Will Cunard sail in 2021?

[oskidunker]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

Production needs to be speeded up - that is a certainty;  but I have to wonder if not reserving enough for the second dose at the proper interval might  lead to iefficacy (ie. waste) of the first dose .   
 

Thats the danger  .

 

[lindalulabel]

On 1/8/2021 at 1:48 PM, Bertie Doe said:

 

I agree Victoria, you've got to look on the bright side. My wife and I are booked on Queen Elizabeth for 2 weeks, out of Southampton on 14th June 2021. If the cruise gets cancelled, we'll simply transfer cruise credits to 2022.

 

Got one bit of "REAL NEWS" from Cunard yesterday "When you made your booking we would have advised you that the full balance for your holiday is due 90 days before departure. However in light of the on-going situation regarding Covid-19 and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office guidance on cruising, we wanted to reassure you that we will only recommence sailing when it is the right time to do so. We have therefore taken the decision to relax our balance due payments terms to 30 days prior to departure, meaning you now have a little more time before you have to pay your final balance"

 

Both Real news AND  good news

We had our transatlantic cruise cancelled last Sept, we moved it to May this year, had to pay an extra £260 by 7th Jan..  which we paid. Im wondering why we never got a message from Cunard.. Im confused!!

[ighten]

I can see summer scenics possibly starting up if the vaccines have taken a Significant load of the NHS so that its almost at normal for the year lvls...  Though I suspect these will still be port free and masked in public areas - and resident only.

 

Cant see Normal cruising returning to the Med for a while - though I suspect we will see a return to Canaries in time for winter 21.

 

Its too hard to guess tbf - it could all go swimmingly well in the UK and EU (not sure about the US as its far more complex state by state) - Then again a spanner could be thrown in the works at any point -

 

Im not sure though that the industry can survive another year without significant changes to fleet size and brand variety.

 

BY the way 2021 shows up fine when I use the web site.

Edited January 10, 2021 by ighten

[lindylooellalouise]

I’m not confident my QM transatlantic in June will go ahead and my July and August on QE is doubtful so I’m banking on my B2B on QV possibly in December will be ok fingers crossed.

[ace2542]

6 hours ago, ighten said:

(not sure about the US as its far more complex state by state

It is not state by state. Not in terms of entering the USA. That is on the federal level and the Presidential proclamation is still in effect restricting entry to citizens of many countries include UK unless they quarantine in approved countries 14 days before arrival to my understanding. No indication as to when that will be lifted. CDC have also imposed restrictions on cruising as well.

[transatlantic fan]

My view is they won't sail till 2022

My reason is the government have said it could take till the autumn 2021 to get all those who want the vaccination done.

So that could, be September or October.

Then the company need to get all the staff back , and trained up, including all the new staff,to replace those that have left.

Then its the Flu season.

Then I think back to normal by March 2022.

I Want to get back on a ship as soon as I can, but my first concern,is those who are risking their lives everyday,  and all those who have lost loved ones.

Cruising is secondary.

[ace2542]

21 minutes ago, transatlantic fan said:

My view is they won't sail till 2022

My reason is the government have said it could take till the autumn 2021 to get all those who want the vaccination done.

So that could, be September or October.

Then the company need to get all the staff back , and trained up, including all the new staff,to replace those that have left.

Then its the Flu season.

Then I think back to normal by March 2022.

I Want to get back on a ship as soon as I can, but my first concern,is those who are risking their lives everyday,  and all those who have lost loved ones.

Cruising is secondary.

One question. Does that "Autumn" statement include the Johnson Johnson single shot of which we have 30 million on order no timeline on receipt of that order. Or is the statement based purely on the authorised, Pfizer, Astra and Moderna?. It doesn't say does it?. But heavy use of Johnson and Johnson could change that timeline significantly couldn't it?

 

I actually hope you are correct. Because I can't see myself being vaccinated before or November 14th sailing being in the last group. And to my honest my father doesn't really want to wear mask onboard anyway. We will just roll our into late 22 if it comes to it.

[resistk]

I heard from a crew member they are already calling up crew for contracts to begin this Summer. However, I doubt things will be normal and will take a while to sort out. Keep in mind no one even knows if the vaccine halts transmission.  That means passengers could be carriers even if vaccinated and the same problems with virus propagation on board could occur and then spread to ports. I am holding off rebooking as too many unknowns at present especially as to dedensified ships, masks, dining etc.

[MaisonRose]

On 1/6/2021 at 7:33 AM, ace2542 said:

Yeah but everything the UK Media has said has come to pass.

