Are you feeling more optimistic about cruising?

[photopro2]

I must admit that I reached a stage in the last few months when I did not even want to think about cruising, let alone make any detailed plans. There was no end in sight and it was impossible to imagine ever enjoying time on the ships in the way we had.

 

The very positive recent news regarding the vaccines has gone a long way to changing my mind though and I wonder how many of you are now feeling more optimistic too?

 

Of course, it is sad that we have had planned cruises cancelled but, at last, I feel DW and I can look forward to the trips we have booked to replace them. To illustrate this here is a couple of lines we hatched up together during a long, socially distanced walk along an isolated coastline. (With apologies to John Masefield!)

 

We must go out on the seas again; On the lovely Sea or The Sky?

And all we ask is a cruise ship and a bar to linger by. 😉

[eylarson]

Interesting tool in the NY Times to estimate how many people are ahead of you to get vaccine  based on age, health, where you live, and occupation.  Based on my characteristics and what we know about vaccine production (Note: Pfizer missed their 2020 production estimate by half!) I doubt we will cruise anywhere in 2021,  Not enough immunizations will be available, many countries will still have constraints on visitors, and there will be COVID 19 surges throughout the year, throughout the world.  We're booked on Viking Octantis in April 2022.  I do believe that's a go.   

Edited December 6, 2020 by eylarson

[TayanaLorna]

4 hours ago, photopro2 said:

I must admit that I reached a stage in the last few months when I did not even want to think about cruising, let alone make any detailed plans. There was no end in sight and it was impossible to imagine ever enjoying time on the ships in the way we had.

 

The very positive recent news regarding the vaccines has gone a long way to changing my mind though and I wonder how many of you are now feeling more optimistic too?

 

Of course, it is sad that we have had planned cruises cancelled but, at last, I feel DW and I can look forward to the trips we have booked to replace them. To illustrate this here is a couple of lines we hatched up together during a long, socially distanced walk along an isolated coastline. (With apologies to John Masefield!)

 

We must go out on the seas again; On the lovely Sea or The Sky?

And all we ask is a cruise ship and a bar to linger by. 😉

I too am cautiously optimistic.  Love your poetic lines.

[rbslos18]

Yes. I believe by the end of 2021, most of us will have been vaccinated. I will not cruise until it is a requirement to be vaccinated.

 

 I am increasingly optimistic that our late December Viking cruise will be a go. Now if only Viking can figure how to survive until them. Here’s hoping!

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, rbslos18 said:

Yes. I believe by the end of 2021, most of us will have been vaccinated. I will not cruise until it is a requirement to be vaccinated.

 

 I am increasingly optimistic that our late December Viking cruise will be a go. Now if only Viking can figure how to survive until them. Here’s hoping!

 

Required vaccination is not a new concept.

 

Until 1980, we all had to be vaccinated for small pox in order travel outside the US and we had to carry an internationally accepted proof of vaccination ( affectionately referred to as a "yellow card").  If you couldn't show proof of vaccination, not only could you not get into the country you were traveling to but you could not get back into the United States. Nobody argued. They carried their yellow cards and presented them along with their passports when asked. Smallpox is the only viral disease to have been eradicated.

 

Even today, there are some countries where you have to show proof of vaccination such diseases as Yellow Fever to enter the country and sometimes, you have to show proof of vaccination before entering other countries after traveling to a country that is known to have had Yellow Fever etc.

 

If a country says that you need a vaccination in order to enter the country, then you will need a vaccination to enter. Their country, their rules. If they say you need a visa, you need a visa. It is not up for discussion -- and its isn't covered by your insurance if you miss a whole cruise because you did not get the required inoculations or visas.

 

I would be very happy were the nations of the world to start requiring C-19 vaccinations in order to enter. That takes the onus off the cruise lines -- and the airlines and the hotels.

 

So, me, I fall into the cautiously optimistic camp. That multiple viable vaccines have been developed in such a short a mount of time has given me hope. (We still, after all these years, do not have an AIDS vaccine.) On the other hand, the financial situation has me worried; the longer the cruise industry is -- unlike hotels and airlines -- prevented from operating, the more pessimistic I get. I have more money tied up in vouchers than I feel comfortable having and I look forward to a speedy return to the waters.

