Is JUNE 2020 too soon?

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, lottiegreen56 said:

 

Jimbo when are you planning to book, not dates but when are you actually planning to pull the trigger? I'm getting some fabulous deals from the casino in terms of obc but they aren't  really great rates so if they cancel I don't know what will happen to the obc. I'm more worried about how the booking/potential rebooking/financials will play out than I am about the virus itself. 

We are going to move back up for the summer months to see the grand kids and assist with some day care issues.  I plan on being on a Carnival multiple times before year end and the first before the end of September.  

[outdoors27]

5 minutes ago, Jobeth66 said:

 

And I never said otherwise - we have no idea how many sick people were on planes.  Nobody does. So the optics /aren't there/.  We didn't see planes in the news flying in circles begging for an airstrip to let them land.

 

We DID see cruise ships on the news, every day, looking for places to dock.  We heard stories of people sick and dying and no one letting them off, no one wanting to take them.

 

Even NOW there are ships still sailing around.  It's visible.  What's noticed is what counts.  And right now the optics for the cruise lines are very, very bad.  One ill person can infect everyone on a ship and lots of people in lots of different countries.  So there's not going to be any ships sailing until a way has been agreed upon to mitigate those risks.  Those highly visible, very real risks.

 

Just because it's not 'fair' doesn't mean it's not accurate.  No cruises are going to sail until mitigation plans are in place.

I see you been on CC for a long time do you even like to cruise any more or just need to try and prove a point. The cruise lines will be fine, not next week and probably not at the end of June but ships will sail again by the fall.. Have a great day.

[Jobeth66]

1 minute ago, outdoors27 said:

I see you been on CC for a long time do you even like to cruise any more or just need to try and prove a point. The cruise lines will be fine, not next week and probably not at the end of June but ships will sail again by the fall.. Have a great day.

 

I love to cruise, and I would LOVE to go on my cruise in June, but I'm realistic and I know it's not going to happen.  I see no reason to pretend otherwise.  And the cruise lines are going to be under more strict regulation than other industries, anyone who thinks otherwise isn't being rational.

 

Will the cruise lines be fine?  Some will.  Some might not be.  Things WILL change once cruises start up again, though.  And that's probably going to be later, rather than sooner.

 

Just the way it is.  

[outdoors27]

5 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

I suspect the desperation of Caribbean islands to restart tourism will eventually override any concerns they have about the virus.  If you think the economic destruction in the US is bad, you haven't seen anything compared to these island nations where 70%+ of the economy is driven by tourism.   The question might end up being, how can we shuttle people from Florida to Grand Bahama to escape the CDC's jurisdiction and board cruises?  

Agreed the island must be struggling and need the tourist. Sadly, and I'm trying to be neagative with this but will people have the disposible income to cruise again over the next 6 months to a year. Cruise ship will sail this year but with the way things are now, people might not have the money to sail and I think that sucks.. Hopefully, Im very wrong.

[jimbo5544]

40 minutes ago, Jobeth66 said:

 

Optics count for a lot.

 

How many planes sat on the tarmac for 3 weeks before passengers were allowed to get off?

 

How many planes let passengers off who then started an epidemic in an entire country, that's traceable back to THAT particular flight?

 

How many planes had passengers die of the virus en route and then just continued to fly in circles looking for a place to land?

 

The whole world has seen what's happened on cruise ships around this virus.  The governments of countries with major ports are going to want assurances that these risks have been mitigated before they allow thousands of people to descend on port cities for day visits.

 

That's just a fact of life.  Because if one port city has an outbreak that is traced back to a cruise ship, or we see cruise ships have outbreaks that result in mass quarantines and people dying being reported in the news, it's going to completely kill the industry.

Well that’s a view, let me give you mine.   Obviously we cannot change the past.  The very best thing to do is learn from it, and I do not mean by turning away.  Cruise lines need to respond to the CDC line in the sand.  They will.  Will these things help, absolutely. Will it be 100% probably not.  It is very rare that things are black or white, and this horrific situation is no different.  I am pretty well attuned to the industry and Carnival mgt specifically and I can tell you there is little, you can read that as less than 1% that the industry is going away.  It will def change, and some cruise lines might be swallowed up, but the same thing can be said for the hotel industry as well.  The industry was extremely strong before this came around and will be just fine after it is behind us.  Mark Twain’s famous line might apply here.   

