What will the New Age Sailings look like? Your thoughts

[eltigre]

I am wondering what a cruise will be like now? Everyone talks about the buffet but I think that will be the easiest thing to accommodate. Plexi shields to keep us away from the food & servers to handle the serving.

Pour your own beer/pop will be gone I suspect. BUT what about the pool, lounge chairs, theaters, lounges & bars?

How long will boarding take in between sailings with sanitizing now a priority?

A full ship would make money but a less than full ship? 

With all the new mega ships that have  recently come on line & are still being built, that need to be paid for.

 

I have to admit as this thing continues I am becoming less hopeful for my future sailings & so much more appreciative that I got to sail in "the old days"

[crewsweeper]

Seeing "New Age" I thought that maybe Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Jon Kabat, Ram Dass, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a bunch of Naturopaths and Vitamin/Supplement multi-level marketers were planning a reunion cruise.  Music by John Tesh.

Edited May 6, 2020 by crewsweeper

[SDPadreFan]

I believe once a vaccine is developed, this will be no more of an issue than influenza is (which is also a coronavirus). The smart will get vaccinated one a year and be protected (just like the flu) and the stupid will do what they always do.

 

Norovirus is much more of a concern to me because people just can't seem to figure out how important it is keeping your hands clean and there is no vaccine available for that. Smart people have it figured out, but you just can't fix stupid/lazy.

 

So soon enough - things will return to normal (just may take a year or two).

[bingomamma19]

I think on our end, things will seem pretty much the same.     On the crews end, they will be doing alot more work to keep everything clean and safe.

 

I think they will serve us at the buffet and the ice cream.    

 

I am not worried either way.....i love cruising....i will be there....hopefully august 15th on the breeze!!

[Honolulu Blue]

Much depends on when, exactly, cruises start again, whether social distancing is still a thing because it's recommended or because people expect it, which ports are open, whether we're in the first or second wave, and many other things.  But here are some notes on things that might change from the cruises we knew:

 

• I'll skip over most of the embarkation/disembarkation process, except to say the better tools they can use to filter out those who have the disease, the more likely that less will change onboard.
• Muster drill - clear violation of social distancing, must be changed.  Might go indoors, might be split into two or more sessions, might be run on the cabin TV.
• MDR - lots of contact points.  Your waiters may still be smiling, but you might not see them behind their masks.  The greeter and seater might have masks too.  Speaking of...
• Masks - Might be required to be used by guests anywhere in public.  They may give you some, but you may want better or better looking.  They might be sold in the gift shop.
• More masks - Cabin stewards, room service deliverers, guest service workers, bartenders, dealers... any or all of them, and more, may be wearing them.
• Shows in the main theater - They might be canceled, there might be tight capacity limits, or they might be held in empty theaters (and shown on TV).
• Comedy shows - same as above.
• Excursions might be limited to areas that can be tightly controlled and/or thoroughly disinfected.
• Captain's meet & greet - no more handshakes!  Would you settle for a respectful bow?
• Casino - maybe limited seating at table games and slots
• Promenade sales - no more feeding frenzies for 2 for $20 t-shirts!
• Hand sanitizer stations - here, there, everywhere.  Maybe in the passenger deck corridors too?
• Room service - could be contactless.  No need to sign, they'll sign for you.  Knock knock & go.  Problems?  Call room service again or GS.

[eltigre]

2 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

Seeing "New Age" I thought that maybe Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Jon Kabat, Ram Dass, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a bunch of Naturopaths and Vitamin/Supplement multi-level marketers were planning a reunion cruise.  Music by John Tesh.

 

10 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Much depends on when, exactly, cruises start again, whether social distancing is still a thing because it's recommended or because people expect it, which ports are open, whether we're in the first or second wave, and many other things.  But here are some notes on things that might change from the cruises we knew:

 

• I'll skip over most of the embarkation/disembarkation process, except to say the better tools they can use to filter out those who have the disease, the more likely that less will change onboard.
• Muster drill - clear violation of social distancing, must be changed.  Might go indoors, might be split into two or more sessions, might be run on the cabin TV.
• MDR - lots of contact points.  Your waiters may still be smiling, but you might not see them behind their masks.  The greeter and seater might have masks too.  Speaking of...
• Masks - Might be required to be used by guests anywhere in public.  They may give you some, but you may want better or better looking.  They might be sold in the gift shop.
• More masks - Cabin stewards, room service deliverers, guest service workers, bartenders, dealers... any or all of them, and more, may be wearing them.
• Shows in the main theater - They might be canceled, there might be tight capacity limits, or they might be held in empty theaters (and shown on TV).
• Comedy shows - same as above.
• Excursions might be limited to areas that can be tightly controlled and/or thoroughly disinfected.
• Captain's meet & greet - no more handshakes!  Would you settle for a respectful bow?
• Casino - maybe limited seating at table games and slots
• Promenade sales - no more feeding frenzies for 2 for $20 t-shirts!
• Hand sanitizer stations - here, there, everywhere.  Maybe in the passenger deck corridors too?
• Room service - could be contactless.  No need to sign, they'll sign for you.  Knock knock & go.  Problems?  Call room service again or GS.

