Seabourn and the current issues surrounding the Corona Virus

[Isklaar]

30 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

This was posted on Oceania boards:

 

Here it is:

 

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

·

42m

At my request, effective midnight tonight, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC have all agreed to suspend outbound cruises for thirty days. It is a great and important industry – it will be kept that way!

 

That would include Seabourn.

 

Careful! Directly quoting the president may be too political 😉

 

Why no announcement from SB? 

[Paulchili]

6 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

Careful! Directly quoting the president may be too political 😉

..and most likely inaccurate (to put it kindly) 😀 We have to wait until it's cleared up by someone else.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Paulchili

[Paulchili]

24 minutes ago, jozi said:

This article implies it only applies to ship leaving US ports? (Not my usual news source, just first link I found) https://www.foxnews.com/us/royal-caribbean-and-norwegian-suspend-cruises-amid-coronavirus

A person on an Oceania cruise to Carib posted the ship was directed to return to Miami only 2 days after having left Miami.

[IanL]

Have just been notified of cancellation on Odyssey out of bridgetown tomorrow not touching USA.

[ramses51]

We were just informed that our cruise on Seabourn Odyssey, leaving Bridgetown, Barbados, tomorrow was cancelled. Kind of short notice.

Edited March 14, 2020 by ramses51

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, Isklaar said:

 

The primary role of government is to protect citizens.

The decisions made by politicians during this crisis are affecting our travel, cruises especially.

Given that relevance, I don't believe that politics can be left out of this discussion.

 

I agree with Isklaar.  I think most posters have been very circumspect in their comments, keeping political comments to a minimum.  I don't think saying that the United States has been late in its Covid-19 response is out of line.  

Edited March 14, 2020 by SLSD

[alwaysonaship]

I will add that I don’t feel very protected at this time. He didn’t ask the cruise lines to stop sailing...they decided it was the best thing. 

[AtTheJob]

It's happened - All sailings cancelled for the next 30 days - 

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/news/press-release/2020-press-releases/seabourn-to-pause-global-cruise-operations-for-30-days.html

[2SailingNomads]

Yep - finally Seabourn has come into the reality of the situation.  However, there are many people who now will be stuck in transit somewhere.  Luckily we were not to leave for a few days.

 

[Cru Doll]

2 hours ago, HappyFeet13 said:

    Thanks for the info re Seabourn's policies.  I am booked for 4-29 sailing from Auckland ,and Seabourn hasn't sent me any notification of any kind re cancellation policies.  I booked via AmEx, and Seabourn won't talk to me...I have to go through AmEx.  AmEx says they have been told nothing. Today I got a FedEx from Seabourn with bag tags, etc. for my trip.  What a zoo!  The latest I had been told by Seabourn was that if I cancelled after 1-1-20, I would forfeit the entire fare. Thanks to you, I now know I can cancel w/o losing the $25,000 I paid for this trip, (not counting airfare) and  re-book later this year. I appreciate the info...thanks. 

    Sorry I offended with earlier comment to "chill out".  I meant it to apply to political criticism, not to the issue of the virus itself. Just trying to say that the problem we are dealing with should not become a political argument between pro-Trump and anti-Trump folks. We Americans are already divided enough, we don't more storm and strife between us, especially among shipmates🙂 See you at sailaway...on some happy day in the future.

 

I understood that you were referring to political discussion.  

No offense taken.  

[Daneite]

We have been in Barbados since Tuesday waiting to join Odyssey tomorrow, just received notice of cancellation for first 14 days bit nit for the transatlantic, we realise that will come soon. Very disappointed, managed to find flights home to UK on 22nd so grabbed them while available. Will try to make the best of our now short vacation while we can.

