Any December 2020 Cruises Canceled?

[SeaWatcher65]

I think most December cruises had a final payment date due in October.  For our December 27 sailing, the final payment date is October 28.  I do not see any information yet about cancellations.  Because NCL has not canceled anything, what did people do?  Cancel cruise on your own?  Make final payment and wait in case NCL still sails (very unlikely) or offers a better deal (percent off future cruise)?

 

I really don't like the idea of making the final payment and then find out later the cruise is canceled and I have to wait a long time to get a refund, or worse, NCL goes bankrupt and I get nothing back.

[BirdTravels]

What are you doing?

 

We kept all of our cruises and were cancelled by NCL (vs self-termination). 

[Summerstravel]

I keep cruises scheduled and let Norwegian cancel. I however have an FCC with the 25 percent bonus with an expiration date. I may think twice if it was just cash involved. Go with your gut and make the choice that best suits your needs! 

 

[seaman11]

36 minutes ago, Summerstravel said:

I keep cruises scheduled and let Norwegian cancel. I however have an FCC with the 25 percent bonus with an expiration date. I may think twice if it was just cash involved. Go with your gut and make the choice that best suits your needs! 

 

i got all my money back with ncl because they keep the same expiration date on the orginal fcc no matter how many times they cancel..  that is a deal breaker for me.  

 

op wait for them to cancel. 

[msmayor]

For those who say 'just wait for NCL to cancel' - easy to say, harder to consider if you are looking at forking over a large sum of money, especially for one that departs on Dec 27th as the OP's...that's a holiday sailing.

 

To keep the reservation active , final payment would need to be made if the cruise isn't cancelled by final payment date.  If I had taken that route, I'd be looking at forking over close to $12k to NCL this week for the Dec 26th cruise I had booked.  For the OP, if it's just one stateroom, it could still be thousands leaving the bank account right now.

 

To the OP, ask yourself this question - are you ready and willing to be on what could end up as the 'test case cruises' - the first few out of the gate?  Are you willing to spend all that money in the hopes that the cruise is the relaxing and fun vacation you hoped for?  I was not...and we cancelled to get our deposit back.  I want to actually see and hear other's experiences before committing thousands to a vacation.

[DCGuy64]

It's riskier if you cancel on your own. We waited this past spring for a cruise on another line to be cancelled rather than doing it ourselves, and I'm glad we went that route. We lost no money and had more options that way. The final payment date for our upcoming NCL cruise is in about 10 days, and we plan to wait it out. However, we have only about $1500 on the line so it's not a huge sum of money, and we'll just rebook for later if they cancel.

[vswan]

Facing this same situation. I have 2 cruises booked starting January 30. They are side to side, one on NCL booked with FCC from a canceled cruise and a "free" casino cruise on HAL. The final payment (taxes, port fees, upgrade to a balcony) for the HAL cruise is due in Nov.

 

My FCC covered my NCL cruise other than a $120 gratuity. Have decided to drop the drink package for now and ride that one out. The other involves money out of pocket. I do have insurance which would cover 90%, but it would still be additional money out of pocket. Was really excited about a 10 day "free" cruise, but just too many unknowns at this point so going to cancel as final payment comes due if they haven't canceled first. My PCC told me that if they cancel, I could still use the insurance to get 90% of the cash back and the remaining 10% would be issued as FCC. Obviously this isn't a large amount of cash, but the longer things drag out, the more iffy things are for the future. Chances of a 10 day cruise going are questionable at best.

 

If I didn't already have one set of FCC hanging in the balance I might have considered riding this out.

 

 

[shof515]

Virgin just canceled all December cruises. Expect more cancellations as cruise lines follow what each other does

[flumpa]

I cancelled my 14 day cruise on the Pearl for Christmas and New Year's.  My CC told me that this cruise could potentially be one of the 1st cruises that sail but there was no guarantee.  I did not want to pay over $8k for final payment and have my money tied up.  Instead, I will be using that money to book an all-inclusive holiday trip to Cabo San Lucas.  I was able to transfer my cruise next deposits for a 11 day holiday cruise on the Joy in December 2021.  Hopefully, things will be back to normal by then.             

[graphicguy]

Had this same question for my long time TA yesterday.  Only, my cruise is supposed to be January 2021 on the Joy.

 

Here's her response...

 

 "I am going to suggest waiting. The CDC or CLIA haven't announced a new no sail order. The CDC wants to extend it to the end of February. The current administration does not. If extended and NCL cancels, I think you might be able to get an additional discount on your next cruise. With the ones that were just cancelled, they refunded clients, and gave them 10% their next booking.  I think you should wait a bit longer. You still have time."

 

This was for a cruise scheduled back in March for an Alaska sailing.  I kept rescheduling it.  Obviously, Alaska isn't happening any time soon.  So, I'm sort of open to what may be available in 2021.

 

 

 

[Beach Life 1]

4 hours ago, msmayor said:

For those who say 'just wait for NCL to cancel' - easy to say, harder to consider if you are looking at forking over a large sum of money, especially for one that departs on Dec 27th as the OP's...that's a holiday sailing.

 

To keep the reservation active , final payment would need to be made if the cruise isn't cancelled by final payment date.  If I had taken that route, I'd be looking at forking over close to $12k to NCL this week for the Dec 26th cruise I had booked.  For the OP, if it's just one stateroom, it could still be thousands leaving the bank account right now.

 

To the OP, ask yourself this question - are you ready and willing to be on what could end up as the 'test case cruises' - the first few out of the gate?  Are you willing to spend all that money in the hopes that the cruise is the relaxing and fun vacation you hoped for?  I was not...and we cancelled to get our deposit back.  I want to actually see and hear other's experiences before committing thousands to a vacation.

