Adult children (early 40's) FREAKING OUT regarding my cruise 4/21

[Petoonya]

My kids went berserk when in early March when I was still planning an 4/20 cruise. They saw cruise ships as potential Death Stars. They were right- I'd been cavalier and dumb about it.

 

Now my kids are close to reacting the same about a 4/21 cruise. They think at ages 68 and 74 we are too old to plan on the contagiousness going away by then. I don't know- that's why I booked Wind Spirit eagerly for next spring, and planning excursions like a hobby. A joy to anticipate and plenty of time to cancel.

 

What are your plans if any for 2021, 2022?

(or 2020?)

Edited June 29, 2020 by Petoonya

[SailingSteve77]

We booked the Star Breeze, 6 November 2020 from Athens - Rome - Barcelona - Lisbon - San Juan and we can't wait.  Our adult kids (20's) have no problems with us going.  We also booked the Wind Surf, 26 December 2020 for 28 days in the Caribbean and the Wind Surf TA cruise from St. Maarten - Lisbon April 2021.   With Windstar's health protocols and with everyone using their heads and frequently washing your hands, everyone (crew and passengers) will be just fine and have a great trip.  I agree - the planning and anticipation is a lot of fun and yes, we can always cancel.  We're betting a 50/50 chance of our cruise in November.

[Host Jazzbeau]

We are booked for a DIY land tour in Portugal in late September 2020, and still looking forward to it (if Portugal will let us in!), and a Ponant cruise in New Zealand in January 2021 (again, if New Zealand will let us in!).  So April 2021 on a small ship in a 'clean' area sounds fine to me – and I'm 72.  At my age I have begun to see many friends and relative die – and it's never from the bad choices I thought would kill them... 

[new_cruiser]

I've also booked the 6 November 2020 Star Breeze sailing though just Athens - Rome. We'd looked at it last January but the price then was more than we wanted to spend on top of the other cruises we'd booked (a January 2021 Tahiti and 1 May Greece, Israel & Egypt). Decided to book last week when when it was on 7-for-7. My husband is okay with me going but not ready to go himself. I don't think he finds the itinerary as compelling - he isn't as interested in travel as I am and he is also a bit older than me (early 70s vs late 60s). There is no solo supplement on the 6 November cruise.

 

I also figure it is about 50/50 chance of the November cruise. Windstar might cancel, Greece/EU might make entry from the US too hard depending on how COVID is playing out, or I might decide the risk is too high. At the price, I might as well make the reservation in case the travel is possible and reasonably sensible. Even the May cruise I think has some risk of not happening.

 

I'd worry more about the death star aspect on a larger or more crowded ship. 

 

As the time frame for self-isolation stretches out, I feel like I'm playing off the risk of higher vulnerability due to age (and possibly blood type) against not knowing how many more years I'll have left where it is easy to travel. 

 

[new_cruiser]

3 hours ago, SailingSteve77 said:

We booked the Star Breeze, 6 November 2020 from Athens - Rome - Barcelona - Lisbon - San Juan and we can't wait.  Our adult kids (20's) have no problems with us going.  We also booked the Wind Surf, 26 December 2020 for 28 days in the Caribbean and the Wind Surf TA cruise from St. Maarten - Lisbon April 2021.   With Windstar's health protocols and with everyone using their heads and frequently washing your hands, everyone (crew and passengers) will be just fine and have a great trip.  I agree - the planning and anticipation is a lot of fun and yes, we can always cancel.  We're betting a 50/50 chance of our cruise in November.

 

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We are booked for a DIY land tour in Portugal in late September 2020, and still looking forward to it (if Portugal will let us in!), and a Ponant cruise in New Zealand in January 2021 (again, if New Zealand will let us in!).  So April 2021 on a small ship in a 'clean' area sounds fine to me – and I'm 72.  At my age I have begun to see many friends and relative die – and it's never from the bad choices I thought would kill them... 

 

Have you figured out what you are doing about flights? That's the hard part about this. Risk booking non-refundable early to get a good price or wait until the uncertainty is less? I did notice that United has some flights priced reasonably with "no change fees". I'm going to have to read the fine print to see what that covers, like whether it can be shifted from November 2020 to cover flights for the spring 2021 cruise. I might book with miles.

[Host Jazzbeau]

We booked the flights to Portugal back in November.  They will require a change since originally the trip continued on to Spain and we have cancelled that part.  Assuming Delta will be cooperative, as they have been in the past.

