Star Breeze Reno delayed therefore Feb 2020 sailings cancelled

[CanadianKate]

Hi,

 

Just got the email via my TA. 

 

Options are rebook on another cruise and get any non-refundable arrangements refunded 100%, price protection on the booking (not exactly sure what that means since it is limited to region and duration but my duration was a back-to-back and my region is a trans Atlantic so booking another one is not really easy.) Plus a 20% credit on a future cruise and $100 shipboard credit.

The best choice except there is nothing remotely similar being offered by Windstar at the time of this cruise. 

OR (the poor choice) 100% refund, plus up to $350 of my non-refundable travel arrangements, plus a 10% discount.  

My trip insurance was over 3x the amount they are covering, my US to home flights are non-refundable and I'm not sure what it will cost to cancel my flights (partially refundable, I'll put the cancellation in tomorrow.) 

 

Thoughts? Experiences with previous cruise cancellations?

 

 

[minidonuts85]

We just got our email too for our 4/28/20 sailing. 😞 idk what we’re going to do yet...really bummed! We got an amazing rate booking onboard w/additional obc 

Edited December 20, 2019 by minidonuts85

[milepig]

Not just February. Our Alaska in June was also canceled. 
 

$350??  Our airfare alone is $2600pp. 
 

I think we’re done with WS if this is all they can do. 

[minidonuts85]

2 minutes ago, milepig said:

Not just February. Our Alaska in June was also canceled. 
 

$350??  Our airfare alone is $2600pp. 
 

I think we’re done with WS if this is all they can do. 

Omg all the way to June? Wow...I thought April was bad. 

[minidonuts85]

Our 4/28/20 cruise is now 6/9/2020. Not sure we can make that one and since it’s a repo, not many options in the region. 

[CanadianKate]

Whoa, this is bad. 

 

Thanks for the input folks! This answers some questions for me. 

 

I was so excited. This was my first cruise in a proper 2 room suite. This was my first Windstar Cruise. And after suffering major depression last winter, this was me fighting back so it wouldn't happen again this year.  Funny thing about depression, it wasn't really gone, it was just lurking under the surface waiting to roar back up. 

 

What makes things bad, is they have $20K of my money and I can't afford to book any other holiday until I get that money back. Which means a month or more of stewing over this and sinking even deeper. When the money comes back, it will be too late to book another holiday unless I'm willing to pay the higher last-minute airfare.  So I'm struggling tonight not just with the lost cruise, but losing out on any vacation at all. 

 

 

[milepig]

7 minutes ago, minidonuts85 said:

Our 4/28/20 cruise is now 6/9/2020. Not sure we can make that one and since it’s a repo, not many options in the region. 

So apparently she’ll be done but with a totally changed itinerary. No Alaska in June but other itins. Really angry!!!

[milepig]

I’m waiting for someone to say “this is what trip insurance is for” but this is 100% on WS and I’m out thousands. 

[CanadianKate]

Our flights to Europe are cancelled now, $170 fee. Plus 2 billing cycles on the credit card to get the $1500 in taxes back (these were frequent flyer reward flights.) 

I'm now in a catch 22. I can't book another holiday until I get the money back from Windstar. I can't put in my claim to Windstar until I know if I'm using the non-refundable MIA home flights for another holiday. If I am, then I won't have them in my claim. They were a great price so I hate to give them up and end up replacing them with something more expensive on the same plane. 

MIlepig: I asked my TA if I'll get the money for the trip insurance back from that company since the cruise they are insuring isn't happening.  She's actually not sure. If you rebook something else (i.e. 2021 Alaska) then you'd get all your other money back. And you haven't paid in full yet so you aren't tying up a lot of money for an extra year. In my case, I paid in full and I'm within 60 days of sailing.  Ironically, paid the credit card off this evening before the news. Not that it would have made a difference. 

 

I've pointed out to my TA that I have no money with which to book another trip. I'm half-hoping they'll float the money for a different cruise so I can book something else now. 

 

Edited to clarify my response to Milepig

 

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by CanadianKate

[milepig]

I can see a few itins late, but all the way to June, at least. They must have known or just plan poor planning??

