krittykat

Was going to cruise the Caribbean in April 2020.  That didn't happen. We rescheduled for Dec 2020 and was able to upgrade. My first river cruise in Europe in August didn't happen. Hopefully..next August with a nicer.cabin.

Now I must have a knee replacement in December. So...again reschedule the caribbean cruise with NCL to next year. Luckily..everything can be reticketed. No more money out of pocket..even airline ticket.

Bonus that we were able to score a 2 bedroom Haven cabin this time.  I guess that will worth the wait.

For now..will get excited for the only trip we can do.... A road trip.down the coast. At least it is away from home.

Well, my Dec cruise was paid with the FCC we got from our non existent April cruise.  So, I guess I will wait until they cancel the December cruise and then go from there.

50 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

You do NOT get any additional 25% bonus on the FCC.     It will be returned to your Latitudes account with the same expiration date.     You  DO get the 25% bonus on Cruise Next and cash paid.   

 

    IF using a Peace of Mind FCC-  ONE time,  you will get 25% bonus.   The POM FCC returns to your Latitudes account-  identified as such,  with the original expiration date.    

So, if I rebook our December cruise for next year - we would get a 25% bonus?   I am trying to decide whether to wait for NCL to cancel the cruise on us again or just reschedule.

Not to be late to the party but I do have a question.  We had booked in April 2020 - it was cancelled of course.  We rebooked using the FCC given for December 2020. Now it looks grim for that to happen.  Will they offer the same?  (100% + 25%) Does anyone have any experience with that?  This is not CruiseNext.

5 hours ago, raytamt1 said:

I hate to bear bad news, but the extra 25% bonus will not re-apply for cancelled cruises that were booked using FCCs. A cash refund will also not be an option since NCL will be refunding your FCC. If you would like your cash back, you could try a chargeback request with your credit card issuer, but the fact that you used the FCC to book a cruise shows that you willingly accepted the credits as a refund for your original cancelled cruise, and that may factor in the issuer's decision on whether or not to approve the chargeback.

I think that may be the case if I cancel but not if they extend the suspension. I already know a couple who was in my position and their rebooked cruise was suspended. They got 125% fcc on that on also for the inconvenience 

We took the 125% FCC on our canceled cruise from April 2020 and rebooked for Dec 12.  It may be now we will have to reschedule again for the following Dec. Should get 125% of our current booking so we can get a possible 2nd upgrade (went from spa balcony to Haven aft penthouse with last change). Since money is already tied up....it is fine....

7 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

Interesting conclusion.

The article reads that all US cruises are included in that cancellation. There may be some cruises going out of other countries but a large portion of their business sails from US ports

38 minutes ago, Embeazy1357 said:

Are you looking at a specific ship? I’m able to see October, November and December availability. 

This makes me feel much better now. I just checked again now it is there. This morning..it was grayed out. Glad it was just a system glitch.

24 minutes ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

Probably a website issue. It has been happening here and there.

I am hoping that is the case. A couple weeks ago..both Nov and Dec were there but now they are grayed out

Maybe this has been addressed and I apologize if it has.

I just looked at NCL's website...there are no cruises available to book for 2020.

Is this indicative of cancellation of all cruises or just that they are going to sail with those they have booked?

Viking cancelled all cruises through August 31 - both Ocean and river.  (we were going on our 1st river cruise in August).  So not surprising that cruises are being cancelled  out further. I read that Canadian borders will be closed into October, which eliminates the 2020 Alaskan cruise season.
We are schedule for a Western Caribbean cruise out of NOLA mid December - still have hopes for that one.

15 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Comes with the big job title and remuneration package. They all know what they are walking into when they took the job.

That may be. But do we know more than them to trash talk a person like that?  I am a strong proponent of constructive criticism. Offer up what could be done....not yell for their head. If you have nothing, maybe one should say nothing.

Was reading through this thread and watching people trash the CEO. It reminds me so much of fans trashing the coach when their football team is not winning.  Armchair quarterbacking at it's finest.  Businesses go through tough times, especially now.  

People may have had great deals and dirt cheap cruises in the past. We can't expect any company to continue this practice initially when coming back from losses. You would not expect a restaurant to give away food to attract customers back. 

Be patient...don't blame and move forward.

Whether or not they open, no cruise ship will begin to sail until at least August and most not until later.

Carnival said only 3 ports when they start and none would be going to Alaska.

21 hours ago, kruiserkatie said:

We sailed with a group of furries.. adults in elaborate and expensive character costumes. It was fun to see their interaction.  They have their own rules for engagement with others. Initially skeptical but they won me over.  To. Each their own. 😄

My husband went to a conference at a hotel that was also having a furry convention. It was an eye opening for him...lol. He certainly got an education

10 minutes ago, JB Books said:

There's a lot of unknown, but it's reasonable to believe that, for a variety of reasons, costs will indeed go up significantly. For myself, it'll be a matter of frequency plus cost/benefit comparison between cruising and land-based holiday.

Completely agree. I still will want to cruise. I know I will likely pay more. If that means less bodies on the boat, I don't mind in the least. I do not really like crowds. 

I know it will be harder for some to cruise or fly if prices go up, but in my opinion, bargain basement pricing cheapens the experience.

33 minutes ago, Comi.uy said:

That will mean for sure way higher pricing, same thing for airlines. Its for sure a bad thing

It may be more expensive...no more $599 7 day cruise or $59 one way flights.  One may have to pay more for a vacation. One will have to ask themselves, how much are they willing to pay to take a 7 day vacation which includes room and board, along with entertainment.

I do not cruise frequently. This is my splurge. If the price goes up...then I will save up and splurge.

