Cindy

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

Why???  September is 6 months away -- I'm worried for our Pacific Coastal too.  

I have no idea. It was a licensed short-term rental through Airbnb, and I got a cancellation notice on Thursday. My deposit has already been refunded.

I’m not going to do anything else about that trip until I see whether there’s an Alaska season this year. I’m assuming that if Alaska is a no-go, there also won’t be any Pacific Coastals.

11 hours ago, wwcruisers said:

OK, so I have no answer -- but rather, a follow-on question:

If the Alaska cruise season never actually materializes, what will happen to the 're-po' Pacific Coastal cruises, this fall? I'm particularly thinking about our late September Vancouver to SD sailing, on K-dam.

My Vancouver accommodations for that cruise abruptly cancelled two days ago.😢

I have plane tickets (and thankfully good insurance) purchased before all this really flared up in North America. I’m not going to do any more planning until much later in the year when we have a better idea of what’s going on with travel.

1 hour ago, travelinmama said:

We had a transfer from Seward to Anchorage and the company refused to budge on the "non refundable deposit"  despite the fact that we told them that our cruise ship was unable to dock in Vancouver and therefore, the cruise would more than likely not be occurring.  They basically said it didn't matter (these are the companies that I will definitely remember next time).

Under the circumstances, that is just awful!

Every vendor I was using in Hawaii has refunded, including those that normally have a penalty or administrative fee for cancellations. Even my advance-purchase, no refunds hotel refunded without a moment’s hesitation.

Anyone that had given me a hard time would have been crossed off my list for when I do make the trip!

19 hours ago, Ninihix said:

Norwegian will not give me a refund for a cruise leaving Puerto Rico on March 22. I am 70 and my husband has health conditions. We were concerned and cancelled on March 10th. That was a couple of days before the Peace of Mind policy came out. Not only do we have to take a cruise credit but we do not qualify for the top up. I believe we are being treated unfairly compared to other cruise lines. Very disappointed. 

That is exactly how the lines under the Royal Caribbean umbrella are handling it. 

2 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

They docked in Chile on 3/14 two days after Princess halted operation and one day after CCL blanket stoppage of operations.  Why didn't they terminate there instead of sending guests on excursions ? Wouldn't that have been the prudent choice ? Your anger is misdirected 

My understanding is that was the plan until Chile revoked the permission.

1 hour ago, SAPMAN said:

I received the email on my FCC option for my cancelled cruise for 26 March. They gave me 125% in FCC (actually part for me and part for spouse - not equally divided, but ok in total) for the total fare I paid incl taxes, port fees, etc. and reinstated my Next Cruise certificates at $250 each back in my NCL web account.       They also say I will get 20% off if I book a future cruise by March 31.

 

Questions:   

 

Did everyone else get the "book future cruise by March 31"?  I think I saw some got until April 10.     Anyone get other "book by" dates?

 

I also have another cruise on 12 April that I assume will be cancelled and I will get FCC.  Can I combine 2 FCCs to book one much longer cruise??

 

Thanks.  

 

 

I think you probably can. You also don’t have to “spend” it all at once. My “paid in full” confirmation for my rebooked Pride of America cruise shows a negative balance of $3018!😂 we decided to hold onto that and book another cruise!

6 hours ago, Freckles_51 said:

 

Is it 125% of only the cruise fare (with only 100% on taxes and fees)

Or 125% of cruise fare and taxes/fees?

 

If anyone had prepaid gratuities and/or shore excursions, is it 125% credit on those as well?  Or 100%?

It includes gratuities...not sure about shore excursions since mine were all booked independently.

19 hours ago, Aliciamay22 said:

My FCC was for exactly 125% of what I paid. I did not prepay gratuities or purchase any add-ons though.

My FCC was for exactly 125% of what I paid, INCLUDING port fees, taxes, specialty dining and beverage package gratuities, and pre-paid gratuities. I was on the POA in a suite, and with the additional 20% off for rebooking before 3/31 I was able to upgrade, get better perks (OBC), and I still have enough left to pay for another (less expensive) cruise!🙂

28 minutes ago, Cindy said:

So did I!

Oops, no I didn’t...I was supposed to sail the 11th.

18 minutes ago, 3dogmom said:

Well crap. I sail April 18th! 

So did I!

19 minutes ago, Beachiekeen said:

Well if it's any consolation, I was looking forward to your cruise as much as you! 🙂  J/K of course, but I feel for you.  

 

Yes, the chance for disruption would be a big concern.  But it's a wonderful cruise to a wonderful place so if you get the chance to rebook, I would.

