Getting off the ship

[Slyfox16]

 

If Celebrity requires you to do only the ship's tours and not private ones, anyone have any idea if you would be able to go into the port by yourself just to shop?

[LGW59]

9 minutes ago, Slyfox16 said:

 

If Celebrity requires you to do only the ship's tours and not private ones, anyone have any idea if you would be able to go into the port by yourself just to shop?

the answer is no they will not.  In port can only do what is sanctioned by the line

[gerelmx]

No. Contact with the local population must be limited.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

If they persist in this, I will be cancelling my 2021 cruises.  I wouldn't mind in the Caribbean, since I rarely ever get off the ship there.  But I would definitely mind on my Iceland/Greenland cruises!  And my Bermuda/Charleston cruise.  I refuse to be herded around with a group of 50 people.

[Fouremco]

Allowing you to visit the port on your own for any reason would defeat the whole purpose of having controlled ship's tours.

[gold1953]

43 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

If they persist in this, I will be cancelling my 2021 cruises.  I wouldn't mind in the Caribbean, since I rarely ever get off the ship there.  But I would definitely mind on my Iceland/Greenland cruises!  And my Bermuda/Charleston cruise.  I refuse to be herded around with a group of 50 people.

Totally agree. We love to wander around on our own and take private tours . We will cancel also.

[Orator]

Requiring passengers to take ship tours doesn't guarantee that ship will be Covid free. I was on a B2B on Constellation from Istanbul to Ft Lauderdale. There was a major Noro breakout on the ship. Jamie, the HD told me that it would be under control by the time we reached Israel, but would become a serious problem shortly following our departure from there. He told me that people just touch everything . Jews touch the Wall and Cristians touch the stages of the cross. He was absolutely correct. The numbers did indeed spike.. I actually witnessed people at lunch touch food and put it back. 

[LEtue]

I will cancel my 2021 cruises too.  Don't want to make an investment in a vacation where I can't go where I want - when I get there....

[p18750]

38 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

Totally agree. We love to wander around on our own and take private tours . We will cancel also.

Totally agree, my wife and I like just walking around and seeing the towns or renting a car and exploring. It would have to be a cruise where the stops really lent themselves to ship tours before I would book one. 

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

If they persist in this, I will be cancelling my 2021 cruises.  I wouldn't mind in the Caribbean, since I rarely ever get off the ship there.  But I would definitely mind on my Iceland/Greenland cruises!  And my Bermuda/Charleston cruise.  I refuse to be herded around with a group of 50 people.

Knowing that the requirement for shore excursions is expected, I have canceled my original cruise for 2021 and replaced it with a simple and inexpensive cruise to the Bahamas for 7 nights. I’ll stay on the ship in Nassau (or maybe take a snorkeling tour) and will get off the ship at the private island which I’ll be visiting twice the same week and which most likely won’t require excursions. Hopefully the impact of these new procedures will be minimal in such an itinerary. 
 

I don’t wan to give up on cruising because of the restrictions, but si will adjust the way that I cruise until these restrictions are eased. I’ll save my money for a better cruise for a later date.

Edited September 28, 2020 by Tapi

[TeaBag]

In one of the countries we are visiting, I have a lot of relatives we will want to spend time with.  So, if we can't get off the ship unless we are in a bus of 50 people, we will be cancelling also.

[davekathy]

Not interested in doing Celebrity only excursions. Not interested in staying on the ship if we don't do Celebrity only excursions. Not interested in cruising no matter the cruise line under those restrictions! 

Edited September 28, 2020 by davekathy

[bouhunter]

1 hour ago, NIATPAC29 said:

Hey I know---S T A Y HOME

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app
 

A lot of people will for many different reasons.  Actually maybe not staying home, but choosing travel other than restricted cruising.   I don't think sailing at reduced occupancy is going to be an issue for a while.

[bikerunner]

Still all "What if speculation"  No one knows yet, any clarity.  Cruising right now is non existent except for a few small patches.  The US based hopefully will be allowed Nov/Dec with limited capacity going.  Right now this is reality, cant really go most places in the states with out masks.  Movement is very limited.  My friend who has been staying at my place for the past 4 months is from Texas and she still gets dirty looks when people see her get out of her car.  So yeah it is not fun even speculating and worry about all the things we just dont know yet.  

