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

[Disneyfamforsure]

Already paid in full for a cruise in May, 5 people, concierge, not cheap, and no insurance. Just got diagnosed with Lupus and told I am considered high risk for issues if I were to contract the VIRUS. Totally planning on going unless Disney cancels, which I really hope does not happen. Not worried at all about the VIRUS or being quarantined. If that situation happens, then and only then will I worry about it. I don't want to waste my life being worried about "what if" situations. There was a fatal accident on the highway yesterday coming home from work. My first thought was I hope that poor man did not waste his last day on earth worrying about the VIRUS.

 

[jlbf06]

Has anyone seen the latest list of countries not being allowed to board? Last letter I saw had Japan at the bottom... effecting me, but now that the numbers in other countries such as France and Germany have surpassed Japan, I’d be interested to see if the list is longer now. Three days ago when we got the news I was disappointed, but I wasn’t angry because I expected it. Now I’m overjoyed that we got booted. It turned out so much better for us.

I’m glad it worked out the way you wanted - did DCL refund in full? We are in the UK and it’s possible that we could join the can’t board list at some point. I’m not sure what the DCL refund policy would be if that were the case?

 

[qbnole]

Found Disney Cruise CEO Jeff Vahle email (jeff.Vahle@disney.com), please flood his email and express your concerns and to reconsider rebooking policy

 

[tokyodisneydad]

I’m glad it worked out the way you wanted - did DCL refund in full? We are in the UK and it’s possible that we could join the can’t board list at some point. I’m not sure what the DCL refund policy would be if that were the case?

We were offered rebooking at no cost to rebook, but if our new cruise was more expensive ( it was) we had to pay the difference. I was overall ok with what was being offered. We did lose a bit of money when we canceled flights and hotel, but it was only the initial cost of insurance. It could have been much worse. The one slight disappointment at the time was Disney not offering anything to offset not allowing us to board for example OBC. Even a small gesture of good will... say 25$ per person would have offset some harsh feelings. Then again with things getting worse, I’m just satisfied with what I did get.

 

[Karin1984]

Has anyone seen the latest list of countries not being allowed to board? Last letter I saw had Japan at the bottom... effecting me, but now that the numbers in other countries such as France and Germany have surpassed Japan, I’d be interested to see if the list is longer now. Three days ago when we got the news I was disappointed, but I wasn’t angry because I expected it. Now I’m overjoyed that we got booted. It turned out so much better for us.

When I read this article, I wouldn't be surprised if next on the list would be the US...

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...ic&utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeed&ref=bffbbuzzfeed

 

[Gentry2004]

Has anyone seen the latest list of countries not being allowed to board? Last letter I saw had Japan at the bottom... effecting me, but now that the numbers in other countries such as France and Germany have surpassed Japan, I’d be interested to see if the list is longer now. Three days ago when we got the news I was disappointed, but I wasn’t angry because I expected it. Now I’m overjoyed that we got booted. It turned out so much better for us.

I'm glad you've come around. I wish I'd get booted (with refund!)

 

[xavier2001]

When I read this article, I wouldn't be surprised if next on the list would be the US...

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...ic&utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeed&ref=bffbbuzzfeed

I work in a US hospital, this article is junk. There are plans in place for things like this at all hospitals (it’s part of their credentialling), and with it being in the news we have received explicit communication reminding us about how our hospital will respond if/when necessary.

 

[GlamMistress]

You mention financial burden for not purchasing insurance as if the traveler should bear the cost of any loss. But just wait to see how financially responsible the cruise lines are as we will be seeing them ask for and get a Government Bailout if this virus and public response remains on its current trajectory.

You wrote exactly what I was going to say. This is a defcon level black swan event for the travel industry. The ask for a government bailout will happen if this keeps up for a long time - the travel industry is getting slammed and I do not think it is going to get better in the immediate future.

I am anxious to see what happens to all the folks on the Grand Princess right now... not allowed to dock and the test kits choppered in to them. If a lot of folks test positive tomorrow... oh boy.

I am stunned DCL isn't being a little more flexible with their cancellation policies. I would have pegged them to be a market leader in such a crisis. I guess not.

 

[brentm77]

I am stunned DCL isn't being a little more flexible with their cancellation policies. I would have pegged them to be a market leader in such a crisis. I guess not.

It looks like they are content being the market follower. I may be done with them after seeing how they stepped up at times like this.

