If NCL cancels your cruise, why not jump on another ship?

[susanf31]

Here's our Plan B.  If NCL cancels our 1/15 Escape sailing out of Port Canaveral prior to 1/14, we are just going to book a different cruise last minute.  I'm seeing about 23 other ships (Carnival, Royal, Disney, MSC, Celebrity) sailing from Florida on either 1/15 or 1/16 that we could book last minute.

 

We will already have our Covid tests in hand.  We are already vaccinated. People we are sailing with will have already flown in so why would anyone get on a flight and return home when they could just book a different cruise and still go?

 

I understand that people who were sailing on FCC might not be able to afford to do that, but those of us who paid for the cruise and would be getting a refund, the cost would be about the same.

 

Am I wrong with this logic?

[TSUmom]

Nothing wrong with the plan as long as the other lines don't follow NCL and cancel.

[dad son team]

it seems that the port closures of several islands could be contributing to NCL's decision.  this will also affect the other lines so keep that in mind.  If just a sailing with a lot of sea days is what you want, you should be good.

[itsnotjustme]

1) Covid & Covid associated risks your new cruise is disrupted, ports cancel, you are forced to quarantine on board or in another country.

2) Timing.  I don't know how short cruise lines can take new bookings.

[dmh165638]

This is an option but not everyone can afford to book another cruise without receiving their refund/FCC first which takes several weeks.

 

[phillygwm]

21 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

Am I wrong with this logic?

That also assumes that the last minute pricing would be favorable to you.  In this environment that may well be the case.

[TNcruising02]

I am on that cruise too, but if it's cancelled I will get a refund and enjoy a week in Florida.  Hopping on another cruise might be an option if that line lets people do it close to sailing.

[susanf31]

7 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

I am on that cruise too, but if it's cancelled I will get a refund and enjoy a week in Florida.  Hopping on another cruise might be an option if that line lets people do it close to sailing.

We are also considering renting a beach house for the whole family if our cruise gets cancelled. The problem with that is it's high season here and add that in with so many "cancelled cruisers" looking for last minute beach houses, and you will find a supply/cost issue.

 

That is why we are more likely to try and get on a different ship first.

[TNcruising02]

2 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

We are also considering renting a beach house for the whole family if our cruise gets cancelled. The problem with that is it's high season here and add that in with so many "cancelled cruisers" looking for last minute beach houses, and you will find a supply/cost issue.

 

That is why we are more likely to try and get on a different ship first.

Even though it's high season, maybe some land travelers are also cancelling.  I have no clue how things will be the weekend of our cruise.  We are open to spending a week near Orlando, so the lodging options should be high.  Hopping on another  cruise sounds like a fun option, but I think things will get worse before they get better on the ships.  It's really too bad such a mild variant is shutting things down like this.

[susanf31]

15 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Even though it's high season, maybe some land travelers are also cancelling.  I have no clue how things will be the weekend of our cruise.  We are open to spending a week near Orlando, so the lodging options should be high.  Hopping on another  cruise sounds like a fun option, but I think things will get worse before they get better on the ships.  It's really too bad such a mild variant is shutting things down like this.

Housing is always easy in Orlando. There is so much of it. It's beach housing that will be a problem and obscenely expensive. Florida is BOOMING right now with tourists because we are a completely open state. No masks, no mandates. FREE! Keep in mind that Disney now requires advance reservations for tickets so you might not be going there.  They require you to purchase your tickets AND make a reservation to use them so try doing that before you book a house!

[Diver2014]

We're still going on Escape next week, as long as NCL says we can.  Plan B - go camping in our travel trailer (not telling anyone where so that there will still be a space or two left.....)

We're not gung ho cruisers that have to be entertained or wined and dined or need on board activites or need to go ashore (sounds like we're pretty cheap, eh?).  No, we just really enjoy being on board, smelling the salty air and watching the water go by.  But, we do bring a book or two......

[TNcruising02]

48 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

Housing is always easy in Orlando. There is so much of it. It's beach housing that will be a problem and obscenely expensive. Florida is BOOMING right now with tourists because we are a completely open state. No masks, no mandates. FREE! Keep in mind that Disney now requires advance reservations for tickets so you might not be going there.  They require you to purchase your tickets AND make a reservation to use them so try doing that before you book a house!

We actually already pre-booked 4 nights at Disney for after our cruise and have the vacation package purchased.  For the other nights, we can find things to do.  We have vacationed in Florida many times during the pandemic and love it.

[LisaDee]

Just FYI I don’t believe you can book less than 48 hours before a sailing because the ship needs to submit the passenger manifest to Customs or some other agency.  Hopefully any cancellations will be communicated with ample time to book an alternative.  We are also looking at our options (preferably a port we can drive to) in case our scheduled Feb cruise is cancelled.

[Interestedcruisefan]

Maybe thats part of the reasoning by NCL

 

They have such low numbers booked currently that cruises aren't financially viable

 

And they are hoping to fill up their other ships by people swapping over? 