 

The trip to New Zealand is a replacement for a cancelled cruise from this March.  Air New Zealand gave us our money back on the March flights, easy peasy.  We have rebooked through their partner United since it will be easier to use credits on United if we have to cancel this one.

 

We intend to keep traveling, so running up some credits with favorite cruise lines and airlines doesn't seem too big a risk.  [But I wouldn't book anything right now that involves more than a small deposit.  I have trips planned out for the next several years, but my plans may get bumped by a need to use up FCCs before they expire!]

[Petoonya]

8 hours ago, SailingSteve77 said:

  I agree - the planning and anticipation is a lot of fun and yes, we can always cancel. 

 

7 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

 As the time frame for self-isolation stretches out, I feel like I'm playing off the risk of higher vulnerability due to age (and possibly blood type) against not knowing how many more years I'll have left where it is easy to travel.

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 At my age I have begun to see many friends and relative die – and it's never from the bad choices I thought would kill them... 

 

So many words of wisdom that I'd love for my kids to see. Thanks.

[Host Jazzbeau]

10 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

So many words of wisdom that I'd love for my kids to see. Thanks.

 

When DW and I took our first cruise after the kids were out of college, my Mother was 94.  Her health was still good, but she was in Assisted Living and at that age health is always fragile.  Anyway, before we left she told us: "If I die while you're on this cruise, don't rush back – just tell them to put me on ice until you can get here."  I have always taken that as a model of how to care for your relatives and friends: put their interests above yours.

[Petoonya]

4 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

When DW and I took our first cruise after the kids were out of college, my Mother was 94.  Her health was still good, but she was in Assisted Living and at that age health is always fragile.  Anyway, before we left she told us: "If I die while you're on this cruise, don't rush back – just tell them to put me on ice until you can get here."  I have always taken that as a model of how to care for your relatives and friends: put their interests above yours.

What makes kids think they know better than their folks? What makes kids want to interfere in what  New Cruiser says is "the risk of higher vulnerability due to age (and possibly blood type) against not knowing how many more years I'll have left where it is easy to travel.".

I know they love me but letting me do what I need to do based on my life expectancy is something I can't convey. I think they need to at least 60 before they understand.

[minidonuts85]

We are in our mid-40’s and have a deal with our parents who also love to travel. They don’t freak out about our travel plans and we don’t freak out about theirs :) Dont get me wrong, we all love each other very much. Part of life is making future plans even if they don’t work out (darn pandemic) regardless of age.

We are really hoping our annual New Year’s Eve trip to Jost Van Dyke will still happen but we shall see!


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Heartfelttraveler]

We are planning to vacation in October 2020 to FP and December 2020 to Antarctica.  We will be 64 and 73.

 

We will take the required and suggested precautions.  We will also take masks, gloves, Lysol wipes, and a pump bottle of Lysol.

 

we are hoping these trips are not cancelled.

[Petoonya]

The 40 year olds who worry are my three sons and not prone to worry, but the potential with COVID has them hyper-vigilant with their own families. I'm proud of that. But the vigilance with me makes me crazy. I still drive fast cars on the track, and they love that I do because they do it too. I think if they were cruisers they'd understand.

Also they don't think of "hope". They're all doing well. But for anyone over 65, hope becomes a big part of our lives.

Goes with New Cruisers words.....

"As the time frame for self-isolation stretches out, I feel like I'm playing off the risk of higher vulnerability due to age (and possibly blood type) against not knowing how many more years I'll have left where it is easy to travel."

[SailingSteve77]

18 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

 

 

Have you figured out what you are doing about flights? That's the hard part about this. Risk booking non-refundable early to get a good price or wait until the uncertainty is less? I did notice that United has some flights priced reasonably with "no change fees". I'm going to have to read the fine print to see what that covers, like whether it can be shifted from November 2020 to cover flights for the spring 2021 cruise. I might book with miles.

We haven't booked our flights yet.  But, as of right now American and it's One World partner Iberia has good pricing .  DFW - Madrid - Athens.   Flying San Juan - DFW is easy at cruise end on American.  Yes, it's always good to double check the fine print on the ticket, but most carriers are very forgiving right now to try and get people flying again.   We look forward to meet you on board (hopefully) in Athens.

 

Steve & Cindy

[ridethetide]

6 hours ago, SailingSteve77 said:

We haven't booked our flights yet.  But, as of right now American and it's One World partner Iberia has good pricing .  DFW - Madrid - Athens.   Flying San Juan - DFW is easy at cruise end on American.  Yes, it's always good to double check the fine print on the ticket, but most carriers are very forgiving right now to try and get people flying again.   We look forward to meet you on board (hopefully) in Athens.

