*****CARNIVAL CANCELLATIONS THREAD-- Please read*****

[tonit964]

1 hour ago, estillcrew said:

My husband and I are trying to decide whether or not we need to cancel our cruise that departs on March 22nd, and would like the facts about how much the cruise industry is being affected by the Coronavirus. We are not worried at all about getting sick, but we are concerned about missing our ports of call or being quarantined for 14 days. It seems as though the media is exaggerating the situation. So, does anyone have hard facts to help me make an educated decision about cruising next week? How many ships have been quarantined? How many ports have not allowed cruises to dock? Are their any ports that have temporarily closed to cruises out of America? If our itinerary is changed, when will we be notified? For those who are cruising now or who cruised last week, was your trip impacted? If so,  how? Thank you so much for any help you can provide. I really don’t want to cancel our trip!

That's the big issue is that no one knows for sure how it will impact future cruises.

You could get on your cruise and everything is going along fine and then you find out you're going to be quarantined for 2 weeks or more. Or, like what happened this past Saturday in San Pedro, everyone arrived at the terminal for their Royal Princess cruise and waited around for hours and hours with no food, only a bag of chips, being told it was a mechanical & Medallion issue when later in the evening they finally announced the whole cruise was canceled and had to scramble to find hotels for the night.

 

Or in Long beach with the Panorama, everyone arrived only to be told their cruise is shortened by a day and they had to scramble to find hotels for the night.

 

Some folks are going to risk it and go no matter what. Others are choosing not to risk it and cancel. I think it's just a personal choice. We chose to cancel because of those scenarios I mentioned.

[nissach]

I have a co worker whose parents are currently on a cruise(not sure which line) and they have reported that the whole ship smells like bleach.   Which tells me the crew are constantly cleaning and sanitizing pretty much everything that could be touched and carry germs.  

[Organized Chaos]

I’m currently on the Horizon. Grand Turk was supposed to be our first stop, but they cancelled and changed it to Nassau. GT strengthened their restrictions as to who they’ll let debark, which is why the Magic got denied Friday, so Carnival decided not to even bother trying. The Captain made the announcement during muster. Judging by all the moans & groans, Nassau was a bad replacement port, but hey, we’re still on a cruise.

 

I've talked about some of the safety measures they’ve put in place on my live thread, if you’d like to have a look. Too much to repeat here. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2739821-comin’-at-you-live-from-horizon-37-315/

[firefly333]

I'm not as sure of carnival, but the problem cancelling for many is the upcoming cruises cost more. The FCC has to be used by the end of next year and as people cancel and rebook later on, prices are rising.

 

Just one more thing to consider, which of course is dependent of when you booked and what you paid.

 

There are no more cruises after my april 26th cruise except maybe may  where I could rebook without paying more.

 

Those FCCs are date limited, the best prices are from now thru may. 

 

 

[ireashmott]

There are a few deciding factors - 1) your age and medical history; 2) the cost that you would incur if you accepted Carnival’s postponement offer; 3) the cost that you would incur if you didn't cancel and the worst happened; and 4) your tolerance for port changes, port cancellations, and a quarantine. 

 

You will know the answer to the first and your doctor could advise. 

 

You should figure out what the cost would be. Maybe Carnival has you covered for the cruise, but you have flights, pre-cruise hotel, private excursions, etc. to tally up for the total cost of postponing. 

 

You should figure out what it would cost you if you went and you were delayed or quarantined. You might need an extra hotel because the embarkation is delayed, you might need to change your flight home because the disembarkation is delayed, and/or you might miss 14 days of work because of quarantine. 

 

As for some facts, here are some of the occurrences: 

• multiple cruise ships from various lines have been denied from calling at ports including Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Grand Turk, Tortola, and St. Lucia, this resulted in many lines rescheduling to avoid some of these ports
• Carnival Panorama: On 7 March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) halted passengers disembarking from the cruise ship Carnival Panorama docked at Long Beach Cruise Terminal in California when a female passenger was reported to be sick.^[The sick passenger was transported to a hospital to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 and all passengers were held on board the ship pending test results. The test came back negative for coronavirus late that evening, so disembarkation was scheduled to resume the next morning. Carnival Panorama was returning from a trip to Mexico with scheduled stops at Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta, which were also scheduled stops for Grand Princess during the previous month.
• Grand Princess: On 7 March, Princess Cruises confirmed that Grand Princess was still at sea roughly 50 miles (80 km) from San Francisco, and that it was scheduled to dock in Oakland on 9 March 2020, with US passengers being transferred to facilities on land and crew being quarantined and treated on board
• Royal Princess: A crew member on Grand Princess had transferred to Royal Princess fifteen days before, the CDC issued a "no-sail order" on 8 March 2020, prompting Princess Cruises to cancel the ship's seven-day cruise to Mexico before it departed Los Angeles.
• Costa Luminosa: On 8 March, an Italian woman was quarantined in Puerto Rico while being tested for the virus. She had arrived in Puerto Rico via a cruise ship that had departed from Fort Lauderdale.

