ighten

Looks like its sold out as soon as the announcement hit twitter this morning  🙂 I suspect this will happen no matter who the company is  such is demand and the reduced capacity so I suggest you keep your trigger finger ready to pounce as soon as the new routes are announced from anyone..

Suspect most until much later in the year will be UK based only  - with some scenic only

1 hour ago, Suncoastsailors said:

Yes, at least it did in my case. TP Sept 2020 to 2021 then to 2022. 

Yes just offered the same - the problem now is we have moved so much or booked new for 22 expecting to cruise in 21 that Im not sure theres any  room left to shift it too

What is surprising me is that non of the Southampton based cruise lines -- certainly those I would consider "local" with a loyal UK following - have rescheduled summer to be more Scenic only or UK only with the chance of it becoming Scenic/blue...

Im sure the demand would be the there - Im wondering if Carnival at this point now know they simply cant a) crew the ships in time and its b) more cost efficient to have them sat in cold  for the summer season..

will this include those who already lifted and shifted from 2020 to 2021

Sorry missed one of the answers --- Hopefully looking good then

we have a June 14th 2021 QE  booked - its the last left with Cunard  -- I would be happy if it went as a no port scenic cruise at the moment. Still waiting for Celeb to let us know whats happening with our Aug Sep- New England& Canada which I'm  99.9% sure is gone.   Then the last booking is  Dec Christmas Canaries.

Its getting more and more frustrating - we seem to be taking 1 step forward with great success re vaccines yet still manage to then take 4 steps backwards every other day..  The world has I believe gone mad.. Lets see if the picture becomes clearer when the so called roadmap appears on the 22nd Feb.

Yes - I was looking at the QE promotions - clear as mud or my brains in meltdown

If I select the (as the terms and conditions) the highest price club balcony (which should upgrade to grill)   or the highest price balcony (which should upgrade to club) at no point in the on line booking does it show an upgrade has been applied.. So Im confused...

site apperas to be back up and running - trying to work out what he changes are to itins - looks like some meds have changed a day back and forth

It now has more app like buttons to navigate through which actually seem an improvement

not sure its finished though - lot of med cruises with no dates (or random numbers) 

58 minutes ago, comcox said:

We also have a July cruise but with Hurtigruten around U.K..  No idea if it will go as planned or not.  Wearing masks and some other restrictions would not bother us, but I would prefer to have some freedom of movement in ports.

Only consolation I can offer you is that Hurti have been excellent at refunding payments (a few days) - July is 6mths way, it will be summer so the Health service strain will fall naturally regardless of the vaccine benefits so we should hopefully be at normality in that department at least (everything crossed) ..  and if its a UK only cruise and IF it does go ahead the only other issues I see is it could become a residential only (Im presuming this is the Dover one not the Bergen/Scottish) and some landings could be removed..  I have my finger on that one myself but will leave it till the last minute

Reality is Its just tooo far to know (Hurti have a big advantage in that they have a lot of Hotel crew already in place and like Fred (if not better) perfect sized ships)... though I suspect our guess work is as valid as our transport minister who seems to be  as on the ball as the rest of the cabinet (ie in a different stadium 😉 ) 

13 hours ago, tring said:

 

 

Any pre cruise tests would be the responsibility of the passengers or cruise line.  Fly holidays abroad have needed passengers to pay for private tests and are not provided by the NHS.  Costly as well.

 

🙂

 

This has become the elephant in the room though as it makes it harder trying to start up.. Aida , Mein and Costa (not sure about MSC) managed to include it free and at a designated time and place when you booked a scenic(resident only Blue or Bubbled)  back in October/Early Nov - It remains to be seen if the UK will ever have this ability but I think if they dont and its left to the passenger - it wont help with restarting in Spring or Summer as the consumer simply sees this as yet more expense on top.

Would be nice to see (when and if they are allowed) Fred to be one of the first  to start up with purely scenics or resident only with one or two ports in the UK only.. Fleet ship size and port spread makes them ideal for it and there loyalty of return passengers would probably work for them..

I think the spanner in the works though is as usual the crewing of the ships and also how efficient this country can get at pre testing for passengers.. What slightly works against Fred is going to be the older pax age.(though technically they should be vaccinated at that point)

I doubt we're going to see anything really announced or scheduled until April+ as its going to take till those sort of times to see if the vaccine can finally start unburdening the NHS back to normal levels. And then of course the question is how long to re crew the ships and if the capacity levels are below profit levels is it worth doing.

The only cruise I have left now for this year that I have much confidence in is a Christmas Canaries trip - I have a suspicion that if that doesnt happen there wont be a cruise industry left (certainly not in the form of choice and brands we are used to). I also have a fall New England which I cant see happening and have already had one UK scenic cancelled for April.

