Getting Defensive about Cruising

[hcat]

And this...  link from the APEX 

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/march-26-updates-celebrity-apex-crew-test-positive-sick-costa-crew-evacuated-vasco-da-gama

 

 

[Bo1953]

53 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Bo, I see your posts and agree. We don't have the means to cruise as much as we would like and of course one only has so much vacation time. Our next cruise is scheduled for late January to early February of 2021 Auckland to Melbourne in Eclipse. We are looking forward to that trip and have no thoughts of cancelling. We don't defend cruising per se just say this is what we are doing and we enjoy it. Don't really care what others think. Like you said so well "their concerns are not mine"

Be well everyone

b - neither do we, or shall I say as much as I would love too! LOL

 

This is the first time in eight (8) years I have taken by-year for a sailing ONLY because it is in the Mediterranean and we (w/friends) will be staying an extra ten (10) days or so, I could not even fathom doing a sailing this year.

 

Lots of bucks and time so something had to give and I was happy to postpone one (1) year..... happy I did without fore-knowledge.

 

Enjoy your sailing, for sure, I want to do that one as well as most of Asia, too.

 

bon voyage

[zitsky]

11 minutes ago, hcat said:

And this...  link from the APEX 

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/march-26-updates-celebrity-apex-crew-test-positive-sick-costa-crew-evacuated-vasco-da-gama

 

 

 

Large crew party?  Well I guess they didn't know they were sick until later.

[Marelaine]

We love cruising and will book another cruise, once Celebrity is up and running again. I'm not interested in changing the minds of those who don't enjoy it or have preconceived notions. Who wants to be on a ship with a bunch of unhappy passengers.

 

[sakigemcam]

32 minutes ago, hcat said:

Wow..   very sad news, just read online( Yahoo News) that 4 passengers are deceased on board,  cause of death not established  but 2 on the ship had yested positive and many had flu like symptons..

 The ship was denied Passage through the canal  and pax were  to transfer to another ship...and is now  offshore Panama.  

Prayers are  with them.

 

Caveat:    Story unfolding  , so pls seek it out if you want  details or confirmed facts .

 

Not a good time to defend cruising..each person must make their own decisions .  

 

Looking forward to happier times!

 

 

I was reading the Vaandam thread (awful) and someone there even alluded to this subject, saying something to the effect of "Great, due to the optics that are so attractive to media with this situation again cruise lines are the devil. What about airports, subways, theme parks?" Just had to have this conversation with neighbors on my walk. 

 

As for cruising in March, we left on March 6 and when we disembarked March 15 the world was a different place. 

[hcat]

 

hope we can all get back to that place!

 

[Baron Barracuda]

1 hour ago, sakigemcam said:

 

I was reading the Vaandam thread (awful) and someone there even alluded to this subject, saying something to the effect of "Great, due to the optics that are so attractive to media with this situation again cruise lines are the devil. What about airports, subways, theme parks?" Just had to have this conversation with neighbors on my walk. 

 

As for cruising in March, we left on March 6 and when we disembarked March 15 the world was a different place. 

Zaandam report I read today said they intend to transfer non-symptomatic passengers to Rotterdam without first testing them.  Rotterdam crew are in panic over receiving potentially sick passengers.  What is HAL thinking?

[travelpeon]

Actually, while I do enjoy cruising, I've always told new-to-cruising friends about the many vacation upsides along with the downsides like difficult to eradicate viruses, environmental challenges, differences in labor practices, flags of convenience/difference in oversight, and safety awareness.  It's easy to hear about the awesome perks of cruise vacations.  It's also not difficult to hear about cruises being vilified for a specific aspect (ie those who bash for noro but not emissions or waste discharge).  It can require more individual effort and forethought to find out details of potential downsides to cruising in general and specifics with each cruise line.

 

We all have different risk tolerance levels and things we enjoy.  

 

I'm not a travel agent, cruise line shareholder, or cruise marketing team. Why in the world would I be upset that when presented with some data, friends decide that cruising isn't for them at this time?  Similarly, why would I be upset that they are pointing out some real concerns when they're trying to discuss something which can impact my and community health (unless you plan to self-quarantine post-cruise in a pre-vaccine, no-readily-available-tests world)? 

[Lilactime]

To each their own. I rarely listen to people who are cruise bashers. I took my first cruise in 1983 and I got to see 8 islands in the Caribbean in January. That sold me. I've been from Singapore to Phuket, all through the Baltic, to Antarctica and the Falklands and through the islands of Scotland last summer. I've done land trips, too, but some trips work much better by sea. Just canceled the Infinity, Transatlantic on April 25 and stops in the Azores and Morocco and a Fred Olsen cruise to English ports in July. I hope to be able to cruise again. Still want to do New Zealand by cruise.  

[CoconutOne]

I don't think Celebrity or any other line has "handled it poorly." These are uncharted times, and the cruise lines are doing all they can. They're not doing any worse than the US Federal Government. I don't have any problem cruising in the future. I put more stock in the cruise lines sanitizing than shore based hotels.

[OuiOnboard]

17 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

 ....I expect "cruising" will be changing somewhat when (and if) COVID-19 is past to include increased health screening of passengers, increased focus on the passenger experience instead of share holder "value," and a much more refined attitude towards "quests."

100% food for thought.