yorkshirephil

We have crossed the Atlantic many times west and eastwards. We have had everything from flat seas to force 12. You need to be good sailors or have an effective seasickness medication if the sea is rough. We crossed in Nov last year on the rescheduled Oceana cruise, we were scheduled to go to the Azores but due to storms in the north Atlantic we sailed south to Tenerife, the weather was warming up enough to sit out by day 2, the crossing was calm. Every effort will be made to sail around storms whenever possible.

We are only just starting to get back to something resembling normal, when the second wave comes we don't know how bad it could be, when the winter months come there could be a resurgence of Covid 19 whether mutated or not. There won't be a vaccine that is safe and effective by then, if ever. You are both already in high risk groups. Will your insurance cover you for Covid? Some of the measures the cruise lines are proposing could stop you getting on the ship if you had a raised temperature. Will the new cruise experience meet your needs. It is a big gamble, but only you can make the decision, I am sure a lot of the informative views already given will help you decide. Good luck whatever you decide.

We have been waiting since February for our refund. The travel agent said they couldn't pay us until MSC paid them, which is understandable. Now the travel agent; Ahoy cruises has gone bust. So will take it up with ATOL, hopefully we will get paid before they go bust.

The problem with vaccines is proving they are safe and effective, drugs take years to get to the market, there are fast track methods which I am sure will be implemented if a promising vaccine becomes available. However would you want to be a guinea pig just so you can cruise? I will wait a while and see what happens.

We like the Warner breaks, bit like cruising on land. However I wouldn't want a 35 night Warner break in winter. They are great for a short getaway. We went to Cyprus in March and had a great time, our first non cruise holiday for 10 years. I think we surprised ourselves. However we are still looking forward to cruising again but are happy to wait and see how things pan out.

We cancelled on Feb 20th. No sign of our refund, we just receive the usual blatant lies. That is the annoying thing, why lie, that may have worked for a couple of weeks but it is wearing a bit thin now.

Well done, when they get round to asking for the money back tell them it will take at least 90 days. See how they like it.

I have received emails stating anything from 10 days (March) to 120 days (this week), our cruise was cancelled in Feb. You would think that at least the staff would have a basic story rather than make it up as they go along. I wouldn't believe a word they say, the chickens will come home to roost.

You may be right Richard, initially I was annoyed by the TA who lied through their teeth, in and among the typical rubbish they have been putting out. I did send a registered letter stating I was applying to the small claims court if they did not inform me as to what steps they would take in answer to my letter. I then got an email with a veiled threat; stating that if they went bust I would have to wait even longer (what even longer means is any bodies guess), which may be true. So I have decided to sit back and wait.

I didn't mean to imply I was not going to request a refund or FCC. The money was spent by so I am actually no worse off financially, in fact I am better off as I haven't had to spend on trips and onboard. I just know whichever route I take it will take time.

You could try, I tried several weeks ago, basically told that as the cruise line had not actually refused to give me a refund and were effectively trying to help (ha ha) that I didn't qualify under reg 75. In reality I think banks insurers and cruise lines and TA's are struggling to keep up and whichever route you take will take time., they may have to eventually as I am sure all cruise lines won't survive to fight another day sadly. No body wants to accept responsibility, in fairness I don't think the banks and insurers should be bailing the cruise industry out. I have decided to sit it out and see what happens as it is not worth getting het up about, even though we are several grand down. In my opinion health comes first and we had in effect written the money off.

Not everyone will get this: The husband of a lately departed Yorkshire lady asked for her headstone to be engraved with the words "Lord, she were Thine". When the headstone was delivered it read "Lord, she were thin". "You have forgotten the "E"" said the distraught husband, and the offending stone was removed and returned a few days later, this time reading "E Lord, she were thin"!

I would imagine that FCC will be extended at some point in the future. We have several thousand pounds with MSC that we will not be able to use before the current deadline, so either they extend or give us a refund.

My TA is making even worse excuses for not returning monies, the last one being a veiled threat that if I went to the small claims court and they went bust I would have even longer to wait. My cruise was cancelled in February and I am told no chance of a refund till August/September. I am sure this will be extended once we near that time. It is not in the interest of the TA to get money back from the cruise line as they would lose their commission.