Itinerary Change

[vozzie]

Hi Folks,

I'm looking for some feedback on what is offered when your cruise is changed from, lets say, a NZ cruise to a Queensland coastal cruise.

Do the cruise lines offer you a refund at all...or do you have to accept it?

I'm just planning ahead for a likely change coming up.

Thanks

[Mikamarii]

Our October 2022 transpacific with RCI had a change of one port (cancelled bora bora and moved to an overnight on moorea) and we were given the option of cancel with full refund or $100 OBC per stateroom. That was only for one port so I imagine if a complete itinerary change they'd also offer you a chance for a full refund. May be dependent on the cruise line too.

[Hogbay]

3 hours ago, vozzie said:

Hi Folks,

I'm looking for some feedback on what is offered when your cruise is changed from, lets say, a NZ cruise to a Queensland coastal cruise.

Do the cruise lines offer you a refund at all...or do you have to accept it?

I'm just planning ahead for a likely change coming up.

Thanks

Had a South Pacific 10 night cruise changed to a Queensland coast cruise. What was offered was a Queensland coastal cruise. Maybe you should read your cruise contract as it's quite clear that the ports of call are not guaranteed and the captain can change, alter the itinerary as he sees fit. The covid refund policy is ever changing and different for each company, Carnival offered $900 obc , a cancelled port gets your taxes and fees refunded and maybe a $50 obc in goodwill. A man overboard on another ship is something that you just can't plan for but your ship will be going to help .

[MMDown Under]

7 hours ago, vozzie said:

Hi Folks,

I'm looking for some feedback on what is offered when your cruise is changed from, lets say, a NZ cruise to a Queensland coastal cruise.

Do the cruise lines offer you a refund at all...or do you have to accept it?

I'm just planning ahead for a likely change coming up.

Thanks

In that situation I would want a full refund.  You don’t have to accept such a change.  Once you are on the ship changes to ports of call due to weather conditions etc are to be expected with no refund except port taxes.

[Chiliburn]

19 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

In that situation I would want a full refund.  You don’t have to accept such a change.  Once you are on the ship changes to ports of call due to weather conditions etc are to be expected with no refund except port taxes.

I agree, if you have booked a NZ cruise and are given a Coastal Cruise it’s not acceptable.

I would say that if NZ and the Islands aren’t available a lot of the larger ships will just cancel the whole season. There’s just not enough ports for them to operate.

[NSWP]

Well if NZ and the Pacific Islands don't open up to the ships, there will be plenty of cruise ships going up and down the east coast this year.  They can always tender in if no more berths at the ports.

 

But as Chilli said...some lines may redeploy the ships.  Time will tell, but NZ is not helping the situation.

[Aus Traveller]

8 hours ago, vozzie said:

Hi Folks,

I'm looking for some feedback on what is offered when your cruise is changed from, lets say, a NZ cruise to a Queensland coastal cruise.

Do the cruise lines offer you a refund at all...or do you have to accept it?

I'm just planning ahead for a likely change coming up.

Thanks

A couple of weeks ago we were advised that a seven-night cruise to Noumea/Lifou/Vila was changed to a Queensland coastal. We had the option of a full refund of all money paid or leave the booking in place for the new itinerary. Although we have been to all the ports many times (maybe more often to the islands) we took the latter option because we had a great price. Anyway, a cruise is a cruise.

 

P&O must not be confident that the islands will open up by August so this was their solution. BTW, any replacement cruise would be the same number of nights.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[Chiliburn]

9 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Well if NZ and the Pacific Islands don't open up to the ships, there will be plenty of cruise ships going up and down the east coast this year.  They can always tender in if no more berths at the ports.

 

But as Chilli said...some lines may redeploy the ships.  Time will tell, but NZ is not helping the situation.

If they do redeploy uncle Les ,they will have to make a decision soon .So they can sell cabins.

As for RC they will probably bring Ovation here and do a milk run up and down the coast. Quantum will probably go to Singapore .

[arxcards]

I presume with Carnival based on your signature. They have been great with refunding or rebooking cancellations. 

 

Not sure on an itinerary change though. If NZ is closed, they would at least allow you to move to a later date. 

 

Still, for November I would hope Jacinda has well & truly put out the welcome map for cruise ships or it is going get messy.

[losfp]

We are hopeful for our Jan cruise on Majestic to NZ. But if there's a change, we will likely take a refund and redistribute funds to our planned Europe cruise later in 2023.

 

Either option will be fine by me. I don't think we're interested in alternative trips up the coast unless they offer very attractive terms.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, losfp said:

We are hopeful for our Jan cruise on Majestic to NZ. But if there's a change, we will likely take a refund and redistribute funds to our planned Europe cruise later in 2023.

 

Either option will be fine by me. I don't think we're interested in alternative trips up the coast unless they offer very attractive terms.

We've also got an NZ cruise booked on Majestic in January - Auckland to Sydney. Our biggest worry is not if it's cancelled (we'd just get FCCs again) but if they only allow people ashore on ship excursions, which would stop us catching up with family and friends so the cruise would be pointless for us.

