Omicron - anyone canceling an upcoming cruise?

[BoundForSea]

We sailed on the Dec 23-30 Seashore. DW and I are home now with Covid from shipboard infection. I had a Feb 4ni on the Mera that I’m going to push out (not sure when but as late as possible at this point) and book on Divina. 
 

Once that credit is used that’s it for “MSC for Me”. DW and I could write quite a thread on last week’s YC experience, Covid aside (that was just a nice parting gift), and everything leading up to. We will be going back to Celebrity, using up FCC on NCL Haven (even with the higher prices), and moving forward investing in the Luxury product from either Seabourne, SilverSea, or Regent beginning in 2023 for our European plans. We used to absolutely love the YC and the product, it is a far watered down cry from what it used to be in 19 and 20. 

 

 

[pghflyer]

Sorry you got sick and best wishes for recovery.  I do wonder though if anyone's product is "normal" right now for making decisions on who you will be willing to use in the future. 

[deliver42]

Everything from Aurea to the YC to the drinks to the thermal suite has been watered down by MSC. Right now, the ONLY reason to book MSC is price and price alone. I'm booked for May on the Seashore, and would cancel in a minute if I could trust them to refund our deposit, but I can't so I won't, but it will be our last MSC cruise. I will miss them because the ships and crews are great, but dealing with them is impossible.

[BoundForSea]

3 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Everything from Aurea to the YC to the drinks to the thermal suite has been watered down by MSC. Right now, the ONLY reason to book MSC is price and price alone. I'm booked for May on the Seashore, and would cancel in a minute if I could trust them to refund our deposit, but I can't so I won't, but it will be our last MSC cruise. I will miss them because the ships and crews are great, but dealing with them is impossible.

You are 100% correct, and no don't trust them to refund you, that's why I'm not cancelling my Feb but moving it to be my last MSC trip to Ocean Cay (which I really do enjoy).

 

Example, remember when they would escort you on embarkation into a beautiful room, sit you down and give you a Champagne, and let you know that someone will be calling you up to check in momentarily? Then you waited to be called up, sipped Sparkling Wine, had a great Croissant, then got escorted by a Butler up to you the lounge? Well, how about this (Dec 23rd experience).  Some very untrained young man brings you through security, then dumps you in a long line to check in and leaves. After waiting in a line for 30 min and it takes 20 to check in three people, you ask where do we go now? They point you toward a door with everyone else and a port employee shows you to a very large room where ALL of the passengers are crammed into. Thats it.  Social Distancing? Not even close. Then there's a mass rush to an escalator when they begin boarding and finally a Butler finds you, and attempts to take small groups to YC among all the rest fo the passengers, all pushing and shoving to go up one escalator.  You finally arrive at Top Sail Lounge, sit down, and look at each other and ask, what the heck was that? That was just the beginning of the week.  The rest was much the same, and the food was absolutely horrible. A cross between the Golden Corral (ate there once somewhere in a small town as it was the only place open after getting in from a late trip) and Olive Garden (Olive Garden's endless Salad is actually better quality than what my wife ate two nights), and that was in the YC Restaurant!   Its a darn shame, it really used to be something special.  Someone responded to my comment a couple of posts back about being my last on MSC, asking how do you know other brands aren't experiencing a similar degradation in quality and service? Valid comment... For me I know because I was on Celebrity 4 sailings since June of '21.  They were absolutely incredible, and better than ever.  This was my 5th sailing in YC since 2019 and was by far the worst.  If all others were 9 and 10s this was maybe a 1-2 on a scale of 10.  Best part, I got Covid 19 on board,  probably from trying what was measured in hours in front of YC staff to get my onboard credit to show up in my room account for 4 days straight. Unreal.

 

This is how I see it, you may see it differently, and I could go on and on about the quality differences from last week to my other 4 sailings.  

