Likelihood of Princess modifying their cancel policy

[cherylandtk]

Yes, voljeep, I just edited my post to reflect that as you were posting

Edited March 5, 2020 by cherylandtk

[cruis'nrachel]

I booked direct through Princess and I got their Standard insurance offered through Princess at the time of booking.  

[spyro1952]

6 hours ago, jat1977 said:

With other cruise lines allowing currently booked passengers to modify or cancel their cruises without penalty, regardless of whether they have CFAR insurance, what do you think the likelihood is that Princess will follow suit?  Especially since another Princess ship has been impacted by Covid-19?

 

Asking because we are currently scheduled on a caribbean cruise leaving March 22.  As of yesterday, our medallions are in the mail and the cruise is a go.  But, we do not have CFAR insurance (only basic travel).  My parents were coming with us.  However, they are in their 70's and have underlying health conditions; my Dad is very high risk for the virus.  We have until Saturday to get 25% back.  My parents want to cancel, but I am trying to decide if we should just cancel now and eat the 75% loss or wait and see if Princess either (a) modifies their policy in which case we could move our cruise and not lose any money or (b) cancels our cruise altogether and we get a refund.  My husband is wanting to wait it out.  

 

*Please no lectures about the benefits of CFAR insurance.  We are obviously wishing we had purchased it, but hindsight is 20/20 and no one could have predicted this truly rare situation.  This was going to be our kids' first cruise and this is by far the most expensive vacation we have ever planned so I am just trying to decide if we should eat the 75% loss now and at least get a small portion of our money back or try to wait it out to see if we can modify later.   

I seriously doubt that your Caribbean cruise will be cancelled unless there is a sudden up tick of cases especially here in 

florida.  Right now there are 4 cases on the west coast of Fl. not community acquired as far as I know.  If they start massive testing they are likely to uncover many more cases throughout the country.  Not sure if they will EVER have the capacity to do this in the US b/c politically it is not advantageous to the current administration to increase numbers to epidemic proportions.  

As a seasoned cruiser, I strongly suggest you take your 75% and go.  Even NORO virus which is very prevalent right now on Caribbean cruises can really affect your elderly parents with pre-existing medical conditions.  And cruise ships are like big Petri dishes that float around the oceans.

[GonzoWCS]

 

4 hours ago, jat1977 said:

I understand that argument, but my question is, why wouldn't Princess do what Viking is doing and just offer a cruise credit (not a refund) for people who are currently scheduled to depart in the next month or two during the peak of the virus?  Princess would still keep the money and passengers would still get to cruise . . . just at a later date.  I would say that is a win-win situation as Princess won't lose money and they get to keep goodwill among passengers.  Plus Princess could then resell the now-freed-up cabins to people who are willing to take the risk.  

This!

[spyro1952]

5 hours ago, resistk said:

 

Due to the COVID19 crisis, let passengers cancel without penalty if they want. No one should be pressured by financial loss or worry to take a cruise under these circumstances.  if the cruise lines want to keep running half full that is their option but passengers should have a choice without being financially punished.  This is not a business as usual event, consumers will not forgive the cruise lines so easily, especially if another cruise ship gets involved.

I just cancelled a back to back TA and BI cruise but had insurance.  My insurance for these cruises was approx $500.00 and would never book a cruise without it. 

Why should those who refuse to buy insurance be compensated unless Princess cancels their cruise?  If their cruise goes,  they can certainly cancel with penalties because it is their choice not to go.  Princess is a business like any other business and they will operate cruises until they either go out of business or the government tells them they are grounded. 

[bluesea321]

6 hours ago, jat1977 said:

I am just trying to decide if we should eat the 75% loss now and at least get a small portion of our money back or try to wait it out to see if we can modify later.   

 

16 minutes ago, spyro1952 said:

As a seasoned cruiser, I strongly suggest you take your 75% and go. 

 

spyro1952, please see the original post.  jat1977 would not be getting back 75%, they would only get 25%, a big loss.  Perhaps still wise under the circumstances. 

Edited March 5, 2020 by bluesea321

[spyro1952]

4 hours ago, jat1977 said:

I understand that argument, but my question is, why wouldn't Princess do what Viking is doing and just offer a cruise credit (not a refund) for people who are currently scheduled to depart in the next month or two during the peak of the virus?  Princess would still keep the money and passengers would still get to cruise . . . just at a later date.  I would say that is a win-win situation as Princess won't lose money and they get to keep goodwill among passengers.  Plus Princess could then resell the now-freed-up cabins to people who are willing to take the risk.  

Please tell me how Princess would not lose money running ships that are 1/4 to half full?

[voljeep]

6 minutes ago, spyro1952 said:

Please tell me how Princess would not lose money running ships that are 1/4 to half full?

fixed cost … variable cost … breakeven # of cruisers … onboard spending ...

