I agree with this. They'd have to offer something really substantial to make it worth letting them keep the deposit, and all the conditions that go with that. In general, you are much better off getting a full refund and just booking a new trip when they release the dates.
They are. There are a very limited number for each departure (sometimes it was like 3 per departure). And they are only available if you book within a certain period of time.
Hey All... I thought I would pass along this very tiny bit of info. We have ABD Greece booked for May 6 2022 and have been closely watching for any signs that Disney might (or might not) cancel this trip. Greece is still at Level 4, although they are working hard to open up to tourists this year.
My TA was talking to Disney today and, of course, there is no information on cancellations at this point. We did learn that our May 6 tour is nearly sold out, and there a number of subsequent Greece tours that are apparently fully booked and Waitlisted until the end of July.
Anyways, the info I wanted to share (at least coming from a Vacationista to our TA) is that Disney is "no longer solely relying on CDC guidelines when making decisions on trip viability". Of course, there is no info on how Disney is actually making these decisions right now.
We are still torn on whether to wait this out and see what happens or simply cancel on our own and lose our deposits. With re-entry testing requirements still in place to get back into US and Canada, the risk of getting 'stuck' on our own in Greece is a bit scary. Since our 65-day window closes on March 2(!!), we'll need to decide fast!
Unfortunately I doubt you will receive any information from ABD this early. We had a 2020 China trip scheduled and they insisted it was a go even though China wasn’t even issuing travel visas. It was super stressful and we lost our game of chicken. (Still bitter)
I don't think you are overthinking this at all, it's a valid concern. But I also, unfortunately, think it's pretty impossible to predict what the situation is going to be like 3 months from now. It's definitely a risk, but only you can say if you're willing to accept that risk. ABD would not run the trip if there is danger to anyone on the trip.
Rick Steves has also cancelled all of his tours that included a stop in Russia.
You might want to keep watch on their Poland, Czech, Austria trip which starts in Krakow Poland, and one has a Mid-!ay departure. That still shows as on, with the current early booking offer. Might give you an idea as to what might happen with their Danube River cruises.
We are on that one too. In January when the villa type we wanted at Aulani happened to come back available for the same time frame as the river cruise, we decided to pull the plug on the river cruise and go to Hawaii instead. I wanted something that I could plan and look forward to knowing it would happen rather than waiting on pins and needles to hear whether the river cruise was going and what testing requirements would be. Plus, we had two Hawaii trips cancelled in 2020 so we are looking forward to going back. We are playing a waiting game with the river cruise to see if they cancel before PIF or if we move our $$ to a placeholder.
Do you know if your TA had to say you weren't vaccinated, or objected to the policy, or did they just say "we want to cancel the trip"?
