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Solo cruisers post Covid?


MelbTone
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Just musing here, but I wonder if us solo travellers might get a better deal in the future? Up to now we're generally charged the same as what a couple would pay - I understand why: we only buy one excursion per port, spend less on drinks and extras, and are generally commercially less desirable. But if the issue is that in future the issue is occupancy of public spaces such as dining rooms, theatre and bars, then perhaps having fewer people in the same number of cabins might be helpful?

 

Out of interest, does anyone know what occupancy level cruises have run at in the past (actual versus theoretical capacity)

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You raise an interesting point about future single supplement pricing. I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight decrease in the penalty and perhaps less of the 3rd and 4th

occupant discounts in the future. In the past, my best guess is that most ships sailed with an average of 2 passengers per cabin. 

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It will solely depend on the supply and demand. In my opinion, the demand should be very high but there is a question of accessibility for many people. In most cases people get to the docks by plane but many airline companies limited their operations. Also, solo cruisers doesnt sound really that profitable. We will have to wait and see 

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I agree that supply and demand will determine if there is any improved pricing for solo guests in the future.

 

Making a booking with a guaranteed share in the future?  That option will be extinct. 

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I very much doubt it -- cruise lines will want the extra revenue from having extra people in a cabin, not fewer people in a cabin.  I expect there will be per-person-double-occupancy lower fairs, and maybe even lower costs for 3rd person occupancy, but not lower solo supplements

 

 

 

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On 5/11/2020 at 10:17 AM, Lois R said:

I guess it will be dependent on that good ole "supply and demand"...……..

Hi Lois, I think you are right, it will depend on supply and demand.  I'm sure that there will be plenty of people that will be ready to cruise when things open up again, but are they all going to be willing to be the first test tube sailors until we see what happens when things resume?  I know I have some underlying health issues so I doubt if I will be rushing back again until I am confortable with sailing on a cruise ship again and being able to get off and on the ship safely and healthy.  Hope you are staying safe down there in Sunny Florida.  Neil

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2 hours ago, travelnap said:

Hi Lois, I think you are right, it will depend on supply and demand.  I'm sure that there will be plenty of people that will be ready to cruise when things open up again, but are they all going to be willing to be the first test tube sailors until we see what happens when things resume?  I know I have some underlying health issues so I doubt if I will be rushing back again until I am confortable with sailing on a cruise ship again and being able to get off and on the ship safely and healthy.  Hope you are staying safe down there in Sunny Florida.  Neil

Hi Neil, underlying health issues? You are preaching to the choir....I just went through some major stuff and

still recovering.  I was in the hospital for 6 days (not Covid)….but it took me to some very dark places.:classic_sad:

I am home now and hoping things will be on the upturn...…..hope you are doing well.

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15 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi Neil, underlying health issues? You are preaching to the choir....I just went through some major stuff and

still recovering.  I was in the hospital for 6 days (not Covid)….but it took me to some very dark places.:classic_sad:

I am home now and hoping things will be on the upturn...…..hope you are doing well.

Lois, sorry to hear that you were in the hospital for 6 days.  I hope you are doing much better now and on the way to a full recovery.  My biggest issue is COPD from bad habits when I was younger.  I quit smoking almost 20 years ago, but I didn't quit early enough as it damaged my lungs and with this Covid-19, that is not a good thing.  It woud be great to be on a cruise, but I think I will probably wait a little bit to see how the first few months of cruising work out before I get brave enough to get back aboard a ship.  Take care of yourself. 

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Hi Neil, good morning.  Thanks, yes, on the road to recovery.  Life has changed that is for sure.

I had a cruise booked for Sept but cancelled it.  I took one in January to the Caribbean before everything went bonkers.

My next one will probably be 2021...…

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2020 at 7:58 AM, Lois R said:

Hi Neil, good morning.  Thanks, yes, on the road to recovery.  Life has changed that is for sure.

I had a cruise booked for Sept but cancelled it.  I took one in January to the Caribbean before everything went bonkers.

My next one will probably be 2021...…

 

 

 

 

Lois, sorry to hear about your hospitalization but glad you're recovering.  I also took a cruise early in the year.  Left San Diego on Feb. 1 and got into Miami on Feb. 14,  just in the nick of time.  

