Uhm....Bahamas is now requiring vaccinations for all passengers over 12..

[kathi]

I checked on Jamaica the other day and it looked do-able.

https://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/jamaica-welcomes-return-of-cruise-sector/
They're allowing unvaccinated travelers, and testing everyone.

I feel like DCL is very much trying to avoid testing of all passengers (thus only sailing 4 nights or less).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm not sure they can realistically make it to Jamaica and back on just a 3-day itinerary. Maybe the 4 day.

It looks to be a bit tight to make it to Jamaica for a 4 night cruise.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I feel like DCL is very much trying to avoid testing of all passengers (thus only sailing 4 nights or less).

I agree, but if they really absolutely wanted to work around calling in the Bahamas, they'd have to call somewhere requiring testing. So it comes down to how they want to roll.

 

[jrapps]

Does anyone here feel like if they were just going to cancel completely, they would have done that by now? Could there be any justifiable reason to hold announcing that? I mean, would they go thru the trouble of converting all the Fantasy sailings and issuing partial refunds, to then immediacy cancel and refund the rest. That can't possibly be a possibility, can it?

I'm falling off the rails.

 

[sethschroeder]

I checked on Jamaica the other day and it looked do-able.

https://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/jamaica-welcomes-return-of-cruise-sector/
They're allowing unvaccinated travelers, and testing everyone.

Says in article 95% of crew and passengers need to be vaccinated. So basically a Carnival style restriction where its you must be vaccinated but you can request an exemption we can allow or deny.

With kids on Disney ships not able to get vaccinated that would suck up way more than 5% likely.
Sorry kids under 12 don't seem to count. I would have to think though with only 5% in play they would need some form of vaccination requirement on ships.

 

[icc2515]

We took our first RC this month after 10+ Disney in a row since our August Disney got cancelled. We were soooooo impressed! And LOVED that 2 bedroom suite!! I can see now why people sail RC so much.

Our next DCL cruise isn't until next summer now but I am watching all of this closely just to see how Disney is going to respond. I feel so badly for those of you with cruises coming up soon. I know the excitement of planning a cruise and not knowing if it is going to get cancelled just weeks away is very frustrating!!

Well that's great to know. If you have the time could you answer 2 questions? How bad was the obstruction on the balcony. How long did they serve drinks in the lounge?

 

[DCLMP]

We cancelled a 7 night Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy and rebooked with Royal Caribbean. They were 1/3 of the price. Saved $5000, then we figured with all that savings we might as well book another cruise with RC this one a 5 night with the parents in a 2 bedroom suite. Oh and we still have over $1000 left. Maybe the wife and I will get away for a 4 night on RC.



I don't know what you are talking about. My 14 and 17 year old have been vaccinated for months. Took the 14 year old the day the vaccine opened to that age group to a military vaccination center setup in our city. In and out in 5 minutes. They said you could sit for 15 minutes afterwards, but only if you wanted to.

Our last cruise was on Royal. I did not care for it at all, but I did like Carnival. I would cruise with them again and I would like to try MSC.

 

[orum]

Does anyone here feel like if they were just going to cancel completely, they would have done that by now? Could there be any justifiable reason to hold announcing that? I mean, would they go thru the trouble of converting all the Fantasy sailings and issuing partial refunds, to then immediacy cancel and refund the rest. That can't possibly be a possibility, can it?

I'm falling off the rails.

The conversion was already in process when the Bahaman government made their announcement. I had just gotten my refund amount from my TA and she had applied it to a future cruise.

But I am also falling off the rails. I wasn't totally surprised when there was no announcement on Friday, but I am shocked there wasn't one by noon today.

 

[jrapps]

I agree, but if they really absolutely wanted to work around calling in the Bahamas, they'd have to call somewhere requiring testing. So it comes down to how they want to roll.

If they had to change last minute to everyone, regardless of vax status, must test 3-5 days before the cruise (like Royal is doing), you would have SOOOO many people showing up without those tests because they didn't know about the last minute change. That would be a bigger disaster than requiring vaccines.

 

[Marrila]

The conversion was already in process when the Bahaman government made their announcement. I had just gotten my refund amount from my TA and she had applied it to a future cruise.

But I am also falling off the rails. I wasn't totally surprised when there was no announcement on Friday, but I am shocked there wasn't one by noon today.