 

I'm sure some will put a flame thrower to me after this (it's ok used to it), but just know, I used to be MSC's biggest supporter for their YC experience and product on board, and have told fellow Travel Agents and others that as long as you can make it through their shoreside awful experiences with them, rest assured when you step on board its an amazing time.  I can't say that anymore, and I can't defend the product.  

 

"The Fall of Rome" has never been more true or appropriate.

 

    

Edited January 5, 2022 by BoundForSea

[sidari]

BFS ... I know at least one other board member who will agree with you who is also a YC cruiser on MSC.

[hamrag]

48 minutes ago, sidari said:

BFS ... I know at least one other board member who will agree with you who is also a YC cruiser on MSC.

I think I know whom you refer to.

 

All I can do is relate our own YC experience, on Seaview a transatlantic for 18 nights 17 November Barcelona to St Maarten.....and then the first 7 night cruise in the Caribbean 5 December, so 25 in total. The experience was fabulous, not perfect, but generally a firm 9 and in a couple of aspects a 7 or 8.....all in COVID-19 times, where crew cannot even get off the ship so it's no wonder that sometimes (like any of us) they are not shining brightly and morale is variable!

 

To pick up specifically on a couple of the issues BFC described:

 

• Boarding - not as swift at dock, had to wait 15 minutes or so on an outside bench in Barcelona with other YCers awaiting Butler. Once we started moving though it was the same experience as normal, taken to a small and separate YC waiting area where the LFTs were done, and all paperwork taken care of by Butler. Drinks and snacks available during this process, and once completed we proceeded directly to the YC enclave and into Top Sail lounge to be greeted by other butlers and a welcome drink offered. Total time from Cruise Terminal entry to YC enclave about 30 minutes, including the mandatory LFT and checking of vaccination passport etc.
• If the food was as bad as BFC described, they clearly need another chef. Our experience was the opposite, at dinner routinely 9s and a couple of those (from 23) were 10 and a handful an 8. No different from normal, but interaction was less due to social distancing and masking and therefore expected. Lunches we routinely had at the Top Pool Grill, and we generally had our food freshly grilled....ranging from Seabass, Large Shrimp, Salmon, Tuna Steak, Lamb, Fillet Mignon.....all of those, being fresh and piping hot, were 10s. The other buffet food there, I'd give mainly 8s with occasional 7 and one port day where it looked poor. We only had a handful of Dining Room lunches, all firm 9s. Breakfast, mainly in Dining Room, typically 8s with a few 9s.

 

I do wonder if BFC account is somewhat tainted because of contracting COVID-19 onboard, or if somehow the ships sailing out of USA have sub optimal YC conditions!

Edited January 5, 2022 by hamrag

[Markanddonna]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

 

 

All I can do is relate our own YC experience, on Seaview a transatlantic for 18 nights 17 November Barcelona to St Maarten.....and then the first 7 night cruise in the Caribbean 5 December, so 25 in total. The experience was fabulous, not perfect, but generally a firm 9 and in a couple of aspects a 7 or 8.....all in COVID-19 times, where crew cannot even get off the ship so it's no wonder that sometimes (like any of us) they are not shining brightly and morale is variable!

 

Not that I don't believe your experience is 100% accurate, but a sailing in November or early December is now ancient history. What has been going on since late December is an entirely different animal. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

I think I know whom you refer to.

 

All I can do is relate our own YC experience, on Seaview a transatlantic for 18 nights 17 November Barcelona to St Maarten.....and then the first 7 night cruise in the Caribbean 5 December, so 25 in total. The experience was fabulous, not perfect, but generally a firm 9 and in a couple of aspects a 7 or 8.....all in COVID-19 times, where crew cannot even get off the ship so it's no wonder that sometimes (like any of us) they are not shining brightly and morale is variable!

