WITHDRAWAL...

[Realblonde474]

How is everyone handling the "cruise withdrawal" issues.  I haven't been on this site for awhile or allowed myself to dream/plan for our upcoming cruise in May of 2021. What about y'all, are you doing sort of any travel until we can board our favorite mode of vacation? 

 

Donna

[ColeThornton]

No withdrawals and no travel.  Until restrictions are much less than they are right now all over the country I'll just be staying at home biding my time. 

 

Not fun at all, but sacrifices have to be made.

[ldubs]

We have started doing some driving trips to various parts of the state we have never visited before.   I also get the boat out at least weekly, though my normal go-to lake options are narrowed due to the recent wildfires.   

 

We miss going on big vacations.  Mrs Ldubs retired earlier this year looking forward to a lot more travel.  Little did she know she would spend her retirement in lock-down mode.   Had she known, she would not have retired.  We do look at future cruises, from time to time.   Currently, we are just hesitant to book anything until there is more clarity about the pandemic and cruising.   

 

You know, we are so used to the relative isolation and masks that it will seem weird when things start to return to normal.  

 

[mom says]

As Cole T. said - No withdrawal and no travel for us. Just resignation that we will need to play the waiting game. Fortunately for us, we actually enjoy our home and have enough varied pastimes to keep us occupied. 

Edited September 15, 2020 by mom says

[c-boy]

aww boy we had so much planned for this year in the way of travel. Now we're makin' it up on the fly. Camp grounds are booked out  four weeks, so that's a no go. Fortunately we have a summer home on the coast but the smoke is so bad that we wanna pack up and leave to ...  hmmmmm.... nope they're booked too. I guess we will learn to play pickle ball. P s. good to have ya back Realblonde474

[ontheweb]

I think I went through some withdrawal symptoms in late July/early August when we were supposed to be travelling. Now it all seems so far in the distant past.

[BSR]

We are vacationing in Big Bear and smoke is very bad. Ashes flying around and at times you can't see across the lake.  All hiking trails are closed.

[Sea Hag]

We've done a few rv trips and have one planned for the end of this month, a week on the north coast. That's if the fire/smoke situation cooperates. We've been stuck in the house for a couple of weeks due to smoke, and that's really getting to me. Can't get out to hike or walk. 

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, ldubs said:

We have started doing some driving trips to various parts of the state we have never visited before.   I also get the boat out at least weekly, though my normal go-to lake options are narrowed due to the recent wildfires.   

 

We miss going on big vacations.  Mrs Ldubs retired earlier this year looking forward to a lot more travel.  Little did she know she would spend her retirement in lock-down mode.   Had she known, she would not have retired.  We do look at future cruises, from time to time.   Currently, we are just hesitant to book anything until there is more clarity about the pandemic and cruising.   

 

You know, we are so used to the relative isolation and masks that it will seem weird when things start to return to normal.  

2 hours ago, Realblonde474 said:

How is everyone handling the "cruise withdrawal" issues.  I haven't been on this site for awhile or allowed myself to dream/plan for our upcoming cruise in May of 2021. What about y'all, are you doing sort of any travel until we can board our favorite mode of vacation? 

 

Donna

No traveling .I have been spending my time watching great shows on Netflix such as Money Heist.I have also reconnected with friends from high school in NY who are now all over the country.I have had many interesting phone conversations.

[Tapi]

We were fortunate enough to cruise on Feb 2020 (aboard Nieuw Statendam) a few weeks before the cruise industry shut down. So that has helped with cruise withdrawal because we got to cruise this year. We planned our next cruise for 2021, even before the  pandemic. 

 

As far as other vacations go, we took flew to Puerto Rico for a week long vacation in July. We stayed at a beach front condo on the west side of the island. We spent the week in relative isolation but it was absolutely blissful.

 

We will be returning to Puerto Rico for another week over Thanksgiving with similar plans. Hope that’s enough to to hold me over until our next cruise! 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Tapi

[George C]

We were lucky too did a really great music charter with tons of great music on Celebrity in a royal suite in end of February. Since we can not travel we have been going to more restaurants then normal, our favorite which we go to about twice a week has excellent food and even better entertainment, they and some other restaurants in area are offering half price wine by the bottle so life is good. 

[Cruzaholic41]

9 minutes ago, George C said:

We were lucky too did a really great music charter with tons of great music on Celebrity in a royal suite in end of February. Since we can not travel we have been going to more restaurants then normal, our favorite which we go to about twice a week has excellent food and even better entertainment, they and some other restaurants in area are offering half price wine by the bottle so life is good. 

Same here. I completed the best cruise of my life on Celebrity Flora not long before the shutdown. Now, I’m eating out 3-4 times a week. I miss cruising, but it’s not preventing me from living my life. 

[clo]

17 minutes ago, George C said:

We were lucky too did a really great music charter with tons of great music on Celebrity in a royal suite in end of February. Since we can not travel we have been going to more restaurants then normal, our favorite which we go to about twice a week has excellent food and even better entertainment, they and some other restaurants in area are offering half price wine by the bottle so life is good. 

Our restaurants are struggling and some have closed permanently. With 25% or 50% capacity, six feet social distancing and some people just not wanting to do inside dining it's tough. Bars that don't serve food will reopen tomorrow and we'll have to see if it lasts. With people being idiots I'm not betting on it. But we have bought caviar and foie gras and brought it back from Seattle.

[George C]

17 minutes ago, clo said:

Our restaurants are struggling and some have closed permanently. With 25% or 50% capacity, six feet social distancing and some people just not wanting to do inside dining it's tough. Bars that don't serve food will reopen tomorrow and we'll have to see if it lasts. With people being idiots I'm not betting on it. But we have bought caviar and foie gras and brought it back from Seattle.

