For those Cruising before May 31, Cruising or Cancelling?

[buckeyefrank]

We are sailing on April 20th and will likely rebook in August.  We are a little apprehensive about being quarantined as our son is graduation and we are moving right after we get back.  We are mostly concerned about the potential to bring it back to our elderly parents and I work in a nursing home.  Wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I happened to bring it back with me.

[chadci]

3 hours ago, lovetocruise79 said:

I am getting a lot of comments from friends and co workers starting they are surprised I'm still going. Some even give me a funny, if not rude looks. 

 

Anyone else getting off responses?

They've thought I was crazy when I cruised after Irma. We were on the Glory during and got several extra days out of it. Several got off in Cozumel so the ship was honestly pretty awesome... but, living in SWFL, the anxiety kept us from really relaxing. Once we found out everything was OK it got better. They did an awesome job with it though and we've been on plenty of cruises since... so, I don't talk about it at work anymore.

[1kaper]

7 hours ago, nissach said:

Exactly!  I am concerned about Blue Cross outright cancelling any health coverage that I currently have.  My work Blue Cross has informed me that there are no changes as of today and it is 'unlimited travel coverage'.  My extra travel insurance, also Blue Cross, I am waiting to talk to and see if there have been any changes to coverage due to the coronavirus. 🤬

 

After two attempts to get through, I was able to confirm that I will still have health coverage if I go on the cruise so long as there are no travel advisories for anywhere I travel.  I also have the option to cancel my cruise under my credit card trip cancellation. 

 

I cannot use trip cancellation for my flights yet though because no travel advisory (as I expected).  

 

So now it is just wait and see how this moves in the next couple weeks. 

[Ready2SailAway]

1 hour ago, 1kaper said:

 

After two attempts to get through, I was able to confirm that I will still have health coverage if I go on the cruise so long as there are no travel advisories for anywhere I travel.  I also have the option to cancel my cruise under my credit card trip cancellation. 

 

I cannot use trip cancellation for my flights yet though because no travel advisory (as I expected).  

 

So now it is just wait and see how this moves in the next couple weeks. 

 

Several airlines have announced waiving their change/cancellation fees for the time being -suggest checking your airline...

 

[1kaper]

1 minute ago, Ready2SailAway said:

 

Several airlines have announced waiving their change/cancellation fees for the time being -suggest checking your airline...

 

 

I checked.  The airline I am booked with has for flights before March 31.  My trip isn't until April so they aren't covered yet.  
I'm ok with that.  So long as it looks ok, I'm fine with going to San Juan, just need to find a place to stay for an extra week. 

 

[Ready2SailAway]

We booked last week for a cruise sailing on 5Apr because it was so inexpensive AND fit our vacation schedule over spring break here (my wife is a teacher). And received Carnival's email on 7Mar with that additional OBC incentive if we don't cancel...

 

So as we voted we're going to wait & see how things transpire before that 31Mar decision deadline, but right now we're still planning to cruise.

 

Just checked online and see that some stateroom inventory has opened up -not a lot, mostly suites in all classes (there was only one OV JS available when we booked.  Come on free upgrade..!

 

Let's go!

[Dwang]

Have any of the Asian cruise terminals have reopened? I am still afraid that they close terminals and there's no way back! 

[nissach]

5 hours ago, 1kaper said:

 

After two attempts to get through, I was able to confirm that I will still have health coverage if I go on the cruise so long as there are no travel advisories for anywhere I travel.  I also have the option to cancel my cruise under my credit card trip cancellation. 

 

I cannot use trip cancellation for my flights yet though because no travel advisory (as I expected).  

 

So now it is just wait and see how this moves in the next couple weeks. 

That is great news!!   So "no travel advisories for anywhere you travel" meaning USA,  Mexico?

I am not as concerned about the cancelling of the cruise or flights as I can use the credit for future flights and will book another cruise.  My concern is health coverage while away.  It is way to risky to travel out of Canada without it.

 

[1kaper]

10 hours ago, nissach said:

That is great news!!   So "no travel advisories for anywhere you travel" meaning USA,  Mexico?

