Star Breeze Reno delayed therefore Feb 2020 sailings cancelled

[Alturia]

12 hours ago, Kiwi Brenda said:

So we have found three (more expensive) options for cruises within our limited time window - Silverseas, Lindblad or Uncruise. Any thoughts?

If you are interested in cruising Alaska then I would recommend UnCruise for a couple of reasons. First, UnCruise started in Alsaska so they really know the area and offer lots of itineraries. Second, they have much smaller ships. The boat we were on in Alaska held 76 people. Third, their expedition crews and excursions are fantastic. Their food isn't as upscale as Windstar of Silversea but there is plenty of it. 

 

[CruiseOrLand]

It is not possible to book at the last minute, but if price is not the focus, consider The Boat Company for Southeast Alaska. It’s a magical experience, with 10 cabins and 20 people. They are a conservation charity.

[kptbylorraine]

Re Carnival Mardi Gras delay vs WS delay offer

 

Carnival said that the guest notification process began promptly after the notice by Meyer Turku so that impacted guests could begin to make alternative vacation plans. The cruise line is offering these guests a 25 percent future cruise credit (FCC), in addition to the full refund of their cruise fare (and applicable fees and taxes and other pre-purchased cruise components), as well as assistance with non-refundable airline and hotel reservations already booked. In addition, if guests rebook their cruise vacation using their 25 percent FCC by February 18, 2020, they will be credited with an additional $100 per person onboard credit for that cruise. 

 

WS needs to step it up!

 

[ducklite]

11 minutes ago, kptbylorraine said:

Re Carnival Mardi Gras delay vs WS delay offer

 

Carnival said that the guest notification process began promptly after the notice by Meyer Turku so that impacted guests could begin to make alternative vacation plans. The cruise line is offering these guests a 25 percent future cruise credit (FCC), in addition to the full refund of their cruise fare (and applicable fees and taxes and other pre-purchased cruise components), as well as assistance with non-refundable airline and hotel reservations already booked. In addition, if guests rebook their cruise vacation using their 25 percent FCC by February 18, 2020, they will be credited with an additional $100 per person onboard credit for that cruise. 

 

WS needs to step it up!

 

Are you on an affected Windstar cruise?

[Spanky My]

 Agree and well said ktbylorraine. Even if you were not one of those Windstar cruise cancellations your point is well taken. Looks like carnival is making things much better for their cancellations .

 

[ducklite]

20 minutes ago, Spanky My said:

 Agree and well said ktbylorraine. Even if you were not one of those Windstar cruise cancellations your point is well taken. Looks like carnival is making things much better for their cancellations .

 

 

The average Carnival cruise fare for a week equals what a single day on average runs on Windstar. Apples to oranges.

[faze41]

So we are booked on an affected Star Breeze cruise, already paid in full.  The biggest problem is that it was a one-off and there is no other "like" cruise to rebook. ( Miami to Colon).  Annoyed that they are not offering to refund our flight to Miami and back from Panama and hotel in full, when there are no replacements available.  All are non-refundable.

[Spanky My]

Hmm Ducklite..  The point was and is Carnival is offering a better TOTAL refund policy for their cancellations than Windstar. That is not apples and oranges it is reality as was stated by ktbylorrine. 

[ducklite]

1 hour ago, faze41 said:

So we are booked on an affected Star Breeze cruise, already paid in full.  The biggest problem is that it was a one-off and there is no other "like" cruise to rebook. ( Miami to Colon).  Annoyed that they are not offering to refund our flight to Miami and back from Panama and hotel in full, when there are no replacements available.  All are non-refundable.

Will your travel insurance cover?  Or credit card?  We were on a one-off routing as well, and were able to change to a very different itinerary in the same region on a more expensive cruise that they are giving us for what the original sailing cost in actual fare.   They are refunding change fees and non-refundable AirBnB costs.

[kptbylorraine]

That was my point. I am not affected but two of my clients are and I am embarrassed by the WS offer. They will be cancelling because they really wanted to go to Iceland and the next opportunity won’t be until 2021. 

We were also booked on Miami to Colon but cancelled months ago and booked Celebrity instead. Phew!

[ducklite]

55 minutes ago, Spanky My said:

Hmm Ducklite..  The point was and is Carnival is offering a better TOTAL refund policy for their cancellations than Windstar. That is not apples and oranges it is reality as was stated by ktbylorrine. 

