Princess new health guidelines..will X follow suit!

[Miaminice]

7 hours ago, downsmead said:

I thought the sailings were extended until April 2022 but had to be booked by the end of 2021. Are there certain FCCs that this does not apply to, like the example provided above?

yes, 2022 is for cancellations after April 16th. I think that was the day it was announced.

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

 

I know I will regret asking... but why did you cancel if you knew the cruise was going to be canceled? 🙄 No need to do so at all.

 

We had two cancellations this year so far. Asia and Ne Zealand. In both cases we knew it was going to be canceled - so we simply waited. We have a third booked for September sailing (or better not sailing) from Rome. It’s not going to happen - and we will simply wait again.

At the time we cancelled in early March, Celebrity was still allowing ships to sail, even though it was clear to many people that these cruises should have been cancelled. Consequently, as Celebrity had given no indication that it was prepared to cancel our cruise, or any other cruise for that matter, but it had announced its Cruise With Confidence policy, that seemed to be the only viable option at the time. Had Celebrity announced the suspension policy at the same time as it announced its CWC policy, we obviously would have waited until it cancelled, but not having the benefit of that information, we made what was a sound decision at that time. As I said in my earlier post, hindsight is 20-20. 

 

Some posters have suggested that Celebrity purposely announced the CWC policy in advance of announcing the suspension policy to trigger passenger cancellations before it was forced to do so itself. I won't comment on the validity of that speculation, but Celebrity obviously benefitted financially from the many FCCs they issued in lieu of refunds.

 

 

[TeeRick]

23 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

And therein lies the rub. Currently, the only way to get real $$$, unless you have a refundable deposit, is to make the final payment and wait for the cruise line to cancel your sailing. Then wait several more months. 
 

Any other cancellation results in an FCC which may end up being useless. 
 

If the cruise lines are making a change in requirements of this magnitude, they have to allow a full $$$ refund of any dollars paid for any reservation made before the effective date of the new policy. If they do that I would immediately cancel all 9 cruises I have booked over the next two years ......... which is exactly what they don’t want. 
 

mac_tlc

Yes I agree that we are all in a tough spot here.  Here is my thinking on this situation.  Unless you have a suite the amount of non-refundable money they are holding per person is in my mind relatively small compared to: 1) giving them a lot more for final payment, 2) waiting for a likely cancellation or exclusion due to your health/age or immunity status, and then 3) waiting to get a full refund of the money you just gave them knowing the risk.  Not to mention that if you are in any health risk category you are gambling with your life just for the relatively small deposit money you might lose.  I personally would not make any final payments until the go-forward situation is very clear.  If you have multiple cruises booked just wait out every one until final payment date before making the decision to cancel.  Just what I am doing- others probably have different views.

[TeeRick]

sorry posted twice.

Edited April 26, 2020 by TeeRick

[wrk2cruise]

16 hours ago, Miaminice said:

I thought the sailings were extended until April 2022 but had to be booked by the end of 2021. Are there certain FCCs that this does not apply to, like the example provided above?

 

16 hours ago, Miaminice said:

yes, 2022 is for cancellations after April 16th. I think that was the day it was announced.

 

They have extended the sail by date to all FCC's issued for suspension and CWC.  Please check the FAQ page and the various section for your type of cancellation.  This is the text from the CWC section

 

Do the Future Cruise Credits expire?

Yes. All Cruise with Confidence Future Cruise Credits must be redeemed by December 31, 2021, for sailings departing on or before April 30, 2022.

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Yes I agree that we are all in a tough spot here.  Here is my thinking on this situation.  Unless you have a suite the amount of non-refundable money they are holding per person is in my mind relatively small compared to: 1) giving them a lot more for final payment, 2) waiting for a likely cancellation or exclusion due to your health/age or immunity status, and then 3) waiting to get a full refund of the money you just gave them knowing the risk.  Not to mention that if you are in any health risk category you are gambling with your life just for the relatively small deposit money you might lose.  I personally would not make any final payments until the go-forward situation is very clear.  If you have multiple cruises booked just wait out every one until final payment date before making the decision to cancel.  Just what I am doing- others probably have different views.