I am not as concerned about the cancelling of the cruise or flights as I can use the credit for future flights and will book another cruise.  My concern is health coverage while away.  It is way to risky to travel out of Canada without it.

 

 

Well, we sail out of San Juan.  So as long as there are not "avoid travel" or "avoid unnecessary travel" advisories for SJ or any of the ports, my health insurance will cover COVID-19.  

[Dwang]

Princess has cancelled through May 10.....given they're the same country I assume its a matter of time till Carnival makes the same announcement? 

[Radiioman46]

Princess had two ships with the outbreak, and as far as cruising is concerned, they are at the center of this panic storm. They had no better choice. Carnival, even though they are the parent of Princess, is not at the center of the storm. I'm waiting to see if they follow through with the same policy, but I'm scheduled to cruise this following Monday.

[UmbrellaDrink523]

We opted out of our spring break cruise on the Magic and took the FCC. I'm disappointed but relieved at the same time, and happy we were given the choice to do it. While logic tells me the odds are against being quarantined, the risk doesn't seem worth it. Hope to sail again soon!!  Stay well, everyone. ❤️

 

 

[mdmjrm]

Have until 3/31 to decide but the wife and two kids 9&12 are all very excited to go on our 4/6 spring break cruise out of NOLA.  Pretty sure the only way we aren't going is if Carnival says no.  There is risk but considering the amount of cruise traffic going in and out of US ports there have been very few concerns to date.  We will continue to monitor.  

[pzsdd6]

Here’s one for you......

Wife and I were scheduled to leave Saturday out of Tampa on Carnival Paradise. We made the decision to continue with the cruise and just be prudent and exercise good flu protocols. This morning at 11am my wife received an email from her employer “Sarasota Memorial Hospital” informing her that should she take the cruise, she would have to self quarantine for 14 days upon return....without pay! 
They cited CDC and Florida health board announcements that both stated that their recommendations for cruise travel is to defer to a later date........They told her that if she goes, she is in violation of CDC and Florida. 

We are less than the 3 days to go and so we now don’t qualify for Carnival’s new policy for cancellations.

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by pzsdd6

[DB2VA]

22 hours ago, Ready2SailAway said:

 

Several airlines have announced waiving their change/cancellation fees for the time being -suggest checking your airline...

 

American Airline will not allow a cancelation with giving a credit if you bought your ticket before  March 5th or 6th , I forget. This doesn't make sense to me.  Delta Airlines is doing the exact opposite. They are allowing cancelation with credit only if you bought your ticket before March 5or6. They are both talking about the economy tickets. I bought mine months ago, so if I cancel my cruise I will lose the full amount $350.  so confusing and upsetting.

[j.c.lantis]

My husband and I have 6 days to decide if we'll be sailing on the 3/21 Horizon Southern Caribbean Itinerary out of Miami and I honestly don't know what we'll do. I'm awaiting word from my boss what/if any repercussions there would be if I traveled outside the US--I work for the federal gov't and guidance has been vague thus far. Husband works from home so he's not as concerned... Its such a fluid situation that I cant even guess what will happen in the next 6 days.

At this point we'd get FCC in the amount total to the cost of our cruise. We're not opposed to rescheduling but this trip was supposed to be our honeymoon. I don't really want to cruise in the summer months and then next comes hurricane season.

 

I'm sure many of you can relate to the fact that I've put in so much time researching and planning this trip. To see it fade away and the chance that we wont even go on this itinerary in the future is heartbreaking and even more frustrating. It doesn't make the decision easy. 

 

However, if we do decide to cancel, I'm making my husband deal with the airline changes 🙃

[five.]

33 minutes ago, DB2VA said:

American Airline will not allow a cancelation with giving a credit if you bought your ticket before  March 5th or 6th , I forget. This doesn't make sense to me.  Delta Airlines is doing the exact opposite. They are allowing cancelation with credit only if you bought your ticket before March 5or6. They are both talking about the economy tickets. I bought mine months ago, so if I cancel my cruise I will lose the full amount $350.  so confusing and upsetting.

They changed this. See this news release.

