Celebrity will NOT allow private/non-cruise line shore excursions after restart

[mikkelhansen]

This was mentioned in a travel agent webinar, released today. I have not found the info on any other channels, neither celebrity.com or any cruise news sites.

The info is given from timestamp 3:30 in this webinar, and no private excursions is explicitly mentioned at timestamp 5:00: https://www.gotostage.com/channel/69b0d74ffeb14d6f8fa69d0d13b87437/recording/ef290a8117a04d159638492a190c5eb2/watch?source=CHANNEL

Everyone can watch/listen to the webinar, just enter a random first and last name and a fictitious e-mail or your personal e-mail.

[PTC DAWG]

I expect this to be the norm on most lines for a while..

[Orator]

They need to control the exposure of passengers to protect them from themselves. Hopefully, things will return to almost normal was the Covid crisis is over.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

This will be the same for ALL cruise lines for the better part of 2021 I'd expect.  It's already the requirement for MSC, Costa, TUI, AIDA, etc operating in Europe at present

[jelayne]

 We expected that based on the initial sailing in Europe.  

[cruisemom42]

I wonder how this will be made clear to already booked passengers for 2021?  I would definitely cancel my B2B Med cruises starting next September if that is the case, but I'm not sure how transparent the lines will be with sharing that info in advance of, say, final payment.

 

[sfaaa]

A small price to pay for cruising until all passengers can be vaccinated.

[ALANG]

20 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I wonder how this will be made clear to already booked passengers for 2021?  I would definitely cancel my B2B Med cruises starting next September if that is the case, but I'm not sure how transparent the lines will be with sharing that info in advance of, say, final payment.

 

I believe that having only cruise line excursions will be a non-starter for many, especially for those who have scheduled a cruise in Europe.  A question to ask is, " If it considered not safe to have private excursions, is is safe to cruise".   

[Goodtime Cruizin]

3 hours ago, Orator said:

They need to control the exposure of passengers to protect them from themselves. Hopefully, things will return to almost normal was the Covid crisis is over.

 

I'll say it again... if the powers to be at Celebrity or any cruiseline believe that the Covid virus is soo bad that they must PROTECT their paying customers, they should NOT allow for cruising to even start. This type of behavoir modification alone allows them to become complicit to responsiblity if death occurs to their customer. 

[Goodtime Cruizin]

6 minutes ago, ALANG said:

I believe that having only cruise line excursions will be a non-starter for many, especially for those who have scheduled a cruise in Europe.  A question to ask is, " If it considered not safe to have private excursions, is is safe to cruise".   

 

Exactly. Apparently revenue is the deciding factor. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by Goodtime Cruizin

[Goodtime Cruizin]

14 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

A small price to pay for cruising until all passengers can be vaccinated.

 

How does one weigh the cost of death? 

We wear masks. We get vaccinated. Why can we not mingle with those that are not vaccinated? The vaciination is 95% effective. If the 5% is detrimental then cruising should cease immdeiately. 

 

[Fouremco]

11 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

A small price to pay for cruising until all passengers can be vaccinated.

For you perhaps, but for the many passengers it's totally unacceptable. We won't cruise again until this restriction is lifted. 

[miched]

We have B2B cruises booked and paid for in Feb.  

 

We don’t do tours and normally just get off and walk around.   On these cruises we plan on staying on board as we would hate to be denied boarding at some port.   We plan on enjoying our suite that we were able to get at a ridiculous price with all the perks for about $200/nt PP with about $700 in SBC

 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[sfaaa]

Cruise lines are not forcing anyone to cruise. If one is not willing to accept the terms in the cruise contract, save the money and stay home.

[cruisemom42]

1 minute ago, sfaaa said:

Cruise lines are not forcing anyone to cruise. If one is not willing to accept the terms in the cruise contract, save the money and stay home.

 

I'm not looking to book a new cruise under these restrictions, I'm asking about a future cruise purchased before they were announced. Sheesh.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

5 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Cruise lines are not forcing anyone to cruise. If one is not willing to accept the terms in the cruise contract, save the money and stay home.

 

You're post is incorrect. They are indeed FORCING us to cruise in a different format and standard than before.  Bottomline if they are concerned with death they should be 'protecting' you by not allowing you on the ship. 

[WonderMan3]

I will be cancelling my May Greek Isles cruise on Infinity if it is operating with these restrictions.

[jelayne]

Some ports don’t want passengers from cruise ships wandering at will.  The cruise lines don’t want the virus brought on the ships from passengers getting off in port and doing their own thing  sans masks, social distancing, possibly patronizing restaurants, bars etc that don’t sanitize properly.  
 

