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Quantam of the seas Feb 15th


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Welcome to the blog, Kellyfairweather !

Wow. I hate to say it, but I am glad I am not in your shoes.  I know that Royal has cancelled 2 of the cruises out of Shanghai but I don't think they have cancelled anything out of Singapore - yet.  To be honest, I don't know what I would do, were I in your situation.  If you cancel on your own, you will be looking at a 100% forfeiture of your cruise fare.  On the other hand, if you go, you could be putting your life and your family's at risk !  

To answer your question, nobody knows if Royal will cancel any additional sailings out of Asia.  This situation is so scary !  God speed and good luck.  I hope that they will cancel your cruise and give you a full refund....but honestly, nobody knows what will happen at this point.

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43 minutes ago, Kellyfairweather said:

I'm due to board at Singapore on 15th Feb this year, and wondering if RC have any ideas if this cruise is to be cancelled due to the spread of Coronavirus

I'm sure they are monitoring the situation but there's no way to tell if it will be canceled. 

I will say that since you are in the last few weeks before sailing, definitely do NOT cancel yourself even if you've decided you aren't going to go.  If the cruise gets canceled at the last minute by Royal and you've already canceled with them, you won't be entitled to whatever they offer for the cancellation.

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Welcome to the blog, Gillian.  Sorry that you are faced with this very stressful situation.  I heard this morning that more and more airlines are cancelling flights so hopefully this will push the cruise lines into doing the same.   At this point, your entire cruise fare would be forfeit if you cancelled yourself so there is no disadvantage to just waiting to let the cruise line act first.

Best of luck !

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irritated that they cancelled another Spectrum sailing, but we still haven't heard a peep about Quantum.  Did they forget that Quantum is doing Asia sailings too?  These cruises cater to the same group of clientele.  

I'm not worried about getting sick, I'm only worried about getting stuck in a constantly-evolving situation over there, where different nations / authorities react unpredictably & travel may become difficult based on last minute flight or customer embargoes. 

If Royal gave me a "waiver" option of some kind, where I could cancel this cruise for free but, say, have to use the value of the cruise within a year, I'd probably do it.  I don't need a refund.  Just let me use the money towards another cruise.  If I sail 3-4 times per year, this wouldn't be hard to do, and Royal keeps the revenue.  

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Hi folks, we are also booked on cruise leaving Singapore 15th Feb. certainly is a concern for us. Have been searching online for any word from RC but nothing yet. Spoke to travel agent who advised not to cancel as no refund or insurance claim possible. So I guess we wait and hope. If anyone hears anything can they plse post it. Thanks Megs

 

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7 hours ago, Megs said:

Spoke to travel agent who advised not to cancel as no refund or insurance claim possible.

Your travel agent is absolutely correct.  If you cancel before the cruiseline does then you will have no basis for any kind of insurance claim at this point.

I know it's stressful, but I would imagine you should know more over the next week if they extend the cancellations.

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So I have been told today that this cruise will go to Danang and then the 2 days cruising before returning to Singapore.

Relieved that we aren’t going to HongKong but now to see if Singapore Airlines cancel flights to from HK so we get a refund on the first stage of our flight home !!!

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Just heard from RCI by email. Quantum is now not visiting Hong Kong on 24th Feb, but returning to Singapore to disembark passengers who boarded there on the 15th Feb cruise. It will also start its 24th Feb cruise from Singapore instead of Hong Kong. It is banning anybody from boarding, regardless of Nationality who has travelled from or through China and Hong Kong in the preceding 14 days. So anybody with flights booked to Hong Kong for the 24th Feb, can't just hop on a flight from HK to Singapore but have to cut out HK all together. If however, you want to stay at home, they say ' if you want to postpone your cruise and come back at a later time, we will provide you with a 100% Future Cruise Credit ..'     oh so generous !

Let battle commence ..  Full refund to be demanded ! 

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Hi all, we will also be on the QoS from the 15th - so far have not received the email "H1UBS" and "eclair" have referenced but its good to hear. For us Hong Kong was really the main issue and without it we feel much better about going. So thank you very much for sharing.

Currently we do not plan to take RCL's offer for 100% Cruise Credit but its good that its offered and I understand if some will take them up on it. Things might change of course so lets see how the situation develops. 

