Jeepers! Do I want to lay down $1500 on 2023 cruise?

[madera1]

We wanted an aft cabin so booked today a 10 day Tahiti cruise for 2023. Today was the first day to secure cabins. We had a longer cruise on Holland America booked last year in March  from Tahiti to San Diego that was canceled a few days before sailing so hopefully this one will sail!

[ORV]

12 hours ago, Redtravel said:

You can request a booking with a reduced deposit.  Many cruise lines are accepting very low deposits and extended final payments. Since nothing is sailing,  be proactive.  Book on your terms.  Cruise lines want bookings. Most people want to take a cruise that they booked.  If they say no, they don’t have that booking.  Chances are the cruise line will not get another chance to get those people to book.  I used fcc for deposit.  Wondering when my next booked cruise will get canceled.  Eventually cruises will resume. Hope it happens before my fcc becomes worthless.  Getting tired of the fcc booking and rebooking loop.  

Have you asked and had this accepted on Oceania? 

[Hawaiidan]

19 hours ago, Petoonya said:

This isn't scientific by any means but wonder if I could take a straw poll to see if you would do it or not.

18 day exotic. The trick is that we are penny pinchers. We go with a Cat G and sometimes get upgraded, sometimes not. (I never count on it. I expect a G inside.)

Very few Gs as you know and they go quickly. Infact with my booking they're gone. It's not like I can wait awhile and see how things go. We aren't capable of waiting for a year or so and bump up to a higher category then. We just wouldn't be able to go.

 

I always get insurance and even if this cruise doesn't pan out I can transfer insurance once to another cruise. But this far away even laying out the $ for insurance is uncomfortable. I've never counted on my credit card for insurance or default, but mine does cover them. Relying on that concerns me too.

 

Am I dumb as a stump to even consider putting down $1500 for a cruise that far off? Over TWO years in the future.

No your  not dumb......... heck I have 10 times that on deposit for 2022 + cruises and am not worried a bit...   When the world  quakes in fear... that is the time to buy ...investing in your future cruses being one.     $1500 is not a big chunk of change to most...if it is, then maybe you should re-evaluate

To get what you want in life you have to take risks.    The more the risk the greater the potential gain.

Now, assuming your wise enough to pay any and all deposits with a CC  like Chase VISA's that have $20,000 in travel insurance, there is zero risk of anything.  AND your deposit is earning you miles or points.

 

I see less than a 0.1% risk you would be taking..... are you good  with that...???  You stand more of a risk in the checker at the market over charging you on  Milk.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Hawaiidan

[TrulyBlonde]

@Hawaiidan gives good "Dad" advice. If this money is in your travel budget and will not impact you financially in the event you would lose it, then go for it. Life is short. However, if you are going above and beyond your means to take this cruise and a loss would hurt you, stay put.

 

[susiesan]

saw this on NCL boards:

Cruise Industry News just reported. Insiders are the first to know and react to real life conditions.

 

Senior executives at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings sold off shares in the company on March 1, 2021, according to SEC filings.

Of note, President and CEO Frank Del Rio sold 80,821 shares at an average price of $29.85 each for a total of $2,412,506.85.

Harry Sommer, president of the Norwegian brand, disposed of 18,854 company shares at $29.85 for a total of $562,791.90.

Robert Binder, president and CEO of Oceania, sold 21,278 shares at $29.85 each for $635,148.30.

Jason Montague, president and CEO of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, sold 18,854 shares at $29.85 each for $562,791.90

[RetiredLifer]

17 minutes ago, susiesan said:

saw this on NCL boards:

Cruise Industry News just reported. Insiders are the first to know and react to real life conditions.

I checked the Form 4's filed with the SEC and all shares of all listed show the shares disposed had the notation "Represents shares withheld by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. ("NCLH") to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of 1/3rd of (.....). restricted stock units granted to the reporting person on March 1, 2018."

Not an indication, I believe, that they are jumping ship (pun intended).

[Host Jazzbeau]

Most executives receive part of their compensation in share warrants that are locked up until a certain future date [to keep their focus on longer term results].  Those shares are usually sold once unlocked, since executives are smart enough to diversify their portfolios.

[Petoonya]

@Hawaiidan I like your thinking. I thought I was taking a big risk in investing after college. Relatively speaking it was a very small sum at the time. And it made for quite a nice investment.

 

@TrulyBlonde So true- evaluate my position and make a careful decision. Thanks.

