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Last month, Royal Caribbean chose to temporarily pause new bookings on cruises departing through early January "because our ships will continue sailing with a limited capacity to accommodate physical distancing." Say instead of canceling your trip, you simply don’t show up on cruise day. Cruise lines make it clear that if you don’t show at the port, that will lead to no refund. First and foremost, yes, you are allowed to cancel a cruise that you’ve booked. As well, you can cancel your trip for any reason that you want — even if you just simply decide you don’t want to take the cruise. Prospective passengers might pause before booking, though, when they see that the voyage was already supposed to set sail on Nov. 1.
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Witman says she also shipped boxes to have on the cruise, back in early October. "Still waiting for my refund. And now you've gone belly up?" a woman who identified herself as a Life at Sea customer said recently on the company's Instagram account. The woman, a retired educator, did not respond to NPR's message seeking further comment. Witman, who owns a marketing agency named Clever Lucy, was planning to work remotely aboard the ship, using its Starlink internet service. And as a single woman, she had been looking forward to exploring the world with a group. Johnson was one of several members of her group who reached out to TPG and provided documentation of the initial offer of a refund from Grand Circle.
Construction on Second Chinese-Built Cruise Ship Well Underway
As an alternative, cruise lines will give customers on canceled cruises a future cruise credit for the amount they paid, often with a "bonus credit" added to make the credit more enticing. Most cruise lines have offered customers on canceled sailings a full cash refund. Kuther and Feldman recommended travelers purchase travel insurance before sailing, which can help cover those costs.
Coral Princess through January 17, 2022
"Royal Caribbean noted that cancelations were "a result of the ongoing COVID-related circumstances around the world, and in an abundance of caution." Adam Peakes, president of the line's owner Hornblower Group, said it plans to "sell the company, or, if a sale cannot be achieved, its operations will be wound down." Cruise lines employ some of the same approaches to inventory management as their airline counterparts, resulting in the ever-dreaded bumps. Plus, ship upgrade initiatives or mechanical repairs can cause changes to itineraries departing within weeks, months or even years. As the name implies, with this sort of policy, you’re covered no matter why you decide to cancel.
"We thank you for your support and deeply regret any inconvenience this causes you." Instead, the best way to cancel the trip is to give the cruise line a phone call. Connect to a representative and then let them know that you’d like to cancel the trip.
Celebrity Xcel will feature a redesigned Grand Plaza and will offer the line’s popular Retreat resort area, with private spaces for suite guests. The ship’s maiden voyage is a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale on December 3, 2023. Following the inaugural, Celebrity Ascent will operate 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises through the winter season. Following her 7-night maiden sailing, Carnival Firenze will operate 4-night cruises to Catalina Island and Ensenada, and 5-night cruises calling at Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas. The 4,000-guest ship’s Italian vibe will be seen in her design, inspired by the city of Florence, and in her Italy-themed public spaces and activities. Williams is known for his unique style and big personality, and a range of talents that include singing, dancing, and comedy.
Why these four ships?
Again, refunds are the cruise line's least favorite choice, so you should expect bonus credit if you opt to either move your reservation or accept credit for an alternative cruise. Because this kind of bump usually comes with advance notice, the offer you get might not include huge bonuses. Cruise ships often sail with empty rooms, and most lines use upgrade options to eke out a few extra dollars from unsold rooms at the last minute.
Transfer of Star Princess to P&O Cruises Australia
The cruise line wants to keep you as a valued customer and knows it has inconvenienced you. Having travel insurance that covers cancellation of the full amount of your travel, including airline tickets and hotel reservations, is always the safest choice on any cruise. Insurance coverage can be tricky, so read all policy details carefully before you choose. Because cruise lines and their passengers have far less flexibility than airlines and flyers, every effort is made to avoid bumping guests that have confirmed cruise bookings — but there are several reasons it can happen. Royal Caribbean has canceled sailings on four of its ships, becoming the latest cruise line to scrap voyages amid the spread of the omicron variant. In addition to your cruise fare and taxes/fees, you might have spent other money on your trip.
