Atlantis Cruises, the partner of Celebrity Cruises that caters to a gay, male crowd, has announced it will not refund customers who cancel their cruise reservations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, LGBTQ Nation reports.
Social media has exploded with angry customers demanding refunds from Atlantis, which abruptly changed its cancellation policy on March 9. The new policy clams “to provide our guests more flexibility in these uncertain times,” though it also now states that refunds will only be granted to customers giving at least 60 days advance notice. That comes as little consolation to frustrated travelers booked on the March 21 cruise out of San Juan.
Related: Los Angeles Pride will not happen in June, courtesy of coronavirus
Several watchdog groups have warned that LGBTQ people are at higher risk for contracting COVID-19 due to higher rates of smoking, cancer, HIV and trouble in accessing proper healthcare. Moreover, the median age for a cruise goer skews over 55. The mortality rate for COVID-19 also rises with age.
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Angry customers have started a Facebook group to demand Atlantis issue full refunds to passengers, which also accuses Atlantis of “corporate greed during the most unprecedented pandemic of our generation.” With the March 21 cruise still set to take place, one member expressed fear over the ship becoming a cesspool for COVID-19. “When everyone gets off the ship,” he wrote, “we would likely be responsible for putting in danger thousands of people by carrying/spreading a virus that, while it will not kill us, could harm or kill some of our family members.”
Though the Atlantis Cruise is still scheduled to embark on March 21, a number of other cruise lines like Princess and Carnival have canceled their trips. Other popular tourist destinations like Universal Studios and the Disney parks will also shut down due to fears of an outbreak.
jsmu
Nice going, Atlantis. At this rate your asshole executives will put you out of business!
Ryan99
You presume the company will survive shutting down and refunding everyone. I don’t.
badpappy
Presumably, they have insurance for a disaster such as this. If they don’t they have failed at their jobs as officers of the company, they have failed their staff, and they have failed their customers.
masterwill7
@badpappy There is no insurance for these kind of things, and if there were, they would be bankrupt by the virus about right now! I live in Europe, and this is the biggest crisis of this generation, everything is closed over here. Thousands of businesses will fall if this gets worse, there is no insurance company in the world who could finance that..
Jeremy
40k+ people die from the flu in the United States every year that is more than number of people that will die because of covid 19 worldwide this year. Why is there no outrage during the flu season?
rosetank
Jeremy, as a Medical Professional I see we are dealing with a highly contagious virus which we know nothing about! Yes, the flu may kill up to 60,000 people each year; however, we have dealt with it for decades! We know little about this virus nor the mortality rate in this population. I believe it to be irresponsible your comments and the leadership of this country to not at least be concerned for the potential risk! There was an office in place before this administration decided to eliminate it, which would have dealt with keeping us informed as to whether we are over reacting! Current administration, if you can call it that, has choose to make the country a system of everyone is on their own! You can’t blame Obama for this crisis, Trump had a chance to obtain test kits from the World Health Organization and he refused! Your irresponsible comments reflect current political and social problems which exists in this country today. I ask you, do you know more than the CDC, WHO and the world of healthcare professionals? You should honestly be ashamed of yourself! Where did you get your Medical Degree?
Jared MacBride
@rose – you’re out of line, way out of line. Jeremy didn’t claim to know more than anybody or any health organization. For you to say he did means you can’t read which makes me hope I never need your services.
Gadfeal
That may be so but even in the best of circumstances, the CDC estimates between 200 000 – 1.7 million will die from Covid-19 in the USA alone.
There is no herd immunity so the virus could spread unchecked until more than half the population is exposed.
The most reliable statistics are coming out of S. Korea and they indicate a mortality rate of 0.84%. Since seasonal flu has a mortality rate of 0.01% and an annual toll of 33 thousand on average, then the US will be in the range of the CDC.
Hdtex
@Jeremy….BULLSHIT
yah_sure_youbetcha
Jeremy you’re making a false comparison that doesn’t take into account the larger picture. Even if we have the best possible cdc-projected outcome, people will die, our health care system will be overwhelmed and our economy hurt terribly. Please do some more reading from the cdc and who, and learn more about why this pandemic is being responded to the way it is.
justyouandi
Remember Y2K when planes were going to drop out of the sky?
Den
I am amazed that somebody could possibly be dull enough to compare these two events and still know how to operate a personal computer!
One was a software glitch.
This is a public health issue which has, as far as can be seen, just gotten underway and killed 9,000 people while still experiencing a broad and accelerating spread.
Please try and use your brain to avoid being laughed at.
dougbear
None of the other cruise lines are offering any refunds, just applying the fare paid to a future cruise.
Some cruise lines applying paid fares through 2020, some through 2021 and Norwegian through 2021.
So don’t think this is just a plot against the LGBTQ community, this applies to all passengers.
I have two cruises booked one with Norwegian for April 19 and a secon with Royal Caribbean for a little later. Norwegian fully paid Balcony, but fare applied to future cruise will only cover an inside cabin in the fall.
heath0043
All of the cruise lines are offering refunds or giving incentives not to take refund and book a later cruise.
dougbear
The rate of death in the US for the 17-18 Flue season was .13%, while the death rate in the US for the coronavirus is running about 2%, thats about 15 times the normal flu rate.
World wide the present rate is about 3.7%. They are calculating a 1.5% death rate in the long run. This is almost 12 times the normal flu season death rate in the US.
Chrisk
Oh noes. I.5% risk of death. A tad more than the normal flu. Sound the alarms. Ahhhh.. Lol
dougbear
1.5% compared to .13% is over 11 1/2 times the death rate.
Which means that for the 60,000 people that died in the 2017-18 flu season, means that over 690,000 people die during this virus outbreak.
If you think this is not a big deal then do not follow an of the recommendations to avoid contracting the Coronavirus.
henare
You’re using flu numbers from after a flu season and comparing them with something we don’t know much about except that it’s much more virulent than the flu, we (in the US) haven’t done the testing that’s been done elsewhere and *it’s not even over yet*
Apples and oranges, dude…
dougbear
The 1.5% death rate is from the World Health Organiztion low end projections.
Not my calculations.
Heywood Jablowme
Yeah, 1.5% may sound minor until you do the math. As dougbear points out, if the U.S. has 690,000 covid-19 deaths, that’s going to be pretty traumatic for everyone including survivors!
barkomatic
After the virus has passed, I think its gonna be a year or so before many people feel safe enough to step on a cruise ship. They now have a very negative image as unsanitary places to be.
boymikefl
Eew, they’ve always had the image of unsanitary. Why go on one? You’re stuck. Everything on a ship is on the land. Take a plane next time. You get to wherever faster.
MISTERJETT
well, be that way, Atlantis, but this will be remembered when it’s safe to go on cruises again,
kcguy
They have hurt their brand but ultimately the cruise is not going to sale on March 21 and they will have to refund or credit the people who bought cruises. They should address it today but if they don’t I’m sure it will be resolved.
Wicked Dickie
“…Moreover, the median age for a cruise goer skews over 55…” You couldn’t tell by the picture attached to the story. But I digress.
JClark
Yeah, I noticed the same. Having been on a few gay cruises, I don’t think the median age is anywhere near 55. That’s probably a statistic for cruises generally, which is apples and oranges to this discussion.
qu416
Atlantis has canceled this cruise. Time to update the article
gaypalmsprings
Another win for social media! And for contacting Atlantis! “All cruises have been cancelled through April 13 and thus our sailing on Celebrity Summit will not sail as planned March 21-28,2020. We will contact all booked guests by email with next steps regarding this cruise by Monday, March 16. Please do not contact our office until that time as we have no further information.”
rosetank
Thank you for the clarification! Not all corporate America is irresponsible. It would have been unjust. People often speak without knowing the facts.
rosetank
I may be out of line, way out of line! A big scandal is made every year about the flu, that’s why we have flu clinics and massive vaccination campaigns! This shouldn’t be down played as many people suggest! It’s serious at this moment and we don’t know if it will be worse.
[email protected]
They give the gay community a bad name. They are very greedy fags. Atlantis is not a cruise company, only a travel agency. I use to work in the travel business. They are getting full refunds from the cruise lines. Don’t let them BS you. They will make a killing off the coronavirus. Disgusting
DCFarmboy
And now the cruise industry is looking for a government bailout. Well, since they are all registered in Panama or Liberia, they know what governments they can ask for a bailout from. Not my tax dollars!