Coronavirus

mitsy72

Hi all just would like some advice please. Myself and my mum booked a dream trip to Australia then to cruise round new Zealand. We booked it two years ago and it’s taken us that long to pay for it. Now due to the virus and the fact we have a stopover in Singapore and my mums ripe old age off 78 I feel that it is not safe to take her away now . I’ve rang love it book it which is who we booked it with and asked to change the cruise which they have refused to do. They will not refund us or help us in any way. We are due to go tomorrow but have made the decision to cancel. Unfortunately loosing all our money . I’ve also rang royal Caribbean and they have also refused any help or advice and have also told us we will not get a penny back. Any advice would be gratefully received thanks. 

jasdev

Unfortunately, cancellations in such an instance would only be refunded by your travel insurer if the Foreign & Commonwealth Office updates their guidance to recommend against "All but essential travel" to a country. At the moment, Singapore is not such a country.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/singapore

It is tough but your travel agent and Royal Caribbean would both have been unusually generous had they offered to refund you.
Sorry that I could not be of any help.

elsien

Whilst fully appreciating your concerns, what does your mother feel about continuing or cancelling? Should that not be her decision to make? 

Is there definitely still the stop in Singapore? If the concerns about safety were that high, would the cruise company not amend the Itinerary? The main issue with coronavirus seems to be pneumonia. Could mum try to get a pneumonia vaccination if she's not already had one?

northwest1965

Could you pay to change the dates?. If you do cancel flights, remember you can claim back the taxes

eDicky

What do you mean by a 'stopover' in Singapore - changing flights in transit at the airport, or a day or two stay in the city..?

Even if it's the latter, the authorities and commerce etc are taking very responsible measures to prevent any spread of COVID19 and cases are relatively not widespread. Your own precautions could also be taken, such as not even leaving the hotel...

onwards&upwards

elsien said:

The main issue with coronavirus seems to be pneumonia. Could mum try to get a pneumonia vaccination if she's not already had one?

The pneumonia vaccine doesn’t protect against Coronavirus.  It’s for pneumococcal bacterial pneumonia. 

Westin

I expect you have been looking forward to this holiday for a long time. What a shame.

As has been pointed out already, this is just a disinclination to travel and the cost to cancel therefore sits with you and your family.  Any non-refundable travel items will typically be lost.  The travel agency and Royal Caribbean have not done anything wrong.  At best you may be able to claim back the APD on the outbound flight (£78 pp). Sorry.

mattyprice4004

That's a shame, but I do understand why you've chosen not to travel.
Unfortunately you have no recourse for a refund, so unless you're insured it'll be down to you choosing not to travel; ie no refund. Sorry. 

bradders1983

mattyprice4004 said:

That's a shame, but I do understand why you've chosen not to travel.
Unfortunately you have no recourse for a refund, so unless you're insured it'll be down to you choosing not to travel; ie no refund. Sorry. 

Even if she is insured, have the Foreign Office advised against all travel to Singapore?

bradders1983

One of my replies seems to have been deleted, so I shall rephrase it to the OP in a way nobody can take issue with:
Your reaction is totally over the top. Hope this is nice enough.

Westin

I am not sure that the OP will return or not.  Just one post so far.

I still am not clear if the Singapore stop over was the flight on route to join the cruise ship in Australia - so perhaps a few transit hours at Changi Airport - or - if the cruise ship included a port visit on the itinerary.