The waiting game...

[Bruin Steve]

Life, overall, has been pretty strange for the past year...and continues to be strange...

 

When the Pandemic began early last year, I had just gotten off my last pre-pandemic cruise on the Royal Princess to the Mexican Riviera...

At the time, I had four cruises booked, 2 for July 2020 and 2 for April 2021 (on a different cruise line)...I figured those 2020 cruises were in jeopardy, but, certainly, we'd be back to cruising by April 2021...Of course, as it turns out, I was wrong...

 

I moved three of the four cruises ahead a year each...and, now, even those July 2021 cruises are questionable...

 

But, in the meanwhile, I still get LOTS of emails and "snail mail" from Princess, Celebrity, Oceania, HAL, Viking and others trying to get me to book more future cruises...even ones coming up very soon.

 

Of course, I still have the three booked...and waiting to hear about those ...I am fully vaccinated and we hope to have my wife vaccinated some time in March...SO we will be ready to go fairly soon...HOWEVER, we are waiting on the cruise lines, the various ports and countries and all sorts of other factors to come together and let us know if and when we can cruise.  Normally, we book our cruises way in advance...BUT, I am tired of booking cruises only to see them canceled.

 

And, for now, we have zero idea as to:

1)  If the cruises currently on the schedule will actually even sail...

2)  If they sail, will the itineraries be anywhere close to what they say they are today...

3)  If they sail, what restrictions will be placed on them...

4)  If the pricing and deals shown today are really good deals...or, if when they finally get the okay, will the deals offered THEN be bargains because the targeted customers will be limited...or will the demand be high because the space will be even more limited or because so many will be anxious to go??

 

So, we are waiting...Whenever available, we'd like to take a "Pacific Coastal" or a Mexican Riviera or even an Alaska cruise--because they are fairly close to home for us.  If we knew FOR CERTAIN that the dates shown now will later reflect what actually happens, we would be more likely to book...but we still wouldn't know if we might get a better deal just doing nothing for now.  I am assuming that if these cruises actually happen later this year,  Princess may be then looking for US.

 

This is NOT the way we typically book our cruises...but we feel forced into it...and I think it really may work out in our favor...so, for now, PATIENCE!

[LACruiser88]

We feel your pain.  We have had 11 Princess cruises cancelled so far.  We have one booked at the end of this year and a long Med cruise booked for Oct of 2022.  There are several other cruises we are interested in, but will wait for cruising to actually start-up before booking any more. 

 

We usually book way in advance, but we may be booking cruises at the last minute because of the current situation.  We are also vaccinated and ready to go...

[CineGraphic]

We too are waiting. We disembarked from our last cruise 2/25/20, and after many cancelled bookings, we hope to sail on our wedding anniversary, July 3rd.

 

We're both under 65 (not by much!) so no vaccines for us yet, but vaccines availability seems to be improving daily, so our hopes are up.

 

I don't care where the ship sails, I just want to be on board.

[franktown]

I finally cancelled all my 2021 cruises. The waiting game was driving me a little crazy.  Decided I will wait until cruises actually begin.  I did book 2 cruises for 2022.  

[GonzoWCS]

Yeah have told friends, can't make plans on a wish.  Need some stability and clarity.  Hang in there!

 

Cheers

[Italy52]

We had multiple Alaska cancellations in 2020 and two (so far) for 2021.  After today's round of Alaska cancellations we are still holding on to one Seattle round trip (which, I am pretty sure will be cancelled at some point) and one California Coastal.  Thank goodness we have a 2022 14-day Alaska cruise to look forward to --- however, 2022 seems SO FAR OFF. 🙄

[PurpleHays]

I saw the writing on the wall and moved our June 2021 Alaska cruise to an October 2022 Europe/TA. It is a mere 593 days away. 🙄

[Ombud]

On the Australia boards the sentiment is that 2021 cruises will be for Australians only. So I'm wondering if I should just switch to Hawaii from my home port .....

