When, where and under what conditions will you make another cruise reservation?

[SelectSys]

I have told myself that I wasn't going to make any cruise reservations until more clarity exists with respect to cruising.  I got all my money back from my COVID-19 cancelled cruise and hold no future cruise booking credits. 

 

I now find myself clicking once again on various cruise booking sites  looking at itineraries and wondering if I should book something.   My COVID-19 belief is that cruise pricing will be going up at some point to deal with all the new measures and reduced capacity.  I am now thinking that I might want to take a bet on a new cruise reservation before these increases start kicking in.  Being in the US, my thought is that a Caribbean trip in January of 2022 might make sense for a 10-12 day trip.

 

I am curious how others are looking at this. Am I crazy to give the cruise lines new money at this time?  What caused any of you to pull the trigger" and spend money on a new cruise?  What destinations make the most sense to look at based on where one lives?  Do you have something that must happen first (e.g., a vaccine is available) before willing to make a new reservation?  Any ships types that you would want to avoid?  I am thinking that older ships might not stay in the fleet until the start of 2022.

 

Remember, this is for new money and not just shifting a previously cancelled cruise credit to a new booking.

[CruiserBruce]

These points have been discussed here extensively. Many people won't book, worried cruise lines will go bankrupt, and losing money would be likely. A good number of others will, either because they are optimistic,  really miss cruising, or have FCCs to use. 

 

We have cruises booked for Jan and May 2021, both booked since Covid arrived. One (May Med cruise) was due to a Covid cancelation. One was booked because we need a vacation, and are hopeful.

[Tapi]

I’m already booked for a cruise in 2022 but was holding off on booking something for 2021 until I could get a better idea for what’s in store.

 

I was just browsing with no intention to book anything, and I came across a deal on the MSC Seaside for February 2021. 3 and 4 night cruises from Port Canaveral starting at $59pp for an interior cabin 😱.

 

They were offering:

 

- 5% discount plus an additional 5% off for Voyager’s Club (past guest) members.

- Kids Sail Free

- $100 OBC per stateroom 

- Cancel without penalty until 48 hours prior to departure. 
- $100 per cabin deposit. 
 

So I decided to book a back to back cruise in a balcony stateroom. Grand total for 7 nights is $165pp plus $98 tax, and I get $200 OBC because it’s two cruises. 
 

At those prices, and with a generous cancelation policy, I figured what the heck! I’ll be very excited if the cruise does happen, but I won’t be terribly disappointed if it doesn’t. It’s just something to look forward to until we get a bit more clarity in the cruise industry. 
 

One thing that I did notice after MSC restarted in the Med is that the price for the cruise that I booked has now tripled.  

With MSC restarting successfully in the Mediterranean 3 weeks ago aboard the MSC Grandiosa, I am a bit more hopeful that this MSC Cruise on February 2021 will happen. 🤞🏼 

Edited September 4, 2020 by Tapi

[clo]

2 hours ago, Tapi said:

- Cancel without penalty until 48 hours prior to departure. 

So do you get a refund?

[ldubs]

Right now, I would book a future cruise anticipating a vaccine, but only if I could get a 100% refund.  The refund would have to include air travel.  Without a 100% refund, we won't book until there is a vaccine and the pandemic is better managed.  

 

I will steal your phrase and say we are waiting for more clarity on the entire situation before we commit to a cruise.  

[nosapphire]

Here in UK, waiting for one 2020 cruise to be cancelled, we have cancelled the others ourselves.

We will not even look at cruises until 2022 at the earliest.

By "look" I mean then we will see what is available and whether we want/can afford to book anything.

By then, we expect that the pandemic will no longer be a pandemic as such but will be a generally circulating virus, with much much more known about how to prevent it, treat it, cure it, and possibly a vaccine, but no longer a cause for sudden closing of borders.

We will also know which cruise lines are still financially viable, which ports are accepting cruise ships, and how cruises are being operated (what restrictive changes are in place).

We will also not book as far in advance as we have been doing - yes, it means paying more, but it also means we have control of our money for longer.

So that means no cruise for us until end of 2022 at the very earliest.

Until then, we can find plenty of other things to keep us busy through the remained of 2020 and 2021-2022.

[Tapi]

5 hours ago, clo said:

So do you get a refund?