See: https://www.cruisehive.com/three-carnival-cruise-ships-avoid-calls-to-grand-turk-temporarily/38238

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_outbreak_on_cruise_ships#Grand_Princess

 

[SRQbeachgirl]

2 hours ago, bahacca said:

Sail date is March 31. So I wouldn't lose anything. Just have fcc. Ok. I am reading I have to use that for a category equal or above to what was booked. Is this true? (I never received the letter, so no idea of the fine print) Also, we had a 7 day. Do I have to use it for a 7 day cruise, or can I use it for a shorter cruise?

 

There is nothing in the letter that says the FCC has to be for the same or higher category. I just reread the fine print in my letter to confirm. Also, I re-booked our spa balcony cabin to a later cruise with a regular balcony and was able to apply the FCC.

[TakeMeAway1001]

41 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'm not as sure of carnival, but the problem cancelling for many is the upcoming cruises cost more. The FCC has to be used by the end of next year and as people cancel and rebook later on, prices are rising.

 I wish the FCC was valid till the end of 2021 but this is a reply from my PVP today >> 

Your future cruise credit is to be used by March 31^st, 2021, you can book at any time as long as you sail by March 31st 2020. 

I am just grateful that I don't have to rush out to book another right now on top of trying to re-plan a land vaca now that we aren't cruising on the 22nd. 

 

 

Just one more thing to consider, which of course is dependent of when you booked and what you paid.

 

There are no more cruises after my april 26th cruise except maybe may  where I could rebook without paying more.

 

Those FCCs are date limited, the best prices are from now thru may. 

 

 

 

[OhioScubaGirl]

We decided to cancel our cruise on Carnival and of course are very disappointed about it.  It was the Grand Princess that put us over the edge.  We couldn't handle a 14 day quarantine on a ship or military base.  I'm so torn.  I really, really want to cruise.  Does anyone know if I can use the cruise credit that I have to rebook the same cruise - March 28?   I know that sounds borderline ridiculous, but all the future options are a lot more money for us and far into the future.  We aren't going to decide for another week or so.  We need to see the news slow down with cruise ships.  

[amyotravel]

For the latest news and data from affected countries, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security offers daily recaps with case counts, travel restrictions, and more. The World Health Organization has useful guides on protecting yourself and how to tell fact from myth.

[SRQMom]

Cancelling my cruise for this Friday.  I have Cancel for Any Reason.  But, my T/A has been on the phone with Carnival twice now and gotten two different answers as to what will happen if I cancel.  I want to use my CFAR insurance and get the 75% refund.  BUT, one Carnival rep said I HAVE to take the FCC (taxes, etc. are refunded).  Another said I can waive that since I'm using my CFAR.  BUT T/A rep says he thinks the FCC is an automatic computer generated thing.  If so, won't the insurance company then deny my claim if Carnival tells them they issued me credit?  I'm sooooo confused.  Right now can't get through to Carnival anyway (my T/A lost the call midway yesterday so suggested calling back today so I'm still under my 48 hour window) but now Carnival phones are down.  Has anyone else dealt with this scenario (declining the FCC so the CFAR insurance will pay?).  Thanks???

[Maraprince]

Does anyone have a copy of the letter/email from Carnival regarding how this will be handled that they can post?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

[Doggielover68]

Cancel for any reason will cover you pretty much any time you can't get a refund. FCC is not a refund. You are entitled to your 75%. I'd recommend contacting the insurance company directly instead of going through your TA or Carnival for insurance questions. 

[xostacylee]

I don't see why not - I don't think the FCC specifies which cruise it needs to be. But hopefully someone else has some better intel than I do!

[OhioScubaGirl]

6 hours ago, estillcrew said:

My husband and I are trying to decide whether or not we need to cancel our cruise that departs on March 22nd, and would like the facts about how much the cruise industry is being affected by the Coronavirus. We are not worried at all about getting sick, but we are concerned about missing our ports of call or being quarantined for 14 days. It seems as though the media is exaggerating the situation. So, does anyone have hard facts to help me make an educated decision about cruising next week? How many ships have been quarantined? How many ports have not allowed cruises to dock? Are their any ports that have temporarily closed to cruises out of America? If our itinerary is changed, when will we be notified? For those who are cruising now or who cruised last week, was your trip impacted? If so,  how? Thank you so much for any help you can provide. I really don’t want to cancel our trip!

Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica each have an isolated incident of turning away 1 ship each.  (Grand Cayman 2 ships)

Carnival may be adjusting their Grand Cayman stops.  You may get advanced notice of this...or may find out on the ship. 

Only 2 Princess ships (Diamond and Grand) ended up in quarantine - no Carnival ships, and none in the Caribbean.  

A few ships have had delayed docking back at home port by several hours.  Carnival Panorama, Regal Princess, and Caribbean Princess have been delayed.  I think RC Anthem of the Seas was delayed as well. 

I know that sounds like a lot, but there are dozens of ships daily that are cruising without any incidents.  They don't make the news!  It would be an easier decision of every ship that cruised without incident is reported.  

[SRQMom]

2 hours ago, Doggielover68 said:

Cancel for any reason will cover you pretty much any time you can't get a refund. FCC is not a refund. You are entitled to your 75%. I'd recommend contacting the insurance company directly instead of going through your TA or Carnival for insurance questions. 

I was told by Carnival and by AAA (travel agent) that you can never get both the FCC and the 75% insurance because it's either one or the othe.  I do agree with you though, and the fact they issue a FCC is not the same as a refund because I'll likely never be able to use it.  We never go on Carnival, in our 60's, and was only doing this as our last trip with our grandson before he heads off to college. Does anybody know for certain.  I worry about speak to insurance companies because they might "use" what I tell them against me.  I am cautious about such things. 

[WorkerBee74]

7 hours ago, TakeMeAway1001 said:

I used this for an example yesterday on another thread, hope it helps...After final payment/Sail Date was March 22nd. Cruise Rate 1,448.00 Refunded as FCC

Taxes, Fees, Port Expenses and Fuel Supplement* 291.28 Refunded to original form of payment

Total Cruise Charges 1,739.28

OPTIONAL CHARGES Prepaid Gratuities 167.88 Total Optional Charges 167.88 Refunded to original form of payment

My FCC will be the cruise fare only $1448

Refunded to my Credit Card  $ 459.16

I think a lot of people are thinking they are getting ripped off because they aren't getting the taxes/fees as part of the FCC and they think when they are re-booking they are getting charged again. 

 

 

Thank you ever so much.  I've been looking for a concise explanation for what happens.

 

Taking it a bit further, did you book a new cruise yet with the credit?  I'm looking for someone who did who received an OBC of 'up to $500' because the 'new' cruise (and by that i mean strictly the Cruise Rate and not all the other fees that were refundable) was cheaper than the original one.  If you did... did you do it online?  Did you have to phone to talk to someone to book the new one or do you just get a 'credit bank' or something in your account?  Do you have to pay for the new one with deposit and then contact before March 31 to get your credit or will they know you canceled and apply it automatically?  I don't want to be caught on the 31st unable to get through.

 

We are looking at cancelling and booking a 7 day cruise in March and pricing one that has a cruise rate of $476 less than the 10 day one we have currently booked.  We would definitely use up that $476 OBC on booze and add'l dining.  Not the greatest deal ever for 3 days less, but I booked the 10 day one about 2 days after it was announced so it was a pretty amazing deal.  I had such an awesome 'bowling alley' balcony on the 10 day I am sadz... but I'm looking at an aft-extended to make up for it.

Edited March 10, 2020 by WorkerBee74

[Doggielover68]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'm not as sure of carnival, but the problem cancelling for many is the upcoming cruises cost more. The FCC has to be used by the end of next year and as people cancel and rebook later on, prices are rising.

 

Just one more thing to consider, which of course is dependent of when you booked and what you paid.

 

There are no more cruises after my april 26th cruise except maybe may  where I could rebook without paying more.

 

Those FCCs are date limited, the best prices are from now thru may. 

 

 

I rescheduled for next year. Same ship and itinerary. Cost me $4. Worth it.

[sailawaykaye]

22 minutes ago, WorkerBee74 said:

 

Thank you ever so much.  I've been looking for a concise explanation for what happens.

 

Taking it a bit further, did you book a new cruise yet with the credit?  I'm looking for someone who did who received an OBC of 'up to $500' because the 'new' cruise (and by that i mean strictly the Cruise Rate and not all the other fees that were refundable) was cheaper than the original one.  If you did... did you do it online?  Did you have to phone to talk to someone to book the new one or do you just get a 'credit bank' or something in your account?  Do you have to pay for the new one with deposit and then contact before March 31 to get your credit or will they know you canceled and apply it automatically?  I don't want to be caught on the 31st unable to get through.

