Cruise of the Future: Would You Still Sail?

[Doubt It]

Thank you OP for posting the question and the scope. Very thought provoking.

 

I would not cruise under these circumstances. My interest in cruising has diminished a great deal in the past years due to the cut backs and more the cruise line attitude of hiding behind the contract and the strong whiff of attitude of the cruise lines - ie customers being stupid and continually booking.

 

What this virus has shown me is the need to remain close to health services - so driving trips, bus trips, stay and play will be my future travel. Cruising in any form will not be considered unless things seriously change.

 

As for bus trips, my last one on Globus was highly focused on the health of the passengers - every day the guide asked about each persons health. In every over nite stop, we were informed where the Globus recommended health clinic was. The guide was very observant of every sneeze. I am more comfortable being on a bus trip than a plane or ship.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

This can't happen.

[EscapeFromConnecticut]

Returning to the actual topic here, perhaps the real question is precisely what changes cruisers will accept.

Some things are a given: Mask indoors, tests/temp checks on embarkation, no self-serve buffet, lower density (fewer pax per ship but higher fares), social distancing of some form in theater and MDR and bars .... but what ELSE would you put on the table?

     (Because we simply ain't going back to the old way any time soon)

[deliver42]

That would not be a vacation in my opinion. My answer is no, I wouldn't cruise like that.

[Tapi]

On 4/17/2020 at 11:57 AM, POA1 said:

Think of your sweet, sweet plane ride to the embarkation port.  An A320 normally seats 162 pax in domestic coach - 3 - 3 with a center aisle. If you allow 6 feet between passengers, you can only use every 3rd row, with people in window seats. That should allow for 2 passengers every 3 rows. Your 162 passenger A320 now holds 18-22 people.

Airlines are coming up with ideas to help maintain social distancing, including blocking seats and operating flights with reduced capacity. Granted, it would be hard to attain 6ft separation on a full plane, but right now the loads are low enough to allow proper separation. The times I’ve flown in the last few weeks, I’ve had a row to myself with nobody sitting in front or behind me. Hopefully, by the time demand returns, we will have eased up on requirements including the 6ft separation as new ways to combat the virus and protect oneself are in place. 
 

https://news.delta.com/focused-safety-delta-moves-quickly-meet-customer-needs-during-coronavirus

Edited April 19, 2020 by Tapi

[EscapeFromConnecticut]

1 hour ago, Tapi said:

Airlines are coming up with ideas to help maintain social distancing, including blocking seats and operating flights with reduced capacity. Granted, it would be hard to attain 6ft separation on a full plane, but right now the loads are low enough to allow proper separation. The times I’ve flown in the last few weeks, I’ve had a row to myself with nobody sitting in front or behind me. Hopefully, by the time demand returns, we will have eased up on requirements including the 6ft separation as new ways to combat the virus and protect oneself are in place. 
 

https://news.delta.com/focused-safety-delta-moves-quickly-meet-customer-needs-during-coronavirus

 
Yes. Not sustainable for the long term, but a way to provide essential travel (and possibly some limited recreational travel) for now. Of course, that was the goal of the government bailout - keeping at least some minimum airline route operating. The government has no such interest in keeping cruises sailing, and isn't offering subsidy or aid. 

It's possible the cruise lines will offer the CDC some deeply reduced onboard density (say 1,000 passengers on a 3,000-capacity ship, accompanied by a smaller decrease in crew). Epidemiologists and accountants could work specific numbers. 

But since the taxpayers aren't going to subsidize our vacations, that means the cruise lines are going to look to us to cover the revenue they'd be losing by running a 3,000-passenger ship with only 1,000 onboard. 

The bigger problem with that way of thinking is that the cruise lines themselves are saying cruising won't happen until the need for social distancing goes away. (Arnold Donald on CNBC last week was clear on that point)

 

 

[iancal]

The question is academic based on the OP's parameters.  

 

In my view this approach would push the cost of cruising well beyond the reach of many people.  For those who could afford it, the increased pricing would have to be compared to competing travel products and independent travel.

 

You can hardly expect a cruise line's financial and business model to remain the same when passenger count falls by 50 percent or more and fixed costs at best remain static..  

Edited April 19, 2020 by iancal

[Roz]

If, in fact, the number of passengers was cut by 50%, some of the staff - waiters, cooks, room stewards, bartenders, etc. - could also be cut in half.  Some costs are fixed regardless of number of passengers - fuel, ship maintenance,  officers, etc. 

