Encore to replace the Bliss for 2021 Alaska Cruises?

[coastcat]

35 minutes ago, robcolem said:

Anyone hear if NCL received the conditional sailing certificates for these Encore Alaska sailings?  When they announced the local port agreements it was mentioned that they'd receive the certs in the next few days.  Been a week and haven't seen any news on it.  I did see an article saying "the CDC has approved two conditional sailing certificates for ships using the CDC’s alternative of ensuring at least 98% of crew and 95% of passengers will be vaccinated when sailing. That includes Celebrity Edge," - june 3, 21 orlandosentinel - But no info on the second line/ship.

Celebrity Equinox was named on one cruise news site as the second ship approved, but I haven’t seen anyone else reporting that. Cruise Industry News reported that the CDC has approved port agreements for 22 ships sailing out of several different home ports including Seattle, but no names released. 
 

Final payment is due soon for all of the initial Alaska cruises including Encore. I’d kinda like to know if we’re approved to sail before then!

[Dejlig Ko]

We are booked in September. I got notice of the ship change and stateroom change (both of which I was happy about; I've been on the Bliss and loved it, but have wanted to try the Encore, and my room was moved to floor I had wanted on the Bliss, so win win). Also got notice that the itinerary would switch Juneau and Icy Point days/times. When they brought the sailing back up for sail, myNCL showed the ship and room change but not the itin change. I can make dining reservations in the Encore specialty dining rooms. So I have to wonder if they are not changing the itin? If not they are selling an itin that those already booked have been advised is different. I will wait til next week and see if any changes then. Just starting to wonder what's going on. 

[RaftingJeremy]

6 hours ago, coastcat said:

Celebrity Equinox was named on one cruise news site as the second ship approved, but I haven’t seen anyone else reporting that. Cruise Industry News reported that the CDC has approved port agreements for 22 ships sailing out of several different home ports including Seattle, but no names released. 
 

Final payment is due soon for all of the initial Alaska cruises including Encore. I’d kinda like to know if we’re approved to sail before then!

My guess is you will see that officially I announced this week.  

[AdoraBelle]

My encore / formerly bliss cruise for August is still broken (the amount of money I “owe” has changed from $700, to $88, back to $700). I’m intending to cancel this cruise because I no longer believe the cruise industry is going to enforce vaccinations (see: RCCL. Not just being a crank). However, when I spoke to the rep on Friday, I wasn’t able to cancel because, haha, the broken bookings can’t be altered while they are in a “broken” state. So they can’t be canceled. 

I’m 9 days out from no-refund territory, or whatever the 60 day policy even is. (Yes, I gave them real money, and yes I regret it. Learn from my moment of over-exuberance at the thought of actually traveling again. Seriously, treat it as gambling money or buy meme stocks instead or whatever.)

 

I’m usually pretty detail-oriented and cautious, don’t tend to jump the gun on things, and so I usually don’t end up in these situations. Becoming one of those stories on CC where you just kind of feel bad for the person and how long they’re going to have to fight with NCL to get their money back? Not something I ever expected to be. It’s actually sort of funny, except the money part.

Edited June 6, 2021 by AdoraBelle

[JamieLogical]

29 minutes ago, AdoraBelle said:

My encore / formerly bliss cruise for August is still broken (the amount of money I “owe” has changed from $700, to $88, back to $700). I’m intending to cancel this cruise because I no longer believe the cruise industry is going to enforce vaccinations (see: RCCL. Not just being a crank). However, when I spoke to the rep on Friday, I wasn’t able to cancel because, haha, the broken bookings can’t be altered while they are in a “broken” state. So they can’t be canceled. 

I’m 9 days out from no-refund territory, or whatever the 60 day policy even is. (Yes, I gave them real money, and yes I regret it. Learn from my moment of over-exuberance at the thought of actually traveling again. Seriously, treat it as gambling money or buy meme stocks instead or whatever.)