[2SailingNomads]

I'm sorry for your predicament, we were planning on leaving for St. Martin Monday to join the Odyssey on the 21st but Seabourn or any other cruise line can't be held responsible for these changes as it is governments making the rules.  Could Seabourn have had a much better, i.e., flexible cancellation policy for cruises in March, absolutely.   That is one area that they fell on their faces on and annoyed me and many others who had cruises that embarked in March,  We were still going until the imposed restrictions on travel from the EU to the US came into play.  Had considered doing the Caribbean segment but that is no longer an option.

 

Enjoy Barbados, we have been there several times and like it. 

Safe travels.

[AA-Flier]

Seabourn just suspended all ship operations for 30 days starting March 14, also current cruises underway will end by March 22.

See Seabourn web site for details.

[westmount]

The captain just announced that all operations will stop for 30 days, which both makes sense and was predicted. The world cruise will stop in Perth and all passengers leaving from there. 
  No real choice, as I gather us bailout coming and was conditional on shutting down. 
the staff will stay on for the 30 days, and presume ships etc will go to dry dock or reposition to start again once testing is possible and the world able to handle the spread and repercussions of the virus. 
 Canada has currently one death and has shut down, and that’s the only way to deal with it. 
hidesite will give us 20/20 vision, but for the protection of seniors and our health care systems, a 30 day freeze on travel , groups , gatherings etc seems the only way for governments to catch up

now of course we have to make it to Broome, be allowed off the ship After 15 days at sea to , find flights to somewhere that will take us somewhere else that will fly people home safely to countries that will accept us only to go back into a 14 day quarantine 

I think cruising used to be easier, 

[SLSD]

21 minutes ago, westmount said:

 

Now of course we have to make it to Broome, be allowed off the ship After 15 days at sea to , find flights to somewhere that will take us somewhere else that will fly people home safely to countries that will accept us only to go back into a 14 day quarantine. 

Best of luck finding your flights home.  

[florisdekort]

Not that it matters any more with Seabourn shutting down, but New Zealand just closed its ports for all cruise ships. 

[Catlover54]

We are on Encore in Australia.  Staff at SB Square just told me our cruise, which was scheduled to end March 22 in Sydney, will continue as planned until March 22, with the scheduled port stops ( assuming of course Australia does not close the  ports remaining before then). Then everyone must disembark even if scheduled to continue on another leg.

[ab21au]

2 hours ago, 2SailingNomads said:

Could Seabourn have had a much better, i.e., flexible cancellation policy for cruises in March, absolutely.

My criticism of Seabourn is that they seem to keep on changing the cancellation policy, all the cancellation policies appear to be different.

[Isklaar]

I've just woken and catching up with the posts.

 

Sorry to see so many of you affected by the cancellations at such short notice. I hope that everyone is able to quickly sort out their flights home.

 

Sad to read that the WC is to end. We left Sojourn in Miami on that January morning, the day the world cruise started. We had made friends  during our cruise who would be onboard for the entire WC, or for several segments. They, and many of the crew, were so looking forward to the travels ahead. 

I believe that these cancellations are a necessary evil. I can't see how cruises could continue, as this is going to get worse for many countries over the next few weeks. 
 

Very best wishes to any Seabourn crew who may be reading. Many of us share concerns for you and your families in the weeks ahead. 

Edited March 14, 2020 by Isklaar

[Mark56]

I can’t see how they will start up again after 30 days. It’s going to be worse by then.

[Isklaar]

3 minutes ago, Mark56 said:

I can’t see how they will start up again after 30 days. It’s going to be worse by then.

 

I agree.

[DC Traveler244]

5 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

 

I agree.

I agree as well.  I hope that, if SB decides to extend the shutdown beyond 30 days, it will provide more notice to affected guests. 

[HappyFeet13]

I think their (smart!) strategy is to NOT cancel the cruises until the last minute. If Seabourn cancels the cruise, they have to refund all of our money. If WE cancel our reservations, we get their carefully-orchestrated FCC. They want as many people as possible to cancel and take an FCC before  Seabourn actually cancels the cruise. That is smart business on their part, as I'm sure they prefer issuing FCC's to sending back cash. I'm going to keep my 4-29 booking, and if Seabourn doesn't cancel the cruise, I will cancel my reservation and get an FCC on 4-24 or 4-25. 

