Is DCL phasing out the Flexible Refund Policy?

[Lisa Lisa]

Hello! We're 20 days out from our Wish sailing, and we received an email from DCL yesterday that has me concerned. It's a long email, and the majority of it focuses on the change to their vaccination policy and the continued requirement for Covid testing before sailing. The part that has me concerned is buried toward the end (I say buried because of its placement and the fact that there is no heading indicating the topic is no longer Online Check-In). Here is the relevant paragraph:

Guests booked on the Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy or Disney Wish September 2, 2022 through December 31, 2022 may modify their sail date or cancel their sailing without any Disney-imposed cancellation fees by contacting their travel agent by August 29, 2022. Please note that change fees and cancellation fees imposed by third-party suppliers, such as airlines and hotels, as well as travel insurance, are not refundable. Refunds will be processed back to the original form of payment. Standard cancellation policies and terms and conditions apply for any cancellation or modification requests received on or after August 30, 2022.

According to the DCL's "Flexible Refund Policy," which is still on their site (unchanged as far as I can tell), we can cancel right up to our embarkation date and either switch to a new date or get a full refund. So why does the paragraph above indicate that we have a deadline of August 29? I didn't purchase insurance because of this policy, and now I'm concerned about what will happen if one of us tests positive for Covid before the cruise. Will we be out the entire cost of the cruise? I emailed my TA but have not yet heard back. I thought I'd post here in case anyone else has received this email and gotten clarification from either DCL or their TA.

Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[lanejudy]

Each time DCL has made a "major" change to their cruising requirements, they have offered an "out" -- an opportunity for those who are past PIF to cancel without penalty. DCL is now offering a "free" cancellation period for those who do not wish to sail under the new requirements.

As to how long the temporary Flexible Cancellation policy will remain in effect is anyone's guess at this point. I suspect it will remain as long as testing is required, but that's just my guess.

 

[DCLMP]

I think as long as they require you to provide a negative covid test they would need to provide a full refund if you test positive.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Each time DCL has made a "major" change to their cruising requirements, they have offered an "out" -- an opportunity for those who are past PIF to cancel without penalty. DCL is now offering a "free" cancellation period for those who do not wish to sail under the new requirements.

As to how long the temporary Flexible Cancellation policy will remain in effect is anyone's guess at this point. I suspect it will remain as long as testing is required, but that's just my guess.

Thank you, @lanejudy ! So you're saying this is not instead of the Flexible Refund Policy, right? That was my fear. I can appreciate that this language was added to make it clear to anyone booked that they can cancel without penalty due to the new vaccination policy, but it was confusing since it seems to contradict their "Book with Confidence" policy.

 

[ironz]

Maybe it's just me, but sailing during hurricane season without insurance sounds risky. You've got the DCL flexibility for covid, but you're not covered for any other illness/injury or missing your cruise or flight home because of weather.

 

[ironz]

Though maybe the flexible refund will help with anything prior to the cruise. Thankfully, we haven't had to use that. We'll be on the Wish shortly after you-- have fun!

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Maybe it's just me, but sailing during hurricane season without insurance sounds risky. You've got the DCL flexibility for covid, but you're not covered for any other illness/injury or missing your cruise or flight home because of weather.

Yes, there's definitely some level of risk involved. We usually purchase third-party insurance for our cruises, but decided not to this time. We figured Book with Confidence would cover us for issues before the cruise, and we have some coverage through one of our travel-specific credit cards. Also, we moved to FL last year and are now only a 2-hour drive from Port Canaveral (yay!). Our anniversary is on 9/5 and we often travel during that time. We figure that if our ship sails, we'll be on it!

All that said, I'm pretty sure I'll go back to purchasing insurance starting with our next cruise!

 

[lanejudy]

@KashasMom If I recall, you were looking for an "out" to cancel a concierge booking for this fall. It looks like you may have it now if you still want to cancel. I don't know what you would get back since you did move your cruise using the "Cruise Date Flexibility" policy but if your family still doesn't want to cruise you may be able to get something back now.

 

[ironz]

Yes, there's definitely some level of risk involved. We usually purchase third-party insurance for our cruises, but decided not to this time. We figured Book with Confidence would cover us for issues before the cruise, and we have some coverage through one of our travel-specific credit cards. Also, we moved to FL last year and are now only a 2-hour drive of Port Canaveral (yay!). Our anniversary is on 9/5 and we often travel during that time. We figure that if our ship sails, we'll be on it!

All that said, I'm pretty sure I'll go back to purchasing insurance starting with our next cruise!

Happy Anniiversary! And yeah, sounds like you have it all covered. Since we have to fly in, it's more complicated.

 

[KashasMom]

@KashasMom If I recall, you were looking for an "out" to cancel a concierge booking for this fall. It looks like you may have it now if you still want to cancel. I don't know what you would get back since you did move your cruise using the "Cruise Date Flexibility" policy but if your family still doesn't want to cruise you may be able to get something back now.

Thanks for letting me know! As far as I know, we won't get anything (or very little back). I think there's no turning back now. Just trying to sort out all we need to do to get on the ship and also to enter Bermuda.

 

[Cheburashka]

Thank you, @lanejudy ! So you're saying this is not instead of the Flexible Refund Policy, right?

Correct. I've had many booked cruises since reopening and each time they change a Covid policy, they send an email like this that allows you to cancel penalty-free up to a certain date due to the policy change. I currently have a November cruise booked and I received the same email you did.

It is totally separate from the Flexible Refund Policy, which has no expiration date as of yet. When DCL does decide to end the flexible refund policy, they'll probably also send another email to cruisers giving them a chance to cancel with refund by a certain date due to the policy change.