 

@CintiPam Yes. Here I am again. I do need something to look forward to for dh. He keeps a calendar of travel dates and it helps him keep somewhat  oriented to time. And definitely makes him very happy. Adding another cruise date will keep him going. Have a few more booked between now and then.

As usual thanks for your wise words 😍

[YourCruiseGurl]

I just booked today for the 10-day Tahiti in 2023 for my 50th birthday. The deposit is steep, but it will be worth it. I think those itineraries sell out fairly quickly and I want to make sure I’m on it.

[Petoonya]

17 hours ago, Redtravel said:

You can request a booking with a reduced deposit.  Many cruise lines are accepting very low deposits and extended final payments. Since nothing is sailing,  be proactive. 

Well.....asked my TA about it and she'd been asked before and O is not accepting partial payments. She said that people are busily booking cruises. There could be a deluge of bookings as soon as lines start sailing successfully. I'm feeling good about plunking down the deposit today. Was tempted to move up a few categories but the devil made me do it- stayed with the G.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Petoonya said:

Well.....asked my TA about it and she'd been asked before and O is not accepting partial payments. She said that people are busily booking cruises. There could be a deluge of bookings as soon as lines start sailing successfully. I'm feeling good about plunking down the deposit today. Was tempted to move up a few categories but the devil made me do it- stayed with the G.

Assuming you're on one of the R-ships and the itinerary includes open ocean, I would pay the slight premium for an F to get a midship location.  But avoid 7040 and 7043 which are opposite a noisy staff entry door.

[seastheday0930]

We just "plunked" down the 1500 for a Patagonia/Glaciers cruise for Jan 2023.

 

Looking forward to chatting with others on roll call.  

[clo]

3 hours ago, Petoonya said:

@Hawaiidan I like your thinking. I thought I was taking a big risk in investing after college. Relatively speaking it was a very small sum at the time. And it made for quite a nice investment.

 

@TrulyBlonde So true- evaluate my position and make a careful decision. Thanks.

 

@CintiPam Yes. Here I am again. I do need something to look forward to for dh. He keeps a calendar of travel dates and it helps him keep somewhat  oriented to time. And definitely makes him very happy. Adding another cruise date will keep him going. Have a few more booked between now and then.

As usual thanks for your wise words 😍

If you made up bookings, would he even know. Not joking.

[Mura]

Regarding inside cabins ...

 

We ourselves have never booked one, but in our early days of cruising we tended to book low-end rooms.  I remember a Princess cruise to Alaska in a bunk bed room with a porthold in 1990 -- but I got some wonderful photos out of that porthole.

 

More recently, once we bumped ourselves up to a suite (thanks to a wonderful offer from O), we've never gone back.

 

HOWEVER ... a recently CC article mentioned that inside cabins are definitely now appreciated by many, even by people who used to book them.  Part of this is because of Covid travel restrictions.  If you think you are going to be stuck in your room much of the time, an inside loses its appeal.  It's fine when you expect not to be in your room all that much.

 

Even so, it's still hard to predict what the future of cruising will hold ... I'm not ready to take a cruise if I gave to have a mask on my face whenever I got outside of our cabin.  My glasses fog up and I can't see anything .... Then again, we just got our first vaccines.  And we have booked NOTHING for the future.  We're still waiting ... and of course, DH doesn't want to travel at all anymore because of his vision problems ... which does not mean I won't travel solo.

 

Which brings up another question CC mentioned ... Some (all?) cruiselines are requiring proof of vaccination.  But the question appears to be if they are requiring certain vaccines as opposed to others.  I'd sure hate to get one and find out that it's not "acceptable".

 

So it does get complicated!

 

Mura

[Host Jazzbeau]

18 minutes ago, Mura said:

\Which brings up another question CC mentioned ... Some (all?) cruiselines are requiring proof of vaccination.  But the question appears to be if they are requiring certain vaccines as opposed to others.  I'd sure hate to get one and find out that it's not "acceptable".

 

Funny, the article I read made clear that cruise lines have no intention of specifying one vaccine over another – especially because different countries have different vaccines available so the passenger may not have access to the 'preferred' choice.  Do you have a cite for your statement?

[Petoonya]

4 hours ago, Mura said:

More recently, once we bumped ourselves up to a suite (thanks to a wonderful offer from O), we've never gone back.

 

HOWEVER ... a recently CC article mentioned that inside cabins are definitely now appreciated by many, even by people who used to book them.  Part of this is because of Covid travel restrictions.  If you think you are going to be stuck in your room much of the time, an inside loses its appeal.  It's fine when you expect not to be in your room all that much.