Our restaurants were at 75 but at 50 for about two months , bars are closed , some of the restaurants are ignoring the 50 percent but if there caught they will be shutdown. Somehow Billy Bobs one of the largest bars in the world with seating up to 6,000 has now been classified a restaurant. Foie gras sounds really great , need to talk to the chef at our favorite restaurant to get some.

Edited September 15, 2020 by George C
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[George C]

54 minutes ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

Same here. I completed the best cruise of my life on Celebrity Flora not long before the shutdown. Now, I’m eating out 3-4 times a week. I miss cruising, but it’s not preventing me from living my life. 

We looked at Flora I am sure that was a Amazing cruise. 

[Realblonde474]

We live on a gentleman's farm in the mountains/hills of the Southeast and have been enjoying too much time on the lake.  Next we are taking a quick trip to Pawley's Island, SC.  Its nice but it's not the same as cruising. 

 

I wonder/worry about the employees and secondary businesses impacted by the cruise lines extended shutdown.  

 

Edited September 17, 2020 by Realblonde474
pic

[clo]

31 minutes ago, Realblonde474 said:

I wonder/worry about the employees and secondary businesses impacted by the cruise lines extended shutdown.  

 

It's far, far bigger than that. The majority of restaurants may go out of business due to COVID-related restrictions. In some cities beauty parlors and the like are still closed. Hospitality employees have lost their jobs. Our local food bank's requests are up 50%. It's an enormous problem with no end in sight. Except when I'm on CC I rarely think of intl travel of any sort.

[Aquahound]

43 minutes ago, Realblonde474 said:

 

I wonder/worry about the employees and secondary businesses impacted by the cruise lines extended shutdown.  

 

 

Great picture of the 2 of you. 🙂

 

And yes, seeing as this is a cruise board, I totally share your concern with people and business, small and large, impacted by the cruise shut down.  Although, I do wonder how widespread it really is.  In many cruise ports around the Caribbean and Alaska, many of the shops are not locally...or even by folks of that nation...owned so the local impact is questionable.  Definitely vendors and local tour operators are being impacted though.

 

The employees piece is interesting.  Especially in the case of NCL who put all their ships in cool shutdown, I have to wonder how many crewmembers sought other employment.  There could be a bit of a staffing struggle as lines begin to reopen.  

[ilikeanswers]

I suppose I was lucky I had an international trip that got cut short by border closures but I suppose it will keep the cravings away for awhile😂. I just completed a short nine day driving trip around my state. If the state borders open I have a plan for a country wide trip so I will find a way to adapt my travels to the situation. I guess I am lucky that I have a wide range of interests so I can enjoy many different types of trips. I know people for whom it is either one type of holiday or nothing so I guess for them it is no surprise the situation makes them feel constricted🙄.

[clo]

3 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

I suppose I was lucky I had an international trip that got cut short by border closures but I suppose it will keep the cravings away for awhile😂. I just completed a short nine day driving trip around my state. If the state borders open I have a plan for a country wide trip so I will find a way to adapt my travels to the situation. I guess I am lucky that I have a wide range of interests so I can enjoy many different types of trips. I know people for whom it is either one type of holiday or nothing so I guess for them it is no surprise the situation makes them feel constricted🙄.

I think that's a very good explanation. We've done three, one week plus trips from NorCal to Seattle in the last three months,  visiting different places each time. Enjoyed them immensely and are going to sit down soon and figure out another one for this year. We saw some beautiful sights, had some GREAT food, talked to a bunch of fun people.  I hope Canada will eventually let us back in but considering our mishandling of COVID who knows?  We had a cruise canceled that was six days of a two week plus trip. And then an all cruise (with a few days pre and post) Baltic/Scandinavian trip.  So the point is that we also enjoy all manner of travel.

Edited September 18, 2020 by clo

[Joebucks]

Just got back from a beach vacation. Some areas were crowded, some were not. Wore our masks when we had to. We still enjoyed ourselves very much. We supported local business. No one got sick. Never noticed a sick person. Blows my mind that people choose to sit at home.

[ldubs]

Sheesh, I think I can say I miss international travel, including cruises, without meaning I can't enjoy other things.  And, just because I enjoy other things does not mean that I don't really miss international travel including cruising.   I have no problem that there are a segment for who cruising is far and away the preferred vacation.  

[WI-TX]

On 9/15/2020 at 11:06 AM, Realblonde474 said:

How is everyone handling the "cruise withdrawal" issues.  I haven't been on this site for awhile or allowed myself to dream/plan for our upcoming cruise in May of 2021. What about y'all, are you doing sort of any travel until we can board our favorite mode of vacation? 

 

Donna

Hoping our Carnival Panama Canal cruise in Jan will sail. Totally agree with the withdrawal. Normally cruise twice a year. NONE this year SOB!!! Have not traveled at all. Just keep hitting the cruise websites, watching for DEALS. Have 2 scheduled 2021, 1 for 2022. 

[chipmaster]

We had a Baltic cruise penciled in, but the Pandemic shut that down, since than we've think our next cruise is closer to 2022.

 

We had Canada/Whistler planned for June, oops, July, oops December, oops now January.

 

Have swapped in Hawaii for December and some local parks instead.   

[GTO-Girl]

Some may disagree so if you do please  be kind.....LOL 😁😁

 

Since April I have:

Been back to the gym,

gotten my hair and nails done numerous times

Been shopping

been out to eat numerous times 

been to the beach at least three times this summer

And generally continue to live my life 

 

We are both around 70yrs old.  We wear our mask when required, wash our hands frequently, do not touch our faces and keep a 6ft buffer when possible.  I will not be reckless but I am not giving COVID a year of my life.  
 

As I said.....we do wear masks when required, but will not spend my life sitting at home...