 

To pick up specifically on a couple of the issues BFC described:

 

• Boarding - not as swift at dock, had to wait 15 minutes or so on an outside bench in Barcelona with other YCers awaiting Butler. Once we started moving though it was the same experience as normal, taken to a small and separate YC waiting area where the LFTs were done, and all paperwork taken care of by Butler. Drinks and snacks available during this process, and once completed we proceeded directly to the YC enclave and into Top Sail lounge to be greeted by other butlers and a welcome drink offered. Total time from Cruise Terminal entry to YC enclave about 30 minutes, including the mandatory LFT and checking of vaccination passport etc.
• If the food was as bad as BFC described, they clearly need another chef. Our experience was the opposite, at dinner routinely 9s and a couple of those (from 23) were 10 and a handful an 8. No different from normal, but interaction was less due to social distancing and masking and therefore expected. Lunches we routinely had at the Top Pool Grill, and we generally had our food freshly grilled....ranging from Seabass, Large Shrimp, Salmon, Tuna Steak, Lamb, Fillet Mignon.....all of those, being fresh and piping hot, were 10s. The other buffet food there, I'd give mainly 8s with occasional 7 and one port day where it looked poor. We only had a handful of Dining Room lunches, all firm 9s. Breakfast, mainly in Dining Room, typically 8s with a few 9s.

 

I do wonder if BFC account is somewhat tainted because of contracting COVID-19 onboard, or if somehow the ships sailing out of USA have sub optimal YC conditions!

To me it just seems they clearly had a very bad experience on board the ship and it's fair enough if they choose to cruise with different providers in the future as a result 

 

Thats one of the perils of the service industry. You lose customers if you don't deliver

 

Simple as that 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Interestedcruisefan

[floridababa]

We were told we could book another cruise  which we did. We were told we could change the reservation once.

We had a horrible experience on RCL Odyssey of the Seas. Food was horrible and expresso coffees were not drinkable.  This was Dec 4-11

We are Diamond on RCL and  this never happened.

We just cancelled our Jan 8 Seashore because of COVID concerns.

We will use the credit and see what happens. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 hours ago, hamrag said:

I do wonder if BFC account is somewhat tainted because of contracting COVID-19 onboard, or if somehow the ships sailing out of USA have sub optimal YC conditions!

and he was on a different ship. Sailing from a different port.

[hamrag]

3 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

Not that I don't believe your experience is 100% accurate, but a sailing in November or early December is now ancient history. What has been going on since late December is an entirely different animal. 

I think most of us already know that! 🙄

What is your point?

[Markanddonna]

7 minutes ago, hamrag said:

I think most of us already know that! 🙄

What is your point?

That describing your wonderful cruise in early December before Omicron hit is of no value to those trying to figure out what to do.

[Interestedcruisefan]

Norwegian Cruise Lines just cancelled all upcoming cruises on 9 of their ships in one announcement 

 

Some of the ships cancelled all the way through until April! 

 

Not sure how many ships they have? 

 

Will other cruise lines follow suit?

Edited January 5, 2022 by Interestedcruisefan

[ready2cruzagain]

16 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Norwegian Cruise Lines just cancelled all upcoming cruises on 9 of their ships in one announcement 

 

Some of the ships cancelled all the way through until April! 

 

Not sure how many ships they have? 

 

Will other cruise lines follow suit?

It appears that they are cancelling the cruises on their older ships, not the newer ones. 

[hamrag]

48 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

That describing your wonderful cruise in early December before Omicron hit is of no value to those trying to figure out what to do.

OK, I'll step back and allow yourselves to enlighten us with your posts which I will assume to be of value!  🙄

[Markanddonna]

4 hours ago, hamrag said:

OK, I'll step back and allow yourselves to enlighten us with your posts which I will assume to be of value!  🙄

I want to apologize, but the topic of the original posting was to discuss if people were going to cancel due to Omicron. It appears that what is currently going on is vastly different than even in earlier December when you cruised. People who are struggling to make a very tough decision need the best and most current information.  You are fortunate that you aren't in our situation. 

[ready2cruzagain]

6 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Norwegian Cruise Lines just cancelled all upcoming cruises on 9 of their ships in one announcement 

 

Some of the ships cancelled all the way through until April! 

 

Not sure how many ships they have? 

