How many more times does RCCL suspends cruises before they say enough is enough for 2020 ?

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, spookwife said:

what's you opinion on July?   we booked our Alaska cruise for the end of July back in January.   final payment is due at the end of April and as of today we are waiting until then to decide one way or the other.  (Vancouver start point)  

 

FL Governor has stated the state of emergency ends on 8 May(  so far)   so I do not anticipate any  cruises out of here before 1 June.  

I have an Alaska cruise booked for July 10.  While I’m hopeful, I’m also realistic and have rebooked the same cruise for next year at the same week.  With Alaska you’ve also got an added variable in the equation...Trudeau, and he doesn’t appear as eager to get the cruises starting back up.  

 

Im also in the same boat FP wise.  I’ll probably go ahead and make it but I can also do so knowing that our cruises are fully insured through TICO.

 

 

[BND]

52 minutes ago, RKHOOKER said:

My doctor told me today, as I get winter asthma & have high blood pressure, to get the flu vaccine in April & try to get out of Australia for our winter if you can, if our government allows you, & hopefully go to a Greek Island if the Greek government allows.  
He also said that unless there is a vaccine or at least 60% of USA has been infected by June, the virus will be in the USA for the next 12 months, so best to not plan on visiting the USA until mid 2021 at the earliest.

I certainly wouldn’t be booking a cruise in any country around the world during the winter months if there is any sign of Covid19 unless I’ve been vaccinated or immune.

Well, a lot more people have been infected than have gotten sick or been tested.  Mild symptoms are more common than not.  I think as soon as they can start testing for antibodies that will help.  We have cruises booked in May, Nov 2020 and July 2021.  We're sure the May trips won't happen but are waiting for RCI to cancel.  November, we'll play by ear.  Normally by now we'd have more booked for 2021 and into 2022.  But, as I've said on other threads, my feeling is cruising will be the last thing to open up as it's been the most impacted in terms of public relations and apparent concentration of cases.  The last thing they want is to start up cruises again only to have ships of people getting sick again.

Edited March 30, 2020 by BND

[ryano]

10 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I have an Alaska cruise booked for July 10.  

 

 

 

Mine is August 21 and I am fully expecting it to be cancelled 😅 which saddens me because I booked this one using the FCC from the cancelled Harmony cruise because of Dorian.   Its been almost three years since Ive been on a cruise and now its looking like it will be yet another year.  MUCH bigger things to fret on right now though than  another cancelled cruise.  I just hope the industry can survive this.     

[Fun2snorkel]

Ourusualbeach Ken - are you hearing anything about the doctor’s note for cruisers over 70?  I am somewhat concerned about accruing so much in FCC’s.  We already have 3 cruises cancelled an am looking at 4 more in April and May. And I am wondering about cancelling cruises in Sept that final payment has not been made. They are non refundable so I would take a loss on those. Any opinions would be appreciated. 
 

Thanks

[Judyrem]

7 minutes ago, BND said:

Well, a lot more people have been infected than have gotten sick or been tested.  Mild symptoms are more common than not.  I think as soon as they can start testing for antibodies that will help.  We have cruises booked in May, Nov 2020 and July 2021.  We're sure the May trips won't happen but are waiting for RCI to cancel.  November, we'll play by ear.  Normally by now we'd have more booked for 2021 and into 2022.  But, as I've said on other threads, my feeling is cruising will be the last thing to open up as it's been the most impacted in terms of public relations and apparent concentration of cases.  The last thing they want is to start up cruises again only to have ships of people getting sick again.

I use Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson as examples of a mild covid case and think there many more similarly afflicted.

Mr. Hanks was 63 with type two diabetes,  he recovered as will thousands of others too.  I wish people would be more cognizant of the recoveries and try to not be overwhelmed with anxiety and stress.  Stress does not help one's health.

 

I saw on our local channel a rather large woman with underlying health issues explain her experience with covid, she was quite sick, stayed home and compared it to a bad case of flu.

 

Yes be cautious and prudent, but don't lose your mind of something that might never occur, or if it does it may be milder than you had feared.  FWIW

[goldfish65]

Three.

[mek]

10 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Agree...2020 may be done...but we genuinely hope it isn't.

RCCL will follow the anticipated rolling start. Perhaps a few Caribbean sailings using only private islands. 

Those who love to cruise...will continue to cruise. For those 70 and over, it will be difficult. 

Cruising will be "at your own risk" and will be questioned by many... especially by the non-cruising public. RCCL must sail asap...or it will possibly go bankrupt. They continue to book to replace those that decided to cancel earlier.

