Anyone cancelling their cruise?

[bill0021]

We just got off the Symphony of The Sea's on Saturday and were selected for the Covid Testing at The Montreal Airport.  It took 2 days to get the results which were negative, but had to stay home for the 2 days, which we did.  Three tests in one week and each one would have had not so fun outcomes if positive.

 

We have B2B Celebrity Apex Jan 3rd with friends booked but it is looking like we will be cancelling and using the "cruise with confidence" FCC's as outlined above.

 

Aside from possible illness, testing positive on the way back to Canada would mean being away from the business for a month with the vacation and quarantine added together and that would not be a good thing.  The chances of testing positive are multiplying each day at a high rate.

IMO, it is a personal risk/reward/social responsibility decision.

[tert333]

I think that is a very reasonable call. We are on the bubble for that Jan 3 Apex cruise as well.  If they do the same as RCL and no longer provide tests on the ship, we will cancel.   Also looking at the covid numbers which continue to go up.

 

I was talking to my TA last night and she gave me a headsup that if we cancel, we should do it no later than mid day on December 31(we are allow to cancel up to 48 hours before the cruise).  She said that Celebrity may close early on the 31st and is not open on the 1st and did not want us to have a dispute with Celebrity over the cancellation.

 

 

[disneykins]

Nope, not cancelling. Just made final payment for Feb. 19 NCL cruise. 2 other cruises have final due in next month and we'll make those payments too unless the borders closed. Fully vaxxed with booster. No insurance either. If borders close, we'll get FCCs, if NCL cancels, we'll get refund. If we're positive, we'll get refund or FCC's. We're driving down to Florida so any tests come back positive, we'll just drive home and quarantine here. We're retired so no commitments. We've been cancelling cruises for almost 2 years and finally feel safe enough to travel. If we wait for Omicron to get controlled, the next variant will come along, we're not going back to Covid free world IMHO. We mask everywhere we go so masking on a ship will be fine.

I understand people cancelling, different circumstances for everyone. Good luck and hope we all get to cruise again soon.

Tony

[iancal]

One reason we have not booked a cruise.....the very last thing we want is an FCC on any cruise line.

 

We want the freedom to shop when we are ready and not feel obligated to book on any one cruise line because we happen to be holding an FCC.

 

We might feel differently if were only cruised on one cruise line however we shop for the best offer at the time.

Edited December 21, 2021 by iancal

[letscruzmarch]

Canceled today sadly. We were scheduled on celebrity summit for the 26th.  Air Canada changed our flight and with the increase of cases here.. we were just too worried about getting a positive while in the States.  
We had our fights through celebrity and will get a refund for that.  FCC for the cruise itself. Fed up, discouraged and so done with all of this.

[14Canadian]

Sorry to know that you have canceled your vacation.

After debating for days we canceled our January 05 and January 16th NCL out of Miami also. May or may net get FCC. Will see and book another one for September/October for Alaska this time .

We did not want to take a risk of being stranded in USA.

[waiting2retire]

After a lot of gnashing of teeth and heated arguments with myself, I finally cancelled my January 9 solo cruise on Princess 😢. A one week last-minute “relaxing” getaway was quickly turning into more aggravation than it was worth and I decided that even a slim possibility of missing my grandson’s 5th birthday (which I had carefully planned around) was more of a risk than I was willing to take. 
 

I have two longer cruises booked later in the year and still hope the Covid situation will improve to the point I am more comfortable proceeding with those plans. What I have figured out is that to cruise or not to cruise is a very personal decision each individual must make in accordance with their own situation and level of risk tolerance. 
 

For those of you who cancel, I sympathize deeply. For those who don’t cancel, bon voyage and stay safe!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Friends from the UK are getting on Equinox as I am writing this 

sad we are not with them , 😢

but grandkids are coming tomorrow 😁

[Been There, Planning That]

36 minutes ago, waiting2retire said:

What I have figured out is that to cruise or not to cruise is a very personal decision each individual must make in accordance with their own situation and level of risk tolerance. 

I sure concur with this point of view and unfortunately our level of risk tolerance seems to change with each news update.

 

Can't beat a five year old's birthday celebration for over the top joy and excitement.

 

Ruth

[Cruiser_SJEL]

I am enjoying hearing about everyone’s view as thoughts on this subject.  Checking this forum each day has become part of my schedule whilst we decide what to do about our 10 day cruise leaving Fort Lauderdale.  While we are not going to make a final decision until the end of the month, as of right now, we area leaning more towards going for the following reasons:

 

1.) Today the PM said, in response to a question, that whilst very option on the table, it would be very unlikely that the would actually close the boarder because air travel makes only a small amount of cases being brought into the country and, as a fundamental right, they can’t stop Canadians from coming home.

