Making the decision (pulling the plug or holding fast?)

[naxer]

15 hours ago, HenanSan said:

This is bad business for us but works well for them.  And IF I cancel prior to final payment they will keep my deposit even knowing they are going to cancel my cruise.  Yeah, that seems real fair to me.  Either way I lose. I can lose it now or lose use of my money later.  Got it.  Way to go cruise lines.  

 

In the big picture, even though it leaves a bit of a bad taste, it's just an inconvenience.  It was discretionary money to start with, and I've always gotten my money's worth in the past.  If I lose a bit, I hope it carries them over and becomes an investment in future fun.  

[mk-ultra]

I've had 3 2020 cruises cancelled by the cruise lines so far (Royal, Princess and Carnival).  For the two that were already paid off, I took the 100% refund.  For the one that just had a deposit, I took an FCC.  I had one last cruise, not yet cancelled or paid up, for November 2020 on Celebrity and did a voluntary no-penalty "Lift & Shift" to December 2021 (and actually saved a good chunk of change in the process).

 

I'm writing off 2020 for cruising.  My next booked one is May 2021 and I have no idea whether or not it will sail.  Things are still way too variable to even make a guess, but I'm not paying anything more than the basic deposit until things are more clear.  I'll eat the deposit if it's still ambiguous when my final payment due date hits.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2020 by mk-ultra

[stellarose]

Agreed. I’ll eat deposits for MG winter 2021

[richfret]

I have a Horizon cruise coming up in January with final payment due in October.  I have my doubts it will take place but I am trying to be optimistic but with great difficulty what with all the negative newscasts on the hour.  Actually though, Carnival has made my decision for me whether or not to make the final payment.  I have $1,300 in Carnival gift cards that were purchased with a 10% reduction.  My final payment is $1,263.  If Carnival were to go under, my $1,300 in gift cards would be worthless.  If the cruise is cancelled, I could apply the refund to a future cruise assuming there would be future cruises.  So in my case, Carnival gift cards have made the decision for me.  Now if it were cash, that would be another story.

 

I have completed 23 Carnival cruise and have never experienced any thing like this.  Seems like there is concern that many on the ship could get the virus so restrictions are applied.  Yet, if you do not cruise, you could take the same plane to another vacation location.  You could stay their in a motel or hotel.  Then you could take a Huber or bus to a restaurant to have breakfast, lunch and supper.  The other option is to stay home in your closet and hope the delivery guy does not get the virus.   

 

If you think we have it bad, I checked the internet regarding the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic and found the following.  There were 675,000 deaths in the US and 50 million world wide with WW1 just ending.  That's scary.

[wolfie11]

There's a thread on the NCL forum about NCL refunding only the form of payment you paid for the cruise with.  So if you paid cash, took the FCC and applied it to a cruise that was subsequently cancelled, you can only get FCC for that cruise, not a cash refund.  If you are told cash, as the OP was, you had better have some written or recorded proof.  I would imagine it's the same for gift cards.

 

Personally, I would be wary of playing cruise roulette with my money.  And when they finally do cruise with possibly casino and bars closed or limited, no buffets, and a requirement for masks onboard, you may be told if you don't like it, you don't have to cruise, but kiss your money/FCC/gift cards goodbye...

[drsel]

so the consensus is not to give the cruise lines any fresh money.
but if you already have FCCs or gift cards, you have to use them anyway

[ObstructedView2]

Deja Vu.... 

 

 

 

 

 

😉

[wolfie11]

I think my strategy in future will be to wait until cruising starts and then do some bargain hunting for last-minute low fares.  I'm not too worried if I have to wear a mask or socially distance as I cruise for the destination and not the onboard experience (I think my bill on my last cruise was around $50 for a two week cruise for my morning expresso habit) and I mostly hang out on deck with my binoculars and a good book when we're at sea.  

[laumicmah]

On 6/29/2020 at 5:31 PM, Lottacruises said:

 

Me too, it is allowed  after all. 

 

On 6/29/2020 at 5:28 PM, coevan said:

 

 

Why can he not bring his laptop? I am not traveling anywhere without mine

He can't bring his work laptop out of country. 

[coevan]

and they would know this how? GPS tracking device?

 

[MistyRo76]

On 6/29/2020 at 10:39 PM, geckoaz said:

Well i pulled the plug on my oct 17 cruise today. I had paid it with may fcc and had 600 plus obc. The majority paid for our may 2021 panorama cruise and the rest to may 2022 horizon cruise. Our obc moved to panorama and all prepaids that did not will be refunded.when? Who knows. I did not wait for canival to cancel oct and got same deal. Win for now. 

Make the right choice for you. The worst day cruising is better than teleworking at home.

Were you booked under Early Saver or another rate? I'm asking because we are booked under ES for our upcoming Oct. 19th cruise. In all honesty, even if cruises do start up on Oct. 1 as currently planned, we are still planning to not sail and push back to next year sometime. This is a girls trip and I'm hesitant to be away from my daughter and potentially get quarantined on the ship for any length of time. I'd really like to be able to see how things are going for a couple of months once sailing resumes before going myself. 

 

Our plan is to hold off until our final payment date or until Carnival officially cancels our cruise before we make any kind of move. I'd like to take advantage of any offerings Carnival is making if our cruise does get cancelled. Also, in the past when there have been these earlier rounds of cancellations, I started getting some really good VIFP offers which included things like Drinks on Us (all over the ship, not just in the casino). It would be even better if we could combine some cruise credits AND get free drinks or other incentives when we rebook! 