Thanks for the thoughtful answer to the question.  I am wondering just how much we will be able to accept, and still be willing to cruise...It is all part of the experience, the pools, shows, casinos, bars. Also can the cruise lines survive the costs of  these types of changes? Prices will surely rise. Can customers survive that?

[jakeT]

Theater Are going to be a major problem you would have to seat each group one at a time. Giving a front seat to that group,   Then sit the next group Six feet apart. 
Not used the next row.  Then repeat 

[linbobky]

I think that since Wendys  has no more beef! we will have spam burgers at guys, and i don't know what we will have at the buffet.

 

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, eltigre said:

 

Thanks for the thoughtful answer to the question.  I am wondering just how much we will be able to accept, and still be willing to cruise...It is all part of the experience, the pools, shows, casinos, bars. Also can the cruise lines survive the costs of  these types of changes? Prices will surely rise. Can customers survive that?

 

You're welcome.

 

Everyone's tolerance for change (both permanent and temporary) will be put to the test, especially in the first few cruises.  All I can say is that those that liked the way cruises were, oh, three or four months ago might not want to be the first ones onboard when cruising resumes.

 

As for prices, many cruisers' budgets have been inflated by FCCs from past cruises that have already been canceled.  So they can spend more without actually paying out more money.  But cruise companies want to put as many paying customers on board as they can (subject to whatever limits are imposed on them externally), so they might offer some good prices here and there - or maybe even more widely.  It's hard to tell where supply and demand will meet in these times.

[Bowman1]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

Everyone's tolerance for change (both permanent and temporary) will be put to the test, especially in the first few cruises.  All I can say is that those that liked the way cruises were, oh, three or four months ago might not want to be the first ones onboard when cruising resumes.

This is one of the prime reasons that we rebooked our cancelled cruise in 2021

 

Once the restart happens, the first couple sailings will probably be a little rough as Carnival figures out what does and does not work

[SeaHunt]

4 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

• Masks - Might be required to be used by guests anywhere in public.  They may give you some, but you may want better or better looking.  They might be sold in the gift shop.
• More masks - Cabin stewards, room service deliverers, guest service workers, bartenders, dealers... any or all of them, and more, may be wearing them.

 

I agree and figure this is a real possibility at Carnival (and all lines) at first, especially since poster "Ourusualbeach" (TA) posted this nugget today over on the Royal board (from an RCI TA webinar by Vicki Freed (SVP):  

 

RCI "Just announced that masks will be required for crew and probably by guests initially and maybe until there is a vaccine".

 

So I'm thinking that the RCI trademark request for masks under the "SEAFACE" trademark probably refers to that (providing their own masks). Maybe Carnival will have their own with a whale tail?

 

IF it happens, I'm already laughing thinking what our embarkation photo will look like - different from all our others, that's for sure LOL.

 

 

 

[BlerkOne]

If they are successful training dogs to sniff out covid-19, double click done.

[RWolver672]

15 hours ago, SDPadreFan said:

I believe once a vaccine is developed, this will be no more of an issue than influenza is (which is also a coronavirus). The smart will get vaccinated one a year and be protected (just like the flu) and the stupid will do what they always do.

 

 

I'm wondering if a vaccine is developed, will the cruise lines demand proof that you have gotten the shot/s.  (I heard it may be a two shot process like the shingles shot.)  

 

If not, as you put it, the stupid won't get the shot and if they come onboard with the virus, then they will pass it on to the other ones that haven't gotten the shot.  Then you have a bunch of people not protected that may catch it too.

[Honolulu Blue]

9 hours ago, SeaHunt said:

So I'm thinking that the RCI trademark request for masks under the "SEAFACE" trademark probably refers to that (providing their own masks). Maybe Carnival will have their own with a whale tail?

 

IF it happens, I'm already laughing thinking what our embarkation photo will look like - different from all our others, that's for sure LOL.

 

Masks with the whale tail I can see for sure.  Others I can see:  Thing 1/2/3, Funship Freddy (even though he's been gone as a mascot for several years), Shaq, John Heald.