We’d like to go the end of October, but if we wait that long we will probably have to eat the airline change fees and a hotel cancellation. Our insurance was super expensive, so I’d like to see if I can keep the coverage and just move the policy to the new dates.

7 minutes ago, Beachiekeen said:

 

I cannot believe this was done with just one day's notice.  For our POA cruise in November, we arrived to Oahu on Wednesday.  I can only imagine the chaos this is going to cause.  Wow.

 

Cindy, my fingers are crossed for you!  

Thanks, but I’m not holding out much hope.😢 I would rather they cancel than go and not be able to dock anywhere!

This will be our third NCL cancellation, and the only one that’s out of their control. Think someone’s trying to tell us something?😂

5 minutes ago, HEATH3913 said:

I failed to realize it is from today and the leave tomorrow.  So yes, it's actually bad.

I’m supposed to take my first NCL cruise next month, but I’ve cruised many times on other lines, so I’ve been following this situation pretty closely. This is the Princess compensation plan for their cancelled cruises:

1 hour ago, HEATH3913 said:

150% FCC or refund looks good though.

I disagree. They should be getting a refund PLUS a FUture Cruise Credit.

1 hour ago, Jezo said:

I think that compensation is extremely stingy, especially when you consider that most of the passengers for tomorrow’s cruise are either already in Honolulu or en route.

I hate to see it, but it’s probably for the best when you look at the big picture. Every day that passes brings more restriction and more uncertainty. Ships are being turned away from ports. As someone who has a very expensive cruise coming up (on another line) I’m on pins and needles waiting, watching, and wondering what’s going to happen.

I’m trying to help my mom (she is 88) figure this out. It’s hard, because I’m doing it long distance AND she booked through her friend’s TA so I don’t have solid figures.
 

Even though my mom will lose money, I think she’s leaning towards using her Cancellation Protection Plan and taking the refund rather than an FCC. If I understand correctly, the cost of the policy would be taken off the top, then she would get:

*25% of the cruise fare refunded at 100% (17 days until sailing)

*100% refund of prepaids such as gratuities and Internet, etc.

*100% refund of port fees

*75% of the fare refunded at 80%

Let me know if I’m looking at that correctly. I think she might rather take a small loss than get an FCC. If she could apply the FCC to her cruise in September I think she would take it, but since she can’t I think she would prefer the refund.

Thanks!

15 hours ago, AdoraBelle said:

Is it common for crew members to be flown from ship to ship? Seems wildly inefficient.

 

I wonder if the extended quarantine and now vacation of the Diamond crew combined with staff members from places on the “no-sail” list has created some shortages in places. I know staff is regularly moved during their contract, but maybe the virus situation caused some gaps they were trying to fill.

Obviously, I think they will try to stop doing that for a while!

I’m not a fan of this policy for one reason — the holding of money that is ordinarily refundable regardless of the normal cancellation policy. I don’t like the idea of tying up that much money in a FCC and not refunding any of my pre-paids. 
 

As of right now, we are not planning to cancel, but if things get worse and we take that option, NCL holding my money makes the decision more difficult.

13 minutes ago, caribill said:

I certainly do not have the answers to these questions and possibilities, but neither do I think does Princess.

Sadly, I don’t think any travel providers — be they cruise lines, air lines, resorts, land tours, or hotels have answers right now.

I hope your cruise is enjoyable and uneventful!

42 minutes ago, arabrab said:

Might they need to re-supply food/other supplies?  I imagine that they had supplies arranged for San Fransisco before the infection was noted. How many days of extra supplies do they carry? 

They should have plenty of food...ships travel with several days’ extra provisions in case of emergencies.

I’m loving this discussion...so many great options!

i called Viking this morning and cancelled the pre-cruise part of our trip. We have plenty of time to decide, but I’m mulling over options for four nights — either two Oslo and two Bergen, or doing the Nutshell option and spending a night in Flåm. For those of you who have done this trip, is Flåm worth an overnight stay, or are we better off going all the way to Bergen? That would essentially give is three nights in Bergen, since we overnight there to start the cruise.

Costa Maya is a very difficult port to dock at even under optimal conditions. I’ve been scheduled to stop there several times and have missed two of them.

I admit, we decided to go bargain hunting last weekend. We couldn’t find any great deals, and believe me we looked! We ended up booking the most expensive cruise we’ve ever reserved — on Viking. I guess the good news is it’s a very port intensive cruise to two of our bucket list locations, Norway and Iceland.