 

Which brings up another question CC mentioned ... Some (all?) cruiselines are requiring proof of vaccination.  But the question appears to be if they are requiring certain vaccines as opposed to others.  I'd sure hate to get one and find out that it's not "acceptable".

 

 

I always love your gentle caring posts Mura.

 

But need to make a couple comments. I would love to be able to say that I bumped myself up to a suite and never went back. But some of us will never be able to say that. And as you say an inside loses it's appeal if you happen to be quarantined, but if an inside is the only choice you've got to be on O, than I'm surely grabbing the inside.

 

Secondly while the efficacy rates of the J&J vaccine are not an absolute known it's believed to be at least 85%. Moderna and Pfizer at 94% and 95% respectively. Seems improbable that you would get the wrong one for cruising. Besides, the chances are excellent that we may need a booster in six months and every 6-12 months to combat the virus and it's variants. I think like it's been said for 9 months or so "just wear the damn mask". And now "just get the damn vaccine".

❤️😁

[TrulyBlonde]

11 hours ago, Mura said:

Regarding inside cabins ...

 

We ourselves have never booked one, but in our early days of cruising we tended to book low-end rooms.  I remember a Princess cruise to Alaska in a bunk bed room with a porthold in 1990 -- but I got some wonderful photos out of that porthole.

 

More recently, once we bumped ourselves up to a suite (thanks to a wonderful offer from O), we've never gone back.

 

 

 

So it does get complicated!

 

Mura

Mura,

We used to take sailboat cruises on the Tall ship, Arabella off of the East coast. The cabins are tiny, as well as the baths. Loved our little cabin, we rarely used, because being on deck with the fresh air and the sails floating in the wind was magic.

[Petoonya]

32 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

Mura,

We used to take sailboat cruises on the Tall ship, Arabella off of the East coast. The cabins are tiny, as well as the baths. Loved our little cabin, we rarely used, because being on deck with the fresh air and the sails floating in the wind was magic.

Whoa! Arabella would be a dream! What a gorgeous ship.

We do tiny cabins on Wind Star as on the ship we most love, Wind Spirit, the cabins are very small save one owners suite. Watching those sails go up takes your breath away. Have done it a couple times and doing again Aug 2022 (fingers crossed). But the thought of quarantining in those small cabins on Wind Spirit, as Mura says, can also take your breath away.

[Petoonya]

@Host Jazzbeau    Thought about moving to an F. This itinerary historically has not been a great seller and in the past have been able to negotiate my way to a higher category 1-2 weeks before sailing. Not that it will happen this time with pent up demand but I'm ok with a G if not. Thanks for the guidance😍

 

@seastheday0930 Glad to see someone else willing to go for broke! Good company 🙂

[Jhbertram]

We just put 3K each down to be wait listed for 2023 ATW 180 days.  We have cruises still booked for late Fall 2021 and and Summer 2022 plus an ATW on Viking for 2022 as we were originally on the Oceania 2021 ATW that was (of course) cancelled.  We hope to be able to go on at least one of the ATW trips but weren’t planning actually to do 2 in a row.  

[Petoonya]

On 3/4/2021 at 7:45 AM, ORV said:

Have you asked and had this accepted on Oceania? 

Wasn't sure you got to see, but O will not accept a lesser deposit. 😧

[ORV]

8 hours ago, Petoonya said:

Wasn't sure you got to see, but O will not accept a lesser deposit. 😧

That was what I thought, but the poster that keeps giving this advice never chimed in. Perhaps it's works on other cruise lines, but I'd like to know if it worked for her on Oceania. 

[hawkesbaynz]

I usually pay just £300 on Celebrity. However have paid £1200 for the Transpacific on Regatta September 2022. The cruise is more expensive though. Just looking forward to the cruise and not worrying about the money!

Edited March 7, 2021 by hawkesbaynz

[Norseh2o]

Like pinotlover, I have booked 3 (Oceania) and 1 HAL for the next year.  The HAL is a rebooking for a covid cancelled cruise.  I expect that if the Oceania July, 2021 is a no-go, my travel advisor will move the money to another Oceania trip. Ever hopeful.

[madera1]

1 hour ago, Norseh2o said:

Like pinotlover, I have booked 3 (Oceania) and 1 HAL for the next year.  The HAL is a rebooking for a covid cancelled cruise.  I expect that if the Oceania July, 2021 is a no-go, my travel advisor will move the money to another Oceania trip. Ever hopeful.