Alaska cruises

[CruiseLibra]

21 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Seattle  is currently the center of Corona.... I would not  expect it to remain open next week...let alone this summer... The city is under severe closures of schools, activities and about everything else.. The last thing the want is a flock of tourists from all over arriving any time soon.

 

I agree totally. I think Seattle will be very careful and avoid cruise dockings until all of this is well behind us.

[floatplan]

1 hour ago, Hawaiidan said:

Seattle  is currently the center of Corona.... I would not  expect it to remain open next week...let alone this summer... The city is under severe closures of schools, activities and about everything else.. The last thing the want is a flock of tourists from all over arriving any time soon.

 

Likely.. Obvious... but SPECULATION and of little use on this topic

 

For those here wondering if their Alaska will happen, if it will be cancelled by O and they get a credit,  it would be significant news that the Port of Seattle announced it was closed until July. I did Not see that when I read the posted link. Did you? Did you read it? Will someone else read it?

 

For Seattle the summer cruises must provide significant revenues, and they know if they close they hurt the Alaska ports. So I'm not sure they will be in a big hurry to close. The next move might be to cancel just the May cruises

Edited March 15, 2020 by floatplan

[wripro]

23 minutes ago, floatplan said:

 

Likely.. Obvious... but SPECULATION and of little use on this topic

 

For those here wondering if their Alaska will happen, if it will be cancelled by O and they get a credit,  it would be significant news that the Port of Seattle announced it was closed until July. I did Not see that when I read the posted link. Did you? Did you read it? Will someone else read it?

 

For Seattle the summer cruises must provide significant revenues, and they know if they close they hurt the Alaska ports. So I'm not sure they will be in a big hurry to close. The next move might be to cancel just the May cruises

This is not about hurting ports. This si about saving people.

[susiesan]

2 hours ago, floatplan said:

I think you're wrong about Seattle being closed. I only see this cancelling 2 cruises "The Port of Seattle announced earlier this week it was canceling its first two sailings of the year. "

 

There is speculation it will happen due to Canada if there is no waiver.

The article you reference is dated March 11. Look at the most recent articles. Look at the news of Canada ports closing until July 1. Unless the Feds issues a waiver that allows ships to bypass a foreign port there will be no Alaska cruises on any ship leaving or arriving to Seattle.

 

Rumor is that there will soon be air travel restrictions on anyone coming or going from Washington state. That is our Wuhan.

[floatplan]

I want Oceania to cancel my June cruise so I can get a refund, not an FCC, of my deposit and not have to make final payment. That will happen sooner if the Port officially closes to cruises until  July 1.

 

The Port website makes no mention of closing yet, just the cancelling of the 2 April cruises where they hint that they do not want to cancel the season work $900 MM.

 

https://www.portseattle.org/news/port-cancels-first-two-sailings-seattle-cruise-season

 

" Local suppliers provide the vessel with goods and supplies, and guests often spend time in the region before or after their cruise. As a result, each homeport sailing creates approximately $4 million in business activity for the region. Cruise season in Seattle generates nearly $900 million in business activity and supports 5,500 jobs."

[honumaui]

I agree with Floatplan. We are booked for the two week Alaska in June. So far all we have been offered is to make final payment by March 20 and offer to cancel later and get a FFC.  We are in our late 70s. We don't want a FFC. WE just want our deposit back  plus the money we paid up front for tours. My TA is going to check with them. No news about cancellations yet. We also have the same offer from Regent for a Sep. crossing we booked.  I would rather lose the deposits than make any final payments at this time.

[LHT28]

25 minutes ago, honumaui said:

I agree with Floatplan. We are booked for the two week Alaska in June. So far all we have been offered is to make final payment by March 20 and offer to cancel later and get a FFC.  We are in our late 70s. We don't want a FFC. WE just want our deposit back  plus the money we paid up front for tours. My TA is going to check with them. No news about cancellations yet. We also have the same offer from Regent for a Sep. crossing we booked.  I would rather lose the deposits than make any final payments at this time.

Just curious 

If you cancel now  does the deposit   refund  come as an FCC  or  cash( credit card) refund  as usual?

[bbtondo]

I agree Honumaui:  We have a Viking cruise booked with final payment due this summer.  If things aren't better by then, I won't be making final payment.  I can always rebook when things get better.

[arima22]

If cancel now, should get the deposit back through the credit card on file, less the $250 admin cost. This is based on Oceania contract agreements- no admin cost, all money back up to 121 days until sailing day,  120 to 91 days within sailing a $250 admin charge.  Check the original invoiced for the full cancelation schedule.

