Help! Do we pay final balance or lose our deposit?

We are in a quandary! It was reported today that US troops have moved into Estonia, Poland and Latvia and, in addition, travel sanctions have been mentioned yet again in connection with the problems in Ukraine.

The balance on our Baltic cruise is due to be paid within the next week or we lose our stateroom and our deposit. Ordinarily we would not hesitate as we were looking forward to visiting Scandinavia and Russia, but if we pay the balance now and then RCI decide to pull St Petersburg from the itinerary we would be really upset as that is the highlight of the whole cruise. So, our problem is do we not pay the final balance and lose our deposit and visit the Baltic another time in the future or do we take a chance? We certainly would not want to pay all that money for two extra sea days instead of St P and we can easily visit the other ports of call ourselves from UK so we wouldn't want substituted ports either. Tallinn in Estonia, where US troops have been sent, is one of our ports of call too.

Can anyone help us, any suggestions to help us decide? Help please!! :confused::confused:

Get one of those insurance policies that covers 'cancelling for any reason' and breath easier if you do decide to back out :)

Get one of those insurance policies that covers 'cancelling for any reason' and breath easier if you do decide to back out :)

Probably too late to purchase that type of insurance. I believe you have to buy it when you first book the cruise or within a few days.

I'd cancel just for political reasons but that's just me.

I think you may be on the same Baltic cruise as us if your balance is due at the end of the month.

We have the exact same thoughts as you about SPB, it's the highlight for us. We've paid the balance with a bit of "what will be, will be" in the back of our minds.

Not sure how this is all going to pan out to be honest :confused:

I'm not even sure we have those kind of policies in the UK.....

I'm due to board in 8 weeks..... final payment has passed and like you I have booked this cruise primarily for the SPB visit.... in this case 3 days.... I'm going. I maybe hesitated briefly before biting the bullet.... in the UK we lose deposit if we cancel at any time.... ALL the ports of call will be new for me and whatever the outcome itinerary wise I'm going to have an amazing experience.

Probably too late to purchase that type of insurance. I believe you have to buy it when you first book the cruise or within a few days.

Don't know how Royal's insurance works in the UK, but in the USA the OP could certainly buy it before final payment. I would cover cancel for any reason up to sailing. They would get a 75% credit toward another cruise within a year I believe.

Perhaps another option would be to call and transfer your booking to either a different date of departure or choose a different cruise that doesn't visit that area of the world - saving that cruise itinerary for another time when the political and military problems have been resolved.

I am not versed on the rules around UK bookings, but if it is allowed, transferring your booking to a different ship or sailing on a different date may make you feel safer and give you more enjoyment from your vacation.

Just a thought... Hope it works out for you on your cruise and for the people who live in that area of the world where there is so much going on.

Not an insurance expert but NEVER buy insurance from cruise line. Policies vary and I believe it is not too late to buy. Look up InsureMyTrip. com.Also ask questions directly at cruise line without giving your name. Ask for a senior rep. Any experts?

We were on a HAL cruise last year that was scheduled to stop in Tunisia. Due to political problems in that country, the stop was canceled and Naples was substituted. I think the cruise lines have to be careful not to put their passengers in peril and we were fine with the substitution.

I'd cancel just for political reasons but that's just me.

I have a friend who won't touch RCI now that they are basing a ship in China with their human rights record.

It's a difficult personal conscience decision I guess.

There are thousands of cruisers on many cruise lines in this same situation. While the Baltic itineraries may be in question the Black Sea itineraries with stops on the Ukraine are getting even more likely to have their itineraries changed.

Friends who are booked on Celebrity for a Black Sea cruise this summer received a survey about a month ago soliciting their preferences of alternate ports should Ukraine ports have to be cancelled. So clearly the cruise lines are working on a Plan B.

We are booked on Celebrity for the Baltic in July trust that Celebrity will do what is safest for the passengers & crew. No matter where we go it's a cruise, it will be wonderful.

I have a friend who won't touch RCI now that they are basing a ship in China with their human rights record.

 

It's a difficult personal conscience decision I guess.

Not to be a wise-guy... but I gather your friend does not cruise much if that is what they are basing their decision on --- most of the bigger cruise lines have ships that are home-ported in China or have subsidiaries that home-port ships in China. RCCL is not the first or only cruise line to base ships in China. Princess, HAL, Celebrity, etc... even Viking River Cruises does extended river cruises in China.

I am not saying that political reasons are not a good enough reason to choose one line or one itinerary over another, and I am certainly not discounting the validity of the statement, but just to be clear, RCCL is by far, not the only cruise line home-porting ships in China.

Honestly if it was me, and those ports were the most important aspect of the trip, I would cancel. It really seems more and more likely that travel plans will be affected - but you're never going to know for sure. If you could still enjoy the trip even with a port substitution then I would still go.

Thanks for all your comments. We would not be happy with any itinerary that did not include St Petersburg as I said before, but I will ring Royal and ask if they have a Plan B before making a final decision.

