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

[smmco]

And even if DCL wanted to, would passengers that may be currently scheduled be able to rearrange air transportation that their carrier may have already cancelled...

There’s are still plenty of flights to LHR.

 

[gotomu212]

That's true. But these cruises are after PIF, so the cancellations have to be processed by the accounting department before the res. agent can cancel and issue the credit or refund. Cruises that are cancelled before PIF can be cancelled without getting accounting involved. And they have to calculate the credit amount per person not reservation so it does take a little longer. On the plus side, once they do officially cancel, they have everything ready so you can call immediately to rebook or request a refund. Before, they were sending out notices and giving a call back date. But people were calling immediately and there was nothing they could do. So they are taking a little longer in an effort to be proactive. When you get the notice, you can call right away and they know exactly how much your refund/credit will be and it takes just a few minutes to process. On the plus side, they seem to be getting a handle on it because the cancellations are being announced a lot quicker than they were when they first started. They just issued the last notice a few days ago.

Thats still their internal process, and like everyone running a successful company right now, they should be streamlining processes or staffing to speed up refunds and give people confidence that they know what they are doing. Every other major cruise competition is further out. The work that happens “backstage” isn’t important to a customer.

 

[smmco]

Agreed. And even if DCL wanted to, how likely is it that all those countries want to accept all the passengers at every port?

What’s stopping you from canceling then?

 

[gotomu212]

There’s are still plenty of flights to LHR.

It’s funny you mention that. My flight on AA to London for early June was cancelled Sunday. I was surprised it was cancelled so far out and wasn’t automatically rebooked. While some flights are still showing up for booking, the airlines seem to be cutting capacity like crazy and I would predict that continues.

 

[smmco]

It’s funny you mention that. My flight on AA to London for early June was cancelled Sunday. I was surprised it was cancelled so far out and wasn’t automatically rebooked. While some flights are still showing up for booking, the airlines seem to be cutting capacity like crazy and I would predict that continues.

Yes they reduced capacity. AA had a lot of flights to London. My flights to Berlin we’re cancelled. They still have quite a few flights to LHR. I would expect capacity to be reduced domestically and internationally for quite some time. My flight to LHR was cancelled and I was booked on a earlier flight.
Just to add my flights not to August and the flights are semi full.

 

[gotomu212]

Yes they reduced capacity. AA had a lot of flights to London. My flights to Berlin we’re cancelled. They still have quite a few flights to LHR. I would expect capacity to be reduced domestically and internationally for quite some time. My flight to LHR was cancelled and I was booked on a earlier flight.
Just to add my flights not to August and the flights are semi full.

I’m not sure what you call a lot but when I looked at alternative flights for my date they were 8 flights from the US to LHR -CHI, DFW, IAD, BOS, MIA, PHL, JFK, and LAX that day. There were additional 6 BA flights. That’s a shockingly low number for AA- especially as LHR is one of the jumping off airports for connections to Europe. I fly this route several times a year and had to show the results to coworkers who could not believe how restricted it was almost 2 months out. I think the PP is right that air travel would further restrict US passengers ability to get over for European cruises (although the bigger issue is the EU talking about keeping their borders closed all summer).

 

[smmco]

I’m not sure what you call a lot but when I looked at alternative flights for my date they were 8 flights from the US to LHR -CHI, DFW, IAD, BOS, MIA, PHL, JFK, and LAX that day. There were additional 6 BA flights. That’s a shockingly low number for AA- especially as LHR is one of the jumping off airports for connections to Europe. I fly this route several times a year and had to show the results to coworkers who could not believe how restricted it was almost 2 months out. I think the PP is right that air travel would further restrict US passengers ability to get over for European cruises (although the bigger issue is the EU talking about keeping their borders closed all summer).

I think there will be rioting if borders stay closed all Summer. There will probably be civil unrest anyway due to the economic collapse. Macron seriously? Yes I’m very aware of the AA contractions. It’s a big issue in my life right now. Everything is such a mess right now cruising is the least of my problems.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I was very impressed that I only waited 5 minutes on the phone to call DCL today. It was very easy to get my gifts & amenities purchases refunded since my cruise was canceled.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I was very impressed that I only waited 5 minutes on the phone to call DCL today. It was very easy to get my gifts & amenities purchases refunded since my cruise was canceled.

I'm still waiting (from March) for my photo package to be refunded.

 

[harriet2]

I think there will be rioting if borders stay closed all Summer. There will probably be civil unrest anyway due to the economic collapse. Macron seriously? Yes I’m very aware of the AA contractions. It’s a big issue in my life right now. Everything is such a mess right now cruising is the least of my problems.

Given the current state in Europe, I highly doubt there will be any rioting for keeping the Schengen borders closed all summer, I think everybody will be applauding it and everybody is already preparing that they won't leave their own country at all this summer. We don't want new infections again now that we seem to be starting to handle it.

