Dearest Cruisers,
First of all, thank you for your patience and understanding during this incredibly turbulent time in our world. I trust that you and your loved ones are continuing to take good care of yourselves in these stressful and uncertain times, and that you're remaining buoyant, healthy, safe and sound, sheltering at home. This crisis has affected us all in immeasurable ways…with tremendous suffering in every corner of the globe. But there have been so many inspiring things as well, seeing communities pulling together and miracles and blessings popping up everywhere. I know we will weather this storm, as we have weathered every other in our path before, because that’s who we are.
As promised, I am very glad to (finally!) send you this note today. My apologies for the length, but it contains much important information that we’ve been working hard to make available to you as soon as humanly possible.
After writing about the inevitable postponement of our 2020 Amsterdam & The British Isles cruises due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, we received SO many messages of encouragement from you, our beloved guests…I can’t tell you how much those notes have meant to me in this time of great disappointment for all of us. I know I wasn’t the only one really looking forward to this cruise!! Your words (and overwhelming desire to have this cruise rescheduled!) have given me a much-needed energy boost—I am truly grateful.
Today, I’m proud to announce a variety of solutions for you looking toward the future…we are confident that one of these options below will work for you. My Cruise Team and I have been working very diligently behind the scenes for the last few weeks as your advocate with our travel partners. Our hope and prayer was to find the very best possible solutions for this unimaginable position we find ourselves in. The reason is simple…you deserve the absolute best from us, as you have been the absolute best to us. Whether this next cruise was to be your first or tenth, there’s no one more important to us than you. We have always had our guests best interests at heart, and this moment in time is no different.
Some good news to start:
Thanks to our partner Royal Caribbean, the 2020 cruise will be formally rescheduled to May, 2022 in the exact same region of the globe, with the same artists and special guests, the same pricing as 2020, and the same programming. We had already done most of the work for this cruise, and I truly believed it was going to be the very best one we’ve done to date. This area of the globe is absolutely incredible, with so many bucket-list destinations…so having the chance to recreate this sailing there is a true blessing. With a cruise already booked for 2021, this was the earliest we could effectively reschedule. I know it’s far away, but May 2022 will be here before you know it! :) We thank Royal Caribbean for making this a reality for all of us. It’s my sincere hope that you will take this ride with us, and plan to be a part of this sailing in two years time. I can promise you, it’s going to be a love fest! :)
The exact dates of these cruises:
Amsterdam & The British Isles 2022
Voyage One: May 13 - 20, 2022
Voyage Two: May 20 - 27, 2022
Royal Caribbean Jewel Of The Seas (same class of ship as 2020)
Options Available To You:
Option 1: If you decide to keep your reservation and move it to 2022, we will reward your commitment with a
$200 per passenger on-board or excursion credit
for 2022. Knowing the great inconvenience all this has caused, we’ll also offer guests choosing this option, a 100% guarantee that you will be first in line to book a cabin for our 2023 cruise when that is announced. This is our special way to show our gratitude to you.
We appreciate that nearly everyone we’ve heard from so far is interested in transferring their reservation and funds to the rescheduled cruise. We also appreciate that you may not be in a position at this moment to commit to 2022…so we have a couple other options for you to consider:
Option 2: If you are currently holding a reservation booking on our 2021 Spain/Morocco/Portugal Cruise, you may simply move the funds collected for 2020 directly to the 2021 cruise. Thus, you will be paid in full for the cruise coming up next year. There may be some financial re-calculations needed for this, but nothing insurmountable. Our team is ready and able to help assist for those guests looking to choose this option.
Option 3: Finally, if neither of the above options work for you, the Dave Koz Cruise is prepared to offer a full refund of your 2020 cruise fees, no questions asked. Please be advised, it can take up to 60 days to process your request.
One Caveat: If you purchased Travel Insurance for our 2020 cruise, we kindly ask that you submit a claim to your insurer first before asking for a refund. Many of you have reached out to Flying Dutchmen about the Travel Guard insurance policy that you purchased for this cruise. If you have a covered reason to cancel, please reach out to Travel Guard directly for assistance. Their phone number is: 1-800-826-4919. If medical issues preclude you from traveling, you might be entitled to a refund depending on your policy terms.
What To Do Next:
Simply fill out
this form
letting us know which of the above options suit you best. Even if you have already spoken with Flying Dutchmen Travel about your cruise choices moving forward, please go ahead and fill out the form so we have a record of your preferences. This is a complex situation that none of us were prepared for, so we thank you for your willingness to work with us to find the best solution for YOU.
The deadline to finalize your choice is May 15th, 2020 after which we will assume you want your funds to apply to the 2022 cruise.
A Note On Airline Tickets:
If you are holding airline tickets to Amsterdam, Flying Dutchmen recommends you hang on to those for the moment. The lobbying arm of the Travel Industry is pushing the airlines to extend ticket reissues to 24 months instead of 12 months which they are currently offering. This is a very fluid situation and we want to make sure all of our cruisers get the best result regarding their airline tickets. Flying Dutchmen will send out an update on flights as it becomes available. There is no rush to reissue right now. Tickets for 2021 will not be in the market until June.
A Note On Hotels:
For those guests who booked hotel reservations in Amsterdam through Flying Dutchmen Travel, both the Doubletree and the Aitana Hotels are refunding all monies for guests on both 2020 cruises. You will receive a full refund of your hotel and transfers. Please be patient as there are many reservations and these must be processed individually.
For guests who purchased excursions and/or packages online in advance of our 2020 sailings, refunds for all items will go back to the credit card on file. This may take some time to show on your statement as it depends on your credit card billing cycle.
The Path Forward…
We’ve been cruising and ’seeing the world together through music’ for 15 years now. It is my sincere hope we will be doing this together for many more years to come. We WILL get through this time period, and emerge stronger for it. I want you to know personally, that you can count on me...you can count on my wonderful team of like-minded individuals...and you can count on us coming back to the seas, bigger and better than ever. That is a promise!
Once again, please take good care of yourselves and stay healthy! I send my heartfelt love and appreciation to you, along with prayers for all of us and our world as a whole during this monumental moment in our lives.
With much love and gratitude always,
