Final Payment Date approaching. Concerned about Omicron

[albingirl]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I saw one guy juggling tomatoes in mine and whistling.  What is wrong with some people? I mentioned it to the produce person who couldn’t have cared less.  I rarely buy anything that isn’t cellophane wrapped now because at least that will minimize dirty hands on produce.  I do wash it fthroughly before anyone comments on that.

Oh, everyone comments on things and it gets so controversial, but facts are facts and this stuff is nuts.  Oh, mask up, yes we do, but ignore the purell and washing hands and we will be watching that and wondering what people missed about that memo.

[AlaskaNewbie68]

We did cancel our CA Coast cruise for late March. Still plan to go to San Diego where we can do a lot of outside activities, including dining...will probably drive to Joshua Tree. Hoping our European 2023 cruise can be done safely. Happy New year to all!

[silversneakers]

20 hours ago, ilv4cruising said:

I just started to read all of the posts on the concern about making final payment for an April cruise.  We are also trying to decide what to do.  I appreciate all of the feedback from those that have cruised already and found the experience to be pretty good.  The one difference for cruises in April and beyond is that the HAL requirement for everyone to be fully vaccinated ends March 31, 2022.  Therefore, at this time, there is not requirement for April cruises and vaccinations.  When I reached out to our PCC at HAL to see if this would change her answer was she didn't think so.

 

So, at least for us, that is also a factor in our decision in making final payment.  Have others heard if this policy might change?

Unfortunately I don't think being vaccinated or unvaccinated makes much of a difference with this new variant.  It is very contagious and as I said earlier, it doesn't discriminate between vaccinated and unvaccinated. Vaccinated appear to have milder symptoms than unvaccinated but vaccinated are still testing positive.

[Florida_gal_50]

58 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

Unfortunately I don't think being vaccinated or unvaccinated makes much of a difference with this new variant.  It is very contagious and as I said earlier, it doesn't discriminate between vaccinated and unvaccinated. Vaccinated appear to have milder symptoms than unvaccinated but vaccinated are still testing positive.

Maybe in terms of getting covid.  Where I live about 80 plus percent of those that end up in the hospital are unvaccinated so it makes a huge difference.

[SueMo]

Back to the OP’s original question—my DH and I have to decide by the end of January whether or not to cancel a Baltic cruise in May.  It’s a real dilemma!

We actually are leaving today for a New Years Caribbean cruise and it’s unsettling because we are on the upward rising “wave” of Omicron.  However, we have our negative test results and will go and have as good of a time as possible.  We have gone on so many Caribbean cruises that if we aren’t able to get off the ship at any of the ports of call we won’t be too disappointed.  Plus, we are a two hour drive from the port and don’t have to worry about flights.

But the Baltic is a big deal and a big expense, comparatively, for us.  Will Russia and Denmark be open?  Will our flight into Amsterdam be disrupted?  It’s anybody’s guess.  Omicron is expected to reach its peak mid-January, but who knows whether a new variant will come along by May?

I don’t expect we will make our decision until last-minute.  And I don’t think there is any right answer.  Just weigh the risks and rewards and make your best judgement!

[mikebsxm]

1 hour ago, SueMo said:

Back to the OP’s original question—my DH and I have to decide by the end of January whether or not to cancel a Baltic cruise in May.  It’s a real dilemma!

We actually are leaving today for a New Years Caribbean cruise and it’s unsettling because we are on the upward rising “wave” of Omicron.  However, we have our negative test results and will go and have as good of a time as possible.  We have gone on so many Caribbean cruises that if we aren’t able to get off the ship at any of the ports of call we won’t be too disappointed.  Plus, we are a two hour drive from the port and don’t have to worry about flights.

But the Baltic is a big deal and a big expense, comparatively, for us.  Will Russia and Denmark be open?  Will our flight into Amsterdam be disrupted?  It’s anybody’s guess.  Omicron is expected to reach its peak mid-January, but who knows whether a new variant will come along by May?

