50% capacity ...again. When ? Who’s in ? Who’s out?

[farmersfight]

4 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

You're in Michigan?    Is transportation going to be any issue?   Are you going to be hedging your bets?    Or,  are you  going to have to eliminate itineraries?     

 

There is NO predictability that there will even be last minute-  fire sale prices.  ????   Most other cruise lines-  don't offer this marketing.    

 

You must be able to make very fast-  efficient decisions,  and be well organized     Best to be open to unexpected-   there can be a lot of twists and turns.    I found myself last year,   tracking a few possibilities-  that never materialized,   then-  wham,  an unexpected dump appears.        Shortest-  time,  I've done -  with no intention of a particular cruise or itinerary-   was 4 hours   from booking to out the door to the airport.     All packing,  hotel,  transfers,  flight arrangements made in that time.     

 

My last cruise-  2-29-20   -  I had thought about it,   nothing booked.    I left one cruise,  then on a flight home.   When I got to Lax,   I had several hours-   checked  thought about cruise again-    flight was available,  so I booked,   and left a few hours later,   getting on the ship the next day.  🙂   

 

So,  do some prep work ahead of time.   lodging options,   transits,   flights etc.   

 

Yes, in west Michigan (Muskegon). We have a small airport here that has a single airline, United, that flies only to/from Chicago O'Hare. Once I get to O'Hare, I can fly anywhere. I guess a big transportation issue would be the more expensive flights by not booking in advance. But, I'm willing to pay the extra. Another issue would probably be that the hotel rooms would be more expensive - again, not a deal breaker for me.

 

Not quite sure what you mean about hedging my bets but even though I would book a cruise with a short period of time before it sails, if I did my homework, I'm sure there would be itineraries that I was interested in that would still be available. As you said, this homework would be the prep work ahead of time - lodging options, transits, flights, etc.

 

Not worried about getting a fire sale price on a cruise, but if the cruise line is discounting their cabins on the cruise I want, "I won't look a gift horse in the mouth". I'm curious, you said that most other cruise lines don't offer this marketing, so I take from that that NCL does? (I think I read that somewhere here on CC).

 

I hope I'm able to make very fast, efficient decisions and I think I'm fairly well organized, if not, I'll get better with each booking because "practice makes perfect", lol.

 

Wow, you really have made some short time bookings. Especially the one you made from LAX for your last cruise - 2/29/20. Don't think I will book cruises with that short of lead time but you never know and it is good to know that it can be done!

Edited August 14, 2020 by farmersfight

[farmersfight]

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

We're hoping to retire in Italy and then we'll only be 2 hours from Civitavecchia. ☺️

 

A few years ago, my wife & I did a 12 night cruise on the then brand new Carnival Dream out of Civitavecchia. Best cruise ever! Was definitely a "bucket list item". We stayed the night before the cruise in Civitavecchia and 4 nights in Rome after the cruise.

 

Very interesting that you are hoping to retire in Italy. Being only 2 hours from Civitavecchia and being retired, you'll definitely be able to cruise "at a drop of a hat"!

[Travelling2Some]

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Very good points! Since my wife and I both work, we have to request time off for vacation and in my case, it needs to be done pretty far in advance or I risk getting a "no" from my boss. While it's possible I could request the time off and then just see what turns up last minute, I'd then be stuck having to choose from only what's available during my designated vacation period, and I like having more control over my options than that. We're hoping to retire in Italy and then we'll only be 2 hours from Civitavecchia. ☺️

We're retired 3 years now and loving it.  Didn't plan to but had a major health scare that quickly rearranged our priorities.  Made us realize the future might shorter then we were assuming.  Should have done it sooner!   Italy will be a wonderful place to retire.  We did a B2B from Civi - first half the Eastern Med and second half the Western Med and it was wonderful.  So many wonderful places in Italy are easy from Rome.  Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio are only an hour away by train, Naples area, Cinqua Terre, Tuscany, the list is forever.  I'd be all over that if our kids and grandkids weren't rooted in New York.

[Travelling2Some]

On 8/9/2020 at 7:26 PM, PelicanBill said:

I have a cruise booked for Feb 28 but won't make final payment October 27 unless I know when and how cruises will restart. I already canceled my November 9 cruise.  I will only risk a deposit at this point.

 

If cruises restart at 50-60% capacity it could be delightful.  Disneyworld has done this... and with masks and fairly rigorous social distancing, so far we have not seen any outbreaks traced to Disneyworld visits.  If it holds, and cruising can accomplish the same, I will be happy to go as it could be an experience you could never otherwise get.

That's a good point.  Some of it could be unique in a good way.   I would like an uncrowded cruise as long as it did not close the buffet (I like to "graze" rather than "EAT")or make if difficult to see the shows.  My husband is very social though, so it would be more negative than positive for him.