I think that’s a sound path to follow. My first big dollar one is coming up with a final due 5/18. Makes it a little more interesting in that it is for 8 people. While almost all of my booked ones are suites, the deposit per person is still $250 for the seven night ones. Have two TA’s that are $450 pp. 

 

I have no issue with non refundable deposits, but the current situation has added an option I never thought I’d have( or wanted!). There is a path to get all the $$$ back, although it has its own risks. 
 

We will see what it looks like on 5/17.

 

mac_tlc

[whirlybird3]

Chronic illness is a very open category.  Diabetes, CAD, Lupus ....

 

I have a friend who has diabetes since childhood and uses a insulin pump.  He is a triathlete and always going out to Yosemite for rick climbing.  Another person I know had heart surgery and was back running 5K and 10K just three months post op.  These people are in good health despite of what life has given them.  Should they be denied to sail?

 

I also have to wonder the legal aspect of the cruise line asking about personal medical information.  Isn’t this protected by the HIPPA law?  

[yorky]

17 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Yes I agree that we are all in a tough spot here.  Here is my thinking on this situation.  Unless you have a suite the amount of non-refundable money they are holding per person is in my mind relatively small compared to: 1) giving them a lot more for final payment, 2) waiting for a likely cancellation or exclusion due to your health/age or immunity status, and then 3) waiting to get a full refund of the money you just gave them knowing the risk.  Not to mention that if you are in any health risk category you are gambling with your life just for the relatively small deposit money you might lose.  I personally would not make any final payments until the go-forward situation is very clear.  If you have multiple cruises booked just wait out every one until final payment date before making the decision to cancel.  Just what I am doing- others probably have different views.

We won’t be waiting and taking a FCC or waiting for a refund, we would rather just cancel just before the full payment and take the £300 loss if we have to. We have to book our holidays for next year this autumn and when the three weeks in February is booked through work we can’t change it to later in the year so a FCC is useless to us anyway as we won’t be cruising in 2022. If by this autumn it looks like Asia is out in Feb we will probably just book the time off work for next Autumn and wait and see. Reading through the the threads the loss of £300 looks a good deal next to the stress and hassle of trying to chase up refunds with Celebrity or a TA. It’s money we had tied up in a cruise anyway and not something we need for our everyday living.

[yorky]

3 hours ago, whirlybird3 said:

Chronic illness is a very open category.  Diabetes, CAD, Lupus ....

 

I have a friend who has diabetes since childhood and uses a insulin pump.  He is a triathlete and always going out to Yosemite for rick climbing.  Another person I know had heart surgery and was back running 5K and 10K just three months post op.  These people are in good health despite of what life has given them.  Should they be denied to sail?

 

I also have to wonder the legal aspect of the cruise line asking about personal medical information.  Isn’t this protected by the HIPPA law?  

I would certainly question how Celebrity are going to know if a passenger has lied and as such leave them at the next port. Certainly in the UK your medical history is private,  companies certainly don’t have a right to your records. Now if you become ill and then disclose that’s a different situation.

[TeeRick]

5 hours ago, yorky said:

We won’t be waiting and taking a FCC or waiting for a refund, we would rather just cancel just before the full payment and take the £300 loss if we have to. We have to book our holidays for next year this autumn and when the three weeks in February is booked through work we can’t change it to later in the year so a FCC is useless to us anyway as we won’t be cruising in 2022. If by this autumn it looks like Asia is out in Feb we will probably just book the time off work for next Autumn and wait and see. Reading through the the threads the loss of £300 looks a good deal next to the stress and hassle of trying to chase up refunds with Celebrity or a TA. It’s money we had tied up in a cruise anyway and not something we need for our everyday living.

yorky I agree that a loss of £300 is a small price to pay for peace of mind at this point in time.

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

yorky I agree that a loss of £300 is a small price to pay for peace of mind at this point in time.

Agree with you and Yorky.  Although we did not have any cruises planned for 2020 we had two trips to Europe planned (May and September) with three land tours on tap.  All told, a $34K investment.  We paid penalties totalling $1,300 to cancel the whole lot and get most (about 96%) of our money back.  Now, no more stress or thinking about our strategy.... just look to next year and see how things develop.

