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

[cvjw]

Pretty much the same as me at this point. I would rather be given the opportunity to cancel and receive a full refund at this point. If Disney decided to offer the 125% rebooking credit then maybe I can figure something out. Like so many others have said....it's schedule conflicts but more importantly the prices are much higher which is the real issue.

Agree. Was talking to a nice CM at DCL yesterday - having her answer a few questions for me to help with our decision. She asked why we didn’t want to cancel and rebook now with the 100% refund. I told her that the same sailing at the same time next year, in the same cabins is $1,000 more out of pocket. She said it was just inflation. I said, no - it is the fact that I booked almost opening day for our 2020 cruise and would be forced to book much later for a 2021 cruise and pay the much higher prevailing rates. She pretended to not understand and just blamed inflation.

 

[slg]

Just park your credit if it benefits you...cruise prices are going to plummet. I guarantee.

 

[harriet2]

If I had to bet, my guess would be that they keep the Magic here in the States and do cruises that stay close to the US Mainland. I think that, at least initially, people aren't going to want to be "too far" away from getting home if something occurred...

This is my bet too. But since we're from Europe, that means no cruise. Although we also already dismissed the Mediterranean as an option for this summer.

 

[Snowwhyt]

With all this information on one thread it’s impossible to keep my head straight on what answer responds to what question. This is just too hard to navigate. I’m jumping all over the page, things I cared about are scattered among things that have already been answered.
Sure it’s all tight in one spot...but who wants to look for their car key that was lost sometime during their 10 mile run? At least with 10 pages of information per subject it’s doable, but 107 pages is not helpful. Can someone break this into 5-8 threads? Maybe just start a new (what is it called..) thing like the “trip report” and “meet and greet” thread? Please?
Pretty Please?
And now just to make things worse.
I have very carefully gone through every single page so that I could always return to my last unread message and that’s all gone. So back to page 1 of 107 over 2K messages. This is so frustrating.

 

[monkeydawn]

With all this information on one thread it’s impossible to keep my head straight on what answer responds to what question. This is just too hard to navigate. I’m jumping all over the page, things I cared about are scattered among things that have already been answered.
Sure it’s all tight in one spot...but who wants to look for their car key that was lost sometime during their 10 mile run? At least with 10 pages of information per subject it’s doable, but 107 pages is not helpful. Can someone break this into 5-8 threads? Maybe just start a new (what is it called..) thing like the “trip report” and “meet and greet” thread? Please?
Pretty Please?
And now just to make things worse.
I have very carefully gone through every single page so that I could always return to my last unread message and that’s all gone. So back to page 1 of 107 over 2K messages. This is so frustrating.

There is just no way someone is going to take the time to "break this into 5-8 threads". Asking people to stick to a limited topic just doesnt work. Because I might see something that's kind of related as relevant and post. Then people answer. The you are back up to a jumbled thread only now you have 5-8 of them.

Just "watch" the thread now, check back a few times a day if you can this way too much doesnt build up. If there is something you want to know and you cant find by going back a few pages, then ask (again). You wont be the first to mention something for a second or third time! Most of us wont bite your head off for doing it. Besides, the answer might be different that it was even a few hours ago anyway, things are that fast changing.

 

[mousefan73]

What might be helpful is if there was a sticky that collected all DCL communication emails and referred to which sailing range they are valid for

 

[harriet2]

Besides, the answer might be different that it was even a few hours ago anyway, things are that fast changing.

I'm actually surprised there aren't more updates from DCL. Although, not sure what else they can say and only cancelling cruises once a week might be a better strategy

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I'm Still Not Blinking - I suspect Disney is going to wait until April 17th to cancel my Hawaii cruise - so I'm in a holding pattern - or as I like to say = Playing Chicken with Disney... Cluck Cluck Cluck haa haa

 

[Intr3pid]

What might be helpful is if there was a sticky that collected all DCL communication emails and referred to which sailing range they are valid for

Yes, it would be helpful to keep a separate sticky for the official DCL announcements. No need to repeat everything in the sticky, as they are changing all the time, but just a summary and a link to the official page on DCL's website.

