YORKI1

How many more people do you think you infected while you were dithering about what to do? The responsible thing to do would have been to ask to be tested as soon as you had symptoms.

On Monday (13 December) I booked a 28 night Japan cruise leaving Tokyo on 13 March 2023. Tuesday evening I received an email from HAL (U.K.) announcing a sale, $200 OBC and free cabin upgrade. The cabin I booked would have been £1,040.00 cheaper, thanks HAL. I telephoned my TA in the morning and asked them to see what they could do. Around 5pm my TA called back and said that HAL had agreed to apply the sale price, including the OBC.  I was amazed, this does not usually happen in the U.K.

I am not a regular cruiser with HAL, the only experience I have with them is a 7 night Alaska cruise 20 years ago. The only reason I choose them this time is the itinerary which was much better than with Princess, NCL, RCL or Celebrity.

18 hours ago, KirkNC said:

They are usually around 18 months out in their published itinerary.

👍

10 hours ago, zelker said:

We were able to book the March-April 2023 Japan cruises on March 20, 2021 when they were first released.  Maybe they'll publish the late 2023 itineraries soon?

Zelker, 

Thank you. I haven’t sailed with HAL for about 20 years (Alaska), I am more familiar with Princess, Celebrity, NCL and P&O. Thinking about HAL this time because there itinerary look more interesting than the others. What made you choose HAL? Have you been to Japan before?

Any one know when HAL are likely to publish their Japan cruises for October 2023?

Thank you.

Worldtraveller99,

According to BA’s Book with confidence policy you can cancel a reservation and take a future travel voucher or amend your travel dates and destination. Have you considered doing this?

Worldtraveller99,

I booked the Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, Hyatt House, Anchorage and Coast Gateway, Seattle airport, all are chain hotels and they generally charge slightly more for a refundable rate. I am happy to pay more for the option of being able to cancel the reservation easily.
 

The hotel in Talkeetna has to be paid in full by the 14 July 2022. Denali hotel required a $35 non refundable deposit, 100% cancellation terms are 72 hours before check in. Palmer hotel required a first night deposit, 100% cancellation terms is 30 or more days prior to stay. Seward hotel required a first night deposit, 100% cancellation terms is 7 days prior to arrival. Verbo reservation (not Airbnb as previously stated), required a deposit and balance is to be paid by 31 July 2022. 100% refund if cancelled before 24 July 2022.

We are covered if we get Covid before travel and our policy is through our bank account, unfortunately they don’t sell the product any more. I think in the U.K. travel insurance businesses are updating their policies to include Covid. The can not keep excluding covid or they would go out of business.
 

I had spent a lot of time researching this trip and just didn’t want to cancel again, if I could help it.

I have rebooked for July 2022. Flights with BA, using an American Express, Companion Voucher. Princess cruise, Vancouver to Anchorage, booked with Trailfinders. 14 night Car hire with Alamo (now considerably more expensive) and seven different hotels, all my bookings are refundable, including 3 nights Airbnb in Girdwood.

26 minutes ago, hockey-man said:

Majestic Princess Deck 8 (Emerald) looks over the top of the lifeboats.

Really, from the picture I would not say they looked over the lifeboats, more like a view of the lifeboats. Thank you for your help hockey-man I think I will avoid those cabins.

 

On 9/24/2021 at 8:40 AM, hockey-man said:

We were just in D702– the forwardmost of aft “standard” balcony cabins. It was a wonderful cabin. Please keep these huge fwd and aft Dolphin balconies a secret!

 

I can not get my bearings. Can someone confirm which deck is directly in front of the lifeboats on the last photo?

7 hours ago, tonymc said:

Hi,

 

We have a cruise booked out of Sydney in February 2022 (already moved from this year!!). However, I cannot see us as UK residents being allowed to travel to Australia/New Zealand at that time either.

 

Unfortunately, the current Book with Confidence (as below) would only allow us to rebook up to the end of 2022, which would be of no use to ourselves as we could not travel until April 2023.