[getting older slowly]

27 minutes ago, Ombud said:

On the Australia boards the sentiment is that 2021 cruises will be for Australians only. So I'm wondering if I should just switch to Hawaii from my home port .....

 

To be honest, i have little confidence that our Australian Nov 2021 cruise will happen.. as it is Australia to New Zealand.... now thinking if the 2022-2023 season will be back to normal ?? ....

 

For the mean time back to road trips....

 

Cheers Don

[Ombud]

Melbourne to Auckland 2019 seems so long ago 

[Grego]

Goes without saying that we all have had voyages cancelled during the 2020 sailing year.  Our last one was on the Regal as part of the Guiness World Record for renewal of vows with Captain Stubing and Vickie.  As with most, we weathered the situation and kept positive while booking future voyages, and having them cancelled and re-booking.

Currently, we are booked for the May 15th on the CB out of our port in Ft. Lauderdale and feel very confident that she will leave port with as many souls that are allowed.  We have a B2B in November, a 10-day on the Enchanted in February and another B2B in April all of which we better darn well be on or we are all in a bad way.

 

[EllieinNJ]

We have a 14 day cruise on CB from NY to Ft. Lauderdale in Nov. 2021.  If they definitely cancel the New England and Canada cruises before us (they are still on hold) there would be no reason for the CB to be in New York. 

 

What I really miss is the planning.  By now I would have my air and hotels booked and looking at the various things to do at the ports.  If we are required to only do Princess excursions, that would certainly limit our choices.  So we must wait...and wait...and wait.

[CineGraphic]

2 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

We have a 14 day cruise on CB from NY to Ft. Lauderdale in Nov. 2021

 

If they do cancel, please join us on the 2022 trip.

 

[PrincessLuver]

14 hours ago, franktown said:

I finally cancelled all my 2021 cruises. The waiting game was driving me a little crazy.  Decided I will wait until cruises actually begin.  I did book 2 cruises for 2022.  

We have thrown in the towel too and have canceled all 2021 Princess cruises we had and have booked mid 2022 and beyond.  

 

However, we are planning some pretty exciting road trips in the US for summer and then 6 weeks in Europe visiting some of our favorite countries in September and October 2021 god willing  

 

We are finding that those trips will be much more flexible to make happen and change on the fly and they are offering some great air fares and  hotel rates too throughout Northern and Southern Europe.

Edited February 25, 2021 by PrincessLuver

[franktown]

25 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

We have thrown in the towel too and have canceled all 2021 Princess cruises we had and have booked mid 2022 and beyond.  

 

However, we are planning some pretty exciting road trips in the US for summer and then 6 weeks in Europe visiting some of our favorite countries in September and October 2021 god willing  

 

We are finding that those trips will be much more flexible to make happen and change on the fly and they are offering some great air fares and  hotel rates too throughout Northern and Southern Europe.

Sounds like a great idea.  Europe in early fall sounds is wonderful.  I think we will do the same.

[Bgwest]

4 hours ago, Grego said:

Currently, we are booked for the May 15th on the CB out of our port in Ft. Lauderdale and feel very confident that she will leave port with as many souls that are allowed. 

Wife and are right there with you, Grego. 

Looking forward to boarding on 5/15. 

But then again, we’ve been disappointed before. And likely to be again sometime between now and then.  🤷🏼‍♂️

[voljeep]

5 hours ago, Grego said:

Currently, we are booked for the May 15th on the CB out of our port in Ft. Lauderdale and feel very confident that she will leave port with as many souls that are allowed

still feel very confident , after Carnival cancelled cruises thru May ?

 

the souls allowed, are called "Crew" unfortunately

[Cruise Raider]

18 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

 

 

And, for now, we have zero idea as to:

1)  If the cruises currently on the schedule will actually even sail...

2)  If they sail, will the itineraries be anywhere close to what they say they are today...

3)  If they sail, what restrictions will be placed on them...

