Coronavirus and DCL Megathread - Suspension of Departures for the fleet until early November. Booking only available from early December.

[planecrazy63]

What are they going to do about those extra concierge cabins they already sold?

He was talking about the allure of the seas. Disney has not announced any changes to the magic refurbishment.

 

[bbel]

He was talking about the allure of the seas. Disney has not announced any changes to the magic refurbishment.

Yes, so was this poster.
Allure was getting extra cabins too

 

[bbel]

What are they going to do about those extra concierge cabins they already sold?

I'm not sure, the announcement of the loss of the amp came in between a lot of other announcements and I kinda forgot about it until today.
But I'm gonna go see what I can find about now lol

 

[planecrazy63]

Yes, so was this poster.
Allure was getting extra cabins too

Ah - as far as allure they are moving people... but probably giving obc too

 

[TestingH2O]

Yes, so was this poster.
Allure was getting extra cabins too

Actually, no, I was talking about the Magic and didn’t realize you were talking about the Allure. The Magic is also due for improvements.

I am curious still curious about the new dry dock schedules and how far behind they are if anyone happens to know.

 

[I_love_Cruising]

Do you think, that when cruises start again they will let people cancel without penalty, like they do for WDW?
I imagine that when cruising resumes the experience will be restricted, so they should allow people to cancel or postpone.
I think it would be bad business to kind of force people to cruise when they are not okay with the restricted experience they will deliver.

I'm trying to figure out if I should PIF, since I'm not sure that we will want to cruise if there are no shows, no characters and not as many dinning options.

 

[Karin1984]

Do you think, that when cruises start again they will let people cancel without penalty, like they do for WDW?
I imagine that when cruising resumes the experience will be restricted, so they should allow people to cancel or postpone.
I think it would be bad business to kind of force people to cruise when they are not okay with the restricted experience they will deliver.

I'm trying to figure out if I should PIF, since I'm not sure that we will want to cruise if there are no shows, no characters and not as many dinning options.

I think yes, however not forever, maybe for the first couple of months, and then see how the world looks then.
And I think they will adopt the same thing as they did for the first cancelled cruises in March, those who were cancelled short before cruising got 150% cruise credit. Which dropped to 125% for cruises that got cancelled far in advance.
If they would start cruising again on 1 August and they announce the measures on 25 July, those people will have more options to cancel then those who sail 1 September with the same measures.

 

[I_love_Cruising]

I think yes, however not forever, maybe for the first couple of months, and then see how the world looks then.
And I think they will adopt the same thing as they did for the first cancelled cruises in March, those who were cancelled short before cruising got 150% cruise credit. Which dropped to 125% for cruises that got cancelled far in advance.
If they would start cruising again on 1 August and they announce the measures on 25 July, those people will have more options to cancel then those who sail 1 September with the same measures.

I think that they would give everybody who is PIF the same options. Even if I know the measures for safe cruising 2 months in advance instead of 1, they are not less of an inconvenience. So I assume that i should have the same options to cancel.

 

[Karin1984]

I think that they would give everybody who is PIF the same options. Even if I know the measures for safe cruising 2 months in advance instead of 1, they are not less of an inconvenience. So I assume that i should have the same options to cancel.

I don't really agree with that, it's not an inconvenience to the cruiser, but it is to the cruise company, as money has to come in at some point.

 

[monkeydawn]

I don't really agree with that, it's not an inconvenience to the cruiser, but it is to the cruise company, as money has to come in at some point.

I would disagree with that. Although I cant say if inconvenience is the right word but people pay a premium for a Disney cruise and with that are certain expectations, like the shows, movie premiEARS, rotating dining rooms, character meets, kids clubs, etc.. If any of those DCL specific things were cut or drastically changed after PIF, then I think the cruiser should be given the opportunity to reassess if the cruise they will be getting is the cruise they are willing to pay their going rate for.

Otherwise its like buying a dozen eggs and after paying for them the store takes a few out. How is that fair? They need to allow you to have the product you paid for or offer a refund.

 

[Karin1984]

I would disagree with that. Although I cant say if inconvenience is the right word but people pay a premium for a Disney cruise and with that are certain expectations, like the shows, movie premiEARS, rotating dining rooms, character meets, kids clubs, etc.. If any of those DCL specific things were cut or drastically changed after PIF, then I think the cruiser should be given the opportunity to reassess if the cruise they will be getting is the cruise they are willing to pay their going rate for.

Otherwise its like buying a dozen eggs and after paying for them the store takes a few out. How is that fair? They need to allow you to have the product you paid for or offer a refund.

That is not what I meant. What I meant was in general moving the PIF date from 3 months to 2 months. That is convenient for the cruiser but not the cruise line. I wasn't referring to measures.

But reading it back now, i probably misunderstood the person I quoted.

 

[MomOTwins]

I'm not too optimistic about being able to get a full refund for reduced experience. They have had to miss ports, including Castaway Cay on many occasions without compensation. On rough seas, events such as shows and pirates night can be cancelled. They didn't give my DH any compensation when he spent our whole first cruise in quarantine in his room with zero activities after getting sick on the ship, nor do they fully refund you if you are denied boarding. DCL has always had a much more draconian refund policy than the parks.

