What Happens If

[BadPinkTink]

August and September cruises are not cancelled? With only The Wonder cruises being cancelled in the latest rolling cancellations, it gives a slight hope that DCL will start sailing again in August. As we are now past all the PIF dates are people expecting their cruises to be cancelled. What happens if they are not? Are you comfortable with cruising in August? Are you thinking about cancelling and possibly loosing money? Are you angry that you now have to face the fact that you might have to cruise when you don't want to?

 

[Firstof3]

I am booked on the EBPC later this year, I truly hope the ship still goes but am starting to lean on it may get canceled. My true feeling is if they are allowed to cruise I will be on the ship, booked it on opening day over a year ago and have been planning this vacation for too long. If Disney cancels my cruise I will find a new one, what other choice do I have.

 

[figmentfinesse]

I have a VGT booked for late Aug on the Fantasy. It was meant to be the grand finale after an 11 day WDW trip. I'm from MD, and I don't want to go WDW anymore considering the restrictions. I am hoping they cancel because that's a long way to drive for just a three night. As a musical fan, the shows are one of the main reasons I go, and I just can't imagine how they would do that and keep the actors safe.

I was reassured in the main thread when I asked if people were able to get a refund with a *GT rate, but it still has me really stressed out. I hope they will have a really lenient cancellation policy if the Aug/Sept goes on.

 

[Quellman]

If you are past PIF you obviously are entertaining the idea to sail should the boat be open for you. Many of the cruise groups I am a member of for September have people dropping daily. We are still around 80% ship capacity however.
If you weren't comfortable, you probably would have pulled the plug.

Disney may still offer an easy out for anyone who may not want to sail on an altered product, but that is to be seen.

You never HAVE to cruise. There is always the option to cancel. As I said, a rational person will look at the risk factors (changed product, health concerns) and should make the decision that is best for them based on their risk. If they feel that the level of risk is acceptable to them and then decide at the last minute to bail, they have no right to be angry.

 

[Geomom]

I am expecting August cruises to be cancelled. They're still in the process of repatriating crew. The entertainment staff isn't in Toronto rehearsing...and the US and Canada border is basically still closed. I would expect other cruise lines to start up before Disney, due to how cautious they're being with the parks.

Our extended pif for our 8/3 Dream cruise was on 6/1. We will be at Disney world before and after anyways... despite the limited offerings. We're staying with our DVC pts, have active APs, and kids are high school and college. I did add a dvc room for the dates of our cruise just in case. While we can deal with a lessened Disney world experience...no shows, limited entertainment on the cruise would bother us... the reason we're sailing the dream is to see the shows, experience the bigger ship offerings for the first time...so I do hope it's cancelled as I'd like the full experience.

 

[billbertbuggin99]

If you are past PIF you obviously are entertaining the idea to sail should the boat be open for you. Many of the cruise groups I am a member of for September have people dropping daily. We are still around 80% ship capacity however.
If you weren't comfortable, you probably would have pulled the plug.

Disney may still offer an easy out for anyone who may not want to sail on an altered product, but that is to be seen.

You never HAVE to cruise. There is always the option to cancel. As I said, a rational person will look at the risk factors (changed product, health concerns) and should make the decision that is best for them based on their risk. If they feel that the level of risk is acceptable to them and then decide at the last minute to bail, they have no right to be angry.

While I do agree with this, there are many people (myself included) who booked *GT rates before any of this virus stuff happened. So we really have no options since these require PIF at the time of booking.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

You never HAVE to cruise. There is always the option to cancel. As I said, a rational person will look at the risk factors (changed product, health concerns) and should make the decision that is best for them based on their risk. If they feel that the level of risk is acceptable to them and then decide at the last minute to bail, they have no right to be angry.

Regarding health concerns, yes we know the risk.

However, regarding the changed product, we can only guess. I have a September cruise booked with a PIF date of June 12th. Officially, we know nothing about the product we are getting. Shows, pools, fireworks, restaurants, Cabanas, characters?!? Nothing has been communicated. So people have to decide to pay in full or not based on ..... ?

That said, I already paid in full. But for me, as a Floridian, it's just a long weekend cruise on a ship I've already been on. If DCL cruises, I'll cruise.