It’s a 100% credit after the final payment date until 48 hours prior to departure if I choose to cancel for any reason. I already pinpointed a few sailings for late 2021 where I would use that credit if we got to that point. 

[getting older slowly]

Will not be booking any cruise... until the first one have been completed.... and one after that...

 

one wants to make sure the wheels an not going to fall off first    before booking....

 

Firstly more interested in trying to get out of the city first... then the state.... before think about cruising

 

Cheers Don

[evandbob]

I presently have 3 bookings:  Celebrity Equinox March 2021, Carnival Freedom, Nov 2021 and Celebrity Apex, all casino comped fares, so my investment is minimal.  {The 2 Celebrity cruises are for a mid ship, mid deck balcony for 2, grand total of $248 each.}

 

Whether I sail on any remains to be seen.  The virus would have to be mostly mitigated, a vaccine and possibly a cure available as well.

[vintagegarage]

I won't book anything on Carnival until I see one of their ships actually on the way to Port Canaveral with a full crew on board.  I won't book anything on Holland America until I see one of their ships actually on the way to Ft. Lauderdale with a full crew on board.  That will be my trigger to book the October 2020 HAL Circle Africa trip.  I also don't care what covid protocols will be in place or if no covid protocols are in place, or if cruise line excursions are the only permitted option at any of the ports, or if free roaming is allowed at the ports.

[ColeThornton]

11 hours ago, SelectSys said:

I am curious how others are looking at this. Am I crazy to give the cruise lines new money at this time?

 

In one word:  Yes.

[navybankerteacher]

10 hours ago, ldubs said:

Right now, I would book a future cruise anticipating a vaccine, but only if I could get a 100% refund.  The refund would have to include air travel.  Without a 100% refund, we won't book until there is a vaccine and the pandemic is better managed.  

 

I will steal your phrase and say we are waiting for more clarity on the entire situation before we commit to a cruise.  

It goes beyond just being certain of a refund if a cruise is cancelled:  I am not interested in just being on a ship, hitting the ports for which I booked the cruise in the first place and enjoying the on board experience as well.  

 

It means waiting to see to see how the first few cruises to actually sail work out.  Fortunately, there are enough other things to do meanwhile.

[iancal]

We will book when the vaccine is available and effective.  We will wait until we know what the on board environment will be and what the status of each of the port stops on our cruise.  We will also wait until we have had feedback from other cruisers.

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by iancal

[iancal]

As an aside, I doubt whether safe and effective vaccines will be widely available until at least Q1 2021 notwithstanding what our politicians might claim.  And it could very well be Q2 2021.

[clo]

7 hours ago, Tapi said:

It’s a 100% credit after the final payment date until 48 hours prior to departure if I choose to cancel for any reason. I already pinpointed a few sailings for late 2021 where I would use that credit if we got to that point. 

If they don't go bankrupt before that. We have one booked for 10/21 with only $1k deposit that is fully refundable up to early June next year.We're not at all optimistic for 2021.

[ilikeanswers]

Adding to the points already mentioned I would also wait till COVID 19 is covered by travel insurance. I would want be covered medically and it would be nice to have some cover if you are pontentially trapped in a country due to a sudden lock down. Those hotel bill can really add up😳.

[Cruzaholic41]

I have 3 booked for 2021, the earliest of which is June. The deposit on the June cruise is fully refundable until March, so I’m not concerned. 
 

The only lines I will not make deposits on are the NCL lines (NCL, Oceania, Regent) due to their latest news. 

[jeremyosborne81]

I'm actively looking for cruises for next year. I just don't want to bank on something that isn't going to happen, so I'm looking for the September-ish time and not going to book until at least after February. Hopefully by then we'll have a much better idea of what's going on, but I've been saying that since June.

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, clo said:

If they don't go bankrupt before that.

I humbly believe that MSC is the best positioned to weather the pandemic. Because the majority of MSC’s operation is cargo, they are not being hit nearly as hard as the others. That was one of the things that I considered when I placed my deposit. Time will tell!

If for some reason I did end up losing my money, it’s only $165pp. I mean, it will suck, but at least I won’t be out thousands and thousands of dollars. 

 

[SelectSys]

16 hours ago, Tapi said:

I’m already booked for a cruise in 2022 but was holding off on booking something for 2021 until I could get a better idea for what’s in store.

...
 

