Anyone else just giving up on a cruise for a while?

[Wansbrough]

On 10/13/2020 at 1:52 PM, Doubt It said:

I am one of the many giving up on cruising for 2 reasons; the virus and its impact on air travel and cruising. But also, I was very put off cruising well before the virus due to the constant downgrading and up charging and hyperclass dividing and loss of public space like the Sky Lounge - this on all the cruise lines. I have no reason not to believe that the downgrading will continue given the financial circumstances of the cruise lines.

 

No, it will take much change in the cruise industry to get me to book a cruise.

 

I have heard this elsewhere and have been trying to find actual confirmation that it is true, Anyone care to point me in the right direction?

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, Wansbrough said:

 

I have heard this elsewhere and have been trying to find actual confirmation that it is true, Anyone care to point me in the right direction?

I have no cruise until May 2021???  I will, like most on here, be very anxious to hear from the folks who go on the first cruises once the no sail is lifted.

[phoenix_dream]

5 hours ago, Wansbrough said:

 

I have heard this elsewhere and have been trying to find actual confirmation that it is true, Anyone care to point me in the right direction?

On the Reflection they took part of the Sky Lounge away to add some suites.  I have not seen it affected on other ships on recent cruises, but have not sailed Edge class.  I'm sure others can add more info to this topic as of course I have not sailed all the ships recently.

[Flying-Dragon]

53 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

On the Reflection they took part of the Sky Lounge away to add some suites.  I have not seen it affected on other ships on recent cruises, but have not sailed Edge class.  I'm sure others can add more info to this topic as of course I have not sailed all the ships recently.

 

When we took Infinity in 2016 for a Pacific Coastal, they had split off the port side of the Sky Lounge in the same way as Reflection.  I forget whether it was for suites or a children's area.  It makes the room lopsided IMHO, and on Reflection (2018 for me), the Elite happy hour no longer had enough space and had to be spread across all other bars.

[Fouremco]

20 hours ago, Wansbrough said:

 

I have heard this elsewhere and have been trying to find actual confirmation that it is true, Anyone care to point me in the right direction?

Just check out the deck plans for the ship you are interested in. For example:

 

[jg51]

The title of the thread is "Anyone else just giving up on a cruise for a while?"

 

The answer from this household is ... "Yes, indeed."

 

Within the past four days, we canceled our (2021) back-to-back cruises on a Celebrity ship and our (2021) back-to-back cruises on a Royal Caribbean ship.  This was tough, as we are nearing the Captain's Club Elite-Plus tier, and do not want to abandon cruising -- the best of all ways of vacationing (in our opinion).

 

Why did we cancel our bookings?

 

1.  With all the recent X- and RCI-imposed cancellations in mind, we doubted that our cruises would actually take place, so there was no point in leaving our refundable deposits in the cruise lines' hands.

 

2.  Even if the cruises do take place, there are strong hints that we would not have been allowed to remain aboard for consecutive legs (and there are reasons why we would not be willing to abandon back-to-back cruising).

 

3.  Even if the cruises do take place, and even if we would have been allowed to remain aboard for consecutive cruises, there are strong hints that we would not have been allowed to remain in our interior staterooms, which we greatly prefer over other options.  It is being speculated that interior rooms will not be available to guests, either (a) due to ventilation problems, or (b) due to a wish to let these rooms be used by crew members [to eliminate bottom-deck roommates, for better health], or (c) due to a wish to leave the rooms empty and ready to hold the sick in case of a massive viral outbreak.

 

4.  Even if the cruises do take place, and even if we would have been allowed to remain in interior staterooms for consecutive cruises, we were concerned that we would have lost too much of the "magic" of the cruising experience and would have gained too many negative factors.  Some examples of "losses" and "gains":

 

----- Although we always wear masks when so required, we hate doing so (heat, discomfort, etc.), and we also hate seeing other people wearing masks.  We don't want to be sitting on jets, wearing masks for several hours.  We don't want to interact with a ship's crew members, or with other guests, without their, and our, being able to see each other smile!

 

----- We want to serve ourselves in the buffet restaurant, not to be served, because we can take exactly what we want and only as much as we want.  An assisting crew member ("buffet waiter") would have the best of intentions, but would be unable to read our minds, so we would probably be served too much or too little (more likely too much, resulting in waste). 

 

----- At least one "activity" that we like a lot (karaoke) will be canceled, due to the fear that a virus could be spread via a shared microphone.  Another favorite activity that is likely to be banned, for fear of spreading disease is the making of jigsaw puzzles.

 

----- We fear that cruise lines will find it difficult to attract enough top-notch acts (musicians, singers) for the lounges/bars/atrium, due to their fear of becoming ill.  The result, we think, will be either poorer-quality acts or a much greater reliance on recorded [DJ'd] music (which we can just as well stay home to hear).

 

----- We want to be able to interact directly with bartenders, chatting with them and giving them cash gratuities.  This would not be allowed.

 

----- We cannot bear the thought of being prevented from leaving the ship to attend church services or just to stroll around a port-of-call (without having a booked excursion).

 

----- We have another customary onboard practice that we engage in (too lengthy to explain) that would be eliminated, due to the wearing of masks.

 

5.  Finally ... with great sadness, we had to consider the possibility that the entire cruise industry may collapse, making the refunding of our deposits impossible.

 

Yes, all of the above is very depressing, but we decided to post it, both to answer the OP's question and to help CrCr readers to consider the points that we took into consideration.

 

Farewell.  We hope to see you aboard a ship, two or three years from now.

.

Edited October 21, 2020 by jg51

[SJ1_]

On 10/4/2020 at 12:33 PM, Duanerice1 said:

I know most of us on here are chomping at the bit to get on a cruise, otherwise we wouldn't be on Cruise Critic.  I see a lot of people willing to go ahead as soon as the lines start cruising.  But as anxious as I am to cruise and looking at some of the great deals out there (sadly not Celebrity), I still can't pull the trigger and book one.

 

I'm not cruising until things get back to "normal", whatever that is going to be.  I'm fine with lot's of disinfectants, staff serving me at a buffet, etc.  But I'm not wearing a mask on a cruise or not being able to go to a show because of social distancing,  or sit in a bar, etc.   I'm not going to take a ships excursion or not be able to walk around in port on my own.  Oh and it's not about having to wear a mask, social distancing, etc. as I abide by those protocols now.  It's not that I'm afraid to catch Covid (but don't want to, lol).  But that's not a cruise I want to be on.  

 

If other people want to cruise, more power to you and I hope you have a blessed time.  It's just not the vacation for me right now.  If the cruises were half price..... I might consider but not sure I'd even go then.  Cruises will get back to somewhat normal.  It's not if, but when.  It might be 6 months, might be 2 years.  And yea, there will probably be some protocols in place but not much.  Six months after most of the population has a vaccine, most things will be back to the old normal.  People tend to forget......

 

We are leaving next week for 8 nights in a cabin outside of Blue Ridge GA.  Lot's of hiking, sitting in front of the fireplace on the patio and just exploring the area.  

 

Be safe all with whatever you choose to do!

Duane

 

We are on hold.  First time we do not have a cruise booked in years.  We plan to do a lot of FL vacationing this winter .  Hopefully sometime in 2021 we'll be somewhere out at sea.

[GeorgesGal]

Not giving up!  Currently have a cruise on O for the holidays in December, with another scheduled for June on X, just in case the December one doesn't sail.