Do you REALLY think we'll be cruising this year?

[Pushka]

5 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

 

Read the story in the link below. Does not bode well for the cruise lines coming to terms with the CDC.

https://apple.news/AXFA049XpQ9aVArOdaWvXMA


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

That must be so distressing for crew. Sad times indeed.

[Pavovsky]

This is the current state of play in Europe. There is very little “green” And while there is some movement from “red” to “yellow” in Spain and Germany the process for “normalising” will be taken very slowly.  Other countries have quarantining in place already with an expectation that this will be more institutionalised as restrictions are eased and there may still be bans on travel from jurisdictions which are still experiencing a high number of cases (this will not be a negotiation given unilateral actions and non conciliation in the early part of the pandemic).

There is still a massive amount of uncertainty with tensions arising between the public health advice which is ultra cautious (having more in-depth knowledge of how lethal this virus is) and politicians who are getting it in the neck from people and business weary with the lock-down. 
 

Many Europeans are at the point whether they are hopeful of a late summer vacation (in hope rather than expectation). Countries like Spain and Greece are trying to ascertain what parts of the land holiday season can be salvaged even with domestic tourism (these are critical for their economies). Meetings/conferences scheduled for the Autumn are already being deferred to December. 
 

Maybe (just maybe) there could be cruises in Europe in the Autumn but perhaps these will be limited to one country only e.g. Greece but not at the risk to either citizens or to broader freedom of movement. 

[UKWLDCruise]

On 4/22/2020 at 8:13 PM, rimmit said:

Just out of curiosity, what are the vaccine requirements like in the UK for public schools.  In the US it is state dependent.  Some allow religious exemptions, some don’t.  Just curious.  

While there has been talk of introducing some legal requirement no government has taken the plunge as yet so no legal vaccine requirements in state schools in the UK. 

[yorky]

The pressure from business is increasing day by day and in the end I feel that will override health considerations. Certainly over here there are politicians that feel the lockdown in business is more damaging than the virus. Huge job losses which will only increase, the US in particular seems to be really suffering.

[Pushka]

2 hours ago, yorky said:

The pressure from business is increasing day by day and in the end I feel that will override health considerations. Certainly over here there are politicians that feel the lockdown in business is more damaging than the virus. Huge job losses which will only increase, the US in particular seems to be really suffering.

I am still in disbelief about the worldwide impact Covid has created.  In Australia we have had less than 100 deaths country wide but the economic devastation has been horrendous. Unemployment through the roof. We are at the stage of re emergence but I know so many businesses will simply not restart. Awful sad times. 😢

Edited May 1, 2020 by Pushka

[rimmit]

6 minutes ago, Pushka said:

I am still in disbelief about the worldwide impact Covid has created.  In Australia we have had less than 100 deaths country wide but the economic devastation has been horrendous. Unemployment through the roof. We are at the stage of re emergence but I know so many businesses will simply not restart. Awful sad times. 😢

It is sad.  At least you caught it early enough and your actions seemed to have kept your death count low.  We are over 63,000 in the US dead (albeit we are the third most populous country in the world) and still have a devastated economy.  I’d feel better (albeit many would argue it would be a total overreaction and many still do despite 63,000 dead) if we only had 100 dead, and we shutdown the economy.

 

Its a lose lose situation.  You catch it early enough and have a low number of deaths and people think you overreacted.  Catch it later and people are going to say retrospectively we didn’t do enough and we should have done more.  This is a no win scenario.

[laslomas]

I read an article in the Spanish press yesterday about restarting tourism. Hotel owners are saying it will not be worth their while to open their establishments unless the country opens up to tourists from elsewhere, especially UK. They say that the expense of putting all the necessary changes in place will be too expensive with no real income coming in. They want to be sure the virus is not still spreading first and because local tourism will not be enough, they may not consider opening until they can welcome their main tourist base which is Northern Europe and predominantly the UK. So pressure to open up the borders once it is felt to be safe enough will be coming from hoteliers.

 

Then hopefully the ports will start operating.

