Cruising from Tampa Post-COVID

[cruisinagain1960]

We currently have a 4/9 cruise booked out of Tampa - 10 nights.  

 

I'm thinking this cruise is going to get cancelled since the reports from the Tampa Port are stating they don't anticipate cruising to begin again until mid-April.  Also, being a 10 day cruise, I'm fairly sure there will be no cruises longer than 7 days til probably. mid-year 2021.

 

We've only paid the deposit so far and I'm budgeting for paying this off, but would prefer not to tie funds up on a cruise that most likely won't go til 2022.

 

Does anyone have any insight as to when cruising will resume from Tampa and will Celebrity be sailing out of Tampa when cruises restart?  The article I read about the port's thoughts said that they thought one Carnival ship would start sailing mid-April and there was no mention at all of any Celebrity ship sailing at all...

[wrk2cruise]

We are also on this sailing and the one before.  Nobody can say at this point what will be happening in that timeframe.  Like you I suspect the restart will start with short sailings and it will be awhile before the 10/11 and longer itineraries restart.  I think it will be another month before we find out what the restart plans are.   Then it will be another couple of months to see how they are working out and what adjustments have to be made.   I'm not making any final payments before I'm comfortable that the sailing will be happening under conditions that I'm comfortable.

[jelayne]

Doubt anyone on these boards have any reliable information on what ships, what ports, what length cruises will be sailing in April.  That’s over 6 months away and a lot will probably change between now and then.  

[EatonDoolittle]

1 hour ago, cruisinagain1960 said:

We currently have a 4/9 cruise booked out of Tampa - 10 nights.  

 

Does anyone have any insight as to when cruising will resume from Tampa and will Celebrity be sailing out of Tampa when cruises restart?  

 

I have no insight, and unlike many on here, I think it is futile to speculate.

However, I do have a 5 day Western out of Tampa on Royal Caribbean booked for Jan 4. 

 

I found a sweet deal a few months back, so I do plan to make final payment on Oct 6 unless I hear otherwise from them.

RC is not my preferred line, not do I specifically enjoy short trips, but I booked it as a possible opportunity to get back out there, and to see how they are planning to manage things.  Plus Tampa is such a great port to sail from. 

 

I'll keep everybody posted, because it is safe to assume RC and X will decide on similar post virus policies. 

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, EatonDoolittle said:

 

I have no insight, and unlike many on here, I think it is futile to speculate.

However, I do have a 5 day Western out of Tampa on Royal Caribbean booked for Jan 4. 

 

I found a sweet deal a few months back, so I do plan to make final payment on Oct 6 unless I hear otherwise from them.

RC is not my preferred line, not do I specifically enjoy short trips, but I booked it as a possible opportunity to get back out there, and to see how they are planning to manage things.  Plus Tampa is such a great port to sail from. 

 

I'll keep everybody posted, because it is safe to assume RC and X will decide on similar post virus policies. 

There will be no RC or X to decide on policies if they are waiting until "post virus".

[tallnthensome]

6 hours ago, cruisinagain1960 said:

Does anyone have any insight as to when cruising will resume from Tampa and will Celebrity be sailing out of Tampa when cruises restart?  The article I read about the port's thoughts said that they thought one Carnival ship would start sailing mid-April and there was no mention at all of any Celebrity ship sailing at all...

That’s like asking what tonight’s lottery numbers will be. Who here on CC could possibly know that if the cruise lines don’t ? Posts like this make me cringe. 

[sunonfire]

I think this is the article the OP was referring to - 

 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2020/08/20/tampa-port-forecasts-limited-return-for-cruise-ships-by-april/

[hcat]

We did a "lift and shift"  on our 10 night Connie cruise from Tampa in Jan 2021.

Moved to Reflection  2022 from Port Ev.  Similar itin, same great price and perks !

Disappointed we won't cruise from Tampa but reality set in!

[DiamondDiva]

I just did a Life and Shift today on our Connie Tampa trip from Jan 2021 to Jan 2022.  Was able to keep the onboard pricing and perks we had, which was very good compared to a regular price for that trip in a Sky.  Took a bit of work, as there was an issue with the first printout not matching what was said on the phone, but it was corrected quickly when I called back.  Wait times were minimal. 

Our final was due in 3 weeks for Jan 2021 and we did not wish to make a final pay at this point.  In some ways we will be happy for the Connie to not have been redone...we were not very pleased with our refurbished Sky, the Lounge, or the unreachable Retreat (long-broken mini elevator) late last fall on a refurbished ship.  Found the rooms very uncomfortable, very tight with furniture and lots of "things" around the room, no bar camaraderie in the Lounge (and bad chairs), etc.  So a bit of spruce-up and cleaning on Connie will hopefully be done and we hope to be good to go in 15 months! 

[hcat]

Hope it works out...

I did not realize  final payment was due so soon for Jan 2021 cruises..We recently did our lift and shift  so glad we did it already,  

 

We shifted to Reflection based on  age and condition of the ships and the diff itin . Neither will be refurbed but hope some sprucing up will be done, we have a Sky suite, aft.  Nice!

[DiamondDiva]

Yes, ours was due Oct 6th for early Jan 2021.  Enjoy your trip.  It is nice have something planned....

 

[Mr&MrsBee]

Time for LLP to **** or get off the pot in regard Tampa sailings!!!!

[hcat]

Are the ports on the Tampa  itins open?  Ours was  going to be a 10 night cruise.

Def interestd in Tampa  in late 2022.

[Mr&MrsBee]

I believe the Port of Tampa will have cruise ships sailings until  mid April thus no cruise in Dec. of 2020.  Hopefully we will get our money back and then no more  Celebrity for us.  We have had many enjoyable cruises and met some wonderful people.   LLP has changed all of that.