When do you think Azamara will resume Cruising?

[the mice]

Blag - thanks for the link.   (I am so dismayed to not be coming to Italy in June....)

 

Interesting that when I click on Spain it lists it as "Published 15.05.2020".   Even with the time difference from here in NY, it is not yet May 15 in Spain!    

[blag]

1 hour ago, the mice said:

 

Interesting that when I click on Spain it lists it as "Published 15.05.2020".   Even with the time difference from here in NY, it is not yet May 15 in Spain!    

Finally, proof that time travel is possible! 

[nordski]

With this sort of ingenuity for patronizing The Sunset Deck, Discoveries, and especially The Patio, we should be soon given the all-clear to start cruising again :).

 

 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/german-cafe-gives-customers-pool-noodle-hats-to-ensure-they-remain-physically-distant-1.4940889

Edited May 15, 2020 by nordski

[mrbluesea]

Sumo suits is the answer. Issued on embarkation.

[Baynanno1]

2 hours ago, nordski said:

With this sort of ingenuity for patronizing The Sunset Deck, Discoveries, and especially The Patio, we should be soon given the all-clear to start cruising again :).

 

 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/german-cafe-gives-customers-pool-noodle-hats-to-ensure-they-remain-physically-distant-1.4940889

 

Hope they sanitise them between customers!

[Melissaghoti]

As long as it matches my ‘sea mask’! 
 

“Cruise line operator Royal Caribbean is seeking a trademark for face masks that could be used for "virus isolation purposes," according to an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The name of the proposed item: "Seaface."

[blag]

On 5/14/2020 at 7:52 PM, the mice said:

Blag - thanks for the link.   (I am so dismayed to not be coming to Italy in June....)

Hi, the mice. 

It looks as if the Italian borders will be open from June 3.

So, if you can get transport, Italy looks forward to your arrival*!

 

* assuming the Italian government doesn't revoke this. 

[the mice]

9 hours ago, blag said:

Hi, the mice. 

It looks as if the Italian borders will be open from June 3.

So, if you can get transport, Italy looks forward to your arrival*!

 

* assuming the Italian government doesn't revoke this. 

That is encouraging news, but we are not planning any international trips or flying until there is a vaccine, or short of that, very effective reduction in cases with good mitigation strategies.   My husband is pretty adamant about that.  

 

Anyway, our outbound flight into Nice was cancelled but the return flight from Rome has not been cancelled.  However, it connects in Montreal and the Canadian-US border is currently closed.   We put in for a refund with United, where we made the booking, and expect to eventually get that since the outbound leg was in business class (return in economy) so that was the lion's share of the fare and it was all issued as one ticket.  We have no tickets to Barcelona, where the 2nd cruise of our B2B was to depart, and who knows what Spain will decide to do next week.   If Azamara does not cancel the June 20 cruise, we will take the FCC. 

 

We will return to Italy again, once this is all sorted and we can enjoy all that your wonderful country has to offer.   We do want to see more of the north, and also explore Calabria and Puglia (not in the same trip) .    For now we'll have to settle for looking at the photobooks of our wonderful trip to Sicily and Rome from 3 years ago.  I will miss watching the Giro D'Italia on TV this year 😞... and I will have to learn to make a good Bolognese ragu.  😄

[Mercruiser]

I've have an Argentine Uraguay Chile cruise booked for January, 2021. When I booked it, it seemed likely that cruises would be running by then. Now I am starting to doubt the South America cruise itineraries will be running this season. The world is going to be playing "Whack-A-Mole" with Covid for the foreseeable future. This is going to make it exceedingly difficult to run a cruise business, since it involves so many countries.

 

If I were retaking this poll now, I might vote April, 2021 - if that were a choice. 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Mercruiser

[Ride-The-Waves]

Azamara is laying up its ships on the River Clyde near Glasgow.  All three with minimal crews (40) and one captain over all three. With the restructuring of Pullmantur and the scrapping of 3-4 of its ships looks like RCI is cutting it losses.  

[MakingUpForLostTime]

On 6/22/2020 at 12:15 PM, Ride-The-Waves said:

Azamara is laying up its ships on the River Clyde near Glasgow.  All three with minimal crews (40) and one captain over all three. With the restructuring of Pullmantur and the scrapping of 3-4 of its ships looks like RCI is cutting it losses.  

After 6 months of no revenue and Billions and Billions borrowed and half of customers not wanting future cruise credits the cuts will be more deep than most here wish to consider. Too many people in denial wanting warm and fuzzy feelings with total disregard to the severity of the business climate. We should expect the worst and hope for the best. I am happy to have all my refund and money owing finally after 100 days. I would have sleepless nights if I had any money on deposit with RCL. 

[Mercruiser]

I wrote this on April 25 in the Pacific Islands forum (with one corrected typo in red):

 

"Seems pretty obvious that there will be some bankruptcies. But the cruise ships will survive, even if their owners do not. We got the 8 R-Class ships through the bankruptcy of Renaissance during the Gulf War. Renaissance is gone, but their ships have been sailing on as Azamara, Oceania, Princess, etc.

