EU adds US to list of safe countries

[drsel]

17 minutes ago, dritan said:

This isn't the case for UK customers who have paid deposit only - if they cancel it's just a 25% increase on your deposit.  

For some its a 50% return on investment, if your Cruise is cancelled.

[dritan]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

 

I don't think MSc will come to demand final payment.

you have to remember to pay it yourself and it's usually 90 days prior to sailing, 29th May.

 

My agent makes my final payment automatically from my credit card on file, and also sends me an email reminder 10 days prior to the final payment date.

From the invoices on my Virtuosa and Seaside bookings it was definitely around the 60 day mark.  I'll hold fire and see what happens. 

[Malibustacey79]

1 minute ago, dritan said:

From the invoices on my Virtuosa and Seaside bookings it was definitely around the 60 day mark.  I'll hold fire and see what happens. 

I’m around 57 days out now I think and nothing so far. I’m loathe to pay the balance of a family holiday when, if I have to cancel (assuming MSC don’t) I’d only be rebooking for two of us.

 

That’s potentially a lot of money tied up, even I can get it back as onboard credit! 

[dritan]

Yes mine is also a family one which means I only really have summer next year to try again ( as hubby won't holiday any other time of year - even if I do)  And to be honest, I've always used MSC and Costa as my bonus bargain cruise rather than my main cruise.  Assuming that things are more normal next summer, then I'd prefer my summer main holiday to be with Princess or similar. 

[DCGuy64]

22 hours ago, dritan said:

With my Aug 27th cruise, I will wait to make a decision only when MSC come demanding their final payment. I can see your rationale drsel but I also don't want to shell out thousands of pounds for a holiday that may get postponed until this time next year.  I'd rather spend the money on something now. This is the fourth MSC cruise that has been impacted by CV, and still not convinced the Virtuosa cruise will happen until the July 19th restriction lift is set in stone. 

So depressing that the UK has found itself in Plague Island territory yet again. 

That's exactly our case, too. I requested time off for vacation months ago and it would be a hassle to cancel it, but because we booked airfare from the US that has a stopover in London, we're considered as coming from the UK by the Italian government, thus a 5-day isolation period applies. This despite the fact we were both fully vaccinated more than 2 months ago. To make matters worse, MSC is only allowing Schengen-area residents onboard until the end of July, and our cruise is August 28. Unless things change with MSC and Italy, we'll end up not going anywhere. I suppose we could postpone until next year, but that brings concerns of its own.

[MajestyCat]

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

That's exactly our case, too. I requested time off for vacation months ago and it would be a hassle to cancel it, but because we booked airfare from the US that has a stopover in London, we're considered as coming from the UK by the Italian government, thus a 5-day isolation period applies. This despite the fact we were both fully vaccinated more than 2 months ago. To make matters worse, MSC is only allowing Schengen-area residents onboard until the end of July, and our cruise is August 28. Unless things change with MSC and Italy, we'll end up not going anywhere. I suppose we could postpone until next year, but that brings concerns of its own.

Hey DCGuy64, have you heard anything officially from the US MSC people? I spoke with someone today that said that they are in the process of assuring that vaccinated US citizens will be allowed to board the ships after July 17th, and that's why the US site hasn't posted the same thing as the UK site regarding cruises through the end of July???  We actually have a July 19th cruise out of Italy scheduled, and I know I should be cancelling but I keep holding on!!!  LOL!!!  As you mentioned, time off requests have already been made, and I'd hate to cancel this vacation if it winds up being good to go! So just wondering if you've been told or heard something different from the US side. 

[DCGuy64]

48 minutes ago, MajestyCat said:

Hey DCGuy64, have you heard anything officially from the US MSC people? I spoke with someone today that said that they are in the process of assuring that vaccinated US citizens will be allowed to board the ships after July 17th, and that's why the US site hasn't posted the same thing as the UK site regarding cruises through the end of July???  We actually have a July 19th cruise out of Italy scheduled, and I know I should be cancelling but I keep holding on!!!  LOL!!!  As you mentioned, time off requests have already been made, and I'd hate to cancel this vacation if it winds up being good to go! So just wondering if you've been told or heard something different from the US side. 