 

We are looking at cancelling and booking a 7 day cruise in March and pricing one that has a cruise rate of $476 less than the 10 day one we have currently booked.  We would definitely use up that $476 OBC on booze and add'l dining.  Not the greatest deal ever for 3 days less, but I booked the 10 day one about 2 days after it was announced so it was a pretty amazing deal.  I had such an awesome 'bowling alley' balcony on the 10 day I am sadz... but I'm looking at an aft-extended to make up for it.

Hi. I just cancelled a cruise with $500 OBC. It was a casino offer called “Hot Streak Bonus”. That offer had expired March 3rd, so I couldn’t rebook with that promotion. This is what I was told when calling the Ocean Players Club since it was a casino offer.
 

She told me that they were sending out new Hot Streak Bonus offers that came with $500 OBC. Sure enough after checking under my VIFP profile, there it was! I was able to apply that to my new booking. Every thing was transferred to the new booking.

 

Email confirmation stated that I still owed $300. After calling about this, it’s the amount of the deposit for both of us. He said that it can take up to 48 hrs to go through after they submit the form. I just now checked my balance and it says Paid In Full. So all is good. 

 

I must say, that I had to call 3 times about this and each time I waited about an hour and half to get through. Sometimes I was disconnected after waiting 40 minutes. 🙄 Just make sure that if you booked a casino offer to call the Oceans Players Club.

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

37 minutes ago, WorkerBee74 said:

 

Thank you ever so much.  I've been looking for a concise explanation for what happens.

You are very welcome!

 

Taking it a bit further, did you book a new cruise yet with the credit? 

 I haven't booked a new cruise  yet.

 

 I'm looking for someone who did who received an OBC of 'up to $500' because the 'new' cruise (and by that i mean strictly the Cruise Rate and not all the other fees that were refundable) was cheaper than the original one.  If you did... did you do it online?  Did you have to phone to talk to someone to book the new one or do you just get a 'credit bank' or something in your account?

 

 If you know what you're booking you can do it online using the form that was linked at the bottom of the offer letter from Carnival. If you don't have it, let me know and I can get you the link. 

 I actually outreached to a Carnival PVP that I used many years ago via email and even though I booked this cruise on my own he promptly replied and was able to cancel my booking, process the refund to my cc for the items not included in the FCC. I wanted to do it this way so I could take time to re-book and being on hold for hours wasn't something I wanted to do. He was able to do what I wanted in a matter of minutes and when I am ready to book I would have to call Carnival to apply the FCC. Since he was so helpful I will use him for the rebooking, the ease of reaching him was key. 

 

Do you have to pay for the new one with deposit and then contact before March 31 to get your credit or will they know you canceled and apply it automatically?  I don't want to be caught on the 31st unable to get through.

 

    If you know what cruise you want, you could definitely just use the form once you've deposited the new cruise, you will need the new info to process the cancel/rebook online. I wouldn't wait too long, I don't think you would run into a problem but you don't want to wait till the last day. 
 

If you want to bounce anything off of the PVP that helped me, he would definitely help ease your mind and explain all your options. If you are interested in calling or emailing him let me know and I can get you the info via email. On top of not being ready to rebook, I liked having an email chain of what he did and to be able to avoid hours waiting on the phone and risking being hung up on or disconnected. 

37 minutes ago, WorkerBee74 said:

 

We are looking at cancelling and booking a 7 day cruise in March and pricing one that has a cruise rate of $476 less than the 10 day one we have currently booked.  We would definitely use up that $476 OBC on booze and add'l dining.  Not the greatest deal ever for 3 days less, but I booked the 10 day one about 2 days after it was announced so it was a pretty amazing deal.  I had such an awesome 'bowling alley' balcony on the 10 day I am sadz... but I'm looking at an aft-extended to make up for it.

 

[estillcrew]

7 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

I’m currently on the Horizon. Grand Turk was supposed to be our first stop, but they cancelled and changed it to Nassau. GT strengthened their restrictions as to who they’ll let debark, which is why the Magic got denied Friday, so Carnival decided not to even bother trying. The Captain made the announcement during muster. Judging by all the moans & groans, Nassau was a bad replacement port, but hey, we’re still on a cruise.

 

I've talked about some of the safety measures they’ve put in place on my live thread, if you’d like to have a look. Too much to repeat here. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2739821-comin’-at-you-live-from-horizon-37-315/

Thank you for the info! I appreciate it.

