Gem January 9-19 cruise canceled

[cresx]

Just received notice in our cabin that the cruise is canceled and we will be heading back to NYC sometime tomorrow. Turks, St. Thomas and Tortola were all cancelled. Spent today in St. Maarten and will also tomorrow. Obviously if we are heading back to NYC tomorrow,  no DR.

[dolfan1980]

Saw the letter posted elsewhere, full refund plus 50% credit and ~6 day free cruise, not bad actually.

[shof515]

[cresx]

14 minutes ago, dolfan1980 said:

Saw the letter posted elsewhere, full refund plus 50% credit and ~6 day free cruise, not bad actually.

No complaints here.

[Hel Ann]

Must be so sad to have your cruise cut short. We are hopefully in the gem 20th March will see what happens. Nice to see a company treating the guests as fair as possible in these crazy times 

[vacation44]

6 hours ago, cresx said:

No complaints here.

I would not be complaining either with that offer.    Enjoy the rest of your sailing.

[ECCruise]

Leaving early will likely have the additional advantage of a smoother ride back to NYC, since the Gem will likely be ahead of the storm that will be rolling up the East Coast early next week.  That may have even been another factor in returning early.

[Turtles06]

I'm sorry to see this.  I have to believe that covid must be hitting a lot of staff and crew for NCL to cancel the rest of the sailing so abruptly.

 

Stay safe, everyone.

 

 

[Beach Life 1]

I wonder if it's because so many people are sick on this cruise,  or is it because there is no where for them to go.  It's sad what is happening,  not only for everyone that wants to cruise,  but also for the crew that needs these jobs and  all these islands that depend on tourism.  The really have to be hurting.

[Diver2014]

I really think the cancellations are because of the islands shutting down the tourist industry.  We were supposed to cruise on the Escape tomorrow but with no islands to stop at (St Thomas, Tortola, GSC) other than DR,  I understand why NCL is cancelling so many cruises.  Just not the time to go cruising.  Hopefully, the situation will improve this spring and summer.

[mvh]

4 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

I really think the cancellations are because of the islands shutting down the tourist industry.  We were supposed to cruise on the Escape tomorrow but with no islands to stop at (St Thomas, Tortola, GSC) other than DR,  I understand why NCL is cancelling so many cruises.  Just not the time to go cruising.  Hopefully, the situation will improve this spring and summer.

If that were the case, why is it only NCL?  (other than a small handful of RCI)

[EllieinNJ]

We were with you yesterday on board RCI Anthem at St Martin.  Today we are in Antigua and tomorrow we will be on Barbados.  Just had Puerto Rico and St Kitts cancelled.  Royal gave us back one full day of cost.

[Diver2014]

18 minutes ago, mvh said:

If that were the case, why is it only NCL?  (other than a small handful of RCI)

 

It's not only NCL and RCI.  Holland America has cancelled cruises.  I expect other cruise lines with ships in the Caribbean will soon follow suit or find somewhere else to go.

[cruising247365]

1 hour ago, Diver2014 said:

I really think the cancellations are because of the islands shutting down the tourist industry.  We were supposed to cruise on the Escape tomorrow but with no islands to stop at (St Thomas, Tortola, GSC) other than DR,  I understand why NCL is cancelling so many cruises.  Just not the time to go cruising.  Hopefully, the situation will improve this spring and summer.

So St Thomas is not letting people in too?

 

OP, thanks for posting.  Sorry it happened, hope you are not losing out on flight money! Wish they would say if it is bc of ship covid or the ports themselves, as port shutdowns will effect everyone on every line.

[luckyinpa]

i always drive to a cruise so those people will have no issues but i feel bad for the people with flights. even with free changes it could be hard to get a last minute flight the same price. 

 

i wonder if any other cruises leaving nj/ny to get on 🙂

[jlseymour3]

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

I'm sorry to see this.  I have to believe that covid must be hitting a lot of staff and crew for NCL to cancel the rest of the sailing so abruptly.

