kevinyork

2 minutes ago, vwgolf said:

They are probably still hoping under 70s with health issues will cancel and claim via their insurance. This will leave only the healthy under 70s (of which I am one, fortunately) to pay out for if they do cancel.

Yes probably.  I called my insurer earlier and their message when you ring already says if you are ringing regarding travelling against FCO advice then you must contact your holiday provider to arrange a cancellation or change or trip.  

4 minutes ago, vwgolf said:

That's how I read it. Marella are getting there slowly and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before this is extended. After all, a good portion of cruise passengers are over 70 and at this rate the ship will be less than half full. How long before economics kick in and say it's cheaper not to set sale?

Yes I think they slowly getting there, but deliberately slowly.   To cancel all cruises At once and refund would be a massive cash flow issue for them.

4 minutes ago, jono75 said:

My wife and I are on blood pressure medication, I wonder if that counts, we're in out 40s.

Yes me too and other half is type two diabetic.  

I see there is updated travel advice on their website referring to the latest FCO advice. Their website states-

For Marella customers due to travel who are aged 70 or over
We are aware of the Government advice not to travel on a cruise if you are aged 70 or over before the end of April. Customers have the option to cancel and receive a full refund or amend to any other TUI holiday currently on sale. Customers who manage to rebook onto an alternative cruise will receive a discount of £200 per adult and £100 per child.

So this only refer to those over 70 however the FCO advice says-

British nationals aged 70 and over, and those with underlying health conditions such as chronic diseases and diabetes

Note the and.......which makes the latter applicable to anyone with chronic conditions.  I have high blood pressure and my partner has diabetes so it would seem we are in this group.

Am I looking at this correctly?

9 minutes ago, jono75 said:

Good that they were speedy with your refund.

 

Does anyone know when Madeira is expected to re-open to cruise ships, been Googling and can't see a date, perhaps they haven't set one.  I really wanted to do that port

I can’t see any of the ports that have closed, or close shortly, reopening for several months.  The dates some have given will get extended.  
 

I see Tui/Marella websites don’t even mention the recent cancellations, just the Asia ones.  Are they trying to downplay it or just inept at updating their travel advice section?

Here in the UK from today the Government have announced that over 70s with an underlying condition (be pretty lucky to be over 70 and not have at least one) should not cruise.  Some lines are automatically refunding based on this but as it’s government advice most travel insurance policies would kick in and pay out now.

3 minutes ago, jono75 said:

I guess some are cancelling anyway before now, perhaps it will become uneconomical to run the ships.  This is Tui, profit first, when that happens they may do what P&O and others have.

They are hanging on till the last. Unfortunately this is what big business becomes. All about shareholders and profits and zero regard for customers. We are just £ to them and they will do their damn best to protect the first two.  Their true colours have been displayed recently.  

They are literally waiting till the very last minute when a country closes its borders to make announcements when we are in the middle of a pandemic. No country wants a ship load of possibly infected people to deal with yet Marella happily cruise on obliviously.

15 minutes ago, jono mono said:

Should be able to say what you think on this forum ,so like I said yesterday "stuff Marella facebook  group" I'll continue to say what I THINK !!

Definitely.  We will see which cruise companies rise from the ashes of this virus the quickest. 

1 hour ago, oscarshep said:

It`s absolutely now a case of `who blinks first`.

We love Marella but this indecision is not going down too well with us and everyone else on this forum. None of us are in any doubt that it`s all about the money and Marella is in the business of turning a profit first and foremost. In the unlikely event, and it is a stretch of optimism indeed, that all this calms down in a few weeks Marella will be vindicated. I don`t want to have any bad feelings for Marella but I do think they need to make a call on this now. Going by what people are saying here nobody is going to cancel their cruises and lose out and surely Marella have some sort of insurance of their own to ease the losses they will have to deal with.

What a great post.  If you had said that on a Marella Facebook group you would have been crucified by now but I’m happy this forum has more sensible members.  You are entirely right. Marella are the Nero playing whilst Rome burns. We all know they should now be saying “ we want to protect our passengers and crew so are cancelling our cruises” but instead are indicating. “We want to protect our profits”. 

29 minutes ago, jono75 said:

Damn, no Medeira then, a port I was really looking forward to.   

 

Come on then now Tui / Marella, how much longer can you put your head in the sand.  Do what P&O have done and a lot of bad feeling will go away.

I think we are all banging our heads against a brick wall.  Marella have their headphones on playing “la la la”. 

2 hours ago, Pentlands said:

Yes they have staedfastly con tinued saying we are going cruising, would not acknowledge that some passengers are frightened for themselves and their relatives. FO missed some real goodwill by doing the same as Celebrity and others and offering FCC or even some OBS if one does want to continue.

They’ve been the same as Marella who are coming under pressure on social media for their “everything is fine” position.

1 minute ago, jono75 said:

Probably a more reliable source that the Tui operator I spoke to the other day.  

 

Interesting development, I don't know if it's just me but things seem to be picking up pace today with the virus and the responses (discounting Trump).

and three cruise lines cancelling cruises, and an infected British ship in the caribbean.

5 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

Just quoting someone from another thread ...not sure of the source (we are booked through Sunwing as well but have not heard yet) ..but if it is true the gates to rebooking appear to opening at least for Canadians ..

 

""

UPDATE TODAY: Some good news for Canadians booked with Sunwing.

They will apply Sunwing’s Future Cruise Credit Policy March 17 – April 14, 2020

 

Marella Cruises: Cancel your Sunwing cruise vacation package 48 hours prior to departure and receive Sunwing’s future cruise travel voucher, valid for any Marella Cruise future cruise booking with Sunwing Vacations, departing on or before April 13, 2021.