2.) We will have both our vaccines and boosters by the end of the month.

3.) The symptoms of this variant are compared to a mild flu, if you have all your shots.

4.) We can easily do a PCR test to come back into Canada, so that is not an issue.

5.) We desperately need as a vacation.

6.) COVID is not going any where for a long time,.  we can either stay at home with the  risk getting COVID within our own communities or we can be safe and go on the cruise.  Either of those options have a risk of getting sick.

 

I know everyone has there own views and need to make their own decision if they feel safe; however, this is my thinking at the moment for us.

[bennybear]

It’s a very difficult decision and does depend on personal situations. For us, the cancellation of our insurance due to the new advisory was the straw that broke the proverbial camels back.  
 

With all the breakthrough infections we really don’t feel comfortable travelling right now.  We have final payment coming up for a Holy Land cruise in May, Israel-has just added Canada to its red list so right now it doesn’t look promising.  
 

be sure to check your insurance coverage right now. 

[wendycook22]

18 hours ago, letscruzmarch said:

Canceled today sadly. We were scheduled on celebrity summit for the 26th.  Air Canada changed our flight and with the increase of cases here.. we were just too worried about getting a positive while in the States.  
We had our fights through celebrity and will get a refund for that.  FCC for the cruise itself. Fed up, discouraged and so done with all of this.

Do you know if Celebrity will be charging you the cancellation fee for the flights?  We had refundable air fare, but there is a note when we booked stating that there are cancellation fees on the refundable airfare after final payment.  

[Sunflower5335]

Good day! Well we have decided to go…While I am struggling with the present situation and judgements of a lot of people we do not want to postpone again.  We are all vaccinated, extremelly well insured for both health and quarantine, flying from the US so even if positive we can return home, worst case scenario we test positive before getting on board then our trip will be cut short . I would have liked  things to be different because it is quite stressful and not the way we usually like to travel but I think the situation will go on for a while and it would be the 4th for us postponing…So Mariner of the seas January 1st here we come 😀 Flying from Plattsburgh NY on the 28th, spending a few days in Orlando and crossing our fingers all will go well! 

[paulajj]

Does anyone that cancels now under the cruise with confidence get the full year from cruise date to rebook and use fcc? I went to cancel my January cruise  today and it says September 2022. We are wanting to book rebook in November. 
 

I can phone but just wanting an idea. 
 

thx!

[nickiford]

I'm still on the fence for our Feb 13th cruise.  We don't have FP until January 14th.  I'm flying to Florida on Saturday for 3 days to visit my parents with my sister, if that goes well and I feel relatively comfortable I'm thinking we will go ahead with it.  The way Omicron is tearing through my city right now I feel like I'm lucky if I will be able to make it to Saturday without getting it!!  Being so careful.  We are doing rapid tests before we go even though we are flying out of Buffalo just to make sure that we aren't going there with it.

[loupana]

Because of Royal Caribbean new policy of not doing PCR tests onboard for International travelers to return home. We canceled our  B2B cruise on Symphony of the Seas. January 15th (paid in full with Airfare) and January 22nd (final payment due tomorrow).

Happy to report, I got 100% refund.

I specifically stated I was promised a PCR test to return home and booked Flights via Air2Sea on day of departure because of this. I then said because of this change I request 100% refund. Agent put me on hold to talk to someone in resolutions. Took a few minutes but came back and said I'm entitled to 100% cruise refund. But he needed to call Air2Sea to see what refund I was entitled for the Airfare. Very happy when he returned and confirmed that they will fully refund my Airfare as well.

Total time on phone was maybe 20-25 minutes.

[Fouremco]

25 minutes ago, paulajj said:

Does anyone that cancels now under the cruise with confidence get the full year from cruise date to rebook and use fcc? I went to cancel my January cruise  today and it says September 2022. We are wanting to book rebook in November. 
 

I can phone but just wanting an idea. 
 

thx!

I've been keeping an eye on the CWC policy as I'm considering cancelling as well. There has been nothing on CC's Celebrity board suggesting a change, nor is there anything changed on the Celebrity website. The current policy, copied below, indicates that you have until December 31, 2022, so a November 2022 cruise should be fine. 

Cancel up to 48 Hours Before you Sail

You have up to 48 hours before you sail to cancel and receive 100% Future Cruise Credit to use by May 31, 2022 toward any sailing through December 31, 2022, or one year from your original sailing date, whichever is later.