 

I’m usually pretty detail-oriented and cautious, don’t tend to jump the gun on things, and so I usually don’t end up in these situations. Becoming one of those stories on CC where you just kind of feel bad for the person and how long they’re going to have to fight with NCL to get their money back? Not something I ever expected to be. It’s actually sort of funny, except the money part.

 

I sincerely doubt that NCL will change their vaccination requirements, especially for Alaska. They have stated for a while now that the vaccine requirement runs through October 31. Also, not mandating vaccines is going to make for some seriously cumbersome and onerous logistics onboard to adhere to the CDC guidelines. Royal even explicitly said the no vaccine requirement only applies to sailings out of FL and TX.

[AdoraBelle]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

I sincerely doubt that NCL will change their vaccination requirements, especially for Alaska. They have stated for a while now that the vaccine requirement runs through October 31. Also, not mandating vaccines is going to make for some seriously cumbersome and onerous logistics onboard to adhere to the CDC guidelines. Royal even explicitly said the no vaccine requirement only applies to sailings out of FL and TX.

I appreciate your perspective, but a few good-faith counterpoints:

 

I don’t actually believe any mass market cruise line will be able to enforce masking or distancing when they don’t even want to confront “chair hogs“.

 

And: NCL is currently having staffing (as you know) AND technical problems. As such, they seem even less likely to me than RCL to be able to roll out a vaccine verification method/procedure … much less enforce masking/distancing if it came down to that. 

I am beyond happy that the vaccines are working and the pandemic is receding. I just think cruise ships are the very last place where every single precaution should end up getting flattened in the stampede, because we know cruise ships are a unique … venue? … for this virus.

[coastcat]

1 hour ago, AdoraBelle said:

My encore / formerly bliss cruise for August is still broken (the amount of money I “owe” has changed from $700, to $88, back to $700). I’m intending to cancel this cruise because I no longer believe the cruise industry is going to enforce vaccinations (see: RCCL. Not just being a crank). However, when I spoke to the rep on Friday, I wasn’t able to cancel because, haha, the broken bookings can’t be altered while they are in a “broken” state. So they can’t be canceled. 

I’m 9 days out from no-refund territory, or whatever the 60 day policy even is. (Yes, I gave them real money, and yes I regret it. Learn from my moment of over-exuberance at the thought of actually traveling again. Seriously, treat it as gambling money or buy meme stocks instead or whatever.)

 

I’m usually pretty detail-oriented and cautious, don’t tend to jump the gun on things, and so I usually don’t end up in these situations. Becoming one of those stories on CC where you just kind of feel bad for the person and how long they’re going to have to fight with NCL to get their money back? Not something I ever expected to be. It’s actually sort of funny, except the money part.

I agree with Jamie. For NCL to sail without its current vaccination requirement, it must conduct a test voyage per CDC rules. I haven’t seen even a hint of them intending to do so. Even Carnival - CARNIVAL, aka the affordable family-friendly cruise line - is mandating vaccinations for all Alaska passengers with no exemptions, not even for the under-12 kids (which means no under-12 kids onboard). And at least at this time, Royal is still requiring people 12 & older to be vaccinated for Alaska. 
 

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Alaska won’t approve port agreements for unvaccinated cruises this year. 
 

I agree that enforcing masking and social distancing onboard will be a huge hassle. That’s another reason why NCL would not want to switch to the unvaccinated option. Per the CDC, vaccinated cruises mean no masks, no social distancing, no port restrictions unless mandated by the ports… heck, even self-serve buffets are allowed. 
 

I’m pretty sure MSC will do the test cruise method. I had an October cruise booked on MSC Divina, sailing out of Port Canaveral. Yeah, not interested in dealing with that scene, I cancelled that one.