 

I was diagnosed with an underlying serious health condition a few years back.  I know I'm considered high risk, but there's the part of me that's not willing to spend the rest of my life either cowering in fear in my house, or having limited social interaction while wearing a hot, stifling mask. 😷  I'm kind to the point where I'm thinking take reasonable precautions but what happens, happens.

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10 minutes ago, Roz said:

 

Lois, sorry to hear about your hospitalization but glad you're recovering.  I also took a cruise early in the year.  Left San Diego on Feb. 1 and got into Miami on Feb. 14,  just in the nick of time.  

 

I was diagnosed with an underlying serious health condition a few years back.  I know I'm considered high risk, but there's the part of me that's not willing to spend the rest of my life either cowering in fear in my house, or having limited social interaction while wearing a hot, stifling mask. 😷  I'm kind to the point where I'm thinking take reasonable precautions but what happens, happens.

Hi Roz, thanks for the reply.  It was quite an ordeal...I agree..taking reasonable precautions sounds good. I don't want to live my life in fear either.  It was very weird.........I didn't even know I was so sick!!!!!!!!

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Lois - glad you're on the mend, and the hospitalization is in the past.  We just never know when something significant may crop up and derail our immediate plans.

 

Roz - I agree 100%.  I'm only 61 (young in HAL terms, lol) but I'm also a bit of an oddity.  I'm healthy as a horse, have a great immune system that keeps me from catching colds/flu, but I'm also a 3-time breast cancer survivor.  I joke that it has to be cancer to be worth getting sick for 😉  I assume I'll live to 100, but don't know that for a fact, and I'm not willing to squander any of the time I have left cowering in fear in my home, afraid to "catch" something if I venture outside.  I hate that I've lost a HAL cruise and a few other trips due to this damn virus (all canceled by HAL or Disney), and once both are open I will have no hesitation going back - the exception is I'm not wearing a damn mask in the FL heat so my Disney trips may be resort trips and I won't bother with the parks.  Hopefully HAL doesn't impose measures "in an abundance of caution" that make my December 2020 cruise not worth the bother.

 

Sue/WDW1972

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WdW, I have a HAL cruise with my sister scheduled for January 2021.  Hope it's a go, I'm being guardedly optimistic.  

 

What I really miss is not being able to book another European land tour or river cruise.  Things have to be  lot more certain for me to tie up a bunch of money.  I'm with you, no masks in warm/hot weather locations.  That's a deal breaker.  

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Hi Sue, thanks so much.....nothing to do with my hospital stay but I have 2 different forms of cancer.......both

treatable.....one is called CML.....has to do with my white count. It is not terminal, thankfully........I take meds.

I had stage 0 breast cancer found back in November......had a lumpectmy and radiation. Doing well on that one too.

 

Wishing you all the best as well.

 

 

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Hello!  I will be cruising solo from Seward on Celebrity in September (I hope!) and I feel I got an excellent price on a balcony cabin.  I had previously booked a cruise on Princess for the same time, but they are one of the lines that cancelled their Alaska cruises early on.  In retrospect, I am glad; I will be paying roughly half of what the Princess cruise would have been and I feel this is a better itinerary.  

A good resource for finding solo prices is Vacations to Go.  There is a "Cheapest Rates For Singles" option that you can choose once you've decided the time frames, regions, etc you're interested in.

Good luck shopping!

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  • 2 months later...
On 5/25/2020 at 9:52 AM, Roz said:

I was diagnosed with an underlying serious health condition a few years back.  I know I'm considered high risk, but there's the part of me that's not willing to spend the rest of my life either cowering in fear in my house, or having limited social interaction while wearing a hot, stifling mask. 😷  I'm kind to the point where I'm thinking take reasonable precautions but what happens, happens.

 

I'm with you!  I washed my hands almost obsessively on all my cruises, where the main fear was norovirus, rather than that gray thing with red spikes.  I don't have pervasive health problems, but even if I did, I refuse to spend the rest of my life---because according to some sources, masks and social distancing are here forever---cowering in fear at home.  Besides, a cruise is about being social, so social distancing will render the experience nearly meaningless.