• For cancellation within any phase of penalty, refunds will be issued as Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for the full cruise fare amount.  
• In order to receive 100% FCC, your booking must be paid in full.
• For cancellation outside of penalty, your refund will be issued to the original form of payment. (Only applicable in countries that offer a refundable deposit option).
• Nonrefundable Deposit Bookings: If canceled outside of penalty, the full deposit amount will be returned (without penalty) in the form of an FCC. If canceled within any phase of penalty, the cruise fare including full deposit (without penalty) will be issued as an FCC.
• Bookings made with FCCs from suspended sailings will also benefit from the new Cruise With Confidence policy.

The only thing that comes to mind, other than the usual potential issues with Celebrity's website, is whether you applied an FCC to this cruise that had an original "use by" date of September 2022. In that case, might they apply the same restriction when it is reissued to you? That's not something I've seen addressed on way or the other under the CWC policy.

 

As I'm sure others face a similar situation, please do let us know what you find out.

 

 

 

[paulajj]

16 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I've been keeping an eye on the CWC policy as I'm considering cancelling as well. There has been nothing on CC's Celebrity board suggesting a change, nor is there anything changed on the Celebrity website. The current policy, copied below, indicates that you have until December 31, 2022, so a November 2022 cruise should be fine. 

Cancel up to 48 Hours Before you Sail

You have up to 48 hours before you sail to cancel and receive 100% Future Cruise Credit to use by May 31, 2022 toward any sailing through December 31, 2022, or one year from your original sailing date, whichever is later.

• For cancellation within any phase of penalty, refunds will be issued as Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for the full cruise fare amount.  
• In order to receive 100% FCC, your booking must be paid in full.
• For cancellation outside of penalty, your refund will be issued to the original form of payment. (Only applicable in countries that offer a refundable deposit option).
• Nonrefundable Deposit Bookings: If canceled outside of penalty, the full deposit amount will be returned (without penalty) in the form of an FCC. If canceled within any phase of penalty, the cruise fare including full deposit (without penalty) will be issued as an FCC.
• Bookings made with FCCs from suspended sailings will also benefit from the new Cruise With Confidence policy.

The only thing that comes to mind, other than the usual potential issues with Celebrity's website, is whether you applied an FCC to this cruise that had an original "use by" date of September 2022. In that case, might they apply the same restriction when it is reissued to you? That's not something I've seen addressed on way or the other under the CWC policy.

 

As I'm sure others face a similar situation, please do let us know what you find out.

 

 

 

No, it was a new booking without FCC but it was made quite a while ago.

 

I think I’ll put on my ‘on hold waiting hat’ and give them a call tomorrow. 
I’ll report back what happens 🙂

Edited December 22, 2021 by paulajj

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, paulajj said:

No, it was a new booking without FCC but it was made quite a while ago.

 

I think I’ll put on my ‘on hold waiting hat’ and give them a call tomorrow. 
I’ll report back what happens 🙂

Thanks. 👍

[Veinless]

19 minutes ago, paulajj said:

No, it was a new booking without FCC but it was made quite a while ago.

 

I think I’ll put on my ‘on hold waiting hat’ and give them a call tomorrow. 
I’ll report back what happens 🙂

 

Where are you seeing that site? I'd be curious what it says for my upcoming cruise.

[paulajj]

5 minutes ago, Veinless said:

 

Where are you seeing that site? I'd be curious what it says for my upcoming cruise.

I went into already booked.
View vacation. 
manage your vacation. 
Clicked on Reservation Details. 
Then there’s a blue banner that says 

Cruise with confidence flexible cancellations. 
clicked on that and it shows. 

Edited December 22, 2021 by paulajj

[Veinless]

Interesting, thanks! It is missing for me. Maybe because I'm booked through a TA.

[bill0021]

Bravo Canadians, if this was on one of the other forums where every one chimes in, there would be fighting and name calling, in place of information and respect of opinion.

 

I just pushed the cancel button on two B@B leaving Jan 3rd.

 

 - Expedia Hotel Canceled, click...click...canceled full refund.

- Air Canada, click....click full refund on the upgrades back to the credit card and points back to Aeroplan minus $9, which was A-OK.

- Travel Agent on-line booking: three clicks and confirmation that it will be confirmed with Celebrity within 24 hours.

 

So far pretty darn easy and painless.  Bravo to all the above companies.

 

Every minute there is another announcement and our health minister commented today that do not be surprised if there is a quarantine coming back.  The risk of a quarantine on top of the two week vacation is too long to be away at this time.  

 

It was painful hitting hitting that red button.  We are thankful that we just off off a 7 day that we booked recently.  Time to plan where and when to spend those FFC's.

[bill0021]

9 minutes ago, Veinless said:

Interesting, thanks! It is missing for me. Maybe because I'm booked through a TA.

Yes, you have to go through your TA.

[paulajj]

10 minutes ago, Veinless said:

Interesting, thanks! It is missing for me. Maybe because I'm booked through a TA.

Quite possibly. I booked direct so that would make sense.