Coronavirus and DCL Megathread - Suspension of Departures for the fleet until early November. Booking only available from early December.

[smmco]

Yes I agree I was just replying to the posted cruise contract which states that guests will pay for their own quarantine. It may say that, but it would be corporate suicide to bill guests for that.

I was told by a cruiser that was quarantined for an entire cruise(severe norovirus)that they weren’t charged for their medical care on the ship. They were told by the cruise line they don‘t charge people that they quarantined to their rooms. I believe this was Carnival. I know Princess has gone above and beyond with reimbursement.

Whats in writing and what the cruise lines actually do are two different things. Ive always been pretty impressed with how cruise lines handled hurricanes. I think a lot of times they do more then they have too.

Our Carnival Baltic cruise this Summer was cancelled due to the ship not being completed on schedule. They were only obligated to refund our money for the cruise, but they gave us 25% off a future cruise with 200 OBC per person. They also helped reimburse people for airfare when the airlines wouldn’t budge,
Now I’m booked on Disney. Maybe the Baltic’s wasn’t meant to happen this Summer.

 

[fredandkell]

You are requesting to cross funds from two separate entities, I would imagine if they allowed that it would create a fiscal nightmare at the end of the year reconciling financials. I understand being frustrated about it, but no surprise they won't allow it.

Or they could give it in the form of Disney gift cards, which could be redeemed at the parks or on the ships.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I would agree. If you put yourself in a position and you should suffer the consequence. I would have no sympathy for you. Point being stay off of cruise ships for near term.

I will repeat what I said earlier. If the government wants to halt cruising they need to ban it so that people won’t lose thousands of dollars on their vacations. It’s not fair nor reasonable to expect people to just eat that cost.

 

[Coffee66]

I will repeat what I said earlier. If the government wants to halt cruising they need to ban it so that people won’t lose thousands of dollars on their vacations. It’s not fair nor reasonable to expect people to just eat that cost.

Now that I agree with 100%. The govt. Should demand the cruise industry refund money to customers and not just a cruise credit. Shame on all the cruise lines.

 

[monkeydawn]

Now that I agree with 100%. The govt. Should demand the cruise industry refund money to customers and not just a cruise credit. Shame on all the cruise lines.

Well that's not exactly fair to the cruise lines either. It isnt their fault that COVID exists. So a credit that can be used later is a good compromise. If you (not you specifically but the general you) love cruising then you want a solution that means cruise lines not going belly up because of this. And even if you only love DCL, you want competition in the industry.

Although I do agree it would be great if they could figure out some way to allow for a gift card that can be used across all of their platforms, even if the GC is "locked" to a person and cant be transferred.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Why don't you just cancel and re-book at the lower prices?

I think you misread my post -they aren't dropping prices.

 

[britinva]

Well that's not exactly fair to the cruise lines either. It isnt their fault that COVID exists. So a credit that can be used later is a good compromise. If you (not you specifically but the general you) love cruising then you want a solution that means cruise lines not going belly up because of this. And even if you only love DCL, you want competition in the industry.

Although I do agree it would be great if they could figure out some way to allow for a gift card that can be used across all of their platforms, even if the GC is "locked" to a person and cant be transferred.

I agree with this but should be 24 months, not 12 months.

In my case if I cancel I would have to rebook at a peak rates as this was a graduation gift for my daughter who will be a teacher for any future cruise

 

[Waylander]

At this point, I would probably hop on the opportunity to move my cruise until next year (May 18th Alaska cruise) (Kudos for Disney for giving me that option...) if I didn't have to eat my airfare cancellation fees - and that has me in a holding pattern. Add me to the list of folks more concerned with being trapped in quarantine for multiple weeks then the actual virus.

 

[smmco]

Princess has given its passengers a full refund plus a free cruise. If DCL follows their lead being quarantined could be very lucrative. I know my cruise costs more than I make in a month. I'm not advocating for being quarantined I'm just looking for a silver lining in this whole mess.

 

[monkeydawn]

I agree with this but should be 24 months, not 12 months.

In my case if I cancel I would have to rebook at a peak rates as this was a graduation gift for my daughter who will be a teacher for any future cruise

Congratulations to your daughter! I really hope you can find the time to do the cruise somehow.

Each line seems to have a slightly different policy on when you can rebook with NCL being the most generous. MSC finally spoke up today and gave us (I mean the uS, rest of the world is excluded right now ) until the end of 2021 which seems more than fair to me. But I am sure some people are justifiably upset with that offer. It stinks for everyone right now, even those that can rebook without any time or money hardships right now are still delaying their vacations and that is never fun because you just dont know what's going to pop up.

At this point, I would probably hop on the opportunity to move my cruise until next year (May 18th Alaska cruise) (Kudos for Disney for giving me that option...) if I didn't have to eat my airfare cancellation fees - and that has me in a holding pattern. Add me to the list of folks more concerned with being trapped in quarantine for multiple weeks then the actual virus.

The airfare thing is the bigger thing for us right now too. We booked in Nov of last year so we would have to start travel by then. Doubt we will be making it overseas before then. Oh, and I insisted we upgrade so that we werent stuck in steerage for the long flight. So I guess we are going somewhere that Delta flies first class to use up all the funds. Our biggest danger might be me getting spoiled.

 

[Joe Brig]

I would call and reschedule, but I dread the 3+ hours of being on hold. DCL should update their online app to allow this. Question, what happens if my cruise is canceled? Automatic refund or credit?