 

[AlohaNow]

cruise prices are going to plummet. I guarantee.

This is why I will most likely cancel our October sailing in the next few days. PIF isn't until June 30 for me, so I actually have until then to decide. But why in the heck should I be paying DCL full price at this point? ALL cruise lines will need to offer lower pricing once they start sailing again to claw back customers! I'll check and see if our original sailing has a lower price once all this is 'over' and if so I will book it again at the lower price. If not, the Mickey Boat will still be there for us next year, and the next. Most of us on the boards love to travel (and love to plan travel) and it is slightly painful to have to delay travel, but it is not the end of the world.

 

[JWelch62]

Just park your credit if it benefits you...cruise prices are going to plummet. I guarantee.

I agree that prices will likely drop. In my case the Chase travel insurance won't cover my airfare if I cancel, but I think they will if DCL cancels. (Based on what I read on pointsguy) So, I will wait on DCL for as long as possible.

 

[AquaDame]

What might be helpful is if there was a sticky that collected all DCL communication emails and referred to which sailing range they are valid for

They are doing so in this thread: https://www.disboards.com/threads/cancellation-contact-offer-tracker.3796749/page-3#post-61687355

I've created a sticky and will add official announcements as they come out as requested. As others have said, breaking this one into 5-8 would be impossible... they were merged into this mega thread because each one was deviating from the topic at hand and ultimately ended up doing the same thing this thread is doing, except some threads had different info at different times. It seemed better to keep everyone on the same page in one thread. If anyone has specific questions about a specific cruise, please do continue to create a new thread - we aren't merging them willy nilly unless they go completely off the rails to general conversation like this thread.

 

[lanejudy]

Just park your credit if it benefits you...cruise prices are going to plummet. I guarantee.

I agree prices in the industry as a whole will drop -- however, I suspect DCL will handle that as *GT offers for the next year without decreasing the "regular" fare for cruises already available. And I thought the credits for cancelled cruises can't be used on *GT bookings. Or did they start allowing it?

 

[FSU Girl]

Just park your credit if it benefits you...cruise prices are going to plummet. I guarantee.

I think most cruises prices will plummet, but I feel like Disney will try and keep theirs the same for as long as they can. They might think people will come back due to loyalty and only start to lower or offer discounts if people don't start booking right away.

 

[Snowwhyt]

There is just no way someone is going to take the time to "break this into 5-8 threads". Asking people to stick to a limited topic just doesnt work. Because I might see something that's kind of related as relevant and post. Then people answer. The you are back up to a jumbled thread only now you have 5-8 of them.

Just "watch" the thread now, check back a few times a day if you can this way too much doesnt build up. If there is something you want to know and you cant find by going back a few pages, then ask (again). You wont be the first to mention something for a second or third time! Most of us wont bite your head off for doing it. Besides, the answer might be different that it was even a few hours ago anyway, things are that fast changing.

I would assume that the “breaking down” would happen by closing this thread and allowing a whole new section for just coronavirus.
That was why I suggested it happen such as the meet-and-greets section or trip-reports section.
Maybe it’s because I’m using my phone and don’t have the ability to use a computer to keep up with the posts. But I on every few hours except for overnight right now.

 

[AquaDame]

I would assume that the “breaking down” would happen by closing this thread and allowing a whole new section for just coronavirus.
That was why I suggested it happen such as the meet-and-greets section or trip-reports section.
Maybe it’s because I’m using my phone and don’t have the ability to use a computer to keep up with the posts. But I on every few hours except for overnight right now.

I think the virus and Disney trips are too intertwined for proper social distancing like that... I will echo what other people said before me though - if we want to chat about the virus itself, numbers and the race for a vaccine there are threads for that over in the community section.

https://www.disboards.com/forums/community-board.33/

 

[Intr3pid]

Just park your credit if it benefits you...cruise prices are going to plummet. I guarantee.

