GatorMomInNC

Thanks so much for asking this question as I am on the same ship (Ovation), same flight I think (Delta??) although next March, not sooner.  I also debated but like you, it will be at the end of a long trip (34 days) and I would really like to get home with one day to decompress before going back to work.   Plus, I'm flying on points so it made a difference that way also, so decided to risk it.  But please come back and let me know how it went in case I can learn from what happened to you 😀

59 minutes ago, mpk112782 said:

I am at the port now. Everyone in my party still needs to take an antigen test. I was told the PCR test satisfies BCL. The antigen test at port satisfies the Greek government.

 

With that said, the whole testing process at port is unorganized. I am negative and they give you a pink wrist band. Another person I am traveling with is still waiting. I was resulted over an hour ago. All the reps say is you have to wait. Our numbers was in the 700s and we are now in the 900s. No one can answer why we have no results.

I had something similar happen - I was cleared and my sister was not.  We both were so stressed but she eventually got the negative.  Not as long as your wait though, hope all is well!

I can see why you are wondering about the two different requirements, but I believe as others have posted, if you have a negative test 72 hours prior then a positive at port, NCL insurance will kick in for your quarantine in Greece.   But won't reimburse you your flight.    But if no advance test then I think that falls on you.  When we went to Greece last year, you were required to quarantine in a hotel at your own expense if positive (may have changed).    I would rather stay home and try and get flight refunded than fly to Greece and sit in a hotel for 10 days.  Not to mention the potential of the medical issues. 

My sister and BIL on this cruise.  They heard rumors of 600+ with COVID but could not verify.  They were not tested upon disembarkation, but they weren't flying home right away (flew to Greece).  

Thanks for the info and the picks!!   We will be boarding in 2 weeks 🚢

3 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

Yes. Allow plenty of time . We ended up walking down bc I do not have patience. 

😒  Thanks for the heads up.   

Can anyone tell me what the non-alcholic sports/energy drinks are that are available with the premium plus package?  I have seen Red Bull mentioned.  I know you get bottled water.  

I don't like soda, Red Bull, regular/straight coffee or tea. But I am addicted to caffeine :-).   At home I drink something called Super Coffee (which isn't very common and I am sure will not be on the ship). Or Bai, which is like a caffeinated fruit drink.   I am hoping maybe that is available with premium plus?

In regards to the testing - we need to test no earlier than Sunday for it to be of use to us for the return home, since we are flying out Wednesday.  Do you know if you can schedule on Sunday before you get off the ship?  Or alternatively, do you have to even take the test (since we will have to pay for a private test in Athens anyway?

Wow, those pictures are beautiful?  Was this the Ultimate Santorini? I have that one booked; in fact, right now it is the only one available for our cruise.  Was the wait for the cable car to return to the ship very long?

Please keep posting!! Going on this cruise in 19 days!  

If you are thirsty late at night and head up to the buffet can you get yourself some water? 

Hi, I don't have an answer, sorry to say, but am following along to see if you get any answers.  We are on the cruise the week after you.  We fly out on Wednesday morning early, so I dont' think we are going to be able to use the cruise ship test and will have to do a 2nd test at the airport....

Princess cancelled a cruise on us on June 17th.  I immediately requested a refund.  Nothing yet, which is very discouraging that it is taking so long.   I guess I will give it another couple weeks and call them. 

Thanks everyone - sorry it took so long to check back here.  We did end up cancelling the cruise.  It sailed out of England and we were afraid THEY were going to cancel on US (we have already had another cruise cancelled by Princess).  We didn't want to have to keep dealing with changing flights and uncertainty, so I switched to a Norwegian cruise out of Greece as those have been sailing a while and we figured it wouldn't get cancelled.  I would have preferred Celebrity, but they didn't have anything available.  

But, knowing what everyone here has said, if we had decided to keep the cruise I would have re-booked at the lower rate.  It is very discouraging that the agent gave me the wrong info about the refund policy. 

Thanks for the responses.  I didn't see these until just recently. 

Just to clarify, when I booked I had an option to pay a higher cruise fare, by $700, for a "refundable deposit".  I booked on the phone, and the customer service told me that if I choose that option and I have to cancel with the "cruise with confidence" i.e., between the PIF date and 2 days before the cruise I could get a CASH refund, not a FCC.   But this was not in writing, and I don't know if the person was right.    If that is not the case, there is no reason for me to pay extra, since my PIF is in the very near future, and I am not planning to cancel the cruise before then.  

Just wondered if anyone had any idea if this is WRONG or RIGHT.....

Hello - Our Princess Cruise was cancelled, so we just booked on Celebrity Silhouette for a October  -- Cruise to Spain, Portugal and Canary Islands.  I chose the refundable fare.  The way it was explained to me by Celebrity was that with the current policy, we could cance up to 2 days before but only get a FCC.   If we paid the $700 extra, we can get a cash refund up to 2 days before.  I asked several times, and this is what I was told.  But, my confirmation info doesn't say that??  So any experienced Celebrity Cruisers here who can tell me if this is true? My PIF date is in August.    

I am cruising with my sister, and when our Princess Cruise was cancelled we had already booked our airline tix.  I have a $3200 aifare credit, she has $1500, and my sister wants to get her money back, not another huge credit she may not use if we have to cruise a different line, etc.  This is 4th time we have changed our cruising plans, so if this one gets cancelled we are just going to fly to Europe (assuming we are allowed still in November) and spend 2 weeks traveling around and NOT cruise. 

