On the fence, New booking in August

[sanger727]

34 minutes ago, tap_out said:

So there was talks of this in the mask thread, If these restrictions are put in place do you believe carnival will give you the option to cancel and book at a latter date? 

 

I don't think anyone knows the answer to that. I don't feel confident that they would.

 

I browse a few different forums for different lines that I cruise. Norwegian and Celebrity have both created policies (think it's till the end of August right now for Celebrity and November for Norwegian) to encourage bookings where yes, you can cancel at any time up to 24 or 48 hours before sailing and get FCC or move your booking to a late date. I don't think Carnival has one of those policies. That is why I think they are less likely to allow a cancellation/move if there's a new policy you don't like. If they wanted to be customer friendly and pull out all the stops to keep people from cancelling, I think they would have a policy like this. 

[chrislo]

When our August 22nd Panorama cruise was canceled we re-booked for August 22nd on the Horizon.   I am comfortable taking our chances and working with whatever changes are implemented.  Someone has to go on the first few cruises and be the risk takers.  No matter what I believe my family will have a great time.

[helene109]

3 minutes ago, chrislo said:

When our August 22nd Panorama cruise was canceled we re-booked for August 22nd on the Horizon.   I am comfortable taking our chances and working with whatever changes are implemented.  Someone has to go on the first few cruises and be the risk takers.  No matter what I believe my family will have a great time.

I agree we are 8/9 Magic everyone has their own opinions! 

[tap_out]

48 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

I don't think anyone knows the answer to that. I don't feel confident that they would.

 

I browse a few different forums for different lines that I cruise. Norwegian and Celebrity have both created policies (think it's till the end of August right now for Celebrity and November for Norwegian) to encourage bookings where yes, you can cancel at any time up to 24 or 48 hours before sailing and get FCC or move your booking to a late date. I don't think Carnival has one of those policies. That is why I think they are less likely to allow a cancellation/move if there's a new policy you don't like. If they wanted to be customer friendly and pull out all the stops to keep people from cancelling, I think they would have a policy like this. 

Glad you brought this up I knew I read it somewhere. I just assumed everybody jumped on board. Sad to see Carnival has not followed suit 

[tap_out]

43 minutes ago, chrislo said:

When our August 22nd Panorama cruise was canceled we re-booked for August 22nd on the Horizon.   I am comfortable taking our chances and working with whatever changes are implemented.  Someone has to go on the first few cruises and be the risk takers.  No matter what I believe my family will have a great time.

You know I am of the same belief that any cruise is better then no cruise. I feel like this might be pushing the boundaries for us though. 

[ninjacat123]

20 hours ago, outdoors27 said:

With our June cruise canceled on the Panorama we rebooked for the August 2nd sailing on the Horizon. It was a total gamble and only a 6 day cruise but worked best for my schedule. Having that said it was so cheap with the addition of 1200 OBC (we have 2 cabins) it was worth the gamble. If it doesn't sail no big deal we just roll over to one of our 3 booked for 2021. 

 

Having said all this, I spoke with my PVP earlier this evening. She called to reminded me that I do have a deadline approaching to make my additional deposit on this trip with final payment not due until 30 days before sailing. 

 

What I can tell you is this and I do this knowing I will be blown up by a few doom and gloom people on CC... 

 

My PVP said. As of now, we are sailing in August. I grilled her on this and She said, its complicated and on going with all the work being done with the CDC but she was as confident as she could be that the few ships carnival has lined up to sail, will sail in August. Now to satisfy the negative people on CC, I have booked with this PVP for almost 20 years, she is the only person I will book with and I know her well. She's not lying to me or giving me a company line.. She reaffirmed that the ship will be at 50 percent capacity again and I believe this.. We also discussed what is going to happen regarding Grand Cayman being shut down (Since its on my sailing) and She said that's an on going process. They may utilize the Costat Maya or Halfmoon Cay.. She did say the private islands will utilized a lot with things still uncertain in many ports for August.

 

I did not ask about masks on the ship as I do not really care.  

 

Now can this all change? Yes! This is just what was passed along to me and Im sorry if I'm probably off topic on this thread but I figured I'd share what info I had..

 

Sounds like your PVP has a handle on what's going on! I'd love to have somebody in my cruising corner like that!

[TNcruising02]

9 hours ago, MRVEGAS711 said:

If you are comfortable sailing in a steel can with 5000 people in it in the year 2020, go for it. I'm praying my 9/12 cruise out of LA is cancelled. It scares the ***** out of me.

 

 

 

Can you cancel right now since it is over 90 days from now?

[MRVEGAS711]

4 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

Can you cancel right now since it is over 90 days from now?

Carnival says it will cost me $198 deposit to cancel.

[TNcruising02]

10 minutes ago, MRVEGAS711 said:

Carnival says it will cost me $198 deposit to cancel.