 

1. Do all countries and sailings qualify for Book with Confidence?
   Book with Confidence covers all markets and applies to cruises and cruisetours departing up to December 31, 2021 (departing up to April 30, 2022 for guests in Australia and New Zealand), excluding charters. Bookings must be made on or before September 30, 2021 (book by December 31, 2021 for guests in Australia and New Zealand), to qualify for the FCC which can be used on any cruise made by and sails by December 31, 2022.

 

I have tried calling and e-mailing Princess to see what options we would have to move to 2023, but without success. I need to know if they would be willing to allow us to change our dates to a 2023 cruise (already have one in mind) and move the deposit, would we have to pay a fee, or cancel and rebook and forfeit the not insignificant deposit?

 

The reason for needing to find this out now is that MSC are offering a discount for NHS staff for cruises up to April 2022, and if we aren't going to Australia, we would like to book a European cruise in 2022.

 

Any advice very much appreciated.

I am confused, have you spoken to Princess on the telephone? I have telephoned them twice in the last week and someone answered within about 10 minutes both times.

I feel your pain, we are due to sail on the Royal from Sydney in February 2022, don’t think it will happen.

14 hours ago, gvre said:

Our final payment is due August 1^st and looks like we will not be able to come to the UK on September 23^rd unless we quarantine for 10 days even though we are fully vaccinated

Also the cruise goes to France but it looks like anyone who travels there and returns to UK must quarantine?

Any Brits have an opinion if they will lift the quarantine for fully vaccinated US citizens coming to UK soon?

Thanks

I am due to sail on the Regal Princess , 30 September 2021 from Southampton and will probably cancel next week before final payment.

I don’t think the France issue will be resolved before final payment date, although I suspect it will be before the ship sails.

The plan to allow vaccinated people from abroad into the U.K. without having to quarantine is due to be announced soon. Reciprocal arrangements will take time to implement, particularly for the US. The EU is close to introducing a unified digital vaccine passport scheme, so they will probably be first.

I have noticed that there are many more cabins available on this cruise than last week which suggests people are cancelling.

Sorry I can’t be more positive.

Post pictures please.

I just spoke to Susie at Princess in the U.K., she apologised and advised me that the log-in problems had been caused by an unexpected IT glitch when they tried to merge two systems. Princess hope that the problem will be fixed in the next few days.

3 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Just tried to log in to my Princess account and got a notification congratulating me that I can now use the same login for the website as well as the Medallion App.

 

Problem is that now my login doesn't work. I haven't yet used the Medallion App. Tried a password reset and was told the reset was successful but I still can't log in!

 

Anybody else have this problem?

I have the same problem. 

11 hours ago, possum52 said:

Maybe, but there is no point having countries which will not allow international visitors on that green list. 

 

Leigh

Of course there is, what would Australia and New Zealand prefer - to be on the red list, that would make no sense at all.

The fact that Australia and New Zealand borders are closed is a separate issue and  the current restrictions are documented on the appropriate foreign travel advice section of www.GOV.UK. 

5 hours ago, Docker123 said:

The British govt has released a list of 12 green listed countries.  So once their lockdown is finished in a few weeks, their population (vaccinated, tested) will be allowed to travel to.

 

The list includes Australia and New Zealand, not USA.

 

I guess the probably should have asked our countries first.

 

It is up to the U.K. what countries appear on the green list. Australia and New Zealand fit the criteria so they are on the green list, the USA does not.

53 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, I quite agree about the impact on Princess $ revenue. 

The point I was making, is that for the UK consumer, there is an actual cost benefit. 

Not if you have already booked a cruise at the higher cost.

Also, I am not convinced about the US$ v GBP argument, exchange rates fluctuate all the time.