[mcrcruiser]

9 minutes ago, spyro1952 said:

I just cancelled a back to back TA and BI cruise but had insurance.  My insurance for these cruises was approx $500.00 and would never book a cruise without it. 

Why should those who refuse to buy insurance be compensated unless Princess cancels their cruise?  If their cruise goes,  they can certainly cancel with penalties because it is their choice not to go.  Princess is a business like any other business and they will operate cruises until they either go out of business or the government tells them they are grounded. 

what is interesting is supposedly people with cancel for any reason insurance from Princess are 100% protected & the insurance fee is  cheap  comapred to wht you paid . The unfortunate part of regular trip insurance is that   pandemics & this corona virus are not covered reasons  . 

 We cancelled 2  ,B2B cruises & got penalized almost $1200  .I will at some time go back to Princess & see if they will credit me that money on a future cruise .Should they deny me ,it is simple I &  others will never cruise with Princess or any other Carnival cruise line . It is all about character

 

 

[PrincessLuver]

31 minutes ago, spyro1952 said:

I just cancelled a back to back TA and BI cruise but had insurance.  My insurance for these cruises was approx $500.00 and would never book a cruise without it. 

Why should those who refuse to buy insurance be compensated unless Princess cancels their cruise?  If their cruise goes,  they can certainly cancel with penalties because it is their choice not to go.  Princess is a business like any other business and they will operate cruises until they either go out of business or the government tells them they are grounded. 

 

Agree....we always pay for it even though we do not want to but others who did not are owed nothing in my opinion from Princess.....COVID-19 is not Princess's fault but is people's fault if they did not protect themselves with vacation protection insurance...

[mcrcruiser]

9 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

Agree....we always pay for it even though we do not want to but others who did not are owed nothing in my opinion from Princess.....COVID-19 is not Princess's fault but is people's fault if they did not protect themselves with vacation protection insurance...

Only the cancel for any reason insurance bought from Princess protects  ,at this moment .Other  travel/trip insurance  have  pandemics /corona virus exclusions  

[WiseGirl]

We're also booked on the March 22nd Regal out of Port Everglades.  Our medallions arrived today, but I haven't opened the boxes.  It is hard to be excited for a cruise that we might abandon.

 

We made final payment in December and didn't buy travel insurance so we are prepared to take the financial hit on this one if we decide not to board the ship.  I'm posting mainly in support and solidarity for those of us booked on cruises in the near future.  It is sad and stressful and the information changes from day to day.  We're in our 60s so in a "higher" risk category, but neither of us is too worried about contracting the virus.  The other factors (quarantines, missing ports) are more concerning to us at this time. 

 

We are taking it one day at a time to see what happens.

 

I'm so sorry for the OP and your situation (I think we're on the same cruise?) and for cruisinrachel - it broke my heart to read your posts.

 

This is very much a story that is still unfolding, both for the near term cruises and for the cruise industry.  I wish for everyone to stay healthy and that you will be at peace with whatever decision you make for yourselves and your families.

[CineGraphic]

Seabourn has stepped up to the plate, although I doubt smaller ships have the same risk as mass-market ships.

 

 

[jat1977]

23 minutes ago, WiseGirl said:

We're also booked on the March 22nd Regal out of Port Everglades.  Our medallions arrived today, but I haven't opened the boxes.  It is hard to be excited for a cruise that we might abandon.

 

We made final payment in December and didn't buy travel insurance so we are prepared to take the financial hit on this one if we decide not to board the ship.  I'm posting mainly in support and solidarity for those of us booked on cruises in the near future.  It is sad and stressful and the information changes from day to day.  We're in our 60s so in a "higher" risk category, but neither of us is too worried about contracting the virus.  The other factors (quarantines, missing ports) are more concerning to us at this time. 

 

We are taking it one day at a time to see what happens.

 

I'm so sorry for the OP and your situation (I think we're on the same cruise?) and for cruisinrachel - it broke my heart to read your posts.

 

This is very much a story that is still unfolding, both for the near term cruises and for the cruise industry.  I wish for everyone to stay healthy and that you will be at peace with whatever decision you make for yourselves and your families.

Yep we are on the same cruise. I appreciate your input and well wishes. Same to you.

[Loreni]

Not just Seabourne.  A number of luxury cruise lines have done this, I believe.  Why are they doing this?  Isn’t it terribly unfair to their other passengers who bought CFAR insurance.  Yet, the luxury companies are doing this.  Why?  I guess they think it is a good business decision.  Apparently Princess does not think so.  Why would it be a good business decision to treat the luxury market one way and the mass market another way?  is it to prevent immediate cancellations and encourage bookings in the hope that this virus will soon have a treatment.
 

Or Could it be that they think luxury consumers have more options in how they travel, so they need to be treated with more respect, compassion, and decency.  We all have options.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Loreni

[mcrcruiser]

20 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

Seabourn has stepped up to the plate, although I doubt smaller ships have the same risk as mass-market ships.

