The Italy Catch-22

[Bruin Steve]

I'm trying to just keep cool, play wait and see, etc...BUT, with final payment due in less than a month...and with flight reservations through Celebrity Air, we've got back-to-back cruises in July from Italy--Rome to Venice and Venice to Rome...

 

Celebrity extended the final payments for earlier cruises--but not yet for July.

 

We don't know, therefore, whether the cruises are on or off...or if the itineraries will be changed r remain the same...So, we're sort of waiting to see what shakes out...and I guess so is Celebrity...

 

I saw the new notices today...and this is interesting.  They say, in part:

"We have also increased secondary health screening requirements. The following guests will need to undergo extra screenings at the cruise terminal: 

• Any person who is uncertain about contact with individuals who have traveled in the 15 days prior to embarkation to, from, or through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Japan, or Thailand."

So, basically, you can't go to Italy and you can't even be in contact with anyone who's been to Italy...But, wait a second:  These cruises both embark and disembark in Italy!  So, assuming these cruises are a go, isn't EVERYBODY going to have to have both been in Italy AND been in contact with people who have been in Italy???  Sort of hard to avoid that!

 

Okay, we also have flight reservations that we made some time ago (at a considerably lower rate than what is available today) to fly into MILAN, 10 days before the first cruise.  I am assuming that, if the cruise remains a go, either 1)  It could be a bad idea to fly into Milan--since Northern Italy is where the numbers are...But, OTOH, the cruises each end or start in Venice...so, if they were still on? 2)  It could be a bad idea to spend a long pre-cruise in Italy?  If they do cruise out of Italy, should they tell everyone to fly in, be in minimal contact with people as possible and just go airport to ship?

 

Of course, in the meanwhile, I've got to worry whether the cruise is on or not...whether I can fly into Milan...or change to FCO...and, if so, would I be just messing with my reservations for nothing?  And, assuming we have to do the final payment, we are supposed to pay for the Flights by Celebrity as well...Will they even complete the booking to Milan?  Or, if they later cancel everything, are we stuck with the air flights anyway?

 

Hoping things change and everything is cleared up...but, right now, they're about to ask for final payment and airfare from thousands of people into a country they are also telling us not to go to or even be in contact with people who have been there!

[Hllb]

If we end up on that cruise, we need some serious drinks 😷

 

still hoping they push final payment out. 

[clojacks]

Just saw on another thread, that the Constellation sailing from Dubai on April 1 to Rome, has been changed to disembarking in Barcelona.... That could be the start of moving ships from Civi...

[Bruin Steve]

I am sure they are waiting...and hoping along with us...

It would be a nightmare to have to move an entire season's worth of cruises to new itineraries on short notice.  They'd have a whole lot of cancellations, ships they can't fill in that short a time...and more.  They'd probably like to reach a comfort level that the numbers are small enough (even though they are higher than most places, it's not like China--90% of all reported cases are in China) and they can control the risk by "examining" everyone at the port and turning away any that look to have the virus...If that's the case, most will be okay...

If they turn away anyone who's been to Lombardy or Veneto--then they'd also have to move the ship out of Venice to an alternative port--that's the catch-22--you can't cruise out of Venice and say you won't board anyone who's been to Venice!

 

If Venice (but not the rest of Italy) isn't cleared, I have a somewhat simple answer for them:  Move the end point of the July 5 cruise and the start of the July 12 cruise to Bari...You could leave the rest of both itineraries in tact...maybe add Dubrovnik or Ravenna on what would have been the extra day in Venice...You'd probably have to have everyone fly in or out of Naples or Rome instead of Venice...and bus them across the peninsula.

[cruiserchuck]

If the virus continues to spread, it is going to be all over Europe soon.  So I doubt Barcelona will be safe but Rome not safe to travel to.   

[Pushka]

Our cruise in July is from Rome return. We have non refundable flights and hotels booked. The cruise pretty much is 80% Italy and chosen for that very reason. We do not want to do a Western Med cruise itinerary covering those ports of Barcelona and likely France. They have no interest for us. If Celebrity drastically changes our itinerary then we will need to look at our options with regard to consumer protection as that product will be substantially different from what we booked. If we had wanted a western med cruise then we would have booked that at the get-go. We have cruised the Croatian Coast extensively and specifically avoided those cruises that went there. 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Pushka

[Retty2Go]

22 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

and they can control the risk by "examining" everyone at the port and turning away any that look to have the virus

"Look." If everyone who has the virus looked as if they had it, there wouldn't be a pandemic, would there?

[Bruin Steve]

21 minutes ago, clojacks said:

Just saw on another thread, that the Constellation sailing from Dubai on April 1 to Rome, has been changed to disembarking in Barcelona.... That could be the start of moving ships from Civi...

 

Of course, there is a big difference here...There never was an April 16 cruise on Constellation...That is the hole in the schedule where it goes into drydock for its "Edgification"--in CADIZ, Spain...So, heading to Barcelona instead of Rome actually makes sense...it is just a minor adjustment in the schedule...They don't have to mess with any other ports and they are only dealing with those passengers on that April 1 sailing--they don't even have to worry about the next sailing which isn't until MAY 25...

[tomcruiser1234]

Just gotta wait

 

Who knows, the warm weather may slow things down.

[Hllb]

18 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Our cruise in July is from Rome return. We have non refundable flights and hotels booked. The cruise pretty much is 80% Italy and chosen for that very reason. We do not want to do a Western Med cruise itinerary covering those ports of Barcelona and likely France. They have no interest for us. If Celebrity drastically changes our itinerary then we will need to look at our options with regard to consumer protection as that product will be substantially different from what we booked. If we had wanted a western med cruise then we would have booked that at the get-go. We have cruised the Croatian Coast extensively and specifically avoided those cruises that went there. 

the cruise they just changed disembarkation to Barcelona had decent options offered. One was a full future cruise credit and $500 per person for flight change fees. Seems pretty fair in bad circumstances.