[MsTabbyKats]

While I agree that "Omicron Panic" is overkill, wouldn't you have to wear masks, miss ports and have entertainment cancelled (not to mention quarantine) on other cruise lines too?

 

That may not bother some, but would bother others (me).

[TNcruising02]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

While I agree that "Omicron Panic" is overkill, wouldn't you have to wear masks, miss ports and have entertainment cancelled (not to mention quarantine) on other cruise lines too?

 

That may not bother some, but would bother others (me).

This is a great point.  That's why if they cancel my cruise, I am not getting on another one until the mask mandates are a thing of the past.  I booked this cruise when there were no mandates and the new variant wasn't an issue.  The main reason we are sticking with our cruise, unless they cancel, is because we have family members from across the country joining us.  We can still have a good time.

 However, if they offer cash refunds at any point before our cruise, we will request a refund.

[prov2727]

4 hours ago, susanf31 said:

Here's our Plan B.  If NCL cancels our 1/15 Escape sailing out of Port Canaveral prior to 1/14, we are just going to book a different cruise last minute.  I'm seeing about 23 other ships (Carnival, Royal, Disney, MSC, Celebrity) sailing from Florida on either 1/15 or 1/16 that we could book last minute.

 

We will already have our Covid tests in hand.  We are already vaccinated. People we are sailing with will have already flown in so why would anyone get on a flight and return home when they could just book a different cruise and still go?

 

I understand that people who were sailing on FCC might not be able to afford to do that, but those of us who paid for the cruise and would be getting a refund, the cost would be about the same.

 

Am I wrong with this logic?

It's what a lot of us on the turned around Pearl are scheduled to do!

[Lou33]

4 hours ago, susanf31 said:

but those of us who paid for the cruise and would be getting a refund, the cost would be about the same.

 

Am I wrong with this logic?

I wish that were the case for us.  We just cancelled our February cruise for a refund at final payment.  There is no way that we could find a comparable cruise for the same price.  

 

Edit: That was for NCL cruises.  I suppose we may be able to find a different cruise line.  But we have 35% FCC extra credit from cancelled cruises, not from POM, that we want to use.

Edited January 5, 2022 by Lou33

[kaprin02]

3 hours ago, LisaDee said:

Just FYI I don’t believe you can book less than 48 hours before a sailing because the ship needs to submit the passenger manifest to Customs or some other agency.  Hopefully any cancellations will be communicated with ample time to book an alternative.  We are also looking at our options (preferably a port we can drive to) in case our scheduled Feb cruise is cancelled.

My aunt and uncle booked this past Sunday evening, for Joy’s Monday departure - less than 24 hours in advance. NCL told them they could even have called Monday morning to book, but it had to be done by 9am. That may not be true for every line or every sailing, but just this week, NCL was allowing very short notice bookings.

[vacation44]

5 minutes ago, kaprin02 said:

My aunt and uncle booked this past Sunday evening, for Joy’s Monday departure - less than 24 hours in advance. NCL told them they could even have called Monday morning to book, but it had to be done by 9am. That may not be true for every line or every sailing, but just this week, NCL was allowing very short notice bookings.

Good to know, thank you for sharing.

[Illbcruzn4life]

15 minutes ago, kaprin02 said:

My aunt and uncle booked this past Sunday evening, for Joy’s Monday departure - less than 24 hours in advance. NCL told them they could even have called Monday morning to book, but it had to be done by 9am. That may not be true for every line or every sailing, but just this week, NCL was allowing very short notice bookings.

 

and the pax manifest only has to be sent in one hour before departure. 😊

[Quincella]

I've been looking at backup options in case NCL cancels before our 1/16 Encore cruise, and I hadn't even considered this!  I now have a couple of different cruises and rooms picked, just in case.

 

Glad you put this out there!  It's actually a  much less expensive option to booking a resort in the Keys for the week, for example.

[susanf31]

28 minutes ago, Quincella said:

I've been looking at backup options in case NCL cancels before our 1/16 Encore cruise, and I hadn't even considered this!  I now have a couple of different cruises and rooms picked, just in case.

 

Glad you put this out there!  It's actually a  much less expensive option to booking a resort in the Keys for the week, for example.

From my research, all other cruise lines require a negative test taken within 2 days of sailing.  So make sure to book a Covid test for 2 days before your Plan B cruises if they aren't on NCL.  We have Covid test booked for 1/13 so we will be able to sail on a 1/15 cruise with another cruise line should our NCL cruise get cancelled.

[Quincella]

2 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

From my research, all other cruise lines require a negative test taken within 2 days of sailing.  So make sure to book a Covid test for 2 days before your Plan B cruises if they aren't on NCL.  We have Covid test booked for 1/13 so we will be able to sail on a 1/15 cruise with another cruise line should our NCL cruise get cancelled.

Yep, we have PCR tests booked for Friday, 1/14, so we should be good to go.

[Travelicious]

OP, thanks for the idea.  I have been able to form a back-up plan before this thread goes "poof" due to posters again being unable to resist arguing about who is hospitalized with COVID.