Transferring deposit instead of FCC

[HappyInVan]

FYI, I had booked two cruises. I cancelled the September Nantes departure, and opted to transfer the deposit to the 2021 Iceland itinerary.

 

P&O cancelled their cruises up to October 15 with this pragmatic comment...

 

"Our current focus is not a specific date from which we can resume operations, but close coordination with all relevant public health bodies to approve further enhancement of our already stringent health and safety measures.

 

As a business our operational focus is not  “when can we resume sailing?” but is instead “how can we develop a comprehensive restart protocol that will keep everyone on board, crew and guests, safe and well and still give our guests an amazing holiday?”."

 

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

 

It is likely that Ponant will attempt to restart cruises in Europe for the locals. May be problematic for pax from the Americas. 

 

Therefore, I chose to transfer the deposit instead of accepting a 125% FCC which isn't covered by insurance. IMO, there is a real chance of the cruise companies folding, and cancellation insurance may be the best chance of recovering the deposits.

 

I was also given a choice of a cash refund if I cancelled the Nantes booking before final payment, for a 10% penalty on the full price. However, I figured that I could transfer the deposit without penalty to the second booking. Should I cancel the 2021 departure, I would only have to pay a penalty once.

 

Good sailings.

 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I'm confused.  Is this about P&O or Ponant?  [Your posting history shows lots of posts re Holland America, MSC and Princess, but none for P&O or Ponant before this.  What cruises are you referring to?]

[HappyInVan]

Sorry, I am referring to the Ponant cruise out of Nantes...

 

https://us.ponant.com/northern-europe-scandinavia-treasures-of-iberia-s-atlantic-coast-x270920-12

 

 

I quoted the P&O update because they have the most realistic approach to the covid epidemic.

 

The refund/FCC/transfer options are about Ponant. BTW, I last posted on this forum in Febuary about the Puerto Morelos + Cozumel mess.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks for the explanation.  I thought I remember your name from this forum, but somehow missed those Puerto Morelos posts [and yes, that was quite a mess!]

 

I agree the September Nantes sailing is not likely to happen [although as we have been seeing, Ponant isn't likely to cancel it any time soon...].  Hopefully the 2021 Iceland itinerary will go off – and having done that with Ponant I can tell you it is a terrific cruise.

 

You mention a second cruise.  What happened to that one?  [or was that the Mexico cruise mentioned above?]

[HappyInVan]

Sorry. The Iceland cruise is the second one. I've consolidated the deposits from two bookings into just one sailing. I'll only lose the 10% on one cancellation.

 

 

Edited June 4, 2020 by HappyInVan

[Host Jazzbeau]

Ah, got it now.  Sounds like a good plan.  And as I said, the Ponant Iceland cruise is very good.  We sailed on the old itinerary that circumnavigated Iceland, but we faced bad weather sailing around the northeast corner, planning to sail down and back westerly to Reykjavik – the captain had us all in the theater and showed the weather maps on the big screen and explained the situation.  In the end we all applauded his decision to turn and go back around the north side of Iceland back to Reykjavik.  In the end we only lost one port [Heimaey] and gained a sea day on smooth seas.  This must have been a fairly frequent occurrence, because I notice they no longer try to sail all the way around Iceland.

You might want to look at my blog for ideas about shore excursions and things to do in Reykjavik.  [Our excursions were done by Backroads, but you should be able to do many of these things either with Ponant or local vendors.]

jazzbeauxicelandcruise2019.travel.blog