Will they sail less than full?

[cruise47]

I can see Celebrity reducing all the inside and half of the ocean view cabins to reduce occupancy of their ships. IMO.

[Miaminice]

The answer and my opinion to the topic question "Will they sail less than full? is simple: YES!

 

The signs:
1. CEO and CFO already stated that (depending on age of ship/fuel efficiency) they require 30 - 50% capacity to break even. Sailing with reduced numbers in the beginning has also been mentioned.

2. Costa and TUI Cruises (TUI is a joint venture with RCI) announced sailings in Europe beginning August - with reduced numbers. TUI mentioned a limit of 1000 pax.

 

As to who gets to sail... I have been wondering myself.
My first idea was: Distribute the capacity percentage in relation to stateroom category and go by date of booking.
My least expectation is to go by loyalty level (and we are E+). If a newbie booked months before I did, he simply beat me to it.

Edited June 16, 2020 by Miaminice

[rjochum11]

54 minutes ago, cruise47 said:

I can see Celebrity reducing all the inside and half of the ocean view cabins to reduce occupancy of their ships. IMO.

 

So this is pure speculation, which is the only thing we have right now... But, from looking at the celebrity Website, I think that there are plans to sail the Edge and Apex at a reduced capacity. I was looking at November cruises in the Caribbean (first scheduled cruises for those boats in the Caribbean) and the Edge and Apex showed that interior and ocean view rooms were sold out for every cruise... I don't know if this means really sold out or if they are blocking the rooms from being sold.

 

[RichYak]

On 6/14/2020 at 4:40 PM, phoenix_dream said:

I can't imagine anyone willing to sail with the type of restrictions you are talking about.  Almost no one (I would say no one but there may be an outlier here or there) would be willing to sail without bars or entertainment, and no way would most of us consider shoveling a four course meal down in 30 minutes!    I could see changes in some of these things for sure.  Spaced out seating in bars, production shows (if any) cut down by half,  and more live entertainers in the main theater who are solo or small groups.  Spaced out seating in restaurants, and perhaps if needed the temporary conversion of specialty restaurants to main dining, or free or greatly reduced dinners in specialty restaurants to lessen the load in the restaurants.  But if ships can't sail with bars, entertainment, and reasonably comfortable dining they will not sail at all IMHO

My guess is that initially, indoor bars will all be open but with no seating at all. Entertainment will go on but with socially distanced seating. That might equate to more show times. Meal times might be accelerated with more than 2 set seating times, but not to the 30-40 minute extent. Anytime dining in the MDR might be suspended to better control capacity. Of course this is all speculation, but these would be some responsible actions potentially being considered by cruiselines.

[RichYak]

Deleted

Edited June 16, 2020 by RichYak
Duplicate Post

[cangelmd]

Maybe I’m missing something, but I assumed that they would reduce capacity by continuing  to cancel the existing cruises and creating new shorter cruises to book people on. Then you would have a choice of refunding the original itinerary and rebooking, getting a full refund, or doing a shift to the next year.

This would go on until they are able to start expanding capacity (there’s a vaccine) and returning to more of a normal schedule. 
Mr. Fain has talked about shorter itineraries and using private islands - Celebrity doesn’t do those often, so either Royal opens first and is the only line open for awhile in the RCL family OR they create new cruises and book those separately from the old reservations?

[grandgeezer]

10 minutes ago, RichYak said:

My guess is that initially, indoor bars will all be open but with no seating at all. Entertainment will go on but with socially distanced seating. That might equate to more show times. Meal times might be accelerated with more than 2 set seating times, but not to the 30-40 minute extent. Anytime dining in the MDR might be suspended to better control capacity. Of course this is all speculation, but these would be some responsible actions potentially being considered by cruiselines.

To help control social distancing, since they said self service buffets are history, I can see them make it a reservation type restaurant. I can also see the My Time dining going away.

[davekathy]

20 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

To help control social distancing, since they said self service buffets are history, I can see them make it a reservation type restaurant. I can also see the My Time dining going away.

IMO or WAG (as yours is), if buffets change they will become cafeteria style. Celebrity has done this in the past when there is a norovirus outbreak. Nothing new.  Noway will SD be going away. 

[grandgeezer]

54 minutes ago, davekathy said:

IMO or WAG (as yours is), if buffets change they will become cafeteria style. Celebrity has done this in the past when there is a norovirus outbreak. Nothing new.  Noway will SD be going away. 

 

If social distancing is a requirement, how do you propose that they enforce it? People are coming and going out of those venues all the time, and at least in the buffet sit anywhere they please. They say they need 30% or 50% passengers to break even. They aren’t in the business just to break even. They’ll squeeze every last person on that ship they can.

[davekathy]

25 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

 

If social distancing is a requirement, how do you propose that they enforce it? People are coming and going out of those venues all the time, and at least in the buffet sit anywhere they please. They say they need 30% or 50% passengers to break even. They aren’t in the business just to break even. They’ll squeeze every last person on that ship they can.

My post (comment) to you had nothing to do with squeezing people on cruise ships or reducing the number of passengers. I was merely pointing out that the OVC would most likely will be a cafeteria style where you ask for your selection and the server will plate your selection. Go back as many times as you please. Also SD will not go away. As far as implementing and enforcing social distancing, that's above my pay grade so I'll leave the logistics up to Celebrity. 

[ipeeinthepool]

2 hours ago, davekathy said:

IMO or WAG (as yours is), if buffets change they will become cafeteria style. Celebrity has done this in the past when there is a norovirus outbreak. Nothing new.  Noway will SD be going away. 