Reduced from £35 to £30 per day, per person. I have just spoken to Princess and asked them to reduce the cost of my cruise accordingly. The man I spoke to said he would have to speak to someone else as the cost was only reduced yesterday and he didn’t know what they were doing about it. He then advised me they can transfer the booking to the new fare but for my 7 night cruise it will cost me £100. So, I would be saving £70 but it would cost me £100. I knew what he was going to say next before he opened his mouth - “it’s in the Terms & Conditions”. Thank you Princess.

8 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Truth be told Astra Zenica might be better for older people especially if they have lot of underlying disorders. Pfizer vaccine can have some pretty strong side effects which for a person with average health is one day of feeling a bit crook but for someone with a lot of health problems could be one problem too many. The best way to distribute the vaccines should on a case by case basis but in the middle of a pandemic it is hard to be selective. Point is one should not look at Astra Zenica as inferior. It is different but it can also be the right one for the right circumstances🤗

Ilikeanswers, Well said. 
 

On 11/24/2020 at 9:47 PM, adstz said:

 

Here we are 2 days later and that particular cruise in on the cancelled list.

Mine was to be June 10, 2021, Ruby Princess, and it was cancelled too. (Had June 2020 booked for same cruise).

 

😒 

On 11/20/2020 at 8:41 PM, adkcruiser said:

Received an email from Princess this am indicating that our June 16th cruise (BTB) on the Coral Princess has been cancelled.😪

The title of your post is misleading, the Coral 16 June 2021 cruise has not been cancelled.....not yet anyway.

On 11/9/2020 at 7:52 PM, Table 6 UK said:

OK Everyone - many thanks for the replies, So this typical UK guys winter (February) thoughts about a distant, idyllic, tropical paradise may not be true? (although the web-site photos of the hotel that has been suggested to us by our possible travel agent looks superb) but it maybe not all it seems to be?

 

I looked on the Singapore Airlines web-site and they are not posting any relevant flights/stop overs at the present time due to Covide restrictions. Do they provide stop over hotels as well as flights?

 

Regarding the Cook Islands - is it true to say then, that they would be a better choice than Bali from the tropical paradise/beautiful beaches point of view maybe?

Are the flights times better than SYD-BALI or any more direct flying back to the U.K? 

 

Thanks again

K&A

 

I went to Bali about 10 years ago and loved it. So beautiful and interesting. Trust me, Bali is NOTHING like Spain. My opinion - go for it. 

On 9/6/2020 at 9:16 PM, IMSYDNEYAUS said:

Here is a copy of the programme release.  If you’re sailing Sydney to Auckland I’d suggest a cabin on the port side to get the best views, particularly between the sounds.  http://static.cdn.responsys.net/i2/responsysimages/content/princessau/200903_Brox_AU_LRC.pdf

The 2022 cruises in this brochure are not listed on the UK Princess web site. I also checked the web site of a well know US cruise travel agent and they are not listed there either.

Perhaps these cruises are only being sold to Australia and New Zealand residents. Also, are the prices in US$ or AUD$?

Is anyone able to clarify?

Thank you.

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

From what I've been reading on the Azamara board, the vaunted UK traveler protections haven't turned out to be worth much in this pandemic.  ABTA has waived enforcement to save the industry.  But in the US people who booked with Amex have had great success in disputing the charges.

I suggest you may want to do a little more research before making such a sweeping statement. The comments of a few people on Cruise Critic Azamara board is hardly a true picture of the situation.

ABTA has many responsibilities, although it’s main responsibility is to assist travellers  when a bonded travel company goes out of business, as in the case of Thomas Cook. There are also certain rules that it’s members have to abide by, including those relating to refunds.
 

We do have credit cards in the U.K. e.g. MasterCard, Visa, Amex and they give us similar protection to those afforded to US citizens. I know of several people locally who have received refunds, during the pandemic, via their credit card provider.

If a UK citizen believes they have been treated unfairly by a company during the pandemic, or at any time, they should report them to the CMA (Competition & Markets Authority), via the online form.