 

 

Imo the entire cruise industry  needs to rewrite their cancellation policies . This corona virus disease is  very dangerous & even the government does not have a handle on the numbers of infected cases until enough testing kits are made available  . 

when people (we were in this very situation when we canceled 2 Princess cruises loosing $1200 )   are placed in the situation to protect their lives or health  vs loosing money ,the final decision should always be toward self preservation  That being said this is a   a once in a lifetime serious disease  where the cruise lines could bend their cancellation policies so people could defer to a future cruise  credit 

[GonzoWCS]

31 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

Seabourn has stepped up to the plate, although I doubt smaller ships have the same risk as mass-market ships.

 

 

Hello Princess anyone home?

[Jemnibabe]

At this point, how can anyone assume they will NOT have the virus on their cruise?  As more and more become infected and more and more will board a ship not having any idea they are infected, and before you know it, you have a ship bound to quarantine no question.  I really think it makes more sense for Princess to start canceling some of their cruises, at least for a short time, to see if this virus calms down. No one is going to enjoy their cruise much if they have all these stressors on the entire cruise.

 

Judy in SW Florida

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

"financial empathy" based on a purely previous financial decision does not exist in my world … I made a decision, I accept the consequences 

 

sorry

Exactly

[fluffybunny22]

My husband is having a very hard conversation with his parents tonight. My FIL does not think they are high risk. They are in their 70's. We have until the 10th to only lose a little bit of money. It may be that we just aren't destined to cruise the Baltics because we've tried to take this cruise before and had to cancel.

[Loreni]

I hear the cruise lines want new, younger customers.  My understanding is that many young people are deciding to only do business with companies that they consider to be socially responsible or environmentally responsible...sometimes both.  The magic pipe and other environmental incidents probably will discourage some of the potential young customers from cruising.  What will this do?  Sometimes doing the right thing is also the smart business move at least longterm.  I am very disappointed in what appears to be a lack of leadership on the part of Princess during this crisis.  No reasonable person would blame Princess for the existence of the Coronavirus.  But we do want to be assured that Princess is doing what is best for the passengers during this unprecedented health crisis.  

[Loreni]

15 minutes ago, fluffybunny22 said:

My husband is having a very hard conversation with his parents tonight. My FIL does not think they are high risk. They are in their 70's. We have until the 10th to only lose a little bit of money. It may be that we just aren't destined to cruise the Baltics because we've tried to take this cruise before and had to cancel.

If you decide to cancel, is there something else wonderful you could start planning for the future when this all settles down.  Maybe even something bigger and better.  That could make it easier. 

[jat1977]

To those that addressed my post topic, the likelihood of Princess modifying its policies, and offered their experiences, support, or best guesses, I say thanks.  That is all I asked for as we have my high-risk, elderly parents to think of, and we have to decide by tomorrow whether to take the 25% refund or risk losing everything to see if Princess changes things in the next two weeks. 

 

Unfortunately, a lot of people have clearly ignored my request to refrain from chastising me or anyone else about not purchasing CFAR and have offered their unsolicited opinions about why they don't care about what happens to people who don't have CFAR. 

NEWSFLASH: a comment about what someone did wrong and why you don't care is not helpful; it is callous.  What is helpful is offering your opinion about what you would do if you were in our situation. 

I've been respectful in all of my responses, so I would appreciate it if I was afforded the same respect, and if people would stop making snarky comments on my post. 

[cynbar]

Jat1977, your post asks for our opinions on what we would do in your situation. If it were me, I would cancel now and ensure getting 25% back. But I have to say , I don't understand why you posted looking for support of the idea that Princess should either refund your money or give you a future cruise credit for the full amount. Why would they do that, when you had a chance to purchase CFAR insurance but chose not to? The cruise you would take in the future precludes them from selling the cabin to a paying customer. Just think of the numbers involved if they let anyone cancel with a full cruise credit. This isn't meant to be snarky, it's just a fact. Anyone who books has the option to forego insurance, purchase regular travel insurance, or buy a CFAR policy. Anything less, you take your chances.

[fluffybunny22]

36 minutes ago, Loreni said:

If you decide to cancel, is there something else wonderful you could start planning for the future when this all settles down.  Maybe even something bigger and better.  That could make it easier. 

This is my son's graduation present. My husband is worried about being stuck away from our dogs for longer than planned and he's worried that if he gets stuck somewhere that work will decide they don't need him after a few weeks of working remotely and calling into meetings. I said they'd probably be like look how much he got done while being stranded in the Baltic Sea. This was the longest trip we ever would have done. It's only possible for him to get 2 solid weeks off because it was a special occasion and he just celebrated 25 years at his company and now gets a bonus week of vacation. If we miss this moment it will never happen again. His parents have travel all over the world and have never managed to make it to St Petersburg which is why they are going with us. So basically the global pandemic is just because the fluffy bunnies aren't meant to do the Baltic. Sorry to all who I've caused chaos to.