ROYAL SAILING NEW CANCELATION ARTICLE

[villager70]

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara Suspend All Cruises Until June 12

Harmony of the Seas (Photo: Royal Caribbean International)

April 17, 2020

Adam Coulter

UK Managing Editor

 

(Updated 10:07 a.m. EDT) -- Editor's Note: As of April 9, all cruise ships over 250 passengers and crew that operate in U.S. waters have been put under a no-sail order by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The order will remain in place until COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency, and supersedes individual cruise line dates for a return to service. For more information, visit our news story.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the parent company of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara and Silversea Cruises, has extended its fleet suspension through June 11, 2020. However, Silversea Cruises currently maintains that sailings of its ships will re-commence on May 13 with Silver Wind.

 

The move follows the line's announcement of the suspension of all U.S. cruises as of March 13, which extended to a 30-day worldwide suspension on March 17, as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. That was extended another 30 days on April 10, and was originally due to expire May 11, 2020.

The decision has affected the launch of Celebrity Cruises' newest ship, Celebrity Apex, which was due to launch in the U.K. on March 28. The line had already announced the postponement of the christening, which had been scheduled for March 30.

A statement from RCL reads:

"Given global public health circumstances, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has decided to extend the suspension of sailings of our global fleet through June 11, 2020."

 

"We are working with our guests to address this disruption to their vacations, and we are genuinely sorry for their inconvenience."

"We expect to return to service on June 12."

Celebrity will resume its Alaska season with Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Solstice returning to service on July 3 and Celebrity Eclipse returning on July 5. Its Canada and New England sailings aboard Celebrity Summit will resume after July 1.

Royal Caribbean, Azamara and Celebrity are offering a 125 percent future cruise credit to anyone booked on affected sailings for use by December 31, 2021.

Passengers wishing to request a refund of 100 percent of the cruise fare they paid (including any nonrefundable deposits) can do so via this form prior to December 31, 2021. Refund requests will be issued to the original form of payment and will result in the forfeiture of the future cruise credit.

Affected Silversea cruisers will receive either a 125 percent future cruise credit valid two years from issuance or a 100 percent refund of the cruise fare paid, issued to the original form of payment. Refunds can be requested by calling the cruise line directly or by reaching out to your travel agent.

Special conditions apply to the following voyages:

Passengers booked on Silver Spirit (voyages 5006 and 5007) will receive a 100 percent refund to their original method of payment within 90 days of request, plus a 25 percent future cruise credit for the cruise portion of the booking valid for two years from issuance.

Cruisers booked on the 2020 full world cruise or on Silver Whisper (voyages 4006, 4007, 4008 and 4009) will have the option to receive a 100 percent refund of the unused portion of their cruise, reimbursed to the original form of payment, within 90 days of request, or a 125 percent future cruise credit of the unused portion of their cruise booking, valid for two years from issuance.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd has joined most cruise operators suspending cruise voyages across the world.

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[Biker19]

Nice to see RCI refund timing is 1/2 of SIlverseas.

[inlinesick]

and it will pushed to july, they just dont want to annonce it yet!!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

2 hours ago, inlinesick said:

and it will pushed to july, they just dont want to annonce it yet!!

Yes, they are able to keep the funds rather than giving a refund now for July and they save the trouble of all the processing.  

[bigrednole]

I thought we would lose out August 2 booking as well, but it will take 2-3 months for that to happen. Instead, we argued and were able to rebook for November. Since we were not asking for a refund or credit, it worked out easier. 

[JJinAK]

Yes, just received our cancellation email last night 😞  It was for my son's high school graduation.  Looks like maybe we will try to plan for next year.

Jules

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, inlinesick said:

and it will pushed to july, they just dont want to annonce it yet!!

-

and then August, then September, etc.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

18 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

-

and then August, then September, etc.

 

We have two cruises booked for 2021. [we had waited to book a fall B2B while on our last cruise, but decided against it--glad we did]  

 

We have a Celebrity cruise that includes 3 days in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.  I am not sure that cruise will happen in February and even if it does I do not expect Mardi Gras to be anything like it has been.  Maybe even cancelled for the year. 

 

Our other cruise is a Royal cruise in July to the Baltic.  If that one does not happened RCL will be out of business. But, the rub with that one is that I turn 70 days before the embarkation.  So, I will need a note. . .  no health issues at all.  But, not sure any Drs will sign a note for people to cruise.  Cruising has gotten a real black eye.

[BP99]

19 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Yes, they are able to keep the funds rather than giving a refund now for July and they save the trouble of all the processing.  

Huh?

On the Celebrity (owned by RCL) boards no one has gotten a 100% cash refund

yer for their mid March cruises. It's not a processing issue. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

1 minute ago, BP99 said:

Huh?

On the Celebrity (owned by RCL) boards no one has gotten a 100% cash refund

yer for their mid March cruises. It's not a processing issue. 

I must have not been very clear in what I said.  I should have written more to be clear. 

 

I was replying to the poster that said they will have to cancel cruises into July, but don't want to announce it yet.  [I quoted them]  By not announcing the extra month of cancellations they will get to keep that money for an extra month and they will not have to deal with processing a larger number of refunds/FCC all at one time.  . . . I agree they are slow walking these refunds [across all of their lines] to keep as much capital as long as possible.