And so it begins....more cancellations and changes to come..as expected by all of us

[robertmartha]

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23914-seabourn-announces-additional-2021-voyage-cancellations.html

 

 

[zelker]

Thanks for posting the link - have been watching Seabourn's site all afternoon since HAL announced it so knew it was coming.  We knew it was a crap shoot when we booked our B2B in Alaska in July 2021 (10 and 11 days) because there's still no guarantee that Canada will reopen for ships next year anyway and now the decision has been made in spite of what Canada does, at least for anything longer than 7 days.  At least for us it's not a huge deal because we've cruised Alaska 6 times previously but still, just to get back on a Seabourn ship next year would have been wonderful.  Now we're not booked on anything until Antarctica until Feb/Mar 2022 on Quest.

 

 

[wesport]

10 hours ago, zelker said:

Thanks for posting the link - have been watching Seabourn's site all afternoon since HAL announced it so knew it was coming.  We knew it was a crap shoot when we booked our B2B in Alaska in July 2021 (10 and 11 days) because there's still no guarantee that Canada will reopen for ships next year anyway and now the decision has been made in spite of what Canada does, at least for anything longer than 7 days.  At least for us it's not a huge deal because we've cruised Alaska 6 times previously but still, just to get back on a Seabourn ship next year would have been wonderful.  Now we're not booked on anything until Antarctica until Feb/Mar 2022 on Quest.

 

 

Announcement was yesterday. Have received nothing from Seabourn or my travel agent on my 11 night Canada New England sailing. 

[zelker]

Us either.  I emailed my TA last night to see if she’s heard anything from Seabourn (and HAL since our 45 day cruise in October will also be canceled).  Suspect notification will be coming from both lines shortly.

[CabinBoy2020]

What about 7 day back-to-backs?  I have three 7 day segments booked on the Odyssey in Sep 2021 (B2B2B Alaska-Pacific Coast).  Has there been any clarification about these sailings?  Thanks.

 

Bill

[zelker]

We were hoping to do the same thing, once our 10 & 11 night B2B is officially cancelled in July.  However, people on HAL threads are reporting that B2Bs, even when booked under separate confirmation numbers for each segment, aren't going to be allowed. 

 

I do still plan to ask Seabourn directly but fear it's going to be a no-go.  😞 

Edited November 21, 2020 by zelker

[wesport]

I just noticed that the 14 day cruises in the Western Med, are no longer available. They are now only 7 day cruises. Mine is on October 9th and is 14 days. Still available , but who knows. I was going to use miles to get home as the tickets are opening up, but  not sure that one will go in October for 14 days. 

[hamrag]

6 hours ago, CabinBoy2020 said:

What about 7 day back-to-backs?  I have three 7 day segments booked on the Odyssey in Sep 2021 (B2B2B Alaska-Pacific Coast).  Has there been any clarification about these sailings?  Thanks.

 

Bill

Not allowed, under any circumstance!

[robertmartha]

Good news just keeping piling on....😔

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23922-cdc-raises-warning-for-cruise-travel.html

 

Looks like the vaccine's will be what is needed to turn this situation around once and for all....

I know its been discussed on various boards within CC...but I would think cruisers and all travelers (ship or airline) may need to show proof of immunization at least in the short term (20121?) in order to travel outside ones country? I know I would be comfortable with that requirement getting on a flight or on a ship - for my own health as well as that of the airline staff and cruise staff. While no vaccine is 100% effective - the %'s stated this week between 90-95% seem very promising. 

 

I think we all have a long 6 months ahead of us - at the very least.

 

Since I am still working (thankfully) - 7 day sailings work for me as well - so looking ahead to maybe a summer sailing?

[dalliowner]

We are booked on the crossing in November , I hope they are not going to make us get off half way across.😁

[CabinBoy2020]

Just received an email from Seabourn:  My 21-day Alaska-Pacific Coast cruise in Sep 2021 is cancelled.  Now another decision about requesting a refund or taking the 125% FCC.  I need a spreadsheet to keep track of all these credits!

[wesport]

I just got the email also. Requested the refund. Now the waiting game. Waited 66 days for a refund earlier in the year. Just pretend you lost the money and be surprised when you actually get the refund. 

[zelker]

We were notified of our B2B in Alaska (10 and 11 days) this morning as well.  This time we're actually taking the FCCs and will have both deposits and the FCCs applied to our existing Antarctica booking in February of 2022, figuring that the 25% is WAY more than what we could make in interest in the next year.  And of course if we cancel before the penalty phase starts (October 2021), we can just get the deposits refunded.