We booked a number of cruises this year...most have been cancelled. We only rebooked cruises because we have airfares that were extended only until the end of this year.

 

 

I will turn 70 in July and my husband is considerably older.  We just had a June cruise canceled by Royal and will be receiving a full refund, but we also have a November cruise planned and I hope if the over 70 doctors release is still required, that they will simply let us cancel with a refund before final payment is due.  Neither of our doctors will sign it the way it is currently worded.

Sad that my husband will probably never cruise again.

Edited March 30, 2020 by mek

[RKHOOKER]

My doctor explained, if you catch it within the first 2-3 hours once it’s outside the host, you’re going to get really sick.  Possibly Pneumonia or even heart attack.  If you pick it up after 2-3 days from the surface of something you’ll most likely get a mild case of flu like symptoms.  However, if you’re over 70 with other health problems the virus may contribute to major health complications.  That’s why it’s so important to have social distancing, to lessen the impact of the virus.  Apparently it spreads very fast.

I guess in 12 months time we’ll know exactly the true extent of Covid19.  
The government in Australia is not taking any chances, lockdown, stay at home & for most likely 6 months, so our Prime Minister keeps telling us at press conferences.

[CanadaRob]

April 8 China is opening everything(that’s the plan) movie theatres open now and their cases have slowed to next to none.  Looking ahead if it’s similar pattern would have limited availability 3-4 months after first case. That puts us in May or early ?June.  If this lingers longer that looks like July or August so no shouldn’t cancel all of 2020 if things are back to a new normal

[GarlicBread]

They're damned if they do, damned if they don't. No one knows how long this virus is going to be around for. 

 

If they cancel all cruises till the end of the year, people will complain. 

If they hold off and evaluate month by month, people will complain. 

[mook1525]

32 minutes ago, CanadaRob said:

April 8 China is opening everything(that’s the plan) movie theatres open now and their cases have slowed to next to none.  Looking ahead if it’s similar pattern would have limited availability 3-4 months after first case. That puts us in May or early ?June.  If this lingers longer that looks like July or August so no shouldn’t cancel all of 2020 if things are back to a new normal

on one hand that is very good and positive news! on the other hand I don't believe single thing that comes out of China...😂

[mek]

12 minutes ago, GarlicBread said:

They're damned if they do, damned if they don't. No one knows how long this virus is going to be around for. 

 

If they cancel all cruises till the end of the year, people will complain. 

If they hold off and evaluate month by month, people will complain. 

I agree that the month to month is the best course of action, but as we get farther out into the year many of us will be in the final payment stage for cruises we booked long before any of this even happened in China.  I hope they either let us cancel or move the final payment date closer to sailing.

[Crazy planning mom]

Seems common sense to take it a month at a time and follow what the government is doing.  Trump renewed his order til April 30th.  Once things open up and normal activities resume, then the cruise lines can start up.  It also depends on what the ports allow.  They may start up with just short sailings to private islands.

[Iamcruzin]

12 hours ago, Jimbo said:

 Some of your views of things just might have ulterior motives and let us just leave it at that.

 

No issue, I appreciate your opinion on the question.

Thanks

I'm not a travel agent and 95% of the time I book direct so no conflict of interest. I will also add that I'm not loyal to one cruise line and I call it as I see it.  If people are so optimistic and want to tie up their money why would any business turn that down especially during at time when they have little cash flow. Personally I think these people who are booking for the end of May and June are in for a big disappointment. Even the President has extended the quarantine date and he has  been conservative all this time.

[20165]

7 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

 

So, according to you 2 prognosticators, the cruise industry, the airline industry and the hotel industry's will all go bankrupt if things are not back to normal  in a few months.

This is the best joke I have heard in a long time.  Back in 2005, Delta Airlines declared bankruptcy,  kept flying and in a mere 3 years later bought out Northwest.

Take a deep breath, stay safe and hopefully the travel industry will be back and be stronger than ever.  A more optimistic attitude goes a long way.

And American Airlines did the same and bought USAir.  However, i wouldn't look at this too positively because we, FCC holders, become creditors just like all of the other creditors and have to get in line to get our pennies on the dollar payout. Now i do think that the cruise lines will do everything they can to keep the FCC holders whole because that would pretty much guarantee they will never sail on their cruise lines again, but it all depends on how deep they have to cut to make a viable company going forward and what the new company or combined companies look like. 

This was my number 1 fear when deciding to cancel our June cruise before the final payment was due. Do you take the 125% FCC and risk it all if this scenario happens, or cancel and just risk the deposit.  I opted for the latter. 