 

I guess I look at it differently.  I'm happy with what Windstar is offering us for our inconvenience and out of pocket expenses.  

[ducklite]

1 minute ago, kptbylorraine said:

That was my point. I am not affected but two of my clients are and I am embarrassed by the WS offer. They will be cancelling because they really wanted to go to Iceland and the next opportunity won’t be until 2021. 

We were also booked on Miami to Colon but cancelled months ago and booked Celebrity instead. Phew!

We really wanted to go on the itinerary we were on, but we're making lemonade out of lemons and will do that on a different trip and take the cruise we were planning for 2022 in 2020 instead.

[Spanky My]

Couple points  ducklite. ..First comparing pricing of carnival vs windstar in this conversation is in our view irrelevant really to the topic.

 

Secondly  while you are ok with what Windstar has offered you , MANY are not. So you are correct we do look at this issue differently.

 

We have have some very good cruises on Windstar. But several recent events of late and how they have chosen to deal with them is disturbing to us  and many have voiced their concerns. You have not. Fair enough .  Happy sailings

Edited December 24, 2019 by Spanky My
spelling errors

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, Spanky My said:

Couple points  ducklite. ..First comparing pricing of carnival vs windstar in this conversation is in our view irrelevant really to the topic.

 

I think it actually works the other way:  Carnival makes very little profit on their cruise fares (it's the nickel and diming where they rake it in), so they are being generous out of their own pockets.  Windstar charges so much more that they should take better care of their customers.

[new_cruiser]

8 hours ago, Spanky My said:

Hmm Ducklite..  The point was and is Carnival is offering a better TOTAL refund policy for their cancellations than Windstar. That is not apples and oranges it is reality as was stated by ktbylorrine. 

The quoted Carnival policy doesn't mention being able to transfer the booking to another cruise for the same fare. That part of the Windstar policy is better - at least for those who can find a suitable substitute cruise.

 

However, I do agree that for those who aren't able to switch to another Windstar booking and have other non-refundable expenses, the Windstar offering is underwhelming. They should do better.

[new_cruiser]

10 hours ago, kptbylorraine said:

Re Carnival Mardi Gras delay vs WS delay offer

 

Carnival said that the guest notification process began promptly after the notice by Meyer Turku so that impacted guests could begin to make alternative vacation plans. The cruise line is offering these guests a 25 percent future cruise credit (FCC), in addition to the full refund of their cruise fare (and applicable fees and taxes and other pre-purchased cruise components), as well as assistance with non-refundable airline and hotel reservations already booked. In addition, if guests rebook their cruise vacation using their 25 percent FCC by February 18, 2020, they will be credited with an additional $100 per person onboard credit for that cruise. 

 

WS needs to step it up!

 

 

Not clear what "assistance" with non-refundable reservations means - do you mean that they have said that they will cover the non-refundable cost?

 

[kptbylorraine]

I’m just quoting Carnival.  I don’t know what

”assistance” actually means. 

[ducklite]

12 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

 

Not clear what "assistance" with non-refundable reservations means - do you mean that they have said that they will cover the non-refundable cost?

 

"Assistance" is a vague term to use, and I've guessing they are covering to a fairly low limit.

[dandee2]

Carnival is a publicly traded company. Windstar is owned by  Xanterra Travel Collection (owned by Anschutz Corporation, a private entity). I'm not an accountant but this must have something to do with the low offer from WS.

[kptbylorraine]

That’s very possible. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

24 minutes ago, dandee2 said:

Carnival is a publicly traded company. Windstar is owned by  Xanterra Travel Collection (owned by Anschutz Corporation, a private entity). I'm not an accountant but this must have something to do with the low offer from WS.

 

I don't see the connection.  If they have insurance, they should be offering all the policy covers.  Beyond that it comes out of the bottom line – a public company will take an immediate stock price hit, but a privately owned company can more easily chalk it off to long-term good will.

[ridethetide]

Reimbursement from Windstar is not going swiftly or smoothly.  After my TA submitted all the necessary paperwork over two weeks ago, I received an email from Windstar stating: 

 

"Thank you for submitting your receipts for reimbursement consideration.  We thank you for your patience as we review and respond to each submission.