 

Cancellations will be allowed for applicable sailing dates from March 17 – April 14, 2020

Sunwing Vacations will issue Sunwing Future Cruise Certificates (equal to the value of their booking) to customers wanting to cancel during this time frame.

I’m guessing as the Canadian official advice is not to cruise then this has left them no choice. That’s what Marella UK are hoping for here I’m sure so people claim off their travel insurance.

46 minutes ago, vwgolf said:

 

 Is anyone else checking their inbox every ten minutes to see if there's an email from Marella saying their cruise is cancelled?!

No I’m not as I don’t believe they are that organised or on top of it.  Pretty sure I’ll find out on Facebook or here first.    All UAE ports closed to cruise ships yet TUI say our cruise next month around there is still happening.  Delay tactics me thinks.

6 minutes ago, nancyneptune said:

 

As have Viking River and Ocean Cruises.

 

My cousin and his wife and family were booked to travel soon with P & O . They have been given the option to change to a later date with no penalty or if they chose to travel will receive extra OBC.

 

My brother, his wife and elderly mother-in -law are due to sail on Marella Explorer in April with three ports in Italy.  We all know that all of Italy is now in lock-down but they have heard absolutely nothing at all from Marella informing them of a change of ports. 

They are very worried as the elderly lady has underlying health problems. This was her first cruise and she is feeling very stressed about the whole thing instead of looking forward to it.

 

Marella state on their website they will keep customers informed of any changes. They are not doing that. The lack of information is shocking and they are still advertising this cruise with three ports in Italy in spite of the FCO statement regarding travel to Italy.

 

 

 

 

 

Their communication on this is woeful.  They just put up a notice today re their River Cruises.  Thought it would be to say they are cancelling them but no just the same pre boarding questions they had for their cruises.  Appalling.  

21 minutes ago, vwgolf said:

We very nearly booked a Carnival cruise from Miami over Easter but went for the Discovery 2 cruise to the Caribbean instead. I'm beginning to wish we hadn't changed our mind as at least we'd know where we stood.

I agree.  Marella are now going to look mercenary if they don’t take some action very soon.  

1 hour ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Yes you are correct, wording is totally different with no mention of pandemic😠

But it does say if you had the policy in place before 31/10/19 you can effectively get cover under the old or new terms, whichever suit you best.

Just now, shot2bits said:

Thing is, they probably  realise a lot of people are considering cancelling and losing their deposits. The longer they ‘delay the inevitable’ the more money for nothing they get.

Totally agree and not just loosing deposits but full balances for upcoming cruises.  They are waiting for a “do not travel/cruise” announcement so people claim on their insurance rather than them cancelling. I think they are putting people at risk rather than hurting their profits.  I’m getting shot down on Facebook groups for saying this an people on their seem to be totally blinkered to what is going on.

Fred Olsens Braemar has five confirmed cases onboard and has been denied docking to end its cruise in Barbados.  Marella are under huge pressure to act now rather than just waiting for the inevitable. 

14 hours ago, tring said:

I also think all cruising should be suspended as there is no point in large numbers of people sailing to port after port infecting others and picking up more infection.  The virus is now in the open society and will be transmitted.

 

I am convinced the cruise companies are waiting to be told that cruises cannot continue by the WHO or various governments.  Insurance policies will pay up if the WHO or organisations such as the FCO in the UK advise against travel.  If the cruise companies pull the cruises themselves, they will be obliged to refund all passengers, which is the crunch.

I think you are spot on. Marella are doing the head in the sand game at the moment saying there are no issues onboard any ship and all sailings are going ahead (except Discovery in Asia). They don’t want to cancel and refund themselves and if the “do not travel/cruise” notice is issued by the FCO people will claim on their insurance, Marella keep their money.

1 hour ago, Southendweather said:

looks like Discovery is at Koh Samui today.

Yes someone onboard posted on Facebook to say they are being flown home tomorrow and Saturday.  Hope they know about the NHS advice re Coronavirus since they visited Singapore the other day.

7 hours ago, Vitalsign said:

There were changes to the policy Nov 2019 so check the date of your policy booklet

I've currently only got the amended policy changes so going to check on Nationwide site

This pages links to the prep and post Nov 19 policies and I can’t see it in either. It does say if you have the insurance in place before Nov 19 then cover under either policy applies, i.e. whichever suits you best. 

Just seen on the RCI board that Jewel of the seas which started its middle east to Europe amended repositioning cruise headed out from Dubai but ended back there last night as Abu Dhabi and Sri Bani Yas closed their ports to cruise ships.  They are cancelling the cruise due to an absence of ports to call at. Unfortunately they have two ill people who have been quarantined and being tested.  Hope neither are positive or this is going to be Diamond/Grand Princess all over again.

Just can’t imagine Tui are going to try and restart Discovery’s cruises from 9th April from Dubai. Hope they decide soon.

1 hour ago, helengp said:

Davecttr.....I really hope the passengers are not all British! How dull would that be! I have only done 1 cruise before...a Greek line....and the best part was the huge multinational mix of people we met on board.....fascinating. Americans, Canadians, Greek, Mexicans, Brazilians, Spanish, Irish, Australians, Italians, Chinese.....I could go on. Actually very few British. I am sure there will be at least some Italians. 🤞

Yes overwhelmingly British, sorry.  A few Irish, occasional ex pat Aussie and apparently some Canadians in the Caribbean but otherwise Brits all the way.