Cancel or Go? For sailings between now and July 30, 2020?

[dutchclogs]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

With the first case in Rome now being reported, the TAs for many cruise lines are looking doubtful, especially with France and Spain’s current numbers.

 

I wonder at what point Celebrity would pull a cruise due to under filled capacity?  It was undoubtedly a smart move to extend the final payment period for those cruises porting in Italy. Celebrity must be hoping for an easing of an US travel warning in the next 4-6 weeks. 

[villauk]

15 minutes ago, dutchclogs said:

 

I wonder at what point Celebrity would pull a cruise due to under filled capacity?  It was undoubtedly a smart move to extend the final payment period for those cruises porting in Italy. Celebrity must be hoping for an easing of an US travel warning in the next 4-6 weeks. 

 

Yes, I think they are hoping that the Spring will slow things down and some countries will look more promising for visiting. Thing is, from a business point of view, it’s better for them to keep those people in the pot rather than have them cancel and lose out completely.

 

Did I read today that Nike has closed its European HQ in the Netherlands because they have positive reported cases from employees?

[Caribbean Chris]

Two cases in Florida reported as of this morning’s news (confirmed by the state, but awaiting CDC confirmation). One in Manatee County (Bradenton), one in Hillsborough County (Tampa),

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, dutchclogs said:

 

I wonder at what point Celebrity would pull a cruise due to under filled capacity?  It was undoubtedly a smart move to extend the final payment period for those cruises porting in Italy. Celebrity must be hoping for an easing of an US travel warning in the next 4-6 weeks. 

That would be the hope but as it spreads through Europe it's going to get worse first. 

[dutchclogs]

50 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

Yes, I think they are hoping that the Spring will slow things down and some countries will look more promising for visiting. Thing is, from a business point of view, it’s better for them to keep those people in the pot rather than have them cancel and lose out completely.

 

Did I read today that Nike has closed its European HQ in the Netherlands because they have positive reported cases from employees?

 

Yep. Hot off the press so to speak ... European HQ in Hilversum temporarily closed for 2 days deep cleaning after an employee tested positive. Interesting to note that the US HQ in Oregon was also closed for cleaning on Sunday...

Edited March 2, 2020 by dutchclogs

[dutchclogs]

21 minutes ago, Pushka said:

That would be the hope but as it spreads through Europe it's going to get worse first. 

 

ITA.  It's going to be a tough call for some.

[Forecheck]

This is what I would like to see. Perhaps the big boys will follow this lead ?

 

https://cruisefever.net/cruise-line-will-now-let-you-cancel-up-to-15-days-before-your-cruise/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=SocialWarfare

[villauk]

Another reason, as well as the quarantine and nowhere to dock, to consider carefully whether to go ahead or not: protests at the port as locals do not want the cruise ships to dock.

 

[luckyinpa]

apparently this is the new way to get a free cruise. hope the ports dont let you in

 

https://cruisefever.net/msc-cruise-ship-given-a-clean-bill-of-health/

[Hllb]

I've been thinking about this a lot over the weekend. I have a Mediterranean cruise booked in July, leaving from Venice, for my 15 yr old and I for her birthday. I have travel insurance, but not CFAR, and my policy is pretty useless for this, even though i purchased it in November. I am one of those who voted 'I don't know' in the poll.  I thought I'd share where my head is right now:

 

1) My daughter and I are healthy and in a low risk category.  I'm not really concerned about us getting the virus, since it would likely be very minor for us.  If there was an influenza outbreak, I would not be likely to cancel the trip.

2) I am most concerned about missing ports (I have no desire to be on a cruise ship with no stops - I know the ship is fun too, but the whole point for me are the ports) and tourist attractions being closed (we'll spend 5 days on land too).

3) I see the following scenarios for us:

•  This all settles down by late May/early June and all is right with the world we go on our trip
• This continues worsening and Italy is still restricted for our trip, or, Celebrity cancels the cruise.  In this instance, I would likely get the cruise money fully refunded, and flights would probably be refundable or at least changeable. I would be at risk for losing $410 for a non-refundable hotel in Rome.
• This continues worsening, but neither Celebrity nor the airlines are cancelling.  This is the hard decision point where if we didn't go, we'd lose pretty much ALL of our money, and if we did go, we're taking the biggest risk. While this is the scariest option, I also think it's the least likely one. If this continues worsening, I would expect travel advisories to be in place which would likely involve refund or rescheduling options.

My final payment is due in a month. If I had to decide today, I'd probably risk it. I'm glad I don't have to decide now though. Before I make final payment, I'll have to decide how likely I think option #3 is. 

[Prost Seattle]

I wouldn’t want anybody to have to go through cancer like I’m doing now.  It has made me find a calm center.  I just had a CT scan and no cancer cells are present, but my care team wants me to continue treatment for an additional two years.

 

I mention this because it puts me at an increased risk to contracting anything.  I’m hoping everybody takes reasonable precautions, such as washing hands several times a day, but I’m not altering my life to avoid exposure.  For me, a quality of life is important.  If I live 30 years holed up in my condo, versus 10 years of living life to its fullest, I’m taking the 10.   

