Refunds for re-routed cruises

[Still Dreaming]

I was before final payment.

 

 

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You can cancel anytime b4 final payment!!

 

We sail in October so our itinerary has changed. I picked this cruise for the ship (escape) and Tortola! I definitely do not want to do that itinerary now!! We did western for the 2nd time last winter and loved it! I am a water person so we search out beaches with shade and people watch and read. Already have our ports planned without paying for any excursions, just taxis!!

[goldenrod]

Hurricanes are a fact of life,and it's a fact of life cruise lines can't let people cancel after final payment or they will be sailing half empty and go broke! The government does not subsidize cruise lines so just enjoy your trip and understand it's not their fault

 

 

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[kitkat343]

I also liked mainland Belize - the zoo was incredible. But you'll need to check your itinerary to see if you are going to Harvest Cay (which is hard to leave) or the mainland of Belize.

 

In Costa Maya, we loved Native Choice's trip to the Mayan ruins, and afterwards we participated in a cooking lesson and got to eat a delicious mayan lunch.

[BeeeJay]

You can cancel anytime b4 final payment!!

 

We sail in October so our itinerary has changed. I picked this cruise for the ship (escape) and Tortola! I definitely do not want to do that itinerary now!! We did western for the 2nd time last winter and loved it! I am a water person so we search out beaches with shade and people watch and read. Already have our ports planned without paying for any excursions, just taxis!!

 

I had ended up with similar plan after researching excursions....I would prefer the Jamaica/Cayman stops from the only other Western Itin I've done, but will try to make the best of it by checking 3 new ports off my list of places visited. It could have been worse, I was debating between the cruise and a trip directly to St. Maarten. Feel awful for the people on the islands and upset to lose some of my favorite vacation spots. I recall tours mentioning damage from hurricanes decades ago which makes me think it will take a very very long time to fully recover. So will make the best of things realizing a western instead of eastern itin is a "first world problem" :)

[CateW]

I'm pretty sure we are going to have at least 3-4 ports changed on our 14 night eastern sailing in February. Don't know what they will be changed to yet and my final payment is October 5th. We've been to the Western a couple of times (not my favorite) so at this point, I am pretty sure we are just going to cancel and fly to Miami and do a 14 night southern caribbean on another cruise line.

[Darcy03231]

We were rerouted by Hurricane Harvey from Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel to St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Nassau. We found out the morning of the cruise. No refunds for the change in itinerary, other than a refund of port fees for one missed port. While we were disappointed because this was not the itinerary we booked or wanted, we made the best of it and had a great time.

 

Belize is one of our favorite ports/countries. We've done cruise stops and land-based vacations there and have never had a problem. Like previous posters have said, just get out of Belize City.

[cruiserssandr]

Will NCL offer the option of a refund for Eastern Caribbean cruises re-routed to Western Caribbean?

 

I'm on December 9th NCL Escape and wife has zero interest in Belize after watching Mad Dogs. 😉 And even less interest in the Mexico ports of call.

NCL doesn't go to Belize City anymore. They go to the new private island

[HokiePoq]

Belize is fine if you go on an excursion. We went to Lamanai and it still remains probably my favorite NCL shore excursion.

 

The Lamanai excursion is one of our all time favorites, too! DH had a blast climbing to the top.

I still want to do the cave tubing one there.....but will be very disappointed if we lose all our Eastern itinerary on the Nov 27 Jade. Jade is not a huge ship so I'm hoping they can just sub two ports for St. Thomas and St. Martin.

Keeping fingers crossed......past final payment.

[cruiserssandr]

My only issue with Belize is I just finished watching Mad Dogs

The cruise doesn't go to Belize City anymore. NCL now goes to their new private island , Harvest Kaye.

[tgirl25]

I don't think you will be given the option, it says in your cruise contract basically that they are allowed to change anything and everything about your cruise as long as you get the cruise. Changes like this are why you might want to purchase independent cruise insurance, it can give you the right to cancel after final payment for something like this.

 

But I would say, go in with an open mind, try it out. Or stay on the ship if you picked a fun one and have it to yourself while everyone else is ashore...

[Tralynn]

Will NCL offer the option of a refund for Eastern Caribbean cruises re-routed to Western Caribbean?

 

I'm on December 9th NCL Escape and wife has zero interest in Belize after watching Mad Dogs. 😉 And even less interest in the Mexico ports of call.

 

 

Just an FYI: NCL's new dock in Belize called Harvest Caye is gorgeous! I've visited Belize several times, and was thrilled when they opened their own area. Belize with NCL is now a good stop. On other lines, you still dock near Belize City. My advice there, is to have an excursion booked in advance.

[RobTheGob]

Ummm - isn't "Mad Dogs" a TV show?!? I doubt I'd be pre-judging a place based on a ficational TV show...

 

We we supposed to be doing the Eastern, then the Western as B2B in November. We haven't heard details of what will happen - but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what options there are...

[BeeeJay]

Ummm - isn't "Mad Dogs" a TV show?!? I doubt I'd be pre-judging a place based on a ficational TV show...

