will you be booking a new cruise yet.

[dalliowner]

After our cruise was cancelled earlier this year  we have been considering what to do next. My first thoughts is to book again for either later this year or early next year. There are some interesting cruises I am interested in but on thinking it through i have decided that I will not book anything until Seabourn have decided what conditions the cruises will take place in.

I am not interested in sailing if I have to ware a mask everywhere, I am no interested if the swimming pool Is not available , I am not interested if the Gym is not usable . I am not interested if Dinning is not open booking.

 I can understand that they do not want  give details of any of these  situations for fear of putting people off booking , but I really believe these thing should be made clear before bookings are accepted..

[Mauzac]

As much as I would love love love to think about booking a cruise, we won't be.  Not yet anyway.  As PHE have advised against cruising, insurance won't cover anything.  Hopefully that will change in time.

Ideally we would like one next Spring and another one in the Autumn and like everyone I just want it to go back to how it was.  Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen... 

[SLSD]

I'm sure those of you in the UK have already seen this, but I am just now reading that the Foreign Office in the UK is suggesting no one cruise----for how long--is hard to say.  https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cruise-coronavirus-foreign-office-travel-advice-warning-a9610381.html?fbclid=IwAR081mwe3U4ED4yRgp7CC_NhTNaUplgwVDs42mwC0KapByV5nJNo5dyCs54

 

[galeforce9]

9 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I'm sure those of you in the UK have already seen this, but I am just now reading that the Foreign Office in the UK is suggesting no one cruise----for how long--is hard to say.  https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cruise-coronavirus-foreign-office-travel-advice-warning-a9610381.html?fbclid=IwAR081mwe3U4ED4yRgp7CC_NhTNaUplgwVDs42mwC0KapByV5nJNo5dyCs54

 

Yes that’s what Mauzac referred to above. PHE is public health England.  Fletcher referred to this earlier today on another thread here. I wasn’t aware of it until then, so thanks all for the update. 

[Isklaar]

We had been hoping to book something for late spring next year. We're not comfortable trying to book anything sooner than that.  

FCO currently advising no cruise travel for UK citizens. Insurance therefore not valid until they change that. 

 

Before I book anything I want to see what the new guidelines will actually be regarding life onboard. I'm aware things will be different, probably for years to come, but key for me is how different. 

 

  

 

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Isklaar

[CanAmBrit]

We are not interested in booking anything else until we get the money back from our cruise that was cancelled in March. Seabourn have had our money since last October. Despite being told frequently that the there is money there and it has been approved, we have not seen it yet! So, no more until we do!

[FlyingScotSailors]

We are cautiously optimistic that an effective vaccine will be developed and available in the next year or so.  We will not cruise, or not even relax our "sheltering", until then.

 

However, this last week we booked two cruises; a Sojourn Panama Canal transit holiday cruise in December 2021, and a Odyssey Caribbean cruise in March 2022.  We have a rather large FFC from a previous cruise and a cancelled cruise, and even though we have more time to book before the credits expire, these are the cruises we are interested in.  We have the advantage of being able to cancel and get all our money back (less expired FCC ☹️) up until 120 days before the cruise.

[Roger88]

As I said it earlier, we were aiming at Christmas, but now I am afraid of going anywhere.. especially on Christmas. The worst case scenario would be falling ill with Covid on New Years. No thank you. I would rather stay here in New Jersey, watching boring TV news and just play table top games with my family 

[robertmartha]

Once there is a vaccine and my family and I are inoculated - first thing I am doing is booking a sailing!

 

Hoping to sail next spring!

 

Bob

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, Roger88 said:

, we were aiming at Christmas, but now I am afraid of going anywhere.. especially on Christmas. The worst case scenario would be falling ill with Covid on New Years. No thank you. I would rather stay here in New Jersey, watching boring TV news and just play table top games with my family 

 

The holidays was what I was hoping for with the thinking that the cruise lines would do whatever possible to get those sailings scheduled since they command premium pricing even in "normal times".  I think I will be staying in Ohio and hopefully being able to watch some college and NFL football games.  Have watched the "Ball" drop at Times Square in the past and will be doing it again, I expect.  

[SLSD]

5 hours ago, galeforce9 said:

Yes that’s what Mauzac referred to above. PHE is public health England.  Fletcher referred to this earlier today on another thread here. I wasn’t aware of it until then, so thanks all for the update. 

Ok, I had not read the other threads and of course I am not familiar with PHE as initials.  

 

We will be waiting for an effective vaccine and other information concerning how cruising will change.  The only silver lining at our house is that now my husband says that he is all for cruising multiple times a year (instead of just once) if we ever get to go on a cruise again. 

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by SLSD

[rols]

We'll only be waiting until restrictions on travel are lifted, rolling lockdowns are a thing of the past and we can vacation without masks by the pool or a ban on dining with people outside your 'bubble'. That applies to any vacationing, not just cruising, but at soon as going away is possible and actually likely to be fun, we'll be on the first plane or ship. 

