kent9xxx1

1 hour ago, -Lew- said:

 

The cruises are marketed separately.  I didn't become aware they had been combined until after I gave my TA the go ahead and paid the additional deposit.

 

If I were to cancel now and reebok the three cruises separately, Viking would issue a voucher and I'd be required to pay another deposit equal to 20% of the unpaid balance.

 

I may just chalk this up to a learning experience and remember this the next time I book a B2B with Viking.

Should the TA catch this before you?  

So not sure what they accomplished with all these daily testings.  

People are already vaccinated before boarding.  32 cases out of 19k are what they called "break through" cases.  The rest of them are very unlikely to catch from these people. 

How many people got quarantined and booted off because of these 32 people?  I guess a lot more than 32.  

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Absolute great post Jim!   I could totally relate.

That real issue is true - jeans take up lots of space and are hard to wash and dry.  That is one reason I switched for traveling purposes.  As I get older, convenience becomes the biggest importance!  (well, perhaps access to good beers and wines!!) 

I thought you don't have to wash jeans all the time.  Some people only wash it once a year.  

Hi PhDiva,

Do you know what is the house champagne serve on Uniworld?  What about cocktail and other beverage?  It is available at all time?

On 11/13/2020 at 10:17 PM, giustot said:

Kent, you can't compare a trip to Costco with being on a cruise ship.

 

People go to Costco for an hour and then go home.

 

Passengers are on a cruise ship for a week confined in a small space that is conducive to spreading viruses.

 

Tom.

Each day, there are 150k+ new infections.  Those people definitely don’t get them from a cruise ship.  They probably got them from spending an hour in a local grocery store or costco or walmart or wherever.  You don’t shut those places down if there is a positive case.  Cruising will not spread if you follow protocol and quarantine the people who happen to get it.  Just like going to costco will not spread if you wear mask, practice social distance, follow protocol.  

I think they should just carry on like other business.  If one person in costco tested positive for covid, they don't quarantine and shut down costco.  

Quarantine them in the section of the ship, and carry on.  

We are talking about Europe river cruise.  All ports are within reach from major cities.   Europe already opened.  The river cruise is not less safe than going to a local restaurant or going to the local store.  

As for USA, 5 millions people already got it.  A few cases here and there from the cruise don't make you run for the bunker.  I can tell you with absolute certainty that in CA, anywhere you go, it's less safe than on the boat.  Each days, thousands of new cases reported and no one really stops going to so and so just because someone actually got coronavirus there.  That is the reality.  

It's already passed the point of no return.  If you go to costco and you heard someone working in costco got covid, would you quarantine yourself for 14 days?  Most people don't do that right now.      

So if a passenger got it, well, the passenger got it.  The rest should carry on.  

Before, when they had limited cases, quarantine is a must.  Now, it's not feasible anymore.  

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I am not fully sure the locals want to cruise locally anyway. I live within an 8 hour drive of the Mississippi river where Viking is scheduled to cruise in the future and have been to many of the ports (not on vacation). I have no desire to go on a cruise there. It is too close to what I see at home.

Again, true during normal time.  But for a lot of people, they are taking vacation locally because they have no other choices.  People in FL are willing to go on a ship to nowhere just to be out of the house.  

I am taking local vacation for the first time in my life.  I know so many people who are doing the same.  

I think you will find the locals are willing to do a lot more in this hard time.  Again, business has to adapt to survive.  If Crystal is not adapting and showing they are willing to reach out for different customers and staying afloat, they will fold.  

15 hours ago, Coral said:

I disagree. As a US individual - I commend Crystal for putting their employees and passengers first. Other cruise lines have cancelled the rest of the year (regardless where they are sailing) - Crystal can also. They are making it very attractive to switch to next year's sailings so I have no doubt they will be busy in 2021. 

 

It was the end of the year when I sailed on Crystal and speaking with the employees - it takes a month to get a ship ready after it has not been used for a few months. They usually come back in February for March sailings. There is a lot of safety checks that need to be done.

 

I also don't think there is a huge market for Germans. Viking pulled out of the German market - they used to have ships that were just for German passengers. 

 

After hearing about some nightmare stories of some ships that have started and now have COVID-19, Crystal made the right decision to keep everyone safe and just re-start next year. I don't think they want the bad press of having one of their river cruises with COVID-19. 

I agree in general about the points you made, but this is Crystal river cruise specific.  Just like you said, it's hard to restart, they have to show they can restart successfully for new booking to come.  Right now, no one is going to give them anymore money until they see they can do it.  What's a better way to do it than doing these river cruise in countries that have low infection rates?  The crew are mostly European, the guests are normal time is probably 10-20% European.  If they market it right, they can get more guests and maybe reach 50% capacity on the river cruise.  Isn't that what the other line is doing with lower capacity.  The river cruise is easier to deal with Covid-19 since it is so close to town.  No one is going to be quarantined, they can just send you to the hospital immediately if you are positive. 

2 hours ago, franski said:

 

 

Given the patchwork of restrictions for international travelers, I imagine it would be difficult to continue to offer the current itineraries as they currently stand.  For example -  if Hungary isn't letting some international tourists in, how do you run a cruise that begins or ends in Budapest?  Do you tell your passengers that they need to come in early (that is assuming that you can get a flight into Budapest) and quarantine before boarding?  Do you ask the North American passengers to disembark a stop or two before the last port?  Or - will the port refuse the let the boat dock if they know there are passengers on board that are from a country that is prohibited from entering? 

 

For many (and, perhaps all companies that market to the North American market) it might be more financially feasible to cut their losses - and plan for next year.