If you are very nervous, it might be worth it to cancel for the peace of mind.  Maybe if you called and explained your situation they would let you move the deposit to another cruise.

Edited May 21, 2020 by TNcruising02

[PhillyFan33579]

Personally I have no plans to book any more cruises until cruise lines resume operations. I still have two cruises booked this year that haven’t been cancelled, which we (wife and I) will go on if they don’t get cancelled. But I have already had several cruises cancelled and don’t see a reason to book more cruises later this year or next year that could be cancelled too.

[Butterbean1000]

We booked our Aug 29th cruise after our March 30th cruise was canceled.   We thought we were safe booking for August and all of this would surely be over by then.  I hope we sail, but I am a little apprehensive about the actual experience.  I have little idea as to what to expect.  As long as wearing face masks are not required, I think I can cope. I just wish there would be a few more sailings going before us to work everything out.  Our final payment was made last night.  BTW, I checked our cruise last night and it's still there and taking bookings. 

[CorrieCJ]

We are booked on the Horizon out of Miami on August 8.  We originally had the Radiance (I think) out of NYC on 7/20/20. That was cancelled so we tried Sunshine out of NY on 8/1. THAT was cancelled so our next one was Galveston on 7/25. Well, that one got cancelled too and I said, let's scrap it and go next summer. Hubby was insistent to try one more time so we are now booked on the Horizon from Miami on 8/8.  I am not crazy about restrictions that may be put on us; he says we will all feel worse if the ship goes out without us. I'm  trying to hold off on booking airfare for now, though. We also use a great PVP at Carnival (former cruise director) and he said while there will definitely be some onboard restrictions and changes, the cruise won't go out if it can't be a real cruise with entertainment, pool, etc.  

[ninjacat123]

5 minutes ago, CorrieCJ said:

We are booked on the Horizon out of Miami on August 8.  We originally had the Radiance (I think) out of NYC on 7/20/20. That was cancelled so we tried Sunshine out of NY on 8/1. THAT was cancelled so our next one was Galveston on 7/25. Well, that one got cancelled too and I said, let's scrap it and go next summer. Hubby was insistent to try one more time so we are now booked on the Horizon from Miami on 8/8.  I am not crazy about restrictions that may be put on us; he says we will all feel worse if the ship goes out without us. I'm  trying to hold off on booking airfare for now, though. We also use a great PVP at Carnival (former cruise director) and he said while there will definitely be some onboard restrictions and changes, the cruise won't go out if it can't be a real cruise with entertainment, pool, etc.  

Thanks for sharing what your PVP said.  My DH and I are on a short cruise out of Jacksonville on Sept 3, 2020 and I hope your PVP is correct🤞

[tap_out]

11 hours ago, CorrieCJ said:

We are booked on the Horizon out of Miami on August 8.  We originally had the Radiance (I think) out of NYC on 7/20/20. That was cancelled so we tried Sunshine out of NY on 8/1. THAT was cancelled so our next one was Galveston on 7/25. Well, that one got cancelled too and I said, let's scrap it and go next summer. Hubby was insistent to try one more time so we are now booked on the Horizon from Miami on 8/8.  I am not crazy about restrictions that may be put on us; he says we will all feel worse if the ship goes out without us. I'm  trying to hold off on booking airfare for now, though. We also use a great PVP at Carnival (former cruise director) and he said while there will definitely be some onboard restrictions and changes, the cruise won't go out if it can't be a real cruise with entertainment, pool, etc.  

Horizon is an awesome ship and on another level then the previous two you mentioned. Havana is a must though with the crowding issue........BUT if the ship is sailing at half full that is a huge win! 

[SNJCruisers]

On 5/19/2020 at 3:41 PM, tap_out said:

So we usually cruise every year in August, with everything going on this year we just figured it would not happen.

You got yourself in a pickle.  The Havana area is great, did it twice on the Horizon and had a great time.  But, I would not cruise at all this August.   We just had a June cruise officially cancelled this week and we will not be making final payment on our late August cruise as well. Even though the price is great, there is not a 100% guarantee that you would sail and I would hate to be one of the guinea pigs on the first few months of cruising.

 

But, since you did mention that you cruise each August, i do have a money saving proposition for you for next year.  Royal Caribbean has a new promotion called a Lift and Shift.  It is done so they can keep more money in house instead of offering refunds for recently cancelled cruises.  What you can do is sign up for a cruise for this September on Royal at a cheap rate  You put your deposit down and then later that day you lift and shift it to the same time next year either 30 days prior or after your date in September.  So if you booked a cruise for September 10 of 2020, you could shift it to any date from August 10 through October 10 of 2021.  The only stipulations is that it has to be identical in days and destination.  It does not have to be from the same embarkation port or even the same ship.  It has to be reserved prior to August 1, 2020.  There are people that are saving a lot of money by switching from an older ship to one of their newer ones and also because of the time parameters. Final payment would not be due until next year.   September cruises are always cheaper than August ones.  Food for thought.

