Tahiti Cruises Cancelled Through 2020

[ridethetide]

5 minutes ago, susiesan said:

I'm with you ridethetide. IF my January Wind Spirit cruise is a go and IF masks are required onboard I will cancel before final payment. No way am I going to sit on a plane for 8 hours with a mask or wear one on a cruise ship where I would be outside most of the time. No way will I wear a mask on a tender to shore or on a shore tour.

I have a Baltic cruise with Oceania booked for next August, postponed from this past June, and the same thing applies. Mask requirement = no go for me.

Just to clarify, I am a firm believer in the value of wearing face coverings during this pandemic, and I am totally compliant.  It would take away so much of the pleasure and relaxation that we have grown to adore on Windstar. I would wait until there is no need for face coverings.  Just hoping that will be by July 2021.

[susiesan]

If anyone is interested, today Oct. 4 Wind Spirit is still hanging out in Papeete. I wonder what is going on? Seems like Tahiti would be a very expensive place to be idle in.

 

If Windstar goes ahead and starts cancelling early 2021 sailings I hope they don't wait until the last minute. Who here thinks they will actually resume in January? I don't, not with the current covid numbers rising every day.

 

[kbr]

Windstar just canceled all cruises until March or April 2021.   So sad....

 

Our yachts will resume sailing on these dates:

Wind Spirit – March 25, 2021 – Tahiti
Star Breeze – March 27, 2021 – Caribbean
Star Legend – April 7, 2021 – Mediterranean
Wind Star – April 13, 2021 – Mediterranean
Wind Surf – April 24, 2021 – Mediterranean
Star Pride – July 6, 2021 – Northern Europe

[susiesan]

I can understand about Tahiti in light of this.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/430517/france-curbs-tourism-to-tahiti

Well, there goes my already postponed once March 4 Spirit cruise  in Tahiti. I am going to see if I can push the same deal I have now into 2022. Time to cancel the plane tickets.

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by susiesan

[TakingFlight]

Just got off the phone with Windstar hoping to move my 3/23/21 Tahiti cruise to August, 2021. They will NOT honor the original booking price ($1399.45 pp). For those of you who were successful in achieving this "Lift and Shift" did you speak to anyone in particular at Windstar? The agent had not heard of this happening and even checked with management to no avail. 

[susiesan]

I emailed my management contact at Windstar about postponing for the third time to March 25 with the same $100 deposit and $1692 pp and $400 pp SBC deal. I have not heard back yet. When I look at the invoice from my TA it shows the booking cancelled and the $200 in deposits being refunded to my credit card. I have a feeling Windstar will no longer do the "lift and shift".

 

Don't forget about cancelling your plane tickets. I went on line with UA and found out I have to pay $300 to redeposit the miles if I cancel but can make changes to the dates at no cost. I am trying to figure out a way to cancel and redeposit for no fee.

[rdowney]

4 hours ago, susiesan said:

I went on line with UA and found out I have to pay $300 to redeposit the miles if I cancel but can make changes to the dates at no cost. I am trying to figure out a way to cancel and redeposit for no fee.

Don't rush into paying the redeposit fees. American eliminated them this week, and competitive pressure may force United to do the same.

[susiesan]

15 hours ago, rdowney said:

Don't rush into paying the redeposit fees. American eliminated them this week, and competitive pressure may force United to do the same.

With helpful advice from people on flyertalk, I know what to do. First step was change the dates to coincide with the March 25 cruise which I have asked W to move me to. If Windstar won't accommodate me then I will cancel the flights by calling UA and demanding hey adhere to their current policy of free redeposits until Dec. 30. There is  language to this effect buried on the UA web site.

[rdowney]

8 hours ago, susiesan said:

There is  language to this effect buried on the UA web site.

The UA web site is confusing and contradictory. We are booking travel to the UK for July and are using AA miles instead of UA because AA policy is clear and friendlier.

Edited November 14, 2020 by rdowney
clarify

[susiesan]

22 hours ago, rdowney said:

The UA web site is confusing and contradictory. We are booking travel to the UK for July and are using AA miles instead of UA because AA policy is clear and friendlier.

I got my UA flights cancelled and the miles redeposited without having to pay the fee. I messaged UA on twitter and they took care of it for me. Looks like Tahiti is out for me in 2021, not going on the March 25 sailing even if it actually goes.  I may try for 2022 only if Windstar runs another special. I am very reluctant to book any cruise until cruises are actually running again.

[rdowney]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

 I may try for 2022 only if Windstar runs another special. I am very reluctant to book any cruise until cruises are actually running again.

We booked Tahiti for Dec 2022 back in April. We thought the risk was too high for 2021 even though the prices were great. The price of our cruise has since gone up by $500. We would like to book a non-stop to Scotland on UA for July, but they won't commit to letting us cancel without paying redeposit fees. 

[TakingFlight]

We’ve rebooked our Tahiti cruise for August 2021. Not sure that cruising will restart without a vaccine and even then who knows what it will look like, both onboard and onshore? My 2021 May Monaco Grand Prix Cruise is at risk and even my September Canada/New England cruise may not happen. I’m begging for good news at this point-this is not how I wanted to spend my early retirement years!!

[Host Jazzbeau]

There are certain countries that are being extra-cautious about Covid (New Zealand, Canada).  That's their right, but after having two New Zealand cruises cancelled (March 2020, now its replacement January 2021) they have moved far down on my bucket list.  I won't consider booking another cruise there until they have actually restarted cruising.  Meanwhile, I have booked two cruises in the Mediterranean for 2021 and am contemplating a third.  My guess is that once the vaccines are out, the Med will reopen very quickly.  The cautious countries will find that their tourism economy remains in the dumper much longer.

[TakingFlight]

Host Jazzbeau, you are smart with waiting to rebook New Zealand and Australia. I hope you get to experience both of these wonderful countries. I also hope you are correct that the Med will open up sooner than Oceania. I need some light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.