Cancel or hedge our bets on 3rd (currently) sailing of Mardi Gras?

[toocruisin2]

We also cancelled our May 8 2021 cruise and rebooked on MG for Sept 2022, applying our deposit. We did it before Carnival cancelled, so no gift on board credit, but we did manage to save a few hundred dollars on the cruise rate so it's all good. 

 

We have a cruise booked for this year on NCL, and in the next few weeks we'll cancel that and move our deposits to 2023 and possibly 2024. I know I could wait for them to cancel, but it's a European cruise and I'd need to be booking air and hotels, and once it gets cancelled, I'd have a bunch of stuff to undo.

 

Hard to believe but we've had four cruises cancelled over the past 9 months, some with booking dates in 2018. 

 

One word of caution: my experience with RCCL and NCL is that the 125% future cruise credits are not well understood by their agents; RCL made a $500 dollar error in their favor, which they corrected once I pointed it out. But do the math yourself because the rules are not only confusing to the passengers, they are confusing to their staffs. 

 

Bon voyage everyone, Paul

 

 

[BrentD]

Interesting development. We chose the FCC option for the Mardi Gras May 8th sailing cancellation that I originally started this thread about. I had paid our deposit on a credit card, and all of the further payments I had made by the time of the sailing cancellation were via Carnival gift cards. As of yesterday, literally a month to the day since cancellation of the sailing, our deposit was credited back to our credit card and I got an email from FedEx saying a package was on the way from Carnival. I assume the FedEx package is a gift card for the prepaid gratuities, taxes and fees that get refunded regardless of which option you chose upon cancellation of the sailing. We actually didn't make our choice on FCC vs. Refund until January 26th, so it seems they have greatly improved their refund processing times.

Edited February 23, 2021 by BrentD

[VentureMan_2000]

Just checked... I only see one cruise for May -- May 27 out of Jacksonville FL.  None of the other previous May cruises show.

So that looks like my May 8th cruise has been cancelled.   waiting for a notice now.

[BrentD]

4 minutes ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

Just checked... I only see one cruise for May -- May 27 out of Jacksonville FL.  None of the other previous May cruises show.

So that looks like my May 8th cruise has been cancelled.   waiting for a notice now.

They sent the cancellation notice out on January 22nd. I was on the same sailing. Go to carnival.com and look for the UPDATE at the top of the page. There's a link where you can enter your sailing info and it will confirm that it has been cancelled. You can also opt for your future cruise credit or full refund from there.

[Jamesatgsu]

On 2/23/2021 at 8:14 AM, BrentD said:

Interesting development. We chose the FCC option for the Mardi Gras May 8th sailing cancellation that I originally started this thread about. I had paid our deposit on a credit card, and all of the further payments I had made by the time of the sailing cancellation were via Carnival gift cards. As of yesterday, literally a month to the day since cancellation of the sailing, our deposit was credited back to our credit card and I got an email from FedEx saying a package was on the way from Carnival. I assume the FedEx package is a gift card for the prepaid gratuities, taxes and fees that get refunded regardless of which option you chose upon cancellation of the sailing. We actually didn't make our choice on FCC vs. Refund until January 26th, so it seems they have greatly improved their refund processing times.

The refund process can still be terrible, but for the most part it has improved.

 

Consider taking the kids with you. I won't say it will be be the same with them, but the kids club is good, and you can spend most of your cruise with them in there. You have to have them from lunch until dinner on sea days, and have to pick them up by 1am each night (costs extra after 10 or 11, but worth it, IMO, as my kids almost always asked to stay). The rest of the time you are free, and with young kids they give you a phone to stay in touch.

[BrentD]

8 hours ago, Jamesatgsu said:

The refund process can still be terrible, but for the most part it has improved.

 

Consider taking the kids with you. I won't say it will be be the same with them, but the kids club is good, and you can spend most of your cruise with them in there. You have to have them from lunch until dinner on sea days, and have to pick them up by 1am each night (costs extra after 10 or 11, but worth it, IMO, as my kids almost always asked to stay). The rest of the time you are free, and with young kids they give you a phone to stay in touch.

Thanks for the added info. Wasn’t aware you got a phone to keep in touch in case of emergency. We do plan on taking a cruise with them sooner rather than later, this was just a milestone celebration trip for my wife and I, so we were planning on kid free. 

[SNJCruisers]

13 minutes ago, BrentD said:

....this was just a milestone celebration trip for my wife and I, so we were planning on kid free. 

It may have to be kid free for the short term if the cruise lines mandate that you need to be vaccinated to cruise.  It's a sticky topic that puts the proverbial line in the sand.