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2 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

 Besides, a cruise is about being social, so social distancing will render the experience nearly meaningless.

That may be your  preference for a cruise, but not everyone's. Social isn't my cruise requirement. Introverts love social distancing.

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22 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

masks and social distancing are here forever---cowering in fear at home.  Besides, a cruise is about being social, so social distancing will render the experience nearly meaningless.

 

For now, remaining at home because one does not wish to be exposed to anymore people than necessary is something that I have accepted.  Like it?  No!  But, it's the wise thing to do currently.  Masks and social distancing forever?  That's a "bridge too far", I think, for Westerners to accept.  If there is no vaccine and no proven, effective medicine developed:  somewhere, somehow, a happy medium is going to need to be agreed to by our government, our health professionals, and the public. 

 

Part of my enjoyment of my cruise is the social aspect of it.  Not being able to enjoy HH at a ship's bar without being seated near others and conversing with them and the bartenders and staff?  Not sharing a MDR table with others?  Being served by Stewards and staff wearing masks?  Does not sound like a "fun time" in which I wish to invest.  

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  • 3 months later...
On 7/31/2020 at 2:51 PM, rkacruiser said:

Part of my enjoyment of my cruise is the social aspect of it.  Not being able to enjoy HH at a ship's bar without being seated near others and conversing with them and the bartenders and staff?  Not sharing a MDR table with others?  Being served by Stewards and staff wearing masks?  Does not sound like a "fun time" in which I wish to invest.  

 

The vaccine has just been found, thanks to Pfizer.  It's 90% effective; that's higher than the flu vaccine.  So the light at the end of the tunnel isn't headlights of an oncoming train.  That said, I'd rather forego cruising for the rest of my life, than cruise with masks and social distancing.

Edited by LandlockedCruiser01
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On 11/16/2020 at 4:48 PM, Lois R said:

Maderna has a vaccine too.......they said it today as well. 94% effective and from what I saw,

it has a an easier storage temperature too!

The Moderna vaccine has a downside: it contains actual Covid virus in it, albeit inactivated.  The Pfizer vaccine has Covid RNA fragments.  So it seems like you're more likely to get sick from the Moderna vaccine.  I want something that's close to Covid, but not actual Covid going in me.  I'm not high-risk, but I ain't taking chances with having to quarantine for 2 weeks.

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21 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

The Moderna vaccine has a downside:

 

There may be another downside.  I just read on the HAL Message Board that Moderna has issued a statement about its ability to produce massive amounts of their vaccine and get it distributed in the kind of time frame that some, I think, are "hoping/expecting" for.  Moderna is a Company that has never produced a commercially successful product.  Expectations, in my opinion, are running far too high as to what they can do for us.  Helpful?  No doubt, I think.  But, it's going to take TIME!  If the vaccine is successful.  

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I also read that people might not have a choice as to what vaccine they receive. However, even though I might book a studio or book solo I am going to let my friends who i haven't been able to see let know I will be planning something maybe.

I looked at a 6/18/23 Bliss from NYC to Bermuda and Studios start at $1,697 much higher than in the past and a 9/17/23 Escape from NYC to Canada starting at $1,397-

*However they were giving all promos vs just 1.

However, I am sure prices will rise over time.

It would be smart for them to do $1 deposits again as I booked 3 I never took and they made a $3 profit from me. I wasn't going to call them up and ask for $1.

 

 

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19 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

There may be another downside.  I just read on the HAL Message Board that Moderna has issued a statement about its ability to produce massive amounts of their vaccine and get it distributed in the kind of time frame that some, I think, are "hoping/expecting" for.  Moderna is a Company that has never produced a commercially successful product.  Expectations, in my opinion, are running far too high as to what they can do for us.  Helpful?  No doubt, I think.  But, it's going to take TIME!  If the vaccine is successful.  

 

Thanks for the info. Maybe "Operation Warp Speed" (i.e. U.S. Govt) will send more $$ Moderna's way to increase their production capabilities (rate).

 

There are also more companies "in the pipeline" working on vaccines (i.e. Johnson & Johnson is about to announce and their vaccine will only require 1 shot vice 2) and these other companies may have much better distribution capabilities than Moderna. Trying to stay optimistic...

Edited by farmersfight
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