Curious: are others looking at alternative cruise or land itineraries “in case” NCL cancels

[vanchelle]

It’s great to see everyone’s resilience and creativity! 
we’re in that weird space of looking at flights for June BOS-ATH. I’m just still on the fence of booking but eek…that flight cost $ keeps creeping up. 
i have a few ideas for just in case but the Planning Fatigue mentioned here is such a real thing!!

[CDR Benson]

Harking to that "planning fatigue" I mentioned, after booking that original October, 2019 cruise to Canada/New England, I reserved and paid for two first-class air tickets to New York, where we would pick up the ship.  That was in January, 2019, eight months ahead of the sailing.

 

When that cruise was cancelled, I had to cancel the air tickets as well, and the airline provided me with a credit voucher for the cost of the tickets.  But here was the problem:  as I mentioned, to try to get ahead of the COVID problem, we booked a Canada/New England cruise on Norwegian Joy for September, 2022, almost two years away.  My voucher from the airline was good until October, 2020---a year after the original flight; I had to re-book a flight before that.

 

However, the flights to New York for September of 2022 wouldn't be posted until November, 2021, well past that year limit.  So I couldn't book a new flight before the deadline.  E-mail responses from the airline assured me that I'd be able to use my voucher, anyway.  But, sure enough, on 01 November 2021, when I tried to book the September, 2022 flight to New York, the agent I spoke to over the phone informed me that my voucher had expired.  

 

The agent did provide me with an e-mail address for an official to whom I could petition for a waiver of the year's deadline.  In an e-mail, I pleaded my case and, to the airline's credit, it had no problem extending my voucher and we were booked first class to New York in September with no additional charges.

 

But that was just one more logistical problem over which I had to concern myself throughout this whole business.  And, if the September, 2022, cruise were to be cancelled, I have to deal with the air-travel problem all over again, too.

[FLcruisergrl]

We went to Siesta Key, FL in lieu of canceled cruises twice during the pandemic. Loved it! Another time we went to St Thomas, USVI. I think I’m done having contingency plans, but always have a land vacation to the BVIs in the back of my mind.

[Sailing12Away]

@CDR Benson - we had a similar issue with our originally booked New Zealand cruise for January 2021. We booked business class tickets from JFK-Auckland, and home from Brisbane-JFK. The cruise was cancelled on us long before the country shut down to visitors, but we got lucky as there were no flights going either. My flight was changed from JFK-LAX-AUK to JFK-Singapore. That was it. I was like, um... am I supposed to swim the rest of the way to Auckland? We held onto those tickets for a bit to see if we could just go and do it on our own with a rental car, but the country was in lock down.

 

We got lucky, as the cost of those tickets was outright refunded to my credit card due to the cancellation by AA. If I had a $10K+ flight credit with the world on lock down, not sure I would have been able to ever use it and that is quite a pretty penny to lose out on.

[letiha]

We are travelling from Australia, rescheduled our October cruise in the Caribbean to the Mediterranean and flying into London.

 

if the cruise gets cancelled we will spend 2 weeks in Scotland instead of flying to Rome.

[njkate]

Well I had cancelled my Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in may and booked a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo in Tamarindo Costa Rica. Not a huge fan of all inclusive, this is a block from beach and all restaurants and bars within walking distance. I just need a vacation where I don't have to jump through hoops to do. Maybe in the fall cruising will be somewhat normal again

[CDR Benson]

57 minutes ago, njkate said:

Maybe in the fall cruising will be somewhat normal again

 

That's certainly what the Good Mrs. Benson and I are hoping.

[Rob-Bob]

March cruise to Panama cancelled - heading to Nashville.

[JustSomeLady]

This cruise is my “fourth time’s the charm” attempt since we were canceled in 2020. Last year, we went to a Club Med. This year, our backup plan is Scotland by rail.