Has anyone tried cancelling their upcoming cruise?

[SwimCarrie]

I'm curious if anyone has been able to successfully cancel their cruise and get a future cruise credit to use after all the Corona virus chaos clears? I'm sure lots of people have asked. What was the outcome? 

[woodworker&knitter]

We have a cruise booked out of Vancouver for Alaska in May. We are waiting it out. 
Also just booked a Caribbean cruise out of Tampa for the fall 

[SwimCarrie]

We're waiting it out for cruises booked in May and in September but I'm unsure about the one that leaves in 2 weeks! 😂 Now that Corona virus has become community acquired in California and our ship leaves from California, my easy going attitude has changed. The possibility of being turned away/quarantined are much higher, in my opinion. 

[jakers]

What if somebody in my party has a common cold on the day I am supposed to board? At what point did perfect health become a precedent to take a flight or a cruise? Does everybody have to stay in quarantine 14 days before a cruise in order not to catch a cold? My daughter frequently catches a cold on the flight out even though we routinely wipe down and disinfect our seats. For years we have endured the side eye from other people boarding the plane as we have done what is routinely common now in the midst of Coronavirus. What insurance, even with "cancel for any reason" covers being denied boarding? How do you get home from a foreign country after a one way flight, when it is the ship that is supposed bring you back? These are the anxieties that fill my head.

 

We have an upcoming cruise on the Maasdam from Tahiti to San Diego. If we can't board in Papeete, where will they pick us up? Not in Hawaii, that would violate the PVSA. Is there another island in French Polynesia? I have no idea.

 

In short, life is an adventure with few guarantees. I could always stay home, but what fun would that be? I am celebrating my 65th birthday during our next cruise. I wanted to be someplace memorable when I pass this milestone. Our upcoming cruise will be a big adventure. We hope everything will turn out right, but it is the things that go wrong that we remember most.

[Hlitner]

Cancelling?  No, we are booking :).  HAL recently cancelled our upcoming Westerdam cruise.  Our reaction was to quickly book another HAL 30 day cruise in Asia (next year).  Today we are thinking of booking a 21 day HAL cruise embarking in April.  To parody an old Mad Magazine saying, "What  me worry?"

 

I agree with the prior poster that life is short (and getting shorter every day) and some of us choose to continue the adventure.  When panic starts to take hold, some of us see opportunity.

 

Hank

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, jakers said:

What if somebody in my party has a common cold on the day I am supposed to board?

Are you aware that the common cold is a coronavirus which means that "cold" has many if the characteristics of the newest coronavirus infecting human?

 

It is about time people realize that having "just a cold" and spreading it around can have severe consequences for those who catch it and develop the more severe problems of bronchitis, sinusitis, ear infections  and pneumonia.

[NordicPrince]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Cancelling?  No, we are booking :).  HAL recently cancelled our upcoming Westerdam cruise.  Our reaction was to quickly book another HAL 30 day cruise in Asia (next year).  Today we are thinking of booking a 21 day HAL cruise embarking in April.  To parody an old Mad Magazine saying, "What  me worry?"

 

I agree with the prior poster that life is short (and getting shorter every day) and some of us choose to continue the adventure.  When panic starts to take hold, some of us see opportunity.

 

Hank

Personally I think you're being somewhat unrealistic. 

This is a situation which is only going to get worse before it gets better. I think the rational person has to take a wait and see attitude at the present time. Unless you can take the chance of not getting infected on an international flight or being quarantined on a cruise ship imo it is best to stay close to home. It's not my responsibility to worry about the health of a cruise line just my own personal health. There is adventure and then there is being foolhardy ignoring the facts which are presenting themselves. I'm not in a panic just keeping my eyes and ears open. FYI I personally fall into a higher risk segment of the population.

I wish you good luck.

[Hlitner]

30 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Are you aware that the common cold is a coronavirus which means that "cold" has many if the characteristics of the newest coronavirus infecting human?

 

It is about time people realize that having "just a cold" and spreading it around can have severe consequences for those who catch it and develop the more severe problems of bronchitis, sinusitis, ear infections  and pneumonia.

I am trying to understand the ultimate point of your post.  Are you suggesting that a person about to embark on a $111,111 World Cruise simply stay home if they have a cold?   or somebody should cancel their wedding and wedding party because they have a cold?  While none of us enjoy "catching" a cold most accept that it is part of living.  One could certainly follow the basic protocol of frequent hand washing and not touching one's face.  But other then becoming a germaphobe and locking one's self away in a sealed room, most of us simply accept the risk of living.

 

Hank

[thyme2go]

27 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Are you aware that the common cold is a coronavirus which means that "cold" has many if the characteristics of the newest coronavirus infecting human?

