Cunard's Coronavirus Cancellations/Refunds (Merged threads)

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, T5LHR said:

Well, hopefully we will get some more news tomorrow as to what is going on. 

 

My May crossing is not going to happen, despite Trumps best intentions. 

I hope you are right im on roundtrip 6th - 20th May hope Cunardwill cancel soon but not holding my breath for a cash refund

 

[T5LHR]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

I hope you are right im on roundtrip 6th - 20th May hope Cunardwill cancel soon but not holding my breath for a cash refund

 

 

I am booked on the same voyage... It won't sail. 

 

I am not holding my breath for cash, but for me, its fine. But, I know everyone is different. 

[Neuhoftraveler]

Two questions:

 

(1) May I ask one of our UK participants (or anyone else knowledgeable) to explain exactly on what basis the Foreign Office Advisory on 70+ pax is being treated as a Government order?  Is there a provision in the UK T&C that's not in the US version? I thought it was just advisory, not mandatory.

 

(2) Does that position apply to all pax booked on a cruise that departs from the UK?  We are 70+ US citizens booked on the QV 31 May Southampton round-trip to Norway, through a US travel agent.

 

Any insights would be much appreciated.

Edited March 29, 2020 by Neuhoftraveler

[Vogatrice]

Saw this in the news today: "England’s deputy chief medical officer said on Sunday that Britons may be under some form of lockdown for six months or longer, warning that the country faces a second wave of coronavirus if they are lifted too quickly."

 

So I guess Cunard won't be running voyages into Southampton anytime soon. 

[resistk]

1 hour ago, Vogatrice said:

Saw this in the news today: "England’s deputy chief medical officer said on Sunday that Britons may be under some form of lockdown for six months or longer, warning that the country faces a second wave of coronavirus if they are lifted too quickly."

 

So I guess Cunard won't be running voyages into Southampton anytime soon. 

 

The entire cruise industry is in deep deep trouble.  At least Cunard's ships are accounted for and still not at sea trying desprately to reach any port.

[IB2]

5 hours ago, Neuhoftraveler said:

Two questions:

 

(1) May I ask one of our UK participants (or anyone else knowledgeable) to explain exactly on what basis the Foreign Office Advisory on 70+ pax is being treated as a Government order?  Is there a provision in the UK T&C that's not in the US version? I thought it was just advisory, not mandatory.

 

(2) Does that position apply to all pax booked on a cruise that departs from the UK?  We are 70+ US citizens booked on the QV 31 May Southampton round-trip to Norway, through a US travel agent.

 

Any insights would be much appreciated.

It is academic now for Brits as the subsequent Coronavirus Act and the associated Health Protection Regulations have passed the ‘lockdown’ into law, and we are all prevented from travelling anywhere during the emergency period.

 

The earlier FCO advisory (which is here https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-70s-and-at-risk-brits-advised-against-travelling-on-cruise-ships) was advice, but FCO advice on travel carries heavy weight in the UK, would invalidate the travel insurance of anyone travelling against it, and potentially affect the support you might receive from the UK if stranded abroad.  It only applies to British nationals so, unless your insurance is UK based, I can’t see that it has any effect on a US citizen.  The FCO has however been advising on such matters for centuries, their expertise on travel safety is well regarded by travellers worldwide, and their advice can be expected to be well founded.  You won’t find many Brits prepared to travel contrary to it. 
 

The question you really need to ask is what policies a British managed cruise line might have put in place, for cruises leaving the UK, on the back of such advice.  Which is a question for the cruise company, but is also academic right now with the industry totally shut down here, and I imagine almost everywhere.  Personally I would be very surprised if cruising resumes in 2020 until the winter at the earliest.

Edited March 30, 2020 by IB2

[KetoCruiser]

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/coronavirus-cunard-selling-cruise-holidays-australia-a9432556.html

 

Hopefully Cunard will get its act together now following this independent article

 

 

[downsmead]

8 hours ago, resistk said:

 

The entire cruise industry is in deep deep trouble.  At least Cunard's ships are accounted for and still not at sea trying desprately to reach any port.

I thought the QM2 was travelling back to the UK with some 250 passengers on-board but is now classed as a ‘merchant vessel’. These passengers were unable to fly back from Australia. 

[tilournextadventure]

Two crew are currently being tested for COVID-19 on QM2, per the article linked below. I hope all crew and passengers are feeling well and this is just a precaution. 

 

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/covid-19-tests-carried-out-on-crewmen-onboard-queen-mary-2-45737493

[kentchris]

20 minutes ago, tilournextadventure said:

Two crew are currently being tested for COVID-19 on QM2, per the article linked below. I hope all crew and passengers are feeling well and this is just a precaution. 

 

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/covid-19-tests-carried-out-on-crewmen-onboard-queen-mary-2-45737493

The article doesn't say anything about 'two crew', just that routine samples were taken.

