Minor rant about the latest cruise cancellations

In these scary and uncertain times, I've now had my next two cruises; an April 2020 transatlantic on the Regal Princess and a September 2020 Canadian cruise tour on Caribbean Princess; cancelled by the cruise line. Completely understandable but still disappointing. We took the 150% Future Cruise Credit (versus a 100% refund and 25% cruise credit) since we were already paid in full for April when Princess cancelled in March. About 30 some days later, the FCC was deposited in our accounts. Still waiting to be refunded our port taxes, fees, and EZ Air. Thankfully, we haven't had such hardships from sickness or loss of employment that we need the funds returned just to pay our bills. There was some confusion about what happens to the cost of those who purchased Princess' travel insurance and whether we'd get that cost back since it wasn't us who cancelled. I talked to a Princess customer service rep who said that they'd treat it as a credit of its own applying it to our next sailing which means we'd have the coverage without having to pay for it again. We had been planning to apply the FCC to our September sailing plus Princess bumped final payment date to July so we'd only ever put in the deposit thus far. The offer when the Canada cruise tour was cancelled due to not having paid in full yet was either keep it as a new FCC and Princess would match our deposit amount or simply get only the deposit amount back as a refund. For those who had paid in full already, the offer was 125% of the fare paid as a FCC. This time we opted for the refund. Don't expect to see that for months as they seem to be processing not only by voyage date but also by those who chose FCC first. I do appreciate the fact that Princess announced the latest cancellations well before our sailing date.

I've read a lot of responses from fellow cruisers who have shared their sad feelings over the cancellations and been chastised for feeling that way. You are feeling these feelings for a reason and it's only natural to feel sad when something you worked so hard for and looked forward to for so long gets taken away. Yes, it's for a valid reason and those who unfortunately have gotten sick are in a much worse situation but that doesn't mean we can't be sad for others and ourselves. This needs to be a time for supporting one another whether that is a donation, a helping hand, or even just to say "Hey, I've been there, it's totally normal, and I understand how you're feeling." At the time, there is still some sailings to other destinations on the books for those who booked itineraries not involving Europe, Alaska, or Canada. (I'm not sure if any remain either for Asia and/or Australia) This second time, the cancellation email focused more on the logistics of port closures and flight limitations as reasons. As a result, I haven't felt much like writing about my experiences in Alaska since now multiple cruise lines have cancelled their entire 2020 Alaskan cruise seasons. I feel for those cruisers but also for those whose livelihood relies on tourism. With the cancellation of cruises, there also comes loss of revenue at lodges, hotels, campgrounds, parks, attractions, tour companies, and local shops and restaurants. Please also be patient and kind with cruise lines' customer service reps as many are working remotely. Yes, your money when you book a cruise comes out of your bank account real quick but imagine if you were running a restaurant and 50,000 diners show up at once ordering a dish that you have to run to the store each time to get the ingredients to make. There's more to the process than just clicking a magic refund button. 

I do wish to applaud the response from Princess in this unprecedented time. I don't think there's a manual that covers what to do if a pandemic spreads through the world infecting passengers and causing mass cancelations and stoppages. Most businesses would give in and refund your money if pestered enough but most certainly would not be transparent about the issues. Princess, through regular social media and YouTube posts, kept the public and their passengers informed about how the virus was affecting first the Diamond Princess sailing and now worldwide sailings. We also were informed about steps being taken to keep future and current cruisers safe through health checks and stringent cleaning. As someone with a background in Psychology and having spent many years working with special needs children and those with behavioral challenges, I commend Princess for helping these affected passengers and crew members not only with their physical health but also their emotional and mental health needs as well. It's one thing to ensure that our immune systems are healthy but having to battle feelings of despair, depression, and anxiety can be just as detrimental to the body's defenses.

As many others have stated, it will be interesting to see what changes are put into place when all of the official sources confirm that it's safe to travel again. Will this stop me from cruising again? Absolutely not! Please take care of yourselves and your neighbors as we work through this. We will come out again on the other side grateful and ready to tour the world. Use the time at home wisely - clean out a closet, organize your garages, finally read that pile of books, take naps, get fresh air and exercise safely, learn a new language for those future cruises (I highly recommend learning how to read "out of order" in multiple languages), and most importantly take some time for yourself. You can't be strong for anyone else unless you've taken the time to decompress and reset your own emotional and mental well being. 

What are some things you're rediscovering to help pass the time at home? So far I've seen a handful of movies, read through several books, done a lot more home cooking, and even dug out my old cases of embroidery floss to make bracelets again like I loved doing as a child. Please share so we can all find something new to try and enjoy.