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

[smmco]

Business is and should be regulated to some degree, in particular when it comes to public health and safety. Capitalist or not, business regulations protect consumers, workers, shareholders, and managers alike. Were they not regulated, we’d get food poisoning, your hospital wouldn’t have to pay your work comp for a lift injury or pay for your post exposure TB exams. They could use “fuzzy new math” accounting practices, and demand your insurance card or credit card prior to treating your massive heart attack. Business can’t endanger the public anymore than individuals can. Reasonable regulations will always be in place, however the measure of reasonableness will and should always be dependent on the circumstances. This circumstance dictates a more draconian response than say for example the public health hazard of cigarettes or obesity. This hazard isn’t notional.

Thats all great and I agree with that, As far as refunds or cruise credits I think that’s up the cruise line.

 

[Melis80]

The person on the phone doesn't have the power to refund you your money. He's

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.

i got through this morning. Not only is there zero leniency. We tried several dates and would have had to pay an additional $2,000-$8,000 for the same room on an upcoming voyage. And I thought we had already paid an outrageous sum for our upcoming spring break trip. It really feels like they’re just taking advantage of us now, and I hope the government does shut them down. They deserve it for being so greedy. We’re supposed to pay thousands more to go on a date we don’t even want? What kind of option is this?

 

[cruisehopeful]

i got through this morning. Not only is there zero leniency. We tried several dates and would have had to pay an additional $2,000-$8,000 for the same room on an upcoming voyage. And I thought we had already paid an outrageous sum for our upcoming spring break trip. It really feels like they’re just taking advantage of us now, and I hope the government does shut them down. They deserve it for being so greedy. We’re supposed to pay thousands more to go on a date we don’t even want? What kind of option is this?

I'm sorry to read that. I, too, have been disappointed by what I've read regarding rebooking and being unsympathetic. I do understand that they are a business and that they are taking a huge hit right now, but I like to do business with companies and people who have a little more consideration for their customers. Some of these things I am reading are not only turning me off of my upcoming cruise, but also turning me off of spending my $ on any cruise.

I'm still in the holding out phase of waiting to see if the US cruises get shut down, in which case, I assume I'll get a refund, but who knows.... they may just say.. oh, well, we all lose, no refunds. Since my husband in the "high risk" group according to the CDC, there's no way I am letting him get on a ship. If I move our cruise out to a later date, I am just gambling that this virus will be less of a big deal, I'll have to pay more for a similar cruise and I'll probably feel resentful towards DCL....

 

[smmco]

i got through this morning. Not only is there zero leniency. We tried several dates and would have had to pay an additional $2,000-$8,000 for the same room on an upcoming voyage. And I thought we had already paid an outrageous sum for our upcoming spring break trip. It really feels like they’re just taking advantage of us now, and I hope the government does shut them down. They deserve it for being so greedy. We’re supposed to pay thousands more to go on a date we don’t even want? What kind of option is this?

I'm sure there are dates that are less then what you paid. It's your choice to move the cruise and it was your choice not to buy insurance.

 

[ramwitz]

i got through this morning. Not only is there zero leniency. We tried several dates and would have had to pay an additional $2,000-$8,000 for the same room on an upcoming voyage. And I thought we had already paid an outrageous sum for our upcoming spring break trip. It really feels like they’re just taking advantage of us now, and I hope the government does shut them down. They deserve it for being so greedy. We’re supposed to pay thousands more to go on a date we don’t even want? What kind of option is this?

Thank you! Saves me from wasting my time trying to get through today! I guess I will ride it out this next 2 weeks and hope something happens that they end up cancelling on me or at least extending what is, IMO, a very stingy rebook window (they should at least let us rebook through the entirety of next summer knowing that a lot of their clientele have school aged children that can’t just be pulled out of school!). If not, I will cancel myself before I lose more than just my deposit. Then I will take the money I get back and look into rebooking Alaska in the future, but definitely not through DCL. If they could extend me one lousy week, they could have gotten more money out of me with their absurd price hike, but oh well. I can probably find a more affordable Alaska cruise elsewhere that losing the deposit won’t feel as big a hit.

