hencoll

8 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Could you tell us please when did you apply for your refund?

 My TA applied for my refund on August 30th.  

The remaining amount of my refund posted on my credit card account today.  So it took about 7 business days for my full refund.  

Today I saw a partial refund posted to my credit card.  The amounts are equal to my two original deposits.  The remaining balance amount that I paid in full on August 25th has not been refunded yet.  Hopefully, I will see that processed next week.  

So glad to read some folks are getting their refunds quickly.  I haven't received mine yet but I'm hopeful mine will be processed soon.  

12 hours ago, bitob said:

60 days?  Who in their right mind would do business with Explora going forward?

I'm pretty much done. I've enjoyed the MSC YC experience even though MSC land based operations and customer service has been a challenge.  I was interested in trying Explora.  I'll continue watching their product but have no plans to rebook.  I had a a wonderful experience this summer with Silversea on the Silver Dawn in Norway, so I will probably book something for 2024 with them or try out Seabourn or Regent.

Explora cancelled my 2024 B2B sailings. I'm in the U.S.  On Monday August 28th my TA informed me that it was being cancelled and explained what my options were.  He sent me the new itineraries so I could decide if I wanted the rebook or apply for a refund.  He applied for my refund on 8/30 and said it could take up to 60 days.   

To be honest, I'm a bit ticked off because I booked this cruise the week of August 21st and my full payment for this cruise was processed on Friday August 25th.  That weekend we started hearing whispers of the itinerary changes.  On Monday, August 28th I was informed by my TA that my cruises were cancelled. At least to me, it seems like they let me book and pay in full for a cruise that they knew they were going to cancel and now they're going to keep my money for up to 60 days.  Not cool at all!

Great review.  I did this same cruise in July and loved every minute of it. 

The July sailings show up but they are now showing sold out.  

This is great to hear solos feel welcomed.  I will be doing my first solo Silversea cruise in July on the Silver Dawn out of Copenhagen.  

While on the Seashore last week my agent booked me on the 09/09/23 Iceland to New York.  I had originally pre-booked it but was going let it go because I thought the single supplement was too high.  Once I saw they had reduced the supplement, I couldn't pass it up.  Very excited for this itinerary.

I'm also booked on 4/18/2024 Vancouver to Hawaii sailing.  

I'm happy to report that I received a full refund credited to my credit card for my cancelled 4/20/20 sailing.  My TA requested the refund on 3/31/20.   It looks like the refund posted to my account on 6/4/2020.  I hadn't checked the account in awhile.  

Thanks JPH814 for creating and maintaining the refund roll call.  Checking this thread reminded me to check my account. 

Here is mine.

Cruise date:  4/20/2020

Cancelled by Seabourn : 3/30/2020

TA sent in Form selecting #Option 2 - 100% Refund : 3/31/2020

Waiting for Refund, have not heard anything from Seabourn.

I'm doing my first solo cruise in April, a 15 night TA crossing from Miami to Barcelona on the Seabourn Quest.  I've been on shorter solo trips and also have traveled with just my daughters when they were kids.  My husband is a bit concerned.  I plan on purchasing a wifi package so we can keep in touch.  I will also have an international plan on my phone so I can call in ports.  I plan on doing mostly cruise line sponsored tours except one small private group tour with a few folks from my roll call.  I'm spending a few days post cruise in Barcelona.  We've vacationed there quite a bit as a family so I'm pretty comfortable there, even so I booked with a company we've used in the past for a semi-private tour outside of the city.  

I'm super excited about this cruise. 

22 minutes ago, drsel said:

Seabourne and Disney are really expensive. Were they value for money

 

Disney's Transatlantic repositioning cruises used be a great value, now as they've become more popular the prices have gone up quite a bit.  I did those in 2007, 2013 and 2014 with my daughters when they were tweens and teens.  

I got really lucky with Seabourn and they were offering a reasonable (to me at least) priced Solo Verandah GTY for this cruise.   

So great to see this board.  I'm a big fan of TA cruises because I absolutely love sea days.  I also feel that these cruises give you the best opportunity to experience everything a ship has to offer.  I've sailed on 5 so far.  3 on the Disney Magic and 2 on NCL, the Epic and Escape.  I have my 6th coming up in April on the Sebourn Quest.  This will also be my first solo cruise.  Super excited.