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, Smooth sailor77228 said:

Forced vaccines in order to cruise? They cant even force kids to be vaccinated in order to go to school LOL. I know cruising is completely voluntary but I wonder what the domino effect would be.

 

That would be interesting and probably the start of some new standards across the board.

You make an excellent point on forced vaccines. 

[opensaysme]

My thoughts on booking any cruise offering is if you go ahead and book it expect that it may be cancelled and consider the worst that can happen from the cancellation. 1. A full refund which can take a few months to receive at worst, or 2. a FCC plus OBC (quite generously in most cases).

[Denverdonkeys]

20 minutes ago, opensaysme said:

My thoughts on booking any cruise offering is if you go ahead and book it expect that it may be cancelled and consider the worst that can happen from the cancellation. 1. A full refund which can take a few months to receive at worst, or 2. a FCC plus OBC (quite generously in most cases).

some might say the worst is a bankruptcy and no refund or FCC.

[opensaysme]

1 hour ago, Denverdonkeys said:

some might say the worst is a bankruptcy and no refund or FCC.

If the threat is bankruptcy then be sure to pay via credit card since a dispute would resolve that. 

[mdwcruises]

I wouldn't count on it, despite cruise lines chomping at the bit eager to sail. 

Edited April 20, 2020 by mdwcruises

[James4me]

I would just book in 2021.  I myself will book in 2022 just to be sure.  I can hold on.

[Djptcp]

I am still hoping our late Nov. cruise sails, but I'm not holding out too much hope at this point. We have a Holland America cruise booked for late Feb. 2021 and I have a bit more hope that it will sail.

[RWolver672]

12 hours ago, outdoors27 said:

Agreed the island must be struggling and need the tourist. Sadly, and I'm trying to be neagative with this but will people have the disposible income to cruise again over the next 6 months to a year. Cruise ship will sail this year but with the way things are now, people might not have the money to sail and I think that sucks.. Hopefully, Im very wrong.

 

I'm wondering the same thing.  Will the majority of the people that have the ability to pay for a cruise be the ones that are over 70 and are afraid to cruise?  Or even worse, not be allowed to cruise.  

 

We all know that they like to sail with the ships full.  They have already stated that they are going to limit the number of passengers at first.  At what point do they say that there isn't enough passengers booked to make it profitable and cancel the cruise?  Lots to think about.

[Kosh III]

On 4/18/2020 at 2:03 PM, d9704011 said:

Carnival has suspended all ship sailings until 26 June.... I guess you found one for the 27th?  If I were you, I wouldn’t spend any time on this deal.

I booked it over the weekend.  Fantastic low low price.  

[Kosh III]

17 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

You make an excellent point on forced vaccines. 

I remember when it was mandatory for everyone to get both the Sabin and Salk vaccination against polio.  Now polio is rare. 

[hayesktrm]

48 minutes ago, Kosh III said:

I booked it over the weekend.  Fantastic low low price.  

 

We booked yesterday.  Our PVP seemed positive about it...although she may have been towing the company line.  I would think they will take temperatures and urge people with underlying conditions or the elderly not to cruise.  We have had the coronavirus, so we are ready to cruise!   

[Chyna3032]

On 4/18/2020 at 2:03 PM, d9704011 said:

Carnival has suspended all ship sailings until 26 June.... I guess you found one for the 27th?  If I were you, I wouldn’t spend any time on this deal.

Totally agree...

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Kosh III said:

I remember when it was mandatory for everyone to get both the Sabin and Salk vaccination against polio.  Now polio is rare. 

Agree, the entitlement (I know better) movement has allowed it to come back.  Not trying to steal the thread by any means.  While I see the advantages of mandating vaccines, there is not a ghost of a chance to see it implemented 

[TNcruising02]

There is no way there will ever be mandated vaccines for this virus.  There are too many people who will refuse.  

If cruise lines decide to cruise before a vaccine is available, it's possible that they could require proof of antibodies or a mandated test for the virus before boarding.  I would be fine with that.

 

 

[Joe817]

11 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

There is no way there will ever be mandated vaccines for this virus.  There are too many people who will refuse.  

