Will cruises get cancelled this year

Caranica wrote: »

Is it Norwegian that have the single levels? To encourage people to cruise alone and mingle. I heard the end of a radio interview about them last year. Would consider one, even now.

yeah, you have a tiny room with single bed, shower and toilet and small wardrobe TV and phone. You have a large singles common area and notice board. So you dont have to pay the "single supplement".

Lex Luthor wrote: »

like I said previously I have never been on one, but was planning one in a couple yrs for an upcoming landmark bday

based on what I have been told it doesnt appeal to me anymore

And you are right its not for you, please dont get on a ship with preconceived notions while knowing very little about the industry. What you will see is only the stereo types you have in your mind set to see.

You will see overweight Americans, retired, two burgers away from a heart attack. The noise of the casino will be unbearable. The tourist that refer to everywhere south of Galveston as Mexico. Unless you have priority boarding you are going to feel like cattle being ushered up the gang plank. There are about 20-35 decks on a ship, with port stops most days.

You are going on a luxury holiday with 4,500 people all different nationalities and background. I saw things on the cruise I didn't like, I saw a family dressed in tracksuits and gold chains in the formal dining, being photographed giving gang signs. Yes, completely crass and inappropriate, but I put it out of my mind and carried on with my honeymoon. Sometime you have to make little compromises. Wouldn't I be one those people who you dont want to go on holiday with if I was complaining every two hours?

I hope you really great birthday but dont be that guy down a reception every two hours, complaining the pool is over crowded. Instead be the guy who takes his wife to dance lesson everyday, does his first massage, goes to a musical every night, swims with stingrays and goes quad biking into the rain forest. That is the guy I want to go on holidays.

Cruising has changed so much in the last 15 years. Its no longer for the elite and has relaxed alot. The profile has changed from the over fed, newly wed and nearly dead. Its family orientated with kids clubs, autism friendly, relaxed. That is not your holiday, fine. You always get moaners and whingers on holidays (I used to work in hotels), no matter how your prostrate yourself before them, they will find fault. I know my wifes friend is a picky eater and my sister in law is whinger. This is due to an inferiority complex. Dont be that guy, beating on some poor 2nd world worker because there is a statin in your carpet in your room.

cee_jay wrote: »

Royal Caribbean have announced an enhanced cruise with confidence program - so can now cancel my cruise departing end November, and I will receive future cruise credit which is valid up to Dec 31 2021.
They have also added a "Best Price Guarantee" and "Lift and Shift"

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-with-confidence

We only have a deposit paid so far, going to give the travel agent a buzz this week to see what our options are. I would love to do the cruise (it was our first time, for a significant birthday), but unsure if the Lift and Shift will work for us as the itinerary we have isn't running at the same time next year. There is a similar itinerary for number of nights and countries, but the ports are different - we would happily do the new one, but it looks to cost an extra €700 per person than what we paid.

Congratulations. I hope ye have a great time. Keep up to date with Sheri on CruiseTipsTV and Gary Bembridge on tips for Travellers on Youtube.
There are tough times ahead for the industry to survive the next two years.

hots wrote: »

What don't you like about it? Looks cool enough to me.

Firstly its very pricy for minimal furnishings.
Have you seen the size of the pool?!?!?!?
The RED everywhere drives my anxiety mad.
Complaints about dimensions from larger cruisers.

I would give it a hard pass in favour of older ships from more established cruise lines. I think with the exception of "Emma Cruises" on youtube, they all gave it stellar ratings despite the obvious short comings

Annabella1 wrote: »

No vaccine ever invented for malaria/HIV
Who knows where we are with Corona
Gonna take a long time to manufacture billions of vaccines
HCW and the elderly will rightly be first in the queue
3-5 years for a cruise(?) Sorry..

Malaria could be wiped out but there is no will power to do it. It was done in Panama in two short years bu the US Army pouring oil over the stagnant water surfaces. There is too much money in HIV to attempt to develop a vaccine (£18kpa per patient). Its all good business.