 

Those mask-covered embarkation photos are sure to be hilarious once this virus is just a bad memory.  Please be sure to share yours!

[mdin]

Until there is a vaccine, it's hard to say how cruises will look if/when they resume. Any idea thrown out there is possible though.

 

After a vaccine is available to everyone, I think cruises will return somewhat back to normal. Some changes I can see happening are:

 

-Ships only allowed to sail at 80% guest capacity.

 

-No more self-serve buffet. Stations will have employees serving guests.

 

-Reduced amount of pool loungers to allow some extra space.

 

-MDR going mostly to a table for 2 per stateroom. Tables can be combined (or large table can be requested) for families or large groups sailing together.

 

-Extra amount of hand sanitizers and hand washing stations set up around the ship.

 

[RWolver672]

No more conga lines.  No more twirling of the napkins in the MDR. (Much to the delight of some people).   No more shoulder to shoulder to buy t-shirts. 

 

It will be interesting to see the lines of people six feet apart at Guy's Burgers, Pizza, Deli, buffet, water slides, etc.  No more waiting shoulder to shoulder outside the MDR,  theater or comedy club for the doors to open. 

 

Men's restrooms especially by the casino will be a challenge.  The urinals are so close together that you almost have to stand sideways to use them.  Same with the sinks.

 

It will be interesting to say the least.

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by RWolver672

[ray98]

Nothing will change.  This fades away and society evolves right back to normal.  We will find the bottom of the curve, some new great crisis will captivate the media so you won't have the 24/7 coverage, and the world moves on.  It is a risk society will accept just as we do with influenza.  

Edited May 7, 2020 by ray98

[hattack]

we adjusted to the changes in  airport experiences &  travel following 911, , so we will find a way to adjust to the  travel & cruise experiences 

[jlabs03]

3 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

 

I'm wondering if a vaccine is developed, will the cruise lines demand proof that you have gotten the shot/s.  (I heard it may be a two shot process like the shingles shot.)  

 

If not, as you put it, the stupid won't get the shot and if they come onboard with the virus, then they will pass it on to the other ones that haven't gotten the shot.  Then you have a bunch of people not protected that may catch it too.

 Sorry if it sounds like a rant but that is not my intentions, I just look at things a bit differently than others since I am numbers person.

 

There is still so much is not known about this virus as time pass and we learn more about it.  Most information will come hindsight and when reliable antibody testing exists that is provided to most of the population. There has been so much mis-information put out by the media, websites, and others mostly due to rushed, small studies and the use of modeling, and ever single small study is reported on and by the next day a new study that says the opposite comes out.  There is some evidence from a study in South Korea that once you get it you cannot get it again unlike the flu (https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/scientists-conclude-people-cannot-get-coronavirus-twice/ar-BB13tm64) but the reality is we still will pretty much have to wait and see, but if this the case we have a lot less to worry about.  

 

Also Sweden which did not lock down at all and pretty much kept going as usual is being chastised for their decision and in the media they keep saying Swedens fatality rate is high (by the way the lump the US in as well), but the fatality rate is not accurate because of the limited testing (for an accurate fatality rate every known case would have to be identified, with the flu since it has been around so long they can estimate how many people probably had it each year based on the number of positive tests).  If you look at the numbers based on Sweden's population the percentage of people that have died so far is about 0.02% (flu is 0.01%, US corona is about 0.02%, this number may go up but at this point with the number of deaths per day decreasing it will not go up much) and an infection rate of 0.22% (US 0.38%), which once again is probably low due to the limited amount of testing. I am not minimizing these deaths or the significant of getting this virus, just reporting on actual numbers. I know this makes people mad comparing it to the flu but more than 3 to 5 million serve cases of the flu occur and 290,000- 650,000 deaths every year Worldwide (numbers quoted from WHO). Yet we accept this and in time if this virus sticks around and becomes seasonal, it will just become another virus that kills a lot of people every year that no one worries about unless you are directly impacted.   

 

Basically cruising will get back to normal eventually without social distancing or requirements for vaccine.  When this will occur will really depends if this virus mutates to not affect humans (best case), resurges in the Fall and how much it resurges, if people become immune after they have it and herd immunity takes over, or if an effective vaccine is produced.    

[beerman2]

4 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

 

I'm wondering if a vaccine is developed, will the cruise lines demand proof that you have gotten the shot/s.  (I heard it may be a two shot process like the shingles shot.)  

 

If not, as you put it, the stupid won't get the shot and if they come onboard with the virus, then they will pass it on to the other ones that haven't gotten the shot.  Then you have a bunch of people not protected that may catch it too.

Just like the flu shot ( doesn't cover all strains), I wonder how the  the Covid19 shot(s) will cover the strains. 