We've used Barcelona Day tours a number of times while visiting Barcelona. They offer private and small group tours.  We've done Montserrat and Barcelona city tours with them- they picked us up at the port on disembarkation morning, took us on our tour, held our bags while we toured and dropped us off at our Barcelona hotel.  If you are not extending your stay in Barcelona, they will drop you at the airport at the end of the tour.  

10 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

Email sent to you.

Thank you.  Responded this morning. 

I will be taking my first Seabourn cruise in April - Quest transatlantic.  I would love a referral coupon if anyone has one available.

Email me at hencoll1 at gmail dot com    Thanks

So glad to see this thread.   I will be sailing the same cruise except the 15 day Miami to Barcelona leg.  I'm also traveling solo, leaving my husband and daughters at home.  I've been a SAHM for the last 19 yrs.  My oldest just graduated from college, my middle starts college in the fall and my youngest will be a Junior in HS.  I've started to do a bit of traveling alone since the youngest started HS.  I love transatlantic crossings especially the sea days, have done 3 on Disney and 2 on NCL.   This will be my first Seabourn cruise.  Looking forward to trying Seabourn.  

I just booked a SV GTY for the April 2020 Trans-Atlantic from Miami to Barcelona.  I'm not really concerned about location.  I'm sailing solo and the SV GTY offered a lower single supplement.  

Not jumping from any one cruise line.  I just love to cruise especially in suites.  Looking forward to trying something new.  I booked one of the Big Aft Suites for a 4 night Havana sailing.  A great way to try out a new ship/cruise line.  

29 minutes ago, 2cruiseluvrs said:

 

HENCOLL,

 

We had a really late night flight that arrived super early in Miami. After waiting a dreaded 3 hours at the airport, we got anxious and just went to the port early... crossing our fingers to somehow board early. We got to the port around 9:45.

 

We were dependent upon the opening of the Yacht Club check-in, which might possibly open as late as 11 - though they started working with us at 10:30. Once inside the first building, we were then dependent upon Port Security, which did not start up the metal detectors until 11. 

 

So, my point being that you may need to have some patience depending on your time of arrival at the port. I can only assume that if you arrived at noon, you would be whisked straight through most of that with very little waiting. Once you get to the YC ticket check-in area, there may be more waiting than we had, but at least while you are in that room, you can drink champagne, eat chocolates, and talk with other YC guests!

 

Have fun, and Merry Christmas!!!!!

Thanks for the added information.  We are arriving into Miami the afternoon before our cruise.  Our 3 daughters are late sleepers so I don't expect us to get to the port until around noon or sometime after.  

Thanks for sharing your review.  Especially enjoyed the detailed description of the arrival/check in process.  We will be sailing in the YC on the Seaside on the Christmas sailing.  Even more excited after reading your review!

Thanks Hencoll. I was hoping to hear from someone who had done it. I will make sure to bring all the documents including her passport. I get nervous that something will go wrong and we will have a nightmare while boarding. I am so glad it went smoothly for you.

Happy to help. Of course the passport wasn't required but I required it since our family always travel with passports.

We did it last year for Spring Break and will be doing it again for upcoming Epic Spring Break cruise. I took a notarized Consent to Travel letter from her parents which is something required by Customs and Border control. (link below) Use google to find a variety of sample letters. I also took a notarized Medical Treatment Authorization letter from her parents. I Asked her parents to obtain a Passport for her (which they did). I can't recall if RCCL had a separate form to fill out last year. Everything went smoothly and the girls had a blast. I travel alone with my own daughters quite a bit and I carry those same document signed by my husband too.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/3643/kw/minor%20child%20travel/session/L3RpbWUvMTUxMDA2NDkyOS9zaWQvZjNsOTQ4eG4%3D

Oh wow! Maybe I will look into that. Thank you!

Check their website out. I believe they even added a few new resorts to the list. Our upcoming Epic Spring

Break cruise has changed from an eastern to a western itinerary so I will probably book day passes again since Falmouth is a one of our ports again. May try a different resort since I'm traveling with the same 3 teens.