 

[Waylander]

I would call and reschedule, but I dread the 3+ hours of being on hold. DCL should update their online app to allow this. Question, what happens if my cruise is canceled? Automatic refund or credit?

My take is if you voluntary reschedule you are out of luck unless they cancel that cruise as well. If they cancel your cruise and you have not rescheduled then they have to to refund not offer credit....

 

[ramwitz]

I have tried and tried but can't get through to DCL. After a torturously long hold, I randomly get disconnected. It is so infuriating. Has anyone been successful and happened to ask if there is any leniency to this 12-month future credit?

We are booked on the 5/25 Alaska cruise. We saved for 4 years for this cruise and we only are interested in cruising to Alaska. Problem is, next year my kids school ends a week later and they will have their finals the week of May 24, so we will not be able to do the Alaska cruise until 5/31/21 at the earliest (DCL starts Alaska the week of 5/17 and I cannot pull out the kids the week before and the week of finals). I don't want to throw all this hard saved money towards another cruise when we worked so hard to specifically save for Alaska and who knows how long it will take to save it all again. It is already going to be tight as it is to even make it since we are going to lose over $2k towards the flight we already purchased for this year (Delta won't budge), plus we would have to repurchase flights for next year (another $2k+) and the Alaska cruises next year have significantly increased in price.

I have less than 3 weeks at this point to figure out what to do because then I move from losing my deposit to losing 50% which I cannot afford to risk. It is bad enough that I am losing over $2k in the flight and probably the $1500 deposit if they don't allow me to transfer the credit to the 5/31 cruise. And I keep checking online and seeing the rooms fill up on the 5/31 cruise that I am worried that by the time I get through to them, even if they let me, I won't even have a room available to book on the 5/31 cruise in my price range.

Going through with the cruise this year is out of the question because apparently the trip insurance we purchased long before we even heard of coronavirus has an epidemic exclusion and I confirmed with them that they will not cover anything related to coronovirus, whether medical issues that may arise due to it during the trip, trip interruption, trip cancellation if one of us gets sick with it or if we are refused boarding, etc...etc.... Not a risk I am willing to take.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

I would call and reschedule, but I dread the 3+ hours of being on hold. DCL should update their online app to allow this. Question, what happens if my cruise is canceled? Automatic refund or credit?

Or at least have a callback option to hold your place in line. I did that with Delta last night and they called me back about 4 hours later. The rep told me that even though my dates were out of their refund/rebook window of consideration that they would still honor it for me. I told them thanks and that I would let them know. I'm going to ride this one out until a few weeks before the cruise before I make the final decision if I should go or stay home. My gut is telling me the latter at this point.

 

[pearljammer]

Interesting. Decisions many be made for many of you:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/09/azar-cruise-ship-shutdown-coronavirus-124645

 

[justafigment27]

Interesting. Decisions many be made for many of you:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/09/azar-cruise-ship-shutdown-coronavirus-124645

Looks like my decision actually got more difficult...

My last day to cancel and get a 25% refund for my 3/27 cruise is Wednesday and I doubt if we will have a resolution by the time I’d need to call DCL. We aren’t going on the cruise and there is no cruise that works for us in the next 12 months.

So, do I take the gamble that cruise ships will be forced to cancel and that I’ll get a 100% refund? Or do I take the sure thing and call Wednesday morning to collect my 25% refund?

 

[justafigment27]

Has anyone been successful and happened to ask if there is any leniency to this 12-month future credit?

From what I understand, Disney is not budging on this 12 month window. Either somewhere in this thread, or on another Coronavirus related thread, a cruiser faced a similar dilemma. In their case, spring break next year is a week later than spring break this year and DCL was basically “too bad, so sad”.

That’s what REALLY stinks about this 12 month rebooking window ... it’s just not enough time for a lot of us trying to work around school & work schedules. Seems like Disney, who caters to a younger demographic, would recognize this and offer a rebooking window at least as generous as other cruise lines.

 

[Sakura1017]

Henry said she believes the cruise season should be delayed until concerns about the spread of the virus have decreased.


She said discussions about that possibility are ongoing, with a decision expected in “the coming days.”
“We know that this will impact businesses both here and in Victoria. The tourist industry is being hard hit by this,” she said.
“But my primary concern is the health and safety of people in British Columbia and I have grave concerns about cruises right now.”
Public health officials are now providing daily updates on COVID-19 in B.C.


If BC bans cruises this will impact DCL San Diego to Vancouver, Vancouver to Hawaii and the Alaska cruises. I really believe this is probably going to happen.

If they ban BC then that should be an automatic refund to anyone on those cruises provided they didn't switch out to another cruise.

 

[hogie1]

Looks like my decision actually got more difficult...

My last day to cancel and get a 25% refund for my 3/27 cruise is Wednesday and I doubt if we will have a resolution by the time I’d need to call DCL. We aren’t going on the cruise and there is no cruise that works for us in the next 12 months.

So, do I take the gamble that cruise ships will be forced to cancel and that I’ll get a 100% refund? Or do I take the sure thing and call Wednesday morning to collect my 25% refund?

I'd wait and see if they can work with your situation. The last thing they want is to lose a paying customer. They want you to come back and spend more $$. Just my 2 cents, but do what you think is right.

 

[smmco]

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/...resent-health-proposal-to-u-s-on-tuesday.htmlSome news coming tomorrow.