Some advice please.

[mklions]

Hi fellow shipmates,

We are booked on the Marina going to the Baltics mid November this year, sailing out of Southampton.

 Very good possibility  this will not happen, for obvious reasons.

I have paid through our TA the deposit about 15% of the total cost of the cruise, with the balance due any time now. Should I pay in full when the balance is due, or should I cancel beforehand or what?

Sorry if this question has been posted before but any help in answering would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Mklions.

[LHT28]

it may or may not sail  at this point in time it is just guessing  to

 you have to decide if you want to take the chance

 

 you could cancel if you get your deposit back 

then if the cruise goes ahead in the fall re book

it is a personal  coice

[royallondon]

It maybe worth revisiting your final payment date as I suspect mid July is more realistic?

 

If it is mid July, we may have a clearer picture of the landscape and so better positioned to make a more informed decision then.   Take as much time as you are able before fee’s kick in.
 

We’re in the exact same position but sailing with “O” in September from LA and final payment due in 2 weeks.  The cruise will in my view, be cancelled but not unfortunately before our FP is due.  We have asked “O” via the TA to move the cruise back to Sept 2021 when we hope a vaccine is available.  After 2 weeks, no word from either.

 

This leaves:

 

A.  Pay the final £7K, hope the cruise is cancelled and hope for an eventual refund 

B.  Cancel, lose the deposit (which TA has confirmed) stay safe and worry free

 

B, we chose B.
 

Regards

 

 

 

 

[Shawnino]

If you can get your deposit back, do that and re-book later.

Even if the cruise goes, who knows what the ports will look like. Italy has closed to tourists for the rest of 2020. Now even I know  that Italy is not on a typical Baltic Cruise (although, if pressed, I'd guess that the capital of Italy is "I"...) but other countries may follow.

 

If you can't get your deposit back, perform this mental exercise: that 15% deposit money is gone and you will never see it again. You are now being offered a "new cruise" at 85% of the cost of the last one. Do you want it? If yes make the payment. If no, walk away.   

[mklions]

Ah, bit of a balls up actually on my post, our sail date is mid August not mid November.

Anyhow many Thanks for all your replies..

mklions.

 

 

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, mklions said:

Ah, bit of a balls up actually on my post, our sail date is mid August not mid November.

Anyhow many Thanks for all your replies..

mklions.

 

 

That is  another  story  then

 I would not think there will cruises in August  the big thing is  can you get the refund of your deposit ?

 I would not want to make  FP  now then have to  wait for them to cancel  the cruise

 

[CintiPam]

1 hour ago, mklions said:

Ah, bit of a balls up actually on my post, our sail date is mid August not mid November.

Anyhow many Thanks for all your replies..

mklions.

 

 

In that case, I agree with Royallondon in post #3 above.  I personally could not make any final payment now for any cruise from my personal “stress tolerance” point of view.

 

Good luck.

[Jay23]

Oh dear Mklions.   We had a cruise booked with Oceania for August and we got our deposit back in March.   Please read the Ts & Cs. It is all set out exactly how much you have to pay but if the cruise does not happen you will not have to pay anything and the cruise company will have to refund you.  They will try to give you vouchers, if you don't want that you don't need to accept that.   .  I do not recommend that you pay the full amount now.   Do you have a TA   If so , talk to them.    In the last resort apply to your  Credit Card company who will refund you as you will have paid for something you did not receive.    J

[Jay23]

20 minutes ago, Jay23 said:

Oh dear Mklions.   We had a cruise booked with Oceania for August and we got our deposit back in March.   Please read the Ts & Cs. It is all set out exactly how much you have to pay but if the cruise does not happen you will not have to pay anything and the cruise company will have to refund you.  They will try to give you vouchers, if you don't want that you don't need to accept that.   .  I do not recommend that you pay the full amount now.   Do you have a TA   If so , talk to them.    In the last resort apply to your  Credit Card company who will refund you as you will have paid for something you did not receive.      PS   Your TA should return the deposit to you .     J

 

[piscean]

Hello MKLions we are from the UK

We had a cruise booked on Marina in August this year and have moved the deposit to a cruise on Marina in April next year. Oceania applied the penalty (as per T & C) £200pp. However this was converted to a fcc. We didn’t actually lose the deposit. The fcc could not be used for the transfer.

We also had a cancelled cruise on Regent (actually two). The first was fully refunded with a fcc which we immediately used for an April cruise. However although this was cancelled mid March we cannot get our TA to refund!

Regent are claiming  upto 90 days and our TA have offered an Abta credit note as security until July 31st! that’s almost 5 months. Unacceptable and against our UK law. (section 75 Package Regulations ) it should be paid in 14 days.

I would not advise paying the balance.

 

[royallondon]

Based on our own experience, it appears that in the UK  “O’s” T&C‘S are overridden if you book via a TA who impose their own and varying conditions Jay23.  

Our Cruise Specialist have repeatedly stated we will lose the full deposit paid should we not pay the final balance when due.  Sounds like yours is appreciative in trying to retain custom during these difficult and sad times.

 

Regards

 

[Jay23]

13 hours ago, royallondon said:

Based on our own experience, it appears that in the UK  “O’s” T&C‘S are overridden if you book via a TA who impose their own and varying conditions Jay23.  

Our Cruise Specialist have repeatedly stated we will lose the full deposit paid should we not pay the final balance when due.  Sounds like yours is appreciative in trying to retain custom during these difficult and sad times.