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, ryano said:

 

Mine is August 21 and I am fully expecting it to be cancelled 😅 which saddens me because I booked this one using the FCC from the cancelled Harmony cruise because of Dorian.   Its been almost three years since Ive been on a cruise and now its looking like it will be yet another year.  MUCH bigger things to fret on right now though than  another cancelled cruise.  I just hope the industry can survive this.     

The good news about the FCC from Dorian is that it will be reissued under its original terms and conditions.  It is also an apply by date as opposed to a sail by date.  As long as you apply it to a cruise before Oct 31, 2020 the cruise can sail anytime before April 30, 2022.

 

I called this morning to conform as I have a client in the exact same situation

Edited March 30, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, Fun2snorkel said:

Ourusualbeach Ken - are you hearing anything about the doctor’s note for cruisers over 70?  I am somewhat concerned about accruing so much in FCC’s.  We already have 3 cruises cancelled an am looking at 4 more in April and May. And I am wondering about cancelling cruises in Sept that final payment has not been made. They are non refundable so I would take a loss on those. Any opinions would be appreciated. 
 

Thanks

I haven't heard anything.  The only thing I know is that it was initiated by CLIA members too try to keep the ships sailing and will be reviewed every 30 days.  I would suspect that this goes away, when I don't know.  I suspect that it will stick around for a little while once sailings resume.

 

Expect the cruise with confidence policy to be extended beyond the current July 31date

[pcur]

Just my opinion, but I've been with this company for 46 years:

 

We have 4 cruises booked:  2 this Nov/Dec, 1 in April 2021, and 1 in November 2021.  All leave from US ports, so we will fly Southwest, and get their 1 year credit for any cancelled flights.  RCCL has already established their pattern:  they will offer relaxed cancellation policies during a certain time frame if the virus cycles back through again.  We will wait and see, and will be taking the 125% FCC if it's offered.

 

RCCL is smart.  They knew the stimulus bill just passed by Congress would not help them, because they are not registered in the US.  They went out before the bill was passed and got a $2 billion loan, bolstering their cash reserves to just under $4 billion.  They didn't stay in business for 51 years by being dumb.  They have survived through the oil embargo in the 1970's, SARS, MERS, hurricanes, and the 2008-2012 bad economy.

 

Also, they will not alienate large portions of their customer base.  I think they will continue the heightened sanitizing on their ships, and as soon as they think it's safe they will drop the doctor's "permission slip" for passengers over 70.  IF they continue to remain cautious about older passengers, they may require some type of health statement for passengers over a certain age.

 

I have seen people on cruises over the last 12 months that I worried about, and told my husband a year ago that I thought they would have to start screening for health issues.  I'm talking about people who looked 85-95 years old.  A year later, they have a virus, and they ask for health reports for over 70 passengers.  The footprint is there:  they could continue it for much older passengers.  

 

For the next 18 months, I believe they will not be lowering their prices, but will be more flexible about changes and cancellations for flu season bookings.

 

 

[jalves]

15 hours ago, Jimbo said:

I mean how many  more times do they want to sit there and rebook people and then hand out those 125% FCC and rebook again and again.

 

I think they should just not take anymore bookings for 2020. It's just not going to be safe enough to sail anywhere anyway.

 

To many ports are still going to have problems...........

Why in the world would they even consider not taking reservations for later in the year?  What is any more magic about 1/1/21 than, say 9/1/20?  As a business, they will want to resume operations as soon as possible which means re-visiting the date periodically.

[TYMAN]

I personally have given RCCL two loans of $750, interest free. I plan on recouping that, and some free drinks in the casino, as soon as they let me board. 🙂 I'm hoping it will be later this year, if not, 2021. Either way, even if I never get the $$ back, I know I somehow got even, between Diamond Lounge/Suite Lounge drinks and all the comp wine in our cabin. 

 

Now, since I'm just halfway through my 14 hour shift, I'm going to get back on the floor and think about my upcoming cruises! Ha! 

Edited March 30, 2020 by TYMAN

[vidsmart]

5 hours ago, Judyrem said:

I use Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson as examples of a mild covid case and think there many more similarly afflicted.

Mr. Hanks was 63 with type two diabetes,  he recovered as will thousands of others too.  I wish people would be more cognizant of the recoveries and try to not be overwhelmed with anxiety and stress.  Stress does not help one's health.

Not to be argumentative but the Hanks are multimillionaires. So are the 3 NBA stars that have fully recovered. Treatment (and likely the level of stress one has to deal with) is influenced significantly by wealth

[grandgeezer]

10 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

 

So, according to you 2 prognosticators, the cruise industry, the airline industry and the hotel industry's will all go bankrupt if things are not back to normal  in a few months.

