insurance and lottery winnings permitting. If not, perhaps Warner's will be open.

[majortom10]

Dont know if anyone else has received an e-mail from one of the largest and most popular cruise TAs in the country advertising Princess cruises for September at phenomenally cheap prices. Dont know if Princess knows more than anyone else or just hopeful and wishful thinking. Personally have a 28nt cruise booked for October on QM2 with balance due in June which I am pondering on paying the balance or if allowed transfer my deposit because I am not convinced the cruise will go ahead.

[zap99]

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Dont know if anyone else has received an e-mail from one of the largest and most popular cruise TAs in the country advertising Princess cruises for September at phenomenally cheap prices. Dont know if Princess knows more than anyone else or just hopeful and wishful thinking. Personally have a 28nt cruise booked for October on QM2 with balance due in June which I am pondering on paying the balance or if allowed transfer my deposit because I am not convinced the cruise will go ahead.

I think that's the one I was looking at just now. If so, it was flagging the April 2021 Iona Ffjords cruise as  "Iona's maiden season " I guess they know more than we do.

[P&O SUE]

I’ve still got hope (although it’s getting less!)  for my October cruise and the good thing is my insurance was paid before Covid so I’m covered but if I moved it I won’t be covered. I know this as I had an email from my insurance company telling me they wouldn’t after a certain date!

 

[mat5664]

it's quite likely there will be no cruises until there is a vaccine, which could be up to 18 months away.

 

Why would anyone take a cruise before then given we know the consequences.  Even if you have had it,  nobody knows how long the immunity would last and insurance companies will not provide insurance.

 

Who knows how many cruise companies will be around by then and what the market will be.  Very sad.

 

 

 

 

[glennbtn]

Anyone tried to swap their cruise this year for exactly the same a s next year?  Just wondering if that's the easier thing to do although I did notice the cabin number we have booked for this year does not exist next year!!

[AndyMichelle]

28 minutes ago, glennbtn said:

Anyone tried to swap their cruise this year for exactly the same a s next year?  Just wondering if that's the easier thing to do although I did notice the cabin number we have booked for this year does not exist next year!!

We did, 25% dearer... So the extra FCC is no incentive at all.. 

Applied for refund instead. 

Andy 

[Eglesbrech]

4 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We did, 25% dearer... So the extra FCC is no incentive at all.. 

Applied for refund instead. 

Andy 

Dont blame you Andy, I think many others will come to the same conclusion and do the same thing. 

[jeanlyon]

I don't think anyone over 70 or with medical conditions should consider cruising or indeed travelling anywhere before there is a vaccine against this virus.  I am not even sure when they will know if it's safe to reopen the country for work etc.  It only takes a few with the virus to pass it on again and there will be another lockdown or loads more deaths.

[Vampiress88]

On ‎4‎/‎3‎/‎2020 at 9:12 AM, wowzz said:

I agree about the technology part. However,  when P&O announced a further 4 week delay, I would think that involves 100,000 bookings. Given sickness, working from home etc, it will take time to process each one. Not being an apologist,  as I am one of the 100, 000, but I am trying to be realistic.

 

I think I agree with you on this, as much as I am cross at the prospect of having to wait for my refund I know how difficult it is to get orders like this done fast

 

I know others have said it like pressing a button and with some companies it might be but not all the companies are the same. for example the company I work for and another competitor have access to the same things now due to deals made yet they way we can deal with refunds, credits, stopping, contracts absolutely anything like that is completely different from one another.

 

we currently have a back log of couple of thousand orders from three weeks ago. there are only certain people with the admin rights to do these so its not like others such as me can just go and help or be transferred, for one the admin rights need to change

[wowzz]

45 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

 

I think I agree with you on this, as much as I am cross at the prospect of having to wait for my refund I know how difficult it is to get orders like this done fast

 

I know others have said it like pressing a button and with some companies it might be but not all the companies are the same. for example the company I work for and another competitor have access to the same things now due to deals made yet they way we can deal with refunds, credits, stopping, contracts absolutely anything like that is completely different from one another.

 

we currently have a back log of couple of thousand orders from three weeks ago. there are only certain people with the admin rights to do these so its not like others such as me can just go and help or be transferred, for one the admin rights need to change

Yes, I sometimes think that those that criticise have not actually worked in a modern computer based environment.  I used to have admin rights, and getting dozens of calls a day is difficult to manage

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, I sometimes think that those that criticise have not actually worked in a modern computer based environment.  I used to have admin rights, and getting dozens of calls a day is difficult to manage

So how do they manage so very well taking thousands of new bookings all at one time.

 

Any decent system has a one touch failsafe for emergency situations and a cascade to allow authorisations / delegated authorities. It’s standard contingency planning.
 

I imagine that either their IT is just poor or they are not motivated to refund quickly based on ABTA guidance (perhaps both?).

 

 

 

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

So how do they manage so very well taking thousands of new bookings all at one time.

 

Any decent system has a one touch failsafe for emergency situations and a cascade to allow authorisations / delegated authorities. It’s standard contingency planning.
 

I imagine that either their IT is just poor or they are not motivated to refund quickly based on ABTA guidance (perhaps both?).

 

 

 

Taking new bookings does not involve admin rights.