Develop and manufacture are two different things.
Develop a vaccine is the hard part, manufacture could be done in weeks.
I believe the virus will have run its course in 3 years more.
Tough times are ahead for everyone.

munstergirl wrote: »

I can't see cruise ships back in business anytime soon even 2021 they are still sending their crew home by cruise ship all over the world at the moment. If cruises so go ahead in August where will they get the crew from?
Also there has been 4 suicides in last 10 days onboard different ships. Rest in peace.

Where will these cruises go? What country is going to want to let a cruise ship dock with thousands of passengers mainly from USA?

Mixing lots of different nationalities onboard, some countries doing a good job trying to control coronavirus, some not so good. It would be impossible to social isolate on ship.

Even if they check people for coronavirus, you might not have symptoms starting cruise but develop symptoms during cruise. Plus most cruises you have to fly to get there. Even if no-one has covid on ship, what's to stop them getting infected in one of the ports.

It's not looking good for cruise ship industry at the moment and lots of new huge ships ment to be launched this year.

Hospitality staff are easily recruited and disposed of, one of the pluses and downsides of the industry. There are people dying every day on cruise ships, you never hear about it because the staff never tell you. Over what period and how many cruises ships did this happen? I would say it is slightly more than average.

I dont think working on cruise ships is great for your mental health as you are always on call and no matter hard to try it is almost impossible to get alone time. You almost always a death on a ship and one or two heart attacks, family friend is a nurse onboard. I would do three weeks back to back no problem, after the euphoria..... I could see it getting depressing.

Ships have to pay massive fees to dock relative to how long they dock for. Of course the port authorities want them back.

Gael23 wrote: »

If any cruise operators survive Covid 19 then it’s proof that miracles do happen.

Why do you say that?
The cruise ships were running on full capacity for the last few years. They say they can run profitably on 30% occupancy when they were running at 110% booking for the last few years, with no last minute bargains. They were buying liqour at bulk tax free rates, they were hiring staff at well below any minimum wage and their gaming is unregulated. No permanent staff and good share price. Why wouldnt you believe any of the big four companies will see this to the other side?

Albert12 wrote: »

Have any of ye seen the Virgin "Scarlet Lady"? What an eye sore.
They are offering 200% cruise credit for cancellations.
Money wouldnt pay me to be on it. Ben and David the Youtubers sold out and gave it great reviews.

Norwegian are issuing extra shares and have raised $4Bn capital to carry them through at 12%.
They are great businesses but grounding an air plane like Ryanair and mothballing a ship arent the same thing. The ships have to be at sea because of docking port costs and they need to be run with constant maintenance.

RCC Boss Fiennes has been making Youtube videos from his home about what the future will look like post-pandemic. I have to see that yet.

Those were my thoughts exactly.

The "Scarlet Lady" is only one ship in hundreds of cruises, I wouldnt be caught dead on it dont base all ships on one disaster. Did you get a look at the pool? Did you see all the Red? You would need a year to re model that ship to make it presentable. As for those pair of muppets, give them a few grand and they will say anything. However Emma Cruises slatted the whole ship on every level and Virgin made her take down the bad review.

Those ships are burning money running engines and staff with no income. They must have been doing well because Royal Caribbean said they could run with 33% occupancy.

punisher5112 wrote: »

Shocking business model.., fcuk the tycoons CDC

FYP ..... Its the CDC that wont allow the staff to rotate.

punisher5112 wrote: »

Well still they ain't paid enough anyway.

That is true but they pay no tax and most (2nd and 3rd world employees) are paid well. Sometimes your early career (acupuncturist, massage therapist, chef, hotel manager, Nurse, DJ, Photographer) requires you to work in these positions to colour your CV. Others they are getting paid way more than at home.

I think if it is something you want to do then do it. Relative to your country it can be a very lucrative career. On top of our prepaid gratuity I also tipped the room attendant, coffee girl, wedding officier, photographer and DJ/Technical officer.

Would I do it? No I am not at that stage in life anymore but I would do it for a year if I could regardless of the pay.

owlbethere wrote: »

I read a piece online from a different cruise operator - carnival cruises. It looks as if they are aiming for July to get back sailing and operating cruises.
It looks like maybe the cruises won't be cancelled.