Edited June 7, 2021 by coastcat

[RaftingJeremy]

2 hours ago, AdoraBelle said:

My encore / formerly bliss cruise for August is still broken (the amount of money I “owe” has changed from $700, to $88, back to $700). I’m intending to cancel this cruise because I no longer believe the cruise industry is going to enforce vaccinations (see: RCCL. Not just being a crank). However, when I spoke to the rep on Friday, I wasn’t able to cancel because, haha, the broken bookings can’t be altered while they are in a “broken” state. So they can’t be canceled. 

I’m 9 days out from no-refund territory, or whatever the 60 day policy even is. (Yes, I gave them real money, and yes I regret it. Learn from my moment of over-exuberance at the thought of actually traveling again. Seriously, treat it as gambling money or buy meme stocks instead or whatever.)

 

I’m usually pretty detail-oriented and cautious, don’t tend to jump the gun on things, and so I usually don’t end up in these situations. Becoming one of those stories on CC where you just kind of feel bad for the person and how long they’re going to have to fight with NCL to get their money back? Not something I ever expected to be. It’s actually sort of funny, except the money part.

I’m pretty sure even RCCL is requiring vaccination in Alaska.  It’s their FL and TX sailings I believe 

[AdoraBelle]

26 minutes ago, coastcat said:

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Alaska won’t approve port agreements for unvaccinated cruises this year. 

Thanks for the reply. I did read the whole post and appreciate the thoughts and feedback (and technical reasons my concerns are unlikely). 

 

Quoted this part only to mention that Alaska’s politicians, or at least their AG, filed papers last week to be able to (mangling my legal terms here) be involved in the CDC lawsuit … on Florida’s side. More complaints about the draconian CDC, etc. 

 

(I was originally going to cancel based on this alone, because I’m just not feeling like giving money to any states indulging in politically expedient anti-vax/“evil CDC” stuff this year, but my husband kind of talked me down a bit from that one—no reason to punish the individual port towns/businesses, etc. Then RC making the flip gave me very clear visions of ultimately ending up on an unvaccinated ship. So much can change in the next two+ months.)

[coastcat]

6 minutes ago, AdoraBelle said:

Thanks for the reply. I did read the whole post and appreciate the thoughts and feedback (and technical reasons my concerns are unlikely). 

 

Quoted this part only to mention that Alaska’s politicians, or at least their AG, filed papers last week to be able to (mangling my legal terms here) be involved in the CDC lawsuit … on Florida’s side. More complaints about the draconian CDC, etc. 

 

(I was originally going to cancel based on this alone, because I’m just not feeling like giving money to any states indulging in politically expedient anti-vax/“evil CDC” stuff this year, but my husband kind of talked me down a bit from that one—no reason to punish the individual port towns/businesses, etc. Then RC making the flip gave me very clear visions of ultimately ending up on an unvaccinated ship. So much can change in the next two+ months.)

Yeah, I’m a bit annoyed about that too, but am still ready to support the SE Alaska communities. 

 

I’m on Royal in early December (sailing out of Los Angeles) and am hoping that there’s enough of a successful history of cruises by then that a few positive cases onboard won’t have the impact that they would for one of these early post-shutdown cruises. Also, I doubt NCL and some of the other lines will require vaccination by then anyway. We’ll see.

[Tos]

On 6/2/2021 at 5:51 PM, chefchick said:

I am booked September 11 so haven’t seen anything yet....for those of you who have received confirmation of the Encore change did you also receive the same stateroom you originally booked? 

 

[Tos]

Yes,  We were booked on the Bliss and changed to the Encore for the August 28th sailing to Alaska.  We have our same cabin.

 

[redsox1584]

On 6/4/2021 at 4:43 PM, redsox1584 said:

I did get into an online chat with an agent and she said that once the merge from the Bliss to Encore is complete, everyone should receive new updated confirmations and then I can request the room change. I guess I should have just waited until next week to call like I said I would lol. 
 

just letting everyone know that you can’t make any changes to your reservation until the merge is completed

 

Just an update - I went into an online chat with NCL and they were able to change my room no problem.  They are able to access the Bliss/Encore reservations now 🙂  

 

I just received an updated confirmation by e-mail.  