 

On 1/9/2021 at 12:36 PM, navybankerteacher said:

Production needs to be speeded up - that is a certainty;  but I have to wonder if not reserving enough for the second dose at the proper interval might  lead to iefficacy (ie. waste) of the first dose .   

Has the media mentioned how and when vaccinations will set us free?

[frankp01]

9 hours ago, MaisonRose said:

Has the media mentioned how and when vaccinations will set us free?

 

Not 'when' but here's a possible answer as to 'how'. This is some of the most positive vaccine reporting I've seen. From today's NY Times daily email:

 

'Ridiculously encouraging’

 

Right now, public discussion of the vaccines is full of warnings about their limitations: They’re not 100 percent effective. Even vaccinated people may be able to spread the virus. And people shouldn’t change their behavior once they get their shots.

 

These warnings have a basis in truth, just as it’s true that masks are imperfect. But the sum total of the warnings is misleading, as I heard from multiple doctors and epidemiologists last week.

 

“It’s driving me a little bit crazy,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health, told me.

 

“We’re underselling the vaccine,” Dr. Aaron Richterman, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, said.

 

"It’s going to save your life — that’s where the emphasis has to be right now,” Dr. Peter Hotez of the Baylor College of Medicine said.

 

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are “essentially 100 percent effective against serious disease,” Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said. “It’s ridiculously encouraging.”

 

The details

 

Here’s my best attempt at summarizing what we know:

 

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines — the only two approved in the U.S. — are among the best vaccines ever created, with effectiveness rates of about 95 percent after two doses. That’s on par with the vaccines for chickenpox and measles. And a vaccine doesn’t even need to be so effective to reduce cases sharply and crush a pandemic.

 

If anything, the 95 percent number understates the effectiveness, because it counts anyone who came down with a mild case of Covid-19 as a failure. But turning Covid into a typical flu — as the vaccines evidently did for most of the remaining 5 percent — is actually a success. Of the 32,000 people who received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine in a research trial, do you want to guess how many contracted a severe Covid case? One.

 

Although no rigorous study has yet analyzed whether vaccinated people can spread the virus, it would be surprising if they did. “If there is an example of a vaccine in widespread clinical use that has this selective effect — prevents disease but not infection — I can’t think of one!” Dr. Paul Sax of Harvard has written in The New England Journal of Medicine. (And, no, exclamation points are not common in medical journals.) On Twitter, Dr. Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco, argued: “Please be assured that YOU ARE SAFE after vaccine from what matters — disease and spreading.”

 

The risks for vaccinated people are still not zero, because almost nothing in the real world is zero risk. A tiny percentage of people may have allergic reactions. And I’ll be eager to see what the studies on post-vaccination spread eventually show. But the evidence so far suggests that the vaccines are akin to a cure.

 

Offit told me we should be greeting them with the same enthusiasm that greeted the polio vaccine: “It should be this rallying cry.”

[MaisonRose]

On 1/8/2021 at 9:16 PM, navybankerteacher said:

I am afraid that, in the US at least, there has been very poor planning on distribution -- or even knowledge about continuity of supply.  Tens of thousands of doses are sitting in various states because there was no plan in place for administrating vaccine.   The competence of the Federal Government at this point need not be discussed at all.

 

On 1/9/2021 at 12:36 PM, navybankerteacher said:

Production needs to be speeded up - that is a certainty;  but I have to wonder if not reserving enough for the second dose at the proper interval might  lead to iefficacy (ie. waste) of the first dose .   

 

On 1/9/2021 at 12:36 PM, navybankerteacher said:

Production needs to be speeded up - that is a certainty;  but I have to wonder if not reserving enough for the second dose at the proper interval might  lead to iefficacy (ie. waste) of the first dose .   

Maryland USA:  have both shots, husband tomorrow. All my (over 75) friends are almost done. Starting 60+ group. It seems that big cities are lagging a bit. But the problem seems to be more of getting accurate information rather than the actual jab: that part is rolling along better than a Ford assembly line.

However I am a bit concerned about the new varient coverage. If the Pfizer Shot isn’t effective enough we’ll be going nowhere for quite awhile. So cross fingers.

[oskidunker]

getting second shot today. age 72 in California. unfroze my gym membership, although still outdoors. Sick of walking outside.

