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

[BadPinkTink]

I wonder if the CDC no-sail order would impact European cruises if Disney decided to pick up passengers after the Magic gets across the Atlantic?

I highly doubt they will (as some european countries are seeing a slight uptick in cases) but would the CDC have jurisdiction?

The CDC is just for American ports, not Europe.

I assume you are referring to Germany, which has seen an increase in the R number.

The Disney Magic does have scheduled stops in German ports this summer on the 11 Night Northern Europe Cruise from Dover to Copenhagen.

The things that would impact The Magic in Europe are the travel bans in the various countries. Most European countries have a ban on non essential travel until end of July / start of August, which is why the next round of cancellations will be the following cruises

• Monday July 13, 2020
  5-Night Mediterranean Cruise from Barcelona
• Saturday July 18, 2020
  7-Night Western Europe Cruise from Barcelona to Dover
• Saturday July 25, 2020
  11-Night Northern Europe Cruise from Dover to Copenhagen

 

[K8T]

No, the CDC does not het jurisdiction in Europe, so it won't impact those cruises. If the EU allowed Americans in the EU, will be a much higher impact (currently they don't).

BTW, which European countries are seeing an uptick in cases? I'm watching the new rather closely and they all seem to be going down

Germany has gone up since they relaxed the lock down, Meerkel is having meetings today apparently to readdress the situation as the R rate gone back up to 1. Italy and Spain had a blip up, but this has dropped again and the death rate is dropping too.

Russia has overtaken Italy now and there are reports of a crisis coming there with a surge. They are certainly lagging behind in timescales.

 

[Karin1984]

Germany has gone up since they relaxed the lock down, Meerkel is having meetings today apparently to readdress the situation as the R rate gone back up to 1. Italy and Spain had a blip up, but this has dropped again and the death rate is dropping too.

Russia has overtaken Italy now and there are reports of a crisis coming there with a surge. They are certainly lagging behind in timescales.

There are newsarticles here where on one side they say: Russia's figures cannot be accurate, on the other hand they say: Russia does more autopsies than most countries, so where other countries count the death of a covid patient in the figures regardless if that was the cause of death. Russia apparently does have more pneumonia deaths, where you can argue would this patient have died of pneumonia when there was no covid around...

From today in the Netherlands schools are back in sessions, libraries have reopened, hairdressers started again. Let's see how it goes!
Our critical level for IC is 700, we are now at 498 beds taken by covid patients. I hope we can keep it this way.
In my city almost all stores have re-opened. Restaurants could stay open, but only for take out, in the past 8 weeks. Strangely enough of all the fastfood chains Burger King and Five Guys stayed closed, while the others were open... so queues for everything are limited.

 

[Chemist]

In this mornings paper...

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05...-mult-nl-morning-report-nl&utm_content=manual

 

[Karin1984]

Not sure where we are and if there are still EU cruises planned with ports in Spain. But Spain also has announced a 14-day quarantine for everyone visiting Spain.

 

[harriet2]

Not sure where we are and if there are still EU cruises planned with ports in Spain. But Spain also has announced a 14-day quarantine for everyone visiting Spain.

Yes, the Magic still has two cruises that leave Barcelona that need to be cancelled

 

[Candycane83]

Not sure where we are and if there are still EU cruises planned with ports in Spain. But Spain also has announced a 14-day quarantine for everyone visiting Spain.

Waiting for them to cancel my cruise now... Did they mention a timeline by any chance? I need to cancel my flight and hotels too!

 

[Karin1984]

Waiting for them to cancel my cruise now... Did they mention a timeline by any chance? I need to cancel my flight and hotels too!

For now it starts this week and will last till May 24th, but it is on for as long as the country is in 'state of emergency'. What I understand is that the government to stay in this state till the end of June.
Spain extends their state every two weeks.
So yes, maybe it will be fine be end of July, but it's not a good prospect.

 

[Candycane83]

For now it starts this week and will last till May 24th, but it is on for as long as the country is in 'state of emergency'. What I understand is that the government to stay in this state till the end of June.
Spain extends their state every two weeks.
So yes, maybe it will be fine be end of July, but it's not a good prospect.

Thank you! My trip is basically about 2.5 weeks in the middle of July so I’m hoping to get my refunds

 

[K8T]

I spoke with DCL today about our cruise in August out of Copenhagen, as our PIF is Friday.
The CM seemed to know very little and couldn’t answer a lot of my questions, I felt sorry for her to be honest.

1. There are no plans at this stage to cancel cruises after July and no date to which a decision will be made.
2. There is no policy in place to outline what the situation on refunds will be if we can’t get to the ship and have paid (I’m concerned if we have a second lockdown In the U.K. )
3. They haven’t any plans in place for quarantined passengers or crew on board, if any country imposes this.
4. If I cancel, I lose my discount and obc, even if I book a cruise for next year (which is nearly $1,000 more). However, if I take a cruise this year, I can keep it - obviously not an option for us after summer holidays, because of schools.
5. There currently is no policy in place if we can’t go ashore, or visit a particular country and are stuck on the ship.