 

IMO or WAG, the buffets will not adopt the Noro style operating procedure because the transfer mechanism is different.  Noro is mainly spread by touching something that was contaminated by the Noro Virus.  It is believed that Covid is spread by people breathing, coughing or sneezing on you.  It's spread by droplets from the mouth or nose.  If people still crowd around each other to see what's available then you may still be spreading the virus.  IMO or WAG the buffet will be come a casual sit-down restaurant.  

[davekathy]

12 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

IMO or WAG, the buffets will not adopt the Noro style operating procedure because the transfer mechanism is different.  Noro is mainly spread by touching something that was contaminated by the Noro Virus.  It is believed that Covid is spread by people breathing, coughing or sneezing on you.  It's spread by droplets from the mouth or nose.  If people still crowd around each other to see what's available then you may still be spreading the virus.  IMO or WAG the buffet will be come a casual sit-down restaurant.  

I'll respect your WAG but trust and have more faith in my Magic 8 Ball which says, "very doubtful". I wonder who will be eating crow at the OVC? 🤣

Edited June 16, 2020 by davekathy

[Miaminice]

2 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

 

They say they need 30% or 50% passengers to break even. They aren’t in the business just to break even. They’ll squeeze every last person on that ship they can.

in the beginning they‘ll be happy to break even just to stop burning money.

[FlorenceItaly]

2 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

 

They need 30% or 50% passengers to break even. They aren’t in the business just to break even. They’ll squeeze every last person on that ship they can.

I agree.  I do not see them sailing, by choice, with a lesser amount.

[cpl100]

On 6/13/2020 at 10:19 AM, PTC DAWG said:

Booked on EQ this September, ready to go, barring wearing a mask...not doing it. 

And what is your plan if you get there and it is required?

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

I'll respect your WAG but trust and have more faith in my Magic 8 Ball which says, "very doubtful". I wonder who will be eating crow at the OVC? 🤣

Richard Fain has already discussed this issue and said that guests will tell the staff their choices from the selections at the stations in the buffet what they would like and the staff will plate up their food. Could your Magic 8 Ball pick winning lottery tickets too?

Imo, they will probably put markers on the floor to remind people to keep their distance while in line.

 

 

Edited June 16, 2020 by C-Dragons

[bstrong3]

We have decided to do the lift and shift, we were on the equinox Feb. 19, 2021 sailing that they changed the itinerary and shorted the time at Bonaire. And with all the unknowns we feel it would be best to push it out and see what plays out. We will move it to Feb. 9, 2022, same cruise and the itinerary is unchanged so far, this will also give us valentines day on the cruise.

[davekathy]

21 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

Richard Fain has already discussed this issue and said that guests will tell the staff their choices from the selections at the stations in the buffet what they would like and the staff will plate up their food. Could your Magic 8 Ball pick winning lottery tickets too?

Imo, they will probably put markers on the floor to remind people to keep their distance while in line.

Not any good at the lottery, bummer!  😉 Agree that the OVC will be set up for social distancing and markers on the floor will be one of the many changes. We aren't big buffet fans but I believe having a server in the OVC plate your selection(s) is way overdue. 

Edited June 17, 2020 by davekathy

[rmalbers]

No need to guess on this one: the CEO's of the big cruise lines have said publicly that they can make money even if not running full.  They have said they expect to not be full when they get permission to run again.  It actually will help them gear up because they can run with less crew, people are their biggest cost along with fuel.  (the CEO's have said this on US CNBC)

[Covepointcruiser]

If you look at the Costa CC site, you can see their new protocols.   I would bet Celebrity will have similar protocols.    They state all food and drink will be served to passengers seated at tables.   The tables will be placed so they are a sufficient distance apart.

It sounds like the old days in cruising back in the sixties.   No buffets, except the midnight buffet.   I don’t recall crowding.   We reserved our deck chairs at the start of the voyage for a small fee and our names were placed on the chairs.   There was no chair hoarding.    We had the same table for all meals.

[vccarmi]

On 6/13/2020 at 12:32 AM, bstrong3 said:

We are currently booked on Equinox Feb. 2021 and have been since Feb. 2019. We are considering doing the Lift and Shift to a 2022 sailing for fears that the cruising experience will be less than desirable. The Lift and Shift as I understand is only available until Aug. so we have until then to make a decision. But if they sail with less than a full ship that might be a good thing for the overall cruise experience, no lines, always a seat a the bar etc.. Anyway the cruise we have is almost fully booked and if they went the less then full route how do you think would they decide on who gets bumped?

 

maybe they won't need to bump if people cancel. i'm scheduled for Nov and getting worried 

[Keys Kathy]

On 6/14/2020 at 4:40 PM, phoenix_dream said:

I can't imagine anyone willing to sail with the type of restrictions you are talking about.  Almost no one (I would say no one but there may be an outlier here or there) would be willing to sail without bars or entertainment, and no way would most of us consider shoveling a four course meal down in 30 minutes!    I could see changes in some of these things for sure.  Spaced out seating in bars, production shows (if any) cut down by half,  and more live entertainers in the main theater who are solo or small groups.  Spaced out seating in restaurants, and perhaps if needed the temporary conversion of specialty restaurants to main dining, or free or greatly reduced dinners in specialty restaurants to lessen the load in the restaurants.  But if ships can't sail with bars, entertainment, and reasonably comfortable dining they will not sail at all IMHO

I would LOVE to cruise NOW! BUT, unless there is a vaccine, we will not be on board. We are on Equinox Jan 2ndish. We will not go without a shot. We enjoy the crew and meeting new friends, that is the cruise for us. A mask or distancing does not work for us.

[Germancruiser]

Well, sailing with 30% or 50% the normal passengers might brake them even- but the need to make money to keep going.

Nevertheless it´s beginning.