[Himself]

On 4/16/2020 at 12:51 PM, atexsix said:

This is a mix of reality and imagination; a year ago I would have been laughed off Cruise Critic, but I don't think any of it is far-fetched now.

 

Even when the health crisis is brought under control and all U.S. ports are open and operating; ships will have a lot more to prove to the general public. 

 

So let's say a ship were allowed to sail based on the following:

 

-limiting passengers to 50% capacity

-one entire deck of staterooms should be reserved for hotel staff or crew with passenger contact 

-another entire deck should be reserved for quarantine, should it become necessary

-six foot separation in all public venues (restaurants, lounges, pool areas will need to be reconfigured)

-closing ship for cleaning at certain times each day, passengers must stay in staterooms

-set dining times in MDR again, with cleaning in between

-gloves/masks required at all times, changed daily and supplied by room stewards

-medical exams of all passengers prior to boarding, including current and yet to be invented tests

-two full days to disembark/embark; exiting passengers should not mix with boarding passengers; and both should be done in groups of no more than 25 people

-no port stops that allow local contact; privately owned islands and bus tours only

-more sea days

-elevator operators or voice controlled mechanism

-highly visible, constantly cleaning 24/7 dedicated crew; purell and hand-washing stations should be everywhere

-separation of crew with passenger access, along with other types of crew related separations

-no officer access to passengers, no exceptions!  No more Mariner society lunches and medallion holder parties.

-players won't follow 6 ft rule in a casino, they'll need to spread out tables and machines instead

 

Even if ships did would they could to make the best of the impact and inconveniences, could you adapt?  If this is what you had to do to take a vacation, and it might be for years to come, could you learn to live with it?  Or are we better off moth-balling the ships until such time that the entire world can be vaccinated, with the caveat it could be 3, 4, maybe 5 years before that happened?

 

 

 

 

To answer your question, I would cruise again in a heart beat! That being said, I think the father we get from the Whuhan virus (I am not PC) I think things will pretty much get back to normal.  I am ready to go back right now!

Edited April 19, 2020 by Himself

[iancal]

We look forward to more cruises. 

 

We know  there will be a huge difference between when we would like to cruise, when the cruise lines start up again, and when we feel that it is safe to cruise from a health perspective.  The latter will drive our decision.

 

Our priority is different than that of the cruise lines.  Our first priority is our health.  I believe that the cruise lines have far more interest in my wallet than they do in my ongoing good health.  A resumption of cruise line service will not in any way signal to me that the health risk to us is diminished or eliminated.

Edited April 19, 2020 by iancal

[Randyk47]

We will cruise again but not anytime soon.   Luckily we did squeeze in an 11-day cruise this past January before this whole mess exploded on the world.   I say squeeze because our cruise date was driven by a break in my wife’s post graduate school work.  Her school schedule is so tight that it was either then or not likely until she graduates in July 2021.   I did promise her a cruise after she graduates and the first time the itinerary she wants is available is September 2021.   That said I haven’t booked the cruise yet.......time enough for a lot to resolve itself.   

[Bramcruiser]

I was once a cheerleader for going back as soon as possible to show the world it would be okay to travel. Since it may be too onerous to board a ship just because of someone's age or subjective possible, and I do mean "possible" health status, (ie: are diabetics now lepers?), I am growing less sure I would rush back. Add to this the cruises next year are not coming down in price and choices are growing smaller. Is all the trouble worth it? I'm waiting out my summer cruise in Europe but should it be cancelled it's looking more and more like I'll take the refund. Disheartening to find the exact same itinerary I have been saving up for two years is not being repeated and the choices that are left next year are already been swallowed up by those who got cancelled first.  Yes, on paper the FCCs look good but that is all they are.....paper until actually used. 2020 is so unpredictable so is there any guarantee 2021 is going to be better?

 

I have to come to terms with the fact that 2020 is likely a write-off but I am entertaining the notion that 2021 may not include a cruise.

[bouhunter]

21 hours ago, EscapeFromConnecticut said:

 


The bigger problem with that way of thinking is that the cruise lines themselves are saying cruising won't happen until the need for social distancing goes away. (Arnold Donald on CNBC last week was clear on that point)

 

 

Makes perfect sense as "social distancing" is simply impossible on a cruise ship.  But that isn't stopping people at Cruise Critic from discussing every possible detail of how it might be implemented.....

[mamaofami]

I don’t see us cruising for a while. I would not have wanted to be so far from medical help,as the passengers on some of the ships were. Things would have to be back to some kind of normal ( whatever that would look like) before I would cruise again. Hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later.