 

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Received the email and I’m much relieved about not going to Hong Kong. However, I have some reservations about the travel in and out of Singapore airport, and also, due to a pre cruise visit to Siem Reap, flights going through Bangkok. 
Furthermore, do we need to be concerned about any excursion to Bangkok?
Does anyone know how long the offered credit will last? I’ve already lost out on large credit from a different cruise line because I was not able to use it within a specified time limit. 

Edited by Jane Hindry
Added information.
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Personally I don't understand why anybody would wish to cancel this trip and accept the 'offer' of a 100% future cruise credit.

This is significant itinerary change, not only removing a visit to one of the major tourist cities in SE Asia, but disembarking you with less than 2 weeks notice 2500miles from where you expected to be heading. All travel plans incl flights, accommodation require change which will involve time, correspondence, negotiation, potential insurance claims etc etc.  ... 

Royal Caribbean are completely out of order. If you want or need to cancel because of these major changes, Royal Caribbean need to offer full refunds !

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Just out of interest ( and okay slightly mischievous )

Hong Kong - Population 7.3 million - last reported 10 cases of Coronavirus ..      =   OUT OF BOUNDS for Royal Caribbean passengers.

Singapore - Population 5.6 million - last reported 7 cases of Coronavirus ..   OK .. RC passengers free to travel to/ from, embark / disembark.

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just got the email. 

It's alledged that Royal has "worked with airline partners" to waive change fees for re-scheduling your return travel out of SIN instead of HKG.  If you booked airfare on your own, Royal will cover up to $400 for international itinerary changes / change fees.

My next stop is to call Delta and see what the ticket changes are going to cost.  S/O still wants to go.  At this point, I'm ready to bail and just do something else.  I have 3 weeks off and don't want the stress of dealing with any of this anymore.  I can use the funds towards a future sailing.  The problem is-  we are not connecting through China in either direction.  Seoul both ways.  And HKG is not part of the Delta Coronavirus waiver.  So it'll take an act of congress to get a refund from Delta since my air itinerary isn't technically impacted by this waiver.

The cruise was $450 pp including tax.  The plane tickets were $1550 pp ?  So my gut says Royal will pay the change fees and we'll probably still end up going.

 

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26 minutes ago, PurdueFlyer said:

It's alledged that Royal has "worked with airline partners" to waive change fees for re-scheduling your return travel out of SIN instead of HKG.

We experienced this with Hurricane Dorian last year.  If the airline isn't offering relief from change fees and fare differences on their own accord, just mention Royal Caribbean and they may waive it.  In our situation the airline was waiving the change fees for everyone but we were still subject to the fare differences but when we mentioned Royal Caribbean they changed our flights at zero out of pocket costs to accommodate our new plans.

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This new policy makes no sense with regard to including Hong Kong in the restrictions, and in cancelling Quantums visit to HK to disembark / embark passengers on 24th Feb, in favour of Singapore.
As at 31st Jan, there are said to have been 16 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Singapore ( population 5.6 million ) and only 12 confirmed cases in Hong Kong  ( population 7.3 million ).

 

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Our main reason for considering not going was Hong Kong so as far as we are concerned this solved it for us and we are going. Actually looking forward to it again now. Etihad did waive all fees and differences in flight cost so we were lucky.

I guess with more and more flights in and out of Hong Kong being cancelled the change makes sense. Singapore does not seem to see much of any impact on flights so far. See you all there...

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4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Good luck.  ?


Delta came back with basically waving the change fees, but an add-collect (fare difference) of $159 pp to change the tickets to return from SIN instead of HKG.  And of course, I'd submit that receipt to Royal for re-imbursement.  I would be fine with this.  Otherwise, if we elected to cancel it straight-up, I'd have the $1550 value of the plane ticket to use for a year. 


I called Royal and confirmed that if we do cancel voluntarily, we would receive a voucher in the amount of the cruise fare in approximately 14 days from via the travel agency.  The voucher is valid for 1 year (the email concerning this sailing doesn't mention this timeline, but RC confirmed "1 year" over the phone).  

Given all of this, my current plan is to wait a week or so, see if the waivers get extended or the pot sweetened, and then cancel the cruise & the plane tickets.  I just don't feel like the stars are lining up this time.  MY S/O has a colleague who's Chinese wife is in HKG right now, and they won't let her leave.  Yesterday a Costa Cruise was quarantined on arrival back at her home port.  If anything happens in 3 weeks with the current situation further deteriorating, and we get held up in Singapore or barred from boarding return flights because we've been to Singapore / Thailand / Vietnam ... 