[neilrr]

I was curious -- we are on the Reflection 7/6/20 Sailing out of Dublin and we are taking a wait and see attitude.  I noticed that after the June 5th Sailing of Reflection there are no other sailings until ours on 7/6 (which I found strange). Is the ship going into Dry Dock? Or is it possibly being chartered? I have not seen anything about this gap. Thanks for your assistance.

[tonyinoc]

23 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

We don't cruise until late August. Post-cruise we will spend a couple of nights in Barcelona before flying to Bordeaux, visiting the Dordogne region and ending our Europe trip with a week in Paris.

 

It is not Covid-19 that has me anxious- it's the worry of quarantine whether at home or once we are on our journey.

 

We have friends from Wuhan, and I just lunched with them on 2/19. Their family in China is hunkered into their apartment, reading and eating vegetables. When considering the large population of Wuhan and that there are @75k who caught the virus and of those @3k dead, the percentage of the infected and deceased seems reasonable. I am interested in learning more about those who have survived the virus and what might be the variables (aside for old age and heart/respiratory problems) that contributed to their recovery.

as off three days ago 

 

[Roger88]

Do you really think that by July 30th things will really change? I dont believe so. Usually all those virus crises take at least a year or so. Ive been reading an article not that long ago - in general it takes about 6-8 month to develop an antivirus. I think it will all be fixed by April or May next year 

[Hllb]

3 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

Do you really think that by July 30th things will really change? I dont believe so. Usually all those virus crises take at least a year or so. Ive been reading an article not that long ago - in general it takes about 6-8 month to develop an antivirus. I think it will all be fixed by April or May next year 

 

If you google epidemic curves, you'll see that most recent ones (SARS, Ebola, Flu, etc.) taper off late spring early summer.

[Gracie115]

The new cases in China are already way down from even a week ago.......it's what happens once proper protocols are in place...and nowhere are there are as many cases as China...  As Hllb says we expect the bulk of the infections will taper off by late spring.  

 

We're not cancelling our late April Baltic cruise unless the cruiseline does.

[helen haywood]

We have a B2B cruise departing this March 29 from Port Everglades.  I see no point in canceling and losing all my money.  I’m not elderly nor do I have underlying health issues.  Hopefully either the virus will be diminished or Celebrity will change the rules on canceling.

[luckyinpa]

so what does happen when theres something like a huge noro outbreak. i know they serve you in the buffet. take away ketchup etc. but how else is the ship affected. do they stop you from going to the pool. from shows, specialty restaurants. ive heard of paper menus but thats no biggie. so if you dont catch anything, im curious how bad it gets on the ship for you as far as your experiences

[XuGator]

A few people on this thread have mentioned that Celebrity has extended the final payment date to 60 days prior vs 90 days. Can someone share the celebrity communication on this so we can see what sailings and dates this applies to?

[CruiserMickey]

I just got off the phone with my Celebrity Vacation Planner. She offered to move my final payment date to April 5 without me even having to ask. So now we have an extra month to see what happens before we have to make that final decision.

[CruiserMickey]

50 minutes ago, XuGator said:

A few people on this thread have mentioned that Celebrity has extended the final payment date to 60 days prior vs 90 days. Can someone share the celebrity communication on this so we can see what sailings and dates this applies to?

 

There is no official communication from Celebrity that I have seen.

[mic123]

10 hours ago, dutchclogs said:

 

I wonder at what point Celebrity would pull a cruise due to under filled capacity?  It was undoubtedly a smart move to extend the final payment period for those cruises porting in Italy. Celebrity must be hoping for an easing of an US travel warning in the next 4-6 weeks. 

I just looked at our Jun 12 cruise on the Constellation out of Rome.  It is 90% full, and price is higher than we paid.  This suggests others are in the "wait and see" category as well.  We plan to ride it out and see what happens.  We purchased air through Celebrity as well.

[CruiserMickey]

2 minutes ago, mic123 said:

I just looked at our Jun 12 cruise on the Constellation out of Rome.  It is 90% full, and price is higher than we paid.  This suggests others are in the "wait and see" category as well.  We plan to ride it out and see what happens.  We purchased air through Celebrity as well.

 

We are going to be on that cruise with you (note the optimism?) and that leg will be our second in a b2b. Our final payment date has been pushed back a month, so I feel better about waiting to make a decision about the trip. I am really hoping things will be under control and the travel advisories will be lifted.

[mic123]

1 minute ago, CruiserMickey said:

 

We are going to be on that cruise with you (note the optimism?) and that leg will be our second in a b2b. Our final payment date has been pushed back a month, so I feel better about waiting to make a decision about the trip. I am really hoping things will be under control and the travel advisories will be lifted.

I like the optimism!

[CruiserMickey]

1 minute ago, mic123 said:

I like the optimism!

 

For me, it’s the only way to look at it. I have spent five years planning for this trip and will be heartbroken if we have to cancel.