March 10, 2020 - COVID-19 is lurking around every corner. Now, a virus-related cancellation has hit the guests booked on the Azamara Quest. The "11-Night-Arabia Intensive Voyage" from / to Dubai was canceled today. Planned start date: March 17, 2020.
The United Arab Emirates have the ports of at the beginning of the week Dubai and Abu Dhabi closed to cruise ships. The current information on the coronavirus from TUI Cruises we infer that, according to the information available to the shipping company, the regulation only affects new cruise calls or ships that want to enter the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates from other regions. Ships that are already in Dubai or the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates are not affected by this regulation. Literally: "Therefore, the trip (Mein Schiff 5: the editor) will take place from March 9, 3 according to the current assessment of the situation".
Azamara Quest in Aqaba
It looks different with the Azamara Quest out. She was on the way from Cape Town via Mauritius, Sri Lanka, India to Dubai. The last three of the planned attempts are canceled. As far as we know, the Azamara Quest will be canceled on March 13th Muscat start in Oman. What happened next is unknown.
Azamara Quest - sunbathe in style
The situation is critical with individually booked flights: For that matter, guests depend on the goodwill of the carrier. Those passengers who have purchased inexpensive tickets without rebooking options are badly off. For that matter, Azamara Club Cruises will reimburse up to US $ 500 per person for any rebooking costs upon proof.
Why do we report about it? We were booked as "repeat offenders" on the Azamara Quest, which could hold a maximum of 702 guests. We appreciate the competent handling of the travel cancellation and are nevertheless disappointed. The only one around us who is happy about the canceled trip is the house cat. She is spared the animal boarding.