 

[MightyQuinn]

22 hours ago, CabinBoy2020 said:

Just received an email from Seabourn:  My 21-day Alaska-Pacific Coast cruise in Sep 2021 is cancelled.  Now another decision about requesting a refund or taking the 125% FCC.  I need a spreadsheet to keep track of all these credits!

 

CabinBoy, I'm sorry your cruises were cancelled as I know you were looking forward to sailing with Seabourn.  I hope you get another opportunity to experience the SB magic. 

Just a thought as you ponder whether to take a refund or FCC.  I've noticed recently that some SB promotional offers are not available to guests who use FCCs.  For example, the fine print on the current Black Friday deals says: Guests using a Future Cruise Credit and/or rebooking from 2020/2021 voyages impacted by a pause in operations are not eligible for this offer.  I'm not sure if SB will rigidly apply this restriction or if they'll be flexible and consider bookings with special offers on a case-by-case basis.  But it's something to think about if you decide to go the FCC route.

[JodiandFrank]

On 11/23/2020 at 3:31 AM, dalliowner said:

We are booked on the crossing in November , I hope they are not going to make us get off half way across.😁

The Nov 6 Lisbon to Miami?  We are also booked on that!  I know of two other couples that are also booked on it....friends we made on our Dec 2019 cruise from Dubai to Hong Kong.  Fingers Crossed 🤞🤞🤞🤞

[CabinBoy2020]

Thank you MightyQuinn.  The Odyssey sounds like it would have been perfect to cruise Alaska.  I hope to experience Seabourn in the future.

[cruiseej]

On 11/23/2020 at 3:05 PM, zelker said:

We were notified of our B2B in Alaska (10 and 11 days) this morning as well.  This time we're actually taking the FCCs and will have both deposits and the FCCs applied to our existing Antarctica booking in February of 2022, figuring that the 25% is WAY more than what we could make in interest in the next year.  And of course if we cancel before the penalty phase starts (October 2021), we can just get the deposits refunded.

 

 

You are likely aware of this, but just to be sure: the deposit you paid directly on the Antarctic cruise will be refundable until October, but the FCCs you're applying to the cruise are not refundable. You can move the FCCs to another cruise, as long as it's within the time limit for the FCC, but you lose the ability to get a cash refund for the FCC.

[zelker]

8 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

You are likely aware of this, but just to be sure: the deposit you paid directly on the Antarctic cruise will be refundable until October, but the FCCs you're applying to the cruise are not refundable. You can move the FCCs to another cruise, as long as it's within the time limit for the FCC, but you lose the ability to get a cash refund for the FCC.

You’re confusing me.

 

Seabourn and my TA said that the deposits we originally charged to our credit card (the two from the two canceled Alaska cruises) that we’re moving over to Antarctica plus the original deposit that we’d already made on Antarctica are all refundable if we were to cancel prior to penalty phase starting and that the only thing we stand to lose are the two 25% extra FCCs from the Alaska cruises that they’re giving us if they don’t get applied to something that sails before the end of 2022.  

 

But your comment makes it sound like we’d lose the amount of the two original Alaska deposits were moving over if we cancel Antarctica and don’t rebook something else.  Please clarify.

[Covepointcruiser]

Our crossing for April 2020 was canceled as was the replacement for April 2021.   We are now booked on an April 2022 crossing and on the new expedition ship to Greenland in July 2022.   I hope everyone has received the vaccines by then and we don’t have further cancellations.   We also had a Montreal to NY cancelled.

[cruiseej]

@zelker I'm sorry if I created confusion or added worry.

 

I don't have  a future cruise booked on Seabourn currently, but do have one on Silversea. (Ours is Antarctica too! We would have selected Seabourn, but the price and length of the Venture cruise that includes South Georgia Island was just too much for us, so we booked Silversea instead.) I was under the impression the luxury lines were all doing basically the same thing:

• When the cruise line cancels a cruise, they give you a choice of a 100% cash refund or a FCC at a higher level (here, 125%).
• If you take the 100% cash, you can apply it to another cruise -- that's equivalent to you putting down cash n the cruise, so it's 100% refundable for a cash refund up until the the penalty phase kicks in.
• If you instead opt for the FCC for a higher dollar value, that FCC is not refundable for cash.
• Customers generally have to choose between the 100% refund or the higher value but non-refundable FCC.

In our case, we were booked on a Silversea Antarctica cruise which would have departed in a few weeks in mid-December 2020. When the cruise was cancelled, we decided we'd rebook the same cruise a year from now. We could have taken a 110% FCC and applied it to the December 2021 cruise, but that money would not have been refundable once we accepted the FCC. So if we decided for any reason we weren't ready to travel in December 2021, we would have only been able to move the FCC to some other cruise within the time limit of the FCC. Since this was such an expensive cruise, we were not willing to take that risk. So we instead applied our cash refund to a new booking for the December 2021 cruise -- and our money is refundable up until late next summer. (It's as if we got a cash refund, then made a new booking and paid it in full; it just cut out the weeks of waiting for a refund to come and then turning around to redeposit it.)

