Majestic Princess Alaska Sailing... June 20, 2021?

[Cruising Forever!]

So we booked in 2019, while aboard Royal Princess, a trans-Atlantic cruise aboard Sky Princess for last year.  Then the pandemic started and all cruises were paused.  Then we booked Enchanted Princess for March 27 this year... and Princess extended their sailing pause till April 1.  So then we booked Majestic Princess for Alaska for June 20, and now Canada has decided to close up shop till next year.

 

Now, I'm not blaming this on anyone or anything other than the pandemic.  I'm a grown-up.  I know stuff beyond the cruise line's control can occur, and that's life.

 

But it's become obvious that our sailing (and most likely all Alaska sailings) will be cancelled.  So, I informed my TA that I think it's going to cancel (I follow many Vloggers on cruising, and they had word out before my TA heard), and that I'm fine with that.  He sent me a letter that he got (later in the day) from Princess with regards to Alaska sailings.  Basically it said that Princess was assessing the Alaska situation, and that they planned to keep their hotel partners operating in Alaska (nice) to help them thru this rough time, etc.  I'd say the letter didn't really do anything to alleviate my concerns over my Alaska cruise other than to say, "wait and see".  

 

The thing I don't like is that my final payment comes in mid-March.  Since Princess is assessing the situation with regards to their Alaska cruises, I take it this can only mean that they are hoping for some sort of blanket waiver of the Jones Act to save the Alaska tourism more losses.  If they get waivers for these cruises, that would mean a modified itinerary.  I'm not sure if I want to go forward with that or not, btw.  In other words, if Princess hasn't made a firm go, or no-go on Alaska sailings by mid-March, I really don't want to make that final down payment only to have them cancel the cruise later and see my money tied up for 3 or four months while they try to figure out refunds. 

 

Another annoying thing is that I now have two $200 deposits bouncing around:  the first was for my original Sky Princess TA that got cancelled.  Princess holds these for you for two years, and then refunds them, apparently, if unused.  I had Princess apply this deposit to Enchanted when Sky was cancelled after all the refunds went out (cruise was cancelled in March, and we got our refunds in July).  So when Enchanted got cancelled, I guessed it would be a piece of cake to have my travel agent move that deposit to the Majestic sailing.  Unfortunately, this was a nope, can't happen, because that deposit and all of the cancelled Enchanted stuff had to be processed first (again, took months).  So I had to shell out another $200 to make the deposit for Majestic happen.

 

The Enchanted deposit did finally appear in my Princess dashboard for a few days... and then it disappeared.  I'm not sure where that $200 is now.  I've asked my TA about this, and he said to hang in there and wait and see how things develop.  He said it's possible that Princess will put that floating $200 deposit into an OBC, or they will refund it to me.  This is all new for the industry.

 

But long story short, I'd like a thumbs up or thumbs down ASAP on the Alaska cruise status from Princess.  If its STILL unknown by mid-March, when my final payment is due, I'm going to cancel and demand that they return both deposits.

 

I won't book another cruise till I see ships loading people aboard and sailing away for a few months.

 

Cheers,

Paul

 

 

 

 

[taznremmy]

This is what is posted on the Princess website.  I don't see "wait and see" mentioned.  Your cruise is cancelled if it is before March 1, 2022, unless the Canadian Transport Minister changes his mind.  Please be a little patient.  This just happened yesterday and I am sure the cruise lines are all scrambling to adjust.  Remember, none of this is automated.  We are all traversing new ground.

 

 

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/statement-on-canadian-restrictions.html

Edited February 6, 2021 by taznremmy
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[nini]

Yup... Canada has made the decision for Alaska and New England itineraries through the first part of 2022. I expect Alaska cruises for 2022 will be totally booked in a few weeks.

[Cruising Forever!]

23 hours ago, taznremmy said:

This is what is posted on the Princess website.  I don't see "wait and see" mentioned.  Your cruise is cancelled if it is before March 1, 2022, unless the Canadian Transport Minister changes his mind.  Please be a little patient.  This just happened yesterday and I am sure the cruise lines are all scrambling to adjust.  Remember, none of this is automated.  We are all traversing new ground.

 

 

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/statement-on-canadian-restrictions.html

I think you missed the point where I said "wait and see".  That's me saying that basically, that's what Princess is telling those of us who booked Alaska 2021 in their press release that I already mentioned.  Wait and see is what Princess is implying in their wording.  Btw, there is nothing there in that statement saying (as you state) that your cruise is cancelled if it is before March 1, 2022.  I would be very happy if that was the case as I could get some idea of what to do next.

 

From other sources I've read, Canada was going to decide on whether they'd extend the cruise pause on Feb 28, 2021.  Instead, they surprised everyone by stating they've decided waiting a year is their best option, and they did it on Feb 4, instead (not a good sign at all)!  The likelihood of Canada reversing this decision is practically nil, based on what's going on in Canada right now. (Btw, the US isn't out of the woods yet, either... the CDC guidance has been sketchy from what I've read.  Some cruise ships have sent crew back home.)

 

I also don't believe the US will lift or waive the maritime laws to allow Alaskan cruises this Summer.  It would be extraordinary.  Maybe the excuse would be that Covid is extraordinary, but because of the poor (and undeserved) reputation cruises have with Covid (I have many friends and family who think we are crazy to step foot on a cruise ship because they think cruise ships are just covid breeding grounds...), I'm guessing there will be overwhelming resistance in government to waiving the law.  If by some crazy miracle, Princess and the rest planning Alaska cruises do somehow convince the government to waive this law, that could still keep me committed to our cruise (as long as the itinerary isn't impacted in a negative way, because obviously they'd have to figure something else out)

 

So, if you carefully read the Princess release, it definitely implies that we all need to wait and see what the fallout of Canada's decision will be, and what the work about will be, if at all.

What I was saying above (you might want to re-read it) is that it's pretty disingenuous on Princess' part to say that they are halting sales at the moment (missed that the last time I read it), while not sending out an email or update to those of us who are booked on their Alaska cruises, where we stand.  I have a final payment to make next month.  Why would I want to go through the entire exercise of making a final payment on a cruise that looks 99% likely to be cancelled?  Further, we know it takes MONTHS for refunds to get back out to everyone.  

 

Saying I should "be a little patient" isn't really something you should say to me.  If you read what I said above, I'd say my patience has been stellar.  Princess already has one cruise deposit in limbo of mine, and if this Alaska cruise is cancelled, that will be another $200 deposit floating about.

 

Now, on the other hand, were Princess to say that they are going to hold off final payments for a few months while they  nail down what's going to happen, that would be a different story.  I'd be more than happy to wait then (not like I have anything better to do) and see the outcome.  That would be a very reasonable gesture on their part.  I won't hold my breath, because yes, these things are automated.

 

My TA said that the entire cruise industry has been on message that 2021 was going to be the BIG RETURN of cruising with Alaska starting up again.  I'm sure the disappointment is real at the cruise company HQs around the world, and I do commiserate with them.  But just because they are disappointed (and so are we), it doesn't mean we passengers should be kept in the dark, and go forward acting as if everything is on track (read that press release again- I'm glad you posted it here as there was even more "uh-oh" stuff in there that I missed the previous times reading it) for these cruises.  If they are suspending sales of these cruises (which really says, "it ain't happening"), they should halt our final cruise payment progress as well!