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

[Karin1984]

I realize there are no answers yet but here’s what is bouncing around my head at the moment ...

assuming the UK mandated 14 day quarantine is still in effect in July ... how do my family and I go about joining the July 25 Disney Cruise out of Dover? We were planning to arrive one day in advance. Do we now have to arrive 2 weeks in advance? And if other countries follow, how are port stops managed? Will museums be open to large cruise groups? Will itineraries be adjusted? Again - I know there are no answers and appreciate the sounding board here!!

Obviously, vacation days were tight enough with The length of the July 25th Northern European cruise. We don’t have the extra days for quarantine(s). And if we cancel due to concerns about the travel to and from the cruise and potentially the cruise port experiences - we lose our money. It’s really frustrating - and we certainly realize we aren’t alone. Thanks for listening/reading

If the UK does start the 14 day quarantine and you had the vacation days, you do not have to worry about museums as quarantine would mean not going out. And, I think, it would technically be 2x 14 days, before and after your cruise. From Dover you cannot fly home immediately, you have to travel to an airport. And ports are a complicated story to begin with.

I am with Tink on this one, if/when the UK will have a 14 day quarantine, then the cruise can only leave with UK guests. And DCL will give every other nationality the opportunist to cancel.
But I doubt there will be enough UK guests on a cruise leaving the UK to keep a cruise on the list. So, most likely, cruises from the UK will be cancelled.

 

[slg]

Also Russia is a disaster right now and it is unlikely they will be better before this cruise. I honestly do not think this cruise will go. The entertainers for the shows need to rehearse for 4 weeks. They do this in Toronto, Canada and there is a 14 day quarantine here. It is logistically highly unlikely. I am also on this cruise and while I haven’t cancelled my hotels and flights, I am expecting everything to cancel soon.

 

[gotomu212]

Exactly this

People need to to understand that its the Europeans whose contracts ended before the summer season who are on the way to Europe. There is a whole heap of people who have contracts for the European summer season, which were supposed to start with the 11 May Transatlantic.

The first scheduled Disney Magic cruise from Dover is July 25. I have been saying all a long that Disney will reposition the ship to Europe and then pick up the second half of the North European schedule when it is safe to do so. THAT is exactly what is happening. Everyone on here was so so insistent that The Magic would not be going to Europe, well now look whats happening!

Disney have taken the decision to reposition The Disney Magic to Europe and to wait out June and July in Dover and then to restart the remaining European schedule when ever they can. Repositioning to Dover makes sense, as it will be very easy to recall crew and get them to the ship within 24 to 48 hours.

I think what you’re not realizing is there are 2k crew members from around the world on each ship. The Magic will be shut down with only those required to keep it from sinking once it gets to EU. So when they want to start they are going to have to pull all 2k crew members back to the ship from around the world- and each and every country has rules on who can and cannot travel in and out. With the exception of a brand new ship, they are never turning around all the crew at one time. Bringing in all of those crew members from around the world and navigating every individual countries rules is going to be a Herculean task and will take several weeks it is not a 24-48 hour task and it takes much longer than that to restart all new year contracts at once.

On top of that tourist are going to need more than 24-48 hours notice that their international cruise is a go and Europe is going to have to be okay with US travelers because the Europe market has never had sufficient demand (and that was BEFORE trying to convince Europeans to get on a cruise ship in the middle of a pandemic).

Disney is returning crew members and staying in position for dry dock.

 

[havaneselover]

I realize there are no answers yet but here’s what is bouncing around my head at the moment ...

assuming the UK mandated 14 day quarantine is still in effect in July ... how do my family and I go about joining the July 25 Disney Cruise out of Dover? We were planning to arrive one day in advance. Do we now have to arrive 2 weeks in advance? And if other countries follow, how are port stops managed? Will museums be open to large cruise groups? Will itineraries be adjusted? Again - I know there are no answers and appreciate the sounding board here!!

Obviously, vacation days were tight enough with The length of the July 25th Northern European cruise. We don’t have the extra days for quarantine(s). And if we cancel due to concerns about the travel to and from the cruise and potentially the cruise port experiences - we lose our money. It’s really frustrating - and we certainly realize we aren’t alone. Thanks for listening/reading

1) I think the odds of your cruise happening are < 1%.
2) I don’t see dcl not offering an alternative besides losing your deposit if they actually sailed and the quarantine was in place.

My pif for Alaska is Tuesday. I’m going to roll the dice and pay. Canada probably won’t open the border. Vancouver probably won’t open the port. I don’t expect the ship to sail. But if it does I expect dcl will give guests options. Maybe they won’t and I’m expecting too much.

 

[K8T]

We’re in the U.K. and booked on the 13th Aug. Northern Europe cruise out of Copenhagen, our PIF is for this coming week.
If we pay, what is our position if it’s cancelled and if it isn’t what happens if we pay and then decide not to go? What happens if we don’t pay, do we lose our discount and OBC?