This is the best joke I have heard in a long time.  Back in 2005, Delta Airlines declared bankruptcy,  kept flying and in a mere 3 years later bought out Northwest.

Take a deep breath, stay safe and hopefully the travel industry will be back and be stronger than ever.  A more optimistic attitude goes a long way.

 

I somewhat agree with the two prognosticators about the cruise lines and somewhat the hotel industry, but not the airlines. The airlines are essential as the world gets more global, government will do whatever they can to keep them afloat. Hotels have at least got some viable collateral to get low cost loans to tide them over plus if they are a U.S company the government will probably help them out. Bankruptcy, in some cases is not a death sustenance. What has the cruise lines got going for themselves? They are hemorrhaging cash and very little new cash coming in, deeply in debt and very few assets that would be attractive as collateral to get additional loans. Billions and billions of dollars in ships and what good are they as collateral? What would a financial institution do with a cruise ship, with no possible buyers? Where would they dock it? It also appears that it takes a lot of money just to keep it serviceable. If they end up defaulting on that $2.2 billion loan do next March, their done. Unless the current lender extends it with another cash transfusion, I don't see many other options except maybe a ***** account.

Add in the fact that things are getting worse, rather than better, and the outlook isn't very rosy. My guess, and again it's only a guess, I would say middle of July at the earliest.

And when the start up, where will they go and how will you get there or home if you have to fly? If Alaska starts back up in July, what happens if Canada doesn't open up their ports such as Victoria and Vancouver. Europe, with the way things are currently I wouldn't expect any ports available in Italy and Spain this season. How do you replace them, more sea days? Different ports, I'm not sure what other countries will accept you.

The cruising experience: If you think nothing will have changed, besides steps taken to keep all the viruses in check, you'll be in for a surprise. They're in a tough situation, if they maintain the current pricing or raise it, they will probably scare some people off, if they lower it they won't be able to meet their financial obligations. Consistently full ships are a long way away. The last I saw, they were around 106% of capacity. Besides the new ships, all they can do is put more people in the cabins designed for more, are you willing add strangers to your cabin? According to a poll, either on this site or RCL's, there are a lot more people who say they will cruise less, or not at all than those who said they would cruise more. The doctor's signoff of people over 70: Don't underestimate this, it might not make a big difference on the ships especially designed to attract a younger crowd but it will on the others. We were on the Equinox in August and MSC Seaside in October, and I bet the average age of the passengers dropped 15 years. And lastly, there are a lot more people that just can't afford it and more people are just plain scared away.

And if you jump back to cruising too early, remember what happened to the passengers on the Eclipse and HAL Zaandam. The Eclipse is safetly in San Diego, finally. The Zaadaam was finally let through the canal but according to this mornings news, the governor of Florida doesn't want them.

I don't really care how this post is received, I stated the reasons for my pessimism, right or wrong.

Do I want the cruise lines to got out of business? Absolutely not, there are so many people besides the lines, affected. But wishing, hoping, having a positive attitude makes no difference.

 

[vidsmart]

We are schedule to sail Indy in July. I do not believe that will happen. We are also booked for a Med cruise November; I think cruising will be happening then but it stops in 3 places in Italy so the itinerary will likely change.

[A&L_Ont]

4 hours ago, CanadaRob said:

April 8 China is opening everything(that’s the plan) movie theatres open now and their cases have slowed to next to none.  Looking ahead if it’s similar pattern would have limited availability 3-4 months after first case. That puts us in May or early ?June.  If this lingers longer that looks like July or August so no shouldn’t cancel all of 2020 if things are back to a new normal

 

The South China Morning Post claims patient zero discovered November 17 of last year.   From  November to now would be approximately 5 months for China with almost 3 of them under lock-down.  They are just now returning to their new normal.  

 

If the US followed the same time frame and curve that would be about around early to mid-July.  No matter the case, short or long time frame, we are all in it for the long haul.

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3074991/coronavirus-chinas-first-confirmed-covid-19-case-traced-back

 

3 hours ago, mook1525 said:

on one hand that is very good and positive news! on the other hand I don't believe single thing that comes out of China...😂

 

Government manipulation would never happen there.😉

[Judyrem]

1 minute ago, vidsmart said:

Not to be argumentative but the Hanks are multimillionaires. So are the 3 NBA stars that have fully recovered. Treatment (and likely the level of stress one has to deal with) is influenced significantly by wealth

You left out the part  of my post of a normal middle class lady who recovered and there are many more like her.  Most of those that were infected were probably middle class people because there are thousands who have "recovered".

 

Money always helps with almost everything, yes?