Edited June 7, 2021 by redsox1584

[lizygirl3]

Sailing on the Encore leaving August 14.  Are cruisers still getting wonky summaries that they still owe money,  I have paid in full and just got a revised booking summary that I still owe $1,588.00?

 

[AdoraBelle]

10 minutes ago, lizygirl3 said:

Sailing on the Encore leaving August 14.  Are cruisers still getting wonky summaries that they still owe money,  I have paid in full and just got a revised booking summary that I still owe $1,588.00?

 

I got another invoice today with another outstanding ~$700 balance (it seems like the “prepaid daily service charge” glitch has been reintroduced, as that’s where it says I owe the bulk of the money). 
 

I didn’t have time to call them this morning, will try tomorrow. Not optimistic.

[CaptainWoody]

Just FYI.  My original reissued confirmation last week was correct with no erroneous charges.  I received another today, that is identical.  I think they've just sent out a bunch of confirmations regardless of any change status.  If you just received a new one that has the same errors as your last one, it might not mean anything other than the fact that they haven't fixed all the errors yet.

[AdoraBelle]

There was a point where I only “owed” $88. It’s changed a couple of times.

[RaftingJeremy]

32 minutes ago, lizygirl3 said:

Sailing on the Encore leaving August 14.  Are cruisers still getting wonky summaries that they still owe money,  I have paid in full and just got a revised booking summary that I still owe $1,588.00?

 

Mine has been fixed.  I’m on the same sailing 

[SSFun]

Mine has been fixed as well. Got one last week that said we owed a lot of additional money but now it has been corrected. I had not paid anything but the deposit though. I wonder if the issues are showing up on people's that had already paid in full (or maybe even made partial payments?) - Just a thought, could be wrong...

[RaftingJeremy]

23 minutes ago, SSFun said:

Mine has been fixed as well. Got one last week that said we owed a lot of additional money but now it has been corrected. I had not paid anything but the deposit though. I wonder if the issues are showing up on people's that had already paid in full (or maybe even made partial payments?) - Just a thought, could be wrong...

Mine was fully paid.  It’s been corrected though since last Friday I believe 

[SSFun]

12 minutes ago, RaftingJeremy said:

Mine was fully paid.  It’s been corrected though since last Friday I believe 

Well, then I guess that proves my thought wrong. 😉 I guess it must just be a glitch in their system. Crazy how some reservations are/always were correct while others were/still are wrong. How some people were changed over to Encore in the same room while others had their rooms change. Craziness! I feel bad for those that are still having problems with the switch. 

[RaftingJeremy]

19 minutes ago, SSFun said:

Well, then I guess that proves my thought wrong. 😉 I guess it must just be a glitch in their system. Crazy how some reservations are/always were correct while others were/still are wrong. How some people were changed over to Encore in the same room while others had their rooms change. Craziness! I feel bad for those that are still having problems with the switch. 

The IT department at NCL needs some retooling I think 

[SSFun]

9 minutes ago, RaftingJeremy said:

The IT department at NCL needs some retooling I think 

I wholeheartedly agree!

[debagk]

I just got my invoice from NCL for my September cruise and my price was adjusted and is actually lower.  Decided to use my credits from my Akaska cruise last year and it's gone.  I originally transferred it to a cruise out of Venice but that was cancelled so when Alaska opened up I decided to use it toward a cruise on the Bliss.  They used part of my credit for the deposit but wanted to wait to make sure I could cancel and rebook all my air reservations first then the ship change happened.  Called NCL and they said they don't know what happend to call back in 2 days.  Now I'm worried they owe me $4000.  Did anyone else loose their credits?   

[robcolem]

My second confirmation was still in error as it showed a large Primary Package Fee.  Sent a chat message on the NCL site about it and they sent an updated confirmation with it removed. My 10% off coupon isn't listed as a payment but the person said it was applied as everything else, including offers and latitude bonuses, carried over.