How many future cruises?

[wrtmlt]

With everything up in the air just how many cruises does everyone have planned? We have 3 for next October we booked thru the lift and shift and 3 more for summer of 22. Showing our faith in Azamara for a strong comeback.

 

Bill

[roaming_kiwi58]

We have a B2B2B booked for August/September 2021 - we booked it back in August 2019. We have cancelled cruises we had booked for November 2020, plus another over Christmas.  We did not consider lift & shift, nor do we expect to be able to do our B2B2B next year, even if it does operate.

The issue for us is not just whether the cruise will operate, but whether we can travel. In NZ the borders are closed, with no suggestion they will be opened any time soon. The suggestions are it will be years before international travel becomes available for us again. Even the bubbles with Australia or Pacific Islands keep being pushed further and further back.

Australia has recently opened their borders to NZers into 2 of their states, but that only helps people wanting to go over there long term. For anyone else, who wants to go for a holiday from here they would have to be prepared to go into 14 days quarantine on their return to NZ, as well as paying NZ$3100 for quarantine for one person, and another $950 for a second person in the same room. Makes it an expensive trip - in time and money!

For us we will not be booking anything anywhere until there is some sign that we will be able to travel again. It is nothing to do with what is available to book! We are firmly stuck in NZ, maybe for years!

 

 

[laurieb]

1 hour ago, wrtmlt said:

With everything up in the air just how many cruises does everyone have planned? We have 3 for next October we booked thru the lift and shift and 3 more for summer of 22. Showing our faith in Azamara for a strong comeback.

 

Bill

3 in 2021 and only 1 for us in 2022 😞

[wrtmlt]

14 minutes ago, laurieb said:

3 in 2021 and only 1 for us in 2022 😞

Laurie, I'm betting your TA will find you another cruise or 2 in 2022.

 

Bill

[ellbon]

I moved my 2020 to 2021..mostly fall but goes into early winter 2022. All in Europe and into Africa. As they cancel will push ahead  but right now I feel safe on AZAMARA vs larger ships.

[Grandma Cruising]

Two - November 2021 on Journey and October 2022 on Quest. Hoping to be able to do them both.

[uktog]

One. Not sure we will take it. No more bookings whilst it’s against UK government guidelines to book cruises as they’d be uninsured 

[excitedofharpenden]

For the first time in a number of years I have no Azamara bookings. I have one Celebrity booking for next October, but still don't know yet whether I can stand what onboard protocols there will be. And that's it. Just praying for a vaccine because what we have in terms of restrictions is not sustainable. 

 

Phil 

[NC&KY]

One, on Journey skipping from one Med island to another between Barcelona and Athens, next September. We booked it on Quest in March with the credit we received for our truncated Cape Town to Dubai cruise. But, like Phil, we won't take it if there's not a vaccine.

[tgg]

For the first time in 20 years, we have no bookings.  Without a proven vaccine, we're staying close to home. We usually take 2 or 3 cruises each year. This has made us kind of sad, but we're high risk and would rather err on the side of caution. With Reuters now reporting a record 100,000 daily Covid-19 cases in Europe, we're in no rush to book again.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

19 hours ago, roaming_kiwi58 said:

For anyone else, who wants to go for a holiday from here they would have to be prepared to go into 14 days quarantine on their return to NZ, as well as paying NZ$3100 for quarantine for one person, and another $950 for a second person in the same room.

 

Wow, for a small country like New Zealand I guess this is doable, and makes a certain amount of sense--here we just quarantine in our homes and they robocall us every day.  Does that include meals?

 

Anyways, as some people here perhaps remember, I've only done one Azamara cruise, but hoped to do more.  We have NO cruises booked, and don't intend to gamble on bookings until there's either a reliable treatment, vaccine, or somehow the world has adjusted to this threat in a way that means we can do a cruise safely and still have fun.  I am not giving my money to any cruise line right now, and I'm glad we don't have FCC money at stake--we lost about C$1500 when we cancelled our Regent World Cruise in April, and were just glad to get the rest of our deposit back, thank you very much!

Edited October 12, 2020 by Wendy The Wanderer

[Mackdogmolly]

We have no cruises booked at present, but have FCC from our cancelled June cruise. We had only paid a deposit on our cancelled March 2021 cruise. We are pondering a possible July 2021 cruise, but don’t like the idea of restricted excursions. I can deal with masks and social distancing. I am guessing that a vaccine will be available by then, but I am still hesitant to book.

[roaming_kiwi58]

3 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Wow, for a small country like New Zealand I guess this is doable, and makes a certain amount of sense--here we just quarantine in our homes and they robocall us every day.  Does that include meals?

 

 

 

You are put in a hotel room. Yes, the $ includes meals.

 

I would just love to book more cruises - particularly on Azamara, which is our preferred line, but until we know when we will be able to leave and return home unhindered by travel restrictions I am not even looking at itineraries!

Edited October 12, 2020 by roaming_kiwi58

[Wendy The Wanderer]

7 minutes ago, roaming_kiwi58 said:

 

You are put in a hotel room. Yes, the $ includes meals.

 

I would just love to book more cruises - particularly on Azamara, which is our preferred line, but until we know when we will be able to leave and return home unhindered by travel restrictions I am not even looking at itineraries!

 

How about a cruise around New Zealand?  Would you do that?  I'd do a cruise in Canada right now.

[hamrag]

Bermuda July 2021, on Oceania Insignia. Assuming it goes ahead, we shall continue only if we are free to self explore as we have four days there. No way will we be doing tours so, if that is the only way to get off the ship we will stay home.