 

[GOOFY D]

Also, wanted to ask if anyone has heard if current DCL cruises are still allowing self-serve in Cabanas?

Just got back from a 4 day out of NOLA and surprisingly, yes they are still allowing self-serve.

 

[WDWDancer]

Just got back from a 4 day out of NOLA and surprisingly, yes they are still allowing self-serve.

Yep we just got off the Dream and I was shocked about that

 

[smmco]

I work in a US hospital, this article is junk. There are plans in place for things like this at all hospitals (it’s part of their credentialling), and with it being in the news we have received explicit communication reminding us about how our hospital will respond if/when necessary.

Not all hospitals are a like.

 

[xavier2001]

Not all hospitals are a like.

True but all US hospitals must be accredited by a licensing body and part of this accreditation is having policies and procedures in place for these types of circumstances, as well as how to follow clear cut CDC guidelines.Health care workers mightneed a refresher, but it’s certainly not something new .

 

[Babysaurs]

We are on May transatlantic crossing too. We leave from Australia to travel Europe in 4 weeks currently we have 2.5 weeks in Italy planned. Disney will not confirm the policy for Italy travel 14 days prior to cruise stands for our cruise. Making insurance impossible to claim and leaving us in a mad scramble to find new accommodation and travel plans outside Italy or cancel and loose it all our dream holiday is turning into a nightmare the stress is horrible

I called around noon today (855-418-1572) and got through within 5-10 minutes. Currently booked on May 11th transatlantic and was told no policy changes as of the time of my call.

 

[Lisa F]

not related to the cruise directly but I found this earlier - it is a summary of a WHO report written after they sent 25 international experts to China and has a lot of information about the virus and includes a list of symptoms (which I haven't really seen anywhere other than "flu-like"), and a ton of statistics about spread rate and fatality rate broken down by age and what is going on there now - there is a link to the full WHO report if you want to read it.

People are throwing around a LOT of numbers here... I thought I'd post some gathered by the experts.

https://www.reddit.com/r/China_Flu/comments/fbt49e

 

[Weedy]

I understand people being unhappy about not being able to move their cruise. We were on a cruise that was delayed then canceled on Royal due to a hurricane.
But people are saying they will lose money if they can’t move their cruise but Disney (and other cruise lines) will also loose money. It’s your choice (maybe not a good one) to go or not. Why should the cruise line lose the money?

 

[Intr3pid]

Cancel. That's my advice to everyone with their PIF date coming up. It's the smart thing to do. There will be steep discounts offered on summer cruises since most ships are now stuck in Europe and North America where the virus is primed to spread.

If you really want to go, re-book with those discounts roughly a month or two into the PIF period. Same goes for the flights.

 

[FigmentSpark]

You wrote exactly what I was going to say. This is a defcon level black swan event for the travel industry. The ask for a government bailout will happen if this keeps up for a long time - the travel industry is getting slammed and I do not think it is going to get better in the immediate future.

I am anxious to see what happens to all the folks on the Grand Princess right now... not allowed to dock and the test kits choppered in to them. If a lot of folks test positive tomorrow... oh boy.

I am stunned DCL isn't being a little more flexible with their cancellation policies. I would have pegged them to be a market leader in such a crisis. I guess not.

To which government will they look for a bailout? Bahamas? That's where they're flagged.

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

Cancel. That's my advice to everyone with their PIF date coming up. It's the smart thing to do. There will be steep discounts offered on summer cruises since most ships are now stuck in Europe and North America where the virus is primed to spread.

If you really want to go, re-book with those discounts roughly a month or two into the PIF period. Same goes for the flights.

Disney will not lower prices during peak summer months as demand is still high and they need to keep prices higher than other cruise lines due to exclusivity and brand image.

 

[Sakura1017]

Disney is forcing customers like me to cancel cruises we would prefer to keep until we can better assess the situation closer to travel. They are also damaging their brand long term. Who makes these decisions at corporate? Are they that out of touch with the average customer's needs?
They had a new CEO who is known to cut costs. I m sure he will be paying a close attention to the bottom line. I suggest you take it to your specific cruise message board on facebook and get majority to email Disney. They will have no other option but to cancel.

Unfortunately if you look at the ABD forum, disney has never been a leader. They follow what other groups are doing before they cancel. The ABD china tours for June just got canceled like a week ago. So its really less than 3 months out with notice, and making you pay in full before they determine it's gonna get canceled.