Princess pauses all cruises for 60 days.

[sikegrad]

20 minutes ago, ashmo8 said:

We are definitely cancelling our 4/5 trip. But we are waiting for the actual cancellation.. We paid alot of money for our cruise during spring break at suite level. I don't want that FCC, I would rather a cash refund.

I'm in the same situation as well, and would rather get the refund instead of the FCC.  I would hate to be one of those who cancelled early but only to find out your sailing was cancelled and you could have gotten a refund.

[Hoopster95]

Seattle cancelled ships coming into port their first two calls for the Alaska season (in early April) late yesterday. Vancouver and Canada as a whole has begun talks yesterday of "postponing" the beginning of the cruise season. If Vancouver & Seattle shuts down (along with California) it means Alaska season and many ships are in major limbo.

 

With the NBA shutting down last night, I think that's all North America needed (ie. a Hollywood celebrity, a young super fit major sports celeb in perfect health at the height of their profession in a huge stadium, etc) to really begin the talks of shutting down many things here in North America. Take a look at some recent Italy photos of Venice for example. With WHO now officially calling this a pandemic, it will not be taken lightly whatsoever by any government.

 

The next week will be tell tale... depending on the escalation of this virus, I think we are very close to seeing major announcements  here in Canada and US regarding not only cruising but many other things. If I were betting in Vegas, I would bet that all cruise lines will be suspended soon, with various other travel being "regulated" so to speak.

[Wilda]

Since the travel ban on European flights, this is also going to impact the number of people unable to get to the ships to cruise. I foresee RCI canceling as well.  I hope so; we have a Celebrity cruise on May 2 out of San Juan and would prefer a refund rather than a FCC.

[livylotte]

I haven't made final payment for any of my cruises but all the same I have paid deposits and that is still a significant amount of money for me and I would rather have that money back than FCC's.   I won't cancel because in the UK deposits are non refundable.  If RC cancel I will get a refund.  If the ships I'm booked on don't make it across the Atlantic then RC will have no option but to cancel. 

 

Enough about me.  Please stay safe everyone and lets hope this horrible virus self destructs and vanishes of the face of the earth soon.  

[bb24]

My parents were booked on the Island Princess out of Fort Lauderdale to the Panama Canal on the  27th...they were just notified this morning of the cancellation.  They are both over 70 and we were all a little worried with all the Princess issues.  They are getting a full refund as well as a 50% discount on a future sailing...which was enough to make they happy.  I think they were a little relieved.  They had considered cancelling anyway.  

[katkiker]

Our 5 day on brilliance leaves on Monday out of Tampa. I hate this uncertainty. 

[SCMODJO]

3 minutes ago, katkiker said:

Our 5 day on brilliance leaves on Monday out of Tampa. I hate this uncertainty. 

Us as well...we have been trying to cancel with cruise.com with no luck getting through. Spoke with RC and they said they can’t help us...we have to cancel through cruise.com. Nervous she will sail before I get through. What happens then??

[GA Dave]

Based on this analysis, they should all shut down.

 

Coronavirus: Act Today

[2yves]

We are down to the last two weeks before we leave for our cruise.  This should be a time of pre cruise anticipation and excitement.  Normally, I would have taken out the suitcases and started going through my summer clothes, buying a few more pieces and started packing.  But this whole coronavirus stress has put a damper on our vacation experience. 

I am looking forward to hopefully getting 100% of my money back as I don't like being locked into an agreement with restrictions.  RCL must know that the majority of us do intend on cruising again with them so they are not going to lose us customers.

[wdwfan07]

We"re booked on the Empress leaving next Saturday the 21st.  Waiting to see what happens.  

 

[ashmo8]

Maryland just closed its cruise port.

[Iamcruzin]

7 hours ago, Sherri914 said:

I noticed Princess is suspended, but not their parent company, Carnival.    Viking has done the same thing.  Do they both concentrate primarily (sailing) out of Europe?  

 Princess sails Alaska during the summer and usually keeps one ship in the Caribbean. The rest of the east coast ships go on to Europe for the summer. 

[icsys]

7 hours ago, S904 said:

I’m waiting for royal to suspend. Hopefully they offer similar to Viking. Cash refund or 125% FCC

 

I doubt it. RCI are happy for you to just cancel and receive a 100% FCC. No additional compensation or incentives to keep your original booking.

 

Some are offering OBC and now I hear that Carnival are offering up to $200 in free drinks, excursion, and spa treatments to keep concerned guests from cancelling.

 

Full details of all cruiseline cancelation policies can be found here

Edited March 12, 2020 by icsys

[heatherb1958]

I expect there will be a similar announcement to Princess’s soon. 
It is the beginning of Transatlantic season, Allure being the first arriving in Barcelona tomorrow followed immediately by a drydock ,yes I have seen the Spanish news but dispensation is being given to disembarking ships, we’ll see.

Historically there are always large crew changeovers before and after repo cruises, a lot of those crew are either stuck in their own countries, denied travel to other countries or the flights are already cancelled anyway. 
It would be much easier to just cancel all ships for a few weeks then start a fresh when hopefully this nightmare of 2020 is over.