Why oh why did we have to decide to go to the Baltic this year, oh dear, decisions, decisions!!

It's highly unlikely that RCI will tell you anything. They are not going to risk a bunch of people cancelling cruises or attempting to transfer if they were to say for example, 'No we have no Plan B'. There are many ships in SPB when I will be there..... each ship would be looking for berths elsewhere within the region should the situation escalate sufficiently that travel advisories are issued. Many of those ports can only take one maybe two ships at a time. The situation can change without warning. I'm still going. Regardless.

"NorbertsNiece" and I are on the same cruise and this was discussed on our thread. If I remember correctly only one or two couples cancelled. My husband and I debated the issue and decided we can't worry about all the "what if's". Our cruise stays 3 days in St Petersburg - the only reason we booked the cruise - so we would definitely be disappointed but we're hoping that things don't escalate to the point where tourists can't go to Russia.

We happened to cruise to Greece when they were having major protests there and had booked a walking tour near where the protests took place. RCI cancelled the excursion for "lack of participation" but we knew they were doing it for safety reasons. Cruise lines will never put guests in harms way.

Bottom line, you have to do what you are comfortable with - if you are going to be worried about it from now until your cruise date, you might want to cancel.

Marianne

W

Not an insurance expert but NEVER buy insurance from cruise line. Policies vary and I believe it is not too late to buy. Look up InsureMyTrip. com.Also ask questions directly at cruise line without giving your name. Ask for a senior rep. Any experts?

Oh, yes, missing SPB would be a pity. As you note, the other cities are easy enough to visit. It sounds like you will have other opportunities to go if you cancel this one; that is good. Balancing the risk is hard. Can you tell us as a percent of total cost of this trip, how much would be lost if you cancel now (including cruise deposit, nonrefundable/ nonchangable airfare, any penalties to make changes to air, etc, and any other nonrefundable/nonchangable items)?

Hey guys!!!

Send me an e-mail so that we can touch base.

Alma and Jim - Davie

jgagnon41@msn.com

FWIW, there's only 150 troops going to each country. A token at best.

I'd load up and go quite frankly. So-called C&C here will blink anyway.

I am not at all sure why travelwide posted that. Doesn't appear to be related to the thread at all. Good way to get your email address pounced on by spammers though.

Not an insurance expert but NEVER buy insurance from cruise line. Policies vary and I believe it is not too late to buy. Look up InsureMyTrip. com.Also ask questions directly at cruise line without giving your name. Ask for a senior rep. Any experts?

Never say never. I imagine that Russia is, or soon will be, on the excluded list for many independent policies. So Cruise Care may be the only option, since "cancel for any reason" insurance would at least give partial coverage (a 75% credit toward a future cruise).

And one isn't buying Cruise Care "from" RCI, but from Stonebridge Casualty, an independent concern. It isn't always the best deal out there, but for this kind of situation, it just might be.

OP, I understand how you feel about St. Petersburg, but I would go ahead and make final payment. The entire Baltics itinerary is fabulous, and RCI would likely substitute another terrific port or two to make up for missing it. Good luck!

I rang Royal Caribbean today asking what would happen if there is a change of itinerary and was told that if we did not wish to accept the revised itinerary they would more than likely offer us a full refund in the form of credit for another RCI cruise. That said, there are plenty of other cruise lines offering Baltic cruises at really low prices at present and will no doubt continue to do so for late bookings avoiding the need for payment far in advance. Royal even agreed to reduce the cost of our cruise as a price match because it had dropped drastically since we first booked, something that RCI in UK never normally do, so we have accepted that and know that we can still have the same balcony cabin we originally chose.

We will wait until the last minute now before making a decision on whether or not to pay the revised final balance. We really want to go on this cruise and have already done all our homework on each port of call so hopefully we will still get to see St Petersburg ................ but we shall also be watching the news avidly during the next week!! :)

I have a friend who won't touch RCI now that they are basing a ship in China with their human rights record.

 

It's a difficult personal conscience decision I guess.

THey've had a ship based in China for years..

As for the Baltic cruise, I was scheduled to go on one this year but opted to cancel as I refuse to support Russia in their quest to reunite the USSR. Everyone has to make their own choice here, but if you decide to go rest easy: it isn't Russia that is at risk...it is all the countries around them.

We are paid in full as our cruise leaves on 5/26. We are keeping our fingers crossed all will go well.

I was so distracted worrying about whether or not SPB would be dropped from the cruise that I didn't think ahead and realize a lot of people would cancel and the stateroom prices would drop drastically after final payment. Our stateroom on RCI Brilliance dropped down to 1/2 the price we paid.

If I had to do it over again: I'd cancel. Wait until a few weeks after final payment *would* be due and then start watching the stateroom prices. And keep monitoring the political situation to see if other cruises have ported in SPB, etc.

Good luck.