Hi, @MajestyCat. Thanks for your post. I’ve only seen what was posted on the English language MSC global site, but you’re right, the MSC US folks haven’t said a word about it. And yesterday I still saw European sailings bookable on the US site for July onwards. I’ll wait a while before bugging my travel agent to confirm with MSC that our August cruise is still on. Keeping my fingers crossed 🤞 for you on the 19th, for sure. 😊 

[drsel]

4 hours ago, MajestyCat said:

Hey DCGuy64, have you heard anything officially from the US MSC people? I spoke with someone today that said that they are in the process of assuring that vaccinated US citizens will be allowed to board the ships after July 17th, and that's why the US site hasn't posted the same thing as the UK site regarding cruises through the end of July???  We actually have a July 19th cruise out of Italy scheduled, and I know I should be cancelling but I keep holding on!!!  LOL!!!  As you mentioned, time off requests have already been made, and I'd hate to cancel this vacation if it winds up being good to go! So just wondering if you've been told or heard something different from the US side. 

Have you made the final payment, which is required 90 days prior to sailing ?

Only Europeans will be able to board MSC Mediterranean cruises Uptil 31 July 2021

[MajestyCat]

29 minutes ago, drsel said:

Have you made the final payment, which is required 90 days prior to sailing ?

Only Europeans will be able to board MSC Mediterranean cruises Uptil 31 July 2021

We have made our final payment, and we’ll

wait for MSC to cancel on us, but I’m just hearing conflicting stories regarding non-schengen countries. And even now the US site says it’s only until July 14th. 🤷🏻‍♀️I was told the UK would not be able to sail but the US would. 🤔 I’m not holding my breath on that, but that’s what I was told.

[drsel]

http://m.msccruises.com/en-gl/Mobile/Itinerary-Updates.aspx
 

Edited July 1, 2021 by drsel

[drsel]

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

I’ll wait a while before bugging my travel agent to confirm with MSC that our August cruise is still on. Keeping my fingers crossed 🤞 for you on the 19th, for sure. 😊 

5 hours ago, MajestyCat said:

Hey DCGuy64, have you heard anything officially from the US MSC people? I spoke with someone today that said that they are in the process of assuring that vaccinated US citizens will be allowed to board the ships after July 17th,

Have you made final payment which is required 90 days prior to sailing?

 

*Cruises until the end of July 2021 are only available to guests who are residents in Schengen countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland) and in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania.

Edited July 1, 2021 by drsel

[DCGuy64]

That information doesn’t appear on the MSC site for the US. I find that very interesting. Since we’ve already made final payment and our cruise isn’t for 2 months, we’ll keep waiting for now. No one knows for sure what MSC will

do come August. And they could drop the restrictions against non-Schengen folks tomorrow if they wanted to. 

[MajestyCat]

5 minutes ago, drsel said:

http://m.msccruises.com/en-gl/Mobile/Itinerary-Updates.aspx

 

*Cruises until the end of July 2021 are only available to guests who are residents in Schengen countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland) and in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania.

Thanks, @drsel - I did see that link earlier in this thread, but the US site is worded differently and the person I spoke with on the phone said the guidelines are different. I’m sure I’m just being ridiculously optimistic, but this is all the US site says as of right now: 

 

MSC GRANDIOSA CRUISE UPDATES

MARCH 14, 2020 - JULY 14, 2021 CANCELED CRUISES (Non-Schengen countries only):

Guests who have paid in full automatically receive a Future Cruise Credit (sent to guest or travel advisor email on file). If you prefer a refund once you receive your Future Cruise Credit (you must have your FCC prior to requesting a refund) you may call us at: 1-866-420-3584. 

[DCGuy64]

Our ship is the Splendida and it’s only cancelled through July 10, ie a week from Saturday 

[Malibustacey79]

3 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

That information doesn’t appear on the MSC site for the US. I find that very interesting. Since we’ve already made final payment and our cruise isn’t for 2 months, we’ll keep waiting for now. No one knows for sure what MSC will

do come August. And they could drop the restrictions against non-Schengen folks tomorrow if they wanted to. 

Wait, I thought it WAS the US site which shows that information about Med cruises and end of July? On the UK site it still says end of June:

 

 

[zekekelso]

Let face it, even if MSC and the EU King* pinky swore it would be OK for Americans to cruise it wouldn’t mean a thing as they could just change their mind tomorrow. Any cruise is a crapshoot at this point. And yet for some dumb reason I’m about to book. 
 