 

Steve & Cindy

Of course, you have to assume that the EU will allow Americans to travel there by then.

[MNgardens]

I am not dreaming of any travel, much less cruising until fall of 2021. I have one person in my extended family die from Covid and my 24 year old daughter sickened. My daughter was never hospitalized but 4 months later she has pain in her lungs every single day. Every single day it hurts to breathe. This affects her ability to do her job. Medical staff have no idea if this will be life long.

 

So, we won't be booking until there is a vaccine or an effective medical treatment that is widely available. I am hoping this will occur by next summer. I am very eager to get back to traveling but to me the risk isn't worth it.

[Petoonya]

3 hours ago, MNgardens said:

I am not dreaming of any travel, much less cruising until fall of 2021. I have one person in my extended family die from Covid and my 24 year old daughter sickened. My daughter was never hospitalized but 4 months later she has pain in her lungs every single day. Every single day it hurts to breathe. This affects her ability to do her job. Medical staff have no idea if this will be life long.

 

So, we won't be booking until there is a vaccine or an effective medical treatment that is widely available. I am hoping this will occur by next summer. I am very eager to get back to traveling but to me the risk isn't worth it.

Very sorry to hear of your losses with COVID and understandable that you don't want to plan a cruise or any traveling.

I feel chastened.

Think a lot of us are just taking a chance on COVID being under control when we cruise, and in addition, the prices of a month ago were hard to resist. It's the human condition to remain hopeful I guess.

Again so sorry to hear of your losses especially your daughter's condition.

[MNgardens]

Washington Post has a link for signing up to participate in the vaccine trials. I put my name in. I would really like to contribute to those efforts. Perhaps some of you who are eager to get back into the world would like to too.

[SailingSteve77]

2 hours ago, MNgardens said:

Washington Post has a link for signing up to participate in the vaccine trials. I put my name in. I would really like to contribute to those efforts. Perhaps some of you who are eager to get back into the world would like to too.

 

What is the link please?   We'd like to participate as well.

 

Steve & Cindy 

[new_cruiser]

The link is:

https://www.coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org/

[CateW]

We booked our first Windstar cruise for October 2021, New York to San Juan; 21 nights.   I hope we get to go.   We live on the east coast we'd only have to fly back from San Juan.  I hope it goes.

[Petoonya]

21 hours ago, MNgardens said:

Washington Post has a link for signing up to participate in the vaccine trials. I put my name in. I would really like to contribute to those efforts. Perhaps some of you who are eager to get back into the world would like to too.

Thanks. Registered too 🙂

[bplazo]

On 6/29/2020 at 10:43 AM, Petoonya said:

My kids went berserk when in early March when I was still planning an 4/20 cruise. They saw cruise ships as potential Death Stars. They were right- I'd been cavalier and dumb about it.

 

Now my kids are close to reacting the same about a 4/21 cruise. They think at ages 68 and 74 we are too old to plan on the contagiousness going away by then. I don't know- that's why I booked Wind Spirit eagerly for next spring, and planning excursions like a hobby. A joy to anticipate and plenty of time to cancel.

 

What are your plans if any for 2021, 2022?

(or 2020?)

We have a cruise booked December 3, 2020 to Tahiti.

[TakingFlight]

Four major trips in 2020 were cancelled. If the situation clears for travel in 2021 it will be a 3x Windstar year: Tahiti on the Spirit in March, Monaco Grand Prix Cruise on the Surf in May and Canada/New England on the Pride in October.

 

 

[susiesan]

17 hours ago, bplazo said:

We have a cruise booked December 3, 2020 to Tahiti.

Please keep everyone posted as to how it goes with getting a covid test 72 hours prior to getting on the plane to PPT. With the length of time to get results getting longer and longer, I can foresee problems. My final payment for my January Tahiti cruise is due in October and I'm not going to make it if there is uncertainty about having to cancel at the last minute due to lack of test results. I don't want to have a FCC with Windstar, I will just cancel and get my $100 back.

[bplazo]

On 7/11/2020 at 1:22 PM, susiesan said:

Please keep everyone posted as to how it goes with getting a covid test 72 hours prior to getting on the plane to PPT. With the length of time to get results getting longer and longer, I can foresee problems. My final payment for my January Tahiti cruise is due in October and I'm not going to make it if there is uncertainty about having to cancel at the last minute due to lack of test results. I don't want to have a FCC with Windstar, I will just cancel and get my $100 back.

If we have to get tested than I'm not going.  It is better to cancel now than later