So who has decided to cancel?

[Reef Knot]

I understand folks canceling due to an itinerary change and there looks to have been a fair few of those.

But how many are cancelling purely for health/safety/anxiety issues caused by COVID 19. 

It's a big decision to take especially if insurance doesn’t cover the costs and I realise that we all have differing concerns.

We are due to board the Quest on April 5th in Manaus and so far we intend to go. Although already our initial flights were cancelled last week (we have rebooked). We are concerned about ports along the way denying entry and of course if a suspected case does arise on board then there would be the possibility of quarantine and/or denied entry into Miami.

Then in the meantime, to date Italy is the only country that airlines are cancelling flights too. What might be the situation in 5 weeks:  UK, Germany, France added to that list?

For the time being we intend to join the ship, but just wondering what the feelings of others are.

 

[florisdekort]

I don’t know what I would do if my cruise was further in the future, but we’ve spent the past 2 weeks on Encore, are on board for the next 2 weeks and are now considering extending for 2 more given the (revised) March 22 itinerary and great deals to be had. Life on board is as good as ever. (Until someone gets sick, I get that...) 

We’re on the 2021 World Cruise so have a big decision to make at some point. 

 

Floris 

[Mauzac]

We are on your cruise Reef Knot and not planning to cancel anything.  It's 27 days until we embark and we're looking forward to it.  But I've always been a glass half full person so ... because of where Quest has been and because of the low rates over there, I am hopeful.  However, as we are 2 b2bs, I am not sure how that will impact on our second leg.

I presume you have had the same email as me from SB that talks of health screening and pre boarding health reporting to embark and disclosing previous travel countries, and saying this... 'false responses on forms will result in immediate debark at the next opportunity, and you may face legal consequences'.

To be honest, we'll be gutted if we can't go.  

'

 

[scottie920]

On the Quest Roll call for 5th April sailing a couple of American passengers have decided to cancel. Unfortunately as I understand it, as Seabourn’s statement about being able to cancel and receive a full future sailing credit was issued within 30 days of sailing, UK passengers cannot take this offer and will lose all monies.  So my view is unless the Seabourn UK change it’s policy on cancellation and/or the FCO prohibits travel to any of the areas in the itinerary UK passengers will embark on this cruise.

[Reef Knot]

Yup, like Mauzac and Scottie we are pretty much committed. 

The situation is changing so fast that who knows how things will be in 4 weeks. But until then we look forward to the 5th April.

 

 

[Mauzac]

53 minutes ago, scottie920 said:

On the Quest Roll call for 5th April sailing a couple of American passengers have decided to cancel. Unfortunately as I understand it, as Seabourn’s statement about being able to cancel and receive a full future sailing credit was issued within 30 days of sailing, UK passengers cannot take this offer and will lose all monies.  So my view is unless the Seabourn UK change it’s policy on cancellation and/or the FCO prohibits travel to any of the areas in the itinerary UK passengers will embark on this cruise.

 

Yes, I'm not prepared to throw £15K or thereabouts down the pan, so onward and upward!

Edited March 9, 2020 by Mauzac
spelling

[scottie920]

6 minutes ago, Mauzac said:

 

Yes, I'm not prepared to throw £15K or thereabouts down the pan, so onward and upward!

Flights are now offering credit if cancel flights so it will be the cost of the cruise. Likewise I’m not prepared to lose thousands of pounds. I suspect the cruise and the following transatlantic will not be full and probably just Brits  and a few hardy others. Should get even better service than normal!
 

[Remember66]

We join in Manaus on 5th and it’s already too late to cancel with fcc, if that were ever available to us British, 

so decision day for us is 3rd at a Heathrow car park, seems to me that it would be daft not to go as risk of getting this version of flu is much the same at home as it is abroad - keep calm everyone

[Flamin_June]

Admiring the British bulldog spirit  (and reluctance to flush good money away) displayed in previous few posts. We would still be going ahead with our March 14th Ovation had the itinerary stayed the same or had only minor changes, but stress levels would have been through the roof. They are anyway, as putting in TI claims with full documentation and having to wait weeks for response is not exactly conducive to a good night's sleep. We should now have been on our flight to Singapore, and I have just read that India is not allowing cruise ships to dock. What that means for Ovation, with port stops at Cochin, Goa and Mumbai overnight lined up, is anybody's guess. Wouldn't it be great to land in Colombo and find the cruise has been cancelled ?

Many of us here have had our differences with SB head office, but right now it must be a nightmare for them.

We are looking at booking something sailing 7-8 months down the line, but even that now seems clouded with uncertainty.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Flamin_June

[Covepointcruiser]

People who are sick or who have underlying conditions should take their government’s advise and not travel.   Luckily we don’t fall into either group so we will continue with our cruise for 4/20.    If I have to be quarantined on a ship I would prefer Seabourn but I don’t see the likelihood of that happening if passengers truthfully fill our their health questionnaire before boarding in Manaus.

[Mauzac]

38 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

People who are sick or who have underlying conditions should take their government’s advise and not travel.   Luckily we don’t fall into either group so we will continue with our cruise for 4/20.    If I have to be quarantined on a ship I would prefer Seabourn but I don’t see the likelihood of that happening if passengers truthfully fill our their health questionnaire before boarding in Manaus.

 

 

I don't think there's much choice is there.  Yes on the health questions and coming from a point of ignorance, if they scan passports, surely that will show previous visits to hotspot countries so there's no point in lying... 