Any guidance greatly appreciated!

SO Happy to hear this news!! We are booked on a NCL Greek Cruise in November and I am very happy to hear they will require everyone to be vaccinated!!  I also hope that they provide stiff liability if anyone fakes a vaccine shot and ends up ruining the cruise (becasue ship has to turn around or change course to take them to a hospital). 

My only concern is that by then it will be 7 mos. since we were fully vaccinated and they may require a booster. 

As far as kids go, boy that is a problem since 16 and under can't get it now; by fall I hope to have the last person in my family vaccinated (my 13 year old).  We have a Disney Cruise booked in September, and if kids can't go without being fully vaccinated that will be tough on Disney.   And if my son ISN'T vaccinated, I will have to choose between going without my son or not at all.....I feel bad for people with really small kids who may have to wait until next year for a vaccine.  

37 minutes ago, Intergalactic Cruiser said:

Wow! I'm in the UK. Which UK company are you thinking of? The only one I can think of is Cruise and Maritime. Hopefully they'll be covered by travel insurance, Section 75 on their credit card (and by ABTA if they bought in the UK). 

It seems most claims are settled but waiting is usual. Since no-one's going anywhere at the moment a delay's not too disastrous. I had a couple of claims with MSC and P and O finding Section 75 quickest. Normally they'd have to claim first off the cruise company or agents but whatever works - they won't get something off each! 

C&M good offers 2 4 1's but line erm debatable, old ships, few balconies etc but some friends (were) very happy to sail with them. Fingers crossed! 

Yes, that is who it was.  She put the deposit on a bank card (debit card, not credit card) and had changed banks.  She thought that was one of the reasons it was taking so long.  We are American so I don't think she will be eligible for that travel protection that those in the UK have.  She said she put in a claim, although I am not sure what she means  by that exactly. 

My sister and brother-in-law had an around the world cruise booked for next year.  They put down a $3k deposit and had been trying to get it back for a few months.  They found out the cruise company (UK based) has filed bankruptcy.   So I am feeling pretty lucky that I got my cruise money back at this point, even though it took 4 mos.  

yes, and a couple days later my $400 showed up.  Took four and half months to get it all back....

My Disney Cruise for Labor Day was cancelled, I chose a FCC for that one.   I changed it to a January Star Wars cruise, but I feel like it is pretty unlikely to happen.   My final payment date (to pay the difference as I went from a 3 day to a weeklong) is due mid-September and I will have to decide then if I want to throw more money after the cruise.  Disney allows you to cancel up to 15 days before the cruise, but then I will just get a bigger "credit" not my money back (I think, but honestly it is very confusing). 

I have a 2nd OBB with Disney and their Fall 2021 itineraries are ready to book on Monday.  I think I will book a 3 day cruise - hopefully by Fall of 2021 I can actually cruise again...

Holy Cow!  Finally!!! I called my TA today (3rd time in 3 weeks).  She said she remembered me as the one I talked to 3 weeks ago and she would "escalate" it.  Just logged onto my Chase account and all my sweet beautiful points and my $400 deposit are back!!  Yeah!

4 months and 2 weeks from when I requested my refund!

Now I can book a new cruise for next year (but not MSC after this fiasco...)

Editing to say, my $400  is NOT actually credited to my account, but my points, worth about $4k, are credited..

On 6/22/2020 at 1:11 PM, aprilF said:

97 days for us.  And GatorMomNC has to be over 120 by now.

It will be 4 mos. on Thursday July 2nd (requested March 2nd).  And my cruise wasn't cancelled, I cancelled within the time frame to receive a full refund (my cruise was supposed to have ended yesterday)...

So story today from MSC is I should get my refund in 10 day.  Of course, that was the lie I was told on April 20th, as I pointed out to my TA.  I will give it 2 weeks and call back to see what BS MSC comes up with next, although they are recycling their lies so I picture the customer service people just throwing a dart at a board filled with responses and telling customers whatever they randomly hit....If Vegas was taking bets, I think that the next lie I will be told is....we just began processing your refund since your cruise date is over....

On 6/19/2020 at 3:19 PM, aprilF said:

Just curious why people are continuing to wait rather than file a chargeback?  I feel like I waited too long to dispute and I filed awhile ago.

 

 

For me the issue is that my TA is my CC company, and I booked primarily with points.  So don't know how effective that will be. 

I'm on the phone now with my TA.  Haven't called in about a month and I am curious what MSC's most recent lies are going to be.  

I cancelled all the other portions of my European trip in May (cancelled with MSC on March 2nd).  Southwest immediately refunded me for domestic portion of my flight, even portions that are not normally refundable (early bird).  American Airlines and Disneyland Paris have refunded me.  Delta has refunded some but not all of my trip; Air France has send me acknowledging emails they are processing,  but not yet refunded my money.  But it has been less than 6 weeks for those people.  MSC...nothing and it has been THREE AND A HALF MONTHS. 

Last time I talked the them the new story was that it would be refunded 60 days after my cruise (which was set for June 20th) .   But now I see other people getting refunds that requested them after me I am going to call them again (when I have the stomach for it) and see what ***** and bull story they are giving out now.

I cancelled my June cruise for a full refund on March 2nd.  Been given so many different stories by MSC (via my TA) that I can't keep track.  Still no refund.  Paid in full last year.  100 days and counting.