 

American has extended its offer to waive change fees for customers who purchased tickets prior to March 1 for travel through April 30. The offer is available for any of American’s fares and customers have until December 31 to rebook travel for future flights. Additional updates on existing travel alerts can be found on aa.com/travelalerts.     

• Any ticket purchased prior to March 1 will not incur change fees prior to travel. Customers must pay any fare difference, if applicable, at time of ticketing of the new fare.    
• This is available for any of American’s fares for travel through April 30.    
• The new ticket must be reissued on/before December 31 or 12 months from the original ticket date (whichever is earlier). Travel must also commence on/before December 31 or one year from original issue date whichever is sooner.

[Haveuseen1]

We are leaving out of New Orleans March 28, unless Carnival Cancels the cruise, or the Port of New Orleans closes.  I figure it will be the cleanest ship we may ever have the opportunity to sail on.  We can drive there so no issues with flights.  

[Pyxie]

Well we weren't going to cancel, but with the increasing concerns, we made the difficult decision last night to do so. Moved our booking to the Mardi Gras next March. I figure if I have to reschedule a vacation I've been planning for a year, I'm going to make it worth it.

[rin1]

3 hours ago, pzsdd6 said:

Here’s one for you......

Wife and I were scheduled to leave Saturday out of Tampa on Carnival Paradise. We made the decision to continue with the cruise and just be prudent and exercise good flu protocols. This morning at 11am my wife received an email from her employer “Sarasota Memorial Hospital” informing her that should she take the cruise, she would have to self quarantine for 14 days upon return....without pay! 
They cited CDC and Florida health board announcements that both stated that their recommendations for cruise travel is to defer to a later date........They told her that if she goes, she is in violation of CDC and Florida. 

We are less than the 3 days to go and so we now don’t qualify for Carnival’s new policy for cancellations.

 

I'm in a similar boat, pardon the pun. We're under 3 days away and things have really escalated in the last 24 hours. I'm afraid to actually pull the trigger on cancelling without the guarantee that I'll at least get a FCC. Can't get through on the phone and there's no other way to contact them.

 

[JulRPH]

On 3/10/2020 at 2:59 PM, momof3hungryboys said:

I canceled today.  I used the online option to cancel.  But others reported they got an email about the cancelation shortly afterwards and I've received nothing.  I really don't want to spend hours trying to call Carnival. 

I pulled the trigger while I would only lose the deposits because I'm not even sure we would be able to use the FCC by the date given.  I still need to figure out where the FCC is - do I need to contact Carnival?  And did I read it correctly that to use the FCC I'd have to rebook by the end of the month?  I don't even know everyone's schedule to be able to rebook.

The whole thing has been frustrating.

I cancelled several days ago and received nothing.  My reservation numbers gone.  No way to call since phones are off for Carnival.

[1kaper]

well. I’m out now. 
My province just declared that people who travel internationally and work in public sector have to self isolate for 2 weeks. 
This includes child returning to school. 

[GmaCruzer]

Normally I would go ahead and cruise unless things get worse. However my cruise mate is my 94 year old mom and although she is healthy, I don't want to take a chance. We're going to wait another week but pretty sure we will reschedule 

[j.c.lantis]

Decided to cancel our cruise leaving the 21st...meaning our entire cruise fare is now FCC. I cancelled the booking online, put a deposit down for another cruise and then filled out the reimbursement form. Not sure if that's what was supposed to be done but I don't think its necessary to spend hours on the phone while other people have more pressing matters.

 

The new cruise isn't till September so I'm sure everything will be sorted out by then. I've kept good records of everything I've done in the process so I'm confident the FCC will be applied to my new booking.

 

New cruise is a different itinerary (Eastern v Southern Caribbean) and on an older ship (Magic v Horizon) but we were able to go from an interior room to a mid-ship balcony for just $5 more pp. I was really looking forward to Curacao and Aruba, but that just means another trip is in our future.

 

Good luck to all those still cruising or trying to get a hold of Carnival! 

[48traveler]

I just contacted my doctor about the required, Fit To Sail letter that Carnival says they need even though we are healthy , but 71 , and she refused , saying the CDC is advising people not to cruise