Maybe we all just need to take a deep breath and wait

[MrMarc]

I have been joining in the discussions/arguments about cruises, vaccines, masks, CDC guidelines and State laws just like so many others.  Sure, it's fun.  But it is becoming increasing clear that while the situtation was totally stagnant for so long, at this point it is changing daily, if not hourly.  No matter what anyone from the cruise lines say, from customer service reps to CEOs, it seems to change almost instantly.   Our cruises will go or not go, and we may not be sure exactly what is going on until we board, and it may change after that.  The terms and conditions we all agreed to when we booked our cruise actually allows this, whether we like it or not.  I am totally certain that the cruise lines like it less than we do.

[CthyC]

Well said!

[CroozFanatic]

True Sir.

[Cruisesfun65]

Thank you!!!

[stellarose]

thank you!!!!!!

[lazydayz]

I agree with you.  All we can do is book and hope our cruises go and we enjoy them! 

[bdever]

You’re right, chances are we will not know until we board.

personally I’m not okay with that. Not for the money given to Carnival interest free for over 2 years now. 

I don’t think it’s professional of Carnival to keep need to know information to themselves until I board as it pertains to Faster to the fun availability, Self exploration in ports & reservation requirements on board or how about just a simple list of ports that the CDC has approved agreements for?!?!?!?!? Or a simple list of dates ports are scheduled to be opened and with which ships. 
I would like to think these boards are read by Carnival team members and they can see the frustration of being kept in the dark on things that we should know prior to boarding. Come on Carnival and just throw us a bone 🦴. 

[BlerkOne]

9 minutes ago, bdever said:

You’re right, chances are we will not know until we board.

personally I’m not okay with that. Not for the money given to Carnival interest free for over 2 years now. 

I don’t think it’s professional of Carnival to keep need to know information to themselves until I board as it pertains to Faster to the fun availability, Self exploration in ports & reservation requirements on board or how about just a simple list of ports that the CDC has approved agreements for?!?!?!?!? Or a simple list of dates ports are scheduled to be opened and with which ships. 
I would like to think these boards are read by Carnival team members and they can see the frustration of being kept in the dark on things that we should know prior to boarding. Come on Carnival and just throw us a bone 🦴. 

Most (all?) of that depends on whether the cruise is vaccinated or not. Carnival has said they want vaccinated.

 

People want to know what effect a hurricane is going to have on a cruise, but that is up to the hurricane and is out of Carnival's hands.

 

But yes, I have better uses of my time like making a packing list for my next cruise.

[stellarose]

transparency is key.  carnival needs to be as honest as they can. 

[BlerkOne]

12 minutes ago, stellarose said:

transparency is key.  carnival needs to be as honest as they can. 

How could Carnival be any more transparent? Guess? Lie? They are telling us what they can.

[stellarose]

not sure....

 

[TNcruising02]

The problem is that while we are waiting for Carnival to make solid decisions that do not pose a problem with the laws of the states of departure, there isn't a lot of new stuff to talk about.  Sure, we could argue about lanyards, platinum gifts, butter pats and crocks, chair hogs, MDR dress attire, sneaking alcohol onboard, and a thousand other things that we have debated many times, but where's the fun in that?  LOL

People who have upcoming cruises booked have a lot of money invested, possibly requested time off of work, and probably spent hours looking at excursions.  Maybe they have flights, transportation,  and hotels booked. It's stressful not knowing.  Stress can bring out the fight in people.  Once cruises start again and we can read the trip reports, things will settle down.

 In the mean time, maybe the discussions help people relieve their stress by writing about it.  We all want to cruise again.  Sometimes it's easy to forget that we have our love of cruising in common when we disagree about things beyond our control.

Edited June 8, 2021 by TNcruising02

[MrMarc]

4 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

The problem is that while we are waiting for Carnival to make solid decisions that do not pose a problem with the laws of the states of departure, there isn't a lot of new stuff to talk about.  Sure, we could argue about lanyards, platinum gifts, butter pats and crocks, chair hogs, MDR dress attire, sneaking alcohol onboard, and a thousand other things that we have debated many times, but where's the fun in that?  LOL

People who have coming cruises booked have a lot of money invested, possibly requested time off of work, and probably spent hours looking at excursions.  Maybe they have flights, transportation,  and hotels booked. It's stressful not knowing.  Stress can bring out the fight in people.  Once cruises start again and we can read the trip reports, things will settle down.

 In the mean time, maybe the discussions help people relieve their stress by writing about it.  We all want to cruise again.  Sometimes it's easy to forget that we have our love of cruising in common when we disagree about things beyond our control.

I agree, it was just a thought.  I have three cruises booked in September and January on Carnival and December on RCCL.  I  would like to know what was going to happen, but at this point I truly don't think anyone knows.  There are so many players interacting, there is no way to know.  Carnival made a fairly certain statement this morning, but because of a the Governor  signed a new Texas law (which means it takes immediate effect instead of in 90 days), they may have to change it tonight or tomorrow.  I think the cruise lines are trying to be as transparent and honest as they can be given the facts at the time they have made these statements, while at the same time trying to refund as little as possible so they can stay in business.  No one is winning, we just hope we can all continue to play the game.

[Purvis1231]

For the last year most of us recogized the entire cruise industry is in peril. I am hoping the will pull through so I have taken my five cancelations with a grain of salt- realizing the cruise line are at the mercy of the government experts (a scary thought I know).