I guessed today at 4:30. I'm starting to think they may wait until tomorrow.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

All cruises leaving from the US (with the exception of Alaska for this year) must stop at a foreign port. So a cruise to nowhere is not legal. It has to go somewhere.

Also - all the other major cruise lines have adjusted. DCL is the last holdout.

You would figure with the vast majority now requiring the vaccine that Disney would follow suit and announce something by this point.

 

[jrapps]

That’s my guess is discussing the situation with Florida government (not necessarily a party); they aren’t interested in a public battle I’m sure ….

Not sure the benefit of discussing anything with them. They have made their perspective very clear over the past few months. Don't really see them changing it now. That also didn't seem to prevent Royal or MSC from announcing changes.

 

[kathi]

Ok - I can do a 9-night Southern on Celebrity Beyond out of Cape Liberty, NJ in a suite for less than the two 4-nights in concierge on the Dream/Fantasy (and I can drive in 1.5 hours, don't need flights or hotel).

That is very appealing.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Says in article 95% of crew and passengers need to be vaccinated. So basically a Carnival style restriction where its you must be vaccinated but you can request an exemption we can allow or deny.

With kids on Disney ships not able to get vaccinated that would suck up way more than 5% likely.
Sorry kids under 12 don't seem to count. I would have to think though with only 5% in play they would need some form of vaccination requirement on ships.

No, it said that the ship calling was 95% vaccinated. That's not the Jamaican requirement, they're riding on the CDC requirement that ship is using.

The Travel Authorization site is pretty clear that it's test-required, but makes zero mention of vax: https://www.visitjamaica.com/travelauthorization/

 

[sethschroeder]

Ok - I can do a 9-night Southern on Celebrity Beyond out of Cape Liberty, NJ in a suite for less than the two 4-nights in concierge on the Dream/Fantasy (and I can drive in 1.5 hours, don't need flights or hotel).

That is very appealing.

Just told my wife that I am about to the point of calling DCL and seeing if I can just cancel (since I was on the Fantasy and opt'd for regular staterooms when moving instead of keeping my Cat V).

 

[jrapps]

Just told my wife that I am about to the point of calling DCL and seeing if I can just cancel (since I was on the Fantasy and opt'd for regular staterooms when moving instead of keeping my Cat V).

I'm looking at some Royal sailings the same weekend, but can't book anything until I know if DCL will le me cancel.

So disappointing.

 

[bethy]

Our last cruise was on Royal. I did not care for it at all, but I did like Carnival. I would cruise with them again and I would like to try MSC.

We sadly didn't like RCCL either. We decided to try it between Christmas and NYE since DCL was so pricey. I was soooooo hoping we would love it. DH thought it was OK and liked the savings. I strongly disliked it. I know all ships are different but we have limited vacay time and I'm not willing to take that risk again. Maybe when we retire we'll try some other lines and try to find some alternatives for both pricing and itineraries.

Until then we'll cruise less often and do other kinds of vacations.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

I'm looking at some Royal sailings the same weekend, but can't book anything until I know if DCL will le me cancel.

So disappointing.

Once you get into the 14 day ‘Covid’ window you can- it’s the gray area between now and then..

 

[Groucho]

Not sure the benefit of discussing anything with them. They have made their perspective very clear over the past few months. Don't really see them changing it now. That also didn't seem to prevent Royal or MSC from announcing changes.

I agree with epcotrulz, I suspect there have been fervent discussions with the Floridian gov't over the weekend and ongoing. No matter how badly the gov't folks want to enforce their "vaccine passport" rule, they simply can't in this case, or they'll force the cruise lines to all not run at all. So the gov't needs a way to exempt the cruise lines from the rule and presumably try to spin it in the news to save face. However you feel about it politically, this whole process would be far simpler for the cruise lines if it weren't for that rule. I'm sure Disney would rather avoid a legal battle if at all possible, so I suspect that if they thought that they could talk the gov't into a cruise ship exemption, that would be preferable to joining Norwegian's lawsuit.

I am somewhat surprised that we haven't seen the other lines joining Norwegian's lawsuit since they've all now publicly said that they're going to do what the rule specifically says that they can't. I'm sure there's behind-the-scenes wrangling going on by all of them!

 

[DCLDVC1]

I'm looking at some Royal sailings the same weekend, but can't book anything until I know if DCL will le me cancel.

So disappointing.

Can't you cancel any Fantasy stateroom category by 9/1 for any reason and receive a full refund if the sailing is before March 26th, 2022?