 

Currently that feels like it might be a way off yet when even visiting a shop or having a meal out is a miserable experience .. but that will eventually change. 

[wesport]

Re booked 14 day Mediterranean next October. Small deposit, using small FCC, and plenty of time before final payment. Who knows where this whole thing will end up. Seems like we are losing the battle in the US. I live in Florida and it is a disaster. 

[cruiseej]

Like many of you, we'll likely wait for a vaccine before cruising again. But it's worth noting that a vaccine is not going to be a bulletproof preventative. Vaccines have varying rates of effectiveness, some as high as the upper 90% range, and some -- like the annual flu vaccine -- as low as 50-60%. Health experts have said that a COVID-19 vaccine that is 70-80% effective will be good enough for a mass rollout. What's worse, with many vaccine candidates under development, if billions are invested in mass production and distribution of one which turns out to be 75% effective, that may preclude or slow ongoing development of other vaccine candidates which could turn out to have a higher efficacy rate. (For example, the original vaccine for shingles, released in 2006, was only about 50-60% effective; it took 11 more years until the new vaccine, which is 97% effective, was released.)

 

I'm not saying this to depress anyone, but to set realistic expectations somewhat lower than "wait for the vaccine, get the vaccine, everything is back the way it was again." There will still be some risks; how much so will take time to tell. But some of our "new normal" social distancing and masks may not disappear the moment a vaccine is available. 

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, cruiseej said:

Like many of you, we'll likely wait for a vaccine before cruising again. But it's worth noting that a vaccine is not going to be a bulletproof preventative. Vaccines have varying rates of effectiveness, some as high as the upper 90% range, and some -- like the annual flu vaccine -- as low as 50-60%. Health experts have said that a COVID-19 vaccine that is 70-80% effective will be good enough for a mass rollout. What's worse, with many vaccine candidates under development, if billions are invested in mass production and distribution of one which turns out to be 75% effective, that may preclude or slow ongoing development of other vaccine candidates which could turn out to have a higher efficacy rate. (For example, the original vaccine for shingles, released in 2006, was only about 50-60% effective; it took 11 more years until the new vaccine, which is 97% effective, was released.)

 

I'm not saying this to depress anyone, but to set realistic expectations somewhat lower than "wait for the vaccine, get the vaccine, everything is back the way it was again." There will still be some risks; how much so will take time to tell. But some of our "new normal" social distancing and masks may not disappear the moment a vaccine is available. 

You are so right to remind everyone to temper their expectations for a vaccine.  Many of us may have experienced getting the flu even after being vaccinated.  I do think we have a long road ahead of us.  Mr. SLSD and I discuss this fairly often and expect we will not be cruising for at least two years in the best scenario.  At the moment, we are on day 121 of sheltering in our home save for curbside grocery pickups.  As hospitalizations and deaths mount in our state, cruising seems far far away.  

[MightyQuinn]

We cancelled our future ocean cruises and have our refunds in hand.  Truth be told, I feel very relieved.  While there are some enticing offers at the moment, we're not even tempted to book until we have a better idea of the post-covid onboard product.  We also had river cruise bookings and we rescheduled them for late 2021 and early 2022.  We'll continue to monitor the situation and cancel if we feel anxious.  At this point, we feel better about river cruising than ocean cruising.

[hamrag]

On 7/10/2020 at 10:19 AM, wesport said:

Re booked 14 day Mediterranean next October. Small deposit, using small FCC, and plenty of time before final payment. Who knows where this whole thing will end up. Seems like we are losing the battle in the US. I live in Florida and it is a disaster. 

Indeed, and yesterday the USA recorded the highest number of daily new cases which any country has had since the pandemic began....72,000 new cases, which will result in many more deaths as the virus continues to spiral out of control due to many ignoring appropriate safeguards.....unbelievable!

[Tapi]

We don’t have any cruises currently booked until February 2021 (a short cruise on Princess with one port of call to “test the waters”). We don’t have any long cruises currently booked until April 2022. Even if masks and other protocols and guidelines are in place then, I believe that we will take that cruise unless it is canceled or if numbers by then have continued to increase exponentially. I can’t make a decision this far out and will continue monitoring the situation until it’s time to make final payment. 
 

Because of my profession, I’ve been required to travel by airplane and stay at hotels during the entire pandemic, almost on a weekly basis. I guess I’ve grown accustomed to all the new protocols including using a face mask for prolonged periods of time, so the prospect of adhering to them in order to cruise in the future is not a deterrent. I’ve also been tested multiple times with another one coming up next week. 
 

I see a lot of people placing hopes on a vaccine in order to return to cruising. I humbly don’t see that as THE solution, but more as another layer of safety. If one becomes available, it will be great, but I don’t visualize it as the catalyst that will make cruising completely safe again. Even with a vaccine available, I foresee the current protocols of face masks and social distancing to continue for the foreseeable future. 