 

It is about time people realize that having "just a cold" and spreading it around can have severe consequences for those who catch it and develop the more severe problems of bronchitis, sinusitis, ear infections  and pneumonia.

 

AGREE!!   It's great if you think you are healthy and there are financial opportunities to booking cruises now (which there are), however this virus is mostly unknown to us, despite being part of a family of corona diseases.    More unnerving to me is that we do not understand how everything interacts........latency, super spreaders, those who get it and survive without even knowing they have it and believe they had the flu.   Viruses do not leave immunity trails.............

We just learned that a person in a family member's community (HS student) tested preemptively positive for corona.   Between the time s/he was tested and the preliminary test came back........s/he returned to school for 4 more days!    School is now being 'cleaned' and will be closed on Monday.......but IF this student is positive then a LOT more than cleaning the school is required.   And just imagine the contact circle for this community............it is exponential!!     

[AncientWanderer]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Cancelling?  No, we are booking :).  HAL recently cancelled our upcoming Westerdam cruise.  Our reaction was to quickly book another HAL 30 day cruise in Asia (next year).  Today we are thinking of booking a 21 day HAL cruise embarking in April.  To parody an old Mad Magazine saying, "What  me worry?"

 

I agree with the prior poster that life is short (and getting shorter every day) and some of us choose to continue the adventure.  When panic starts to take hold, some of us see opportunity.

 

Hank

 

Hank, I have a feeling the government is going to get involved in shutting some things down.  This great country of ours houses a lot of different people with a lot of different opinions.  At some point it's probably not gonna be up to personal tolerance for risk. 

Just sayin'.

[SwimCarrie]

2 hours ago, thyme2go said:

 

AGREE!!   It's great if you think you are healthy and there are financial opportunities to booking cruises now (which there are), however this virus is mostly unknown to us, despite being part of a family of corona diseases.    More unnerving to me is that we do not understand how everything interacts........latency, super spreaders, those who get it and survive without even knowing they have it and believe they had the flu.   Viruses do not leave immunity trails.............

We just learned that a person in a family member's community (HS student) tested preemptively positive for corona.   Between the time s/he was tested and the preliminary test came back........s/he returned to school for 4 more days!    School is now being 'cleaned' and will be closed on Monday.......but IF this student is positive then a LOT more than cleaning the school is required.   And just imagine the contact circle for this community............it is exponential!!     

Yikes! May I ask where? 

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Hank, I have a feeling the government is going to get involved in shutting some things down.  This great country of ours houses a lot of different people with a lot of different opinions.  At some point it's probably not gonna be up to personal tolerance for risk. 

Just sayin'.

Perhaps, this area shuts the schools down if there's a chance of a heavy rain.  Seriously, they do.

[Homosassa]

39 minutes ago, SwimCarrie said:

 

Sorry, quoted wrong post.

 

2 hours ago, thyme2go said:

 

  Viruses do not leave immunity trails.............

 

Not sure what you mean by this???

 

There are many viruses that trigger antibody formation in the body and give you immunity to that virus and can give partial immunity to similar virus in the genus or family.

[HamOp]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

To parody an old Mad Magazine saying, "What  me worry?"

 

 

 

Hank

Credit - Alfred E. Newman (Oh God, my age is showing!)

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Hank, I have a feeling the government is going to get involved in shutting some things down.  This great country of ours houses a lot of different people with a lot of different opinions.  At some point it's probably not gonna be up to personal tolerance for risk. 

Just sayin'.

I have a feeling that you have a correct feeling.  It has already happened to us with our cancelled Westy cruise.  HAL did wait until nearly the last minute to cancel, but their ultimate decision was obviously forced on them by Japan closing ports and beginning to cancel public events.   I guess the various governments of the world can try to shut down the earth, but at some point this virus will either disappear on its own or society will have to adjust like we have to the flu.   But in the mean time we intend to keep living our life and scheduling future trips/adventures.  If and when we are forced to cancel or make adjustments we will deal with the issues.

 

Hank

[thyme2go]

3 hours ago, SwimCarrie said:

Yikes! May I ask where

This is happening at Jackson High School.....north of Seattle.    I had not seen  a definitive positive as they still send all tests to Atlanta for verification---at least that's my understanding.   But the student in question has a sibling in a nearby middle school too.   The amount of time the student spent at school is rather vast......I've heard 4 days (as s/he was feeling better) to what the district purports so the truth may well be somewhere in between.   

 

https://myeverettnews.com/2020/02/28/jackson-high-to-be-closed-monday-after-coronavirus-concerns/

[thyme2go]

2 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Sorry, quoted wrong post.

 

Not sure what you mean by this???

