Four Years Ago Today

[JamieLogical]

Four years ago today, I received the following letter about my March 15, 2020 sailing on the Bliss:

 

March 13, 2020

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners,

 

I’d like to share an important update about Norwegian Cruise Line’s response to COVID -19. With COVID-19 impacting communities around the globe, we have decided after collaboration with federal officials to voluntarily suspend cruise voyages across our fleet, effective immediately. This voluntary action covers voyages with embarkation dates from March 13 to April 11, 2020. We will plan to recommence and operate with embarkations beginning April 12, 2020.

 

The health, safety and well-being of our guests and crew is our highest priority. While we have not had any confirmed cases of COVID-19 across our 17-ship fleet and are taking this measure in an abundance of caution, we felt it necessary to do our part and contribute to efforts to contain the spread of the virus .   We greatly appreciate the understanding of our valued guests during these fluid , unprecedented and challenging times.Guests on voyages that are underway will conclude and guests will be disembarked as soon as possible and assisted with travel arrangements.

 

Guests who are currently booked on voyages with embarkation dates from March 13 to March 17, 2020 on Norwegian Cruise Line are asked to contact their travel professional or the cruise line for more information.

 

• All guests on impacted voyages will receive a 150% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through December 31, 2022.
• For guests who wish to not avail themselves of the 150% future cruise credit, a 100% refund of the fare paid will be reimbursed to the original form of payment within 90 days of completing the request form at www.ncl.com/travel-alert/coronavirus. The form will be made available beginning March 23, 2020.  We ask guests to wait to contact us regarding any refund until after March 23, 2020 as our reservation system will allow us to accommodate their requests at that time.

 

Working closely and in partnership with local, state, federal and global agencies, we are committed to taking all appropriate steps and actions to combat the spread of COVID-19. If you have questions regarding this matter, please contact us at (866) 234-7350, visit us at www.ncl.com  or contact a travel professional.

 

As always, your business is important to Norwegian Cruise Line and we appreciate your trust in us.  We remain dedicated to providing our guests with the best travel experiences across the globe.

 

Sincerely,

Katty Byrd

Vice President, Guest Services

Norwegian Cruise Line

 

Can I just take this moment to reflect on how grateful I am that I have since been able to go on 16 cruises? I am happy to be back to debating about our First World problems like no room service breakfast or evening turndown service. I am grateful to be struggling to pick between three separate cruises on three separate lines for a week in May!

[Laszlo]

At Noon on March 13th 2020 the state announced my company would be shutting down. They were going off rules / laws that were 50 years old. Our reps and lawyers were able to fight it and we won, sort of. At 5pm it was announced we were able to stay open. We are a large printing company and we do work for some hospitals. Driving my 20 miles into work on the 16th was truly bizarre. It was like a snow day without the snow. The one bright spot at least for me was the couple of months of code red. Instead of taking 60-75 minutes to get to work it took 25-30 minutes Lol 

[cruisebeachgirl703]

17 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Four years ago today, I received the following letter about my March 15, 2020 sailing on the Bliss:

 

March 13, 2020

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners,

 

I’d like to share an important update about Norwegian Cruise Line’s response to COVID -19. With COVID-19 impacting communities around the globe, we have decided after collaboration with federal officials to voluntarily suspend cruise voyages across our fleet, effective immediately. This voluntary action covers voyages with embarkation dates from March 13 to April 11, 2020. We will plan to recommence and operate with embarkations beginning April 12, 2020.

 

The health, safety and well-being of our guests and crew is our highest priority. While we have not had any confirmed cases of COVID-19 across our 17-ship fleet and are taking this measure in an abundance of caution, we felt it necessary to do our part and contribute to efforts to contain the spread of the virus .   We greatly appreciate the understanding of our valued guests during these fluid , unprecedented and challenging times.Guests on voyages that are underway will conclude and guests will be disembarked as soon as possible and assisted with travel arrangements.

 

Guests who are currently booked on voyages with embarkation dates from March 13 to March 17, 2020 on Norwegian Cruise Line are asked to contact their travel professional or the cruise line for more information.

