New Cunard Announcements

[david,Mississauga]

23 hours ago, babs135 said:

Am I alone in saying that I am so fed up with Cunard that (at the time of typing this) I'm not bothered whether I sail with them ever again.  It's now over 24 hours since P&O and Princess have announced that they are cancelling cruises up to the end of September. Is it really too much to expect to hear from Cunard. I'm on the September cruise to the USA and Canada which I know will not go ahead so what are they waiting for ?  

Come on Cunard, do the right thing.

 

When I last checked I saw that US/Canada voyage starts from Southampton on 24 Sept.  Princess has cancelled voyages until after the 25th and P&O until after August or Sept. depending on the ship. Perhaps Cunard doesn't feel the urgency to cancel further ahead than the other two lines.

 

I agree that for a variety of reasons it is unlikely to take place. I am booked on one segment of that four-segment trip, i.e. ex-Québec on 8 Oct.  Our deposit was made with a FCD so we have no money tied up. That FCD expires the day after the QM2 is supposed to depart, so if the voyage is cancelled I hope they will extend the validity of FCDs than cannot be used. (I am aware that FCDs purchased in Canadian $ are refundable but I would rather have the FCD.)

[majortom10]

11 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

When I last checked I saw that US/Canada voyage starts from Southampton on 24 Sept.  Princess has cancelled voyages until after the 25th and P&O until after August or Sept. depending on the ship. Perhaps Cunard doesn't feel the urgency to cancel further ahead than the other two lines.

 

I agree that for a variety of reasons it is unlikely to take place. I am booked on one segment of that four-segment trip, i.e. ex-Québec on 8 Oct.  Our deposit was made with a FCD so we have no money tied up. That FCD expires the day after the QM2 is supposed to depart, so if the voyage is cancelled I hope they will extend the validity of FCDs than cannot be used. (I am aware that FCDs purchased in Canadian $ are refundable but I would rather have the FCD.)

I thought Canada had recently announced the banning of all cruise ships until Feb 2022 so why Cunard have not cancelled your cruise is a mystery to me. I think if it wa sme I would be in touch with Cunard to find out what is happening.

[kmerlin14]

2 hours ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

 

I agree that for a variety of reasons it is unlikely to take place. I am booked on one segment of that four-segment trip, i.e. ex-Québec on 8 Oct.  Our deposit was made with a FCD so we have no money tied up. That FCD expires the day after the QM2 is supposed to depart, so if the voyage is cancelled I hope they will extend the validity of FCDs than cannot be used. (I am aware that FCDs purchased in Canadian $ are refundable but I would rather have the FCD.)

I didn't realize that david. We transferred ours to a 2022 cruise but I can't help wondering if it might be better to cash them in instead if we can. I'm worried about my husband's travel anxiety after spending so much time avoiding people and crowds.

 

[david,Mississauga]

8 hours ago, majortom10 said:

I thought Canada had recently announced the banning of all cruise ships until Feb 2022 so why Cunard have not cancelled your cruise is a mystery to me. I think if it wa sme I would be in touch with Cunard to find out what is happening.

 

That order is not absolute. There is some hope for it to end earlier.

 

"The Government of Canada will continue to evaluate the situation and make changes as necessary to ensure the health and safety of all Canadians. Should the COVID-19 pandemic sufficiently improve to allow the resumption of these activities, the Minister of Transport has the ability to rescind the Interim Orders."

 

Realistically, an announcement would be needed well in advance. No cruise line could resume sailings in October, for example, if the order was rescinded in September.

[Splice the mainbrace]

We had a TA + USA and Canada cruise on QM2 in September which hasn't been cancelled yet, but I'm sure will be. Yesterday we transferred it to a March 2022 cruise from Sydney to Dubai which departs a year today, hopefully!!

[lindylooellalouise]

We’re just sitting waiting for our QM round trip transatlantic on 9th June and our B2B on QE in July to be cancelled so we can have refunds this will be the second time that they have been cancelled and I’m losing confidence with Cunard because they haven’t announced the cancellations yet when other companies like P&O and Princess have.

[Splice the mainbrace]

36 minutes ago, lindylooellalouise said:

We’re just sitting waiting for our QM round trip transatlantic on 9th June and our B2B on QE in July to be cancelled so we can have refunds this will be the second time that they have been cancelled and I’m losing confidence with Cunard because they haven’t announced the cancellations yet when other companies like P&O and Princess have.

 

After transferring our cruise from September to March 2022, so no cruises now in 2021, I feel more relaxed and not waiting for the next announcements. Tension might raise again, depending on the situation at the time, when the balance is due around December time.