[MMDown Under]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We've also got an NZ cruise booked on Majestic in January - Auckland to Sydney. Our biggest worry is not if it's cancelled (we'd just get FCCs again) but if they only allow people ashore on ship excursions, which would stop us catching up with family and friends so the cruise would be pointless for us.

I would hate that!  Half the fun of independent cruising is discovering ports of call.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

43 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I would hate that!  Half the fun of independent cruising is discovering ports of call.  

It wouldn't bother us on some cruises where we've been to the ports before, we'd just stay on the ship. But we do NZ cruises specifically to catch up with folk so it would be a waste of money if we couldn't go off the ship independently.

[vozzie]

Thank you all for your information and thoughts. I just had a look at the Carnival site and you can't book my November cruise to NZ. In fact, NZ is greyed out as an option in the search. Not looking too good at this stage.

[NSWP]

14 hours ago, vozzie said:

Thank you all for your information and thoughts. I just had a look at the Carnival site and you can't book my November cruise to NZ. In fact, NZ is greyed out as an option in the search. Not looking too good at this stage.

Not looking good at all, NZ is messing around, will they ever re open to the ships? 

[Aus Traveller]

11 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Not looking good at all, NZ is messing around, will they ever re open to the ships? 

My guess is that they will watch and see what happens with the ships starting to cruise in Australia. NZ might open in time for the summer season. There wouldn't be much point in opening earlier, but I hope the announcement comes in time for the cruiselines to plan their summer itineraries.

[Mikamarii]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

My guess is that they will watch and see what happens with the ships starting to cruise in Australia. NZ might open in time for the summer season. There wouldn't be much point in opening earlier, but I hope the announcement comes in time for the cruiselines to plan their summer itineraries.

Every time someone says they hope they will be open by summer I keep thinking….but summer is only 1 month away they need to figure it out now!! Then remember your summer is different haha. 
 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

My guess is that they will watch and see what happens with the ships starting to cruise in Australia. NZ might open in time for the summer season. There wouldn't be much point in opening earlier, but I hope the announcement comes in time for the cruiselines to plan their summer itineraries.

If they haven't made a call by mid-June,  some of the planned ships that are currently in Alaska are at risk of not relocating here for the season. They were impatient with Australia and won't show any leniency with NZ either.

[cruisermsoon]

With a 14n Christmas & New Year N.Z. cruise booked on Coral Priness, my main concern is that the cruise will go ahead, even with a changed itinerary.  

An extended Tasmania and coastal cruise would be a more than acceptable alternative.

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

If they haven't made a call by mid-June,  some of the planned ships that are currently in Alaska are at risk of not relocating here for the season. They were impatient with Australia and won't show any leniency with NZ either.

If Australia isn’t a viable market as the boss of RC said .They would have to stand some ships down.

The coastal ports will be saturated if NZ and the islands aren’t open.

All the logistics and wages at stake it would be better to sail around in circles empty.

 

Vanuatu has a unknown strain they are trying to identify and may go back into lockdown .They are asking for Australia’s help.

So it’s not over yet.

[onlyslightlymad]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

If they haven't made a call by mid-June,  some of the planned ships that are currently in Alaska are at risk of not relocating here for the season. They were impatient with Australia and won't show any leniency with NZ either.

I think there will be an announcement about the maritime border by the end of May.  I would imagine it will be lined up with the air borders and my best guess would be mid-late October opening.  I don't think the govt are going to be rushed by the cruise lobby though, they will open when they are ready and when they have the rules and regs worked out.

[arxcards]

4 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

If Australia isn’t a viable market as the boss of RC said .They would have to stand some ships down.

The coastal ports will be saturated if NZ and the islands aren’t open.

All the logistics and wages at stake it would be better to sail around in circles empty.

 

Vanuatu has a unknown strain they are trying to identify and may go back into lockdown .They are asking for Australia’s help.

So it’s not over yet.

What does Sir Gav say the cutoff date is for a decision? I can't see a total surrender by RCI, but just a cutback of the number of ships. 

 

I also wonder why they are being pessimistic at RCI, at the same time HAL has decided to double down this summer. Posturing for a quick decision?

[arxcards]

13 minutes ago, onlyslightlymad said:

I think there will be an announcement about the maritime border by the end of May.  I would imagine it will be lined up with the air borders and my best guess would be mid-late October opening.  I don't think the govt are going to be rushed by the cruise lobby though, they will open when they are ready and when they have the rules and regs worked out.

I am sure they won't be rushed, but the cruise lines also need to know where they stand by a certain date. End of May would be a good time for an announcement

[Chiliburn]

37 minutes ago, arxcards said:

What does Sir Gav say the cutoff date is for a decision? I can't see a total surrender by RCI, but just a cutback of the number of ships. 

 

I also wonder why they are being pessimistic at RCI, at the same time HAL has decided to double down this summer. Posturing for a quick decision?

The cruise lines keep their cards to their self and take as many bookings as they can. 
Deposits are money in the bank as most people just roll their cancelled cruises over to next time.

[arxcards]

25 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

The cruise lines keep their cards to their self and take as many bookings as they can. 
Deposits are money in the bank as most people just roll their cancelled cruises over to next time.

True, but for HAL the are paying out refunds in Asia at the same as picking up new deposits here.