Greek Islands Cruise In 2020

This freaking sucks

 

I am wondering if we'll be able to go to Europe at all... or if we'll even want to go, if things are all "weird" with COVID response still in late September?

I've received not a single update as to status from Original or the Cruise ship itself... my travel person who is arranging the rest of the trip is still saying to wait to see if the return policy/cancellation policy changes as we get closer... right now we lose about 80% of the significant cash if we cancel... Ouch!

 

So I still have not received my money from may canceletion so I will not book there cruise f that

 

1.) I did get a response to an inquiry to Original/Premier desk about the Greek Islands cruise when I inquired with them as to the pending cancellation policies, travel difficulties, etc, copied below:

"Dear John

We do understand your concern about the COVID-19 issues, first of all, please be confident we are working with the cruise line to have the best health measurements in order to keep the safety for all staff and guests, on board an on land.
We are closely monitoring global developments regarding the coronavirus, and we are fully focused on protecting the health and safety of our guests and crew.
To comply with guidance from CDC, WHO and other public health authorities around the world, we are implementing several global measures to protect guests and crew. These measures are intentionally conservative and apply to anyone boarding our ships, guests and crew alike. We apologize for the inconvenience created by these precautionary measures.
Please, find below an officinal statement for the being, any changes to our cruise from the cruise line will be communicated to our clients as it is communicate to us.

If you should have any additional doubts, please, let us know.

RESERVATIONS DEPARTMENT
Desire Cruises"

2.) So, in response to the above, I responded asking if, at least, they could tell me what cruise line it's going to be? I got this response:

"No problem dear Mr. John , it is always a pleasure to help , if want to give us a phone call or email we will be very happy to hear from you and know you are fine

The Cruiseline is Azamara, however, as we are a charter, they give all the pertinent information directly to our offices, so it is highly recommended to continue in touch with us for any additional doubts or assistance you may need.

I will be pending of"

(Yep, it just stopped there, but I had the cruise line, so whatever.)

3.) But... Stacia goes google-mining, finds out that the Azamara cruise line is small (3 ships), but Very luxurious (Good on Original there), and starts checking out what's onboard, what bars/restaurants/fun things, etc. She learns that there are these three ship names -- "Quest," "Journey" & "Pursuit."

Our Ships

4.) So, after she checks them out... and the Quest & Pursuit are pretty much identical it seems, but the Journey has a Casino (good on them), so I emailed again asking which actual ship we'd be on if the cruise went, and they sent me this response:

"We will be using the Azamara journey for the Greek Islands 2020 Cruise dear Mr. John

As you mentioned , the ships had different designs, I recommend you to check the ship specifications in our web page:

https://www.desire-experience.com/cruises/greek-islands-september-2020/gallery/"

... so... now I'm all excited and bummed-out again, as that ship looks fantastic.

But, Azamara's refund policy (they come right out and say they're running slow on the refunds by as much as 45 days) states, if the COVID-19 thing stomps on he cruise, causing it to be cancelled, then the customers have the option of:

1.) 100% refund (albeit slowly as mentioned above); or

2.) 125% credit towards a rebooking (so, if you spent $7,500, you could use a booking credit of $10,000, which ain't bad at all, if you don't want to just write off cruising for a while).

Right now, we're leaning towards just getting the refund and hanging-tight (to the cash). Maybe put that towards an investment property or some such.