The cruise lines can’t afford another large outbreak on a ship and  ports don’t want people from other places bringing the virus to them.

 

we currently have 2 cruises left  for 2021;   1 Caribbean where we don’t care to get off the ship and 1 Europe which we will cancel if by fall ships tours only are still  required. 

[DrKoob]

3 hours ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

 

I'll say it again... if the powers to be at Celebrity or any cruiseline believe that the Covid virus is soo bad that they must PROTECT their paying customers, they should NOT allow for cruising to even start. This type of behavoir modification alone allows them to become complicit to responsiblity if death occurs to their customer. 

 

And yet 100,000 people applied to do the test cruises. If they don't restart early in 2021, they may never restart. It can be done safely, but there will have to be rules to start. 

 

That said, we are really glad that our July 2021 cruise is on Flora in the Galapagos because the only way you can do any shore excursions there is with X. Ecuador law. 

[mom says]

3 hours ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

 

You're post is incorrect. They are indeed FORCING us to cruise in a different format and standard than before.  Bottomline if they are concerned with death they should be 'protecting' you by not allowing you on the ship. 

Did I miss something that said pax are legally forbidden from cancelling a cruise or changing to a later date? No one is forced to sail if they don't want to. 

 

By now, everyone knows the risks of acquiring COVID, unless they live in a cave or are a complete moron. The cruise lines are going to be following the health guidelines set out by the CDC to minimize the COVID risk, but no reasonable person could assume there would be NO risk.. And YOU are responsible for deciding whether or not cruising outweighs the risks and the imposed limitations. The cruise line is not your Mommy. 

[Miaminice]

7 hours ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

 

I'll say it again... if the powers to be at Celebrity or any cruiseline believe that the Covid virus is soo bad that they must PROTECT their paying customers, they should NOT allow for cruising to even start. This type of behavoir modification alone allows them to become complicit to responsiblity if death occurs to their customer. ...

...

We wear masks. We get vaccinated. Why can we not mingle with those that are not vaccinated? The vaciination is 95% effective. If the 5% is detrimental then cruising should cease immdeiately. 

...

You are neglecting 3 facts in your posts:

1. It wasn´t a choice of the cruise line but part of the guidelines (not only in the US) and also requirements of the ports.

 

2. This isn´t about just about protecting the customer but controlling them! They guides are responsible to see where people go, what they do, if they wear masks etc. It´s part of protecting the safer environment on the ship.

BTW: we have done a cruise and excursions under the guidelines. They make sense it it wasn´t so bad at all. I prefer individual tours, but if that´s what it takes I can choose if I am OK with it or not.

3. The current vaccines protect the vaccinated person from becoming ill with Covid not from being infectious. A vaccinated person can still spread the virus. Maybe you might still want to care about others?!

[Miaminice]

7 hours ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

 

You're post is incorrect. They are indeed FORCING us to cruise in a different format and standard than before.  Bottomline if they are concerned with death they should be 'protecting' you by not allowing you on the ship. 

What happened to freedom and responsibility?! 

You are free to cancel and even if cruises sail and they allow you on the ship, you are free not to book or sail! Nobody is twisting you arm to cruise.

 

[Miaminice]

7 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

I will be cancelling my May Greek Isles cruise on Infinity if it is operating with these restrictions.

 

As long as these guidelines exist, existing cruises will be cancelled anyways and the new adapted cruises opened for booking.
That´s how all cruise lines already sailing did it - Celebrity will not be an exception.
Plus, it´s the only way it makes sense.

[rachiem]

I've found that Celebrity excursions are cheap compared to the NCL ones. I have a cruise booked with NCL in Sept and don't think I could afford their excursions for all the ports on my 11 night cruise. Would have to loose my deposit and cancel.

I wonder whether the ports could work with organised local land tour companies.  I can see some of the cruise lines increasing the excursion prices if there is no competition?

[emmas gran]

56 minutes ago, rachiem said:

I've found that Celebrity excursions are cheap compared to the NCL ones. I have a cruise booked with NCL in Sept and don't think I could afford their excursions for all the ports on my 11 night cruise. Would have to loose my deposit and cancel.

I wonder whether the ports could work with organised local land tour companies.  I can see some of the cruise lines increasing the excursion prices if there is no competition?

 

MSC have these rules and when a family of 4 left the ship tour in Italy they were refused boarding when they got back to the ship