[Denny01]

On 02 March, the Silverseas website Health Advisory, which before was the same as Celebrity and RCL being under that company umbrella, was updated and instead of listing the 3 northern Italian regions, listed ‘Italy’ as a no-visit prior. we cruise out of Rome on Silverseas in April so we started having our TA and what was to be done. the Reps she talked to had no idea there was a restriction on all of Italy, and were going to check. Then a day later, the Silverseas website was changed back to listing the 3 nothern regions again. 

 

Now Celebrity and RCL is listing ‘Italy’ as a whole and Silverseas is listing the northern Italian regions. 

 

Ths should be interesting on how it all works out. I’m just sitting back waiting to see how this all works out: The cruise is canceled, or itinerary is changed or whatever. 

 

Den

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Just gotta wait

 

Who knows, the warm weather may slow things down.

We are in summer mode in Australia and it's just starting to kick in. I don't think the warm weather is going to be the saviour. 

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, Hllb said:

the cruise they just changed disembarkation to Barcelona had decent options offered. One was a full future cruise credit and $500 per person for flight change fees. Seems pretty fair in bad circumstances.

Do you know what would the expiry date be? We already have our cruises planned up to December 2021. And that refund doesn't cover any changes we'd have to make to be in Rome prior and post cruise. 

[waterbug123]

My prediction:  Eventually the media hype will die down.  Other things will happen that garner the front page headlines, so to speak.  At the same time, people/companies/governments will realize that it isn't practical to keep such massive "shutdowns" going on and on and on, for what amounts to a rather minor illness for most people who get it.  And as these two things occur, things will gradually return to normal, with everyone waking up one day and thinking, "whatever happened with the whole corona virus thing?" after realizing they can't really recall when they heard any big news about it.   I could be wrong, and obviously no one knows for sure.  But this is my guess, based on past events, understanding what drives the media and the response to it, human nature and so forth.

[hcat]

Those  who have cruises coming up and final payments due soon, (plus airline and hotel res), need to make their decisions  based on present status,  and everything seems quite uncertain.  We'd cut our losses if we were in such a position... but happily we are not.  

 

Our upcoming May cruise on Summit is paid for.. but we have  no air or hotel res to deal with if the cruise is cancelled...We just have to see what happens

 

 We'd love to visit Newport,  Bermuda and Charleston, but would not want to sit on a ship off the U.S East Coast for 10 days,  if ports decide to close! Hoping for the best for all!

[upwarduk]

9 hours ago, clojacks said:

Just saw on another thread, that the Constellation sailing from Dubai on April 1 to Rome, has been changed to disembarking in Barcelona.... That could be the start of moving ships from Civi...

Our Aug 1st cruise on Silhouette  visits 4 Italian ports, or was scheduled to, as per itinerary. 

As the Apex naming ceremony has been postponed, it makes me wonder if the TA’s will also be postponed?

Edited March 6, 2020 by upwarduk

[Cat4158]

We’re due to cruise out of Venice on June 4th and I’ve just received a ‘polite’ reminder about final payment. As all but one of the ports are in Italy I’m at a loss to see how this cruise is going to happen unless the current restrictions are removed. I’m not sure how a FCC works. Can it be used to pay off existing bookings (I have a cruise booked for 2021) or does it have to be for new bookings? 

[dani negreanu]

11 minutes ago, Cat4158 said:

Can it be used to pay off existing bookings

 

Yes.

[Cat4158]

That’s good news. Thanks for your advice. I have a further question. On the upcoming cruise in June I have paid for my parents to travel with us as a diamond anniversary gift. If I organise a different gift for them can I use their FCC voucher to pay off my future cruise too? 

[Hllb]

8 hours ago, Pushka said:

Do you know what would the expiry date be? We already have our cruises planned up to December 2021. And that refund doesn't cover any changes we'd have to make to be in Rome prior and post cruise. 

Not positive, but I believe you have 1 year from date of issue to book something.  Someone on the forum said you could book it much further out though.  If your other cruises are with Celebrity, someone said you could apply the credit to those.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Cat4158 said:

We’re due to cruise out of Venice on June 4th and I’ve just received a ‘polite’ reminder about final payment. As all but one of the ports are in Italy I’m at a loss to see how this cruise is going to happen unless the current restrictions are removed. I’m not sure how a FCC works. Can it be used to pay off existing bookings (I have a cruise booked for 2021) or does it have to be for new bookings? 

My understanding from reading one thread  on CC.. is that you can  use it to fully pay another cruise,   but that might be a risk too unless you are 100 sure about taking the 2021 cruise..  i'd take the future cruise credit...maybe?

Edited March 6, 2020 by hcat

[tonyinoc]

If they cancel your cruise  you should get a full cash refund ? why would they not offer that ? what if you dont want credit do you have an option? 

[Hllb]

14 minutes ago, tonyinoc said:

If they cancel your cruise  you should get a full cash refund ? why would they not offer that ? what if you dont want credit do you have an option? 

Unless they cancel the cruise, you aren't entitled to any amount of money or cruise credit, after final payment. If they cancel it, they typically do give full refunds.

[helen haywood]

See the reports on the Boards that Celebrity is now offering FCCs and cancellation at 48 hours prior to sailing.

[GastroGnome]

4 minutes ago, Hllb said:

Unless they cancel the cruise, you aren't entitled to any amount of money or cruise credit, after final payment. If they cancel it, they typically do give full refunds

 

RCCL have just announced a policy to cancel for any reason up to 48 hours before and receive a full refund as FCC.

 

OOps - sorry cross posted!

Edited March 6, 2020 by GastroGnome