I agree.  OP, if you're before final payment, I personally would cancel and get a full refund.  There's too many ifs.   Waiting, and possibly getting  a FCC, that has a an expiration date, is just too much of a gamble, in my opinion.  

 

[SeaWatcher65]

2 hours ago, jezabel80 said:

I agree.  OP, if you're before final payment, I personally would cancel and get a full refund.  There's too many ifs.   Waiting, and possibly getting  a FCC, that has a an expiration date, is just too much of a gamble, in my opinion.  

 

 

I agree.  The only deposit I made so far are two cruise next certificates (purchased on a prior cruise).  If I made final payment and waited, and they canceled, no one really knows if they would offer any additional discount.  And the prices are so overinflated now, it's a wash.  

 

[cruiser123!]

we are on the Escape 12/5.   We made final payment.  If that ship sails and we can actually get off at any island, we'll be there.    I'm planning what to do with the FCC though..... my hopes of sailing are very very small.

[SeaWatcher65]

NCL Phone rep said no news but if final payment is made and NCL cancels, can get full refund.   (and maybe they will offer 10% or something off another cruise).  If not, I have until 48 hours before the cruise to cancel but that only gets a future cruise credit. It is difficult to think about all the things that could go wrong on a cruise to Costa Maya, Cozumel, Harvest Caye, and Roatan.  Roatan is our favorite island stop for snorkeling and the other stops don't matter much to us.  Could the ship leave us on one of those islands or quarantine us to our room if I have a fever or sniffle?  Will I still be able to use the thermal suites spa (probably not).  Dining will be different.  Will I be able to sit at a bar or have to take my drink to a socially distance spot?  Will I get stuck on the ship and not be let off back in the United States without COVID testing?  I wish these cruise companies and the CDC would just make up their mind.

 

[Eggs2Go]

The US Dept of State has issued a level 4 travel advisory (Do Not Travel) for Honduras. The cruise port in Roatan is still closed. Doubt you'll be sailing there in December. Why not do some snorkeling in Florida instead. We're open for business (but not for cruising). 

[roger001]

 

 

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[MsTabbyKats]

Prices are so high and the product is "unknown".

I have an NCL booked or 4/2021....95% certain I'll cancel.  I don't want to tie up any money....I don't care about the 10% discount.

I have a CCL 9/2021.  It was a B2B...spa balcony.  I dropped part B and downgraded to a lido interior...total cost now is about 1/3 of original.  As of now I plan on making final payment, but if I do, and then decide to stay home it's not such a big loss.

 

If I can't have a normal cruise, I'd rather stay home.

[HaveWeMetYet]

29 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

If I can't have a normal cruise, I'd rather stay home.

Covid numbers out of Europe look really bad today.

France = 527 deaths

UK = 367

Italy now above 200 at 221

 

Normal is done for the next year.

Maybe 2022.

 

If I can't have normal I would rather stay home or do some other type of trip.

Edited October 27, 2020 by HaveWeMetYet

[MsTabbyKats]

54 minutes ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

Covid numbers out of Europe look really bad today.

France = 527 deaths

UK = 367

Italy now above 200 at 221

 

Normal is done for the next year.

Maybe 2022.

 

If I can't have normal I would rather stay home or do some other type of trip.

It's getting to the point where I'd rather cut my losses (lose a couple hundred $$$)....and forget about cruising until some time in the future.

It's really not fun stressing about "will it sail...won't it sail" or "what will the limitations be?".

 

 

[seaman11]

5 hours ago, Eggs2Go said:

The US Dept of State has issued a level 4 travel advisory (Do Not Travel) for Honduras. The cruise port in Roatan is still closed. Doubt you'll be sailing there in December. Why not do some snorkeling in Florida instead. We're open for business (but not for cruising). 

i thought that small cruise line out of west palm beach to bahamas was going to start up soon? 

[seaman11]

2 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

It's getting to the point where I'd rather cut my losses (lose a couple hundred $$$)....and forget about cruising until some time in the future.

It's really not fun stressing about "will it sail...won't it sail" or "what will the limitations be?".

 

 

well i agree on the higher prices, and uncertainty, so glad to have my money back from NCL.  id go even with some restrictions though.  as iv gone to the beach and casinos in the US,.  sure its not the same but imo better than staying home 8 months. 

Edited October 28, 2020 by seaman11

[Lady President]

We cancelled our New Year's cruise on Joy yesterday.  We were afraid that it might be NCL's test case cruise.  We loved NYE on a cruise, but there is no way they could have a big party with people gathered together and champagne flowing.  We decided to just get our refund, so we have options when things open up again.  Still a little sad though....

[adam_s_allen]

I have a December cruise booked right now, I never made final payment on it. NCL still hasn't even tried to contact me about making final payment and when I log into my account it's still booked. I wonder if they ever will.

[Trimone]

Covid-19 is spreading rapidly, Europe is in a crisis, Germany, France and Belgium are about to shut down, don’t know about the states, it’s all fake news at present.

Booked in Europe for 09/20 but only have two cruise next vouchers (about to expire) and £300 at risk.

Stay safe, mask up and socially distant.

[Oxo]

2 hours ago, Trimone said:

Covid-19 is spreading rapidly, Europe is in a crisis, Germany, France and Belgium are about to shut down, don’t know about the states, it’s all fake news at present.

Do you really mean Europe counts are Fake News?

Clarification, please.

Stay Safe!