 

Stay safe, everyone.

 

 

That's my guess too.  They must be getting to the point where they don't have enough crew to maintain services.

[jlseymour3]

39 minutes ago, cruising247365 said:

So St Thomas is not letting people in too?

 

OP, thanks for posting.  Sorry it happened, hope you are not losing out on flight money! Wish they would say if it is bc of ship covid or the ports themselves, as port shutdowns will effect everyone on every line.

I wish they would do this as well.  I understand they want to present a rosy picture, but the first lesson in crisis management is getting control of the narrative through honest and transparent disclosure.  When they cancel, they should put notices on their website as to what ships are canceled and why.  The lack of information let's everyone imagine why they canceled and most people will gravitate to their worst fears.

 

Of course, if they're canceling because there aren't enough passengers to make it worth going, that would look pretty bad.  That wouldn't explain the Gem though.  

[JIMESOPUS]

Just now, jlseymour3 said:

I wish they would do this as well.  I understand they want to present a rosy picture, but the first lesson in crisis management is getting control of the narrative through honest and transparent disclosure.  When they cancel, they should put notices on their website as to what ships are canceled and why.  The lack of information let's everyone imagine why they canceled and most people will gravitate to their worst fears.

 

Of course, if they're canceling because there aren't enough passengers to make it worth going, that would look pretty bad.  That wouldn't explain the Gem though.  

From the NCL website, this has been updated almost daily this week

[Cruise Gopher]

I wish they would just cancel all their sailings for the next couple weeks.  We're supposed to be on the Epic on Sunday and to fly all the way to San Juan just to arrive and be told it's canceled last minute would be awful.

[luckyinpa]

still showing able to book the 19th. would be amazed if it sailed

[mking8288]

Maybe not for the Gem crew but other crews in the NCL fleet, I wonder if vacations for home leave and rotations will become another headache soon ?  Aren’t they on 8+ months contract unless mutually extended … overseas air travel to/from Asia still not easy unless they float with the ships. 

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, Diver2014 said:

I really think the cancellations are because of the islands shutting down the tourist industry. 

 

Despite the title of the thread, the OP's cruise was not "cancelled."  It was cut short.  I find it difficult to believe that NCL would be sending the ship back early when it could give the guests a few additional days at sea instead.  I think the more likely scenario is that there's been an outbreak of covid on board that is affecting the crew and staff, and essential ship's services.   

[milolii]

2 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

We were with you yesterday on board RCI Anthem at St Martin.  Today we are in Antigua and tomorrow we will be on Barbados.  Just had Puerto Rico and St Kitts cancelled.  Royal gave us back one full day of cost.

It’s well documented on the RCI boards and on other social media sites that the cruise line is transferring positive crew members to two  different ships in the Caribbean.  When positive crew members board the ship, those who have completed their isolation/recovered rejoin a ship with passengers.  Have you seen this?  One place this happens is CocoCay, with the Jewel of the Seas. 

[floridafish]

How anyone can move ahead with plans to cruise or book a cruise at the present time is beyond me. 

[classy_cruiser]

5 minutes ago, floridafish said:

How anyone can move ahead with plans to cruise or book a cruise at the present time is beyond me. 

We have a most likely non-refundable no matter what FCC from a cancellation last year under Peace of Mind. Prices later this year are way up and there is a not small chance NCL gets into real financial trouble and it is hard to redeem those credits later on. We already have time off and pet sitter lined up. We don’t have to worry about quarantine on land because we would just drive back. The price of our cruise fare is almost exactly the FCC value. Price of other land vacations that week is way more. We are fairly young, triple vaccinated and not worried about omicron infection. The worst that can happen is we get quarantined on the ship and that is unlikely unless one of us becomes symptomatic during the cruise. This is why we are still going and we hope Encore doesn’t cancel.