The virus is suppressed now but it's still out there. I don't feel comfortable with continuing on with the holiday plans. Maybe if I lived in the same country as the port of departure it might not be too bad. Driving to the port and parking up won't be so bad. But I'm leaving from Ireland. It means travelling from my home by bus to the airport. Doing all that airport rigmarole, then transfers from the arrival airport to the docklands and then onto the ship. There's far too much travelling and risk right there.

Also I think staff conditions on the ships can be poor.

Then there is the arrival back home to Ireland. I really don't want to pick up the infection out abroad and bring it home. I live with my mother.

It probably means losing the deposit. I don't care about my deposit but my partner might not be too happy about that.

There is going to be no big return to cruising this year. The cruise companies are trying to hold on to your deposit, not illegally but more by incentive. Most cruises wont be happening this year. Next year will be tough too.

Sit tight and wait for the cruise company to cancel and rebook. Staff are well paid relatively to the country they work in. They get rotated every 4-6 months on contract. Its great for a single person wanting to see the world. Its not for me at this stage but I would have done it when I was younger given the chance. Most are 2nd and 3rd world employees and are making relative fortunes.

As for staff conditions, we live in this air fairly land where everything has to well and balance. Life isnt like that, no pain no gain. I cant understand why my wife slaves for a bit better than minimum wage in a shop with no prospect to rise. She cant understand why I do education with no immediate payment. These people from third world are raking it in and when their tours are up will go home and set up businesses.

Hold your powder and wait. It will all pan out. You will have your cake and eat it. The cruise will be cancelled, you will get offered 125% credit and you rebook for 2022.

Lex Luthor wrote: »

its for this reason why I think the cruise line industry is doomed
No company can afford to be without revenue for 18 months and survive

Allow me to trash that post for you. Goldman Sachs have stepped in, there have been bonds issued at 12%. Extra shares have been allocated. they have raised 4Bn liquidity. I am not saying they go cheap credit. RCL is up 40% since the bottom.
I know why Goldman Sach invest and it wasnt out of pure benevolence. They wanted the private offshore islands to maintain their servers. This virus will be over and the world will return to cruising. Its going to be a very tough time for everyone and especially the tourism industry, but they will get through it.

sternn wrote: »

I had flights and cruise booked for 4 people that I was meant to be on this week. I paid €1,000 deposit and the balance of around €5,000 was due 10 weeks ago. Not wanting to lose my deposit and presuming the cruise was going to be cancelled, I paid the full amount.

Low and behold the cruise was cancelled 3 weeks later. But now I'm struggling to get the money back from the travel agent. The cruise is with MSC and I can see they may take up to 120 days to issue the refund. I don't want to go down the chargeback route as the travel agent will have to pay. I didn't want to take the credit option as I don't particularly want to go on a cruise when the virus is still around, and that will be the case next year.

Everyone is struggling to get their money back. Be patient or wait for the Virus to end and rebook. Simples. You arent going abroad on any other holiday either. You cant have it every way, other people have it far worse than you.

titan18 wrote: »

I'm not certain on the Caribbean tbh. I was more in about the places that struggle with over tourism that also happen to attract cruises. Likes of Barcelona, Venice, Dubrovnik etc have all made noises about reducing or banning cruises.

Theres been a move towards sustainable travel and it does bring a different group to a place that will stay longer.

Just been things I've seen online on travel sites.

So you are going to replace 1 cruise liner by charging 200 fishing vessels 40,000 a day. What about chandalary? what about all that locally sourced food that a ship consumes? A ship has around 5,500 staff and passengers. That is like half the Irish defense forces everyday.

Italy and Spain arent great examples of common sense when their economies will collapse later this year. They will be grateful for even fish vessels by the end of next year. Venice do want the cruise ships. What they dont want is the ships coming into port and want to use tenders (ferry passengers) instead.

The Caribbean is almost completely dependent on offshore banking and tourism. You cannot enforce unprofitable thought on what the local government know that make money. These places are far from perfect but thinking these economies can just set up a Dell factory and start making computers for central america is just naive.