46 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Why 100% vaccination is necessary?   My two cents -- If  those who are not vaccinated develop symptoms then test positive the whole ship is quarantined and/or not allowed port access for tourism.  Then, vaccinated to not, everyone gets to spend too much time locked up in their cabins.   

 

I think you are probably right about the extensions as each month passes.  

Whilst I see those points I perhaps should have been clearer I was speaking re the EU market  - I agree with the current CDC rules I cant see how the US market can open.

So re the whole ship being quarantined - your example  covers CDC (US) cruises -- the EU rules differ and the carrier only is locked up until the next port where they and there family/bubble are disembarked and the cruise continues (as we have seen already on MSC and Costa,Mein and Aida)  - FOC is likely to follow the EU rules (despite Brexit the work was begun last summer)

I also wonder how do you confirm everyone onboard is vaccinated  other than the usual tick box on a form which for some reason cruise companies believed was an answer to  Noro issues (clearly not).. Despite vacinations now being in progress no country has actually come up with a vaccination passport - marker - certificate  or agreed on this at an international level (a fundamental error I agree - though an admin nightmare that can probably wait - especially if its required later)

I agree it could be a condition of booking that your vaccinated but regarding proving this - no such thing has to be done for far deadly diseases when you travel - if your stupid enough to travel un vaccinated and lie about it even on a booking form or tick box on the form at the port then its nobody elses fault that your hospitalized at the next port of call and flown home from the congo rainforest with malaria or worse (this I know from experience - we were among the 99.9% who were not stupid) .

This however is why it is vastly important that the vaccinations have taken the load completely off health systems in countries where sailings are going to take place.. Here some guess work and fingers crossed needs to take place -  in the UK I suspect this will take until at least the Summer combined with a turn in good weather for the NHS to return to a state of normality - or if things go as well as the govt roll out thinks perhaps a few weeks earlier. I suspect the Eu will  catch up quickly at various levels country to county..

 I cant really even hazard a guess for the US/CAnada as we get a very confused picture and this is why its also a very different picture re start up to cruising etc.

One issue with the Northern EU is the winter of 21 could actually see a return to measures being enforced - especially if the vaccine is still rampant even asymptomatically among the younger generations  who have not been vaccinated yet - there will still be a % of older people who (for reasons of there own have not been vaccinated and who once again could add to the already normal strain the health services see in the winter)

So to conclude I think we could see a season of late spring/summer cruising in the EU and UK however it will be resident only - possibly or even probably scenic only or with bubble tours only - and one country port to port (UK only - UK to Nordic Scenics )(Italy only)(Spain only)(etc) 

Of course there is a lot that could change - number one being the vaccinations themselves - not only could the roll out be far less efficient than predicted it could also be far less effective. There's also the survivability of the industry itself and who exactly would want to operate at what could be possibly a loss for these first cruises.  For the EU It seems logical that Aida, Mein, Costa and MSC will start up again exactly as they operated in Oct/Nov ie one or two brands for each country. The UK is a different proposition as we have quite a few "brand names" around in Southampton that may dilute the interest to even remotely fill them..  Small brands such as Fred Olsen should be OK running  interesting scenics and loyal brands like Cunard and Saga would probably be able to reach there capacity (whatever % that should be). The biggest issue is how on earth though do you staff them in time and its this point alone that could logistically throw a spanner in the works...

So in a joking conclusion - If you desperately need a cruise then you Better get that river cruised booked before they sell out 😉.. If its going to be an ocean scenic or similar - my policy is to hold off and  forget about until around late March/April and look at the figures for how your countrys doing re covid and vaccines Keep a good eye on the real news and FCO news and judge it then.

Think it depends who you ask . If you follow the Italian twitter - last week a reason was given from a response buried several lines down the thread that 2021 is currently being completely re organised and re scheduled and the site will be down until that has been completed.. Unfortunately it then went to DM

CAnt really add more to whats been mentioned other than make sure you check the river level charts on the river cruise section of this board and the best time to cruise - One thing to be aware of is that your cruise wont cancel if the levels are too high (cant get under bridges) or too low (basically to shallow water) - instead it will either stay docked all week (or length) and you will become a floating hotel (that could never move) and bus to the locations - or you will  boat swap by sailing to a location where you can swap boats.

Its very (very) rare so dont panic - but its good to avoid certain rivers at certain times if the rain has been heavy or the ice melt is above norm.. Or early spring stick to those based more around canals/or heavily controlled with locks  such as Dutch based or further afield Nile etc.

Im tempted myself by Sagas new ship for the Spring if there is nothing happening.