Edited July 11, 2020 by Tapi

[robertmartha]

Tapi

 

As one of those who are placing all hope on a vaccine - I agree with you that I should really view it as a level of safety. As my wife said last night over our take-out - dine in on Friday night routine - think of it as a flu shot - you can still get the flu even with a shot - its just a hopeful preventative.

 

I do hope that with a vaccine that the protocols on a ship would return to something similar to the "way it was"... the thought of wearing a mask on vacation and the current protocols that lines are enacting now in Europe are not what I want to do on vacation. Increased cleaning, sanitizing, no self serve buffets I am all for and think those should have been in force already well before this pandemic - (sorry was never a big fan of the "buffet" with EVERYONE touching everything!). 

 

For me it will be a wait and see scenario -

 

Curious how the lines that are restarting in Europe will fare over the next few weeks - hoping that their protocols as strict as they are prove effective and that none of the lines/sailings experience a case / incident on board. We have all seen that it takes just one person......

 

Sorry all for the early morning vent.....just want the world to get thru this - and I know we will - its just the daily toll of those sickened and the number of those passing each day is really getting to me.

[Tapi]

34 minutes ago, robertmartha said:

Increased cleaning, sanitizing, no self serve buffets I am all for and think those should have been in force already well before this pandemic - (sorry was never a big fan of the "buffet" with EVERYONE touching everything!). 

I agree with you. If I had to make a list of positive things to come out of this pandemic, those would be at the top of that list. 

[robertmartha]

I should caveat my earlier posting about enhanced cleaning and sanitizing was in no way critical to Seabourn - we thought our sailing on the Odyssey in January was perfection - we found the ship to spotless and we had no issues with cleanliness at all - it was meant to combat the germs and or virus' that may be brought on board by other passengers.

 

One thing I would love to see (but I know would never happen) would be a day between sailings....where a ship would be disembarked by noon - thoroughly cleaned over a 24 hr period and then new passengers on boarded the following day. For those sailing on a B to B it would be an overnight in the port (not a bad thing) and would add another day to their B to B - would just have to figure out the pricing of that "extra day" for them. Always feel that those turn-around days must be dreaded by the crew for the amount of work they need to do in such a short amount of time.

 

 

[TRIPACIAN]

We just booked the November 6th, 2021 transatlantic from Lisbon to Miami On the Sojourn.  This works perfectly with a Douro River Cruise and a driving tour of 

Portugal.

[hamrag]

1 hour ago, robertmartha said:

....One thing I would love to see (but I know would never happen) would be a day between sailings....where a ship would be disembarked by noon - thoroughly cleaned over a 24 hr period and then new passengers on boarded the following day....

 

Indeed, and this would be immensely sensible so, on that basis.....!

[rkacruiser]

10 hours ago, Tapi said:

Because of my profession, I’ve been required to travel by airplane and stay at hotels during the entire pandemic, almost on a weekly basis. I guess I’ve grown accustomed to all the new protocols including using a face mask for prolonged periods of time, so the prospect of adhering to them in order to cruise in the future is not a deterrent. I’ve also been tested multiple times with another one coming up next week. 
 

I see a lot of people placing hopes on a vaccine in order to return to cruising. I humbly don’t see that as THE solution, but more as another layer of safety. If one becomes available, it will be great, but I don’t visualize it as the catalyst that will make cruising completely safe again. Even with a vaccine available, I foresee the current protocols of face masks and social distancing to continue for the foreseeable future. 

 

I really appreciate you posting these comments.  You are brave enough to travel frequently and are getting acclimated to the new requirements.  I cannot yet bring myself to go to a restaurant for an in-restaurant dining experience.  My Church begins in person services tomorrow morning; masks and social distancing required.  Social distancing, I can do.  Masks, I cannot yet bring myself to accept as the "new normal".  Learning the experiences from others as well as you who have been "out and about" and are still Covid free does make an impact on my thinking.  I need to screw up my courage and go beyond the drug store, the grocery store, the wine store, the gas station, the post office, and the doctors' offices.  Your post in encouraging me to do so.

 

Having a science background and knowing a bit about such research into vaccines, I am not hopeful that a vaccine is going to be developed that will offer much more of a hope that one does not contract the virus anymore than the flu vaccine.  And, I am sorry to have to inform POTUS, it won't be developed before November 3rd.  (If such is somehow developed, I won't be in line to receive it.)

 

 

[robertmartha]

RKA  - curious  on your comment  about the timing on the vaccine if one by chance is out in the fall - 

do you feel it would be rushed and approved to quickly without proper testing and could have side effects that may only come to light after the fact ? I for one keep saying I’ll be first in line ..... but my wife keeps saying not so fast !