Edited October 12, 2020 by hamrag

[Jim in OR]

On 10/11/2020 at 2:23 PM, wrtmlt said:

With everything up in the air just how many cruises does everyone have planned? We have 3 for next October we booked thru the lift and shift and 3 more for summer of 22. Showing our faith in Azamara for a strong comeback.

 

Bill

We’ve got three booked for next October too.  We should maybe try to meet up. 

[NeilWM]

We had a cruise to Japan booked  in April 21 which we have used ‘lift and shift’ to move to April 22 in hope there is a vaccine by then. It is not feasible for us to book any other cruises in regions that are further away until things settle down. Our government is warning travel to Europe or USA might not be possible until mid 2021 at earliest. We have similar strict 14 day quarantine in hotel at own expense for anyone entering Australia similar to New Zealand.
You would also have to think unfortunately next years Olympic Games must be in doubt at this early stage.

[Lottie A]

We have one cruise booked on Azamara, one cruise booked on another cruise line and one land holiday. The Azamara cruise is next April, the second cruise after they are due to restart on Journey. Like many others I am hoping for a vaccine by then. If a vaccine isn’t available by then we will have have to consider our alternatives. Like many others I have gotten used to wearing masks but enforced land excursions in a group would be a step too far. 

[Ithikan]

On 10/11/2020 at 12:26 PM, roaming_kiwi58 said:

The issue for us is not just whether the cruise will operate, but whether we can travel. In NZ the borders are closed, with no suggestion they will be opened any time soon. The suggestions are it will be years before international travel becomes available for us again.

 

What I wonder about are the 2021 New Zealand cruises Azamara plans for next Jan and Feb.  With kiwis looking at a potentially years-long international travel shut down, how will international visitors be dealt with ashore, during these numerous, Azamara port stops?  Three months and counting....

[NeilWM]

Sorry to say I think there is virtually zero chance those cruises will operate as borders are highly unlikely to be open to anyone except for returning kiwis, and possibly some aussies or Pacific Islanders if our cases are virtually zero.

Edited October 14, 2020 by NeilWM

[roaming_kiwi58]

2 hours ago, Ithikan said:

 

What I wonder about are the 2021 New Zealand cruises Azamara plans for next Jan and Feb.  With kiwis looking at a potentially years-long international travel shut down, how will international visitors be dealt with ashore, during these numerous, Azamara port stops?  Three months and counting....

As I understand it Azamara have already cancelled these cruises - according to the 6 October COVID update on their website. All three ships are scheduled to restart operations in Europe in March (Quest), April (Journey) and May (Pursuit). So Azamara will not be in Australia/New Zealand in December 2020 to February 2021. 

 

We had an Australian cruise booked over Christmas, but cancelled it months ago, when it became clear that we would not be able to leave NZ for a very long time, nor would Australia let cruise ships resume any time soon. It does not look very likely that NZ will let any foreign cruise line in to do cruises around NZ, for NZers, either. There is a locally based company which does trips down to the southern islands and Antarctica. They seem to be expecting to operate at the end of this year. 

 

There is absolutely no sign that any border activity will start up here in NZ in the foreseeable future (other than for returning NZers who have to quarantine on arrival), so there is no chance for any international visitors. Even the "Trans Tasman bubble" keeps being delayed. The new  relaxing of rules for NZers going to NSW or NT is in practicality not very useful for many people.

  

Now we expect to lose several years of travel, unfortunately. I even have moments of thinking our days of overseas travel are over! But we do have to be thankful for the great trips we have had in the past, including many great Azamara cruises!

Edited October 14, 2020 by roaming_kiwi58
spelling

[Baynanno1]

We have B2B Athens to Singapore over 35 days from 4 November 2021, lifted & shifted from this year.

Hoping for our border restrictions to be lifted after an effective vaccine is released . . . .  otherwise we will not be able to do those cruises either . . .

[oddjob16]

We did a Lift&Shift to Quest 02.october 2021. It is not the first choice we would have wanted, but since we had a great deal on 4 free nights on the original cruise we chose to keep it. All we have invested so far is the original deposit. I doubt we will book another cruise before we see what restrictions will be in place and wether in fact there will be a restart next april/may. 
Our last cruise ended in Sydney 23.february so we feel that it hasn't been that long. We loved NZ intensive and would do that again anytime.😁😁

[berkshireboy]

20 hours ago, oddjob16 said:

We did a Lift&Shift to Quest 02.october 2021. It is not the first choice we would have wanted, but since we had a great deal on 4 free nights on the original cruise we chose to keep it. All we have invested so far is the original deposit. I doubt we will book another cruise before we see what restrictions will be in place and wether in fact there will be a restart next april/may. 
Our last cruise ended in Sydney 23.february so we feel that it hasn't been that long. We loved NZ intensive and would do that again anytime.😁😁

 

Would you believe it!  We have done exactly the same as you, using Lift&Shift to transfer to this cruise.  Also like you we had free nights - but in our case 6 nights.  And we also had a great deal which we didn't want to lose. 

We have two cruises booked before this one, one in June and one in August [neither Azamara] but I think that this is the first one that there is a real chance of sailing.  See you on board, hopefully.😁

[excitedofharpenden]

20 hours ago, oddjob16 said:

Our last cruise ended in Sydney 23.february so we feel that it hasn't been that long. We loved NZ intensive and would do that again anytime.😁😁

That was fun to see you both in Wellington as you were getting on as I was getting off. We nearly missed each other, but it worked. Little did we know what a mess it would become and our cruises were one of the last that Journey would do. Hopefully will see you again on a ship. Journey holds a soft spot for me. It might be all change when this thing works through. 

 

Phil