 

I would expect that many cruise lines are going to get significantly smaller for a while. And some will go bankrupt. Many older ships will be scrapped.

 

Like Renaissance, there will probably be some newish ships that will go on the market really cheap. It will be interesting to see how many of the newbuilds on the order books get cancelled. Would not be surprised to see some significant contraction amongst the ship builders. There are a huge number of new ships on order right now. Doesn't seem sustainable."

 

Unfortunately, the situation actually seems worse now than what I anticipated when I wrote this in April. I hadn't anticipated that two months later we would still be waiting for South America, Mexico, India, Africa, etc to reach peak infection rates. Add to that, the resurgence that may be happening in the USA. This does not bode well for a return to cruising any time soon. 

[Mackdogmolly]

Interesting article from the NY Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/travel/coronavirus-cruises-reopening.html?campaign_id=24&emc=edit_tl_20200627&instance_id=19800&nl=travel-dispatch&regi_id=70309524&segment_id=32026&te=1&user_id=42be9e8ba7f9b07f8d74ada967167cff

[nordski]

2 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Interesting article from the NY Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/travel/coronavirus-cruises-reopening.html?campaign_id=24&emc=edit_tl_20200627&instance_id=19800&nl=travel-dispatch&regi_id=70309524&segment_id=32026&te=1&user_id=42be9e8ba7f9b07f8d74ada967167cff

Thanks for posting that article.

 

Very, very gradually a consensus seems to be emerging as to what cruising might look like prior to the wide availability of a vaccine.

[john1970]

I wonder when the next CDC cruise advisory or RCL update will be. I am meant to be cruising October 3rd and would like to be put out of my misery soon!

[snowglobe]

Who would have guessed that travellers from the US would not be welcomed in the EU, yet here we are. The resurgence of cases in Florida and the climbing national rate does not bode well for any confidence coming back for cruising for the rest of 2020, I’m afraid.
 

Cruising is such an international industry, with guests filling Azamara ships mostly from both sides of the pond and the Antipodes, that it must be hellish for corporate to juggle where to position future cruises, and for which market, since throwing everyone together may not be workable for a while yet. Azamara’s narrow niche will make it even more difficult, I suspect.

[excitedofharpenden]

On 7/6/2020 at 2:11 PM, john1970 said:

I wonder when the next CDC cruise advisory or RCL update will be. I am meant to be cruising October 3rd and would like to be put out of my misery soon!

I'd say it was highly unlikely your cruise will go ahead. That's what I'd be preparing to hear. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

6 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I'd say it was highly unlikely your cruise will go ahead. That's what I'd be preparing to hear. 

 

Phil 

I agree, I think any start this year is now looking somewhere between very marginal to unlikely

[john1970]

2 minutes ago, uktog said:

I agree, I think any start this year is now looking somewhere between very marginal to unlikely

I'm in denial!! At least I can start planning 2021. Something I enjoy a lot.

[Brindlebury]

On 6/20/2020 at 10:35 AM, Mercruiser said:

I've have an Argentine Uraguay Chile cruise booked for January, 2021. When I booked it, it seemed likely that cruises would be running by then. Now I am starting to doubt the South America cruise itineraries will be running this season. The world is going to be playing "Whack-A-Mole" with Covid for the foreseeable future. This is going to make it exceedingly difficult to run a cruise business, since it involves so many countries.

 

If I were retaking this poll now, I might vote April, 2021 - if that were a choice. 

 

[Brindlebury]

Just now, Brindlebury said:

I’m booked on that as well, as a B2B, the second leg sailing up to Brazil.  

Ironically, these would be my first Azamara cruises, and I’ve been looking forward to them immensely, as much for experiencing the ship as for the ports. The excellent contributors to this board persuaded me a while ago that Azamara would be a good fit.

But I can’t imagine anyone sailing to Brazil now. And I simply am not comfortable with the idea of traveling anywhere until there is a treatment or vaccine. 

It will come, but I suspect that January/February 2021 is still too optimistic.

 

[Mackdogmolly]

I think I’m booked on the one following, Rio to Lisbon in early March, and if your cruises don’t sail, I can’t imagine mine will either.

[Brindlebury]

That one tempted me as well, especially as I love crossings. 

[Riocca]

Came across this interesting article with a mention of Azamara Journey https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-08/coronavirus-travel-what-happens-to-cruise-ships-during-covid-19?utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

 

Doesn’t sound like it will be a quick return to action for the cruise industry.

 

[uktog]

8 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Came across this interesting article with a mention of Azamara Journey https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-08/coronavirus-travel-what-happens-to-cruise-ships-during-covid-19?utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

 

Doesn’t sound like it will be a quick return to action for the cruise industry.

 

I think that reflects all I am hearing across several lines.  Looks like for most vessels it will be early 2021 and that is without a second spike.