[Host Hattie]

[Poole Boy]

It Official, all cruises before May 15th Cancelled

 

From Cunard FB Page

 

 

As a result of the continued impact of COVID-19 and following global guidelines, we have made the decision to extend the pause in our operations for an extra month until 15th May 2020. We will continue to monitor government guidelines and restrictions, and this may mean there are further changes to the timing of when each of our ships returns to service.

[speedwell]

Does anyone know what is happening to the QM2? It was due to dock in Durban, but it appeared to be sailing at slow speed a few miles offshore and then it was anchored outside the port.

 

It is now said to be sailing at 11 knots away from Durban!

[Coathanger]

I've requested my refund, which will now take up to 60 days to processed. 

 

[Coathanger]

It's also worth noting the language on the Travel Advisory page has been updated to make clear that a 100% refund is available, rather than hiding it as a 'forfeit of 125% FCC'. 

[T5LHR]

Well, its official now... 6th May sailing cancelled. 

 

It just leads to the dilemma of what to do... Take the 125% FCC or request the cash back. 

 

I am quite happy to take the FCC, as I DO want to re-book something, but then the amount of, possibly, scaremongering about Cunard/Carnival going bust and losing that FCC is also a niggle. 

[lissie]

2 minutes ago, T5LHR said:

Well, its official now... 6th May sailing cancelled. 

 

It just leads to the dilemma of what to do... Take the 125% FCC or request the cash back. 

 

I am quite happy to take the FCC, as I DO want to re-book something, but then the amount of, possibly, scaremongering about Cunard/Carnival going bust and losing that FCC is also a niggle. 

 

We were on the same sailing and have exactly the same debate here - do we take the refund and run - or do we gamble take the extra $1000 in FCC and hope that Cunard will still be in business to offer future cruises AND that NZ will have enough airlines flying to it that we can afford to fly somewhere to join a ship!  

You'd have to think that Asia and possibly Australia/NZ are going to beat this virus before  Europe and North America. The QE was due back to Australia next summer - maybe Asia  will be the first region to see cruising start again in Aug/Sept???

[fionaanne1]

Having read through the latest missive finally confirming what we all expected, I cannot see any information as to time limits for claiming the 100% 'cash' refund via the online form.

I would assume up until the date of the sailing but, I wonder if any forum members know differently? Thanks

[T5LHR]

3 minutes ago, lissie said:

 

We were on the same sailing and have exactly the same debate here - do we take the refund and run - or do we gamble take the extra $1000 in FCC and hope that Cunard will still be in business to offer future cruises AND that NZ will have enough airlines flying to it that we can afford to fly somewhere to join a ship!  

You'd have to think that Asia and possibly Australia/NZ are going to beat this virus before  Europe and North America. The QE was due back to Australia next summer - maybe Asia  will be the first region to see cruising start again in Aug/Sept???

 

Its a tricky one... I honestly don't know what to do. I might wait a little while and think about it and see what my head thinks in a few days time. 

 

I only really want to do transatlantic or possibly a northern Europe cruise, but mine is very much date and time dependant due to work, so I probably can't even consider re-booking till much later into the future anyway. 

[ellie1145]

12 hours ago, Neuhoftraveler said:

Two questions:

 

(1) May I ask one of our UK participants (or anyone else knowledgeable) to explain exactly on what basis the Foreign Office Advisory on 70+ pax is being treated as a Government order?  Is there a provision in the UK T&C that's not in the US version? I thought it was just advisory, not mandatory.

 

(2) Does that position apply to all pax booked on a cruise that departs from the UK?  We are 70+ US citizens booked on the QV 31 May Southampton round-trip to Norway, through a US travel agent.

 

Any insights would be much appreciated.

I can only tell you our experience. We are in the 70+ age range. When the FCO advised no cruises it made not one iota of difference to either the cruise line, our flights or our hotel bookings. It had no time limit (in other words it might be rescinded by May) therefore none of them would allow us to cancel.
 

Ours is a ‘package’ as we allowed the TA to book the other elements of our vacation. Nobody, not insurance, not the TA would acknowledge we had a problem nor would they allow us to cancel without a total loss, as it was an advisory not mandatory.

 

Even now we are in lockdown, and cannot even leave our house, we cannot cancel anything without a huge loss. We spoke directly to Princess who were very helpful but as our cruise is at end of May and they are still not cancelling cruises that far ahead, there is no way we can cancel without losing our money. Or more specifically we could get some back in cash from Princess, but the rest would be in FCC. But if we cancel the cruise we still have all the rest booked and the TA says cancel the cruise and you will lose all your money on flights etc.

 

But as the FCO has said no cruising, no travel to the USA, then if we were able to cruise (and that’s not going to happen) it would, as others have said, invalidate our travel insurance.

 

So we are between a rock and a hard place.

 

The insurance company refuse to talk to us until we are 48 hours before our holiday.

The TA says they are inundated and will only deal with us in order of sail date, though they will cancel the whole thing if we want to lose all of our money. But will they still be in a position to refund anything by the end of May? I have my doubts.

