Travel plans, especially cruises

[RoyalShock]

We have a cruise with Royal Caribbean booked and fully paid for (five of us), scheduled to leave on May 31st. It will take a miracle for that to happen (honestly, we no longer want to go given the situation), and we're getting very nervous waiting for them to cancel it so we can hopefully get a full refund, as they had promised for the first round of cancellations through May 11. If we initiate a refund now, we would only get 25% back. They're offering a 125% future cruise credit through next year, but we're not sure if that will work. Is anyone else in a similar predicament?

[wsushox1]

We have a cruise with Royal Caribbean booked and fully paid for (five of us), scheduled to leave on May 31st. It will take a miracle for that to happen (honestly, we no longer want to go given the situation), and we're getting very nervous waiting for them to cancel it so we can hopefully get a full refund, as they had promised for the first round of cancellations through May 11. If we initiate a refund now, we would only get 25% back. They're offering a 125% future cruise credit through next year, but we're not sure if that will work. Is anyone else in a similar predicament?

Was supposed to get married the first weekend of June and start the honeymoon shortly thereafter (not the case anymore, unfortunately). Most of our travel has allowed free change fees, or cancellations and credit attached to our account. Few travel vendors have given outright refunds and I suspect that is the norm unless the specific flight, cruise, train trip, etc. has been cancelled from their schedule.

[Kung Wu]

We have a cruise with Royal Caribbean booked and fully paid for (five of us), scheduled to leave on May 31st. It will take a miracle for that to happen (honestly, we no longer want to go given the situation), and we're getting very nervous waiting for them to cancel it so we can hopefully get a full refund, as they had promised for the first round of cancellations through May 11. If we initiate a refund now, we would only get 25% back. They're offering a 125% future cruise credit through next year, but we're not sure if that will work. Is anyone else in a similar predicament?

Did you happen to get trip insurance?

[ShockTalk]

We have a cruise with Royal Caribbean booked and fully paid for (five of us), scheduled to leave on May 31st. It will take a miracle for that to happen (honestly, we no longer want to go given the situation), and we're getting very nervous waiting for them to cancel it so we can hopefully get a full refund, as they had promised for the first round of cancellations through May 11. If we initiate a refund now, we would only get 25% back. They're offering a 125% future cruise credit through next year, but we're not sure if that will work. Is anyone else in a similar predicament?

https://news.yahoo.com/us-government-just-banned-carnival-155714607.html

Keep your eye on this. It involves all cruise lines sailing in US waters.

[RoyalShock]

Did you happen to get trip insurance?

No, I never do. This would be the first time I would have ever had an issue following through on travel plans. It's the calculation we made when booking. We may have to rethink that going forward.

[RoyalShock]

https://news.yahoo.com/us-government-just-banned-carnival-155714607.html

Keep your eye on this. It involves all cruise lines sailing in US waters.

That's the news that prompted us to forego our booked cruise altogether and try for a full refund, rather than convert it to a future cruise credit. We aren't confident in next year being back to normal from a cruise travel standpoint, or there being another Covid-19 outbreak.

I called last night and cancelled our shore excursions, and was told those refunds will take 2-3 weeks. Carnival has already cancelled all cruises into late June. Now we have to wait for Royal Caribbean to do the same so we can get our 100% refund.

I've started watching the financial news for the cruise lines, as they are scrambling to add liquidity. Carnival found $6 billion to extend their liquidity at least 12 months. RC found $2 billion and negotiated a 12-month debt holiday for two of their ships to get theirs out to 12 months. So I'm optimistic they won't run out of money and declare bankruptcy before we could get refunds.

People have started complaining on twitter that they requested refunds more than 30 days ago when cruises were first getting cancelled. RC's standard policy for getting refunds processed is 30 days. I figure it's probably due to normal human error with all the refund requests they are surely getting. But it's hard not to wonder if they are holding on to cash for as long as they possibly can.

[atlwsu]

My wife and I had our March cruise on Royal Caribbean cancelled. We have rebooked for late Oct. We cancelled one day before RC cancelled. They gave us 100% credit, while our traveling companions got a 100% refund.

This will be about our 20th cruise, anywhere from 4 nights to 12. We have never gotten the insurance. Never missed one, until 2020, and never been sick. The last cruise missed on port because of a previous hurricane. We have had good fortune, had a lot of fun and eaten WAY too much.

[RoyalShock]

My wife and I had our March cruise on Royal Caribbean cancelled. We have rebooked for late Oct. We cancelled one day before RC cancelled. They gave us 100% credit, while our traveling companions got a 100% refund.

This will be about our 20th cruise, anywhere from 4 nights to 12. We have never gotten the insurance. Never missed one, until 2020, and never been sick. The last cruise missed on port because of a previous hurricane. We have had good fortune, had a lot of fun and eaten WAY too much.

We are relatively new to cruising. Went on our first one in Nov 2017 (our honeymoon), then again to Alaska in 2018. We are big fans of the cruise experience now. But after this we may wait a couple of years before booking another one.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

We are relatively new to cruising. Went on our first one in Nov 2017 (our honeymoon), then again to Alaska in 2018. We are big fans of the cruise experience now. But after this we may wait a couple of years before booking another one.

Been kicking around the idea myself on one. Decided to give it a couple of years just so we plan for some add ons

[Kung Wu]

No, I never do. This would be the first time I would have ever had an issue following through on travel plans. It's the calculation we made when booking. We may have to rethink that going forward.

No, I never do either. If you get burned on this trip, but you add up all the times you never bought insurance in your life, you're still probably way ahead. :)

[RoyalShock]

Been kicking around the idea myself on one. Decided to give it a couple of years just so we plan for some add ons

Getting to visit multiple locales without packing up to drive or fly each time, having your food prepared for you, and all the on-ship entertainment options, it's hard to beat.

[RoyalShock]

Royal Caribbean is laying off 26% of it's U.S. workforce, including some in their "Witchita" call center.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article242023321.html