Personally I would not mind lower capacity cruising. My first post covid cruise will be in the Haven...less people. Also larger space in case of quarantine. I still plan to cruise. Hopefully in December. 

Many of the other changes mentioned...just require patience.

Asked my daughter this and she thought the same thing as I did. 

Our first cruise....went to lie out by the pool. An older women came and sat across the pool from us. We thought it odd that she was wearing a brown sweater over a bikini....then she started rubbing on suntan lotion. We realized it was it was not a sweater but very tanned loose skin.

To this day whenever we go to a beach or pool...we say to each other "remember the brown sweater?"

I miss cruising. Our last one was about 5 years ago. This was to be the year of cruising for us with our NCL cruise in the Western Caribbean then later this summer, celebrating our 35th anniversary with our first river cruise.  

Rescheduled the 1st one for Dec so still hoping for at least one.

On 4/19/2020 at 8:37 AM, cruiser4801 said:

I realize most of us accept terms and conditions sometimes without reading them, such as those from airlines simply because we are not going to forego anecessary airplane travel based on limitations of liability in contract terms.

 

That being said, I think many people including myself will not go on a cruise based on NCL's new contract terms.  You will find them on NCL's web page at the very botton under Guest Ticket Contract.  Here is link:  https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/NCL_Guest_Ticket_Contract_041818.pdf.

 

I don't know what NCL was thinking.  A cruise delay or cancellation due to an Act of God or a terrorist attcak is no longer a basis for a refund.  No way I am signing up for an NCL cruise.

They may say it is not but my travel insurance states terrorist attacks are covered (NCL Standard policy for State of WA). 

TRIP CANCELLATION The Company will pay a benefit, up to the maximum shown on the Confirmation of Coverage, if You are prevented from taking Your Covered Trip due to:

(a) Sickness, Accidental Injury or death of You, a Traveling Companion, or Family Member; which results in medically imposed restrictions as certified by a Physician at the time of loss preventing Your participation in the Trip. A Physician must advise cancellation of the Trip on or before the Scheduled Departure Date.

(b) You or a Traveling Companion being hijacked, quarantined, required to serve on a jury, subpoenaed, the victim of felonious assault within 10 days of departure; or having Your principal place of residence made uninhabitable by fire, flood or other natural disaster;

(c) or burglary of Your principal place of residence within 10 days of departure.

(d) You or a Traveling Companion being directly involved in a traffic accident substantiated by a police report, while en route to departure;

(e) A transfer of You by the employer with whom You are employed on the Effective Date that requires Your principal residence to be relocated;

(f) The death or hospitalization of Your Host at Destination;

(g) A Terrorist Incident that occurs in a city listed on Your Trip itinerary and within 30 days prior to your Scheduled Departure Date. Benefits are not provided if the Travel Supplier offers a substitute itinerary. Your Scheduled Departure Date must be no more than 15 months beyond Your Effective Date.

(h) Terrorism in a country which is part of the Trip which causes the United States Department of State to issue a travel warning that the Insured should not travel within that country for a period of time that would include the Trip;

(i) If within 45 days of Your departure, a politically motivated Terrorist Attack occurs within a 50 mile radius of the territorial city limits of the foreign city to be visited by the program for which You have registered and if the United States government issues a travel advisory indicating that Americans should not travel to a city named on the itinerary;

(j) Your Traveling Companion or Family Member, who are military personnel, and are called to emergency duty for a natural disaster other than war.

(k) Strike that causes complete cessation of services for at least 48 consecutive hours.

(l) Weather at the departure site that causes complete cessation of services of the Common Carrier for at least 48 consecutive hours and prevents You from reaching Your destination.

(m) Bankruptcy and/or Default of Your Travel Supplier which occurs more than 10 days following Your Effective Date. Coverage is not provided for the Bankruptcy or Default of the agency from whom the Insured purchased the Land/Sea Arrangements. Your Scheduled Departure Date must be no more than 15 months beyond Your Effective Date. Benefits will be paid due to Bankruptcy or Default of an airline only if no alternate transportation is available. If alternate transportation is available, benefits will be limited to the change fee charged to allow You to transfer to another airline in order to get to Your intended destination.

(n) An Insured is terminated, or laid off from employment subject to five years of continuous employment at the place of employment where terminated.

(o) Natural disaster at the site of Your destination that renders their destination accommodations uninhabitable limited to the cost of the airfare of Your Covered Trip.

Personally, I took the FCC then booked for a much higher cabin in Dec for the same cruise (Haven penthouse) with no out of pocket for me.  Of course I took out the insurance.

I know there is a risk of the company going under - but I live in Washington state - there is a law here that all insurance must cover under trip cancellation if the travel company (ie: NCL) files bankruptcy.  I have seen it in writing in the policy. A nice little security blanket - but of course most likely difficult to claim if it comes to that.

Unfortunately - most states do not require this.

I started working with Jerry ( short for something very long starting with a q). She has been great. Responds quickly to emails, calls etc. No stupid question on my part is too stupid for her to answer. 

Hi from Washington state.....the original ground zero for the states. Starting on week 4 of Stay at home. Grocery stores starting to slowly return to more normal stocks though more have limited how many can be in store at any given time. Even saw toilet paper on shelves last weekend.  

My elderly parents live about 20 miles away...can't see them no church on Easter..very weird. My daughter moved back home with her 2 dogs. She lives alone...currently telecommuting and needed company due to her anxiety issues.

I took early retirement 2 years ago due to health issues so this is not a lot of change for me..though I need my hair cut. Hubby is essential and is our biggest concern for exposure.

We wear masks when we are out as directed by the state.  

Today we should have been in Cozumel on my birthday cruise...sigh

Looks like just a name change...nothing else