 

Our ‘package’ is protected by ABTA and ATOL and technically we should get a full refund if we wait until it’s cancelled, but by the end of May the proverbial pot of money is likely to be empty. Those who had their cruises cancelled early on should be very grateful as they will have been compensated fully.

 

i doubt we will be so lucky.

As an aside, I checked our seats on our plane yesterday and there are loads available now. When we booked there were literally half a dozen seats empty, so people are definitely cancelling! But not Virgin.

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by ellie1145

[Windsurfboy]

I've applied for a refund for April 1st cruise,    I'm in same boat with a June cruise, can only wait till it's cancelled,  hope between  Cunard , insurance and credit card company,  there's some money left. 

 

But on the otherhand basically the money was already spent, so I think of it  as loosing a holiday to stay alive, a good trade off. A full refund will be a bonus .

 

I  don't want FCC as I expect the advise for over 70s not to travel and especially cruise will last untill the last country is clear of the virus and we have a vaccination,  one year minimum 2 years quite probable

[lissie]

38 minutes ago, fionaanne1 said:

Having read through the latest missive finally confirming what we all expected, I cannot see any information as to time limits for claiming the 100% 'cash' refund via the online form.

I would assume up until the date of the sailing but, I wonder if any forum members know differently? Thanks

30 Nov 2020 is the limit - its on the refund form https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/request 

[alc13]

56 minutes ago, fionaanne1 said:

Having read through the latest missive finally confirming what we all expected, I cannot see any information as to time limits for claiming the 100% 'cash' refund via the online form.

I would assume up until the date of the sailing but, I wonder if any forum members know differently? Thanks

Good point!  I'd love to have longer to decide.

 

Oh, wait, Nov 30 2020 is the cutoff date (thank you Lissie!).

Edited March 30, 2020 by alc13

[KetoCruiser]

28 minutes ago, ellie1145 said:

I can only tell you our experience. We are in the 70+ age range. When the FCO advised no cruises it made not one iota of difference to either the cruise line, our flights or our hotel bookings. It had no time limit (in other words it might be rescinded by May) therefore none of them would allow us to cancel.
 

Ours is a ‘package’ as we allowed the TA to book the other elements of our vacation. Nobody, not insurance, not the TA would acknowledge we had a problem nor would they allow us to cancel without a total loss, as it was an advisory not mandatory.

 

Even now we are in lockdown, and cannot even leave our house, we cannot cancel anything without a huge loss. We spoke directly to Princess who were very helpful but as our cruise is at end of May and they are still not cancelling cruises that far ahead, there is no way we can cancel without losing our money. Or more specifically we could get some back in cash from Princess, but the rest would be in FCC. But if we cancel the cruise we still have all the rest booked and the TA says cancel the cruise and you will lose all your money on flights etc.

 

But as the FCO has said no cruising, no travel to the USA, then if we were able to cruise (and that’s not going to happen) it would, as others have said, invalidate our travel insurance.

 

So we are between a rock and a hard place.

 

The insurance company refuse to talk to us until we are 48 hours before our holiday.

The TA says they are inundated and will only deal with us in order of sail date, though they will cancel the whole thing if we want to lose all of our money. But will they still be in a position to refund anything by the end of May? I have my doubts.

 

Our ‘package’ is protected by ABTA and ATOL and technically we should get a full refund if we wait until it’s cancelled, but by the end of May the proverbial pot of money is likely to be empty. Those who had their cruises cancelled early on should be very grateful as they will have been compensated fully.

 

i doubt we will be so lucky.

As an aside, I checked our seats on our plane yesterday and there are loads available now. When we booked there were literally half a dozen seats empty, so people are definitely cancelling! But not Virgin.

 

I think you have 2 choices

 

1) hold fire as the cruise at the end of May will in all likelihood of being cancelled. You can then claim a refund like the rest of us. I have one booked with Princess for 30th May to the Baltic from Southampton and I am expecting that to be cancelled probably about 2 weeks before it is supposed to sail.

2) You could cancel now and get whatever refund is available and claim the rest from your travel  insurance company. This only applies, I guess if the foreign office travel advisory covers the date you propose to travel.  At present it’s in place until 14 April in the U.K. So you will need to wait until that’s extended .  Once that happens I don’t think the insurance company can refuse. Money saving expert web site has a list of main travel insurance companies and what they are paying out for. just heard that America will now remain closed until end of May so it may depend on that date as well.  

option 2 will depend on your travel insurance and when you took it out to cover this trip. We were told by ours that they will not cover trips booked after 17th March 2020.  That’s one of the reasons I am reluctant to take FCC as I don’t know if when we would be able to book a future cruise that would cover us for covid -19.  I believe Princess allows you to use FCC on bookings already made as long as you have not paid the balance.  I hope that is the case 

 

 

 

[fionaanne1]

18 minutes ago, lissie said:

30 Nov 2020 is the limit - its on the refund form https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/request 

Thank you Lissie. You are a star. 🤩

No excuses on my part, just didn't read the blurb on the online form.

Stay well .