Could DCL possibly do this?

[SL6827]

Could they possibly do this and it be completely legal?

 

[T & R]

Could they possibly do this and it be completely legal?

That's code talk for bankruptcy protection. Yes, they could do it and you would become the lowest rung of creditor with your deposit. If this shutdown lasts long into next year, there will definitely be cruise lines that go bankrupt. They will have too much debt to service without revenue to service it.

 

[Jacq7414]

If I lost my deposit because they were reorganizing their debt, I’d 100% never book with them again

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If I lost my deposit because they were reorganizing their debt, I’d 100% never book with them again

Just my opinion, but if a cruise line goes into bankruptcy and I don't get my deposit back, I'd have to know WHY. If it was bankruptcy because they financially mishandled their profits, probably not. But, bankruptcy because of the current situation (which is really out of their control and not because they did something wrong), I wouldn't hold it against them.

Now, if they go into bankruptcy, would they still be sailing? Could make the whole question be moot.

 

[Jacq7414]

Just my opinion, but if a cruise line goes into bankruptcy and I don't get my deposit back, I'd have to know WHY. If it was bankruptcy because they financially mishandled their profits, probably not. But, bankruptcy because of the current situation (which is really out of their control and not because they did something wrong), I wouldn't hold it against them.

Now, if they go into bankruptcy, would they still be sailing? Could make the whole question be moot.

True. But it makes me want to cancel my DCL for April so I can get my money back now before this keeps on going on longer and longer

 

[PrincessShmoo]

True. But it makes me want to cancel my DCL for April so I can get my money back now before this keeps on going on longer and longer

I know. We had future cruise deposits booked with both Holland America & Princess when then all started. We did ask for (and get) those refunded. But, we also had a river trip (almost paid for) for last April that got canceled. At the time we had to either take a refund or use it for another trip in 2020. We booked a different trip for October, but as the PIF date came due, we opted to move it to a trip next April. I think, if that one winds up getting canceled, we'll just take the refund.

 

[jrabbit]

Disney surprised investors with a strong quarterly financial report last night and today the DIS Stock is up about 9%.

But you don't know how long they can continue under the pandemic. Live Action Mulan coming to Disney + instead of waiting on theaters.

Depending upon the reporting The Dream and Wonder (which I think is correct vs Fantasy and Magic) have been cleared by the CDC to sail (no COVID-19 cases or COVID like symptoms for 28 days) once ports open up.

 

[BartmanLA]

So far cruise lines that have "gone under" such as Pullmantur, from what I understand guests that had cruises booked with them when they folded were taken in by Royal Caribbean and their monies paid were transferred to RCCL itineraries and any credits were also taken in. Hopefully that would be the case with any of the smaller boutique cruise lines that are owned by parent companies like RCCL, Carnival or such. Disney since they're a stand alone line, would be risky, but I feel like this is most likely not going to happen since they have the much larger Disney Corporate entity to give them financial protection from such things like bankruptcy or dissolution. I won't say never but I am confident that DCL is still planning on resumption of cruising at some point in the future, the only unknown is when that time will arrive. Hopefully once a workable vaccine is distributed and the population in general gains immunity from the virus that they can begin to rebuild their business and get back to what we know Disney Cruise Line can do.

 

[SL6827]

True. But it makes me want to cancel my DCL for April so I can get my money back now before this keeps on going on longer and longer

Right. I might cancel mine later today. But my nearly three grand deposit is on gift cards so I dont know if that makes the chances of me getting that back if this was to go down.

 

[BartmanLA]

Right. I might cancel mine later today. But my nearly three grand deposit is on gift cards so I dont know if that makes the chances of me getting that back if this was to go down.

I hope you kept the gift cards you used for the deposit, because DCL will refund any monies back to the last used for payment ie. Credit or Gift cards, but once you get the refund to the cards you pretty much are stuck with them as they are, they don't offer refunds on gift cards in most cases, but you can use them at any Disney entity, Parks, resorts, stores etc.

 

[SL6827]

I hope you kept the gift cards you used for the deposit, because DCL will refund any monies back to the last used for payment ie. Credit or Gift cards, but once you get the refund to the cards you pretty much are stuck with them as they are, they don't offer refunds on gift cards in most cases, but you can use them at any Disney entity, Parks, resorts, stores etc.

I got them.

 

[otten]

Yes they certainly could do this and it’s why people should be cautious about allowing any travel company to hold on to their money right now.

Pre pandemic there was an Antarctica cruise company that went under. People lost 10s of 1000s of dollars.

 

[mmmears]

Yes, they can do this. It's one reason we cancelled our cruise before PIF date instead of paying it off and getting the cruise credit.

 

[SL6827]

I sent an email to my TA to cancel ours.

 

[tvguy]

That's code talk for bankruptcy protection. Yes, they could do it and you would become the lowest rung of creditor with your deposit. If this shutdown lasts long into next year, there will definitely be cruise lines that go bankrupt. They will have too much debt to service without revenue to service it.

I think you're right. Bankruptcy is part of our financial system, and I suspect everyone of us has done business with a company that has gone bankrupt in the past, and left some customers without refunds.

 

[JM23457]

Could they possibly do this and it be completely legal?

They could get away with it legally.

Whether they could get away with it without irreparable damage to the Disney vacation brand is another question altogether. I don't think they could.

 

[JM23457]

If I lost my deposit because they were reorganizing their debt, I’d 100% never book with them again

And it goes way beyond deposits. Plenty of people have expensive cruises paid in full. The loss of all that money would be devastating to many cruisers. For some, that's their entire year's vacation budget.

If DCL doesn't refund customers' money for cancelled cruises, then very few people will trust DCL to hold onto their money again. Which would leave DCL in a bind longer lasting than Covid.

I just don't see them leaving customers holding the bag without DCL completely going under, permanently.

 

[Intr3pid]

The only debt DCL has is secured against the ships. (Other assets such as the parks have their own debt.) But, most of Disney's debt is at the corporate level. Your deposit amounts are miniscule in relation - like a rounding error. And it's very easy for Disney to convert them to FCC even in a reorganization.

The only scenario where you don't get anything at all is if DCL is shuttered entirely - so no refund and a worthless FCC. That's a risk, but with a likelihood even less than that of your catching the virus. If you are scared of this scenario, definitely get your refund now because you will likely be too scared to sail by then anyways!

 

[BartmanLA]

It's far far far less of a risk with DCL, they have very large Corporate structure behind them that while it is multi layered and vast, it more than can support losses that the cruise line might encounter for a while before they would have to consider any thing close to bankruptcy or completely folding. With 3 ships (I know everyone's speculating that they will cancel the 2 remaining to be built or scrap all 3) coming online in the future, and also that they're planning significant changes for the existing fleet (re-configurations to accommodate for Covid-19 safety protocols and social distancing) during the shut down indicates that DCL is in it for the long haul and will come back when they can. So considering this avenue for DCL just isn't practical or logical.

 

[DCLMP]

I think you're right. Bankruptcy is part of our financial system, and I suspect everyone of us has done business with a company that has gone bankrupt in the past, and left some customers without refunds.

I don't know about everyone. I think that would be pretty rare to lose to money to a bankruptcy. I know I never have and I don't know of anyone that has.