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, lindylooellalouise said:

We’re just sitting waiting for our QM round trip transatlantic on 9th June and our B2B on QE in July to be cancelled so we can have refunds this will be the second time that they have been cancelled and I’m losing confidence with Cunard because they haven’t announced the cancellations yet when other companies like P&O and Princess have.

The possible reason why Cunard have delayed their announcement is that the same staff work for Cunard & P&O in Southampton and dont want to overwhelm the staff with cancellations at the same time.

[lindylooellalouise]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

The possible reason why Cunard have delayed their announcement is that the same staff work for Cunard & P&O in Southampton and dont want to overwhelm the staff with cancellations at the same time.

Hopefully we will find out in the next couple of weeks it’s been a very long year for everyone 🤞🏻

[Ray66]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

The possible reason why Cunard have delayed their announcement is that the same staff work for Cunard & P&O in Southampton and dont want to overwhelm the staff with cancellations at the same time.

 

That's exactly what I put in post number 21 🙂

 

P&O's pause was only up to some time in April. Whereas Cunard's pauses are up to middle of May and June. So they have to do P&O first.

[ace2542]

18 hours ago, majortom10 said:

I thought Canada had recently announced the banning of all cruise ships until Feb 2022 so why Cunard have not cancelled your cruise is a mystery to me. I think if it wa sme I would be in touch with Cunard to find out what is happening.

Perhaps they think they can operate U.S sailings to replace the Canada one calling to places like what Boston, Baltimore, Bar Harbour, DC even and other coastal cities out of New York. And if they think might be viable for them why cancel. Plus they only have 1 ship to think about in terms of north america sailing anyway since they have already axed Alaska season haven't they?

Edited March 6, 2021 by ace2542

[schattenfell71]

I have booked the Norwegian cruise M122 from Hamburg starting July 15th and reading all these posts I guess European cruises will be canceled too.

 

Now I have some thoughts about the Future Cruise Credit: Of course I will book another cruise for next year if possible. And I would use the Future Cruise Credits for this.

 

Should I pay now the Norwegian cruise in full to get the credits in case of a more than a possible cancellation?

[Gretchendz]

Most of the cruise lines for Alaska this summer have not yet officially cancelled. They are lobbying the US Government to have a temporary lifting of the law that requires a stop in a foreign port. And of course, any cruise's beginning or ending in Victoria--they would need to try to reposition to Seattle.

 

@schattenfell71 under Cunard's recently released new policy you don't need to make final payment until 30 days prior to the cruise.  So you do have time to assess the situation before you decide.  I'm still booked on the westbound TA from Hamburg in July.  Faint hope, but I am hopeful.

[majortom10]

54 minutes ago, Gretchendz said:

Most of the cruise lines for Alaska this summer have not yet officially cancelled. They are lobbying the US Government to have a temporary lifting of the law that requires a stop in a foreign port. And of course, any cruise's beginning or ending in Victoria--they would need to try to reposition to Seattle.

 

@schattenfell71 under Cunard's recently released new policy you don't need to make final payment until 30 days prior to the cruise.  So you do have time to assess the situation before you decide.  I'm still booked on the westbound TA from Hamburg in July.  Faint hope, but I am hopeful.

Dont be hopeful because it will not happen in July. Any cruise lines departing UK before end of August and some into September will only be "coastal water" cruises with no ports of call and will only have UK residents onboard. P&O and Princess have already cancelled cruises and Cunard will soon follow suit. Only reason why there is a delay in an announcement from Cunard is the staff in Southampton work for both P&O and Cunard and they dont want to be overwhelmed by cancellations asking for refunds.

[Sixfielder]

If what you say is correct re not being overwhelmed, why can Cunard not say that and give a date by which they will start processing cancellations and refunds?  I have expected so much better from what our friends tell us is the premier cruise line.  The issue is not the 30 day payment window, but the fact that my wife is working on the NHS covid vaccination programme and the NHS needs to plan its rostering well in advance - they cannot have all the staff on vacation! And secondly I earn my way as a consultant and similarly need to plan my workload for June now.  I cannot roster support staff at 30 days' notice.  Sorry Simon Palethorpe - and I'm sure Cunard staffers read these fora - your cruise line looks increasingly shambolic.  

[lindylooellalouise]

16 hours ago, Sixfielder said:

If what you say is correct re not being overwhelmed, why can Cunard not say that and give a date by which they will start processing cancellations and refunds?  I have expected so much better from what our friends tell us is the premier cruise line.  The issue is not the 30 day payment window, but the fact that my wife is working on the NHS covid vaccination programme and the NHS needs to plan its rostering well in advance - they cannot have all the staff on vacation! And secondly I earn my way as a consultant and similarly need to plan my workload for June now.  I cannot roster support staff at 30 days' notice.  Sorry Simon Palethorpe - and I'm sure Cunard staffers read these fora - your cruise line looks increasingly shambolic.  