[duquephart]

Although I hope my June Baltic cruise takes place I have overriding doubts that it will. The big question will be whether to pull the plug (refund) or accept another round of vouchers and rebook for summer 2022. Not getting any younger. Put me down as pessimistic.

[Pushka]

Certainly Australians won't be cruising anywhere overseas until at least July. Border closure announcement due tomorrow which extends it to end of March. We won't be getting any vaccinations until at least then. Likely end of 2021 before anything major can happen. 

[bishopbill]

Yes I am feeling more optimistic as I received my flight details from Viking for our Homelands trip in July 2021.  Perhaps it will go ahead, at least Viking are booking flights already so looking good.

 

 

[Peregrina651]

8 hours ago, duquephart said:

Although I hope my June Baltic cruise takes place I have overriding doubts that it will. The big question will be whether to pull the plug (refund) or accept another round of vouchers and rebook for summer 2022. Not getting any younger. Put me down as pessimistic.

 

IMHO, go for the cash. Just remember that if any part of your payment was with future cruise vouchers, they are not eligible for cash refund until two years from expiration.

[Jim Avery]

11 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

IMHO, go for the cash. Just remember that if any part of your payment was with future cruise vouchers, they are not eligible for cash refund until two years from expiration.

Good points P.  And I am pretty sure they will have to limit voucher use as operating ships full of voucher passengers is not feasible .  Must have cash flow from somewhere.  Remember, vouchers represent monies already spent last (this) year.

[duquephart]

4 hours ago, bishopbill said:

Yes I am feeling more optimistic as I received my flight details from Viking for our Homelands trip in July 2021.  Perhaps it will go ahead, at least Viking are booking flights already so looking good.

 

 

 

Not for Homelands in June they aren't.

[duquephart]

53 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

IMHO, go for the cash. Just remember that if any part of your payment was with future cruise vouchers, they are not eligible for cash refund until two years from expiration.

 

Would I not get my original cash outlay as an immediate cash refund?

[Jim Avery]

37 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Would I not get my original cash outlay as an immediate cash refund?

I think it depends on your definition of “immediate “.🍸

[Peregrina651]

30 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Would I not get my original cash outlay as an immediate cash refund?

 

If a voucher was used as part of the payment for the cruise, no. Once a voucher, always a voucher. Vouchers can only be refunded for cash after their two year expiration date.

 

If Viking cancels, they issue a 125% FCV as part of the cancellation e-mail. If you want a cash refund, you have 10 days to inform Viking. Even then, the refund is not 'immediate' because everything has to be double checked by the accounting department (fraud prevention in action?).

 

If you cancel, vouchers revert to their unused status and the balance is refunded to you.

[shank63]

11 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Required vaccination is not a new concept.

 

I would be very happy were the nations of the world to start requiring C-19 vaccinations in order to enter. That takes the onus off the cruise lines -- and the airlines and the hotels.

IMO, no one should be allowed on a cruise ship, an airplane or a hotel without a covid 19 vaccination until this pandemic has been obliterated.  The same applies to all countries with ports of call for cruise ships, required vaccinations.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

We recently canceled a June 2021 VO cruise, that we had paid in full.  Got a full credit on the credit card within a few days.

 

We canceled due to a number of uncertainties, not just covid uncertainty, though that was a factor.  We opted for a cash refund so as to maintain maximum flexibility.

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, shank63 said:

IMO, no one should be allowed on a cruise ship, an airplane or a hotel without a covid 19 vaccination until this pandemic has been obliterated.  The same applies to all countries with ports of call for cruise ships, required vaccinations.

 

I guess the governments of nations have to wait for there actually to be a viable vaccine before they can start passing laws that say you have to be vaccinated to enter our country or to return if you have traveled abroad.

 

I have a yellow card and I am taking it when I go to get vaccinated. I just hope that someone there will be able to fill it out and sign it and do whatever else is needed to certify the entry.

 

 

[Jim Avery]

6 hours ago, shank63 said:

IMO, no one should be allowed on a cruise ship, an airplane or a hotel without a covid 19 vaccination until this pandemic has been obliterated.  The same applies to all countries with ports of call for cruise ships, required vaccinations.