 

• All guests on impacted voyages will receive a 150% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through December 31, 2022.
• For guests who wish to not avail themselves of the 150% future cruise credit, a 100% refund of the fare paid will be reimbursed to the original form of payment within 90 days of completing the request form at www.ncl.com/travel-alert/coronavirus. The form will be made available beginning March 23, 2020.  We ask guests to wait to contact us regarding any refund until after March 23, 2020 as our reservation system will allow us to accommodate their requests at that time.

 

Working closely and in partnership with local, state, federal and global agencies, we are committed to taking all appropriate steps and actions to combat the spread of COVID-19. If you have questions regarding this matter, please contact us at (866) 234-7350, visit us at www.ncl.com  or contact a travel professional.

 

As always, your business is important to Norwegian Cruise Line and we appreciate your trust in us.  We remain dedicated to providing our guests with the best travel experiences across the globe.

 

Sincerely,

Katty Byrd

Vice President, Guest Services

Norwegian Cruise Line

 

Can I just take this moment to reflect on how grateful I am that I have since been able to go on 16 cruises? I am happy to be back to debating about our First World problems like no room service breakfast or evening turndown service. I am grateful to be struggling to pick between three separate cruises on three separate lines for a week in May!

So MSC, NCL and third???

[shof515]

The encore was supposed to do sailings out of NYC in 2020. That never happened and the ship never visited NYC.  Hopefully one day it will

[laudergayle]

Grateful.

[graphicguy]

Amen to being grateful.  

 

I remember those letter(s)...yes, I had more than one from NCL during shutdown.  Truthfully, out of all the cruise lines, I think NCL handled the COVID polices for sailing on their ships the best.

 

Although, after assuring me (and you, too) we would be sailing out of San Juan, PCCs doubling down on those assurances, a few emails from NCL stating for certain it was happening, and then they canceled it to "reposition" the ship somewhere else, really left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

I got over it.  As the FCCs were generous and the fares were dirt cheap.  But, I know you and I both were pretty ticked off at the time.

 

I don't know if I kept any of those letters.  I'll have to do some digging.

[Davechipp74]

Here in N.Y.C. Mayor de Blasio had a slogan about addressing the pandemic, "2 weeks to flatten the curve." 🤣🤣

[graphicguy]

 

 

Didn't find a COVID correspondence yet.  Did find this from 13 years ago.  Epic Balcony cabin.  No FAS.  $2,117 all in (Remember drinks for this cruise being somewhere in the neighborhood of $700).  

 

 

DAxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

INVOICE DATE: BOOKING DATE: RESERVATION: PROMO CODES:

SAILING: 30-Apr-2011 CATEGORY/STATEROOM: BK-BK/8006

SHIP: ITINERARY:

NORWEGIAN EPIC - 7 DAYS WESTERN CARIBBEAN

EMBARKATION: DISEMBARKATION:

MIAMI, FL MIAMI, FL

PAYMENTS

DEPOSIT due on 01/26/11 11:59 pm Eastern Time
FINAL PAYMENT due on 02/14/11 11:59 pm Eastern Time

PAID by CC# *8159 on 01/25/11 PAID by CC# *8159 on 02/10/11

TOTAL PAYMENTS APPLIED

to

07-May-2011

10-Feb-2011

25-Jan-2011

19322719

PGWAVE11, PGAARP1

CONFIRMATION - GUEST COPY

BOOKSAFE AIR PRE-CRUISE CHECK-IN POST-CRUISE CHECK-IN TRAVEL

GUESTS AGE CITY HOTEL # DAYS HOTEL # DAYS PROTECTION

1 xxxxxxxx DANIEL 2 xxxxx LISA

INVOICE TOTALS

GUEST FARE GOVERNMENT TAXES/FEES

TOTAL

56 48

NO NO

AMOUNT (USD)

500.00 1,616.88

500.00 1,616.88

2,116.88

[graphicguy]

Jamie...didn't mean to hijack your thread....