Personally, with the 14 day quarantine on return, this would be disastrous for OH’s company - if it’s still in business by then (travel). Also many of the countries have their own restrictions/quarantine and no way do I want to go to Russia, it’s just kicking off over there.
If DCL are bringing on new staff, they have to ensure they have all done 14 days before allowing the public on, as anyone else getting on board could bring the virus - it sounds an impossible situation.
Are DCL just hedging theirs bets, they might sail the Northern Europe cruises, because if not, I do feel they have a duty of care to their clients, to be open and honest.
I will be phoning DCL on Monday to ask this, but welcome any other thoughts.

 

[BadPinkTink]

We’re in the U.K. and booked on the 13th Aug. Northern Europe cruise out of Copenhagen, our PIF is for this coming week.
If we pay, what is our position if it’s cancelled and if it isn’t what happens if we pay and then decide not to go? What happens if we don’t pay, do we lose our discount and OBC?

Personally, with the 14 day quarantine on return, this would be disastrous for OH’s company - if it’s still in business by then (travel). Also many of the countries have their own restrictions/quarantine and no way do I want to go to Russia, it’s just kicking off over there.
If DCL are bringing on new staff, they have to ensure they have all done 14 days before allowing the public on, as anyone else getting on board could bring the virus - it sounds an impossible situation.
Are DCL just hedging theirs bets, they might sail the Northern Europe cruises, because if not, I do feel they have a duty of care to their clients, to be open and honest.
I will be phoning DCL on Monday to ask this, but welcome any other thoughts.

I'm on the 13 September from Dover cruise and my PIF is in June. I am in Ireland.

However I have paid in full last week.

If Disney cancel your cruise, you get 125% Future Cruise Credit. However to get this FCC you need to be paid in full. If you are not paid in full Disney will refund any money you have paid at that time.

If you pay in full and Disney does not cancel your cruise you have 2 options

1. Go on the cruise
2. Cancel and recieve a refund but not all of the money you have paid. You need to check out DCL cancellation policy to see the days before departure and the % amount that you you loose.

If you cancel now before your PIF then it is my understanding that you will lose your discount and OBC.

For me the reasoning behind being in full

1. I want to go on the cruise and will be on the ship if Disney does not cancel
2. If Disney does cancel my cruise I have picked an alternative cruise for 2021 which I will ask my TA to book using the FCC

Also if I have to quarantine, then its no big deal to me. I have pivoted to working from home since March and can adapt my home situation to isolate from other people in the house.

 

[Karin1984]

Some more news from the Netherlands, for the ones interested in the medical side of this entire situations.
A small village here got hit hard. 4.205 inhabitants, 261 got Covid, 142 of them got hospitalized and 59 passed away. It's a village with on average older citizens.
They are doing an immune test in this village, about 25% of the people are participating. They are not done yet, but the first results show that a very high percentage have build up antibodies.
A few weeks ago, the first national test showed that 3-4% of the people had build up antibodies. Most likely for this village it will be higher.
So, my uneducated guess, probably those who have been around the people who got infected, but didn't get infected themselves (or only with mild symptoms) 'benefit' from this.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Some more news from the Netherlands, for the ones interested in the medical side of this entire situations.
A small village here got hit hard. 4.205 inhabitants, 261 got Covid, 142 of them got hospitalized and 59 passed away. It's a village with on average older citizens.
They are doing an immune test in this village, about 25% of the people are participating. They are not done yet, but the first results show that a very high percentage have build up antibodies.
A few weeks ago, the first national test showed that 3-4% of the people had build up antibodies. Most likely for this village it will be higher.
So, my uneducated guess, probably those who have been around the people who got infected, but didn't get infected themselves (or only with mild symptoms) 'benefit' from this.

Thank you for the Dutch updates, I am booked on a DCL September 2020 cruise with a stop in Amsterdam, so I am very interested in your updates. Who knows if my cruise will go ahead but its great to get the updates and see whats going on there

 

[K8T]

I'm on the 13 September from Dover cruise and my PIF is in June. I am in Ireland.

However I have paid in full last week.

If Disney cancel your cruise, you get 125% Future Cruise Credit. However to get this FCC you need to be paid in full. If you are not paid in full Disney will refund any money you have paid at that time.

If you pay in full and Disney does not cancel your cruise you have 2 options

1. Go on the cruise
2. Cancel and recieve a refund but not all of the money you have paid. You need to check out DCL cancellation policy to see the days before departure and the % amount that you you loose.

If you cancel now before your PIF then it is my understanding that you will lose your discount and OBC.

For me the reasoning behind being in full

1. I want to go on the cruise and will be on the ship if Disney does not cancel
2. If Disney does cancel my cruise I have picked an alternative cruise for 2021 which I will ask my TA to book using the FCC

Also if I have to quarantine, then its no big deal to me. I have pivoted to working from home since March and can adapt my home situation to isolate from other people in the house.

it’s tempting to just pay it, but if the business goes kaput - with 100 employees with it - we may need that money. Also the quarantine thing would affect our daughter going back to school, as we are adding on to the end of the cruise, she’s been off since end of March already and has GCSEs next year!

The 125% is that based on the total price you have paid?