We have been very loyal to Cunard and thoroughly enjoyed all our cruises with them, but have felt very much abandoned by them during these recent times and I do fully understand the difficult situation they are in, we have already had one cruise with Cunard cancelled this year and just waiting for the next three in June and July to be cancelled as soon as it’s confirmed we will be taking our refunds and rebooking with another cruise company 

Cunard know these cruises will not be going ahead and they should inform us ASAP fortunately we are now retired so don’t have work commitments to consider but really feel for those that have.

[Victoria2]

I feel very sorry for the travel industry and on a personal level, Cunard in particular.

They must all be at sixes and sevens and at the mercies of governments world wide thanks to this blasted virus.

 

I have no idea what Cunard are planning for the months in question but as we have no particular problem with dates and as Cunard is the only cruise line we’re interested in sailing with, we will wait and see what transpires. One thing we won’t be doing is waving goodbye to a company because they seem to be  behind other cruise lines in outing their plans. That would be the proverbial cutting off a nose to spite a face.

[newjoisey]

Yep 2021 is a wipe out for us but we will stay cunard faithful if we can . I spoke to my wife a few days ago about maybe we should cancel our 21 xmas cruise and she said it got canceled by us in 2020 . Starting january of 2022 we will start to look at brochures for cruises from cunard and not until then. 

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, lindylooellalouise said:

We have been very loyal to Cunard and thoroughly enjoyed all our cruises with them, but have felt very much abandoned by them during these recent times and I do fully understand the difficult situation they are in, we have already had one cruise with Cunard cancelled this year and just waiting for the next three in June and July to be cancelled as soon as it’s confirmed we will be taking our refunds and rebooking with another cruise company 

Cunard know these cruises will not be going ahead and they should inform us ASAP fortunately we are now retired so don’t have work commitments to consider but really feel for those that have.

Much than I can understand your feelings with Cunard there are many in the same situation. We had 2 cancelled last year and expecting one in November this year to be cancelled. With regards to moving to other cruise companies I dont think there are many that havent acted in a similar or worse situation than Cunard and feel you might be cutting your nose off to spite your face.

[lindylooellalouise]

Yes I could well be,it will be extremely difficult for me to find another cruise company that will give me everything Cunard does just feeling so aggrieved at the moment because I just want Cunard to cancel.

[Gretchendz]

Well, I know I an a hopeless optimist, but this TA leaves from Hamburg so they could, theoretically, bypass Southampton entirely.  There's no cost to me to hope at this point.

[Victoria2]

I look in on the Cunard site first thing every morning in the hopes news on itineraries up to August might have been posted overnight, and I check on cabin availability in certain grades on later itineraries for possible future transfer which is why I saw the new dates on the calendar for '23.

 

Maybe we can expect imminent news on the suspended itineraries which will be either cancelled, confirmed or changed now the '23 Worldies are up for booking next week.

[Ray66]

UK cruise lines will be able to restart domestic sailings on May 17, maritime minister Robert Courts has told a group of MPs.

The disclosure came as he appeared at a virtual meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Maritime and Ports Group (APPMPG).

The group tweeted: **NEWS** Maritime Minister robertcourts announces the reopening of the domestic #cruise market in England on 17 May at tonight’s @APPMPG meeting.”

It then followed up by tweeting: “From repatriation procedures and risk mitigations to CV-19 protocols and the domestic vaccination programme, a great @APPMPG session w/ @robertcourts who delivered some much appreciated news. A pathway to the domestic cruise market re-opening on 17 May.”

 

https://www.travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/uk-domestic-cruises-given-may-17-green-light

[majortom10]

P&O have stated even though they will be allowed to cruise from 17th May it will take some weeks before they will be ready to sail and they will be "coastal water" cruises for UK residents only and cannot see Cunard being much different. It will take some time to get ships up to standard and ready for sailing and the biggest problem is getting staff onboard, trained and vaccinated. If people think that cruises will be available from 18th May they will be sadly mistaken. Its obvious that P&O/Princess and no doubt Cunard knew about this announcement in advance but P&O/Princess still cancelled all cruises until Aug/Sept to international travel knowing the problems of getting up and running as normal with international cruising is a big issue and will take a long time. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by majortom10

[Lanky Lad]

As Cunard only have three ships, it is possible P&O and Princess are allowing Cunard to go first and see how it works. Just a thought.