I agree that prices will likely drop. In my case the Chase travel insurance won't cover my airfare if I cancel, but I think they will if DCL cancels. (Based on what I read on pointsguy) So, I will wait on DCL for as long as possible.

I agree prices in the industry as a whole will drop -- however, I suspect DCL will handle that as *GT offers for the next year without decreasing the "regular" fare for cruises already available. And I thought the credits for cancelled cruises can't be used on *GT bookings. Or did they start allowing it?

I think most cruises prices will plummet, but I feel like Disney will try and keep theirs the same for as long as they can. They might think people will come back due to loyalty and only start to lower or offer discounts if people don't start booking right away.

The problem is, the industry is now concentrated in the hands of just three major players, and they do have the ability to park some of their older ships and take capacity off the market. They had resisted this urge so far because of the breakneck cruising demand and heightened Wall Street expectations. Still, there is a window of time - about the next 8-12 months - in which the demand will be slow to return and the exiting itineraries already committed. This is what you can take advantage of.

 

[spurscar]

Okay Disney, your customer service center has had a couple days to process the latest extension, time to bump it again. It's crazy to think anyone will be boarding a cruise ship like it's no big deal come anytime soon. Get folks their money back when some of them need it most with businesses closing up.

 

[MarkLT1]

So we made another hard decision today. My parents were the one footing the bill for our big celebration cruise. My dad (who was upper management, and even president of some mid-size manufacturing/equipment companies before he retired) pointed out that if this goes on too long (more than 2-3 months) you may very well see cruise lines (including DCL) filing for bankruptcy/reorganizing. In such a case, you could very well be out 90+% of your "credit". So we decided to cancel our re-scheduled cruise for November, and take the 100% refund, rather than the 125% credit from our cancelled April sailing. Not that a bankruptcy is likely at this point, but I'd argue that it is definitely not off the table. He also noted that (in his opinion) the fact that DCL is a subsidiary of Disney Corp, increases the risk of filing, as if a parent corp is struggling, they will often use hurting subsidiaries to file, in order to free up operating capital, etc.. and keep the parent company from falling further. Just something to keep in mind when making your decision.

Unfortunately, I don't have the option to cash out when it comes to our Delta flight- credit only. And as the airlines seem to file bankruptcy under hard times as if it is a normal part of operating, I would say those dollars are at even higher risk.

 

[brentm77]

So we made another hard decision today. My parents were the one footing the bill for our big celebration cruise. My dad (who was upper management, and even president of some mid-size manufacturing/equipment companies before he retired) pointed out that if this goes on too long (more than 2-3 months) you may very well see cruise lines (including DCL) filing for bankruptcy/reorganizing. In such a case, you could very well be out 90+% of your "credit". So we decided to cancel our re-scheduled cruise for November, and take the 100% refund, rather than the 125% credit from our cancelled April sailing. Not that a bankruptcy is likely at this point, but I'd argue that it is definitely not off the table. He also noted that (in his opinion) the fact that DCL is a subsidiary of Disney Corp, increases the risk of filing, as if a parent corp is struggling, they will often use hurting subsidiaries to file, in order to free up operating capital, etc.. and keep the parent company from falling further. Just something to keep in mind when making your decision.

Unfortunately, I don't have the option to cash out when it comes to our Delta flight- credit only. And as the airlines seem to file bankruptcy under hard times as if it is a normal part of operating, I would say those dollars are at even higher risk.

While this is technically legally possible, it would be the death nail in Disney's cruising future. There is a very very small chance they would take this step. Nobody would feel safe booking with their line ever again. Sure, this could theoretically happen, but it would also mean we would be in such a severe depression that everyone is done taking vacations for a very long time. We will all have even worse problems than having the extra money in our bank accounts.