 

[BadPinkTink]

it’s tempting to just pay it, but if the business goes kaput - with 100 employees with it - we may need that money. Also the quarantine thing would affect our daughter going back to school, as we are adding on to the end of the cruise, she’s been off since end of March already and has GCSEs next year!

The 125% is that based on the total price you have paid?

I know I am in a very different position to most people, I don't have kids and right now I am in a secure financial position , so I can afford to leave the money with Disney for a 2021 cruise if my 2020 cruise is cancelled.

The 125% is based on your cruise price, which is the total you pay minus the port fees and taxes.

 

[MomOTwins]

it’s tempting to just pay it, but if the business goes kaput - with 100 employees with it - we may need that money. Also the quarantine thing would affect our daughter going back to school, as we are adding on to the end of the cruise, she’s been off since end of March already and has GCSEs next year!

The 125% is that based on the total price you have paid?

The 125% is based on the base fare for all passengers. It does not include port fees/taxes, ground transfers, prepaid gratuities, or anything else you pay on top of the base fare.

 

[harriet2]

We’re in the U.K. and booked on the 13th Aug. Northern Europe cruise out of Copenhagen, our PIF is for this coming week.
If we pay, what is our position if it’s cancelled and if it isn’t what happens if we pay and then decide not to go? What happens if we don’t pay, do we lose our discount and OBC?

Personally, with the 14 day quarantine on return, this would be disastrous for OH’s company - if it’s still in business by then (travel). Also many of the countries have their own restrictions/quarantine and no way do I want to go to Russia, it’s just kicking off over there.
If DCL are bringing on new staff, they have to ensure they have all done 14 days before allowing the public on, as anyone else getting on board could bring the virus - it sounds an impossible situation.
Are DCL just hedging theirs bets, they might sail the Northern Europe cruises, because if not, I do feel they have a duty of care to their clients, to be open and honest.
I will be phoning DCL on Monday to ask this, but welcome any other thoughts.

Don't just not pay! They'll cancel your cruise and you'll loose your deposit. If you decide you don't want to go, cancel the cruise, don't wait for PIF and do nothing!

 

[gotomu212]

Some more news from the Netherlands, for the ones interested in the medical side of this entire situations.
A small village here got hit hard. 4.205 inhabitants, 261 got Covid, 142 of them got hospitalized and 59 passed away. It's a village with on average older citizens.
They are doing an immune test in this village, about 25% of the people are participating. They are not done yet, but the first results show that a very high percentage have build up antibodies.
A few weeks ago, the first national test showed that 3-4% of the people had build up antibodies. Most likely for this village it will be higher.
So, my uneducated guess, probably those who have been around the people who got infected, but didn't get infected themselves (or only with mild symptoms) 'benefit' from this.

That’s really really interesting. That shows that even if everyone in the village got it, the fatality rate was still over 1% -disputing a common speculation that the rate is much much lower and only looks high because we don’t catch all the mild cases. Although it’s one locality and as you said they were older on average. If only half the village got it, were looking at 2%.... If the antibody tests don’t show in the 50-100% range that village had an extremely scary fatality rate.

thanks fo pr sharing

 

[StuartMcK]

2 weeks since the last round of cancellations - I’m expecting a further update soon.

 

[BadPinkTink]

2 weeks since the last round of cancellations - I’m expecting a further update soon.

They are probably waiting for the British Government who are publishing their step by step plan reopening document today. They probably want to see what the British Government say about the proposed 14 quarantine for people arriving into the country. Apparently only Ireland and France will be exempt from the quarantine, the full details, when it will start and end etc will be in step by step plan reopening document.

 

[StuartMcK]

They are probably waiting for the British Government who are publishing their step by step plan reopening document today. They probably want to see what the British Government say about the proposed 14 quarantine for people arriving into the country. Apparently only Ireland and France will be exempt from the quarantine, the full details, when it will start and end etc will be in step by step plan reopening document.

Could be - although the announcement last night didn’t seem to change much (barring the bit about unlimited exercise). I’m hoping that the published guidance will be clearer.

 

[harriet2]

They are probably waiting for the British Government who are publishing their step by step plan reopening document today. They probably want to see what the British Government say about the proposed 14 quarantine for people arriving into the country. Apparently only Ireland and France will be exempt from the quarantine, the full details, when it will start and end etc will be in step by step plan reopening document.

I doubt it, they aren't at the cruises departing from Dover yet, they still have a round of Med cruises to cancel

ETA: correction, one Med cruise and the repositioning to Dover, I think those two are the next Magic batch

 

[DIS_MIKE]

2 weeks since the last round of cancellations - I’m expecting a further update soon.

I agree that we should expect it soon. RCL is cancelled through 6/11 so they will likely extend first. We'll see what DCL does with this next round.

It will be interesting to see what the CDC decides to do because that no sail order changes everything. This is the latest.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/no-sail-order-cruise-ships-cetron-trnd/index.html

 

[StuartMcK]

It will be interesting to see what the CDC decides to do because that no sail order changes everything. This is the latest.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/no-sail-order-cruise-ships-cetron-trnd/index.html

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?

 

[harriet2]

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?

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