[jenidallas]

If we were to cancel (April 20th transatlantic), it would be because of uncertainties around embarkation/disembarkation, not directly due to health worries.  
 

My specific worries:

1. My employer implements a “no international travel” or “no cruises” policy

2. Clients enact onsite restrictions pertaining to the above (I work in healthcare)

3. More countries start enacting immigration quarantines (just as I’m typing this list, Israel has now enacted a mandatory 14 day quarantine for anyone entering the country from abroad)

4. The US further restricts cruise travel hindering a Miami embarkation

5. Countries in Europe start closing to cruise arrivals.

6.  The US puts quarantine restrictions in place for returning passengers.

7.  And worst case, we have an on ship quarantine (which on Seabourn I’m sure would not be awful, but it is a time suck).

 

I’ve talked with a couple of infectious disease physicians who are in my circle and they aren’t overly concerned about the virus (it’s coming, we aren’t prepared, and can’t contain it at this point) so they are more concerned with the above as travel risks.

[Mark56]

We're going to delay our cruise from May 2020 until Oct 2021. 

[Covepointcruiser]

I find it funny that Israel is restricting entrance to their country.   They have many, many cases of C0VID 19 and are not even counting the cases in Palestinian allowed areas.   They have closed off Bethlehem and portions of Jerusalem (Palestinian areas).  
 

The lawyer who visited Israel has spread COVID 19 throughout West Chester and in NYC.    He is either a super carrier or the virus in Israel is much more contagious.  They don’t need to restrict access to their country because travelers should give it a pass along with other Virus infected countries.

[legal holiday]

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.

[jenidallas]

That is a very compelling argument for sitting tight.

[shyla100]

We are booked on 29 April for a 17 day Med cruise and we are doing the wait and see , our flights to Italy have been cancelled but I am not going to rebook until we find out what Seabourn are doing and if there are port changes.

[fdnycruiser]

Jenni, you may be correct. However, we’re booked for the March 14th Sri- Lanka to Athens. They still have not cancelled this cruise, although 80% of the itinerary will not accept cruise ships. My TA spoke to a Seabourn rep who stated that cancellation either by us OR Seattle will only get us a FCC . Making my displeasure known to Seabourn . I’m already going to have to eat $8,000 of air tickets.



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[jenidallas]

I saw that you got (what I would consider to be) an acceptable outcome (cancellation, 100% refund, 25% FCC).  I hope all of you are able to recoup for lost flights.

[tv24]

We are booked and fully paid for a 3/28 crossing.  We would cancel if we could receive a refund or could use the amount we paid toward the series of BTBs that we booked for the fall.

[scottie920]

14 hours ago, jenidallas said:

If we were to cancel (April 20th transatlantic), it would be because of uncertainties around embarkation/disembarkation, not directly due to health worries.  
 

My specific worries:

1. My employer implements a “no international travel” or “no cruises” policy

2. Clients enact onsite restrictions pertaining to the above (I work in healthcare)

3. More countries start enacting immigration quarantines (just as I’m typing this list, Israel has now enacted a mandatory 14 day quarantine for anyone entering the country from abroad)

4. The US further restricts cruise travel hindering a Miami embarkation

5. Countries in Europe start closing to cruise arrivals.

6.  The US puts quarantine restrictions in place for returning passengers.

7.  And worst case, we have an on ship quarantine (which on Seabourn I’m sure would not be awful, but it is a time suck).

 

I’ve talked with a couple of infectious disease physicians who are in my circle and they aren’t overly concerned about the virus (it’s coming, we aren’t prepared, and can’t contain it at this point) so they are more concerned with the above as travel risks.

I think this is my concern. I think we are all sensible enough to answer health questions truthfully, use tissues, wash our hands and use antibacterial hand gel (if you are lucky enough to have some), however the thought of the UK being in lockdown when my return flight is scheduled so I can’t get home from the USA does concern me.

All speculation at the moment and as others have said we haven’t got the option to cancel.

So it’s just a matter of sitting back and waiting further develops. 

[fdnycruiser]

I saw that you got (what I would consider to be) an acceptable outcome (cancellation, 100% refund, 25% FCC).  I hope all of you are able to recoup for lost flights.

Yes, we did get an acceptable and fair resolution from Seabourn. I thank them for coming through in a difficult situation for everyone. Now off to battle the airline ....
I wish everyone the best of luck, and hope to meet you all on a future cruise when things are normal


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[jenidallas]

4 hours ago, scottie920 said:

I think this is my concern. I think we are all sensible enough to answer health questions truthfully, use tissues, wash our hands and use antibacterial hand gel (if you are lucky enough to have some), however the thought of the UK being in lockdown when my return flight is scheduled so I can’t get home from the USA does concern me.

All speculation at the moment and as others have said we haven’t got the option to cancel.

So it’s just a matter of sitting back and waiting further develops. 

I’ve been told at work that absent a change in policy that I should absolutely take my vacation if I want to and if I get stuck working remotely for 2-3 extra weeks, we’ll figure it out.  Considering that as of today, several of our clients have gone remote-only for the next four weeks (at least), it wouldn’t be a career killer.

[artlee]

Glad to hear it Jeni. Now I hope you are feeling better too!

[jenidallas]

4 hours ago, artlee said:

Glad to hear it Jeni. Now I hope you are feeling better too!

I am!

 

I made it through different administrative briefings about coronavirus in two different states today (one administrative, one medical director focused - and I now know a lot more about the testing process and how few people are allowed to be tested).  And I was a bit spooked by very quiet airports and fairly empty planes.