[boatclub1]

I believe there will be "No Cruises" till there is medication for the virus and/or a vaccine.   I don't know how they can control a ship load of 2000-5000 people.  Anyone suffering from a fever or flu-like symptoms prior to embarkation at check in will not be able to board - I get this.  But what happens if people are fine boarding but actually come down with this virus a few days into the cruise and no one but the person/family know.   How would that even be monitored????  Crazy at it seems, it will happen.

 

[TeeRick]

23 hours ago, boatclub1 said:

I believe there will be "No Cruises" till there is medication for the virus and/or a vaccine.   I don't know how they can control a ship load of 2000-5000 people.  Anyone suffering from a fever or flu-like symptoms prior to embarkation at check in will not be able to board - I get this.  But what happens if people are fine boarding but actually come down with this virus a few days into the cruise and no one but the person/family know.   How would that even be monitored????  Crazy at it seems, it will happen.

 

OK so if there is no vaccine developed or no effective anti-viral drug- you believe that cruising will never happen again?  In fact there may not be any success with drugs or vaccines.  Just like the countries and states re-opening procedures ongoing now (with no vaccine or drug in site), there will be cruise re-opening procedures.  It will be a high hurdle no doubt but it will happen IMO.

[alwaysonaship]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

OK so if there is no vaccine developed or no effective anti-viral drug- you believe that cruising will never happen again?  In fact there may not be any success with drugs or vaccines.  Just like the countries and states re-opening procedures ongoing now (with no vaccine or drug in site), there will be cruise re-opening procedures.  It will be a high hurdle no doubt but it will happen IMO.

Well with these states that are opening up with total lack of regard for people’s health, the cruise lines will probably do something similar. However without our attendance. 

[drewski1]

NCL just came out with a medical form for 70 year olds and above. if you have a chronic disease like COPD, diabetes or asthma you cannot cruise without you Dr.'s approval of being safe to travel. what Dr in their right mind would ever sign something like that. so i ask this ???, 70% of Holland American cruisers are over 65 or 70. if HAL adopts that form, their cruise industry just SANK. i was on the last HAL cruise with people with transplants, 4th heart attack and some stuff too scary to even list. what happens then?? guess we'll see

[phoenix_dream]

On 4/26/2020 at 8:48 AM, TeeRick said:

Yes I agree that we are all in a tough spot here.  Here is my thinking on this situation.  Unless you have a suite the amount of non-refundable money they are holding per person is in my mind relatively small compared to: 1) giving them a lot more for final payment, 2) waiting for a likely cancellation or exclusion due to your health/age or immunity status, and then 3) waiting to get a full refund of the money you just gave them knowing the risk.  Not to mention that if you are in any health risk category you are gambling with your life just for the relatively small deposit money you might lose.  I personally would not make any final payments until the go-forward situation is very clear.  If you have multiple cruises booked just wait out every one until final payment date before making the decision to cancel.  Just what I am doing- others probably have different views.

My NRD is $900, plus $100 to the TA. To me that amount is anything but small.  My cruise falls just beyond the current 9/1 date so full FCC is not an option.  If they didn’t require final payment so ridiculously in advance of sailing I would not be in this dilemma.  I already have two other cruises with FCC that I am waiting for and really don’t want anymore.

[TeeRick]

10 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

My NRD is $900, plus $100 to the TA. To me that amount is anything but small.  My cruise falls just beyond the current 9/1 date so full FCC is not an option.  If they didn’t require final payment so ridiculously in advance of sailing I would not be in this dilemma.  I already have two other cruises with FCC that I am waiting for and really don’t want anymore.

phoenix these are hard decisions.  My cruise is later but we are in a CS and have $1800 on deposit.  But I am prepared to sacrifice it if I see that cruising and airline travel still has a COVID-19 risk to us.