I can see summer scenics possibly starting up if the vaccines have taken a Significant load of the NHS so that its almost at normal for the year lvls...  Though I suspect these will still be port free and masked in public areas - and resident only.

Cant see Normal cruising returning to the Med for a while - though I suspect we will see a return to Canaries in time for winter 21.

Its too hard to guess tbf - it could all go swimmingly well in the UK and EU (not sure about the US as its far more complex state by state) - Then again a spanner could be thrown in the works at any point -

Im not sure though that the industry can survive another year without significant changes to fleet size and brand variety.

BY the way 2021 shows up fine when I use the web site.

11 minutes ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

But will ports or airlines accept non vaccinated passengers, I cannot see this happening.

Cant see why not -- Vaccination has less to do with creating a 100% deterrent and more to making sure there is little or only normal yearly load rates on health services..  If your waiting for the former it will quite simply  never happen..

One thing that may change is that vulnerable groups may have to prove they are vaccinated before boarding.

Quite how though seems to be a mystery - no country seems to have come up with anything resembling a vaccine "passport" - and we dont actually have them for far more serious diseases in other countries ships cruise too - Its your risk

I suspect the only cruises this summer will be one nationality ones within each nations border/ with mask/ltd capacity etc still in place - and even those may be scenic only to start (and tbf I would be happy with that)... 

Autumn/winter may be different - some areas will be desperate for the market to return (Canaries etc)

Personally Im not sure why theres a fixation on a 100% vaccination being necessary before any cruising can restart- as long as the vulnerable are vaccinated in order and the health care and hospital pressure has returned to normal Im not sure why 100% would be required

@Ashland Im pretty sure youll see it extended as each month passes.. 

Just put a deposit down on a 2022 YC cruise and within the space of 8 hours I have had a stream of invoices and emails all titled Booking confirmation but each one after a few hours has a "Re issue Reason - On board service addition" fronting the email but when I check the new invoice and the new email it seems  no different than the first one they sent out..

HAve they gone into IT melt down or is this just normal

As mentioned - Seaside has a full summer itin from May in the Med(cant see that happening to be honest unless they get it back to running as bubble cruises again - though the weather will help case numbers and we'll know by mid feb just how well the vaccination programs seem to going and how much they have  eased pressure on health services and death numbers-)..

Late June would be the earliest I would risk booking for the Med - tempting as well as there are some seriously good YC prices..

Thanks excellent blog - just put deposits down on two Saga for 22 so trying to find out as much as is possible.. I suspect in the long run sailing out of this country is going to be the new norm for us and these certainly look like the ships to do it on..

Watching some of the 21 Spring/summer sailings with intent to jump onboard as soon as confirmed they are good to go - I can see a couple of those perhaps sailing (maybe scenic only or with less ports).. 

1 hour ago, Dermotsgirl said:

Hmmm, not the most timely point to request a removal of the blanket FCO advice not to cruise, what with the situation being worse than last March! 

Have to disagree - for most of the country the current lockdown is not vastly that much different to the tier 4 anyway. The huge difference now is a timeline has been set out for vaccinating the most vulnerable as its this area that is the issue re the NHS. (whever thats achievable based on this administrations track record is a debate for another forum)

I doubt we will see anything regarding international cruising until autumn - but even to reach that a timeline has to be put in place to allow mid to late spring blue/scenic/test cruising ; UK only and resident only - otherwise the autumn season will not take place either.. Its only when a timeline is put in place that we will see companies stop selling fantasy cruises that cant possibly take place.

Surely if they file for Bankruptcy though your auto covered by either your credit card or annual insurance - which TBF is quicker than waiting for a refund anyway.. Cant see it happening though - lot of options before they get to that point even if  some (Carnival owned) brands get split/merged or reduced in size or ships leave before they were scheduled too.. Have Carnival already done a share split in the US?

As soon as the first one opens up with a guarantee that it sails (so the second one 😉 as no doubt if I pay up the week before for the first they will cancel with 24hrs notice knowing my luck ) - I suspect it will still be masks in public areas (doesnt bother me that much) and no Self Service buffet (no loss there then - always disliked the concept of  them) - and I suspect it will be either scenic or one country open only to residents  

When though -  I have no idea - but it will be last minute.. I have now had everything refunded (over 6 from 2020) and have 2 deposits for 202121 on old lift and shifts one in August-Sep (suspect it wont happen as its Boston/Quebec/Boston and one in Dec in the Canaries which I think will go...

Im not paying out more deposits on what are basically fantasy cruises - especially those marketed for March to June - hopeful we may see UK scenics sometime after that

IS it the 7 or 14 day as I noticed today the 7s have been removed from sale though rather bizarrely you can still book the 14s - Suspect they are getting ready to remove them all