Ships returning to Europe

[cockneyjock]

With cruising suspended until June, will the ships based in the U.S. come to Europe for a shortened season?

[Essiesmom]

Nobody knows.  Depends on so many factors, such as when airlines will resume flying, European ports will reopen to cruise ships, restrictions of cruisers lifted...  EM

[CruiserBruce]

Yes, no, maybe. Nobody knows.

[navybankerteacher]

30 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Yes, no, maybe. Nobody knows.

You left out perhaps.

 

[Charles4515]

Probably someday. Many European ports citizens don’t like cruise ships so they might not let them back. Venice and Barcelona come to mind. Small ships, under 1000 might be allowed.


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[GrJ Berkshire]

10 hours ago, cockneyjock said:

With cruising suspended until June, will the ships based in the U.S. come to Europe for a shortened season?

No European cruises in 2020 will happen. The long term problem will also be the airlines, as many will not survive this in their current form, so getting crew, passengers to the ships will be problematic.

Also many European ports like Venice had already had enough of the large cruise ships and will use this crisis to reappraise the role of cruise ships and the environment issues  they bring.

[Aplmac]

Europa was here with us for a week in Barbados

but took off for Europe (Hamburg) about 4-5 days ago.

 

Only 8 ships left now in our waters

 

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, Aplmac said:

Europa was here with us for a week in Barbados

but took off for Europe (Hamburg) about 4-5 days ago.

 

 

 

She's a nice looking ship -- and just about the size I like. 

[Essiesmom]

And nearly the most expensive to sail, perhaps only surpassed by her newer sister Europa 2.  EM

[crazyank]

7 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

No European cruises in 2020 will happen. The long term problem will also be the airlines, as many will not survive this in their current form, so getting crew, passengers to the ships will be problematic.

Also many European ports like Venice had already had enough of the large cruise ships and will use this crisis to reappraise the role of cruise ships and the environment issues  they bring.

You say this as if the decision has been made.  Please quote your source for this info.

[GrJ Berkshire]

1 hour ago, crazyank said:

You say this as if the decision has been made.  Please quote your source for this info.

UK govt sources. Virgin Atlantic is in big trouble as is BA , how much will survive?  UK regional airlines have gone bust already. We live 20miles from LHR, now so quiet only 50/ 60 planes a day was 700 . Only 1 runway open. Nearly all cargo planes.

2nd part read about Venice issues with large cruise ships and collisions in the Guidecca canal all year, this will not return.

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, crazyank said:

You say this as if the decision has been made.  Please quote your source for this info.

Looking at the information out there it would be VERY surprising if cruising resumed this year. It would need some sort of miracle solution to the Coronavirus problem worldwide, however it might happen but the odds appear very very long.

[cruisemom42]

12 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

No European cruises in 2020 will happen. 

 

I'm not into betting, but I wouldn't place bets on this.

 

12 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

Also many European ports like Venice had already had enough of the large cruise ships and will use this crisis to reappraise the role of cruise ships and the environment issues  they bring.

 

The changes in Venice re: cruise ships were afoot long before COVID-19, and the solution is not going to stop passengers going to Venice -- they are just going to have to dock further away and take a bus to get there (think Rome or Florence). 

 

While I wouldn't be unhappy to see the numbers decrease, many of the European ports are in the same fragile economic state as the airlines. For example, Venice has been for all intents and purposes closed down since February. I expect they'll be happy to see their primary revenue stream active again.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

13 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

No, European cruises in 2020 will happen.

 

Added the missing punctuation for you.

[dolittle]

On 4/21/2020 at 7:10 PM, GrJ Berkshire said:

No European cruises in 2020 will happen. The long term problem will also be the airlines, as many will not survive this in their current form, so getting crew, passengers to the ships will be problematic.

Also many European ports like Venice had already had enough of the large cruise ships and will use this crisis to reappraise the role of cruise ships and the environment issues  they bring.

People always hate tourists until they are gone.  

[Smurf2017]

On 4/22/2020 at 8:59 AM, GrJ Berkshire said:

UK govt sources. Virgin Atlantic is in big trouble as is BA , how much will survive?  UK regional airlines have gone bust already. We live 20miles from LHR, now so quiet only 50/ 60 planes a day was 700 . Only 1 runway open. Nearly all cargo planes.

2nd part read about Venice issues with large cruise ships and collisions in the Guidecca canal all year, this will not return.

 

What about your statement, "No European cruises in 2020 will happen." What is your source for that please?

[Charles4515]

 
What about your statement, "No European cruises in 2020 will happen." What is your source for that please?

As I read how the question was asked in the start post of the thread a speculative answer was intended. So the OP does not need to post a source. You can either agree or disagree with OP.




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[navybankerteacher]

On 4/22/2020 at 8:14 AM, Sancho_proudfoot said:

 

Added the missing punctuation for you.

Best editing job I have ever seen on these threads!

[Smurf2017]

9 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

As I read how the question was asked in the start post of the thread a speculative answer was intended. So the OP does not need to post a source. You can either agree or disagree with OP.




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The OP is 'cockneyjock' and I don't have a problem with his post. 