 

[tidefan]

I'm still in the holding out phase of waiting to see if the US cruises get shut down, in which case, I assume I'll get a refund, but who knows.... they may just say.. oh, well, we all lose, no refunds. Since my husband in the "high risk" group according to the CDC, there's no way I am letting him get on a ship. If I move our cruise out to a later date, I am just gambling that this virus will be less of a big deal, I'll have to pay more for a similar cruise and I'll probably feel resentful towards DCL....

^^^^ This ^^^^

I am in the same boat for our 12nt Greek Isles Cruise on 7/1. 3 days after our PIF date, they allowed all of the following Med Cruises to have a 30-day PIF policy. This cruise was an expensive one, so even moving to another cruise 15 months out, you have way too much credit unless you can take the one next year, which for us, doesn't work date-wise. The other thing that stinks is that even in the small probability that we go, they don't lower the price, they just do GT or CM rates to fill the boat so all of those folks would get cheap balconies while we are stuck in our inside stateroom. That is the prize you get for being loyal...

 

[smmco]

^^^^ This ^^^^

I am in the same boat for our 12nt Greek Isles Cruise on 7/1. 3 days after our PIF date, they allowed all of the following Med Cruises to have a 30-day PIF policy. This cruise was an expensive one, so even moving to another cruise 15 months out, you have way too much credit unless you can take the one next year, which for us, doesn't work date-wise. The other thing that stinks is that even in the small probability that we go, they don't lower the price, they just do GT or CM rates to fill the boat so all of those folks would get cheap balconies while we are stuck in our inside stateroom. That is the prize you get for being loyal...

The other cruise lines are offering vouchers as well. I don't think anyone is refunding.

 

[Madame]

The other cruise lines are offering vouchers as well. I don't think anyone is refunding.

Some are giving much longer to rebook.

 

[tidefan]

The other cruise lines are offering vouchers as well. I don't think anyone is refunding.

I get that, but a number of those other lines are also giving up to a 24 month rebooking window. Also, I find the timing of this a bit off. They could have extended us the 30-day deadline as well, but they chose not to at this point. Quite honestly, I do not expect our cruise to go forward, at least in its current form. The next big question will be, if they do send the Magic overseas, but change itineraries (especially embarkation/debarkation ports), what will they have to offer passengers?

I also personally think that if they do go, they should reward the ones that stuck with them and upgrade them...

 

[jlbf06]

i got through this morning. Not only is there zero leniency. We tried several dates and would have had to pay an additional $2,000-$8,000 for the same room on an upcoming voyage. And I thought we had already paid an outrageous sum for our upcoming spring break trip. It really feels like they’re just taking advantage of us now, and I hope the government does shut them down. They deserve it for being so greedy. We’re supposed to pay thousands more to go on a date we don’t even want? What kind of option is this?
[/QUOTE]
I agree, the CDC have clearly advised that you shouldn't cruise for health reasons, I would expect more from Disney than this. They're not the only ones to be affected financially but they do have the deepest pockets.

 

[Melis80]

I'm sure there are dates that are less then what you paid. It's your choice to move the cruise and it was your choice not to buy insurance.

I did Buy Disney’s insurance actually and they don’t cover this. Yes there are dates available for the same price if I want to pull my children out of school.

 

[oceanbec]

I did buy insurance from Allianz that includes cancellation (for various reasons, including Dr advises cancellation) for our March 21 sailing. I prefer to get a Dr to advise cancelling than go through the rebooking with Disney since it is so restricted. Yesterday my daughter had a Doctor on Demand appointment and the Dr flat out said she shouldn't go, but said she couldn't write a note.
Daughter has chronic sinus and respiratory issues which make it easier to get infected.
I can't find any info about what determines what Drs can or can't write a note though.
Any tips or help with this?

 

[cvjw]

If the US govt doesn't want to rescue people from quarantine, then they need to put a ban on cruising and force the cruise lines to offer refunds. There are thousands of families who have lots of $$ wrapped up in vacations and many of those families are not willing/able to just eat that cost. Or, possibly an unpopular opinion, they need to stop quarantining people. It's likely this virus is already wide spread and well past the point of containment by quarantine anyway.

Agree 100%. We have $9,000 tied up in a May cruise. The only other option for us to move our cruise to is $1,000 more. With a son with a brand new job with only certain approved time for vacations and another in college, it is hard to find a week that we all can sail within the 12 month booking window.