One thing that I did notice after MSC restarted in the Med is that the price for the cruise that I booked has now tripled.  

With MSC restarting successfully in the Mediterranean 3 weeks ago aboard the MSC Grandiosa, I am a bit more hopeful that this MSC Cruise on February 2021 will happen. 🤞🏼 

 

Interesting to see such a substantial price rise from MSC already.  I did hear listening to a YouTube vblogger that MSC has delayed a second ship from sailing due to lack of demand.  Of course things in 2022 will be much different than they are now.

 

6 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

 

In one word:  Yes.

 

I could very well be crazy.  It's almost like betting on some highly speculative stock. 

 

3 hours ago, iancal said:

We will book when the vaccine is available and effective.  We will wait until we know what the on board environment will be and what the status of each of the port stops on our cruise.  We will also wait until we have had feedback from other cruisers.

 

This was my initial view and then I started looking again.  Early 2022 is my target date.  I am pretty sure some kind of vaccine will be in widespread use then and treatments will continue to improve. It is really quite remarkable  to see how the mortality rates are changing from the initial days of the pandemic.   For example, the 2nd wave in Spain has yet to result in significant deaths being reported.

 

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

Adding to the points already mentioned I would also wait till COVID 19 is covered by travel insurance. I would want be covered medically and it would be nice to have some cover if you are pontentially trapped in a country due to a sudden lock down. Those hotel bill can really add up😳.

 

That is an important point.  I think this type of coverage will be available in 2022 but you never really know for sure until a product is in the market.

 

Thanks to all for their opinions!  

[iancal]

One thing for certain.  We will not give a travel vendor (most especially a cruise line) any money, even if refundable, until 4-6 weeks prior to departure.  This is what we normally do now but we will be even more careful in the future.  

 

Waiting months for a refund or getting a future credit is not something we willing to risk.  Too many other options.

 

If cruises are overpriced at that time vis a vis other options then we will simply stick to independent land tours.  We are hardly going to pay 'over the odds' just to board a cruise ship.

Edited September 4, 2020 by iancal

[George C]

We have already booked two cruises for 2021 , Liberty of the seas in February and edge in April got good prices on both , both suites,  have no idea if they will sail.

[lenquixote66]

20 hours ago, SelectSys said:

I have told myself that I wasn't going to make any cruise reservations until more clarity exists with respect to cruising.  I got all my money back from my COVID-19 cancelled cruise and hold no future cruise booking credits. 

 

I now find myself clicking once again on various cruise booking sites  looking at itineraries and wondering if I should book something.   My COVID-19 belief is that cruise pricing will be going up at some point to deal with all the new measures and reduced capacity.  I am now thinking that I might want to take a bet on a new cruise reservation before these increases start kicking in.  Being in the US, my thought is that a Caribbean trip in January of 2022 might make sense for a 10-12 day trip.

 

I am curious how others are looking at this. Am I crazy to give the cruise lines new money at this time?  What caused any of you to pull the trigger" and spend money on a new cruise?  What destinations make the most sense to look at based on where one lives?  Do you have something that must happen first (e.g., a vaccine is available) before willing to make a new reservation?  Any ships types that you would want to avoid?  I am thinking that older ships might not stay in the fleet until the start of 2022.

 

Remember, this is for new money and not just shifting a previously cancelled cruise credit to a new booking.

If somehow I recover from 2 of my 13  medical problems and I will be able to function I will be so happy that I will go on any cruise going anywhere.However,since my doctors all believe that I will never be able to achieve that my cruising days may be over.

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by lenquixote66

[Tapi]

2 hours ago, SelectSys said:

 

Interesting to see such a substantial price rise from MSC already.  I did hear listening to a YouTube vblogger that MSC has delayed a second ship from sailing due to lack of demand. 

From what I read, the issue that they have with the Magnifica is due to its itinerary that includes Greece. I don’t know the exact details, but apparently that itinerary makes it more challenging for passengers to meet the required protocols and procedures so the demand has been considerably weaker because of that. 

[SelectSys]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

If somehow I recover from 2 of my 13  medical problems and I will be able to function I will be so happy that I will go on any cruise going anywhere.However,since my doctors all believe that I will never be able to achieve that my cruising days may be over.

 

 

Good luck to you!  Hopefully you'll make it back on board sometime.