How often do you all cruise?

[CanobieFan]

Try to at least once a year, I think 3 is the most I've done in a year (and having 4 booked simultaneously) Got lucky and was able to successfully able to cruise once this year before things got crazy and I have one booked for next February although I had been eyeing one for December.... since COVID is still going strong it just seems too risky now 😞 

[Hlitner]

We prefer 3 -5 cruises a year totally about 100 days.  DW and I are now suffering from "cruise withdrawal" which is an awful syndrome.  HAL cancelled our 30 day Asian cruise in April, Princess cancelled a 16 day cruise in August, and we expect Princess to soon cancel a 28 day cruise we have booked in October.  The one cruise that might happen is a 14 day MSC cruise in December, but MSC just switched ships on that cruise which is an annoying piece of news.

 

We had thought about grabbing a flight to France in late August and spending a few weeks in Europe but we have given up on that idea since the EU has been making a lot of noise about not wanting Americans.  We also hado ve a driving trip (this is an annual soujourn) to Canada in the Fall and that is also in question due to the border being closed.

 

With all these cancelled trips we decided to have some major work done on our home and quickly found out that local contractors are very busy.  Apparently a lot of folks, who are stuck at home, have been thinking the same thing...that its a good year to catch up on delayed home projects.

 

Hank

 

[SelectSys]

55 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We had thought about grabbing a flight to France in late August and spending a few weeks in Europe but we have given up on that idea since the EU has been making a lot of noise about not wanting Americans.  We also hado ve a driving trip (this is an annual soujourn) to Canada in the Fall and that is also in question due to the border being closed.

 

Unlikely Canada will open up anytime soon to US residents.  Only our neighbor to the south will be welcoming, but I have no faith in travelling there as the problems are even worse and growing daily.

[clo]

On 6/24/2020 at 1:14 PM, Joebucks said:

very rarely end up spending much more than $200 pp.

Where on earth can you fly RT for $200pp? Wow. 

[clo]

8 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

we recently found Bubbledogs where they serve hot dogs with Champagne, a very nice casual lunch!    

LOL! I love that idea. Thanks for sharing.

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, clo said:

Where on earth can you fly RT for $200pp? Wow. 

Right now you could book a July round trip from New York to Fort Myers, FL for about $50.   

[clo]

24 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Right now you could book a July round trip from New York to Fort Myers, FL for about $50.   

Wow. I just looked and the cheapest from Reno to SF is about $200RT. That's cheap. But pre-COVID?

[sverigecruiser]

5 hours ago, clo said:

LOL! I love that idea. Thanks for sharing.

 

I know that you are into foodporn! They have some nice photos on their site.  

[clo]

Just now, sverigecruiser said:

 

I know that you are into foodporn! They have some nice photos on their site.  

LOL I already looked 🙂 And we have a couple of English friends who occasionally venture into London and I'll tell them about it. Again, thanks.

[sverigecruiser]

5 minutes ago, clo said:

LOL I already looked 🙂 And we have a couple of English friends who occasionally venture into London and I'll tell them about it. Again, thanks.

 

I really hope that they will be able to open again when this is over!

[chipmaster]

On 6/24/2020 at 10:20 AM, sprint180 said:

Oh what I wouldn't do to fly to a cruise right now.  I used to not enjoy flying but now, boy, I would love to be on a plane.  In my mind if I lived by a port.  Or even within say 8 hours (driving distance for me  well maybe up to 15 hours) to a port I would cruise a lot more then once a year.  How often do you all cruise?  Flying makes it so much more expensive.

 

How often I cruise, in my signature, was planning on a cruise this year, canceled.

 

I spend a lot of time flying, grounded now, but alive so I am happy 

[clo]

18 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I really hope that they will be able to open again when this is over!

Our friends have been hunkered down for a LONG time. The world has changed.

[sverigecruiser]

7 minutes ago, clo said:

Our friends have been hunkered down for a LONG time. The world has changed.

 

Some parts of it, yes.

[GlamorousGirl]

7-8 weeks a year. It contributes to my livelihood as a travel writer and creator. Of course not this year!

[antmaril]

I cruised three times between January, 2019 and January, 2020 (lucky me).  But, I usually cruise once a year.  I have a cruise planned for January, 2021, but I will be canceling that one.  

[Lois R]

7 hours ago, GlamorousGirl said:

7-8 weeks a year. It contributes to my livelihood as a travel writer and creator. Of course not this year!

 

A travel writer? This must really be a funky time for you then..........have you written any articles on the lack of 

traveling since the virus started? 

[sanger727]

We are in the 1 cruise every few years category. I don't know where Joebucks is finding his $200 airfare. Aside from allegiant or frontier we rarely find airfare under $400, so yes, that adds quite a bit to the trip. (personally wouldn't fly allegiant or frontier for a cruise, they don't have the infrastructure to avoid many hours to multi day delays if something goes wrong).  We prefer to do an annual trip and tend to rotate that between a cruise, an international land trip, and an all inclusive. 

Edited June 26, 2020 by sanger727

[Hlitner]

23 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

We are in the 1 cruise every few years category. I don't know where Joebucks is finding his $200 airfare. Aside from allegiant or frontier we rarely find airfare under $400, so yes, that adds quite a bit to the trip. (personally wouldn't fly allegiant or frontier for a cruise, they don't have the infrastructure to avoid many hours to multi day delays if something goes wrong).  We prefer to do an annual trip and tend to rotate that between a cruise, an international land trip, and an all inclusive. 