* The EU doesn’t actually have a king, do they? 

[DCGuy64]

6 hours ago, Malibustacey79 said:

Wait, I thought it WAS the US site which shows that information about Med cruises and end of July? On the UK site it still says end of June:

 

 

No, it wasn't the USA MSC site, it's a global site not specific to any particular country. I wouldn't rely on it for local information. I am a US citizen/resident so the pertinent site for me is the MSC USA site, which doesn't show European cruises as Schengen-only through the end of July. You have to search ship-by-ship and the cancellations are only through about July 14, depending on the ship.

I am definitely going to be keeping an eye on those sailings to see if any Americans are on them. I might also ask my TA to reach out to MSC and find out the scoop.

[Malibustacey79]

26 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

No, it wasn't the USA MSC site, it's a global site not specific to any particular country. I wouldn't rely on it for local information. I am a US citizen/resident so the pertinent site for me is the MSC USA site, which doesn't show European cruises as Schengen-only through the end of July. You have to search ship-by-ship and the cancellations are only through about July 14, depending on the ship.

I am definitely going to be keeping an eye on those sailings to see if any Americans are on them. I might also ask my TA to reach out to MSC and find out the scoop.

Ahh I see, I didn’t realise there was a global site. Thank you 😊 

[DCGuy64]

Just now, Malibustacey79 said:

Ahh I see, I didn’t realise there was a global site. Thank you 😊 

Yes and it's actually quite confusing. I have troubling going to it on my computer, because I always get automatically directed to the USA one. Also, the global site has everything in Euros, but the spelling of the words is clearly British. Your signature says you're in the UK. Are you doing a UK cruise or one of the European ones?

[Malibustacey79]

18 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Yes and it's actually quite confusing. I have troubling going to it on my computer, because I always get automatically directed to the USA one. Also, the global site has everything in Euros, but the spelling of the words is clearly British. Your signature says you're in the UK. Are you doing a UK cruise or one of the European ones?

We have just done a UK one (as Magnifica Canaries was cancelled so we swapped it) and have a Med one booked in August (again swapped from last year). The UK one was absolutely fantastic, we loved it from start to finish but lots of us Brits are really craving some proper sunshine now!

 

Our press today says all double jabbed Brits can go to amber countries (which Italy is) without quarantine from July 26th but I assume that’s the rule for coming home, the Italians will be deciding the rules for arriving won’t they. 
 

I’m worried that even if we are allowed to go, my 14 and 17 year olds will pick the virus up either just before or somehow during the cruise and cause chaos. It’s really spreading through the teenagers here at the moment. 

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, Malibustacey79 said:

Our press today says all double jabbed Brits can go to amber countries (which Italy is) without quarantine from July 26th but I assume that’s the rule for coming home, the Italians will be deciding the rules for arriving won’t they. 

I really hope the Italians let up on this and offer reciprocity. (I assume Italians are allowed to travel to the UK, so vice versa seems appropriate) Italy's green certificate is supposed to be incorporated into the EU digital COVID certificate starting today, so I'm anxious to try and get one before we go in order to make the entry into Italy smoother. I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll drop the 5-day isolation requirement by August, for all our sakes! 🙂

 

 

[Malibustacey79]

10 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I really hope the Italians let up on this and offer reciprocity. (I assume Italians are allowed to travel to the UK, so vice versa seems appropriate) Italy's green certificate is supposed to be incorporated into the EU digital COVID certificate starting today, so I'm anxious to try and get one before we go in order to make the entry into Italy smoother. I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll drop the 5-day isolation requirement by August, for all our sakes! 🙂

 

 

I really hope you get to go on your cruise 🤞

[DCGuy64]

Just now, Malibustacey79 said:

I really hope you get to go on your cruise 🤞

Thanks, same to you, we'll wave to each other. 🙂

[MarkusToe]

As the UK and purtugal have major Delta outbreaks - i would assume Italy will not open the borders

[DCGuy64]

@Malibustacey79

I called the Italian Ministry of Health hotline a few moments ago. The gentleman I spoke with said it's very likely the restrictions will be lifted at the end of this month so there's nothing to worry about. If you come from the UK and get on a cruise ship, you will be considered in transit and not have to quarantine.

I will continue to see what develops but that's the official word for now.