[mnocket]

18 hours ago, drewski1 said:

NCL just came out with a medical form for 70 year olds and above. if you have a chronic disease like COPD, diabetes or asthma you cannot cruise without you Dr.'s approval of being safe to travel. what Dr in their right mind would ever sign something like that. so i ask this ???, 70% of Holland American cruisers are over 65 or 70. if HAL adopts that form, their cruise industry just SANK. i was on the last HAL cruise with people with transplants, 4th heart attack and some stuff too scary to even list. what happens then?? guess we'll see

 

IMHO The doctor's note has little to do with protecting the cruiser..... it has everything to do with protecting the cruise line.  In essence, the cruise line is saying "we don't think it's safe for these people to cruise on our line, but if a doctor says different, we'll let them sail".  

[Roger88]

This new health guidelines will only make the life of passengers harder. It will slow the industry and in no way it will decrease the number of people dying of illnesses on board. People may have hidden diseases, even young people who may seem healthy can die of a sudden heart attack or something or diabetes. Also, many people are suffering from obesity, especially in the states.   So yeah, I dont believe these new measures will change anything in a good way

[drewski1]

just to make a point clear, if you are 70 years old YOU CANNOT BOARD WITHOUT HAVING THE FORM SIGNED BY YOUR DR SAYING YOU ARE NOT A RISK, dated 48 hrs before you cruise. what if you just spent a week someplace before you cruise and your are 2000 miles from your Dr.??Hmmmmmm i'll end it there its too confusing, just pray HAL doesn't do it.

[Fouremco]

11 minutes ago, drewski1 said:

just to make a point clear, if you are 70 years old YOU CANNOT BOARD WITHOUT HAVING THE FORM SIGNED BY YOUR DR SAYING YOU ARE NOT A RISK, dated 48 hrs before you cruise. what if you just spent a week someplace before you cruise and your are 2000 miles from your Dr.??Hmmmmmm i'll end it there its too confusing, just pray HAL doesn't do it.

The requirement for 70+ passengers to have a signed "Fit to Sail Form" form no longer exists. From the Celebrity website:

 

Earlier this year we announced travel restrictions for guests with chronic illness as well as a mandatory “Fit To Travel” form for guests 70 years of age and older with critical health conditions. We are now pleased to advise that, while subject to change, CLIA has confirmed these restrictions were lifted in early April after all cruise lines were required to suspend service. 

 

 

Also, when the requirement was still on the books, there was no 48 hour time period during which the form was to be signed by your doctor. Perhaps you are confusing the "Fit to Sail Form" with the "Public Health Form". The latter is required for all passengers, irrespective of age, and shouldn't be completed until 48 hours before boarding. Note, however, that this form requires no doctor's signature, only that of the passenger. 

[mmeg29]

On 4/28/2020 at 10:29 AM, alwaysonaship said:

Well with these states that are opening up with total lack of regard for people’s health, the cruise lines will probably do something similar. However without our attendance. 

Let's be clear why things were shut down - it was to slow the spread and flatten the curve so that hospitals would not be overwhelmed.  In that process many hospitals are now empty and on the verge of closing. I would think closing a hospital is bad for people's health.  Also if cruise lines wait for a vaccine/cure they will likely go belly up.  There is currently no vaccine for the 4 most common coronaviruses( they cause colds), SARS or MERS or even norovirus for that matter.  I am not holding my breath for either a vaccine or cure. 

[drewski1]

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Certificate-of-Medical-Fitness-to-Travel-form.pdf

[drewski1]

46 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

The requirement for 70+ passengers to have a signed "Fit to Sail Form" form no longer exists. From the Celebrity website:

 

Earlier this year we announced travel restrictions for guests with chronic illness as well as a mandatory “Fit To Travel” form for guests 70 years of age and older with critical health conditions. We are now pleased to advise that, while subject to change, CLIA has confirmed these restrictions were lifted in early April after all cruise lines were required to suspend service. 

 

 

Also, when the requirement was still on the books, there was no 48 hour time period during which the form was to be signed by your doctor. Perhaps you are confusing the "Fit to Sail Form" with the "Public Health Form". The latter is required for all passengers, irrespective of age, and shouldn't be completed until 48 hours before boarding. Note, however, that this form requires no doctor's signature, only that of the passenger. 

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Certificate-of-Medical-Fitness-to-Travel-form.pdf needs Dr. signature

[Ken the cruiser]

Why are we discussing what's going on with NCL on a Celebrity thread?