[CanadianKate]

I had my TA ask before I made my final payment (because I was booking flights and having to decide if I'd book on my own or with them to simplify if the cruise was put delayed.) She was assured everything was fine and on schedule. That was a month ago. We were referred to the lovely videos. I was prepared for an extra week in Barcelona. Or the first cruise cancelled and the second one running a bit late. This has gobsmacked me and since the cancellations run for so long. How they went to being so far behind in a month is what makes me think they knew and they misled my agent. 

[milepig]

2 minutes ago, CanadianKate said:

I had my TA ask before I made my final payment (because I was booking flights and having to decide if I'd book on my own or with them to simplify if the cruise was put delayed.) She was assured everything was fine and on schedule. That was a month ago. We were referred to the lovely videos. I was prepared for an extra week in Barcelona. Or the first cruise cancelled and the second one running a bit late. This has gobsmacked me and since the cancellations run for so long. How they went to being so far behind in a month is what makes me think they knew and they misled my agent. 

Yep. They had to have known since this is now months delayed. Inexcusable. 

Edited December 20, 2019 by milepig

[Kiwi Brenda]

I agree that the $350 each is ridiculous. Imagine how much we lose from New Zealand. Our flights from Seattle to Anchorage alone were more than that! And yes there’s travel insurance but we booked an entire five week holiday around our first Windstar cruise 27th May.  Won’t ever sail with them now. They were happy to take thousands for shore excursions as well. Our bucket list trip has been devastated by this cancellation! Nice Christmas present

[CanadianKate]

2 hours ago, Kiwi Brenda said:

We booked an entire five week holiday around our first Windstar cruise 27th May.  Won’t ever sail with them now. They were happy to take thousands for shore excursions as well. Our bucket list trip has been devastated by this cancellation! Nice Christmas present

 

Hello to Upper Hutt. I saw your location and thought I've been there! Actually, no, it was Lower Hutt and a day trip up the coast so I haven't actually been to Upper Hutt. Wellington is one of our favourite cities (we have a client based there so have had a couple of trips there and have several friends in the area.) 

 

Yes, you are coming a long way and it is disappointing. You have time to recover, though, and to get your money back for the portion you've paid to Windstar. But the compensation is measly. 

 

If you post an outline of your plans, perhaps us North Americans can help you come up with suitable replacement so you don't have to abandon your airfare. I do hope you are coming to Canada so I can help with fresh ideas. 

 

I didn't get to bed last night until I had a plan for us which I won't share in full until I find out if it is doable. I was on two cruises so if I'm allowed to split the compensation and rebook one + refund the other, by the time the credit card bills arrive from the land portion of the my new vacation plan, I'll have the refund from Windstar. I'm trading away an 8 day cruise, and replacing a cruise on a completely 'new' ship with all sorts of amenities, for an old ship that is being pulled from service because it is ready to be rebuilt. That will mean lots of little things not working since there's no point doing repairs on a ship that is heading to be gutted in a few weeks. And this cruise is east-bound instead of west-bound therefore 14 hours shorter. But the price doesn't reflect that. 

 

I requested a call from Windstar last night. Am hoping it comes by 10 this morning. If not, I'll call them. 

[milepig]

Enter the booking number for your itin (in the email). Mine now  links to a three day itin in November with a big warning “DRY DOCK DO NOT BOOK” the itin is Palermo to Barcelona. We’re shown as confirmed and there’s even a link to excursions, all in Barcelona. Who’s running the show in Seattle??  

[dandee2]

Happened today also with the new Mard-Gras from Carnival. First 8 sailing cancelled this Fall. As for WS, you can deduct that the other 2 ships remaining to be lengthen will probably suffers from delays also.

[CanadianKate]

A thread has been started for the Star Legend's cancellations already. 

[dandee2]

As for who is running the show, they are but they probably cannot explain to us yet the why and the how. Happened to me a few time on some flight when itseems that nobody was running the show at the gate but we knew full well that there was a lot of behind the scene happening.

[minidonuts85]

11 hours ago, CanadianKate said:

Whoa, this is bad. 

 

Thanks for the input folks! This answers some questions for me. 

