Is cancelling our cruise the best decision for us?

[maxshuty]

Hi all, we have a cruise booked for January 17th 2021 leaving from Miami on the Horizon. Our payment is due Oct 9th. Regardless of whether or not this ship sails we have some vulnerable people in our group so we plan to reschedule this cruise until after we've seen cruises back to some normalcy or proven them to be safe with new measures in place. Going on this cruise is simply not an option for us right now.

I've created a poll with some options. I hope you all can help give me some advice. If you have some other options I would love to hear them!

 

Thanks!

[K&RCurt]

I am not sure what your reschedule line in the poll means by having "The money ($5000) tied up with Carnival."  Have you already paid them that much before final payment was due?  If that is the case, I can't really fathom why anyone would pay before they had to, but I would cancel and get a refund at this point if you have already put out $5k.

 

If you just have a deposit down, I would reschedule before final payment is due.

Edited September 22, 2020 by K&RCurt

[ProgRockCruiser]

If you haven't paid in full yet, Option 3 is not accurate, you won't be investing $5000, just your existing deposits - you can reschedule and move that existing deposit to a new cruise further in the future and pay zero admin fee.  (I did that recently.)

 

I would wait until 7 or 8 of Oct, and if your cruise is still scheduled I would go for option 3 (modified).

[American Bear]

Just now, maxshuty said:

Hi all, we have a cruise booked for January 17th 2021 leaving from Miami on the Horizon. Our payment is due Oct 9th. Regardless of whether or not this ship sails we have some vulnerable people in our group so we plan to reschedule this cruise until after we've seen cruises back to some normalcy or proven them to be safe with new measures in place. Going on this cruise is simply not an option for us right now.

I've created a poll with some options. I hope you all can help give me some advice. If you have some other options I would love to hear them!

 

Thanks!

We currently have booked a Jan cruise, New Orleans to Barcelona and a return in Feb and we're gonna call and see if we can't move these to the end of 2021 at least, cause we're definitely not going! Europe is already seeing increases in the virus and some lockdowns, not where we want to be! 

We also have 3~b2b cruises booked for April that we'll also be rebooking to as late as possible, hopefully in both cases we're offered cruise credit!

[maxshuty]

7 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

If you haven't paid in full yet, Option 3 is not accurate, you won't be investing $5000, just your existing deposits - you can reschedule and move that existing deposit to a new cruise further in the future and pay zero admin fee.  (I did that recently.)

 

I would wait until 7 or 8 of Oct, and if your cruise is still scheduled I would go for option 3 (modified).

Interesting, I did not consider that they would move the payment out like that. This option would certainly make the most sense then

[maxshuty]

9 minutes ago, K&RCurt said:

I am not sure what your reschedule line in the poll means by having "The money ($5000) tied up with Carnival."  Have you already paid them that much before final payment was due?  If that is the case, I can't really fathom why anyone would pay before they had to, but I would cancel and get a refund at this point if you have already put out $5k.

 

If you just have a deposit down, I would reschedule before final payment is due.

Sorry I can see the confusion. I had assumed (incorrectly it looks like) that even with rescheduling they would still make us pay our cruise by our due date. It seems like a no brainer to reschedule if they don't make us do that.

[K&RCurt]

12 minutes ago, maxshuty said:

Sorry I can see the confusion. I had assumed (incorrectly it looks like) that even with rescheduling they would still make us pay our cruise by our due date. It seems like a no brainer to reschedule if they don't make us do that.

I see!   If you reschedule you get a new final payment date.

 

We have moved out a year 2 cruises so far, one on Carnival and one on Celebrity.  Both moved them same ship, same cabin, just a year apart.

[kwokpot]

41 minutes ago, American Bear said:

We currently have booked a Jan cruise, New Orleans to Barcelona and a return in Feb and we're gonna call and see if we can't move these to the end of 2021 at least, cause we're definitely not going! Europe is already seeing increases in the virus and some lockdowns, not where we want to be! 

We also have 3~b2b cruises booked for April that we'll also be rebooking to as late as possible, hopefully in both cases we're offered cruise credit!

There is zero chance that a TA cruise would occur in January.You should definitely move those reservations rather than waiting for them to cancel. 

Edit: aren't those cruises cancelled already?

Edited September 22, 2020 by kwokpot

[martinchem]

1 hour ago, American Bear said:

We currently have booked a Jan cruise, New Orleans to Barcelona and a return in Feb and we're gonna call and see if we can't move these to the end of 2021 at least, cause we're definitely not going! Europe is already seeing increases in the virus and some lockdowns, not where we want to be! 

We also have 3~b2b cruises booked for April that we'll also be rebooking to as late as possible, hopefully in both cases we're offered cruise credit!

If this cruise is on the Valor, I think Carnival has already canceled it. 

[docsdrillers]

I'm in the same situation with a tough call since we sail on the Horizon on Dec 26th and full payment is due sept 25th.

 

If i cancel now i would get my 500.00 deposit back but lose the 1810.00 FCC from the Inaugural sailing of the Mardi Gras which was cancelled.

 

If i pay only an addition 1245.00 and the cruise line cancels will i get the 1245.00 plus 500.00 back in a cash refund? and then i'd still retain my FCC and apparently a 600 OBC too.