[grandgeezer]

Picture disembarkation day if they enforce social distancing. If they fail to enforce it, there won't be a disembarkation day or an  embarkation day for that matter.

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 hours ago, NIATPAC29 said:

Hey I know---S T A Y HOME

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app
 

Not sure stay home will be needed by August.  I too will cancell the same Greenland-Iceland TA.  When Celebrity last visited Greenland except for a couple walking tours with a hundred people there was almost nothing.  Plan on ONE visit to Greenland and want to go on the small group tour we found.  Spending twice the cost of a regular TA and not being able to visit the towns would be a no go.  Similar issue with overnight stops.  Again am thinking Greenland in 2021 is not likely to happen.  Each port is the CLIA policy is put in place needs to be able to accept ill passengers.  Medical facilities at several ports on this cruise are extremely limited.

[Covepointcruiser]

Greenland is probably out as a destination for cruises.   Is there an airport in Southern Greenland?   I certainly don’t see one on any airline schedules.   There is or maybe was a military base in extreme Northern Greenland on the west coast but don’t think that would be any help in transporting ill cruise passengers home.

 

We have taken walking tours on Celebrity before and never had more than 25 participants.   I can’t imagine walking around with 100 people in Greenland unless that is a requirement for Greenland.

[Roger88]

59 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

A lot of people will for many different reasons.  Actually maybe not staying home, but choosing travel other than restricted cruising.   I don't think sailing at reduced occupancy is going to be an issue for a while.

There are plenty of different ways to spend your vacation. Cruising has always been a quite expensive time waster unlike road tripping or casual travelling (usually in the EU). I really hope that cruising will be more affordable for many more people which will make up for the losses the cruise companies have suffered

[GateGuardian]

I would still take a cruise, but nothing that is on the bucket list or exotic destination. So probably the caribbean or a private island where I can spend more time on the ship.

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, Orator said:

Requiring passengers to take ship tours doesn't guarantee that ship will be Covid free.

I couldn't agree more. I don't think that any of the recommended protocols can guarantee a Covid-free ship on its own, but when all of these measures are implemented together, the odds of Covid appearing on board will be reduced significantly.

[jelayne]

In addition to a part of keeping Covid off the ship,  requiring ships tours may make ports more willing to accept ships docking.  Allowing a couple thousand tourists from various states & countries off the ship to go wherever they choose may be a risk some locations find unacceptable.  

[jonthomas]

While Covid rages, I see  staying on the ship as the only way ships could sail. The ship becomes the destination. Cant see spending that kind of money to be on the ship the entire time. Sure miss the cruises of the past. 

[phoenix_dream]

5 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

If they persist in this, I will be cancelling my 2021 cruises.  I wouldn't mind in the Caribbean, since I rarely ever get off the ship there.  But I would definitely mind on my Iceland/Greenland cruises!  And my Bermuda/Charleston cruise.  I refuse to be herded around with a group of 50 people.

Don't you think that under the circumstances the shore excursions may look different than the usual?  I think/hope that they would offer more options, and many of those options may be smaller groups.  I would think that would be the easiest for them to manage and the safest.  Of course I can't know this for sure - only guessing.  

[drew69]

16 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Don't you think that under the circumstances the shore excursions may look different than the usual?  I think/hope that they would offer more options, and many of those options may be smaller groups.  I would think that would be the easiest for them to manage and the safest.  Of course I can't know this for sure - only guessing.  

Actually, I think it will be less options.  The tours will be of the drive around on a bus and glimpse the sites with an occasional stop for pictures.  

[Roger88]

18 hours ago, GateGuardian said:

I would still take a cruise, but nothing that is on the bucket list or exotic destination. So probably the caribbean or a private island where I can spend more time on the ship.

I also dont believe that limiting the number of people on board will somehow change the situation. I mean cmon, if someone is sick it wont matter whether there were 5 or a hundred people on board. Short-term cruising sounds very nice btw. Need to consider