Even WDW, though it has increased flexibility for cancellations for rooms and packages, is not giving a refund on any park tickets purchased outside of a package. For those, you are simply getting an extended use date.

I would bet on something similar for DCL to how they are treating the park tickets: no refund, but you can get a cruise credit to use in the next 1-2 years.

 

[Chemist]

Do you think, that when cruises start again they will let people cancel without penalty, like they do for WDW?
I imagine that when cruising resumes the experience will be restricted, so they should allow people to cancel or postpone.
I think it would be bad business to kind of force people to cruise when they are not okay with the restricted experience they will deliver.

I'm trying to figure out if I should PIF, since I'm not sure that we will want to cruise if there are no shows, no characters and not as many dinning options.

My gut instincts are that you should expect a SIGNIFICANT change. What that change is may change frequently.

And that if you aren't comfortable with that change, you should cancel.

(Counting on a refund if you don't like what you get can get dangerous for a very expensive cruise.)

JMO of course.

 

[wombat_5606]

They have had to miss ports, including Castaway Cay on many occasions without compensation. On rough seas, events such as shows and pirates night can be cancelled. They didn't give my DH any compensation when he spent our whole first cruise in quarantine in his room with zero activities after getting sick on the ship, nor do they fully refund you if you are denied boarding. DCL has always had a much more draconian refund policy than the parks.

Yes, but in all fairness, it isn't really DCL. Unfortunately, some of the things you talk about are Cruise Industry policy. They all have clauses that cover these things, no matter how much or how little you paid for the cruise or what we think about the company.

Everyone should read an entire cruise contract just once. You would be amazed. It's not like booking a hotel or going to an all-inclusive vacation resort.

Just a few points to consider before you buy a cruise, according to Cruise Critic-Hidden in the Fine Print:

The nature of travel on the ocean means that both the cruise line and the passengers must prepare for whatever comes their way. Ships may skip ports, change to alternate ports, change the departure and arrival schedules or detour in any way the company and the captain deem to be in the best interest of both ship and passengers. You will rarely be compensated for changes unless they are due to mechanical failure of the ship.

Along the same line, the ship does not have to take you to the port you expected to disembark in. You, personally, may be disembarked early for a variety of reasons, or the entire ship may be disembarked in an alternate port. When that happens, unless the change is due to mechanical failure of the ship, only passengers who booked air packages with the cruise line are likely to have assistance with re-booking transportation.

This may come as a big shock, but you may be denied boarding or removed from the cruise at any point if your health jeopardizes other passengers, or it is determined that the medical staff onboard cannot adequately care for you or assess the severity of your condition.

If you suffer a severe medical incident that requires the ship to make an emergency stop or call for assistance from a nearby port, not only is your cruise about to be cut short, but expect to pay for all that extra attention, including extra port fees and services.

When things go wrong on a cruise, as they sometimes do, you have a very narrow window of time to file a grievance with the cruise line. In the event you plan to file legal action, the cruise contract will usually have timeline restrictions on both advance notification of those intentions, and the actual filing of the suit.

Once you step onboard a cruise ship, you give up some rights. You are in a floating place of business and that business has the right to restrict your photography onboard. In most cases, enforcement is likely limited to use of the ship's photography studio props or entertainment venues, but if crew members ask you not to photograph something, be clear that they have the right to do so.

They can also make you take down your social media posts if they want. If the photos you posted online do not present the cruise line in a positive light, you can be legally compelled to remove them if you do not have prior written permission from the cruise line for the photography.

I'm confident there are going to be some changes made to cruise contracts going forward that we may not like.

 

[monkeydawn]

That is not what I meant. What I meant was in general moving the PIF date from 3 months to 2 months. That is convenient for the cruiser but not the cruise line. I wasn't referring to measures.

But reading it back now, i probably misunderstood the person I quoted.

I could have mis understood as well. Thanks for being cool about it.

I'm not too optimistic about being able to get a full refund for reduced experience. They have had to miss ports, including Castaway Cay on many occasions without compensation. On rough seas, events such as shows and pirates night can be cancelled. They didn't give my DH any compensation when he spent our whole first cruise in quarantine in his room with zero activities after getting sick on the ship, nor do they fully refund you if you are denied boarding. DCL has always had a much more draconian refund policy than the parks.

I specifically didnt mention ports because those are specifically not guaranteed.

I agree that things could come up unexpectedly that might alter the cruise experience like shows, pools, etc.. In my mind there is a vast difference between an unexpected alteration and one that is planned months in advance.

Unless you could prove the sickness was due to DCL negligence, why would they compensate you? I'm always a little amazed at how they (all cruise lines) dont often seem to charge any meds/ fluids/ special needs that are due to noro type illnesses. I'm glad they dont and its the best PR move but I am still always a little surprised when I hear it.