 

Will other cruise lines follow suit?

 

Actually, in looking into this further the ships were not actually even sailing yet.  What they are doing is pushing back the start dates.  At first, I thought they were already sailing. 

 

The Norwegian Sky now won't enter service until March 2 from Miami, as opposed to her original schedule that called for a Feb. 14 restart.

The Pride of America will also see a pushback to its Hawaii start,  now scheduled for March 5 instead of Jan. 22.

The Norwegian Jewel will restart on March 20 as originally intended, sailing from Panama City.

The Norwegian Jade will launch operations out of Rome on March 30.

The Norwegian Star will sail from Barcelona on April 3, with a South America and Antarctica season now cancelled that was set to start in January.

The Norwegian Sun will launch her Alaska program on May 5 as her spring season in Asia has been cancelled. 

The Norwegian Spirit will sail on Tahiti on May 7. She was previously scheduled to re-enter service in Australia in late March.  

 

 

[deliver42]

We're booked for March and May, and have no intention of cancelling either.

[JAGR]

22 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

 

Actually, in looking into this further the ships were not actually even sailing yet.  What they are doing is pushing back the start dates.  At first, I thought they were already sailing. 

 

The Norwegian Sky now won't enter service until March 2 from Miami, as opposed to her original schedule that called for a Feb. 14 restart.

The Pride of America will also see a pushback to its Hawaii start,  now scheduled for March 5 instead of Jan. 22.

The Norwegian Jewel will restart on March 20 as originally intended, sailing from Panama City.

The Norwegian Jade will launch operations out of Rome on March 30.

The Norwegian Star will sail from Barcelona on April 3, with a South America and Antarctica season now cancelled that was set to start in January.

The Norwegian Sun will launch her Alaska program on May 5 as her spring season in Asia has been cancelled. 

The Norwegian Spirit will sail on Tahiti on May 7. She was previously scheduled to re-enter service in Australia in late March.  

 

 

Interesting.  I guess Pearl was the only one that cancelled an active cruise.  1/3 cruise cancelled on 1/4.

 

[ready2cruzagain]

25 minutes ago, JAGR said:

Interesting.  I guess Pearl was the only one that cancelled an active cruise.  1/3 cruise cancelled on 1/4.

 

Actually the Getaway cancelled the 1/5 sailing but will resume after that one so there were 2 active cruises that were cancelled out of all of them.

Edited January 5, 2022 by ready2cruzagain

[barb in ga]

I cancelled our 1/15 Seashore cruise and booked a Divina for October. I have rotator cuff surgery scheduled the week after the Seashore returns, and I am not willing to risk infection and have to quarantine. DH and I are vaxed and boosted, but this strain shows little mercy. 

Barb

[Missymssy]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:36 PM, awhcruiser said:

Not cancelling our cruise.  Its not until October 2022

Same here! I also sail in October. So much will change in that amount of time. Hopefully for the better.

[hamrag]

8 hours ago, Missymssy said:

Same here! I also sail in October. So much will change in that amount of time. Hopefully for the better.

Hopefully so, although similar words were written on many cc threads at this time last year! 

🤞 🤞

[jamesboat]

So uh, whats the best way to get a full refund as someone without insurance who may have covid? Wont get my test back until tomorrow, sailing on 16th

[ready2cruzagain]

18 minutes ago, jamesboat said:

So uh, whats the best way to get a full refund as someone without insurance who may have covid? Wont get my test back until tomorrow, sailing on 16th

If you test positive within 14 days of your cruise contact MSC.  It should be covered under their Peace of Mind, at least if you are in US.  I am pretty sure you would have to provide a positive test

 

PEACE OF MIND

If you test positive for
COVID-19 within 14 days
prior to or during your cruise,
you and your traveling party
will receive a full or prorated
refund and assistance if
required, with onboard
medical care, land-based
quarantine, and travel home.
We'll make it easy for you to
meet testing obligations on
board prior to returning home.

Edited January 7, 2022 by ready2cruzagain