Update to Cancellation Policy

[Narcoossee11]

Sounds like they are looking to cut their work load on making refunds if a cruise is canceled, and reading between the lines, they probably feel recent events have increased the odds of cruises through January 31 being canceled. Juggling over a year of deposits and payments on already canceled cruises has to be straining their resources.

You got. it !!! The future is muddy. Don't give any more than a cruise line wants.

 

[kathi]

Options for cancellation? I hadn't asked I would suspect when they release final Fantasy guidelines they will give us the same Dream option to outright cancel (but I could be wrong).

Yeah - that's what I'm hoping for. Would be nice if we could see what those policies will be. I don't WANT to cancel, but until we see what the sailing guidelines are, can't say for sure what we will do.

 

[KashasMom]

Even if you have to PIF 5 months out, you can still cancel between PIF and 60 days out, right? And get a full refund?

No, not concierge.

 

[tvguy]

About the only thing the US and Australia have in common is we speak english. I say that jokingly but point is they have done things dramatically differently and as you pointed out it was a Australia decision. The US is not shutting down cruise lines again especially now since didn't Florida "win" a lawsuit against the CDC regarding economic impact or something?

We're not allowed to discuss Politics on the DIS. I think the change to the cancellation policies is the first step to tightening protocols by DCL or halting the restart. Disney already has tightened protocols at WDW and DL, I think DCL is next. It would be a bad business decision not to.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We're not allowed to discuss Politics on the DIS. I think the change to the cancellation policies is the first step to tightening protocols by DCL or halting the restart. Disney already has tightened protocols at WDW and DL, I think DCL is next. It would be a bad business decision not to.

I have to agree. Think they may still sail, maybe. Not sure if they will fully halt. But the offerings will be very limited. More cancellations on the horizon. We shall see.

 

[sethschroeder]

We're not allowed to discuss Politics on the DIS. I think the change to the cancellation policies is the first step to tightening protocols by DCL or halting the restart. Disney already has tightened protocols at WDW and DL, I think DCL is next. It would be a bad business decision not to.

I don't think this is correct at all. They are delaying payment because such a large number of people would cancel as opposed to waiting for restrictions to change 15 times between PIF and Sail dates.

Also politics have zero to do with this either. This isnt politics its government policy (or legal limit of) which is very different from Party A vs Party B.

I have to agree. Think they may still sail, maybe. Not sure if they will fully halt. But the offerings will be very limited. More cancellations on the horizon. We shall see.

Based on what information? There is pretty much is zero information that points to cancelation.

Covid variants are going to happen, positive tests will happen on ships, and different levels of restrictions will happen (this has been predicted for months and should not be a suprise). Florida is and will remain the most open area which is the bulk of all cruising with Texas unlikely to ever lock down either being similar to Florida.

On top of this DCL also seems to have the UK on board so European cruises can go ahead with possibly an expansion of ports by next summer.

Final note while some on this board love Carnival there needs to be a very large distinction on what policies were on other cruise lines that had issues with positive tests. As brought up in a thread about it they were around 70% or more full, no masking indoors (for vaccinated), and had poor social distancing per multiple reports (which makes sense with 70% or more capacity being filled).

 

[kathi]

I don't think this is correct at all. They are delaying payment because such a large number of people would cancel as opposed to waiting for restrictions to change 15 times between PIF and Sail dates.

Also politics have zero to do with this either. This isnt politics its government policy (or legal limit of) which is very different from Party A vs Party B.



Based on what information? There is pretty much is zero information that points to cancelation.

Covid variants are going to happen, positive tests will happen on ships, and different levels of restrictions will happen (this has been predicted for months and should not be a suprise). Florida is and will remain the most open area which is the bulk of all cruising with Texas unlikely to ever lock down either being similar to Florida.

On top of this DCL also seems to have the UK on board so European cruises can go ahead with possibly an expansion of ports by next summer.

Final note while some on this board love Carnival there needs to be a very large distinction on what policies were on other cruise lines that had issues with positive tests. As brought up in a thread about it they were around 70% or more full, no masking indoors (for vaccinated), and had poor social distancing per multiple reports (which makes sense with 70% or more capacity being filled).

Let’s wait to see until DCL cruises longer itineraries before touting DCL’s policies as being safer than other lines. Sailing safely out of the UK on short cruises is a very different proposition than sailing out of Florida for a week. No cruise line wants infections/outbreaks. Many are requiring everyone 12 and older be vaccinated and everyone masked indoors.

I personally feel there will be expanded protocols for the Fantasy or they will cancel the 7-night cruises for a few months. I’m booked to sail 9/25 and sure hope we do, but it gets much more complicated when you add more days at sea and Florida into the mix.

 

[sethschroeder]

Let’s wait to see until DCL cruises longer itineraries before touting DCL’s policies as being safer than other lines.

Required masking and a lower capacity is safer end of story.

DCL will absolutely have positive tests on board as well. The primary way if you were extra cautious would be daily tests.

but it gets much more complicated when you add more days at sea and Florida into the mix.

It's not the same but WDW did a good job by again being strict with masking and strict with distancing. Also did these other cruise lines retrofit non-touch everywhere?