[Pushka]

47 minutes ago, rimmit said:

It is sad.  At least you caught it early enough and your actions seemed to have kept your death count low.  We are over 63,000 in the US dead (albeit we are the third most populous country in the world) and still have a devastated economy.  I’d feel better (albeit many would argue it would be a total overreaction and many still do despite 63,000 dead) if we only had 100 dead, and we shutdown the economy.

 

Its a lose lose situation.  You catch it early enough and have a low number of deaths and people think you overreacted.  Catch it later and people are going to say retrospectively we didn’t do enough and we should have done more.  This is a no win scenario.

Yes, this is so true. The 'downfall' of being preventive is that sceptics will never know the outcome if you'd not acted so quickly. 

[yorky]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

I am still in disbelief about the worldwide impact Covid has created.  In Australia we have had less than 100 deaths country wide but the economic devastation has been horrendous. Unemployment through the roof. We are at the stage of re emergence but I know so many businesses will simply not restart. Awful sad times. 😢

Personally I would prefer our lockdown to stay in place for another two months but even just now on the news airlines are saying if we don’t open up again they will never recover. How on earth do you even start trying to work out that balance between losing more lives and destroying your economy ? My wife has just received  the death certificate for her mum which states possible Covid 19?. Both her sister who lives next door and her brother  have all the symptoms and are getting tested.  Only my wife is not showing symptoms from her side of the family. I think the numbers here are way higher than the official stats.

Edited May 1, 2020 by yorky

[Cruise a holic]

I do not believe we will be sailing until 2021

[bluwes]

Well we finally  bit the bullet and jumped ship, (excuse the cliches). We have transferred our booking on the  Silhouette Fjords sailing from this summer to next Augusts sailing , an identical itinerary but  with an extra sea day.

 

We just didn't think it was worth waiting for any updates as we approach final payment at the end of May. We already have a FFC from a cancelled Caribbean sailing on the Reflection last month, so wouldn't have been looking to take another one, nor did we want more money tied up with Celebrity than we had to. We'll be looking to use that voucher for our Mardi Gras sailing to New Orleans next February on the Equinox..

 

Our TA was able to ensure we got all the existing perks transferred over to the new booking and also to make sure we got the same stateroom, at the same price  we had paid for this years. Surprisingly Celebrity offered us an upgrade from a C3 Concierge cabin to a C2 at no extra cost, so we took that as well.

 

Stay safe everyone

 

[CMW5060]

We’re still holding (slim) hope for improvement to the whole health situation and that our July 17th Alaska cruise will still move forward. Right now just planning to monitor until end if May to see what happens then make decision. Don’t want to jeopardize our health but also don’t want to throw in the towel just yet. I think Princess and Holland America cancelled the whole 2020 Alaska season?  May just be better to try again next year. We had an Aqua aft cabin booked too that we were so looking forward too in addition to celebrating our milestone bdays and retirement. Bummer but is what it is.

[TeeRick]

21 hours ago, hcat said:

DH watches the old METS  baseball games at night... too funny b/c they only show games they won...yes there are enough of them, so far!

hcat and Bo- I am a lifelong Red Sox Fan.  So I am sure that hcat's DH is watching Game 6 of the 1986 World Series over and over again!  It still is like a dagger through my heart!

[tosteve1]

22 minutes ago, CMW5060 said:

We’re still holding (slim) hope for improvement to the whole health situation and that our July 17th Alaska cruise will still move forward. Right now just planning to monitor until end if May to see what happens then make decision. Don’t want to jeopardize our health but also don’t want to throw in the towel just yet. I think Princess and Holland America cancelled the whole 2020 Alaska season?  May just be better to try again next year. We had an Aqua aft cabin booked too that we were so looking forward too in addition to celebrating our milestone bdays and retirement. Bummer but is what it is.

CDC no sail order dated April 9 lasts 100 days. Meaning late July. Could be rescinded but planning to sail in July seems doubtful to me.

[tosteve1]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

Yes, this is so true. The 'downfall' of being preventive is that sceptics will never know the outcome if you'd not acted so quickly. 

That’s the whole problem with prevention, nothing happens! You will never know what you didn’t get!

[ECCruise]

35 minutes ago, CMW5060 said:

I think Princess and Holland America cancelled the whole 2020 Alaska season?  

No, both Princess and HAL sailings in July, August and September to Alaska are fully available.

