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All cruises with US ports cancelled for 2021


ridethetide
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My TA just received the following regarding our booked Alaska cruise for July 2021.

 

In November, Star Breeze completed her stretch and transformation as part of the $250 Million Star Plus Initiative.  After seeing the 50 new suites, restaurants, spa and fitness center and other new and updated public spaces, I can’t wait to sail aboard her again. We know your clients were also looking forward to their 2021 cruise aboard Star Breeze. Unfortunately, we must change her deployment due to recent regulations for U.S. cruises released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Under the CDC conditional sail order expected to remain in effect through the 2021 summer season, no cruises visiting U.S. ports may be longer than seven days. Since most of our itineraries are longer by design, changes are necessary.

We are cancelling our cruises in and out of U.S. ports in 2021. Instead, Star Breeze will sail in the Caribbean when she begins cruising again in May 2021 and then transition to Tahiti in the fall. We are currently working on updating itineraries and expect to release them for booking by December 16, in time for a two-week Bon Voyage 2020 sale beginning December 17 for cruises in 2021 and 2022. I highly encourage you to check back with us to present your clients with options on these new itineraries scheduled for Star Breeze or another one of our yachts. 

In connection with this change in deployment, we are offering a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) valued at 125% of monies paid to Windstar Cruises. From there, your clients have two options.

Option 1:             Book another Windstar Cruise. Your client will have 24 months from the issue date of the FCC to sail with their FCC.  Given the volume of cancellations, please allow up to four weeks for your clients to receive their FCC certificate.

 

Option 2:             Receive a Cash Refund. Should your client wish to convert their canceled voyage FCC into a cash refund, they may do so once the FCC certificate is received. They may contact Windstar to request this option after receiving their FCC certificate. Windstar will deactivate the FCC valued at 125% and process the refund to the original form(s) of payment at 100% of the monies paid to Windstar Cruises. Your clients will have 24 months from the issue date of the FCC to request the refund.

Please note Windstar does not reimburse third party (non-Windstar) travel expenses or fees.

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We were booked for an Alaska trip in August; I'd noticed the "call for availability" several weeks ago and both our TA and Chris Prelog when he did the Q&A indicated that Star Breeze Summer 2021 itineraries were "under review."

 

The trip was a re-book of an August 2020 Alaska trip using FCCs.  At this point, I'm not sure what we'll do.  The 2020 trip (11 days, Seward to Vancouver) included Prince William Sound and Hubbard Glacier.  For 2021, the trip dropped Hubbard Glacier, adding a sea day.  In 2022, both PWS and Hubbard Glacier are gone.

 

Much to think about.

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I guess I can expect to see a similar letter coming my way regarding cancellation of my 9/21 Canada/New England cruise. These cruises are still available to book but will probably be cancelled in the next round of Windstar itinerary changes. Hoping for a good price for the 2022 cruise during the “Bon Voyage to 2020” sale. Gotta love the name Windstar picked for this sale.

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We just keep moving on to the next! Actually the letter we received says the Breeze will start sailing the Caribbean in May. If that happens and we have received the vaccine we will be on board!

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8 hours ago, sb44 said:

We just keep moving on to the next! Actually the letter we received says the Breeze will start sailing the Caribbean in May. If that happens and we have received the vaccine we will be on board!

It seems odd to sail the Caribbean in the summer.  Of course, I would take any sailing right now!

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I will take this one step further I hope ships , planes and trains require proof of vaccine. A vaccine passport. We have vaccines for everything and I have traveled  to countries where the Yellow Fever vaccine proof is required to enter the country.  No vaccine no go. I hope the powers to be have the guts to do this. Of course the exception is if someone has a very serious allergy but it is on them to show medical proof. I for one need to get beyond this and to carry on. Happy Future Safe Sailing. 

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2 hours ago, Strenz said:

I will take this one step further I hope ships , planes and trains require proof of vaccine. A vaccine passport. We have vaccines for everything and I have traveled  to countries where the Yellow Fever vaccine proof is required to enter the country.  No vaccine no go. I hope the powers to be have the guts to do this. Of course the exception is if someone has a very serious allergy but it is on them to show medical proof. I for one need to get beyond this and to carry on. Happy Future Safe Sailing. 

That will be pretty hard to do in 2021, as many of us will still be waiting to get that vaccine for many months.

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I would like to think that by April/May most of us will get it. That is what my state is saying. Certainly by Mid Summer. Fingers crossed and listening  to science. I do not want to go on a ship without it and I do not want to be on a ship that allows  people on the ship who choose not to get it. Again can not wait to cruise with WS, I hope the company makes good decisions about who can go. I am of the strong opinion no vaccine no go. Happy Return to Sailing.

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Mostly likely American law will not apply because they are not registered in the US. I know many companies are looking into this. I read an article that Lufthansa, Jet Blue and Air France are making a policy no vaccine no go, but it might be international flights because I have read that the EU and Canada are thinking, no vaccine no entering.Too dangerous, too expensive not to do this since most of the Western World will have the vaccine by the end of summer so the experts are saying. It is a wait and see but I hope a sound, safe policy prevails. With this disease sound and safe for me means the vaccine. I am excited to change the page for 2020. Happy Sailing. 