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Norwegian Sky Cruises Cancelled Due to Red Sea Conflict - Cruise Industry News
Norwegian Sky Cruises Cancelled Due to Red Sea Conflict.
Posted: Mon, 26 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
The three affected ships are expected to return to sailing on April 26, Jan. 29, and Feb. 20, respectively. The good news is in general prepaid items are refunded, just like port fees and taxes. So if you’ve prepaid gratuities, or bought the drink package, that money will normally be returned to you. If you’re worried about these extras, you can often go in and cancel them individually for a refund before and then later cancel the cruise.
Whether you cruise multiple times per year or you're new to cruising, the goal of Royal Caribbean Blog is for it to be a useful resource for keeping up to date with what's new and exciting with Royal Caribbean. The cancellations are the first mass-cancellations by Royal Caribbean since they restarted operations in June 2021, and reminiscent to many of what happened in March 2020. On the RoyalCaribbeanBlog message boards, Pattycruise thinks perhaps too many crew members testing positive is the reason, "Lack of crew members who are Covid free would be my guess." Royal Caribbean did not specify why these particular ships were chosen, although cruise fans certainly have plenty of theories. For Serenade & Symphony of the Seas departing January 8, 2022, and Jewel of the Seas departing January 9, 2022, Royal Caribbean is providing passengers with a 100% Future Cruise Credit to book a new cruise by May 31st, 2022.
The refund came with no explanation, but TPG had mentioned Ballard's case specifically when inquiring about Grand Circle's policy. But within 24 hours of this story originally posting, she said the company called to promise her entire group a full refund. "Grand Circle emailed us saying that we had been rebooked on the same cruise next year, with no mention of the refund," Johnson told TPG. "We had a new reservation number and were supposed to go online to accept the terms and conditions." The situation "dwarfs any disruption we've experienced in even the worst hurricane season," Carnival said in a statement. "We can confirm that refunds are being issued to those guests that requested one."
But the important factor is that cruisers spend hundreds (if not thousands) on things like drink packages, spa services, port excursions and specialty dining. Empty cabins don't generate that additional money, so cruise lines oversell popular sailings as airlines do with flights. Behind-the-scenes cruise line maneuvers can cause bumps that rarely make the mainstream news.
At cruise giant Royal Caribbean and sister line Celebrity Cruises, for instance, the staff that handles refund requests is trying to get them processed in 30 business days (which works out to about 45 days). The 140,600-gross ton Celebrity Xcel will initially homeport at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, operating 7-night Eastern Caribbean and Western Caribbean cruises. Tests of onboard features are also done, including the FlowRider surf simulator and the Oculus Fall thrill ride in the ship’s AquaDome. Final touches are now underway onboard the ship, including to the carousel in the Surfside neighborhood. Cruise directors play crucial roles on all ships, since they engage and interact with virtually all guests and help to set the line’s Fun Ship atmosphere.
In his new role, Williams will share his expertise with cruise directors across the fleet, spending time on various ships around the world. The contacts have tested negative but the cruise ship will return to Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong on Jan. 5 to test all guests and crew who must take a second test on Jan. 8, the company said. Royal Caribbean joins Norwegian Cruise Line and others that also cancelled sailings on select ships.
She said she has never seen passengers bumped as a result of a full-ship charter less than nine months to a year ahead of sailing. When you are notified of a change in cruise plans, the first step is to read the notice carefully to understand your options. If you booked through a travel agency, call your adviser if they do not reach out first. Have them explain the reason for the bump and any options the cruise line offers.
But cruise company Life at Sea recently told customers who bought passage on a three-year voyage that rather than visiting 140 countries, their trip was called off. The line scrapped the vessel’s planned itineraries from March 28 through and including Nov. 3, 2025, because of “a fleet redeployment,” Norwegian said in a letter to guests and travel partners Tuesday, which it shared with USA TODAY. Johnson said calls to the company "resulted in us being told that refunds were no longer an option." Johnson said her group doesn't want to switch their cruise to next year. At a number of smaller lines such as Crystal Cruises, Silversea and Oceania Cruises, refunds are taking up to 90 days to process. Norwegian Cruise Line says refunds are being processed 90 days after a request is made.
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