I think Royal has mitigated the situation ... I'll say "sufficiently."  This is more about me not wanting to insert myself into a questionable environment when I can use the funds elsewhere within a year.  Too many "hanging chads" right now on this sailing, in this part of the world.  Good luck to all those who are pressing on!  

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39 minutes ago, PurdueFlyer said:


Delta came back with basically waving the change fees, but an add-collect (fare difference) of $159 pp to change the tickets to return from SIN instead of HKG.  And of course, I'd submit that receipt to Royal for re-imbursement.  I would be fine with this.  Otherwise, if we elected to cancel it straight-up, I'd have the $1550 value of the plane ticket to use for a year. 


I called Royal and confirmed that if we do cancel voluntarily, we would receive a voucher in the amount of the cruise fare in approximately 14 days from via the travel agency.  The voucher is valid for 1 year (the email concerning this sailing doesn't mention this timeline, but RC confirmed "1 year" over the phone).  

Given all of this, my current plan is to wait a week or so, see if the waivers get extended or the pot sweetened, and then cancel the cruise & the plane tickets.  I just don't feel like the stars are lining up this time.  MY S/O has a colleague who's Chinese wife is in HKG right now, and they won't let her leave.  Yesterday a Costa Cruise was quarantined on arrival back at her home port.  If anything happens in 3 weeks with the current situation further deteriorating, and we get held up in Singapore or barred from boarding return flights because we've been to Singapore / Thailand / Vietnam ... 

I think Royal has mitigated the situation ... I'll say "sufficiently."  This is more about me not wanting to insert myself into a questionable environment when I can use the funds elsewhere within a year.  Too many "hanging chads" right now on this sailing, in this part of the world.  Good luck to all those who are pressing on!  

I fully respect your decision.  There are just too many wildly menacing variables going on here.  The truth is, I understand that this “thing” would be due to peak just about the time you are scheduled to be there.  Then there’s the fact that the US has declared a state of emergency and will be restricting ingress back into the US.  Who wants to get stuck OUTSIDE on this one ?! There are no painless choices here but there are smart ones and I think you’ve hit it.  Good luck with minimizing losses.

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We have decided to cancel the whole trip and have been lucky enough to get everything back through credits that we can use for another trip/cruise.

As I work in the health industry can’t afford the risk of having a quarantine period from work. Also have a feeling that Singapore is not the best place to go with all this coronavirus stuff happening so quickly through south east Asia.

Hoping the trip is good for everyone that chooses to go ?

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We ended up cancelling the Quantum sailing  as I alluded to up-thread.  I found a 7-nighter on Jewel out of Dubai the following week that worked for us.

Instead of waiting for my fare voucher to show up, from the cancelled Quantum sailing, Royal allowed me to immediately roll those funds into my new Jewel sailing since I already told them what I wanted to do.  That was nice of them.  Not like I wouldn't be cruising at some point this year anyways, but a bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush as the saying goes.  

Also got a refund of the DL flights to Singapore so thats, $1550 back in my pocket.  Our new flights AMS-DXB were only $550.  Not bad for 2 weeks out. 

My only disappointment is earning 7 cruise nights instead of 9 this time.  All the more reason to book another one! 

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3 hours ago, PurdueFlyer said:

We ended up cancelling the Quantum sailing  as I alluded to up-thread.  I found a 7-nighter on Jewel out of Dubai the following week that worked for us.

Instead of waiting for my fare voucher to show up, from the cancelled Quantum sailing, Royal allowed me to immediately roll those funds into my new Jewel sailing since I already told them what I wanted to do.  That was nice of them.  Not like I wouldn't be cruising at some point this year anyways, but a bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush as the saying goes.  

Also got a refund of the DL flights to Singapore so thats, $1550 back in my pocket.  Our new flights AMS-DXB were only $550.  Not bad for 2 weeks out. 

My only disappointment is earning 7 cruise nights instead of 9 this time.  All the more reason to book another one! 

That’s an awesome outcome for you !  Enjoy Jewel.

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Yes they have canceled, we were doing the Quantum of the seas 15/2 and 24/2 back to back and both of these cruises have been been canceled. We got the email this morning, they will be issuing full refunds.

We’re disappointed but also kinda relieved we won’t be at sea for 18 days because ports were closed to us and then possibly face quarantine.

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