[secondchance]

I have a late August cruise out of Galveston.  Asked DH if he was willing to wear a mask if necessary.  Surprisingly he said yes.  It would be foolish not to expect changes but modifying the buffet would be the best thing to happen to cruise lines.  However, if there is one case of COVID on any ship prior to our sailing I will be the first to cancel.

[harkinmr]

On 5/21/2020 at 8:38 AM, Butterbean1000 said:

We booked our Aug 29th cruise after our March 30th cruise was canceled.   We thought we were safe booking for August and all of this would surely be over by then.  I hope we sail, but I am a little apprehensive about the actual experience.  I have little idea as to what to expect.  As long as wearing face masks are not required, I think I can cope. I just wish there would be a few more sailings going before us to work everything out.  Our final payment was made last night.  BTW, I checked our cruise last night and it's still there and taking bookings. 

So you are apprehensive about the experience but still made your final payment?  What if your cruise is not cancelled and face masks are required?  Based on Carnival's current policy you would not be able to cancel and could lose the whole of your cruise payments.  Not picking on you by any means because this applies to everybody who is going ahead with a cruise and doesn't really know what the experience is going to be like.  Carnival surely understands what the CDC requirements are and could make an announcement sooner rather than later.  

[bambilin]

On 5/20/2020 at 12:48 PM, chrislo said:

When our August 22nd Panorama cruise was canceled we re-booked for August 22nd on the Horizon.   I am comfortable taking our chances and working with whatever changes are implemented.  Someone has to go on the first few cruises and be the risk takers.  No matter what I believe my family will have a great time.

Hope to see you on the Horizon 8/22!

[CorrieCJ]

13 hours ago, tap_out said:

Horizon is an awesome ship and on another level then the previous two you mentioned. Havana is a must though with the crowding issue........BUT if the ship is sailing at half full that is a huge win! 

 

Yes, my husband feels like it's a great chance to go on that particular ship at a reasonable price. No Havana though, we're doing it as cheaply as possible with two ocean view cabins on a low deck (6 of us traveling). We have been on the Pride many times and the Dream once, so all the amenities here will be like a whole new world -- fingers crossed we can use them all! 

[Butterbean1000]

2 hours ago, bambilin said:

Hope to see you on the Horizon

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by Butterbean1000

[Butterbean1000]

3 hours ago, harkinmr said:

So you are apprehensive about the experience but still made your final payment?  What if your cruise is not cancelled and face masks are required?  Based on Carnival's current policy you would not be able to cancel and could lose the whole of your cruise payments.  Not picking on you by any means because this applies to everybody who is going ahead with a cruise and doesn't really know what the experience is going to be like.  Carnival surely understands what the CDC requirements are and could make an announcement sooner rather than later.  

I'm willing to risk it.

[tap_out]

So little update. We decided not to pull the trigger. Not right now anyway. I will say since I posted this a lot more rooms have opened up and the price has dropped a little over $100. 

[Ella2]

Considering what the CEO of Carnival said in his interview with Cruise Critic, I think it's highly unlikely that the ships will be sailing in August.  They are basically denying that they even SAID that, when in fact that's what they said they were planning:

 

In early May, the line issued a news release that seemed to detail a return to service on August 1, starting with eight ships out of three ports. In reality, that announcement was more meant to note that additional voyages had been canceled, Donald said -- but that's not how consumers and the media interpreted it.

 

"It wasn't a pronouncement that we were going to come back August 1," he said. "We're waiting to see how things evolve and develop."

 

What made the mistake so insightful is that bookings for those August cruises "went through the roof," Donald said. "They just jumped at that point, showing the pent-up demand there is. … Starting out, it's unlikely that we're going to have a demand challenge whenever we do start sailing again, whether it's August 1, prior to that or later."

 

So if August 1 isn't the official return date, what is? "The world is going to tell us," Donald said. "Destinations are going to open when they decide to open. It's not going to be us telling them. The things that are going to drive that is the citizens' relative appetite for risk and the extent to which they've experience COVID-19. … We'll just have to see where it goes, but the destinations are going to rule the day."

[tap_out]

Things have started to progress pretty rapidly over the last month in a positive way. In my state and most states it seems like something is implemented and then assessed for a two week period. Then onto the next stage. I feel like if things keep trending this way, there is no reason why they shouldn't be able to put there plan in place to sail in August. But this isnt a debate about when cruises will be sailing we have enough of those already. 

[petuniaflower]

Question-if I book a Carnival cruise now for August, are there any different refund procedures currently in place, where we would get our $ back if they cancelled/postponed or any other covid related matter?  Or is it business as usual, if we pay in full and dont get on the ship, the money is gone?