I don’t expect we will make our decision until last-minute.  And I don’t think there is any right answer.  Just weigh the risks and rewards and make your best judgement!

I agree.   On a Caribbean cruise, if a port is missed because the local government has a knee-jerk reaction to a few vaccinated people with positive tests, then all passengers receive $100 cabin credit for missing a port and the ship goes to another Caribbean port.  No big deal.   But we are on the Oosterdam May 8 Holy Land and Greece cruise.  The whole purpose of booking this cruise is to visit Jerusalem.   If Israel decides on May 1 to not allow cruise ships to dock, then the whole purpose of this cruise is wiped out.  HAL would probably offer cabin credits and select another port (maybe Antalya in Turkey) as an alternate.  But that would not qualify as a "Holy Land" cruise.   Considering this, would HAL allow cancellations at that late date with no penalty ?  I doubt it.  Half of the ship would cancel.   Yes, the easy solution is to buy HAL's cancellation insurance.  But that is a big expense.   Not really sure what to do, because final payment is Feb 6.

[Florida_gal_50]

21 minutes ago, mikebsxm said:

I agree.   On a Caribbean cruise, if a port is missed because the local government has a knee-jerk reaction to a few vaccinated people with positive tests, then all passengers receive $100 cabin credit for missing a port and the ship goes to another Caribbean port.  No big deal.   But we are on the Oosterdam May 8 Holy Land and Greece cruise.  The whole purpose of booking this cruise is to visit Jerusalem.   If Israel decides on May 1 to not allow cruise ships to dock, then the whole purpose of this cruise is wiped out.  HAL would probably offer cabin credits and select another port (maybe Antalya in Turkey) as an alternate.  But that would not qualify as a "Holy Land" cruise.   Considering this, would HAL allow cancellations at that late date with no penalty ?  I doubt it.  Half of the ship would cancel.   Yes, the easy solution is to buy HAL's cancellation insurance.  But that is a big expense.   Not really sure what to do, because final payment is Feb 6.

I highly doubt if hal will allow you to cancel because of missing a port, no matter how important someone feels it is to the cruise.  It’s in the cruise contract that they can sub ports.  Isn’t losing all the money you’ve paid for a cruise a big expense?  Guaranteed you can’t count on hal to make you whole.  If you don’t take insurance you roll the dice and take your chances.  That’s not for me.  I don’t want to lose $5k to save $4 or 5 hundred.  While losing ports in the Caribbean might not be a big deal for you I wouldn’t want to go on a cruise that never docked.

[bennybear]

1 hour ago, mikebsxm said:

I agree.   On a Caribbean cruise, if a port is missed because the local government has a knee-jerk reaction to a few vaccinated people with positive tests, then all passengers receive $100 cabin credit for missing a port and the ship goes to another Caribbean port.  No big deal.   But we are on the Oosterdam May 8 Holy Land and Greece cruise.  The whole purpose of booking this cruise is to visit Jerusalem.   If Israel decides on May 1 to not allow cruise ships to dock, then the whole purpose of this cruise is wiped out.  HAL would probably offer cabin credits and select another port (maybe Antalya in Turkey) as an alternate.  But that would not qualify as a "Holy Land" cruise.   Considering this, would HAL allow cancellations at that late date with no penalty ?  I doubt it.  Half of the ship would cancel.   Yes, the easy solution is to buy HAL's cancellation insurance.  But that is a big expense.   Not really sure what to do, because final payment is Feb 6.

Agree, we are on this cruise too but think it unlikely it will go as planned.  The question is will we know by final payment?  My crystal ball is really cloudy so we will have to make best guess at the time.  

[silversneakers]

9 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Maybe in terms of getting covid.  Where I live about 80 plus percent of those that end up in the hospital are unvaccinated so it makes a huge difference.

You are correct but in terms of cruising it doesn't make much difference for the quarantine that would ruin your cruise by not allowing you to do anything. Just noted CDC is not recommending cruising no so here we go again!