 

[estillcrew]

7 hours ago, ireashmott said:

There are a few deciding factors - 1) your age and medical history; 2) the cost that you would incur if you accepted Carnival’s postponement offer; 3) the cost that you would incur if you didn't cancel and the worst happened; and 4) your tolerance for port changes, port cancellations, and a quarantine. 

 

You will know the answer to the first and your doctor could advise. 

 

You should figure out what the cost would be. Maybe Carnival has you covered for the cruise, but you have flights, pre-cruise hotel, private excursions, etc. to tally up for the total cost of postponing. 

 

You should figure out what it would cost you if you went and you were delayed or quarantined. You might need an extra hotel because the embarkation is delayed, you might need to change your flight home because the disembarkation is delayed, and/or you might miss 14 days of work because of quarantine. 

 

As for some facts, here are some of the occurrences: 

• multiple cruise ships from various lines have been denied from calling at ports including Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Grand Turk, Tortola, and St. Lucia, this resulted in many lines rescheduling to avoid some of these ports
• Carnival Panorama: On 7 March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) halted passengers disembarking from the cruise ship Carnival Panorama docked at Long Beach Cruise Terminal in California when a female passenger was reported to be sick.^[The sick passenger was transported to a hospital to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 and all passengers were held on board the ship pending test results. The test came back negative for coronavirus late that evening, so disembarkation was scheduled to resume the next morning. Carnival Panorama was returning from a trip to Mexico with scheduled stops at Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta, which were also scheduled stops for Grand Princess during the previous month.
• Grand Princess: On 7 March, Princess Cruises confirmed that Grand Princess was still at sea roughly 50 miles (80 km) from San Francisco, and that it was scheduled to dock in Oakland on 9 March 2020, with US passengers being transferred to facilities on land and crew being quarantined and treated on board
• Royal Princess: A crew member on Grand Princess had transferred to Royal Princess fifteen days before, the CDC issued a "no-sail order" on 8 March 2020, prompting Princess Cruises to cancel the ship's seven-day cruise to Mexico before it departed Los Angeles.
• Costa Luminosa: On 8 March, an Italian woman was quarantined in Puerto Rico while being tested for the virus. She had arrived in Puerto Rico via a cruise ship that had departed from Fort Lauderdale.

See: https://www.cruisehive.com/three-carnival-cruise-ships-avoid-calls-to-grand-turk-temporarily/38238

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_outbreak_on_cruise_ships#Grand_Princess

 

Thank you so much. This was very helpful!

[estillcrew]

5 hours ago, OhioScubaGirl said:

We decided to cancel our cruise on Carnival and of course are very disappointed about it.  It was the Grand Princess that put us over the edge.  We couldn't handle a 14 day quarantine on a ship or military base.  I'm so torn.  I really, really want to cruise.  Does anyone know if I can use the cruise credit that I have to rebook the same cruise - March 28?   I know that sounds borderline ridiculous, but all the future options are a lot more money for us and far into the future.  We aren't going to decide for another week or so.  We need to see the news slow down with cruise ships.  

When I talked to Carnival yesterday, the lady said that I did not have to rebook on the same ship or the same itinerary.

[estillcrew]

3 hours ago, OhioScubaGirl said:

Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica each have an isolated incident of turning away 1 ship each.  (Grand Cayman 2 ships)

Carnival may be adjusting their Grand Cayman stops.  You may get advanced notice of this...or may find out on the ship. 

Only 2 Princess ships (Diamond and Grand) ended up in quarantine - no Carnival ships, and none in the Caribbean.  

A few ships have had delayed docking back at home port by several hours.  Carnival Panorama, Regal Princess, and Caribbean Princess have been delayed.  I think RC Anthem of the Seas was delayed as well. 

I know that sounds like a lot, but there are dozens of ships daily that are cruising without any incidents.  They don't make the news!  It would be an easier decision of every ship that cruised without incident is reported.  

You are so right! I think we will decide last minute and see what develops. My travel agent is leaving on a cruise this week and she said that she is not worried one bit. She said that she has many travel agent friends who are cruising now and have had zero issues.

[glentally]

Considering canceling my May 10th cruise within the Carnival Corona Virus cancel policy.  I paid $838 for a single cabin on the Fascination and an additional $100 more for taxes and ?

 

If my assumptions are correct I am expecting not to lose any money.  Is the full $838 a FCC and the $100 put back on my card or is my math or assumptions wrong?

[goldne]

What about cancelling excursions for an upcoming cruise? Is it possible to do this for a full refund?