justforfun

Not booking another cruise for years to come. Have a 25% credit on Cunard for a cruise I cancelled this June. Initially was going to just rebook the same cruise for June 2021. Now just going to let that credit lapse. Too many unknowns. Maybe in 3-5 years will rethink about booking a cruise. If they receive a bailout from the US and not the country their ships are registered in then there is a 0% chance I'll book one again.

david55

Both retired ,we have been looking for our first cruise for several years. Pulled the plug on a Scenic Nile cruise for February 2021 but cancelled when it be came apparent that Egypt discriminated against gay couples ( we had to book separate beds on certain parts of the tour....which was a red flag to us). Scenic completely understood and refunded our non-refundable deposit. This happened just a few weeks pre-covid 19.

Looking for another cruise possibility; the virus hit, and we decided we would never get on a cruise ship in this lifetime. period.

Maybe in our next life.

gretchendz

My first day of retirement, we stepped on a 30 day cruise of South America. It is the perfect way to retire as it gets your head right out of work. Things should be much better in two years.

BBSHOPSINGER

We had our cruise cancelled that was to begin in Sydney on April 2nd. We can't replace the exact cruise, but we're not hesitating in rebooking for late October. There is certainly a chance that things won't be back to normal by then, and if so, we'll punt again. But I am still excited to go on my next cruise.

radonc1

I find it very interesting to compare the responses to the question from page 1 of this thread to page 10 and 11.

I personally feel that we (i.e. humans) have been pretty naive about the extent and transmissibility of this disease. But we are discovering much more (and sadly will become wiser in the damage it can do to a persons health).

What we do know is that it is highly contagious and that a single infected and minimally symptomatic person can spread the disease to others at a high rate of transmission by surface contact and by respiratory methods. The last place this person should be is on a crowded cruise ship. And yet, that is what will happen when the industry restarts travel, unless a good vaccine is available.

The only somewhat surefire way to prevent a repeat Princess cruise debacle is to test every passenger prior to embarkation for active immunity to the disease. (And I am presuming that the virus doesn't mutate, which recent research appears to indicate it is not prone to do, thank God).

I cannot see how a cruise line, from a liability standpoint, could currently offer cruises unless they get the passengers to sign a waiver of liability if one gets sick.

Some have called the cruise ship a "petri dish for Covid-19". I think that is apt, and I just don't want to be the agar supporting it's growth

YVR Cockroach

More like a chicken coop for avian fly, an over-crowded tenement for TB....

When I think corvid, I think of black (and black and white) birds that originated from Australia.

gretchendz

I was one of the calmer ones when this all began. I love cruises and travel in general and I take reasonable precautions but no one who knows me would call me a germaphobe. Even I, at this point, would be reluctant to get on a cruise ship without a vaccine. In fact, I hope when a vaccine becomes available, that is a requirement for anyone boarding a cruise ship.

Badenoch

The question is whether there will be another cruise to go on. Of all the industries my expectation is cruise lines will be hit the hardest. The Diamond Princess, Westerdam, Zaandam are stark lessons about the reality of cramming thousands of people from assorted countries in to a small space to share viruses. Floating petri dish as a another poster above suggested is spot on. The forced quarantines and ships turned away from ports and canals to float aimlessly in the ocean will be lasting memories.

Cruise lines will not be high on any government's list for support for a variety of reasons. Expect to see a vastly reduced cruise ship industry that will go fewer places and be more expensive.

747FC

This was the exact same plan for my wife: Last day of work—>Airport—>24-day Antarctica cruise departing from BA.

Need

At least those ships tell everyone there are covid-19 onboard. Celebrity Eclipse docked at San Diego and let everyone goes then they said they have a passenger with covid-19 symptoms for 5+ days. And she tested positive for it along with some crew members. Just before they dock they were still telling everyone that no one on the ship was sick. Everyone was healthy. How could they straight out lie to the passengers and the authorities?

radonc1

This is the issue with the disease. One can be asymptomatic and still be infectious.

So the cruise line will have no idea that a passenger who appears healthy is in fact a "Covid-19 Mary" spreading virus throughout a cruise ship. And since the incubation period can be as long as 14 days, one can have 10 day cruises where no symptoms appear in the carrier yet the disease is disseminated.

Hoyaheel

Earlier in the week, I was trying to figure out when I first started getting concerned about coronavirus - I posted here on Feb 17 I would still consider a "good deal". Yeah, things change! (I started emailing about it at work on Jan 24 - I work in global health research).....

At this point, I want to travel SO BADLY. But my desire to cruise with other people is very very very low.

Need

The ship knew that woman has respiratory illness (can't confirm for covid-19 because the lack of test kit) for days and also a few of the crew members have it. They just didn't tell anyone about it until the passengers got off. They only sent out emails to inform the passengers a day later.

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/he...2-cee8b92d5b13

radonc1

This is what makes it even more difficult to book passage!

How many people in a town of 3000 will have sniffles, cough, or even a sore throat? Even in a healthy population, a certain percentage of people have one, two or all 3, because we have colds and allergies. Some may even have mild flu.

But now, they are all suspects for Covid-19. And without testing for the same, we just don't know.

In the past, cruise ships off-loaded ill patients for many reasons. It didn't stop the cruise.

Now, off-load a patient and you have to wait for confirmation that he/she isn;'t infected or you shut down the cruise altogether. That isn't a business model that I would want to operate under.

gretchendz

Our next scheduled cruise isn't until November, with final payment in July so plenty of time to decide whether or not to pull the plug.

I am very much hoping that testing will be in place by then that allows them to test everyone quickly. It would be really nice if they could just test everyone before they boarded! And while I am dreaming, how about a test/vaccine for norovirus too?

Like @Hoyaheel I confess to being pretty calm about this initially, but now we are staying home all the time and following all guidelines.

On a side note, we had to go to California due to my mother's illness. Flying back to Michigan in the middle of this was downright eerie. Mostly empty airports. One leg of our trip had only 7 passengers. Distancing was easy.

Just wondering what the new normal will be when this ends?