November crossing

[dalliowner]

I was pleased to see that the Ovation was taking over the November crossing from Lisbon to Miami but did anybody notice that Josh Leibowitz video stating that the Ovation`s first sailing from Miami would be in January 22. Does this mean  that the crossing will now end somewhere else. (Barbados ?)  I presume we will find out on 8 July but I would not want to organise flights until then.

[Palmeat]

We are booked on the 23 night back-to-back from Lisbon on 6 November - transatlantic + Caribbean via Miami. As a precaution we booked our return flights from Miami on 29/11 through Seabourn just in case there's a forced itinerary change, but speaking to our agents on Thursday it looks like it's a straight swap of itinerary. Haven't seen the video but maybe the January date referenced Ovation's new itinerary from 22 January after completing the Sojourn schedule?

[dalliowner]

Unfortuntely I do not think any of any of the agents no any better than any of us, and we will have to wait until  8 July  to get the details

[markham]

Someone must have misspoken re the Ovation’s first US departure from Miami will be given the fact that the Christmas to LA cruise starts there on 21 Dec., 2021. We were so informed by our TA with the news that this cruise would not be on Sojourn as originally booked and that we will be moved over to Sojourn in LA for the WC starting 11 Jan.

 

You might say “what WC?” if NZ, Australia and a few Asian countries will not necessarily be open by then. We are wondering about that too. I expect to hear the definitive plan in September or so. FWIW, 

Cunard canceled their 2 WCs for 2022.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[fdnycruiser]

Mark ham, you’re correct. The Ovation will be doing the holiday from Miami to LA on the 21st. Prior to that Ovation will  be on a 10 day carribean cruise from Miami. Bookings not open to the public until July 8th. Sojourn passengers will have an opportunity before that. 

[dalliowner]

With the covid situation in Florida , I still think Seabourn must be considering changing Miami to one of the Caribbean ports. 

[cruisr]

I keep getting emails on the 3 Ovation sailings R/T from MIA in November and December.  11 nights.  I would have booked one but as they are accepting non vaccinated guests I will not book.

[jenidallas]

1 hour ago, cruisr said:

I keep getting emails on the 3 Ovation sailings R/T from MIA in November and December.  11 nights.  I would have booked one but as they are accepting non vaccinated guests I will not book.

 

When did they make that switch?  

[Mr Luxury]

Who said there were going to be non vaccinated guests onboard?

[cruiseej]

@cruisr From the Seabourn website: 

 

"Regardless of age, guests on all Seabourn voyages departing through January 15, 2022 must be fully vaccinated."

 

This is on the page for Barbados Travel Requirements, but it's clear this sentence refers to "all Seabourn voyages" this year. I don't think this has changed. 

 

It goes on to say: "Specific requirements for other itineraries from January 16, 2022 and beyond will be finalized once we have approval to operate from the respective destinations. Once we have those details, they will be shared with guests."

[purpleally]

Currently booked on ovation out of Miami for November 29, which was originally Sojourn

If Seabourn switches to a Caribbean island it will be a deal breaker 

Curious, is that a big enough switch that I could cancel and get a refund rather than FCC

1st choice is to cruise out of Miami, of course!

[cruisr]

I heard it from a friend in FL who said that all the cruiselines sailing out of FL ports cannot ban anyone from cruising including unvaccinated.  Perhaps she was mixing up Crystal and Seabourn.  Crystal is allowing non vaccinated on their cruises out of FL starting yesterday.  I will verify with SB and sorry if I started a panic.

[markham]

Make no mistake. Seabourn wants to resume sailing from Florida under the same conditions that you probably do: 100% vaccinated passengers. Seabourn knows full well that anything less is a deal breaker for many, many cruisers with reservations in the coming months. 
 

This palaver is due to certain local domestic political issues which you can research. Just dreadful.

 

Other cruise lines that are operating there are doing what they can to encourage those who are fully vaccinated on board by requiring of the non-vaccinated special insurance, mandating daily testing, barring independent travel off ship (in line with what local ports will allow and not allow), and other restrictive measures which might discourage the non-vaccinated from cruising in the first place.

 

For me, this is not good enough. A straightforward business-first policy of 100% compliance with vaccinations is.

 

Yes, this is a Florida matter and is not an issue in LA and other ports, and hopefully this will be resolved in short order or maybe through lawsuits already filed medium term. 
 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[cruisr]

Geez, things keep changing.  I seriously don’t know what i should book if I want 100% vaccinated guests.  Over on the Crystal board people are switching to MIA as they don’t want to deal with the Bahamas visa stuff.  5% of the guests are allowed to be unvaccinated and for me that is 5% too many,  Calling Seabourn tomorrow.

[cruiseej]

Again, Seabourn's website says this: ""Regardless of age, guests on all Seabourn voyages departing through January 15, 2022 must be fully vaccinated." Please post if you find out that is not true for the sailings from Miami after talking to Seabourn.