 

Upon review of your submitted receipts, further documentation is required.  At your earliest convenience, please submit the documentation you have which contain terms and conditions which state nonrefundable and non-changeable. If fees were assessed, please submit receipt of the fees assessed. If no fees were assessed, please submit documentation which states this. Proof of purchase of the original tickets will still require proof of cancellation or change and the fees which were associated with either option.

 

Please note that Windstar Cruises requires proof of exact amounts of fees incurred to be able to reimburse. If no proof is able to be submitted in regards to the terms and conditions, Windstar will be forced to deny your claim.

 

We look forward to hearing from you soon.  Please let us know if you have any questions."

 

All of this was submitted with the original request. Seriously???? I am so disappointed.

 

[milepig]

2 minutes ago, ridethetide said:

Reimbursement from Windstar is not going swiftly or smoothly.  After my TA submitted all the necessary paperwork over two weeks ago, I received an email from Windstar stating: 

 

"Thank you for submitting your receipts for reimbursement consideration.  We thank you for your patience as we review and respond to each submission.

 

Upon review of your submitted receipts, further documentation is required.  At your earliest convenience, please submit the documentation you have which contain terms and conditions which state nonrefundable and non-changeable. If fees were assessed, please submit receipt of the fees assessed. If no fees were assessed, please submit documentation which states this. Proof of purchase of the original tickets will still require proof of cancellation or change and the fees which were associated with either option.

 

Please note that Windstar Cruises requires proof of exact amounts of fees incurred to be able to reimburse. If no proof is able to be submitted in regards to the terms and conditions, Windstar will be forced to deny your claim.

 

We look forward to hearing from you soon.  Please let us know if you have any questions."

 

All of this was submitted with the original request. Seriously???? I am so disappointed.

 

WOW. This is not stuff that WS is known to be good at. My case wasn’t complicated in the end as we just moved all our payments over to a 2021 cruise and I had all the other stuff refunded except that we kept the airfare and are doing a Silversea cruise instead. But my TA stepped up and just took care of it weeks ago. So sorry to hear about your saga. It does answer one question about proof of cancellation, I knew the initial process was too easy. I was momentarily tempted to try to get the airfare back even though we’re using it but then thought “that wouldn’t be ethical”. I guess they would have caught me as they want proof or cancellation. 
 

We put together a wonderful trip that includes a shorter cruise but then a car trip to Banff and Jasper using the extra time and we couldn’t be happier, and we get a Silversea butler and we came out ahead in the end. For us, it’s a win. 

[ridethetide]

2 hours ago, milepig said:

WOW. This is not stuff that WS is known to be good at. My case wasn’t complicated in the end as we just moved all our payments over to a 2021 cruise and I had all the other stuff refunded except that we kept the airfare and are doing a Silversea cruise instead. But my TA stepped up and just took care of it weeks ago. So sorry to hear about your saga. It does answer one question about proof of cancellation, I knew the initial process was too easy. I was momentarily tempted to try to get the airfare back even though we’re using it but then thought “that wouldn’t be ethical”. I guess they would have caught me as they want proof or cancellation. 
 

We put together a wonderful trip that includes a shorter cruise but then a car trip to Banff and Jasper using the extra time and we couldn’t be happier, and we get a Silversea butler and we came out ahead in the end. For us, it’s a win. 

So happy for you.  Let us know how Silversea compares.  Sorry we didn't get to meet you.

[CanadianKate]

Mine request has gone in but just last week. One of the airfares is dodgy as the airline didn't refund all the taxes. My dh handled that call because currently our airline does not allow one to talk to them until 24 hours before a flight and our booking couldn't be touched online. So I put him on hold for the hours because he has special access due to his FF level and I had errands to run. It wasn't bad, just 45 minutes but when I looked at the final paperwork, I realized they refunded just one tax not 3. So he called in again (an hour on hold) and the answer was too-bad, so-sad, we can't do anything about it. 

 

We may end up being out some money (not much but it is the principal of the matter.) 

My latest concern is our replacement flights have a 43 minute layover and I get to change terminals in Newark. That must be doable and 'legal' since the airline sold me the ticket, except our first flight has averaged 101 minutes late over the past 30 days with a 20% ontime rate. With only 1 flight a day to PR, I don't fancy waiting 24 hours for the next flight. I have trip insurance but that won't cover increased costs if I have to take another routing. That's my bad, I thought that was what I was buying.