She did say phone Thursday, to see if any changes by then, so I wondered if they might make some statement.

Personally, I see it as a gamble if we do pay and then have to cancel due to our specific country restrictions on travel or quarantine when returning - it would be difficult to do 14 days, due to work and school - I do feel they should at least have something in place to mitigate this.
Today our government said that it was unlikely anyone would be travelling far this year! That doesn’t sound positive to me.

I do feel that DCL could be a bit forthcoming with information, if only to make us feel more comfortable that if we do pay, we wouldn’t be subject to losing to cancellation fees, if flights, restrictions out of our control etc., do happen.

I will phone Thursday to cancel, but after many DCL cruises all but 3 over 10 days duration, we won’t be rebooking at next years prices.

 

[MomOTwins]

I spoke with DCL today about our cruise in August out of Copenhagen, as our PIF is Friday.
The CM seemed to know very little and couldn’t answer a lot of my questions, I felt sorry for her to be honest.

1. There are no plans at this stage to cancel cruises after July and no date to which a decision will be made.
2. There is no policy in place to outline what the situation on refunds will be if we can’t get to the ship and have paid (I’m concerned if we have a second lockdown In the U.K. )
3. They haven’t any plans in place for quarantined passengers or crew on board, if any country imposes this.
4. If I cancel, I lose my discount and obc, even if I book a cruise for next year (which is nearly $1,000 more). However, if I take a cruise this year, I can keep it - obviously not an option for us after summer holidays, because of schools.
5. There currently is no policy in place if we can’t go ashore, or visit a particular country and are stuck on the ship.

She did say phone Thursday, to see if any changes by then, so I wondered if they might make some statement.

Personally, I see it as a gamble if we do pay and then have to cancel due to our specific country restrictions on travel or quarantine when returning - it would be difficult to do 14 days, due to work and school - I do feel they should at least have something in place to mitigate this.
Today our government said that it was unlikely anyone would be travelling far this year! That doesn’t sound positive to me.

I do feel that DCL could be a bit forthcoming with information, if only to make us feel more comfortable that if we do pay, we wouldn’t be subject to losing to cancellation fees, if flights, restrictions out of our control etc., do happen.

I will phone Thursday to cancel, but after many DCL cruises all but 3 over 10 days duration, we won’t be rebooking at next years prices.

They do have plans for all those things, they are just not ready to share them with the public. Even if a phone CM was given a heads up on a future announcement, she'd lose her job if she disclosed nonpublic information to a caller. And frankly, given how frequently countries' requirements are changing and may change between now and August, it would be nuts for Disney to announce such plans now only to have to completely change it a month from now (but still two months before the cruise).

I know we all want answers, but there's also a cost to Disney rolling out things too soon. For example, at the US parks, Disney offered everyone with cancelled vacations a chance to rebook for June-September with a free dining promotion. They were wrong in their predictions, and are no longer able to open in June, and when they do open they may not have the restaurant capacity to accomodate free dining, so they had to pull the discount. Now people who rebooked for June are losing that promotion, and people with July-Sept reservations can't reschedule and still keep the discount. It's a mess, and people are angry. I think they learned their lesson not to try to predict too far in advance.

So where they leaves those of us with cruises in August is this: if you'd be willing to sail, no matter the restrictions, then by all means keep your reservation (I will). If you are not willing to sail, cancel. I know neither choice is perfect, but those are the choices we have.

 

[ACDSNY]

After spending 13 nights on the WBPC in March and then having COVID19 once we got home we moved our August cruise to next year. As much as I love a cruise, being on a long cruise and not being able to spend time in ports is not my idea of a fun vacation.

 

[lanejudy]

1. There are no plans at this stage to cancel cruises after July and no date to which a decision will be made.
2. There is no policy in place to outline what the situation on refunds will be if we can’t get to the ship and have paid (I’m concerned if we have a second lockdown In the U.K. )
3. They haven’t any plans in place for quarantined passengers or crew on board, if any country imposes this.
4. If I cancel, I lose my discount and obc, even if I book a cruise for next year (which is nearly $1,000 more). However, if I take a cruise this year, I can keep it - obviously not an option for us after summer holidays, because of schools.
5. There currently is no policy in place if we can’t go ashore, or visit a particular country and are stuck on the ship.

Just my thoughts, and probably not what you want to hear...