 

But, you sent me on a hunt...

 

Found this...

 

 

February 16, 2021

 

Dear Valued Guest,

 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact communities around the globe, we have made the decision to suspend all voyages with embarkation dates through May 31, 2021. We are very sorry for any inconvenience these changes may have caused.

 

REFUNDS

Please be advised that a full refund will be automatically returned to the form of payment you provided at the time of your most current reservation. No further action is required on your part; your refund will be automatically processed within 15 business days. You will see the refund returned within 7-10 business days from the processed date. The visibility of the funds is dependent on your financial institution’s internal policies.

 

If your most current reservation was paid via a previously issued Future Cruise Credit (FCC), 100% of the FCC used will be re-applied to your Latitudes account. No further action is required; the FCC will be automatically added within 7 days.

 

For additional information pertaining to refunds, please visit ncl.com/suspended-sailings.

 

OUR THANKS TO YOU

We sincerely appreciate your loyalty to Norwegian Cruise Line and as mentioned previously, we cannot wait to provide you with the cruise vacation you were hoping for and likely need now more than ever! Therefore, in addition to the 100% refund or return of your FCC, the

following offers may also be available when you chose to rebook your Norwegian vacation through your Travel Advisor:

 

• A 10% OFF* discount on your next cruise with us, combinable with all available promotions at the time of booking. The 10% OFF discount will be added (or returned**) to your Latitudes account and will be available as of Wednesday, February 17, 2021. This discount can be used to make a booking through February 17, 2022 and can be applied towards any sailings through December 31, 2022.
  •  *Should you already have a 10% OFF discount FCC from a previous suspension and have not yet applied that discount FCC to a new reservation, an additional FCC will not be issued.
  •  **If this suspended reservation used a previously issued 10% OFF discount FCC, the 10% OFF FCC will be returned to your client profile. An additional FCC will not be issued.
• 30% OFF! For a limited time only, take advantage of our current promotion if you book a new cruise by February 28, 2021 for any published voyage through 2023, and receive 30% OFF!
• TAKE ALL! Again, for a very limited time, if you book a new cruise by February 28, 2021 for any published voyage through 2023, you may TAKE ALL. This limited time offer is a tremendous value allowing you to add all five of our Free at Sea amenities (TAKE ALL) when you reserve select stateroom categories for any published voyage. Amenities include a free unlimited beverage package, free specialty dining, a free Wi-Fi package, free shore excursion credits and reduced rates for family and friends - a value of up to $2,890 per person!
• A $150 discount + Lower Deposit! If you purchase a $150 CruiseFirst certificate, which is a certificate towards your next cruise, we will match it with an additional $150 discount. For CruiseFirst terms and conditions, please visit ncl.com/terms/cruisefirst.

 

The combined value of these offers is well over $3,000 per person. This is our way of showing you how much we appreciate you.

Please contact your Travel Advisor today to review and take advantage of any of these offers.

 

NEW ITINERARIES TO INCREDIBLE DESTINATIONS

We have recently opened for sale amazing itineraries through summer 2023. When you visit ncl.com, you will find new sailings to Alaska, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada & New England, The Caribbean, Hawaii, the Mediterranean, and more on the most innovative ships at sea. Our goal is to provide you with the opportunity to plan and book your next extraordinary vacation as far in advance as possible so that all you have to do is savor the anticipation of a truly memorable cruise experience.

 

YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY

During these extraordinary times, we are doing our part to provide you with peace of mind however and whenever we can. It goes without saying that our very first priority is always your health, safety, security and well-being so I encourage you to read all about the good work we are doing at ncl.com/book-with-confidence.

 

If you have questions or would like to redeem your discount, please contact your travel advisor.

 

We look forward to exploring the world with you in the safety and comfort of an amazing Norwegian Cruise Line ship!