Should get any amounts paid for Oceania excursions as a credit to your card.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, arima22 said:

If cancel now, should get the deposit back through the credit card on file, less the $250 admin cost. This is based on Oceania contract agreements- no admin cost, all money back up to 121 days until sailing day,  120 to 91 days within sailing a $250 admin charge.  Check the original invoiced for the full cancelation schedule.

Should get any amounts paid for Oceania excursions as a credit to your card.

Is that still the case for those  before FP  or does the new Assurance program kick in??

 

Anyone  cancel recently ( in the past week) before FP & get their deposit back

[BlueFish2000]

3 hours ago, honumaui said:

I agree with Floatplan. We are booked for the two week Alaska in June. So far all we have been offered is to make final payment by March 20 and offer to cancel later and get a FFC.  We are in our late 70s. We don't want a FFC. WE just want our deposit back  plus the money we paid up front for tours. My TA is going to check with them. No news about cancellations yet. We also have the same offer from Regent for a Sep. crossing we booked.  I would rather lose the deposits than make any final payments at this time.

If they had the same itinerary as our June 4 Alaska trip I wouldn't mind a future cruise credit, but they don't.  

[Hawaiidan]

Looking at the whole big picture,  I would cancel and pay the $250 admin.  IF the trip goes... you can always book last min.   If not  you can sit on your cash  just like it was a future credit, except you have  cash in hand and  have total flexibility.        I doubt things will be clear till late July or August.    June is very  slim .   But if you get your cash back  you can be in a position to take advantage of any specials that are sure to be offered  to get people back....      

June 4 is rather early to see Alaska...Late August September way better for places like Hubbard glacier....

Edited March 16, 2020 by Hawaiidan

[arima22]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Is that still the case for those  before FP  or does the new Assurance program kick in??

 

Anyone  cancel recently ( in the past week) before FP & get their deposit back

copied from my initial invoice for a Sept 2020, Rome to Athens sailing. I have until 22 May for full refund of the downpayment, 23 May to 21 June, $250 PP admin, etc.  and yes, I am watching the situation very closely especially since I made my own air arrangements.  And yes, the 48 hour cancelation for a FFC applies after the FP is made, but I believe the reduction of credit after FP of 25% increments each 15 days up until no credit at the 30 day prior to cruise still applies as well.

[LHT28]

18 minutes ago, arima22 said:

copied from my initial invoice for a Sept 2020, Rome to Athens sailing. I have until 22 May for full refund of the downpayment, 23 May to 21 June, $250 PP admin, etc.  and yes, I am watching the situation very closely especially since I made my own air arrangements.  And yes, the 48 hour cancelation for a FFC applies after the FP is made, but I believe the reduction of credit after FP of 25% increments each 15 days up until no credit at the 30 day prior to cruise still applies as well.

 I guess  I am not asking the question  in the right way

 If you were to cancel today  would you still get  a cash refund of your deposit?

 A lot of changes have been made in the past few weeks to the policies 

I was just trying to find out  if the old refund policy is still valid  since the changes last week or if all refunds  are not FCC/

Anyone have recent experience ?

[Cliff-FLL]

We're scheduled for Regatta's Alaskan cruise on 2 May, San Francisco to Vancouver.  Based on the Canadian cruise-ship block, Vancouver will not be our disembarkation point and Seattle is not looking promising as an alternative.  Our first port of call - Astoria, Oregon - is already denying entry to cruise ships and our final ports - Victoria and Vancouver - will not dock cruise ships until after 1 July.  In the meantime, we are hearing that the Alaskan ports are deliberately not canceling cruise ship dockings, just in case the COVID-19 happens to clear up early.  We could, possibly, be on an Alaskan cruise with no Alaskan ports of call.

 

We're scheduled to fly into San Francisco about a week before the cruise so we can spend some time at the wineries in Napa and then a few days in the City.  We've been notified by some of the wineries where we have reservations that they may not be accepting visitors at that time, depending on COVID-19 governmental restrictions.  We have reservations at The French Laundry, which required prepayment of $750+, and - despite the current circumstances - still will not allow people to cancel without forfeiting their prepayment.

 

Of course, we may not have to worry about any of these things since the flights on United Airlines on which we were booked no longer exist.  It appears that United has eliminated their non-stop flights from FLL to SFO but, as yet, they have not sent us any notification of this nor a proposed change of itinerary.  The Vancouver-to-Fort-Lauderdale leg is, obviously, moot but we have no information from Oceania as to where we will be disembarking, so we can't revise our reservations with United.  A large party was planned so we could visit with friends & relatives we haven't seen in years but, based on new restrictions, the party has been canceled.  Because of the restrictions, we will be allowed to spend $500/day for 3 days at our hotel so we can sit and look at each other.  All of the restaurants in the City where we have reservations will be closed, so we'll rely on room service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

If you're considering an Alaskan cruise, perhaps you'll want to wait 'til 2021...