[plane7c]

2 hours ago, HappyFeet13 said:

I think their (smart!) strategy is to NOT cancel the cruises until the last minute. If Seabourn cancels the cruise, they have to refund all of our money. If WE cancel our reservations, we get their carefully-orchestrated FCC. They want as many people as possible to cancel and take an FCC before  Seabourn actually cancels the cruise. That is smart business on their part, as I'm sure they prefer issuing FCC's to sending back cash. I'm going to keep my 4-29 booking, and if Seabourn doesn't cancel the cruise, I will cancel my reservation and get an FCC on 4-24 or 4-25. 

My Quest April 5 cruise from Manaus to Miami was canceled yesterday.  Seabourn said they will credit my American Express card in 4-6 weeks.  Full refund.  

[DWF]

4 hours ago, HappyFeet13 said:

I think their (smart!) strategy is to NOT cancel the cruises until the last minute. If Seabourn cancels the cruise, they have to refund all of our money. If WE cancel our reservations, we get their carefully-orchestrated FCC. They want as many people as possible to cancel and take an FCC before  Seabourn actually cancels the cruise. That is smart business on their part, as I'm sure they prefer issuing FCC's to sending back cash. I'm going to keep my 4-29 booking, and if Seabourn doesn't cancel the cruise, I will cancel my reservation and get an FCC on 4-24 or 4-25. 

 

Someone posted this the other day and I agree.  Though they have changed some of terms of when you can cancel and when you can rebook it is definitely not good if you have to take the FCC:

 

"Here are some issues with the future cruise credit being offered by Seabourn and why it could eventually cost you a lot of money if you end up cancelling as your cruise date became closer.

 

1.  In order to use the future cruise credit, you have to re-book within 90 days of cancellation even though the future cruise may be up to a year and a half away.  You can't use the FCC for your deposit, so you will have the deposit as well as full amount of FCC, perhaps 100% of the total cost, tied up for such period.  Given tight 90 -day window for re-booking, you won't be able to wait for one of Seabourn's periodic super-sales before booking.  This feature alone could cost thousands.

 

2.  Presumably, once you book, you will have no right to cancel or to re-price your cruise based on future Seabourn discounts which are typically offered from time to time during the period before 120 days prior to the cruise.  Again, a significant cost negative.

 

3.  Normal travel insurance at standard prices is unlikely to be available for something you can't cancel at any time for a period of up to a year and a half without the complete loss of the deposit and the FCC, which could be 100% of the cruise cost.  Also, would insurance even cover the loss of the FCC if you had to cancel because of sickness, death, etc.

 

4.  In the terms and conditions for the FCC stated by Seabourn, you can't combine the FCC "with any other  offers".  This could mean you might not be able to book at a sales price even if there was a Seabourn sale and other benefits being offered at the time you booked within 90 days of the cancellation.  No suite upgrade, no on-board credit, no additional 5% discount for Seabourn club membership, no free internet minutes, no air credit, and maybe no discounted price then being offered if there is an expiration date for such price in the sale.  This is a real potential cost negative.

 

5.  In the terms and conditions, Seabourn reserves the right to modify or withdraw the policy at any time without notice for any reason.  Significant risk that for financial reasons, Seabourn could cancel the policy, say in April, stating that the virus was not so bad, which means you could have a 75% cash penalty (with no right to an FCC for such amount) if you cancelled thereafter because you felt differently than Seabourn about the virus risk.

 

6.  Finally, in the terms and conditions, Seabourn states that the FCC may be subject to "additional terms and conditions as provided by Seabourn" without any clarification of what they could be. 

 

If Seabourn wants customers to stick with it during this uncertain period, the policy needs to be more customer friendly."

 

Edited March 14, 2020 by DWF