[CMW5060]

36 minutes ago, tosteve1 said:

CDC no sail order dated April 9 lasts 100 days. Meaning late July. Could be rescinded but planning to sail in July seems doubtful to me.

That’s what I’m thinking plus not entirely sure I’d really even want to chance it.  Just have to wait and see.

[Pinboy]

4 hours ago, yorky said:

4 hours ago, yorky said:

the US in particular seems to be really suffering.

People are suffering all over the world , and , with respect , not only in the USA ,  yet here we are contemplating when , if , how WE will be " able " to cruise again.  To me, not that important at this time  .

We had 3 cruises booked for this year and already cancelled two , and , it doesn't bother me one bit. 

Yes, it's nice to " dream " , and yes, it's ONLY my opinion , and yes, it's my choice to cruise again, etc, etc, so not necessary to remind me. 

 

 

[farawayatsea]

46 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

People are suffering all over the world , and , with respect , not only in the USA ,  yet here we are contemplating when , if , how WE will be " able " to cruise again.  To me, not that important at this time  .

We had 3 cruises booked for this year and already cancelled two , and , it doesn't bother me one bit. 

Yes, it's nice to " dream " , and yes, it's ONLY my opinion , and yes, it's my choice to cruise again, etc, etc, so not necessary to remind me. 

 

 

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, Pinboy said:

People are suffering all over the world , and , with respect , not only in the USA ,  yet here we are contemplating when , if , how WE will be " able " to cruise again.  To me, not that important at this time  .

We had 3 cruises booked for this year and already cancelled two , and , it doesn't bother me one bit. 

Yes, it's nice to " dream " , and yes, it's ONLY my opinion , and yes, it's my choice to cruise again, etc, etc, so not necessary to remind me. 

 

 

If you don't care to talk about it, stay off the boards for now.   You seem to be posting this just to chastise people - that is not helpful and we don't care to be reminded of the current issues either.  How could anyone forget for a minute!   No one is denying the suffering, but unfortunately whether we talk about cruising again or don't talk about it, it has ZERO impact on lowering that suffering.  Actually, I will argue with myself on that point.  Hope is a beautiful thing.  Without hope none of us would be able to get through this with our mental health intact.  IMHO this thread (and similar others) is about one thing - hope.  We are not unsympathetic to, nor denying, the pain in the world right now.  We are simply expressing hope for better days ahead.

Edited May 1, 2020 by phoenix_dream

[Pinboy]

35 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

37 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

If you don't care to talk about it, stay off the boards for now.   You seem to be posting this just to chastise people -

 

Absolutely NOT intended to " chastise people " ! 

Kindly re-read my post and " hopefully " you will understand that my intention was to point out that people are suffering all over the world , and , with respect , not only in the USA . 

 

[yorky]

9 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Absolutely NOT intended to " chastise people " ! 

Kindly re-read my post and " hopefully " you will understand that my intention was to point out that people are suffering all over the world , and , with respect , not only in the USA . 

 

Sorry I think Phoenix is right. We all know people are suffering all over the world but yes we choose to think warmly of cruising again, we are able to do that while still being very much in the moment regarding the tragedies around us including a family member of ours that passed from the virus last week. For some of us this board along with others is a way of bringing some sunshine to what’s in general a very difficult and quite depressing time. I make absolutely no apology for looking for a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel.

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, yorky said:

I make absolutely no apology for looking for a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel.

Agree. 

[jonthomas]

No apology needed . All opinions are welcome. Just not judgemental ones. 

[Coquitlam Cruiser]

4 hours ago, CMW5060 said:

We’re still holding (slim) hope for improvement to the whole health situation and that our July 17th Alaska cruise will still move forward. Right now just planning to monitor until end if May to see what happens then make decision. Don’t want to jeopardize our health but also don’t want to throw in the towel just yet. I think Princess and Holland America cancelled the whole 2020 Alaska season?  May just be better to try again next year. We had an Aqua aft cabin booked too that we were so looking forward too in addition to celebrating our milestone bdays and retirement. Bummer but is what it is.

Sorry but Canada will review July 1 whether  or not to reopen our borders and I would say that they will remain closed.  Cruise ports are not on a priority list for authorities.