 

[Garyjames220]

Does anyone think Disney might extend the 15 months to use the future cruise credit

If your cruise was cancelled in march and cruises continue to get cancelled like this. It's not really giving you much a window to pick from

 

[harriet2]

They just announced the EU border (assume they mean Schengen) is closed for 30 days (till May 15th) (This is not a hard closure, it's for non essential travel, not sure how you proof essential travel and I know there are evacuation flights for EU citizens to return home).

 

[BadPinkTink]

They just announced the EU border (assume they mean Schengen) is closed for 30 days (till May 15th) (This is not a hard closure, it's for non essential travel, not sure how you proof essential travel and I know there are evacuation flights for EU citizens to return home).

Thats not surprising and not really a big deal right now. Many of the stay at home restrictions in various European countries have been extended to dates in May.

In my country, Ireland, we are only allowed out and about for essential travel. You can walk within 2.5 km of your home. If you have to drive somewhere, there are 24 hour Police checkpoints everywhere and you have to show a letter from your employer or a medical appointment letter or some sort of official document to prove why you need to drive.

This will be the same at the Schengen border checks. All the truckers and haulage companies will still be able to cross the borders, people who live in one country and work in a hospital in another country will be allowed to cross the borders, journalists and media will still be allowed to travel to various countries etc etc.

 

[harriet2]

Thats not surprising and not really a big deal right now. Many of the stay at home restrictions in various European countries have been extended to dates in May.

In my country, Ireland, we are only allowed out and about for essential travel. You can walk within 2.5 km of your home. If you have to drive somewhere, there are 24 hour Police checkpoints everywhere and you have to show a letter from your employer or a medical appointment letter or some sort of official document to prove why you need to drive.

This will be the same at the Schengen border checks. All the truckers and haulage companies will still be able to cross the borders, people who live in one country and work in a hospital in another country will be allowed to cross the borders, journalists and media will still be allowed to travel to various countries etc etc.

I'm not saying it's a big deal, just giving the current update, as I do suspect we'll get to the September Macron was asking for (just with little steps like this).

Funny what you say about the medical appointment letter as my hospital has stopped sending those out to prevent confusion (they only plan one week ahead (have an appointment tomorrow which was made two weeks ago, but as they predicted, the time got changed) and they cancel all of the unnecessary appointments), so currently I have nothing to proof I have an appointment (but we don't have a restriction like that) and the hospital is 15 km away.

 

[Garyjames220]

So my 3 night cruise got cancelled and I re booked a European cruise for this summer, which I’m starting to think is not going to happen

however I paid nearly 1000 more for this cruise out of pocket

would I get the 125% on the 1000 I paid out of pocket as it sounds like there giving you your first credit and refunded any difference in the second booking you made if it cost more

which doesn’t seem fair as I wouldn’t be getting the 125% on my cancelled cruise.

 

[harriet2]

So my 3 night cruise got cancelled and I re booked a European cruise for this summer, which I’m starting to think is not going to happen

however I paid nearly 1000 more for this cruise out of pocket

would I get the 125% on the 1000 I paid out of pocket as it sounds like there giving you your first credit and refunded any difference in the second booking you made if it cost more

which doesn’t seem fair as I wouldn’t be getting the 125% on my cancelled cruise.

That is a really specific situation that you'll have to ask Disney about, I doubt anybody has already been in this situation. Also, which cruise have you booked? The PIF date of our European cruise has been postponed, so I think they might not give those cruises the 125% FCC if they're cancelled (but again, this hasn't happened yet, so we don't know)

 

[Garyjames220]

That is a really specific situation that you'll have to ask Disney about, I doubt anybody has already been in this situation. Also, which cruise have you booked? The PIF date of our European cruise has been postponed, so I think they might not give those cruises the 125% FCC if they're cancelled (but again, this hasn't happened yet, so we don't know)

I booked a dover cruise but it’s 100% non refundable as they pick my stateroom

but I’m thinking it could be cancelled the way things are going

surly only fair they give you the 125% of the extra I paid. But I’ll just need to wait and see I guess

 

[harriet2]

I booked a dover cruise but it’s 100% non refundable as they pick my stateroom

but I’m thinking it could be cancelled the way things are going

surly only fair they give you the 125% of the extra I paid. But I’ll just need to wait and see I guess

Wasn't your wife pregnant? Won't she be too pregnant by the time the Magic is in Dover? (I know I'll be)

 

[Garyjames220]

No she makes it by a week

 

[lanejudy]

@Garyjames220 I think you'll have to wait-and-see. I haven't read any actual reports of folks who rebooked and had the 2nd cruise canceled as well. So at this point any discussion of "what will DCL do" is all speculation. I would hope you get credit for the amount you actually paid, but I would not expect that to include the additional 25% credit from the first canceled cruise. So it's going to depend on your specific situation -- how much your original cruise cost and how much extra the 2nd cruise cost. You should be "made whole" in that you should not lose any funds you actually paid out-of-pocket, but it may take time to sort out. And first DCL has to announce a cancellation.

Sorry you've had 2 cruises impacted! Good luck with the impending arrival!