If you are denied boarding due to some fault of your own then I would also expect no compensation. Now if the line oversold rooms or a block of room suddenly became unavailable then I would expect compensation...you arent suggesting that you wouldnt be compensated in that case are you? I would really hope that if you cant board due to a DCL issue that you would receive compensation for your cruise and extra to change flights/ get you back home/ put you up for at least a night basically whatever is needed to make you as whole as possible.

How are you feeling about your August cruise...it was late August I think? I finally unpacked from out Italy trip that didnt happen. LOL A big part of my problem was that we had new backpack luggage that I had to make room somewhere for. I finally did it, it was a sad day though.

 

[MomOTwins]

I could have mis understood as well. Thanks for being cool about it.



I specifically didnt mention ports because those are specifically not guaranteed.

I agree that things could come up unexpectedly that might alter the cruise experience like shows, pools, etc.. In my mind there is a vast difference between an unexpected alteration and one that is planned months in advance.

Unless you could prove the sickness was due to DCL negligence, why would they compensate you? I'm always a little amazed at how they (all cruise lines) dont often seem to charge any meds/ fluids/ special needs that are due to noro type illnesses. I'm glad they dont and its the best PR move but I am still always a little surprised when I hear it.

If you are denied boarding due to some fault of your own then I would also expect no compensation. Now if the line oversold rooms or a block of room suddenly became unavailable then I would expect compensation...you arent suggesting that you wouldnt be compensated in that case are you? I would really hope that if you cant board due to a DCL issue that you would receive compensation for your cruise and extra to change flights/ get you back home/ put you up for at least a night basically whatever is needed to make you as whole as possible.

How are you feeling about your August cruise...it was late August I think? I finally unpacked from out Italy trip that didnt happen. LOL A big part of my problem was that we had new backpack luggage that I had to make room somewhere for. I finally did it, it was a sad day though.

I think that was kind of my point--I didn't expect compensation in those cases because I know under the contract they can quarantine us, skip ports, cancel activities etc. without compensation. But that's the same reason I don't expect them to refund us if they cut back on activities now. It's not DCL's fault that COVID-19 happened (just like it's not their fault my husband got sick on the cruise, nor is it their fault when they have to cancel things due to bad weather, or a medical emergency). Overbooking would be their fault, of course, but that to me is apples and oranges compared to imposing restrictions and cuts due to a pandemic.

I'm definitely feeling sad about my August trip... with a little more than 2 months to go and no word from DCL, I feel pretty certain the cruise won't happen at this point. If it goes, so will we, no matter what restrictions they put in place. We are also in limbo on the "land"portion of our trip because we are booked at a WDW resort that I think may be closed during our stay, so waiting to hear what our options will be. If we are happy with the way things shake out on land portion and they cancel the cruise, we will probably go ahead and go and just add a universal studios trip on the cruise dates.

 

[monkeydawn]

I think that was kind of my point--I didn't expect compensation in those cases because I know under the contract they can quarantine us, skip ports, cancel activities etc. without compensation. But that's the same reason I don't expect them to refund us if they cut back on activities now. It's not DCL's fault that COVID-19 happened (just like it's not their fault my husband got sick on the cruise, nor is it their fault when they have to cancel things due to bad weather, or a medical emergency). Overbooking would be their fault, of course, but that to me is apples and oranges compared to imposing restrictions and cuts due to a pandemic.

I'm definitely feeling sad about my August trip... with a little more than 2 months to go and no word from DCL, I feel pretty certain the cruise won't happen at this point. If it goes, so will we, no matter what restrictions they put in place. We are also in limbo on the "land"portion of our trip because we are booked at a WDW resort that I think may be closed during our stay, so waiting to hear what our options will be. If we are happy with the way things shake out on land portion and they cancel the cruise, we will probably go ahead and go and just add a universal studios trip on the cruise dates.

I forgot you had a land portion booked too, that stinks that part is still in jeopardy as I thought those were opening this month.

I see a world of difference between stuff that's canceled on short/ no notice due to something beyond the businesses control verses something the business made a planned change to as a result of something beyond the businesses control. If the second significantly changes the trip then I believe the cruise line should give the customer an opportunity to reassess based on what the new trip actually is planned to be.

 

[MomOTwins]

I forgot you had a land portion booked too, that stinks that part is still in jeopardy as I thought those were opening this month.

I see a world of difference between stuff that's canceled on short/ no notice due to something beyond the businesses control verses something the business made a planned change to as a result of something beyond the businesses control. If the second significantly changes the trip then I believe the cruise line should give the customer an opportunity to reassess based on what the new trip actually is planned to be.

True, and I bet they will probably offer something, like 100% FCC. Not convinced it’ll be a full refund though.

 

[monkeydawn]

True, and I bet they will probably offer something, like 100% FCC. Not convinced it’ll be a full refund though.

In this sort of instance though FCC is really only of any use if it extends past when the alterations from "regular Disney Cruising" take place. Unless that have a really good idea of when that will be, then FCC is useless as a remedy for that issue.

 

[T & R]

In this sort of instance though FCC is really only of any use if it extends past when the alterations from "regular Disney Cruising" take place. Unless that have a really good idea of when that will be, then FCC is useless as a remedy for that issue.

Exactly. We've already seen people on here that are on their 2nd cancellation.