 

[disneyholic family]

I am booked on the EBPC later this year, I truly hope the ship still goes but am starting to lean on it may get canceled. My true feeling is if they are allowed to cruise I will be on the ship, booked it on opening day over a year ago and have been planning this vacation for too long. If Disney cancels my cruise I will find a new one, what other choice do I have.

the Wonder is headed for the panama canal now, presumably to cross back and head for Port Canaveral.
Is she going to cross back again in the fall for the san diego to mexico cruises?
We're booked on one of those in October.

.

 

[apathetic]

Another question. When they do announce the new restrictions, will it be fair to charge the same price? Fewer people in pools, theaters, dining, etc. Are you ok paying that Disney premium knowing you will have a hard time enjoying the venues you expected when booking? Not to mention, you may not get the advertised ports because they are closed. People past their PIF date have been charged for something they have no chance of getting.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

How many people actually get to use the pools anyway, though? Code Brown!

 

[klug_bug2010]

How many people actually get to use the pools anyway, though? Code Brown!

Yes. We don't cruise for the pools, that's for sure. In fact, we choose the Caribbean cruises so that we can get our swimming in at CC or one of the ports. We do virtually NO swimming on the ship - just the slides and splash pad.

 

[billbertbuggin99]

the Wonder is headed for the panama canal now, presumably to cross back and head for Port Canaveral.
Is she going to cross back again in the fall for the san diego to mexico cruises?
We're booked on one of those in October.

While nobody here truly knows the answer to that, I would guess that probably not. That is a lot of work of dropping CM off and heading over to Florida to turn back around in a month and a half or so, but we just don't know.

Another question. When they do announce the new restrictions, will it be fair to charge the same price? Fewer people in pools, theaters, dining, etc. Are you ok paying that Disney premium knowing you will have a hard time enjoying the venues you expected when booking? Not to mention, you may not get the advertised ports because they are closed. People past their PIF date have been charged for something they have no chance of getting.

I would truly hope they would offer, at the very least, an option to receive a refund if your cruise actually sails and has a reduced experience.

 

[bcwife76]

We cancelled our late August cruise on the Dream last week and moved the money we had paid to another cruise in March 2021. Not comfortable cruising this close to the reopening date (if they even sail by then anyway) and too much uncertainty with the US CAN border which is still closed and could be extended again. We didn't want to be stuck in Canada with a PIF cruise that we couldn't take. Now we will probably end up cancelling our Oct cruise on the Wonder which isn't PIF even since she is now sailing away from Cali...

 

[TheBigErn]

I would have cruised last month so I'm certainly not cancelling my October cruise. I have no fear and no worries about any aspect of cruising. Zero. Everyone can chose to do whatever they want but I don't understand the waiting. Waiting for what? A vaccine or cure may never come. There isn't one for SARS or MERS and we cruise. To each his own.

 

[billbertbuggin99]

I would have cruised last month so I'm certainly not cancelling my October cruise. I have no fear and no worries about any aspect of cruising. Zero. Everyone can chose to do whatever they want but I don't understand the waiting. Waiting for what? A vaccine or cure may never come. There isn't one for SARS or MERS and we cruise. To each his own.

I think we all definitely understand the risks and there may never be a vaccine, but I don't want to pay thousands of dollars to be told "Sorry, there are too many people in the pool area so please come back later" and I then have to find something else on the ship that isn't too packed. I'll personally wait until they come out with concrete processes, listen to reviews of people who went, and then decide if I want to spend the money on that. Just my opinion.

 

[ironz]

Though we would certainly like to cruise in September, I'm not confident the cruise is even going to happen, especially seeing as how they are still working on repatriating crew. So we pushed it out a few months, to 2021, to make sure we could still use our onboard booking discount before it expires. We did that a couple of days before we were to be PIF (couple of weeks ago). Our thought was that we can keep the remainder of the cruise balance in our pockets for a few more months and wait and see how things go.

I feel like DCL will certainly give refunds or credits if the cruise doesn't happen. However, if the cruise sails, and people aren't ready to go or don't like that amenities/activities will be impacted, that was the passenger's responsibility to make that decision, imho. I suspect there will be discounts or credit given if the cruise doesn't have all the usual amenties, but that is not in the contract you made with the cruise line and DCL can't run in the red forever.
I'm just of the mind that significant changes to the cruise experience can and should be anticipated by passengers for the near future and people should take some of their own responsibility instead of the "DCL will make it right at their expense" attitude. At this point, it's not like we don't know that cruising will be different from before.

