INDONESIA - 2021 Cancellations Ahead, is your booking at risk?

[Cert1967]

Such high hopes for Indonesian tourist travel starting in January 2021. Last spring, in light of the cancellations of all Indo travel for 2020, 2021 looked good. Maybe later in 2021? Maybe not?

Do you have travel booked for 2021 - LAB or Land? What communications have you received from your op?

Has your comfort level with your 'credit' changed in light of the current situation? Most LABs have posted price increases for years forward, will your 'credit' cover the new price tag? Will your credit be more than a promise and a slip of paper? Will your op still be operating? Or asking for more money for the equivalent trip?

And what of the boat crews and resort staff? How many experienced staff will have moved on as time goes by?

How about those airline credits?

January 2021 and beyond looks bleak based on today's news from Indo.

Jakarta Cancels Holiday Season amid Record-Breaking Covid Cases
Jokowi hopes vaccinations will start in January
Indonesia Reports All-Time High of Daily Covid Deaths​

In the case of the Dewi, it appears they have re-booked 2020 trips as 2021 'Rollover' sailings. With popular Indo LABs near sold out for 2020 and 2021, what happens? Rolled over to another rollover? Maybe in 2022+ or beyond?

If you are booked on the rollovers below, or Jan-Feb 2021 trips are you checking your gear and packing your bags?

Schedules2

Dewi Nusantara Cruise Schedule 2021
2101 2021-01-15 2021-01-26 11 Sorong All of Raja Ampat Sorong Roll over
2102 2021-01-27 2021-02-07 11 Sorong All of Raja Ampat Sorong Roll over
2103 2021-02-08 2021-02-19 11 Sorong All of Raja Ampat Sorong Roll over
2104 2021-02-20 2021-03-03 11 Sorong All of Raja Ampat Sorong Roll over
2105 2021-03-04 2021-03-15 11 Sorong South RA Roll over

COVID-19 Information | U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Indonesia

 

[Indah]

Wow, never read a post with so many unanswereable questions. Not many people had high hopes for January 2021. Anyway, not if they kept themselves updated. The latest news from England gives strong arguments not to further open Indonesia to visitors from Europe yet. Unless with strong testing and isolation regime. I wish I was in the same luxerious situation as you, worrying about my next holiday and if I had to pay extra for it or not.

 

[Cert1967]

I wasn’t speaking to my situation, rather to the industry - LABs - showing trips sailing from the start of the new year.

With no international tourism the economic consequences are all to plain to see

 

[Indah]

I wasn’t speaking to my situation, rather to the industry - LABs - showing trips sailing from the start of the new year.

With no international tourism the economic consequences are all to plain to see

 

[Indah]

Some LOB hope for domestic guests. Others probably just did not update their schedules yet. Another reason could be that they do not want to be blamed for canceling. Different than in many other countries the industry does not get any financial support from the government. It is worldwide a humanitarian disaster. Hitting the poorest hardest.

 

[drl]

The Arenui notified us yesterday that our March 2021 sailing to Raja Ampat has been cancelled. The earliest we could rebook was late November 2023! There was availability for other locations sooner but we really wanted Raja Ampat, having already dived Komodo on the Arenui in 2018.

 

[drrich2]

The earliest we could rebook was late November 2023!

How important is it to go on the Arenui? There are a number of other live-aboards servicing the Raja Ampat market late this year (I was looking at December offerings recently), and some are reputable names I recognize. If the Arenui is a big deal, care to share what makes it so special, for the benefit of others who might find this thread researching their options?

 

[drl]

For one thing they have several thousand dollars of our money! No refunds for cancellation but you can apply it to another trip.
The boat really is something special; beautiful boat, spacious, comfortable cabins, exquisite service and food, great people. I don’t require that level of luxury but I enjoy it when I can get it!

 

[Indah]

I have no information or ideas whatsoever about the Arenui and absolutely do not mean the following is related to them. But I can imagine that LOB's and resorts are much more looking forward to bookings of guests from which they did not receive a payment yet. I wonder how many would be able to manage it financially to have, let's say, 80% of their capacity used the next year(s) by guests who already paid. When companies started offering vouchers instead of refunds most of us thought that the pandemic would be more or less under control within 6 months. Soon we realized that it would be at least 9 months. And now? In the meantime there was no support from the government whatsoever. Banks refuse loans. Costs continued and have been often much higher than expected (as usual). Probably many boats and resorts soon need extensive renovations and overhauls. The best of their employees may have been lucky and made a career switch and found another way of making a living. Hardly any company is able to pay full wages for such a long period without any income but they have been paying the social security and health insurance for their staff. The expectations about when international tourism will pick up again have been adjusted to reality many times.

 

[Cert1967]

For one thing they have several thousand dollars of our money! No refunds for cancellation but you can apply it to another trip.
The boat really is something special; beautiful boat, spacious, comfortable cabins, exquisite service and food, great people. I don’t require that level of luxury but I enjoy it when I can get it!

How important is it to go on the Arenui? There are a number of other live-aboards servicing the Raja Ampat market late this year (I was looking at December offerings recently), and some are reputable names I recognize. If the Arenui is a big deal, care to share what makes it so special, for the benefit of others who might find this thread researching their options?

Rich, you can always go cheaper. We sailed on a Komodo trip - Maumare/Lubuan Bajo.

Look carefully at the low cost LAB trips from LB or Bali, they are not aimed at the Arenui market. Now, if you/me were 20 something ... it looks like a great deal of fun.

The Arenui is a luxury trip in all respects.

The Indonesian crew provides top-notch service. Great food, as much assistance as you want with your gear, great diving. Accommodations are spacious, cleaned relentlessly and quite comfortable. Open air dinner and drinks while a volcano shoots flaming rocks into the sky - its over the moon.

On our trip the cruise directors were Lisa Herding (German) and ‘G’ Alcover (Spain). They worked hard to see that the trip went well.

We booked late, joining a photo centric trip composed of two groups. One was lead by the legendary Burt Jones and the other by Keri from GotMuck. The interaction between the two groups was alone worth the trip cost.

Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock: Three Decades of Inspiration ::
Komodo Gallery Archives - Got Muck

For us, we wouldn’t choose to sail again with such a heavy duty group of photogs. Everyone in this group had huge setups. Some of the sites they were high on weren’t our favorites. Lisa took four of us - gopros and small cameras - to alternate sites once she saw we weren’t interested in camping out on one subject for most of a dive.

Our trip? We flew to Bali, did the tourist tour and dove Tulamben. The Arenui trip next. And then Two Fish Divers Lembongan, wrapping up at the Gills. Each stop was quit different - all were great.

Would we go back. Yes to the Komodo Arenui, Bali diving - No to the Gillis.

I don’t care for the Arenui’s current cancellation policy. I understand that they require you to pay in full to receive credit for a future trip. If you are 50% paid you have to pay the second half to make your credit good, even if your trip was canceled. Not very consumer friendly. We would look at a short booking window once INDO has established that they are open for tourists.

Nothing on the trip was remotely similar to a Caribbean LAB