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6 hours ago, dandee2 said:

I hope that even if people are vaccinated, PCR or whatever test will be mandatory for all of 2021. Immunity is not going to last a lifetime and people might assume they are immunized while they are not anymore.

Immunity might last a lifetime - it does for some diseases. In any case, since those of us not in the trials will be getting it months after the trials there will be warning that the protection is waning and a program of giving boosters can be started. 

 

A vaccine verification would include a date so if it was too long ago a booster can be required. Anyway, I expect that vaccine protection will last at least through 2021 so they won't need to worry about that until some time later. We've already seen that requirements for a PCR test have limited effectiveness since someone who has been recently exposed is likely to test negative but develop active disease a few days later.  That's one reason that a vaccine is much preferable to a test. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Strenz said:

I would like to think that by April/May most of us will get it. That is what my state is saying. Certainly by Mid Summer. Fingers crossed and listening  to science. I do not want to go on a ship without it and I do not want to be on a ship that allows  people on the ship who choose not to get it. Again can not wait to cruise with WS, I hope the company makes good decisions about who can go. I am of the strong opinion no vaccine no go. Happy Return to Sailing.

I'm hoping that we can get the two shots before May. It seems like there are several vaccines in the pipeline with promising results. A second one is supposed to be near approval. Multiple sources should improve availability. I also don't want to go on a ship (or any other vacation other than driving to a spot where we can hike) without it. 

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Vaccines for small pox and yellow fever last a lifetime.  This is unlikely for a corona virus. The problem now is that we do not know how long the immunity will last for these vaccines. If you provide proof of vaccine on June 1st, we do not know if you are still immune on December 1st. To further complicate matters, it is not known at this time if the vaccine actually prevents COVID or just prevents symptoms. If it only prevents symptoms, then it does not stop the spread of the virus if you can remain asymptomatic and a spreader. This is truly more complicated than we can imagine.

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18 hours ago, Strenz said:

I would like to think that by April/May most of us will get it. That is what my state is saying. Certainly by Mid Summer. Fingers crossed and listening  to science. I do not want to go on a ship without it and I do not want to be on a ship that allows  people on the ship who choose not to get it. Again can not wait to cruise with WS, I hope the company makes good decisions about who can go. I am of the strong opinion no vaccine no go. Happy Return to Sailing.

To get even half the population of the USA vaccinated in one year would mean about 500,000 administered every single day times two doses.  So, after the first month when people are getting the second dose, would mean 1,000,000 every day.  

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On 12/15/2020 at 2:22 PM, Strenz said:

I would like to think that by April/May most of us will get it. That is what my state is saying. Certainly by Mid Summer. Fingers crossed and listening  to science. I do not want to go on a ship without it and I do not want to be on a ship that allows  people on the ship who choose not to get it. Again can not wait to cruise with WS, I hope the company makes good decisions about who can go. I am of the strong opinion no vaccine no go. Happy Return to Sailing.

I hope you’re right but that’s not what I’ve been reading and Pfizer just cut their shipments like in half. I’m not sure for how long. 

Edited by milepig
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13 hours ago, Petoonya said:

For the vaccine....we just don't know.

I may have been a bit pestimistic, and I hope I was.  I'm quoting from an Article in the Wall Street Journal, and I'm using only a small part of the article, so I think it's OK:

 

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said he expects there to be enough vaccine doses starting in the second quarter of 2021 so that anyone who wants a vaccine can get it. Other federal health officials have said in the spring or summer. The timeline could change if manufacturing doesn’t go as planned.

 

The other good news is that a good percentage of the cruising population is over 65, and they'll in be one of the first groups, the last I read.

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On 12/13/2020 at 3:29 AM, ridethetide said:

It seems odd to sail the Caribbean in the summer.  Of course, I would take any sailing right now!

It may seem odd to sail the Caribbean in Summer, but it also seems downright foolhardy right now to visit any part of the USA for any reason. There are too many sick Americans, too many Americans who refuse to take this pandemic seriously, and too many Americans who have claimed they will refuse to take the vaccine. I love my elderly parents dearly, but I refuse to visit them in the USA, risking my life and theirs.

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Donald, I agree with you. Precisely why I hope trains, planes, ships, borders, 

adopt a " no vaccine no go"  policy excluding a life threatening allergy these vaccines should be mandatory. No one has the right to put others in harm's way for any reason. The behavior and the attitude of people in this country who refuse to take common sense safety measures is an abomination ( however, we do not have a monopoly on this seems to be worldly ). I can't wait  to take a WS Cruise again but I do not want to worry the entire time who is sitting next to me etc. I have not seen the only family I have, 2 sisters, for 2 years we are scheduled on the Surf for Christmas in 2021, here is hoping.

This pandemic has been harsh and murderous I wish people would take safety measures and the vaccine so healthy lives flourish,  families can be together, friendships can be continued, people can continue their lives working, and learning. Not to speak of those who can not wait to board a healthy ship. Happy  Sailing Soon. 

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