 

Regards

 

I think I will have to say "change your TA"   You should definitely get the deposit back if you cancel within the 120 days:   and if you cancel up to 90 days before then you will have to pay the administration fee.   Keep smiling.  Stay safe.  We seem to be nearing "release day" in the UK but the info is a bit fuzzy for us over 70s.   J

[welshfamily]

Hi,

we have a cruise booked on the 2nd of August. Tailor made, by this I mean we had chosen our own flights as we did not want to be at the mercy of Oceania. Previously we have been given flights which took 8-9 hrs for a 2 -3 hr flight due to stop overs in European hubs.  We had paid a deposit of £4000. The 5th of April our balance of a further £8,5000 was due. 

Our TA said we WOULD lose our deposit. Our Credit card company would NOT cover this as it would be deemed our choice as no one knows what will happen in August. Our Travel insurance will only cover us if the cruise is cancelled but will cover us for the pandemic because we booked before their cut of point ( 16th of March). If the cruise is cancelled our credit card company will also cover us as will ABTA. 

 

Our TA was very sorry but those are the rules under which we booked.

We paid. 

Considering our cruise goes around Italy, France and Spain I cannot see it happening. The Uk government still has a no nonessential travel in place and as our death rate is still in the 100’s everyday I can’t see the countries in question being keen to have travellers from the UK getting off a cruise ship.

I am waiting for the cruise to be cancelled as this was my only option.

hope this isn’t too hard to heard.

 

 

[Jay23]

1 hour ago, welshfamily said:

Hi,

we have a cruise booked on the 2nd of August. Tailor made, by this I mean we had chosen our own flights as we did not want to be at the mercy of Oceania. Previously we have been given flights which took 8-9 hrs for a 2 -3 hr flight due to stop overs in European hubs.  We had paid a deposit of £4000. The 5th of April our balance of a further £8,5000 was due. 

Our TA said we WOULD lose our deposit. Our Credit card company would NOT cover this as it would be deemed our choice as no one knows what will happen in August. Our Travel insurance will only cover us if the cruise is cancelled but will cover us for the pandemic because we booked before their cut of point ( 16th of March). If the cruise is cancelled our credit card company will also cover us as will ABTA. 

 

Our TA was very sorry but those are the rules under which we booked.

We paid. 

Considering our cruise goes around Italy, France and Spain I cannot see it happening. The Uk government still has a no nonessential travel in place and as our death rate is still in the 100’s everyday I can’t see the countries in question being keen to have travellers from the UK getting off a cruise ship.

I am waiting for the cruise to be cancelled as this was my only option.

hope this isn’t too hard to heard.

 

 

Welsh family....... This is not right.   Our cruise was for 5th August.  We had plenty of time to cancel in the 120days window, which we did.  I think you could have done this too.  You were misled into believing you would lose your deposit.   Oceania refunded our deposit (all of it)  in accordance with the Ts & Cs printed in the brochure.   Do not let your TA keep your deposit in these circumstances, it is illegal in the UK  as i think you know.  We received our refund 23 days after requesting it.    Do not give this TA your business again is my suggestion.  J

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, welshfamily said:

Hi,

we have a cruise booked on the 2nd of August. Tailor made, by this I mean we had chosen our own flights as we did not want to be at the mercy of Oceania. Previously we have been given flights which took 8-9 hrs for a 2 -3 hr flight due to stop overs in European hubs.  We had paid a deposit of £4000. The 5th of April our balance of a further £8,5000 was due. 

 

That is  a large  deposit   did you book a top suite??

Can you not pay  the deviation fee ($175 USD  PP)  & choose the flights you want  or do they not do that in the UK?

 

Hang on   they probably will cancel that cruise  but you may have to wait until July before they announce  it

Good luck

[GeorgesGal]

This from the CruiseCritic Home Page.  Scroll down to the entry. "Some Northern Europe Ports reopen" from Aug 27, 2020:

 

(6 p.m. EDT) -- Cruise ships are still out of service because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but some cruise ports have started re-opening, including Edinburgh, Stockholm, Southampton, Oslo and St. Petersburg.

 

You just might be in luck!  There is also a link in that article with a list of 113 ports which are open - as of now.

 

Donna

[FolsomMike]

The White House said today that international travel may not resume until 2021. 

[1985rz1]

3 hours ago, FolsomMike said:

The White House said today that international travel may not resume until 2021. 

Please quote a source.  Thank you.

[cariad1000]

On 5/2/2020 at 4:40 PM, mklions said:

Ah, bit of a balls up actually on my post, our sail date is mid August not mid November.

Anyhow many Thanks for all your replies..

mklions.

 

I was in this position a couple of weeks ago.  Lose £2,200 or pay the remaining £7000  I just thought losing over £2000 was just too much, so paid the final balance.  Our TA has assured me that should the cruise  be cancelled we will be able to claim a full refund.

 

[FolsomMike]

19 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

Please quote a source.  Thank you.

It was a quote from Steve Mnuchin while on Fox. 

[blackfoot]

Cancel and hope you get your deposit!

[ano]

6 hours ago, blackfoot said:

Cancel and hope you get your deposit!

+1

 

Here is the reality, if Norwegian files for bankruptcy, your money is gone. You might be able to get it back through your credit card company.  If it was me, I would request it now.  If a miracle happens, and in October everything looks agreeable, just rebook. There really is no advantage of having your money tied up until then.