 

If i pay and they don't cancel the cruise and i can't get there becaus ethe border is still closed to Canadians then i'd get all that in FCC's ..

 

Tough call...Any advice..

[MamatoJack]

I was on the Dec 6 Horizon and called Sunday to see what my options were, I had only put down $100 for deposits so worst case I'd lose that. But they moved it for me, no extra fees or penalties and somehow I didn't have to pay any more. I moved it to April 2023 🙂 and now have a BTB booked then. The person on the phone was very helpful. I could have cancelled and lost the $100 but am happy I was able to move it. 

 

Good luck! 

[Matco]

I had a December 13th trip booked on the Miracle and I called yesterday to have my deposit, and OBC credit from a previously cancelled cruise moved to a future booking and they even moved my casino promo over to my new reservation. If you have new dates just call and have them make the switch  

[lmb84]

Where do i look to see how much it will cost me if I cancel...ugh

 

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, lmb84 said:

Where do i look to see how much it will cost me if I cancel...ugh

 

I just go to faqs

 

Are you past final payment? Carnival has been letting you cancel and move the money to another cruise, though it's not in writing. Can you cruise later on?

[lmb84]

My Alaskan May cruise was cancelled, I rebooked for next April (caribbean)....base rate was transferred to new cruise.  I have a very small final payment due January 24/21...Problem here is...I've been reading that we might not be able to even get off the ship at the ports unless you have a CARNIVAL excursion booked.  I'm sorry, I cruise for the ports....so I might want to cancel but not sure how much I will lose....I don't have cancellation insurance so not sure if it is based on how close to the cruise you are....

[lobster1313]

14 minutes ago, lmb84 said:

I've been reading that we might not be able to even get off the ship at the ports unless you have a CARNIVAL excursion booked. 

They may have that in place initially but April is a long way off and things can change by then.  Also, you might be better off waiting till they announce what the protocols will be from Carnival since they probably will have a procedure in place to cancel because of the restrictions.

Edited September 22, 2020 by regoodwinjr

[skridge]

If I had $5,000.00 tied up in a company that hasn't been able to operate for six months and is only going to be operating on a very limited basis for the foreseeable future I would do everything I could to get as much of that money back as possible.  I certainly would not send them any more money.  This is just my opinion and is not the opinion of many on this board.  

[Wave61]

We had a cruise booked for March 2021.  I called and moved it to March 2022.  Yes, I paid a fee but I feel it was worth it.  I'm not much of a gambler and just couldn't be bothered fretting about a cruise that might not happen.  Now, I'm enjoying just thinking about the cruise in 2022.

[Moviela]

I appreciate your consideration to not sail with persons at risk in your party. That is a good decision. I am curious though that if a vaccine was available and accessible to your people, would that change your thinking?

 

A polite Email to reviews@carnival.com explaining your situation and your suggestions will be considered by the company and might bring a happy ending to your dilemma.

 

[xDisconnections]

6 hours ago, skridge said:

If I had $5,000.00 tied up in a company that hasn't been able to operate for six months and is only going to be operating on a very limited basis for the foreseeable future I would do everything I could to get as much of that money back as possible.  I certainly would not send them any more money.  This is just my opinion and is not the opinion of many on this board.  

Why is that?

 

I just tossed Royal Caribbean a significant amount for shore excursions in August 2021. The cruise fare is also paid in full and I plan on making the final payment for my January cruise over the next couple of weeks when its due date is approaching.

Edited September 23, 2020 by xDisconnections

[jetsfan58]

You omitted one option in your passenger poll that will work in all case scenarios; PRAY

 

 

[maxshuty]

On 9/22/2020 at 9:20 PM, xDisconnections said:

Why is that?

 

I just tossed Royal Caribbean a significant amount for shore excursions in August 2021. The cruise fare is also paid in full and I plan on making the final payment for my January cruise over the next couple of weeks when its due date is approaching.

I didn't comment the original post but I'm assuming what they mean is that these companies very well may not survive or may declare bankruptcy - in which case getting your money back may end up being impossible. It's unlikely to happen since I would imagine the government would step in and help them "stay afloat" (pun intended), but certainly not outside the realm of possibilities.

[PhillyFan33579]

21 hours ago, jetsfan58 said:

You omitted one option in your passenger poll that will work in all case scenarios; PRAY

 

 

I don’t think that helps. If it did the Eagles would have won a lot more than one Super Bowl in my lifetime. 😊

Edited September 24, 2020 by PhillyFan33579

[sanger727]

It appears that only money you would have to tie up with carnival to move your cruise is your deposits. In your shoes I would move the cruise out until 2022 and hope things are closer to normal by then. The summer cancellations were easy to predict. However, now that some mass market cruise lines have started sailing and the US gets further along in re-opening; playing chicken for a refund is becoming a more dangerous game. I do think that Carnival will sail within the next 6 months, will that be December, Feb, or April? I don't know. But if you are sure you don't want to be on the cruise I wouldn't play chicken for a cancellation at this point. Take control, move your booking, and don't spend a dime more on it in the meantime.

[vwrestler171]

My PVP said they are allowing people to move cruises this year to next years without penalty, not sure about cruises in January, but it can't hurt to call and ask.  If you already know which cruise you would move to, call and see.  I doubt you will be able to get a refund, unless you booked a refundable rate.