4)  If the pricing and deals shown today are really good deals...or, if when they finally get the okay, will the deals offered THEN be bargains because the targeted customers will be limited...or will the demand be high because the space will be even more limited or because so many will be anxious to go??

 

 

 

Well, I have a feeling that there won't be any huge deals when cruising first resumes as they will mostly likely have to limit capacity.  Plus, people have oodles of FCCs they will be using thus, they will need to realize some revenue in those reduced bookings.   

 

They probably don't want to cancel too many cruises all at once even though they are fully aware they won't be able to actually keep those schedules.  ie:  while they obviously will not be able to use any Canadian ports of call, they may (or may not be) working on a temporary reprieve of the PVSA.  I wouldn't be surprised to see some itinerary changes, however, that doesn't bother me too much.  Like you, we like to sail from the west coast, as it is close to home.  Because we've been to Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Pacific Coastal sailings numerous times ... we don't much care about the ports of call.  Just put us on the ship and we'll be happy no matter where it goes (or doesn't go).  

 

I'm also pretty certain that there will be many restrictions in place (ie:  masks, cruiseline sponsored excursions, distancing, possibly even reservations for meals, shows?)  I don't believe it will look like cruises we've known in the past.  I'm not saying that's a bad thing although, there are aspects of cruising I will miss.  I certainly won't miss the 'do you wish to share?' question at the MDR.  

 

Just my thoughts!  

[PaperSniper4]

19 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

"...so, for now, PATIENCE!"

Yes, that's what it will take. We'll have no idea how/when cruising will start until it does. As someone once sagely (or meaninglessly) said "it is what it is".

 

Doug

[CruzerDeb]

I had one cruise booked for April 2020, which we rescheduled for April 2021, which was rescheduled for April 2022, which then had to be moved to February 2022 due to the fact that they decided to send the ship to Europe in April (Celebrity). Longest wait ever for a cruise. 
 

I have a Med cruise booked with Princess in June 2022, which is fully refundable if cancelled by final payment date. I’ve also booked my hotels for that cruise which are also refundable. Hope we get to go!

[Alaskanb]

Still hoping for our Oct 19, 2021 Med cruise. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

6 hours ago, Grego said:

Currently, we are booked for the May 15th on the CB out of our port in Ft. Lauderdale and feel very confident that she will leave port with as many souls that are allowed.  We have a B2B in November, a 10-day on the Enchanted in February and another B2B in April all of which we better darn well be on or we are all in a bad way.

 

We are booked for the 22nd (after March 14 and then May 8 were canceled).  I don’t have quite as much confidence as you do, so we booked the same cruise for July 17.  If we get very, very lucky, we will have to decide what to do about the duplicate cruise.  I will probably vote to keep both!

[mjmalino]

16 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

 

To be honest, i have little confidence that our Australian Nov 2021 cruise will happen.. as it is Australia to New Zealand.... now thinking if the 2022-2023 season will be back to normal ?? ....

 

For the mean time back to road trips....

 

Cheers Don

I hear you. We just booked a Panama Canal cruise for January 2022 to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. One of the other cruises we were considering was Australia/New Zealand and decided that given the restrictions in Australia at the moment that odds of it happening for us was pretty low. Can I guarantee that the canal will happen, no, but I think that there is a much higher likelihood of that than Australia, especially as a US citizen.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I remember the “surely by the summer” and then “surely by our Christmas cruise” and then “surely by the next summer” and now “just hoping to pull off a cruise by the end of 2021”! As someone else said, I miss the planning, too. I’ve had to let go of planning in depth because for me, it’s a greater disappointment when it’s canceled. I look for fun occasionally to have ideas of what I’d want to do, and I’d apply an FCC if I felt hopeful, but that’s about it til cruises become more realistic. Now once they do, it’ll be full steam ahead on planning! 

[Bgwest]

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

still feel very confident , after Carnival cancelled cruises thru May ?

 

the souls allowed, are called "Crew" unfortunately

I’ve head it said there are three requirements for happiness:

Someone to love

Something to do

Something to look forward to.