 

There are many viruses that trigger antibody formation in the body and give you immunity to that virus and can give partial immunity to similar virus in the genus or family.

I've not heard that you maintain an immune response after corona exposure--hence the annual flu shot.     

[cruisemom42]

6 hours ago, Homosassa said:

It is about time people realize that having "just a cold" and spreading it around can have severe consequences for those who catch it and develop the more severe problems of bronchitis, sinusitis, ear infections  and pneumonia.

 

I can't understand this. People who have a common cold should stay home?  Since when? 

 

My son's school system's rule of thumb has always been that children with colds and no fever should not be kept at home.  My workplace has pretty much the same guidance for us adults.

 

[cruisemom42]

12 minutes ago, thyme2go said:

I've not heard that you maintain an immune response after corona exposure--hence the annual flu shot.     

 

People do maintain immunity to a specific flu strain, if they have had it. (Influenza, by the way, is not caused by a coronavirus but by a different virus.)

 

The problem is that the flu is very good at mutating -- it's one of its hallmarks -- and often/usually your antibodies will not recognize the new strain of flu.

 

https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/qa/why-dont-people-become-immune-to-the-flu

 

 

[newtocruiseinblue]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I have a feeling that you have a correct feeling.  It has already happened to us with our cancelled Westy cruise.  HAL did wait until nearly the last minute to cancel, but their ultimate decision was obviously forced on them by Japan closing ports and beginning to cancel public events.   I guess the various governments of the world can try to shut down the earth, but at some point this virus will either disappear on its own or society will have to adjust like we have to the flu.   But in the mean time we intend to keep living our life and scheduling future trips/adventures.  If and when we are forced to cancel or make adjustments we will deal with the issues.

 

Hank

Hank,

 

How close were you guys to leaving for your Asia cruise before it was finally officially cancelled by HAL? 
 

We have a Med cruise out of Venice in May. Yes, we have a small window of time and we did purchase the HAL Platinum Protection, which includes CFAR up until the day of the cruise (90% reimbursement). Our plan is to wait and see how things go so we have started the roller coaster ride that the Asia passengers just went through.
 

Thank you for your insite. 

[gigianne]

Newtocruiseinblue - We are on the roller coaster with you - our cruise ends in Venice mid May.  

[sevenseasnomad]

I'm sailing out of Boston July 4 for Canada/New England.  Friends from GA were planning to go with me.  All of us are booked with initial deposits paid.  One of my friends, who retired from nursing several years ago, cancelled last Friday because she is afraid of this virus.  One of my other friends who hasn't cancelled was also a nurse, and she believes this particular person hit the panic button too soon.  The rest of us have a wait-and-see attitude.  All of us, however, would be in the high risk group for the virus being fatal.  IMO, each person has to do what they believe is best for them.  

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, newtocruiseinblue said:

Hank,

 

How close were you guys to leaving for your Asia cruise before it was finally officially cancelled by HAL? 
 

We have a Med cruise out of Venice in May. Yes, we have a small window of time and we did purchase the HAL Platinum Protection, which includes CFAR up until the day of the cruise (90% reimbursement). Our plan is to wait and see how things go so we have started the roller coaster ride that the Asia passengers just went through.
 

Thank you for your insite. 

Our embarkation day, from Yokohama, was on April 11.  But we were flying over to Japan on April 1 to do our own thing.  Fortunately we had booked our air through HAL so they refunded our cruise cost and air.   We do not purchase cancellation insurance, but in this case we saved the premium.  We have often posted that we are more then $100,000 ahead because of the money we have saved, over the years, by not purchasing cancellation insurance.  We do buy an annual travel medical policy that gives us a lot more medical coverage then any of the cruise line policies for a fraction of the cost.

 

You are right that it was a roller coaster waiting for HAL to make a decision.  Sounds like your situation is similar given the situation in Italy.  But in your case we would assume that they would change the itinerary and not cancel the cruise.  With the Asian cruises they had few options since nearly all the ports have been closed to cruise ships.

 

Hank

[Alibaster McGillicutty]

Alaskan cruise out of Seattle in May.  Booked through Big TA as well as a couple excursions through them.  Booked air separately.  Used a 3rd party for insurance which we later realized won't cover squat should "The Big One" wreak havoc on our trip.

What else can we do besides wait and see?

 

 

[cruzn single]

I cancelled a TA, about 10 days ago.  It wasn’t for corona,  but due to a family serious Illness.  Since I was beyond final payment, I was in penalty phase.  I am okay with the situation.  Now to use up all the credit balance on my credit card, but that can be accomplished with normal life.

 

Wishing everyone the best with their plans.  This is a puzzler for all.