[bkrickles1]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

Four years ago today, I received the following letter about my March 15, 2020 sailing on the Bliss:

 

March 13, 2020

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners,

 

I’d like to share an important update about Norwegian Cruise Line’s response to COVID -19. With COVID-19 impacting communities around the globe, we have decided after collaboration with federal officials to voluntarily suspend cruise voyages across our fleet, effective immediately. This voluntary action covers voyages with embarkation dates from March 13 to April 11, 2020. We will plan to recommence and operate with embarkations beginning April 12, 2020.

 

The health, safety and well-being of our guests and crew is our highest priority. While we have not had any confirmed cases of COVID-19 across our 17-ship fleet and are taking this measure in an abundance of caution, we felt it necessary to do our part and contribute to efforts to contain the spread of the virus .   We greatly appreciate the understanding of our valued guests during these fluid , unprecedented and challenging times.Guests on voyages that are underway will conclude and guests will be disembarked as soon as possible and assisted with travel arrangements.

 

Guests who are currently booked on voyages with embarkation dates from March 13 to March 17, 2020 on Norwegian Cruise Line are asked to contact their travel professional or the cruise line for more information.

 

• All guests on impacted voyages will receive a 150% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through December 31, 2022.
• For guests who wish to not avail themselves of the 150% future cruise credit, a 100% refund of the fare paid will be reimbursed to the original form of payment within 90 days of completing the request form at www.ncl.com/travel-alert/coronavirus. The form will be made available beginning March 23, 2020.  We ask guests to wait to contact us regarding any refund until after March 23, 2020 as our reservation system will allow us to accommodate their requests at that time.

 

Working closely and in partnership with local, state, federal and global agencies, we are committed to taking all appropriate steps and actions to combat the spread of COVID-19. If you have questions regarding this matter, please contact us at (866) 234-7350, visit us at www.ncl.com  or contact a travel professional.

 

As always, your business is important to Norwegian Cruise Line and we appreciate your trust in us.  We remain dedicated to providing our guests with the best travel experiences across the globe.

 

Sincerely,

Katty Byrd

Vice President, Guest Services

Norwegian Cruise Line

 

Can I just take this moment to reflect on how grateful I am that I have since been able to go on 16 cruises? I am happy to be back to debating about our First World problems like no room service breakfast or evening turndown service. I am grateful to be struggling to pick between three separate cruises on three separate lines for a week in May!

We came back from a sailing on Encore, right before this in January.

I remember people on the sailing talking about "coronavirus" and it was a bit of a joke onboard.

The day we returned to Miami, we went straight to the airport, but had a long wait until 5pm for departure.

We immediately noticed some things. 

People wearing masks and people wrapping their luggage in saran wrap!

We kept our distance all day.

The day will not be forgotten easily because, also that day, we went and grabbed a bite at one of the airport restaurants and noticed a buzz with everyone looking at their phones and chatting it up. 

It was the day that Kobe died.

I did get a letter 2 days before a sailing on Joy in January of 2022, cancelling our cruise.

That was so frustrating as NCL was kind of pressured to shut down for 2 weeks due to an uptick in covid. We would have enjoyed the 40% full sailing.

[EllieinNJ]

We were suppose to do the 21 day NY to Seattle NCL Bliss on April 19, 2020.  We got our cancellation notice on April 3rd.  I remember trying to decide between that cruise and the Gem that did a similar itinerary in January.  The Gem made it.  The Bliss didn't.

[UKstages]

49 minutes ago, Davechipp74 said:

Here in N.Y.C. Mayor de Blasio had a slogan about addressing the pandemic, "2 weeks to flatten the curve."

 

everybody had a short term approach. if you look at the letter from jamie quoted in the first post, NCL anticipated sailing again by april 12, 2020.

 

same thing on broadway. the expected closure was two or three weeks.

[NikiPinkston]

I remember that day well. It was on Friday, the 13th (which is usually lucky for me, but that's another story). We were scheduled for our second cruise on the POA on March 30, and I remember the President coming on TV and saying that the whole country was shutting down. We had no idea what we were in for. We were able to cruise to Alaska and Mexico in 2021, but we couldn't take that POA cruise until the end of 2022. So grateful to be where we are now!