[oskidunker]

What is your interpretation of this? They reference summer travel yet the headline seems to indicate all if 2021. Hopefully things will get better but this is very bad news, if true. 
 

 https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/uk-vacations-canceled-2021/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_content=2021-02-14T15%3A28%3A05&utm_term=link&fbclid=IwAR1PlO80Nye6hnI4PTusLfGucomW6-KGk4RAb06TPtfcrhgeW6HjCRiBv3I

[IB2]

10 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

What is your interpretation of this? They reference summer travel yet the headline seems to indicate all if 2021. Hopefully things will get better but this is very bad news, if true. 
 

 https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/uk-vacations-canceled-2021/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_content=2021-02-14T15%3A28%3A05&utm_term=link&fbclid=IwAR1PlO80Nye6hnI4PTusLfGucomW6-KGk4RAb06TPtfcrhgeW6HjCRiBv3I

As so often with US media sites, it’s opinion dressed up as news.  If you read the article closely, there isn’t much factual content within it.

 

The bottom line is that UK vaccination is proceeding well (heading from one in five toward one in four of the population vaccinated with first dose), but no-one really yet knows what this means for future travel.  

[BlueRiband]

FWIW, just yesterday I got a promo email from Cunard that included a November 2021 Caribbean sailing on QM2 out of New York.  Cunard evidently anticipates the CDC allowing foreign flagged ships into the US by then.  Whether on board covid restrictions will still be in place by then is anybody's speculation.

[oskidunker]

Got email re my oct Norway cruise they wanted me to enter personal info. Tours offered with prices. 

[newjoisey]

We just got a mailer from cunard ,all are for 2022 . We usually do the dec/jan carib xmass cruise ....not looking good for us until 2022 at the soonest . 

[rakkor]

We've just booked the Carribean out of Southampton this November/December and the remaining choice of staterooms was very limited, so people seem to think there's a possibility of sailing.

[ace2542]

On 2/17/2021 at 3:07 PM, BlueRiband said:

FWIW, just yesterday I got a promo email from Cunard that included a November 2021 Caribbean sailing on QM2 out of New York.  Cunard evidently anticipates the CDC allowing foreign flagged ships into the US by then.  Whether on board covid restrictions will still be in place by then is anybody's speculation.

The current CDC sailing restrictions run to November 1st. But they may be extended. And there is still no word on the travel ban situation.

[MWINT]

We were booked on this voyage until yesterday. Decided to book St Petersburg on QV instead. Fed up with with the inability plan our leave for another year. I wonder if you had our cabin?🤔

[resistk]

For those who like be wildly optimistic, the Wall Street Journal is predicting normalcy in the USA as soon as this April:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/well-have-herd-immunity-by-april-11613669731

 

[ace2542]

6 hours ago, resistk said:

For those who like be wildly optimistic, the Wall Street Journal is predicting normalcy in the USA as soon as this April:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/well-have-herd-immunity-by-april-11613669731

 

Biden says not this year in his CNN interview fwiw. Though journal is probably correct the falling infection rates are clear to see.

[Cats2010]

On 1/5/2021 at 5:42 PM, davyjones said:

If I access the Cunard web site and select the option "When would you like to travel?" the first calendar year shown is 2022 - you need to use the back link to get 2021.  Are they trying to tell us something?

 

DJ

 

Don't think so. I haven't read all the replies, but a quick look at my Travel Agency's website tells me that QM2 continues, in 2021, to do transatlantics, sail to the Caribbean and Northern Europe.

[ace2542]

55 minutes ago, Cats2010 said:

 

Don't think so. I haven't read all the replies, but a quick look at my Travel Agency's website tells me that QM2 continues, in 2021, to do transatlantics, sail to the Caribbean and Northern Europe.

Of course it will. Your agency like all agencies wants bookings to continue so they can get money into their businesses and they will hold out until the last possible second before allowing you to cancel for the FC which may be worth less in the long run or a refund. If Cunard cancels the agency has to refund. If you attempt to cancel at bare minimum they will push an FCC on you.

[Cats2010]

12 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Of course it will. Your agency like all agencies wants bookings to continue so they can get money into their businesses and they will hold out until the last possible second before allowing you to cancel for the FC which may be worth less in the long run or a refund. If Cunard cancels the agency has to refund. If you attempt to cancel at bare minimum they will push an FCC on you.

 

Yes, of course they will, it's their business and I don't blame them for doing so.

 

I wish I knew what a FCC is! 

 

I am thinking of cancelling my Nov. 21 2021 cruise to th Caribbean, which I have long been waiting for ... (tears). Most of it is because of the UK's restrictions, but until then things may have changed, as we all hope.

 

Thank you.