 

Fran

I think it's hard for NA passengers to come at this point.  Like I said, they need to go after EU passengers now instead of waiting for NA passengers.  Start small again.  Most business adapt to new changes, reduce capacity, serving certain things only, doing smaller things, offering different things.  If Crystal wants to survive, it needs to do things differently as well.  The only way to get NA passengers to come back and book future cruises (when EU countries allow it) is if Crystal already runs successful trips with EU passengers.  

I thought some companies already restarted river cruise successfully.  Why is Crystal still cancelling?  They cannot get american guests to come?  Maybe do a little cheaper and get some new EU clients.  Show people they can restart successfully, then people will come back.  

Why haven't you called the credit card company asap?  Doesn't matter if you go through TA or not.  TA cannot force Uniworld to refund.

On 6/30/2020 at 1:35 PM, agidor63 said:

Fingers crossed we were told the week of July 20th we should have our money.  We have been waiting since April 17th.  I’m surprised no one has filed a Class Action suit against Uniworld.  Uniworld is a huge disappointment!  My next step is filing a complaint with the Attorney General of California.  I realize these are strange times, but frankly they should get their act together.

Call your credit card company.  

2 hours ago, bczican said:

We booked a MAY 2021 Ultimate France UNIWORLD CRUISE in January, 2020.  We paid in full.  Our TA informed us on May 5th, 2020 that UNIWORLD HAD CANCELED OUR CRUISE BECAUSE IT HAD SOLD OUT THE CRUISE TO A CHARTER.   

Uniworld sold a cruise to paid travelers and then resold it to a charter.

UNIWORLD SAYS IT WILL TAKE 60 -90 DAYS TO REFUND OUR MONEY.  We didn't cancel.  Uniworld did.  We have traveled with them several times.  We will never go on another Uniworld trip and our friends who were going with us, won't either.

We want our money!!  No word from Uniworld.  No apology.  

They couldn't offer to move you guys to a different date with 1 category upgrade and pay for all airlines change fee?  Is this company a joke now?

aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/greece-quarantines-passengers-qatar-airways-flight-200604053608071.html

Greece reopened.  Qatar flight carried a bunch of people, some tested positive on arrival.  Of course, those will be quarantined.  Those who are negative, but because they flew in the same flight, also got quarantined, albeit shorter time.  Then Greece quickly banned all upcoming Qatar flights.

So you can easily get quarantined or your flight get cancelled last minute.  USA will have more than 2 million cases by tomorrow.  It's not going to happen in Aug/Sept for anyone for sure.  

3 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Most of the river cruise lines have cancelled their europe bookings thru end of July.  So maybe people who have Aug/Sep booked stand a chance to travel then.

US infection rate is not going down.  With the social unrest and daily protest, it will prolong it for a while.  US passengers are not going anywhere near Europe this year.  Aug/Sept is a dream at this point.  I wonder if this year is even possible.  

Call your credit card asap.  Give them the cancellation email.  

Looks like Uniworld is cancelling until September.  All July, August cruises are gone.

just curious, why do you let the cruise line book airline tickets for you?  Is it cheaper? For people who booked themselves directly, aa, delta all refunded them quickly for cancelling.  Not all airlines are that decent, but at least you won’t be hit another $450.

7 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Uniworld has changed its cancellation/FCC/reschedule polices at least 4-5 time since early March.  Very frustrating for a company we once enjoyed cruising.

 

I guess its really our fault for believing in Uniworld and following their payment policies.  We provided a final payment in January for a June cruise totaling $20,000.  Cruising through France this June is a non-starter.  France is "closed" to tourism for the foreseeable future.  Uniworld is still using our original sailing date as the basis for cancellation fees, now at 100 percent if canceled in May.  Or, take an FCC and lets just add several thousand more dollars to the same cruise in 2021.  No other options.  We have sailed with Uniworld half a dozen times in Europe and China.  So what.  Uniworld has our money and they are not offering anything realistic in return.  Unbelievable.  Caveat Emptor.

Just wait for them to cancel the cruise on their own, at that point, you can request money back or them putting you on another cruise for the same price.  Realistically, they cannot operate in June in France.

We are mid 30s traveling on Crystal river cruise twice.  We saw a couple of couples in our age group.  

Maybe one or two in their late 20s.  

And if they cancel, they have to refund.  They rather let customer cancel and get their FCC instead.  It's a game of chicken between cruise line and clients.  

17 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Well., color me surprised - very surprised.  American Airlines refunded our total flight fare for a  "postponed" Grand France river cruise that had been schedule for June.  On application for the refund American Airlines indicated that would keep $1,800 ($900 each) as fees for our business class R/T air MIA-CDG-MIA.  The processed refund, now on my credit card, was for the whole amount.  Thank you, AA!  Additionally, they did it within two weeks, request to back on credit card.  If we are able to travel in May 2021 to pick up the postponed cruise, we will definitely fly American Airlines! 

Kudo to AA.

I have flights with BA, TAP, Lufthansa, and all 3 are holding my money hostage.  Not refunding even when they are the ones cancelled the flights.

3 hours ago, radioman said:

 

Under the Uniworld Terms and Condition's it states you get your money back if Uniworld cancels.

 

Advanced, Canceled, or Delayed Sailing: Uniworld reserves the right to cancel, advance or postpone any scheduled sailing date and may, but is not obligated to, substitute hotels or vessels. Uniworld shall not be liable for any loss to you by reason of any such cancellation, advancement or postponement. In the event of cancellation by Uniworld, your sole right of recourse shall be to obtain a refund of monies paid to Uniworld in connection with such cruise-tour.

 

Other cruise companies would not only refund but give you 25%-100% FCC for cancelling.  This way, they make sure customers are coming back to them after this.  

Remember the cruise lines that drop the ball moving forward.