Shank, I understand your thoughts on this but what would happen if there are no ships, no planes, no hotels?  They are all in very high cash flow businesses.  If this shutting down is to be the new normal every time a new disease rears its ugly head, there will be no one willing to risk the huge sums required.  I have family on both sides of the US and in England.  I have spent my life traveling and cannot imagine a world without ships, planes, or hotels.  How many decades have they been working on flu shots?  Two years ago my Pharmacist said that years shot was about 15% effective.  Flu kills many thousands each year.  We simply cannot quit living for fear of dying..

[shank63]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

Shank, I understand your thoughts on this but what would happen if there are no ships, no planes, no hotels?  They are all in very high cash flow businesses.  If this shutting down is to be the new normal every time a new disease rears its ugly head, there will be no one willing to risk the huge sums required.  I have family on both sides of the US and in England.  I have spent my life traveling and cannot imagine a world without ships, planes, or hotels.  How many decades have they been working on flu shots?  Two years ago my Pharmacist said that years shot was about 15% effective.  Flu kills many thousands each year.  We simply cannot quit living for fear of dying..

Jim, my statement addresses the Covid 19 vaccine, no other vaccines.  Based on reports, there are at least 3 manufacturers with vaccines to be released within weeks with 90% - 95% effective rates.  My position is simply this:  with these vaccines available in 2021, why allow travel for those who chose to not be vaccinated?  I totally agree with you that we cannot quit living for fear of dying.   I have traveled in 2020 by air, both in the US and to Aruba, following the required masking and social distancing procedures, and required covid testing.  I just think that we should be reasonably intelligent about dealing with this pandemic, and if there is a 95% effective vaccine available why not use it.

Edited December 8, 2020 by shank63

[Jim Avery]

I will be getting it too.  I am sure it will be required for international travel just like the shot card from years ago many have mentioned. 

[Hockeyump]

Vaccinations started in the UK today so the light has been switched on at the end of the tunnel.  It's only a flicker and the tunnel is long but It's a positive step.

[Porcupine 52]

I was lucky enough to be part of the Pfizer vaccine trial.  In talking to some of the other people in the trial I think I got the real shot not the placebo.  The reason I feel that way?  It hurt some and I was  tired for a day or so.  My friends that were in the study that also got shots they said they didn't feel a thing.  I would put the pain that I had similar to the shingles shot I had a few years ago.

 

According to the testing folks we get to find out this week if we got the real shot or the placebo.  If you got the placebo they will give you option of getting the real one ASAP.

 

I can not tell you how may people I have talked to that said they will not get the vaccine.  Said it was too soon to tell what the side affects will be.  For myself I will take the chance on the vaccine rather than the Virus.

 

We are still going to try to go to Hawaii in January.  Hawaii already has a travel app. set up for your phone to see if you have had your required Corona test.  I assume airlines and some countries will go to some kind of system like Hawaii has with the testing App.  Could be part of your boarding pass?....Like your Pre TSA.  Scan your boarding pass... If you had the vaccine welcome on board... If not you can't get on the plane.

[rbslos18]

We and the cruise lines are in survival mode. A younger sibling nearly died from COVID. Without exception, they had only left their home to walk their dog. Even the Health Department could not figure out when, how the virus was contacted. And yet, recently at a funeral a couple of people refused to wear a mask. The clergyman had a great response. Mask up or you are performing the funeral. I’m leaving! 

 

What’s keeping my sanity is walking, Cruise Critic and pretend planning for a December 2021 cruise which experts tell me is a good bet. After 32 cruises, we have had to cancel the last three. Enough!!! I’m ready.

Edited December 8, 2020 by rbslos18

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, Hockeyump said:

Vaccinations started in the UK today so the light has been switched on at the end of the tunnel.  It's only a flicker and the tunnel is long but It's a positive step.

 

We know a couple of octogenarians in England, who are scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday).

[Peregrina651]

8 hours ago, Porcupine 52 said:

I can not tell you how may people I have talked to that said they will not get the vaccine.  Said it was too soon to tell what the side affects will be.  For myself I will take the chance on the vaccine rather than the Virus.

 

I would like think that by the time it is their turn to be vaccinated that so many people will already have been vaccinated that we have a reliable sample to judge the side effects.