Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

[Pushka]

I nearly booked it last year as I liked the look of the itinerary, but the date ended up not working for me.
Credit card refunds are reported to be taking a long time...

That is the case with airlines, cruiselines, you name it! Currently Qantas is taking 45 days before they will even manually process the refund as is Qatar.

 

[zig]

That is the case with airlines, cruiselines, you name it! Currently Qantas is taking 45 days before they will even manually process the refund as is Qatar.

They are all trying to carefully manage cash flow - a delicate balance I suppose.

 

[Pushka]

They are all trying to carefully manage cash flow - a delicate balance I suppose.

What does annoy me though is that they continue to sell cruises that cannot happen - eg Alaska for next couple of months, people with their heads in the sand, book, pay in full, then cruise gets cancelled but their payments fund the refunds of earlier cancelled cruises. Pyramid scheme?

 

[tgh]

fwiw.. I opine that cruising as we knew it will not happen for many years, if at all.
I would certainly not be holding a forward booking.. with anyone.
The optimistic comments on Cruise critic about future bookings remind me how easy it is to fleece people...

There will probably be some limited "cattle class" demand for the crowded petri dishes.. but after that….
Many of these Behemoths are destinations in themselves, they don't need access to ports in interesting places.
They do , however, have to unload their passengers after their social mixing ends and therein lies the challenge.

 

[Pushka]

fwiw.. I opine that cruising as we knew it will not happen for many years, if at all.
I would certainly not be holding a forward booking.. with anyone.
The optimistic comments on Cruise critic about future bookings remind me how easy it is to fleece people...

There will probably be some limited "cattle class" demand for the crowded petri dishes.. but after that….
Many of these Behemoths are destinations in themselves, they don't need access to ports in interesting places.
They do , however, have to unload their passengers after their social mixing ends and therein lies the challenge.

I absolutely agree. Which means carnage for the cruise industry although people have the attention span of a gnat. I'm curious to hear how Venice is going - after so many years of protests at these big ships, the locals have got what they wanted, from something that can't even be seen. I do wonder how their economy will fare.

 

[p--and--t]

Pyramid scheme?

You really didn't need to put the question mark at the end.

Will be interesting to see how long they can keep it going before it becomes undone.

 

[RB]

Ruby Princess passed PQQ this morning but to far out to sea to be seen by us

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Ruby Princess passed PQQ this morning but to far out to sea to be seen by us

Yes on the way to Manila, currently at 11 knots.

Ship Tracker / Live Ship Tracking Map

Track ships live worldwide on our custom Ship Tracker. View any ship's current location, recent track, speed, next port destination, arrival time and more.

www.cruisin.me

 

[Pushka]

So the Aussie cruisers on CC are lining up with the comment that Aust and NZ might open their borders to each other and therefore might be able to start cruises over summer. I can imagine the locals of every port lining up in (rightful) protest.

 

[Anna]

Just when the cruise industry didn't need any more adverse attention, tonight's ABC 4 Corners is about the White Island volcano disaster.

 

[Pushka]

Gotta luve Celebrity's optimism. Well, I'll call it that but in reality its known as getting the money, send it to other passengers whose cruise has been cancelled months ago, cancel our cruise, sit on our refund until others pay over their dosh!

Received a notification on their app today - it's 90 days until we embark on a Cruise departing from Rome and cruising around the Italian and Greek Islands. So we can "check in". Get our luggage labels. Yippee.

 

[SydneySwan]

I logged into my Princess account today to change password and noticed we had a booking for July 27 from Perth on Sapphire. My wife made an enquiry with an agent several weeks ago where they held a cabin for us for I think 72 hours yet it is still there. No money changed hands. I hope Princess don't think we actually intend to travel.

 

[Pushka]

I logged into my Princess account today to change password and noticed we had a booking for July 27 from Perth on Sapphire. My wife made an enquiry with an agent several weeks ago where they held a cabin for us for I think 72 hours yet it is still there. No money changed hands. I hope Princess don't think we actually intend to travel.

Enjoy!

 

[p--and--t]

I logged into my Princess account today to change password and noticed we had a booking for July 27 from Perth on Sapphire. My wife made an enquiry with an agent several weeks ago where they held a cabin for us for I think 72 hours yet it is still there. No money changed hands. I hope Princess don't think we actually intend to travel.

Yes it seems that Princess assume they can swing back into action in all markets from 1st July. Probably the politest assessment - half glass full attitude

 

[Pushka]

Yes it seems that Princess assume they can swing back into action in all markets from 1st July. Probably the politest assessment - half glass full attitude

I can see the WA Premier now manning the armed Navy boat to force the Cruise ship out to sea!

 

[tgh]

The ta confirmed my cancellation, including no fee airfare cancellation (SS Air), but said it could take 90 days.
She also noted this :
Emirates advised and asked for Travel Agents and Clients patience, apparently in normal times they process about 30,000 Refunds per month; at the moment they have a backlog of 500,000, they managed to put through about 150,000 – enormous numbers

 

[p--and--t]

IMHO Still a few delusional dates on this list....

When Are Cruise Lines Around the World Expected To Resume Service?

Maarten on June 5, 2021 before repositioning to Alaska to on July 23, 2021. SeaDream Yacht Club: June 26, 2021 AmaWaterways: July 1, 2021, except Portugal Douro sailings, through June 15, 2021

www.cruisecritic.com.au

 

[Princess Fiona]

IMHO Still a few delusional dates on this list....

When Are Cruise Lines Around the World Expected To Resume Service?

Maarten on June 5, 2021 before repositioning to Alaska to on July 23, 2021. SeaDream Yacht Club: June 26, 2021 AmaWaterways: July 1, 2021, except Portugal Douro sailings, through June 15, 2021

www.cruisecritic.com.au

Yup.
I just went into the boards at Cruise Critic after reading that article.
There’s some scary people out there

 

[Pushka]

IMHO Still a few delusional dates on this list....

When Are Cruise Lines Around the World Expected To Resume Service?

Maarten on June 5, 2021 before repositioning to Alaska to on July 23, 2021. SeaDream Yacht Club: June 26, 2021 AmaWaterways: July 1, 2021, except Portugal Douro sailings, through June 15, 2021

www.cruisecritic.com.au

I posted to that yesterday. Because a Port says it's open can merely mean to local marine traffic, or for goods distribution. And if that's the same one it reckons Australian ports will be open mid June. Yeah. Snowball chance in hell although Pt Adelaide is open right now with goods arriving daily. Yet people are merrily booking cruises based on those dates.

And Celebrity still insists we are leaving Rome for a Med cruise in July! I am building up for a phone call to be made in a week or so when they want me to hand over final payment.

Correction - there is a similar list of all the dates Ports are going to be reopening. The threads are hilarious and I'm trying not to be too much of a Debbie Downer but it's very hard.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Courtesy of cruise critic I just read this article
The Pandemic At Sea
It’s from the Washington Post long but a worthwhile read