Oh So Much To Say About Cruising and Cancelling Last Minute

It has been a while since my last post and so much has happened.

In early March we had booked a back to back on the Sapphire for April 30 and May 7, a seven day Mexican cruise and then a coastal from Los Angeles to Vancouver.  We looked forward to two weeks on the Sapphire and seeing old friends again.  Our roll calls with Cruisecritic.com were very active and lots of events were planned.

Mom and I

Exactly one week prior to leaving we got the call that most hate to get.  My Mom who had been fighting cancer for a while had taken a turn for the worst and was in the hospital and the family was called to be by her side before she passed.  Without hesitation we cancelled the two cruises, the flights and the hotel and made travel arrangements to head to Montreal to be with my family.  We had a week with her in palliative care before she passed on May 5 surrounded by her family.

The cancellation was easy to do, a quick call to our travel agent (Best Price Cruises) and the paper work was done and sadly the penalty was 100% cancellation fee as it was within the fourteen day period.  Thankfully we had travel insurance through our credit card and we were able to make a claim and will be reimbursed for the total costs.  Another big reason to always get insurance.

Somehow we must of felt that our cruise would of been cancelled.  I say this because not a single item was placed in the packing room - you know that space that you start to collect stuff for the trip.  Not a single item.  And that is just not like us.  We didn't even organize a single excursion in any of the ports for the entire fourteen days.

Of course because we cancelled we lost 100% which included two future cruise credits each which was disappointing but understandable.  When I mentioned this to my travel agent that we wish we had those future cruise credits as we wanted to book a back to back for Dec and would have to wait till the fall after we sailed again.  She said let me see what Princess says.  After she spoke to them and explained the situation they said it would be no problem to buy two future cruise credits for this one time only.  So nice and appreciated and the day after we booked the back to back 20 days on the Emerald for Dec.  Thank you Princess this is why we are loyal to you.

We may have lost a two week holiday but we were blessed to spend the last few days with Mom.  Rest in Peace Mom - Marie Paule Fugere April 3 1941 - May 5 2011.

Vickie