 

In our case, our TA was able to wangle Silversea into giving us a 10% credit on our 2021 booking (which allowed us to upgrade to Business Class air for almost no additional cost), so we essentially got the equivalent of the FCC "bonus" in the end -- but that was a combination of timing, luck and a good TA working on our behalf. The key to us was that our booking is still refundable for cash if the world's not in much better shape by next summer.

 

Perhaps Seabourn has given you a similar deal. As you describe it, your 125% FCC is actually split into 100% refundable deposit on your Antartica trip plus a 25% FCC which you use or lose. That's not generally the way FCCs have been handled by the cruise lines this year, but as we found with our TA, there's sometimes wangling that can be done to get you such a deal. If they treated your deposits as a 100% refund and rebooking, as we did, and they offered you a 25% FCC on top to keep you a happy customer, then you're in great shape -- and it sounds like you've confirmed this is the case. I'd just make sure you have it in writing on your booking or in an email from Seabourn that the amount of your deposit moved to this cruise is refundable for cash if you cancel (subject to the normal penalty rules and timing).

[zelker]

@cruiseej Yes, I have it in writing in the Terms and Conditions from the cancellation options.  And no, not all lines are handling it the same way.  (HAL and Seabourn who are sister companies aren’t even handling things the same). 

 

In case you’re unaware, Seabourn postponed the new ship until the end of 2022 in Antarctica so Quest is doing it one more season, 2021/2022, and it’s considerably lower in price than Venture and likely Silversea.

[cruiseej]

@zelker  Yes, I knew that Venture was postponed a year. When we first decided to go to Antarctica, we were gung-ho to go on the Quest after talking to fellow Seabourn travelers about their experiences. Over time, as we read and talked to lots of people about a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica, two things we decided were that (1) we would only do an itinerary that included South Georgia Island, and that (2) we'd probably be happier on a smaller ship than the Quest (which we otherwise love!) in order to experience more landings. That's what led us to initially consider the Venture. I was enthralled with the idea of a smaller ship, all new, with everything we love about Seabourn, and we eagerly awaited details about bookings last year. But when the pricing came out last year, we just found it too much. (The Venture would have been about $55,000 for a basic suite, with no air; Silversea was about $47,000 including air, so Seabourn would have been 25% more on what for us is already a very expensive trip.)

 

We had just come off our first Silversea trip on one of their expedition ships in Greenland, which was a great experience. So although we would have picked Seabourn as our first choice, the Venture was too expensive for us and the smaller Silversea ship won out for us over the Seabourn Quest. (Seabourn's itinerary for South Georgia on the Quest is 24 days, which is tough for two people in our group who are still working. A V3 suite on Quest would price out just  little less than Silversea, but without air; add air, and Seabourn is a little more expensive.)

 

In general, Seabourn FCC's are not later refundable for a cash refund should you decide not to travel or a cruise is canceled, so I'm glad you have it in writing that yours is! It sounds like you got an arrangement similar to what we did with Silversea: the deposit was rolled over basically as a deposit, not an FCC, and Seabourn then gave you the "bonus" 25% FCC in addition -- so you got the best of both worlds.

 

Here's hoping the world is in a much better place by a year from now, and we'll both be eagerly anticipating the start of our journeys to Antarctica!

[w.w.voyager]

On 11/23/2020 at 7:49 PM, CabinBoy2020 said:

Just received an email from Seabourn:  My 21-day Alaska-Pacific Coast cruise in Sep 2021 is cancelled.  Now another decision about requesting a refund or taking the 125% FCC.  I need a spreadsheet to keep track of all these credits!

Have you got a spreadsheet?

[ABLAN976]

We are booked on the Quest from Dover to Montreal. The sailing departs August 5th 2021 and arrives August 29th.

Seabourn announced in November that all voyages longer than 7 days calling at a US port from July 27th to November 6th were cancelled. 

Our cruise does not call at a US port, only Canadian.However Seabourn have withdrawn our cruise and are not accepting further bookings. I have discovered that all future cruises on the Quest after Montreal on August 29th have been cancelled in accordance with the November directive.[ all those cruises involved US ports ]. Seabourn say the cruise is not cancelled and will sail. I am rather suspicious about this and fear  it will eventually be cancelled. Can anyone shed some light on this ?

[zelker]

@ABLAN976  I'd check online tomorrow.  Seabourn told me a few days ago that they would be updating some itineraries Monday (12-14).