1. There are so many moving parts at the moment -- so many countries, so many rules, so many changes occurring on an almost daily basis. I don't think DCL can honestly say what they are doing in August - they certainly hope to cruise but they haven't determined late June or July yet. Personally I think it's unlikely cruises will be back to normal any time this summer; Disney has said DCL will be the last component to resume normal business and there isn't any opening for the parks yet. It would be nice if DCL cancels sooner rather than later, but I also think there's a degree of personally responsibility for folks who aren't sure they feel comfortable cruising if it goes.
2. DCL may work with individuals based on specific circumstances, but that may not ever be something put forward as a "policy" per se. I would check with your travel insurance as that should be your final safety-net, and if that won't cover pandemic-related issues I wouldn't consider cruising.
3. I believe the U.S. CDC has essentially imposed a requirement for such plans but I don't think any cruiseline has responded. Cruise ships simply have limited ability to handle serious medical issues onboard without evacuating, and if countries aren't willing to accept passengers, the cruiselines are in a bind.
4. Honestly, while the discount and OBC have value to you, that value is likely so much lower than other expenses that you've mentioned above wanting to be assured of coverage. If your travel insurance won't cover, I would cancel.
5. Port stops are never a guarantee and only in extremely rare circumstances are there any kind of refund for canceled port stops.

You are in a good position of not having made final PIF yet and therefore having to play the waiting game. I would cancel and wait until the cruising industry has really gotten themselves sorted out. I know that's hard and you've been looking forward to the cruise maybe for close to a couple of years. But there is so much unknown at the moment.

 

[Birdie dog]

Never mind. I must have reset my search.

 

[FigmentSpark]

My question is going to be what happens if someone with, say a March 2020 sailing that was canceled, then rebooked for, say Aug 2020 and that's cancelled. Will the original sailing credits be used or will there now be even more credits? Will they just lose all the credits? Will it be the greater (or lessor) of the credits issued between the two sailings? Many unknowns, for sure.

 

[axfather]

My question is going to be what happens if someone with, say a March 2020 sailing that was canceled, then rebooked for, say Aug 2020 and that's cancelled. Will the original sailing credits be used or will there now be even more credits? Will they just lose all the credits? Will it be the greater (or lessor) of the credits issued between the two sailings? Many unknowns, for sure.

I asked that very question to DCL as that is exactly my situation. The CM did not know the answer. My guess is I can either a) get a 100% cash refund based on my original cruise fare from back in March or b) keep the credit rolling forward for a potential future cruise, but I doubt they will increase the $ further. I am OK with b) as the better option for me except that the original 15 month rebooking window is getting more narrow by the day. Would be nice if they would at least extend that part of the deal for salving purposes when/if the second round of sad news is received.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I asked that very question to DCL as that is exactly my situation. The CM did not know the answer. My guess is I can either a) get a 100% cash refund based on my original cruise fare from back in March or b) keep the credit rolling forward for a potential future cruise, but I doubt they will increase the $ further. I am OK with b) as the better option for me except that the original 15 month rebooking window is getting more narrow by the day. Would be nice if they would at least extend that part of the deal for salving purposes when/if the second round of sad news is received.

That's the problem... the 15 months from the original sail date. Now, if that was at least extended, particularly if you were on, say a summer 2020 sailing, then that would be one thing, but to limit to 15 months, particularly when a great many winter sailings are now filling up, makes it difficult.

 

[Garyjames220]

I asked that very question to DCL as that is exactly my situation. The CM did not know the answer. My guess is I can either a) get a 100% cash refund based on my original cruise fare from back in March or b) keep the credit rolling forward for a potential future cruise, but I doubt they will increase the $ further. I am OK with b) as the better option for me except that the original 15 month rebooking window is getting more narrow by the day. Would be nice if they would at least extend that part of the deal for salving purposes when/if the second round of sad news is received.

I rebooked a second cruise that cost 1000 more out of pocket and I’m starting to think it will be cancelled.

doesn’t seem very fair if they don’t give the extra 25 percent on the extra I paid out of pocket as that’s not 125% of my cruise

 

[DIS_MIKE]

My question is going to be what happens if someone with, say a March 2020 sailing that was canceled, then rebooked for, say Aug 2020 and that's cancelled. Will the original sailing credits be used or will there now be even more credits? Will they just lose all the credits? Will it be the greater (or lessor) of the credits issued between the two sailings? Many unknowns, for sure.

I'm roughly in that position as well. Rebooked with the cruise credit for August but it just isn't looking good right now. No idea what they'll do when it comes to the credits for those who were already cancelled once. If I had to guess...they'll be going off the original cruise fare and that will carry over to the third cruise.

So many unknowns like you said and we are dealing with so much uncertainty right now. I think they should offer those who've been cancelled twice a 150% OBC.

 

[MomOTwins]

I'm roughly in that position as well. Rebooked with the cruise credit for August but it just isn't looking good right now. No idea what they'll do when it comes to the credits for those who were already cancelled once. If I had to guess...they'll be going off the original cruise fare and that will carry over. to the third cruise.

So many unknowns like you said and we are dealing with so much uncertainty right now. I think they should offer those who've been cancelled twice a 150% OBC.

Me too. Odds are looking worse and worse each day for our rebooked August cruise. I had the slightly weird situation of getting the 25% FCC retroactively because we moved our cruise before they announced the prior cruise's cancellation, but I think the terms and conditions were the same as the people who got 125% FCC the "regular" way. And what they said was "Guests who previously received a FCC are not eligible for an additional FCC." So sadly, I think 150% will not be an option