 

It is GrJ Berkshire who made a positive statement that, " "No European cruises in 2020 will happen." As I have a European cruise booked for 2020, I would still like to know their source for such a positive statement. 

[Charles4515]

 

The OP is 'cockneyjock' and I don't have a problem with his post. 

 

It is GrJ Berkshire who made a positive statement that, " "No European cruises in 2020 will happen." As I have a European cruise booked for 2020, I would still like to know their source for such a positive statement. 

 

If you read the post in context of the thread GrJ Berkshire was giving an opinion. Could turn out right. Could turn out wrong. No source is required for an opinion.

 

 

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[clo]

On 4/22/2020 at 5:11 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm not into betting, but I wouldn't place bets on this.

 

 

The changes in Venice re: cruise ships were afoot long before COVID-19, and the solution is not going to stop passengers going to Venice -- they are just going to have to dock further away and take a bus to get there (think Rome or Florence). 

 

While I wouldn't be unhappy to see the numbers decrease, many of the European ports are in the same fragile economic state as the airlines. For example, Venice has been for all intents and purposes closed down since February. I expect they'll be happy to see their primary revenue stream active again.

With Italy being shut to tourism for the rest of the year, I wonder how that will affect Med. cruises generally.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, clo said:

With Italy being shut to tourism for the rest of the year, I wonder how that will affect Med. cruises generally.

One might want to consider that President Macron has submitted a proposal to the EU which would close all the Schengen boarders until September 1.  While this may not become the policy it does reflect the sentiment of more then one European leader.  In the past 2 days the UK has started to consider shutting their borders for at least 2 weeks.  It is very likely that both Greenland and Iceland will not allow any cruise ships this summer.    Also keep in mind that two of the biggest cruise ports, Civitavecchia and Barcelona are in countries (and regions) that have a big COVID-19 problem   Without those two ports it will bte difficult for most cruise lines to function in Europe.  

 

My hunch (call it an educated guess) is that there will be no European cruising until July....at the earliest.  While the cruise lines want to resume operations in May they are going to have a problem convincing ports to accept their ships.  By July, if the COVID-19 numbers become manageable perhaps there will be some ports that will accept ships.  But folks need to understand that the airline problem has become quite acute.  In fact, we have an October cruise booked out of Civitavecchia and there are very few options for flights to Rome.  And that is October!  In the summer the situation is worse.  Whether airlines such as Delta will decide to resume and/or increase flights to Europe this summer is still a question.  

 

Another big issue for the cruise lines are whether they can fill their ships for cruises in Europe.   Many passengers (including us) have already cancelled summer cruises prior to final payments.  Cruises that were just about sold-out a few months ago are now going to have very low occupancy rates if they actually embark.  Our October cruise (from Rome to Singapore) is part of a long cruise from Southampton to Australia.  Australia has already talked about banning all cruise ships for the rest of the year.  Ports like Dubai and Abu Dhabi are very questionable.  And any of the Asian ports, such as Singapore, are also very questionable.  None of these places need cruise ships for their economy and have good reason to fear any ship that might bring more COVID-19 to their cities.  Just using some logic makes one wonder why any port would accept a cruise ship this summer or in the near future.

 

And finally we should look to major European events as a bellwether.  The Royal Edinburgh Tattoo, scheduled for August, has already been cancelled!  And just in the past few days it was announced that Octoberfest (in Munich) has been cancelled.  This is a late September event and its cancellation this far in advance did surprise many folks.  Dubai has also postponed (for a year) its huge Expo 20 event.  One also wonders how many major museums will reopen this summer.  Many of the workers in museums do not want to work and the labor unions have yet to support opening these kind of places that put their members in danger.

 

Hank

[clo]

22 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

My hunch

My hunch is that most of the planet is going to hunker down for the rest of 2020 and maybe longer. We still have to see if there's another 'wave' in the fall. And all the medical/scientific part. 

 

BTW, your write-up here was excellent as always. Thanks.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, clo said:

My hunch is that most of the planet is going to hunker down for the rest of 2020 and maybe longer. We still have to see if there's another 'wave' in the fall. And all the medical/scientific part. 

 

BTW, your write-up here was excellent as always. Thanks.

We sure here ya!  I am actually very concerned that you are right and that does scare me.  We live in Puerto Vallarta during the winter and it has become our 2nd home and a place we love as much as any in the world.  If we have to cancel our 2 remaining 2020 cruises, we will not be too upset.  But if this virus were to prevent us from going to PV early next year then we would really be depressed.  Even if the virus was around next winter, but not quite as bad as it is now, we would rather take our chances in Mexico then at home here in the USA.

 

Hank

[clo]

10 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We sure here ya!  I am actually very concerned that you are right and that does scare me.  We live in Puerto Vallarta during the winter and it has become our 2nd home and a place we love as much as any in the world.  If we have to cancel our 2 remaining 2020 cruises, we will not be too upset.  But if this virus were to prevent us from going to PV early next year then we would really be depressed.  Even if the virus was around next winter, but not quite as bad as it is now, we would rather take our chances in Mexico then at home here in the USA.

 

Hank

We have friends who made it out of Baja (I think it was Baja) before Southwest called them to tell them the border was being closed. Is it still? I see Canada has extended their closure. I wish you well.