[JMKreno]

17 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

The problem is that while we are waiting for Carnival to make solid decisions that do not pose a problem with the laws of the states of departure, there isn't a lot of new stuff to talk about.  Sure, we could argue about lanyards, platinum gifts, butter pats and crocks, chair hogs, MDR dress attire, sneaking alcohol onboard, and a thousand other things that we have debated many times, but where's the fun in that?  LOL

People who have coming cruises booked have a lot of money invested, possibly requested time off of work, and probably spent hours looking at excursions.  Maybe they have flights, transportation,  and hotels booked. It's stressful not knowing.  Stress can bring out the fight in people.  Once cruises start again and we can read the trip reports, things will settle down.

 In the mean time, maybe the discussions help people relieve their stress by writing about it.  We all want to cruise again.  Sometimes it's easy to forget that we have our love of cruising in common when we disagree about things beyond our control.

I am one of those with a LOT of money laid out. Have a family cruise with 15 people booked for October. Unfortunately a number of them will not be going as they won't vaccinate at all and refuse to get testing done (it's all a conspiracy). I also personally have my own concern with not knowing since I have a 6 yr old booked on the Oasis of the Seas in October and I REALLY need to get the final GO AHEAD to finish booking flights (have a credit from csncelled 2020 flights on United I need to use and airfare isn't getting cheaper) or to cancel altogether. Payment is due in 3 weeks. The rest of my immediate family are good (my parents are now reluctantly vaccinated), my wife and I are, and our 14yr old has just received her 2nd shot. I need to also know so I can plan a backup for the same week if we DONT go, Disney is booking up fast!!

 

That being said, I do wholeheartedly think these conversations and debates will end once we can go back to debating chair hogs rules, dining room etiquette, the decline of XYZ compared to 20 year ago, crowds at the pool, kids on the stairs, and which burger is best at sea....

Edited June 8, 2021 by JMKreno

[May1cruiser]

We have also had several cruises cancelled. We finally stopped booking new cruises and just rolled the FCC and OBC to 2022. We did however decide to roll the dice last year and book Mardi Gras for 8/7/21.  We are fortunate and can simply drive to PC. Jury is out for this sailing...

 

Back to the OP. --50% of those things we worry about will come true, the other 50% will not. I agree, take a breath and stand bye. It appears some form of restart is next month. 

[elcuchio24]

13 hours ago, bdever said:

You’re right, chances are we will not know until we board.

personally I’m not okay with that. Not for the money given to Carnival interest free for over 2 years now. 

I don’t think it’s professional of Carnival to keep need to know information to themselves until I board as it pertains to Faster to the fun availability, Self exploration in ports & reservation requirements on board or how about just a simple list of ports that the CDC has approved agreements for?!?!?!?!? Or a simple list of dates ports are scheduled to be opened and with which ships. 
I would like to think these boards are read by Carnival team members and they can see the frustration of being kept in the dark on things that we should know prior to boarding. Come on Carnival and just throw us a bone 🦴. 

 

I agree with you around the transparency. I do not have any money riding anymore, I just took the refund last year. If we actually knew what a cruise would actually look like, I would be much more likely to book this year.

 

As is, we have two more AIs booked for 2021 and zero cruises booked. Probably the first time in 15 years we don't have at least one on the books....

[Ihearttravel11]

Agreed! 
I am so glad when our last cruise was cancelled (to Mexico) in 2020 that we rebooked for August 2022. We also opted to stay as close to home as possible and do a totally different cruise (to Alaska).
Paid the deposit, nothing more. We will pay the balance last minute, to ensure that our money is not tied up again.
I am hoping that the season is started up soon. I feel horribly for these cruise companies - honestly ANY company - that is at a stand-still due to this virus.
 

[mouche]

16 hours ago, MrMarc said:

I have been joining in the discussions/arguments about cruises, vaccines, masks, CDC guidelines and State laws just like so many others.  Sure, it's fun.  But it is becoming increasing clear that while the situtation was totally stagnant for so long, at this point it is changing daily, if not hourly.  No matter what anyone from the cruise lines say, from customer service reps to CEOs, it seems to change almost instantly.   Our cruises will go or not go, and we may not be sure exactly what is going on until we board, and it may change after that.  The terms and conditions we all agreed to when we booked our cruise actually allows this, whether we like it or not.  I am totally certain that the cruise lines like it less than we do.

[Keys2Heaven]

Yep, all we can do is wait. So much speculation in these threads and none of it really matters until we know for sure.

 

We have a cruise booked for December on the Ecstasy that I'm hoping is far enough on the other side of all of this that it sails. It will put us over the hump to be platinum for the cruise after that. 😆

[stellarose]

I think. again, just my opinion.- all ships will sail with CCL vaccinated until the end of 21'

[ultrafighter]

No more fighting!  Can't we all just agree that Carnival needs to have more than two people working in the pizza shop at one time?!

 

😉

[TNcruising02]

13 minutes ago, ultrafighter said:

No more fighting!  Can't we all just agree that Carnival needs to have more than two people working in the pizza shop at one time?!

 

😉

Yes!  And at peak times they could even be proactive and make a few pizzas instead of doing cooked to order.

[ultrafighter]

6 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Yes!  And at peak times they could even be proactive and make a few pizzas instead of doing cooked to order.

oh em gee YESSSS 😫