$200 would be an amazing deal but we have seen similar airfares on Southwest.  In fact, if cruising out of Florida, DW and I will often drive about 1:45 to BWI just so we can use Southwest to FLL.  For shorter cruises (no more then 14 days we will often do a park/sleep/fly deal and then take a very early Southwest flight.  That being said we would not even consider flying-in the day of a cruise.  No airline is totally dependable nor is their luggage handling.  When we do cruise out of FL we will often fly down a few days early, rent a car, and drive down to the Keys for a few days pre-cruise.

 

Hank

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

$200 would be an amazing deal but we have seen similar airfares on Southwest.  In fact, if cruising out of Florida, DW and I will often drive about 1:45 to BWI just so we can use Southwest to FLL.  For shorter cruises (no more then 14 days we will often do a park/sleep/fly deal and then take a very early Southwest flight.  That being said we would not even consider flying-in the day of a cruise.  No airline is totally dependable nor is their luggage handling.  When we do cruise out of FL we will often fly down a few days early, rent a car, and drive down to the Keys for a few days pre-cruise.

 

Hank

 

I have an airport 30 minutes from me so we usually get someone to drive us to not pay for parking, so going to different airport doesn't make a lot of sense. We did not have southwest as option until recently. They did move in, but I haven't spent much time considering them as an option. I've heard good things and may consider them in the future. We usually fly in the day before and until recently (American) have never had a delay where I wasn't going to arrive on the same day. But I've heard horror stories like that about allegiant. If they fly Tuesday and Thursday and the Thursday flight gets completely cancelled, next opportunity to fly out is the Tuesday flight.

[pris993]

Been cruising for 38 years, from 1-3 cruises... now will wait til 2022, want to cruise mask free.

[ldubs]

6 hours ago, sanger727 said:

 

I have an airport 30 minutes from me so we usually get someone to drive us to not pay for parking, so going to different airport doesn't make a lot of sense. We did not have southwest as option until recently. They did move in, but I haven't spent much time considering them as an option. I've heard good things and may consider them in the future. We usually fly in the day before and until recently (American) have never had a delay where I wasn't going to arrive on the same day. But I've heard horror stories like that about allegiant. If they fly Tuesday and Thursday and the Thursday flight gets completely cancelled, next opportunity to fly out is the Tuesday flight.

 

I've used SWA a lot for both business and pleasure.  It is a commuter style airline service.  Works for me for shorter flights.  Beyond some occasional delays, that happen with all airlines, I've always been happy with them.   

[Mike981]

On 6/24/2020 at 3:14 PM, Joebucks said:

Usually about 3 a year and many more other land trips. There's a lot of comments about how much flying is. To be honest, we will usually fly the cheapest airline and will very rarely end up spending much more than $200 pp. In the grand scheme of life, $200 really isn't much, and there's a ton of ways to make up for it, vacation or not. Driving to a port is no cheaper for us. You still have to pay to park, tolls, fuel, food, car wear, rental car, etc. At the end of the day, we're talking a difference in pennies. It makes the most sense when you have more than 2 people though.

 

We build a reasonable vacation. We don't need the most expensive cruise ship rooms, we don't need to buy unlimited everythings. Go in off-peak season. Fly cheap.

 

Holy shmoly, congrats! I know it depends on where you fly from, but the cheapest (hate your life for the entire flight & don't get to pick your seat) I have ever purchased was just under $400. And that was only once, in dozens of flights.

 

On 6/24/2020 at 4:03 PM, Lois R said:

2-3 times a year.   This year I took one in January..................boy does that seem like a long, long, long time ago.

 

Same, and now that we moved our January 2021 to 2022 it seems even longer.

 

[cruisemom42]

I usually take three vacations a year. Of those, usually two are land trips and one is a cruise. Although some years that might flip.

 

Unfortunately I had several 'bucket list" cruises coming up this year and in the following two years. Now it is a crapshoot whether any of them will sail.

 

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I usually take three vacations a year. Of those, usually two are land trips and one is a cruise. Although some years that might flip.

 

Unfortunately I had several 'bucket list" cruises coming up this year and in the following two years. Now it is a crapshoot whether any of them will sail.

 

 

 

Fingers crossed it all works out and you can get back to your bucket list.  I kind of find your travel focus captivating, if that is the right word.  Mrs Ldubs planned her retirement for early this year before we had even heard of coronavirus.   We planned on ramping up our travels.  Well, the retirement happened but the travel part ain't happening for awhile.  Still, compared to many, we feel blessed and we know better times will return.   Just frustrating to think how long that might be.  Hang in there.   

[Lois R]

6 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

 

Fingers crossed it all works out and you can get back to your bucket list.  I kind of find your travel focus captivating, if that is the right word.  Mrs Ldubs planned her retirement for early this year before we had even heard of coronavirus.   We planned on ramping up our travels.  Well, the retirement happened but the travel part ain't happening for awhile.  Still, compared to many, we feel blessed and we know better times will return.   Just frustrating to think how long that might be.  Hang in there.   

Sounds like your wife and I had the same thing happen.........I retired this year too. Actually Dec 31st was my last day.

And the travel part? Well, I had 2 big trips planned for a celebration and the travel part was a no go as well.