(and yes, I get that people who booked fares that were *GT before the effects of the virus were known, and don't have a separate PIF date are in a different category. That said, if you book one of those amazing *GT rates for August 2020 like today , read your contract carefully.)

 

[billbertbuggin99]

Though we would certainly like to cruise in September, I'm not confident the cruise is even going to happen, especially seeing as how they are still working on repatriating crew. So we pushed it out a few months, to 2021, to make sure we could still use our onboard booking discount before it expires. We did that a couple of days before we were to be PIF (couple of weeks ago). Our thought was that we can keep the remainder of the cruise balance in our pockets for a few more months and wait and see how things go.

I feel like DCL will certainly give refunds or credits if the cruise doesn't happen. However, if the cruise sails, and people aren't ready to go or don't like that amenities/activities will be impacted, that was the passenger's responsibility to make that decision, imho. I suspect there will be discounts or credit given if the cruise doesn't have all the usual amenties, but that is not in the contract you made with the cruise line and DCL can't run in the red forever.
I'm just of the mind that significant changes to the cruise experience can and should be anticipated by passengers for the near future and people should take some of their own responsibility instead of the "DCL will make it right at their expense" attitude. At this point, it's not like we don't know that cruising will be different from before.

(and yes, I get that people who booked fares that were *GT before the effects of the virus were known, and don't have a separate PIF date are in a different category. That said, if you book one of those amazing *GT rates for August 2020 like today , read your contract carefully.)

I agree with you 100% that Disney cannot operate in the red forever, but I think in 2020 they will have to take some hits. I could see them allowing refunds or changing your cruise for 2020 itineraries only, once they officially come out and announce their planned processes going forward. Now for 2021 and on itineraries, there are no *GT rates at all (yet) so you have more than enough time to then see if this new experience is right for you and cancel before your PIF date. But for all 2020 itineraries there is just way too much in the air for them to say "tough cookies" for someone who paid for this before any impacted experiences were announced by them. They have been about as transparent as a brick wall.

 

[MomOTwins]

We'll cruise in August if they let us. I'm not getting my hopes up--it seems like such a slim chance of them reopening given the lack of any announcements on policies and the repatriation of crew. My DH and I both have birthdays and our wedding anniversary that would fall during our cruise dates, so we want to do something that weekend as our gift to each other. I just really hope we are able to visit Castaway Cay.

That's not to say I don't love all the onboard experiences. I do, and would be sad to lose them. I love the shows, the characters, the MDRs, bingo, aquaduck, rainforest room, Palo. I'm just saying I would still enjoy the cruise without thoe things, just to sit on my verandah and watch the sea go by.

I also do think that if our ship does sail and we are "guinea pigs" for the new reduced experiences, we should receive some sort of compensation. Perhaps an onboard credit, or a discount (above the usual 10%) on a future cruise. We booked before there were any of the special VGT and 25% rates, so are paying a lot for a reduced experience.

 

[gotomu212]

I agree with you 100% that Disney cannot operate in the red forever, but I think in 2020 they will have to take some hits. I could see them allowing refunds or changing your cruise for 2020 itineraries only, once they officially come out and announce their planned processes going forward. Now for 2021 and on itineraries, there are no *GT rates at all (yet) so you have more than enough time to then see if this new experience is right for you and cancel before your PIF date. But for all 2020 itineraries there is just way too much in the air for them to say "tough cookies" for someone who paid for this before any impacted experiences were announced by them. They have been about as transparent as a brick wall.

I know I’m a broken record, but they also MUST come out with guidance on their refund policy if you are denied boarding. People offset this risk with cruise insurance but insurance does not cover CoVid right now. Showing up at port and losing $10k because someone in your party has a temperature is disastrous for a lot of families and there’s no way to mitigate it.

 

[FightingIrishman]

I know I’m a broken record, but they also MUST come out with guidance on their refund policy if you are denied boarding. People offset this risk with cruise insurance but insurance does not cover CoVid right now. Showing up at port and losing $10k because someone in your party has a temperature is disastrous for a lot of families and there’s no way to mitigate it.

This is my biggest worry for booking anything in the fall. My second biggest worry is if you have a breakout on board your ship and the whole ship gets quarantined for 14+ days at sea.