Edited March 18, 2020 by Cliff-FLL

[Paulchili]

32 minutes ago, Cliff-FLL said:

If you're considering an Alaskan cruise, perhaps you'll want to wait 'til 2021.

I hope that this is your decision as well and not just advice for others 🙂

[CruiseLibra]

36 minutes ago, Cliff-FLL said:

We're scheduled for Regatta's Alaskan cruise on 2 May, San Francisco to Vancouver.  Based on the Canadian cruise-ship block, Vancouver will not be our disembarkation point and Seattle is not looking promising as an alternative.  Our first port of call - Astoria, Oregon - is already denying entry to cruise ships and our final ports - Victoria and Vancouver - will not dock cruise ships until after 1 July.  In the meantime, we are hearing that the Alaskan ports are deliberately not canceling cruise ship dockings, just in case the COVID-19 happens to clear up early.  We could, possibly, be on an Alaskan cruise with no Alaskan ports of call.

 

We're scheduled to fly into San Francisco about a week before the cruise so we can spend some time at the wineries in Napa and then a few days in the City.  We've been notified by some of the wineries where we have reservations that they may not be accepting visitors at that time, depending on COVID-19 governmental restrictions.  We have reservations at The French Laundry, which required prepayment of $750+, and - despite the current circumstances - still will not allow people to cancel without forfeiting their prepayment.

 

Of course, we may not have to worry about any of these things since the flights on United Airlines on which we were booked no longer exist.  It appears that United has eliminated their non-stop flights from FLL to SFO but, as yet, they have not sent us any notification of this nor a proposed change of itinerary.  The Vancouver-to-Fort-Lauderdale leg is, obviously, moot but we have no information from Oceania as to where we will be disembarking, so we can't revise our reservations with United.  A large party was planned so we could visit with friends & relatives we haven't seen in years but, based on new restrictions, the party has been canceled.  Because of the restrictions, we will be allowed to spend $500/day for 3 days at our hotel so we can sit and look at each other.  All of the restaurants in the City where we have reservations will be closed, so we'll rely on room service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

If you're considering an Alaskan cruise, perhaps you'll want to wait 'til 2021...

 

We are also booked on this cruise. IMHO there is no possible way this cruise will happen. The Bay Area is under a shelter in place advisory for the next month. Stores with the exception of grocery, pharmacies and hardware are closed, restaurants have converted to take-out only. People are working from home. The Jones Act will prevent moving disembarkation from Vancouver to Seattle. It is just a matter of time before O cancels this cruise. Disappointing, but we'll just have to roll with it. 

[RJB]

9 hours ago, Paulchili said:

I hope that this is your decision as well and not just advice for others 🙂

I think one of the reasons that we read CC is for advise from fellow CC's .  Hope to see advise and comments from others here for us. 

[Condocat]

I just cancelled a cruise for Sept. 

 

O is refunding $2,500 of our $3000 deposit back on our cc and the difference, of $500 can be used towards a future cruise if booked between now and March 2021, otherwise it's lost.

[skyhuette]

i am also booked for the may 2nd regatta. we have remained hopeful until the canada ports closed. now we are just waiting for the cancellation to be announced. it's crazy to me that oceania still has the alaska cruises available for booking on their site! hopefully others are doing their research

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Condocat said:

I just cancelled a cruise for Sept. 

 

O is refunding $2,500 of our $3000 deposit back on our cc and the difference, of $500 can be used towards a future cruise if booked between now and March 2021, otherwise it's lost.

That is their normal policy  so  no different than before the virus

 

[LHT28]

51 minutes ago, skyhuette said:

i am also booked for the may 2nd regatta. we have remained hopeful until the canada ports closed. now we are just waiting for the cancellation to be announced. it's crazy to me that oceania still has the alaska cruises available for booking on their site! hopefully others are doing their research

Maybe they are working their way through the up coming cruises  to settle the refunds  on   a date basis

I am sure their heads are spinning with all the changes going on with ports/Countries etc...

 

Can you really book the Alaska cruise online  for May/June sailings?

 

[RJB]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

That is their normal policy  so  no different than before the virus

 

Are they in la la land?  What are they drinking? Nothing is normal these days. 

[skyhuette]

4 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Maybe they are working their way through the up coming cruises  to settle the refunds  on   a date basis

I am sure their heads are spinning with all the changes going on with ports/Countries etc...

 

Can you really book the Alaska cruise online  for May/June sailings?

 

i'm sure they are addressing the most immediate issues first. i'm certainly not in a rush to get the bad news, but at this point i have come to terms with it haha.

 

yes as far as i can see you can still book the very cruise i'm discussing now. granted, i have not gone through the process myself to check if there is some alert mid-booking or anything but the rooms show as available and it's being presented like an active sailing.