Final payment due tomorrow....WWYD?

[Kfrech]

Sailing to Alaska, round trip out of Vancouver in mid-June. We have not purchased CFAR insurance (but did purchase other insurance) because quite frankly, we would only cancel for sickness, etc.

 

I am not an alarmist in any way; however, I'd hate to be stranded on a ship for 2 weeks or denied entry to any port.

 

Any downside to canceling now and rebooking when (if) things settle down (aside from losing our aft balcony)?

 

We are in our late 50s, very good health and less concerned about actually getting the virus than being quarantined. Since we are not frequent cruisers, I'm looking for advice from seasoned experts.

 

I realize the decision is ours alone and know the likelihood of getting the flu, etc. is considerably greater (I'm a 3rd grade teacher--I know about contagious illnesses); just looking for opinions.

[cwtravel]

I would not do a final payment now for a mid-June sailing, to any destination, even if I fully intended to go unless I purchased the air already. Chances are good you can still book in the next few weeks or longer and prices might go down. There is quite a bit of capacity in Alaska this year.

 

 

[mrmoviezombie]

We are cruising Europe in June this year. Like you, final payment is around the corner, still watching, but the plan as of right now is to buy the HAL premium insurance. It's CFAR and thus covers COVID19 at 90%. Most of the standard non-CFAR insurances exclude most of the possible COVID19 effects.

 

See https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/coverage-alerts/2019-novel-coronavirus.htm

"Many travel protection plans exclude losses caused directly or indirectly by an Epidemic. "

"the Coronavirus became a known event on January 22, 2020. Travel protection plans generally exclude losses caused by events that were known or foreseeable at the time the plan is purchased."

 

[Kfrech]

We have already purchased airfare in and out of Vancouver, with insurance that will only cover trip interruption, cancellation, due to sickness, etc. Worse case scenario, we'll spend time in Vancouver, Seattle, etc.

 

I am going to look into CFAR insurance at this point. I purchased our insurance through a 3rd party and am wondering if I'll be able to add it on at this point.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am not sure why your final payment is due about 100 - 105 days from sailing.  We never had to make final payment until 75 days from sailing.

 

Anyway -- I would not cancel.

[AlanF65]

39 minutes ago, Kfrech said:

Sailing to Alaska, round trip out of Vancouver in mid-June. We have not purchased CFAR insurance (but did purchase other insurance) because quite frankly, we would only cancel for sickness, etc.

 

I am not an alarmist in any way; however, I'd hate to be stranded on a ship for 2 weeks or denied entry to any port.

 

Any downside to canceling now and rebooking when (if) things settle down (aside from losing our aft balcony)?

 

We are in our late 50s, very good health and less concerned about actually getting the virus than being quarantined. Since we are not frequent cruisers, I'm looking for advice from seasoned experts.

 

I realize the decision is ours alone and know the likelihood of getting the flu, etc. is considerably greater (I'm a 3rd grade teacher--I know about contagious illnesses); just looking for opinions.

I had to make this decision about 10 days ago. I looked at  where the ship would be before the cruise and what ports it was in before  coming to San Diego, its about 33 days from leaving Auckland until it arrives in San Diego.

then doing 2 trips US to Mexico, then a 7 day up the US coast stopping in major cities, then on to Vancouver. Then a 14 day to Alaska before my voyage.

 

I decided that if something arose the ship would be blocked in San Diego, SF or Vancouver.  Once we leave Vancouver we are in the US for 11 days and then back to Canada. I feel a lot better about getting stuck in Canada or the US as a worse case scenario.

I am self insuring along with CSR credit card so I have everything but CFAR.

 

Flights are cheaper for me and I will book about 2-3 weeks out so I went ahead and paid but I did wait until the last day to pay the balance due.

 

They will be looking to fill the boat if there are a lot of cancellations so you could actually re-fare later at a lower cost if you are willing to take the risk. If I was retired I would be buying last minute.

 

I have a another cruise to Alaska in September that I may cancel later if things do get worse or will keep if my mid May gets cancelled but right now I am planning on doing both this year.

 

 

[Kfrech]

Just got off the phone with HAL. Although we transferred the cruise to another TA, we are able to buy CFAR insurance through them. We will be buying the Platinum protection ($279 per person). We have until 3/13 to do this for our 6/13 cruise. The big box TA requires full payment by 3/1. This puts my mind very much at ease.

 

The third party insurance is refundable prior to our scheduled departure date, so I will cancel that immediately. I'll use the AMEX offer ($100 off of $500) to make the insurance purchase--very little additional expense for peace of mind.

[kazu]

If you are outside of final payment, I would be tempted to cancel and rebook when I had a level of comfort.

We are past that as our final payment came before this turned into what it is.  Now we are just watching and waiting and hoping airlines will be kind if it's not do-able.

Even if you have non refundable air fare,  you can keep it in place and just cancel your cruise.  The odds of it selling out are slim IMO but you never know.

[kwb101]

55 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

I am not sure why your final payment is due about 100 - 105 days from sailing.  We never had to make final payment until 75 days from sailing.

Our big-box TA always has final payment 90+ days out. We're booked for a voyage leaving mid-June, and the final payment is due next week. 

I think the payment's due so early because the TA wants to make absolutely certain that the payment goes through before HAL's deadline. 

[SusieKIslandGirl]

We have a cruise from Vancouver to Alaska scheduled for May 9 with a flight from Seattle to Vancouver. I just asked my DH is he has any concerns about going-I don't and he said he didn't either. Of course we're retired so a 14 day extension wouldn't be a problem for us. The only problem would be for the neighbor who would have to continue feeding the cat.

[Oakman58]

28 minutes ago, Kfrech said:

Just got off the phone with HAL. Although we transferred the cruise to another TA, we are able to buy CFAR insurance through them. We will be buying the Platinum protection ($279 per person). We have until 3/13 to do this for our 6/13 cruise. The big box TA requires full payment by 3/1. This puts my mind very much at ease.

 

The third party insurance is refundable prior to our scheduled departure date, so I will cancel that immediately. I'll use the AMEX offer ($100 off of $500) to make the insurance purchase--very little additional expense for peace of mind.

 

I think you took the right course of action.  This way you will be able to keep your aft balcony.

[Kfrech]

I am pleased about that too. I did consider canceling, but than would lose out on the great perks that came with booking the Explorer 4 promotion.