Edited March 13 by NikiPinkston

[cruiseny4life]

It's the day I closed my school. Remote education...for two weeks the letter I drafted said. I remember joking with the school nurse about how it'll be just like the flu and we'll be back in-person before we know it. Little did we all know.

[UKstages]

i kinda knew.

 

in december and january of 2019 and 2020, i did two trips to the philiipines. everybody was wearing masks. (normally, the only place you saw masks at that time was at the tokyo airport. their employees have been wearing them for decades.) cab drivers, shop clerks, supermarket cashiers... all wearing masks.

 

and, indeed, in january of that year, when i returned home, i came down with a really debilitating case of the "flu."

 

it was almost assuredly covid.

 

that's right... i was patient zero!

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

So MSC, NCL and third???

 

Yeah... actually looking at a Pricness sailing now because I got a casino offer from them.

[www3traveler]

WOW!!!  Thank You for posting your letter.  Hard to believe that it has been 4 Years!!!

 

Still praying for all the Norwegian family members.  So many of them had real struggles to survive and a number of them died or had family members die from Covid 19.

 

Again thank you for reminding us of what happened to so many people not only in the United but around the world.

[JamieLogical]

NCL had offered full refunds ahead of the cancelation for anyone who wasn't comfortable sailing. I remember watching inventory keep going up and up and up to the point where, had we sailed, the ship would have been less than 50% full.

[PATRLR]

9 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Yeah... actually looking at a Pricness sailing now because I got a casino offer from them.

Wait a second, I just got finished reading your "Live" from your other Process cruise and how you wouldn't do them again.  🙂

[JamieLogical]

Just now, PATRLR said:

Wait a second, I just got finished reading your "Live" from your other Process cruise and how you wouldn't do them again.  🙂

 

I reread the whole blog too when I started considering it and made my husband reread it as well. We are now in the process of reading/watching a million recent reviews of the recent Enchanted Princess sailings (that's the ship it would be) to get a sense of whether service and food quality have improved. We would be solving our room issues by doing a minisuite and solving the ship maintenance problems by going on a really new ship.

[dmwnc1959]

I didn’t have a cruise booked, but I did work in a VA hospital. Talk about our world coming apart and crashing down all around us. 😷

[DuckTollerFans]

We had made reservations late that February for a May Canadian/NE cruise.  At some point before the 13th I read that Canada was not allowing cruise ships in until further notice -- so then we just waited to get the official word from NCL.

 

We rebooked with all the FCC etc to head to Bermuda in 2021 -- also got cancelled so we rented a lovely Finger Lakes cottage.

 

Then finally, in March '23 we were able to sail the Gem, then at ~50% capacity. Staff still wore masks, as did some cruisers.  Many of the Caribbean ports were still in flux - when we booked, there were 5 ports listed, by the time we actually sailed I think 3 of them were substituted.  We were just happy to be sailing anywhere by then.

 

Last fall some friends were on a non-NCL cruise (forgot which) when the husband tested positive.  He was stuck in the cabin the whole time and thankfully they had a balcony. But his wife could go out and do whatever she wanted.   Doesn't make too much sense.

 

 

[RedwingHockeyFan]

I had just gotten back from a cruise on the Breakaway.  I remember that they were no longer letting passengers on board that had come from China, basically the first steps I recall to battle the outbreak.  We started hearing about the diamond Princess that had to quarantine the passengers and the ship that wasn't even allowed to dock.  We had also booked a cruise for January 2021 on the Joy and waited until the last minute to cancel it right before NCL eventually cancelled it.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Our first cancellation was for the BA out of NOLA in 2/2020.  My doctor dtr begged me not to go so I called my trusty PCC and told her. She said”noooo, I’m not gonna let you do that today. Call me back tomorrow”. I knew something was up and sure enough I got the cancellation email the next morning g.  I called to thank her as I’d have been in full penalty, but this saved me a boatload of money.  Another reason to have a good PCC

[reeinaz]

My 1st NCL cruise, 2nd cruise in total, was scheduled for 4/7/20 on the Escape out of NYC.