 

I was so excited. This was my first cruise in a proper 2 room suite. This was my first Windstar Cruise. And after suffering major depression last winter, this was me fighting back so it wouldn't happen again this year.  Funny thing about depression, it wasn't really gone, it was just lurking under the surface waiting to roar back up. 

 

What makes things bad, is they have $20K of my money and I can't afford to book any other holiday until I get that money back. Which means a month or more of stewing over this and sinking even deeper. When the money comes back, it will be too late to book another holiday unless I'm willing to pay the higher last-minute airfare.  So I'm struggling tonight not just with the lost cruise, but losing out on any vacation at all. 

 

 

Oh CanadianKate I am so sorry to hear about what you've been going through. I know what its like to suffer through and have something to look forward to. I really hope this works out for you!

[minidonuts85]

11 hours ago, milepig said:

So apparently she’ll be done but with a totally changed itinerary. No Alaska in June but other itins. Really angry!!!

Yea when I did a search on the Breeze this morning, there are no cruises showing up before 5/25 and the 5/25 cruise is Costa Rica/Panama Canal. Seems at this point there is no ETA for delivery to even reschedule the TA.

 

I really hope they fully compensate you as this is completely their fault.

[milepig]

4 minutes ago, minidonuts85 said:

Yea when I did a search on the Breeze this morning, there are no cruises showing up before 5/25 and the 5/25 cruise is Costa Rica/Panama Canal. Seems at this point there is no ETA for delivery to even reschedule the TA.

 

I really hope they fully compensate you as this is completely their fault.

 

I'm also seeing 5/25 as the first scheduled. There are some Alaska itins still coming up, but it looks like the 6/19 departure from Seward was the sacrificial lamb.

[avalon1025]

Trying to reach Windstar for over an hour trying to get information on these cancellations.    Once this is sorted, good bye Windstar.   

[milepig]

In reading over the options offered me in the original email by the light of day and on a big screen and not on my phone...

 

It is clear that the rebook option is by far the best one financially, but the best of the best only applies if you rebook a similar itinerary in the same region. We're Alaska, so the window of "same region" isn't forever. But, an any case, I'm a bit worried about this being extended longer, as these post-construction things seem to be.

 

Has anyone spotted any press about what's going on?

 

Adding, just found this - asbestos removal is what they're saying and that WS was notified yesterday;

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/windstars-star-plus-renovations-delayed-asbestos-removal

 

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by milepig

[dandee2]

Speculating about the cause will not answer people inquiries about refunds, itinerary changes, etc. WS probably knows by now that this issue is now talked about publicly. Give them a few days to come up with an "official" explanation instead of us getting bits and bites of simili-answer by TA's or unofficial channel.

[CanadianKate]

16 minutes ago, avalon1025 said:

Trying to reach Windstar for over an hour trying to get information on these cancellations.    Once this is sorted, good bye Windstar.   

 

Sorry about that! I was on the phone for about an hour. Approximately 15 - 20 minute wait to get off hold and then a wonderful customer service experience with J. 

 

I'm now booked on the Legend from San Juan to Lisbon so I'll get my Trans-Atlantic although it will be 14 hours shorter (eastbound has 23 hour days vs 25 hour days on when westbound), on the old ship, and in a comparable cabin but with an obstructed view. That downside is offset by a real balcony. My booking class on the Breeze doesn't exist on the old ships but this cabin is comparable and they are applying the cancelled cruise fare as payment in full (quite the price adjustment compared to rack rate.)

 

I've cancelled the second cruise booked (Barcelona to Lisbon) and the credit is being applied to my credit card fairly quickly. I could have had a cheque but she said the credit card refund would be about a week faster. 

 

I still have to book my flights (and the second half of the vacation which will now take place on land.) And rebook medical appointments and haircuts, but we are well into recovery mode now. 

 

My travel agent will handle the recovery on non-refundable expenses in January. In the meantime, I'm cancelling what I can from here but the biggest ticket item will be the trip insurance. 

 

A huge thank you from me to the Cruise Critic member who created WindstarWizard.com. I could not have had such a successful outcome without your website. I knew exactly what I wanted, right down to which cabin, and your information was accurate so the rep was able to quickly make the booking for me.