 

[kathi]

Required masking and a lower capacity is safer end of story.

DCL will absolutely have positive tests on board as well. The primary way if you were extra cautious would be daily tests.



It's not the same but WDW did a good job by again being strict with masking and strict with distancing. Also did these other cruise lines retrofit non-touch everywhere?

Celebrity is sailing 95% vaccinated and reduced capacity and they are getting positives (both vaccinated and unvaccinated). So not “end of story”.

Not sure if you have been to WDW, but social distancing was a fantasy that only occurred early in the morning and mask compliance got worse as the day went on. (I am sure they will do a better job on the ship.). There was no required testing or contact tracing, so we will never know how many folks were infected at Disney.

I agree that I think DCL will do a great job, but they are not perfect and we should not fall into a false sense of security thinking they are going to be.

 

[sethschroeder]

Celebrity is sailing 95% vaccinated and reduced capacity and they are getting positives (both vaccinated and unvaccinated). So not “end of story”.

Correct people will test positive. You are not going to get any event or vacation destination that is not a reality. Your chance go down with companies who are putting in distancing and masking requirements like DCL and it sounds like Celebrity.

Not sure if you have been to WDW, but social distancing was a fantasy that only occurred early in the morning and mask compliance got worse as the day went on. (I am sure they will do a better job on the ship.). There was no required testing or contact tracing, so we will never know how many folks were infected at Disney.

I was when they actually cared more about COVID19 safety protocols back in January. I commented on these boards that in March that basically went out the window as you saw lines get much longer, capacity go up, pools routinely filled to waits and more recently removal of social distancing aspects/mask requirements.

IMO Disney was different than how Universal seemed to handle things out of the gate. Similar to Disney vs some of the other lines out there.

I agree that I think DCL will do a great job, but they are not perfect and we should not fall into a false sense of security thinking they are going to be.

If people took my response as nothing will be wrong on DCL I do apologize. I have held the belief for a while there will be issues and will be positive tests onboard.

To bring this back around to on topic though. IMO DCL is not altering cancellation policies because they think they will cancel. They are altering policy to give guests greater flexibility especially since Disney themselves are as an example 28 days out from a Fantasy sail date with 0 restrictions released or announced for that ship. They also likely saw more cancellations/negative feedback as opposed to people who just paid at PIF so they made the adjustment not to lose more guests simply based on flexibility of cancellation.

 

[JWelch62]

This does nothing for those of us on the Fantasy who are sailing within the next 60 days in Concierge. Has anyone talked to shoreside to see when we learn about our options?

Not the Fantasy, but for our Concierge cruise on the Wonder I emailed shoreside to ask about the protocols and cancellations policy. I was told they would announce them "in the coming weeks". We're less than 60 days out, too.

 

[DopeyDame]

I have to agree. Think they may still sail, maybe. Not sure if they will fully halt. But the offerings will be very limited. More cancellations on the horizon. We shall see.

Obviously this is totally just guessing, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're trying to figure out what they can do limiting it to things they control - ie, only going to Castaway Cay. So this gives them a little more time to see what comes over the next few months before issuing refunds, and also lets them figure out what cruises/ships will be able to sail without relying on the whims of other countries.

 

[tvguy]

Also politics have zero to do with this either. This isnt politics its government policy (or legal limit of) which is very different from Party A vs Party B.

I can't say I disagree. But the moderators might.

 

[sethschroeder]

I can't say I disagree. But the moderators might.

As long as it stays on topic of how the government policies and regulations are applied then we seem to be good. If it devolves to talking about what is "right" or "wrong" then it will get shutdown.

 

[Girl of the South]

Australia handled the Pandemic by closing their borders, as did New Zealand. And for a while it worked like a charm, as long as no one wanted to go anywhere outside of their own country. There are still thousands of Australians with resident visas who are not able to return home to Australia due to limited and very expensive repatriation flights. They are just starting to catch up with vaccinations and I believe are at maybe 15%? So yes, not surprised that the Australian cruise was cancelled. I think the update has to do with how much cash DCL is sitting on which may have to be returned. And to be honest, did we really HAVE to pay that far in advance? Not much wriggle room - 4 months out. I was glad to see the email since the situation is so fluid and ever changing.

 

[byanks7]

I am confused, I got an email from Disney stating that my PIF date was approaching, (120 days out) and if they didn't receive payment, Disney would keep the down payment. I thought I just read on this board that Disney moved PIF dates to 60 days out, which would make my PIF date in October.. Seems like a big contradiction.

 

[JWelch62]

I am confused, I got an email from Disney stating that my PIF date was approaching, (120 days out) and if they didn't receive payment, Disney would keep the down payment. I thought I just read on this board that Disney moved PIF dates to 60 days out, which would make my PIF date in October.. Seems like a big contradiction.

It depends on your sail date. 60 days out is only for select sailings through the end of January as I understand it.

 

[JWelch62]

It depends on your sail date. 60 days out is only for select sailings through the end of January as I understand it.

All sailings through January 2022 as reported on Scott's website.

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...llation-fee-schedule-through-january-31-2022/
If your cruise is before then I would check your PIF date on your reservation on the DCL website. If you used a TA I would ask them.