Are you booking??

[coaster]

I bailed and cancelled a November 2020 8 night Empress cruise. Cruise is a long way off. I booked fully refundable, but was not comfortable with $500 in deposit on the table. The delay in refunds for cruises recently cancelled is a huge red flag to me. A gamble I am not willing to take. Will book only close to sail dates for the immediate future. I think last minute bookings will be the new normal.

Edited April 20, 2020 by coaster

[torpeedo]

We're in a holding pattern.  Each time a booked cruise comes up and it's cancelled we will get refunds and so far that's been the pattern.  (not that we've received the refund yet but sooner or later we will)  We have two more cruises booked this year and when each one comes up we'll see if it's a go, and if we feel safe and if the MD note is in effect.   If not safe and the note remains and it's within that cruise with confidence thing, we'll just bump it to the middle of next year. If not in cruise with confidence,  we'll cancel and rebook mid next year.  We're just pushing it forward. Hopefully someday we can cruise again but it's a day by day consideration.

[Houndfish]

On 4/19/2020 at 1:11 PM, vegas7df said:

I would like to but am hesitant due to my husband being over 70 and  requiring a doctors note.  

The drs note was required under temporary rules. Waiting to see if it becomes a permanent rule. Carnival doesn't reference a drs note.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, ariesgirl384 said:

I was able to make it a refundable deposit for $14 more than NRD which made it that much easier to put a deposit down.

Realize the diff is usually much more than that.

[bonsai3s]

On 4/19/2020 at 9:15 AM, shorti503 said:

So I have a very small side business making custom shirts and tumblers. My profits are used for our family vacations. I have enough saved up to book the next cruise we have been wanting to take.  We are looking at a 9 night south bound cruise in February.  With everything going on would you feel comfortable booking at this time?  Obviously what's in store for the future is anyones guess and ANYTHING could still happen.  But would you personally be comfortable booking that far out? I do not cruise nearly as often as most of here so I figured you guys may be a better judge.  Thank you!

 

Our opinion: Hold off and wait.  Don't make the same mistakes we've made.  We had several cruises booked.  Royal cancelled them.  We re-booked.  Now we have a significant amount of money tied up and waiting for refunds or FCC's...and not sure when we'll see them.......sigh.

 

 

 

[ariesgirl384]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Realize the diff is usually much more than that.

Right I was really surprised it was only that much. That's why I definitely took advantage of it.