[drsel]

 

 

 

Our plan is to hold off until our final payment date or until Carnival officially cancels our cruise before we make any kind of move. I'd like to take advantage of any offerings Carnival is making if our cruise does get cancelled. Also, in the past when there have been these earlier rounds of cancellations, I started getting some really good VIFP offers which included things like Drinks on Us (all over the ship, not just in the casino). It would be even better if we could combine some cruise credits AND get free drinks or other incentives when we rebook! 

I don't think Carnival will cancel your Cruise before final payment date.

if at all they cancel it, it will be after final payment date.

 

tell us about your VIFP offer.

was it because of your high status or is it for all cancelled Cruises?

 

[MistyRo76]

1 minute ago, drsel said:

 

 

 

 

I don't think Carnival will cancel your Cruise before final payment date.

if at all they cancel it, it will be after final payment date.

 

tell us about your VIFP offer.

was it because of your high status or is it for all cancelled Cruises?

 

I received several Casino offers after one of the earlier waves of cancellations. Sometimes Casino offers will include their Drinks on Us package which gives you free drinks while gambling in the casino. The offer I received it would include Drinks on Us but they were extending it to be available anywhere on the ship (with some restrictions - similar to Cheers). I had never seen that before! I'm not a big gambler either - I usually spend an hour or so most days in the casino, but I set my gambling limit for the week (usually a few hundred dollars) and once that's gone, I'm done gambling. Certainly far from a high roller! 😉. Would love to get another offer like this again! 

 

As far as whether or not Carnival will cancel our cruise or not before final payment, I not assuming that they won't. Our sailing date is October 19th and since it's a 4 day cruise, our final payment date is August 20th. On June 22nd, cruises were cancelled through September 30th. That would mean any shorter cruises (5 days or less) in the month of September would have final payments sometime in July. So they would have been cancelled before their final payments were due. Anyway, I don't have a crystal ball, so we'll roll with the punches and see what happens between now and mid-August and then make our decision based on the cards we are dealt.

[pc_load_letter]

[Lottacruises]

16 hours ago, laumicmah said:

 

He can't bring his work laptop out of country. 

 

Ahh, I see. 

[Colorado Cruzer]

I have a 10/31 cruise booked for 5 nights and we're waiting to see if it's cancelled.  We have another one for 3/6/21 that we sure hope will sail.  ES rates on both.

 

Side Note:  My parents had a ES rate on a sailing to Hawaii in October that they were able to transfer their deposit to another sailing next year in October.  They didn't buy trip insurance yet at the time they called to cancel. 

Maybe they're being more lenient with fees with ES rates?  

[MistyRo76]

7 hours ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

I have a 10/31 cruise booked for 5 nights and we're waiting to see if it's cancelled.  We have another one for 3/6/21 that we sure hope will sail.  ES rates on both.

 

Side Note:  My parents had a ES rate on a sailing to Hawaii in October that they were able to transfer their deposit to another sailing next year in October.  They didn't buy trip insurance yet at the time they called to cancel. 

Maybe they're being more lenient with fees with ES rates?  

I talked to my PVP today about our October 19th cruise. She told me that Carnival is allowing anyone booked in October, November and December to rebook their cruise within the next year for no penalty even if booked under early saver. She advised us to wait until just before final payment before making any decisions on rebooking as obviously if Carnival cancels us we would benefit from any credits offered for rebooking. That was our plan anyway, but I wanted to confirm with her what our options would be if carnival doesn’t chance our October cruise. 

[SNJCruisers]

Not pulling the plug on anything.  I am hoping that our January cruise on the brand new Enchanted Princess comes to fruition  since it probably has the best value out of all 35 cruises I have sailed and the future 3 I have booked when you combine what we're getting and how much we paid. (Under 1800 for 2 for inside cabin with gratuities,  drinks pkg and wifi)

With the way that things are looking in those states that opened up too soon, combined with the possibility of wave two I am cautiously optimistic  about January happening.

[Honolulu Blue]

8 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

I talked to my PVP today about our October 19th cruise. She told me that Carnival is allowing anyone booked in October, November and December to rebook their cruise within the next year for no penalty even if booked under early saver. 

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

This is what irritates me about Carnival sometimes.  Why can't they just announce this?  Why do they make us go through our PVPs or customer service to find this out?  I'm sure they have better things to do, and surely the cruisers have better things to do than to wait in line to hear this.

[MRVEGAS711]

We pulled the plug and are hoping for a return to somewhat of a normalcy in 2022. I want to ENJOY my cruise. I don't see enjoying happening in 2021. Huge lunch lines as your food is doled out to you, masks, not sitting next to my wife at a blackjack table or a slot machine as they are 6 feet apart. etc.

I don't think ships sail again till 6/21 at the earliest and the Fun doesn't happen again till 2022. JMO

[TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail]

20 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

I talked to my PVP today about our October 19th cruise. She told me that Carnival is allowing anyone booked in October, November and December to rebook their cruise within the next year for no penalty even if booked under early saver

If this can be commonly replicated it will need to either be stickied or reposted often.  I’m not canceling October yet & would have to do any changes through my TA but would consider this a huge benefit to those cruisers undecided about their 4th quarter cruises.  And it costs Carnival $0.
 

Thanks for sharing.

Edited July 3, 2020 by TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail