Back in July when I booked this cruise for Sept. 19th thru the 26th, there were some Covid protocols like needing to wear masks indoors, but then shit got more and more restrictive.
Being fully vaccinated, I was looking at only showing up at the port with my CDC vaccination card along with my usual documentation. No problem. I have that and I had no problem bringing it. But then they changed it up with needing to have a Covid test done first 3 days prior to sailing then 2. At first I'm thinking I could handle this extra hassle okay until I looked into pricing. At about $135 for the ones done at drugstores to $150 for a 6-pack of at-home kits that allow a Skype-type call to have someone verify the test (found a 2-pack for $70 but still too high) I wasn't keen at all about this added expense. Could I have tried to submit the test costs to my insurance lying and saying it was done for medical concerns? IDK, and frankly other things going on with my new insurance are making me a little wary about its "greatness" I'd assumed it to be.
The cruiseline sent me an email just this morning informing me my balcony room was upgraded and changed to a higher category balcony. This would have replaced the less desired solid balcony rail and enclosure with one that had the usual open design and a glass railing for optimal viewing.
Normally cancelling my cruise with only 10 days left until embarkation would have meant either it would have been applied to a future cruise or I'd only receive 25% of my costs. But their IVR recording stated that since the recent change requiring all adults be vaccinated due to regulations imposed by the Bahamas which is on the itinerary (although it's only to the MSC private island which only accommodates MSC passengers and MSC crew) a full refund would be issued for unvaccinated passengers (since the original booking was designed to be available to vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers with a more restrictive set of guidelines for the unvaccinated). So, yea, I lied and said I was unvaccinated. The rep said I should receive my refund within the next 60 days but frankly she sounded like she was blowing smoke up my ass so....we'll see. I read on forums that many MSC customers are complaining about unrefunded fares many months after cancelling.
EDIT: While writing this I just got an email confirming the cancellation, but there's no mention of a refund.