If cruise lines decide to cruise before a vaccine is available, it's possible that they could require proof of antibodies or a mandated test for the virus before boarding.  I would be fine with that.

 

 

As been mentioned here on CC before, this whole issue of getting back to cruising is 2 fold as I see it:

 

1.) Allowing cruising to resume. I hope sooner than later, but it's not up to us, or maybe even the cruise line. But up to governmental authorities.

 

2.) It's also a matter of WHEN the destination ports will open up again, to allow the cruise lines to dock at their ports. As stated in another thread, a resident of Bonaire reported that the island is on total lockdown. No cruises, or airplanes allowed into the country. I would venture to say, that this policy is in place for many of our destination ports. 

 

It's logical to assume that TNcruising02's theory of requiring proof of antibodies, or mandated test for the virus before boarding, might give some destinations a level of confidence of that ship is safe to debark its passengers. 

 

Just my opinion and my 2 cents worth. 

[OklaGirl32]

3 hours ago, Kosh III said:

I booked it over the weekend.  Fantastic low low price.  

 

I booked one on Saturday for July 2nd. Couldn't beat the price and if they cancel it we'll take the FCC and fly to Florida and hang on the beach for a few days instead. I'm not gonna stress it. 

[NavyCruiser]

Predict When Cruises Start Again... 

Please, no arguments of why or why not.

just predict 1st date you'll think we'll start cruising again...

[Jobeth66]

1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:

There is no way there will ever be mandated vaccines for this virus.  There are too many people who will refuse.  

If cruise lines decide to cruise before a vaccine is available, it's possible that they could require proof of antibodies or a mandated test for the virus before boarding.  I would be fine with that.

 

 

 

There may be mandated vaccines for cruise travel, though - even if the government doesn't mandate it, cruise lines can.  Whether they will or not, hard to say.

 

As far as antibodies go, we don't know if, or for how long, antibodies confer immunity.  So while that may be a metric, it may not be enough for a while until we know more about how this virus acts (there are reports of people possibly being re-infected after having recovered).

 

And unfortunately, the 'mandated test before boarding' is only as good as the instant the results are read.  You may be infected but still in an incubation period, so the test shows negative.  You may get infected by someone in the port while you're boarding the ship, etc.  You would have to be tested at every embarkation/debarkation, and even that may not be enough to prevent transmission.

 

It's just a bad situation all around.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Jobeth66

[TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail]

7 minutes ago, Jobeth66 said:

It's just a bad situation all around.

It is and I don’t expect whatever solution Carnival provides will make everyone happy.  In my opinion, a lot of what keeps us safe right now & in the near future (masks, distancing, testing....) makes cruising less FUN.  
 

The “funny” pic posted on these boards a few weeks ago with a couple likely in their 60s having sunburn except on their previously mask-covered face after a cruise....That might be a real example of how we MUST start the normalization process.  Would I have fun jumping through those hoops in order to sail; heck no.  I’d rather stay my butt at home.  I now have less than 90 days until final payment to figure out that balance.  Fun Times, Faster to the Fun....shaking my head right now.

[MsTabbyKats]

So, people are discussing when cruising will start again (June, some say) and the changes (temporary minimal some say) and the price ( continue mass market some say).

This cannot happen (without a vaccine).  The only easy change is muster drill....it can be done on the tv in the cabin.  But...just a few other things:

1. Elevators....in my building we have one person/one family rule...at a time.  Cannot be done on a cruise ship.

2. Theatre...reduce capacity to perhaps 1/3

3. Buffet...servers giving food and reduce seating space to 1/3

4. Dining Room....reduce tables in half

5. Casino....take out half the tables and half the slots

6. Cabins....more thorough cleaning....so need for more staff

7. Parties...nope

8. Pools...nope

9. Spas.....nope

 

So, yeah, cruising can be done...but only a fraction of the passengers which means double/triple the rates

 

Years ago....not really that many....cruising was considered a luxury.  And that's what I predict the near future of cruising will be.

 

I understand how people who don't live in densely populated areas think, "oh let's just give it a month or two" but it's gonna take way more time and patience.  If they allow cruising too soon, the problem could come back and come back even stronger.

 

Just my 2 cents...and trust me....I really need a cruise right now!

 

If anyone has any ideas how to "take care" of the issues I've listed...realistically...I'd love to know.