About the time they figure it out it will probably mutate and another strain develops. We have learned to live with the flu, SARS, Noro, etc. the same will be with Covid 19.

[richfret]

18 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Much depends on when, exactly, cruises start again, whether social distancing is still a thing because it's recommended or because people expect it, which ports are open, whether we're in the first or second wave, and many other things.  But here are some notes on things that might change from the cruises we knew:

 

• I'll skip over most of the embarkation/disembarkation process, except to say the better tools they can use to filter out those who have the disease, the more likely that less will change onboard.
• Muster drill - clear violation of social distancing, must be changed.  Might go indoors, might be split into two or more sessions, might be run on the cabin TV.
• MDR - lots of contact points.  Your waiters may still be smiling, but you might not see them behind their masks.  The greeter and seater might have masks too.  Speaking of...
• Masks - Might be required to be used by guests anywhere in public.  They may give you some, but you may want better or better looking.  They might be sold in the gift shop.
• More masks - Cabin stewards, room service deliverers, guest service workers, bartenders, dealers... any or all of them, and more, may be wearing them.
• Shows in the main theater - They might be canceled, there might be tight capacity limits, or they might be held in empty theaters (and shown on TV).
• Comedy shows - same as above.
• Excursions might be limited to areas that can be tightly controlled and/or thoroughly disinfected.
• Captain's meet & greet - no more handshakes!  Would you settle for a respectful bow?
• Casino - maybe limited seating at table games and slots
• Promenade sales - no more feeding frenzies for 2 for $20 t-shirts!
• Hand sanitizer stations - here, there, everywhere.  Maybe in the passenger deck corridors too?
• Room service - could be contactless.  No need to sign, they'll sign for you.  Knock knock & go.  Problems?  Call room service again or GS.

I agree with your analysis.  The problem is that cruising cannot continue if current conditions continue.  If a vaccine is not available shortly,  then you have to expect the effects of the virus will get worse not better especially if we remove restrictions.  Yet if you keep the restrictions, the economic effect will be a serious depression with many businesses going under which may include Carnival, Ford, Hertz and many others.  So you can take your pick.  Be healthy but desperately poor or be prosperous but sick as a dog or even worse.  I don't have the answer.    

 

I have completed 23 cruises and all with Carnival and I had the time of my life.  Now I am booked for January 9, 2021 and January 22, 2022 but I have my doubts the ship will leave the pier.  I hope I am wrong and foolish.

[naxer]

I imagine the scenarios of changes in my mind, and I keep on coming up short.  I'm one who thinks there will be no sailing until a vaccine is developed.  Then I wonder if I'll have to show proof of a vaccine or immunity? or if it will, in fact, be considered like the flu?  I guess that depends on how frightened people are by then, and whether there are liability issues.  Other than that, I think there will be improved hygiene practices.  I watched one of John Heald's "walkies" that he posted the other day, for old times sake, and thought--"Yep, that buffet set-up is gone."   The video also made me remember how much I like cruising, and how I will miss it until it's back.  

[MsTabbyKats]

I won't be cruising until there's a vaccine, or I test positive for antibodies and antibodies are proven to to be effective against re-infection.  So...let's pretend we're there:

 

I see less passengers per sailing and higher costs.  No, we don't need to be 6 feet apart but we won't be on top of each other.

 

I see more attention to "the cruise" and not too much to the booze.  Maybe servers in the buffet.  Maybe more presentations of each show with reserved seating.

 

As to cabins....if it's more than 2 people (especially for an inside) they have to be related...parents/children.  No more squeezing "four friends" in.

 

To sum it up....I see a more upscale similar to "back in the day" when cruising was considered a luxury.

[RWolver672]

2 hours ago, beerman2 said:

Just like the flu shot ( doesn't cover all strains), I wonder how the  the Covid19 shot(s) will cover the strains. 

About the time they figure it out it will probably mutate and another strain develops. We have learned to live with the flu, SARS, Noro, etc. the same will be with Covid 19.

 

You are right in your thinking.  In 2015 we went on a cruise.  In the casino, a guy was coughing and hacking without covering his mouth.  Two days after the cruise, I came down with it.  Couldn't stop coughing.  Went to Redi-Med and was immediately transported to the hospital by ambulance.  I had influenza, pneumonia and sepsis.  Was in the hospital for 8 days and wound up with a defibrillator because it weakened my heart. Ironically, I had already gotten a flu shot and both pneumonia shots.  They told me that those shots are at best,  a 50/50 chance that you won't get it.  New strains every year. 

[ObstructedView2]

There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can....

 

-Mark Twain

 

 

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