 

We we supposed to be doing the Eastern, then the Western as B2B in November. We haven't heard details of what will happen - but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what options there are...

 

Yeah it's an Amazon Original Series, I think the joke is probably lost on those who haven't seen it :)

[BeeeJay]

Just an FYI: NCL's new dock in Belize called Harvest Caye is gorgeous! I've visited Belize several times, and was thrilled when they opened their own area. Belize with NCL is now a good stop. On other lines, you still dock near Belize City. My advice there, is to have an excursion booked in advance.

 

Pretty much sold wife on the changes with the pics from Harvest Caye, looks perfect!

[lucyintheskywithdiamonds]

Anonmom, I understand. Your thoughts are mostly what I do see. So I was hoping for OP that Belize wouldn't be an automatic turnoff since it isn't really Belize, ha! I have not been to Belize City, but I am sure I would love it. I really think I would love ANYWHERE I would go with a cruise port and excursions. I think Harvest Caye was especially nice for us since we did the excursion type thing at the other ports, and this time, we even get one additional port, so the chill day was awesome. But I would love anywhere!

 

Belize is a beautiful country. however, Belize City is very dangerous with all the gang activities. not kidding. plan an excursion and get picked up. don't hang around there! the ruins are awesome, there's cavetubing that's so much fun, and the Belize zoo is great too. I was in Belize last year for 8 days, 4 on San Pedro (Ambergris Cay) and 4 on the mainland.. so I got the lowdown from all the locals.. and their advice is once it gets dark on the mainland,, get yourself home and stay there! the island was safe most of the time

Edited September 17, 2017 by lucyintheskywithdiamonds

[roger001]

I was before final payment.

 

 

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NCL will always let you cancel for any reason before final payment.

[RobTheGob]

Yeah it's an Amazon Original Series, I think the joke is probably lost on those who haven't seen it :)

 

That makes more sense! I'll have to go looking for it now... Although I'm likely to watch the original UK version first.

[anonmom]

I also liked mainland Belize - the zoo was incredible. But you'll need to check your itinerary to see if you are going to Harvest Cay (which is hard to leave) or the mainland of Belize.

 

In Costa Maya, we loved Native Choice's trip to the Mayan ruins, and afterwards we participated in a cooking lesson and got to eat a delicious mayan lunch.

 

 

That was the tour we originally wanted to do in Costa Maya, but it was sold out. So we decided on Dzibanche, which is further away, but you can climb the temples. Maybe we'll do the Mayan Experience this time around if we get rerouted to Western.

 

 

 

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[anonmom]

I had ended up with similar plan after researching excursions....I would prefer the Jamaica/Cayman stops from the only other Western Itin I've done, but will try to make the best of it by checking 3 new ports off my list of places visited. It could have been worse, I was debating between the cruise and a trip directly to St. Maarten. Feel awful for the people on the islands and upset to lose some of my favorite vacation spots. I recall tours mentioning damage from hurricanes decades ago which makes me think it will take a very very long time to fully recover. So will make the best of things realizing a western instead of eastern itin is a "first world problem" :)

So, so true! They say that cultivating gratitude is one of the best things we can do for our own happiness and for our children's. I, too, would prefer a Jamaica/Cayman Western itinerary, for the opposite reason, that I haven't been to those places.

 

But every time I realize I'm having a real first world problem it reminds me of just how lucky I am. I'm so rich that I can afford to go on a cruise! What percentage of the world's population can say that? And my problem is that I might have to visit the same beautiful places I've visited before instead of visiting new beautiful places.

 

Lately, when I realize things like this, I celebrate by making a small donation to charity. Even $10 helps, especially when you donate through a company that doubles your donation, like Google. And I can find room in our budget for a small donation like that in such simple ways. This morning my husband got up early and made biscuits and gravy from scratch and made coffee, too, and then I made tea, since we've all been sick. If we'd gone out for breakfast, we would have paid a minimum of $40 for the 3 of us, after tax and tip.

 

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[anonmom]

Belize is a beautiful country. however, Belize City is very dangerous with all the gang activities. not kidding. plan an excursion and get picked up. don't hang around there! the ruins are awesome, there's cavetubing that's so much fun, and the Belize zoo is great too. I was in Belize last year for 8 days, 4 on San Pedro (Ambergris Cay) and 4 on the mainland.. so I got the lowdown from all the locals.. and their advice is once it gets dark on the mainland,, get yourself home and stay there! the island was safe most of the time

A lot of places are dangerous after dark, but most port stops are firmly within daylight hours. It is perfectly safe to walk out of the port in Belize City during the day and hail a cab. Be smart, don't wear expensive jewelry or carry flashy electronics or lots of cash, but you'll be fine with a regular smartphone and $100-150 to pay your cab fare and other expenses.

 

Never pay all of your round-trip cab fare upfront, but do realize that profit margins are quite slim for cab drivers who can't afford newer, high MPG cars. We got a round trip ride from Belize City to the Belize Zoo for about $80, and we did have to pay half upfront so the driver could fill up his tank.

 

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