 

[wl1117]

i got through this morning. Not only is there zero leniency. We tried several dates and would have had to pay an additional $2,000-$8,000 for the same room on an upcoming voyage. And I thought we had already paid an outrageous sum for our upcoming spring break trip. It really feels like they’re just taking advantage of us now, and I hope the government does shut them down. They deserve it for being so greedy. We’re supposed to pay thousands more to go on a date we don’t even want? What kind of option is this?

THIS. I am so disappointed in Disney. I know I'll get flamed for expressing my displeasure, but they are not doing anywhere near as good of a job as their competitors. We are booked on the Wonder 7 night Mexican Riviera on the 29th. We splurged on this cruise (our 11th DCL) to sail in a Category T One Bedroom Concierge suite. We paid a not inconsiderable sum for this trip over our kids Spring Break. Looking ahead to rebook within the 12 month window, gives us a 3 day period next year during our kids Spring Break before the 12 month window closes...but it falls over Easter. We cannot book anything for the price we paid that gets us the experience or even the itinerary we currently have booked. They do not even offer our current length and itinerary until 2 weeks AFTER the cutoff (if we were willing to pull our kids from school). We chose to sail from California because living in Wyoming we could drive, so switching to East coast costs us thousands more in cruise fare to keep our stateroom plus airfare for 4.

With the uncertainty of the longevity of an outbreak, and most importantly to us, the risk of being quarantined (which would severely impact my husbands job), we cannot consider rebooking with a summer date. So that leaves us with Thanksgiving and Christmas break as our last options...both much higher cost.

If they could lay out a plan for how returning cruisers will be handled after a suspected outbreak onboard, one that didn't end up with days onboard or on a military base, we'd probably just take this long anticipated trip. If they insist on forcing us to make this a rebooking (because of uncertainty and how taking the trip will impact my husbands job) then they should extend the rebooking window to be more in line with their competitors. I'm not asking for NCL's generous end of 2022 window, but end of 2021 or at least 15 months like they've offered Med cruisers would be an improvement.

 

[smmco]

I agree, most of the time. But, when things go south, it is the US government who is sending planes to bring back stranded Americans from overseas. It is also the US government who is organizing and paying for the quarantine on military bases of all the people on the ships who were exposed to Coronavirus. I think that during extraordinary times like these, the US government needs to step in for the common good of the US people. Yes, some people will be negatively affected, but the common good should prevail here.

If cruises are cancelled they will refund. The government won't have to force them. but for now its a travel voucher. Not all of us want our cruises cancelled. Cancellation policies for cruises are really strict. It's all stated in the terms and conditions. I think Disney has one of the best cancellation policies they give you up to 56 days out and you only lose your deposit.

 

[smmco]

Agree 100%. We have $9,000 tied up in a May cruise. The only other option for us to move our cruise to is $1,000 more. With a son with a brand new job with only certain approved time for vacations and another in college, it is hard to find a week that we all can sail within the 12 month booking window.

Are you more than 56 days. You could cancel and only lose your deposit. If you have the insurance you would get 75% of that deposit as a cruise credit.

 

[ramwitz]

I did buy insurance from Allianz that includes cancellation (for various reasons, including Dr advises cancellation) for our March 21 sailing. I prefer to get a Dr to advise cancelling than go through the rebooking with Disney since it is so restricted. Yesterday my daughter had a Doctor on Demand appointment and the Dr flat out said she shouldn't go, but said she couldn't write a note.
Daughter has chronic sinus and respiratory issues which make it easier to get infected.
I can't find any info about what determines what Drs can or can't write a note though.
Any tips or help with this?

My trip insurance is also through Allianz. Look at your policy exclusions closely. In my case, line 14 listed epidemics as a policy exclusion. I purchased this insurance long before I even heard of coronavirus. I have confirmed with them (multiple times) and basically they will not cover ANYTHING if it has to do with coronavirus. So if DCL cancels the cruise because of coronavirus, the insurance will not reimburse the airfare. If I get sick from coronavirus before the cruise and can’t go, not covered. If I get quarantined because of coronavirus and need trip interruption insurance, no coverage. If I get coronavirus on the trip, no medical coverage for it, etc, etc... So basically you get the point. So check if you have this listed on exclusions and if you do, chances are you won’t be covered even with a doctors note saying that your daughter is too high risk to travel because of coronavirus.

 

[flstatenolefan]

I'm sure there are dates that are less then what you paid. It's your choice to move the cruise and it was your choice not to buy insurance.

