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Cruiseline only excursions? No wandering off in port by yourself


fstuff1
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if X follows msc and does this to prevent Covid, then i'm not sure i want to cruise.

i like wondering off in some ports and explore.

 

i dont want to be stuck on the ship when it's in port.

(and i have access to the Suite Lounge and unlimited Internet. :classic_ohmy:

 

How do you feel about cruise line only excursions for the foreseeable future?

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If that’s one of the requirements to cruise I’d do it. Until there is a vaccine and Covid is controlled life will continue to be different.  I currently do what is needed to stay safe (mask, social distancing, limited contact with friends) so will do the same if and when cruising resumes.

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For me, this is fine if I am visiting the Caribbean.  However I would have to think twice about this for destination cruises that are port intensive like Europe and Alaska (and our southeast Asia cruise next year).....

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We also like to wander off and explore ports on our own, but given the choice of cruising with ship excursions or staying at home where we also can't do most of the things we like, we'll happily opt for cruising with ship excursions.

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Not interested in doing Celebrity only excursions. Not interested in staying on the ship if we don't do Celebrity only excursions. Not interested in cruising no matter the cruise line under those restrictions! But I didn't say never either. 😏

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We have no problem with ship excursions.  We don’t do the Caribbean anymore, usually Europe or TAs.  Any excursion that takes me to Tuscany,  Florence,  Copenhagen, etc. is fine by us!  That being said, there are some ports we love to roam about on our own, so that will be a loss for sure, but not a deal breaker.

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If it is ships excursions only, we either book a excursion or stay on ship.  We are not fans of the Caribbean so we will just stay on the ship if our February cruise sails. In October if it is still ship excursions we take ship excursions.

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I would be pleased if excursions were restricted in ports where there are recent reported COVID cases.  Whether the excursions were directly from the ship or designated controlled excursions managed by the port country.

I would be uncomfortable having people return to the ship after wandering around the port without restrictions.  I could also understand why a country may wish to control visitors even if there do not have local spread.

The bottom line is that I think it is an excellent idea until the spread is totally under control.  Otherwise we may not be cruising for another year or two.  I want cruising to restart ASAP, so I may chose whether I want to cruise.  At this point if my January 2021 Panama cruise departs, I will be on it.   Same for my scheduled TA for October 2021 and cruise scheduled for January 2022.  
 

If warranted, I may chose to stay on the ship at some or all ports.  

Edited by jagoffee
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10 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

It's not likely this will be the requirement forever, just at first. If you are not a fan then wait to cruise.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

 

This is exactly my thinking. While I understand the temporary need, it cuts out too much of the reason I travel for me to be interested. When things go back to normal, presumably this requirement will be dropped and I will resume cruising.

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It sure depends on the ports for us...

 

As some of you know we are currently reporting from a cruise sailing under the guidelines and we had to book the excursions with the cruise line. Usually that would be a no go for us...
 

In the two ports in Greece we simply booked tours which didn´t involve the crowded buses - e-bike and e-scooter tours. So that was OK and even great fun.

We love more exotic destinations like Asia, South America etc. Would a cruise in Asia etc. be the same for us if we would be required to do a ship tour instead of the private guide tours we usually do with a group of 6 max? Definitely not.

But as someone mentioned above... this is the start. Better safe than sorry.

One can choose to accept the requirements or choose to wait until everything is (almost) back to normal.

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2 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

 We don’t do the Caribbean anymore, usually Europe or TAs.  Any excursion that takes me to Tuscany,  Florence,  Copenhagen, etc. is fine by us!  That being said, there are some ports we love to roam about on our own, so that will be a loss for sure, but not a deal break

I also have no interest in the Caribbean. Like you, my cruise interests are mostly European with a smattering of Asian. Mandated ship excursions would be a deal breaker for me - I will simply forego cruising until it is safe to once again DIY in ports of call. 

Edited by dogs4fun
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I will just be happy to cruise as soon as I can and will follow whatever mandates there are.  We like to book private excursions, but it will not keep us from sailing to have to use Celebrity's.  I just wish they were a little more reasonably priced.  I think it will be a temporary restriction, based on what the Healthy Sail Panel indicated.

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I'm hoping for them to at least allow certain private tour companies that have submitted their policy & guidelines to be able to offer private tours. After all the ships use private local tour companies they've contracted with.

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  • Host Kat changed the title to Cruiseline only excursions? No wandering off in port by yourself

Next cruise is Hawaii in Jan. of 2022 and I will cancel if that is in place at that time. Not interested at all in that kind of experience. And, to make it even worse, if they have to do social distancing on the bus, they will need more busses ad I would expect the cost (already excessive) to jump.

No Thanks!

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I could probably manage with this guideline for the Caribbean but not for Europe, which I have a cruise for in May. That's a deal breaker and I will cancel if this policy is put in place. One of the highlights of visiting Europe for me is wandering through ports exploring little shops and looking for interesting things to photograph and if I do book a tour I prefer booking private excursions where I don't have to travel in a group.

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If I can sail safe I am fine without going into a port.  
 

We basically sail only in the Caribbean and been there many times at some  ports we stay on board.   We don’t need any more boring hurry up and wait tours, or in the market to purchase anything 

 

Happy  to stay on board and enjoy ship  and the perks we paid for

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited by miched
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That is a rough one.  We really only book private tours (usually adding a few people from Cruise Critic to join us).  They are typically smaller, less expensive and more in depth.   In general, Celebrity tours are at least twice as much.  If they have you over a barrel, then they would probably jack the price up even more. It will be interesting to read what the first cruisers have to say about this.

 

M

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My friends and I have Equinox in the Caribbean booked for January.  We are going to escape the frigid Chicago winter...doesn't really matter how I get to the beach as long as I get to the beach.  I've already researched Celebrity excursions rather than getting to the beach independently and find that the cost will be pretty close (transportation, lounge chair & umbrella).  The only downside is not having the option to stay as long as I'd like...or being able to wander through town and have lunch at a favorite spot after a day at the beach.  

Different case for Reflection TA next October.  Our hope is that restrictions will loosen up by then so that we can enjoy Villefrance & Barcelona on our own.  

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On 10/5/2020 at 11:26 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I wouldn't care about this in the Caribbean as I never get off the ship there.  However, for any other cruise, it would be a deal breaker.

 

for me, aruba/st marteen/bahamas/st kitts would be a deal breaker for me if i couldnt do stuff on my own.

 

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If we cannot  take private tours, or explore on our own we will not cruise.  We have been on a number of cruises and have visited numerous countries as well as the islands. Yes, we enjoy the ship, however a large part of cruising  is seeing the ports you are paying the cruise line to bring you do.    We have a Panama Canal cruise booked for next fall and a Caribbean cruise for January 2022.  While we have done both of these cruises before the excitement is in looking forward to taking some of the same private tours.   We will just have to wait and see what happens.

 

When cruising we usually go several days early and stay several days after.  How does that fit into the equation?

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