I can't speak for the person that you wrote this to, but there are actually NO cruises in the next 12 months for a comparable trip (5 night to Mexico) that are less than I paid. They are 2 and 3 times more expensive because I originally booked on the military rate. In fact, I can't get one veranda room for the price of the two rooms I have booked...an veranda and inside stateroom. Even the DCL representatives told me, "You'll just have to park your money and hope that they offer a special rate"

I don't think I'm being greedy by wanting a comparable cruise for the same price I paid? Sure, I could take one bedroom on a 3 day when everyone is at school and cancel the other room and tell my family they can't go with us, but that's hardly the same as the 5 day with my family. While they were generous in their special rate offerings, there is no loyalty and no guarantee that they will offer them in the future with everyone re-booking their cruises. So, they basically have my money.

I have insurance, but it isn't "cancel for any reason" and we are PIF because we sail the end of this month. If DCL would open their window to 24 months, I'm sure that would help some in this situation. I really just want them to cancel and refund my money. At least that way I have some to spend on a future trip, and might consider DCL. At this point, I would never consider it even if I could afford to.

 

[smmco]

I can't speak for the person that you wrote this to, but there are actually NO cruises in the next 12 months for a comparable trip (5 night to Mexico) that are less than I paid. They are 2 and 3 times more expensive because I originally booked on the military rate. In fact, I can't get one veranda room for the price of the two rooms I have booked...an veranda and inside stateroom. Even the DCL representatives told me, "You'll just have to park your money and hope that they offer a special rate"

I don't think I'm being greedy by wanting a comparable cruise for the same price I paid? Sure, I could take one bedroom on a 3 day when everyone is at school and cancel the other room and tell my family they can't go with us, but that's hardly the same as the 5 day with my family. While they were generous in their special rate offerings, there is no loyalty and no guarantee that they will offer them in the future with everyone re-booking their cruises. So, they basically have my money.

I have insurance, but it isn't "cancel for any reason" and we are PIF because we sail the end of this month. If DCL would open their window to 24 months, I'm sure that would help some in this situation. I really just want them to cancel and refund my money. At least that way I have some to spend on a future trip, and might consider DCL. At this point, I would never consider it even if I could afford to.

What about September. There are already some GT rates out of San Diego.

 

[Melis80]

THIS. I am so disappointed in Disney. I know I'll get flamed for expressing my displeasure, but they are not doing anywhere near as good of a job as their competitors. We are booked on the Wonder 7 night Mexican Riviera on the 29th. We splurged on this cruise (our 11th DCL) to sail in a Category T One Bedroom Concierge suite. We paid a not inconsiderable sum for this trip over our kids Spring Break. Looking ahead to rebook within the 12 month window, gives us a 3 day period next year during our kids Spring Break before the 12 month window closes...but it falls over Easter. We cannot book anything for the price we paid that gets us the experience or even the itinerary we currently have booked. They do not even offer our current length and itinerary until 2 weeks AFTER the cutoff (if we were willing to pull our kids from school). We chose to sail from California because living in Wyoming we could drive, so switching to East coast costs us thousands more in cruise fare to keep our stateroom plus airfare for 4.

With the uncertainty of the longevity of an outbreak, and most importantly to us, the risk of being quarantined (which would severely impact my husbands job), we cannot consider rebooking with a summer date. So that leaves us with Thanksgiving and Christmas break as our last options...both much higher cost.

If they could lay out a plan for how returning cruisers will be handled after a suspected outbreak onboard, one that didn't end up with days onboard or on a military base, we'd probably just take this long anticipated trip. If they insist on forcing us to make this a rebooking (because of uncertainty and how taking the trip will impact my husbands job) then they should extend the rebooking window to be more in line with their competitors. I'm not asking for NCL's generous end of 2022 window, but end of 2021 or at least 15 months like they've offered Med cruisers would be an improvement.

i do appreciate that people are pretty positive here, but I would hope no one will be ridiculed for expressing displeasure at this point. I’m a diehard Disney fan and shareholder, and I’m rather displeased from both perspectives. This is a very unfortunate situation for a lot of us. My daughter couldn’t stop crying when I told her we might not be going on our cruise next week. She’s been looking forward to this forever. This isn’t the time for Disney to try to squeeze loyal customers for every dollar they have. Who else is going to book these empty rooms on their future voyages anyway?