When, If Ever, Will You Re-Book A Cruise?

[phoenix_dream]

Right now I have 5 cruises on the books - four of which were lifted and shifted due to Covid.  The 5th was booked for late April in the thought that by then there would be vaccines and ships would be sailing (we booked it a long time ago).  Unfortunately it is a 9 night cruise so doubt it will sail, although I would be fine with a reduced itinerary (assuming they reduce my pricing as well!).  

 

As much as I love to cruise (we were planning 6-8+ per year now that we are retired, as long as we are able), I just don't want to invest any more of my dollars.  I do think the cruise lines will survive.  But I am just not totally comfortable with how Celebrity has been handling all this.  I realize they are faced with a huge challenge- but then aren't we all.  They continue to accept money for cruises they know will not sail.  They reposition ships and then offer people few if any lift and shift options.  They reposition ships and cancel cruises where people had already lifted and shifted and then don't allow them to do it again (unless that's changed?).  I was already not happy with how LLP was managing the company, although admittedly not enough to book elsewhere..........yet.  But the way things have been going, I think the wise thing is to wait and see.

[hcat]

Agree with your post.  We have just one on the books for 2022..in hopes we can use up our large FCC.

 

  Wishing X could  go back in time to a classy upscale cruise line at decent pricing,  but with LLP it will not go that way...It will be an expensive version of Royal C,....nice but mass market.

 

We will see how things go and try to cruise out of Tampa if that port remains in play for X,.no rush!

[Cachecara]

We just cancelled our Oct 2021 (refundable) and flipped that refundable to an Oct 2022 (refundable, different itineraries).  I do not think anything happening 2021 will be close to what used to be, but maybe, maybe by latter 2022.  

[sydbarrett]

My pandemic cruise experience was a tiny bit traumatic but THANKFULLY I didn't board a ship...was very close though, and was terrified of being stuck out of the country with my child. Basically the whole experience put me off of cruising because I don't like the idea of being held hostage should something unexpected happen (who does). That being said, I made it home unscathed and 9 months later they ended up giving me an FCC and now it is winter in Canada so all negative memories have faded and I am eagerly awaiting my vaccination and a cruise 🤣 I am hoping March 2022 things will be normal, I'd book later but the expiry is May 4 and that doesn't leave a lot of options. I wouldn't book anything if it wasn't for the FCC but I really don't want to lose out on the money I paid if I can help it. If I have to wear a mask on a ship, social distance, or ports aren't allowing ships, I will just forfeit the FCC....that's not a vacation. Fingers crossed.

Edited December 20, 2020 by sydbarrett

[matadams4u]

I have a pretty long bucket list and still working so limited as to when I can travel.  Within the last week I have been adding cruises to my watch list - hopeful I will be vaccinated within the next four months.  My bucket list is pretty expansive but my biggest problem is avoiding maxing out on PTO and few safe travel options.  
 

At least my bingo card is full of options and when a good value, at the right time, and with the right safety precautions pops up I can hop on it.  It looks like I will now be able to travel more regularly so getting my travel infrastructure in place - travel rewards cc, global pass and annual travel insurance.

 

I am just getting prepared so I can execute on good value travel - my guess is that will start up for more options late spring and early summer and in full swing by September.  My best guess for cruising options is September.  I have a 14 day land tour slated for Costa Rica in April and hope to be vaccinated by then.  
 

I had my heart set on my first Celebrity cruise for September - the price is double normal so I am hoping the price comes down by June since the dates for 2022 don’t work for me.

 

I am hopeful everyone will find themselves breathing easier month by month as it becomes clearer when we can travel safely and options open up.

[Denny01]

As most of us here, we had to cancel our 2020 cruises. Our last successful one was over 2020 New Years. Canceled our Viking river cruise from Bucharest to Budapest in Mar 2020 (really really wanted that one), and moved the FCC to a Great Lakes cruise in 2022. Silverseas canceled our May 2020 Med cruise and we got full refund. Then we canceled our Celebrity Apex TransAtlantic in Oct. moved funds to a Thanksgiving 2021 on the Apex.  Our Vinking Midnight Sun to Norway this May, we canceled just before final payment and will use the deposit sometime in 2022. All those cruises were booked prior to ‘You Know What’. 
 

so as all others, havent cruised in a year and won’t until things really pan out. Not interested in climbing into a facility w a few thousand or even a few hindered and mixing it up until the pandemic is under control. 
 

even if I’m vaccinated, don’t want to be on a ship that has someone with it and we end up not pulling into ports and just being isolated. 
 

so, we just hope for Thanksgiving 2021 but that is a bet that may not make it and will concentrate on 2022. For those thinking they’ll go with land-only vacations, unless you plan to zip around in an RV and stay away from everyone, going to a spot such as DisneyWorld or a resort thinking it’s safer, all it means is, you’ll catch it, leave and then come down with symptoms and not make the connection. 
 

And my wife’s idea of a vacation does Not include taking the kitchen, bathroom,, bed, laundry and whatever as in an RV vacation. She gets tired of supervising me while I’m cooking, cleaning, making beds, doing laundry.....yeah right. And she’d just love to watch me wandering down the road in something the size of a Greyhound Bus and me jabbering along as I miss the turns and cross into oncoming traffic! COVID would be the least of our worries. 
 

den

 

Edited December 20, 2020 by Denny01

[marieps]

4 hours ago, STLCRUISIN said:

marieps - I hope you enjoy AMA cruises. This will be our 2nd and 3rd river cruise with them. It's a totally different experience from ocean cruising but very nice. And since you'll be on the Magna I'm assuming you'll be sailing the Danube which has such beautiful scenery. 

 

Covid and its effects on ocean sailing (as well as all travel) had us looking at other alternatives to see the world and for us in 2022 river cruising will satisfy that need.

We will be headed from Budapest to Vilshoven.  God willing.  Looking for ward to spending time in Budapest and Prague on either end.  Thanks for the well wishes.  Same to you , CC friend.

[marieps]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Agree with your post.  We have just one on the books for 2022..in hopes we can use up our large FCC.

 

  Wishing X could  go back in time to a classy upscale cruise line at decent pricing,  but with LLP it will not go that way...It will be an expensive version of Royal C,....nice but mass market.

 

We will see how things go and try to cruise out of Tampa if that port remains in play for X,.no rush!

Hence our switch to Oceania, as I've mentioned in other posts.  No upcharge for refundability either.

[MJSailors]

   My DH and I have enjoyed cruise vacations with various cruise lines including Cunard, Celebrity,Princess and NCL since 2004. 

We had a cruise booked for this past November on Princess and we were considering a Celebrity cruise to Bermuda for early May 2021.

   However,since this pandemic which began with a deadly virus from China has turned the world upside down, we will no longer  consider taking a cruise on any cruise line.

      The possibility of either of us contracting a serious disease while on a cruise ship does not appeal to us. Neither does sharing interior space with hundreds of fellow passengers elicit enthusiasm of cruising for us.

        When we feel comfortable to travel again, hopefully in the next few years, we will be making road trips to various interesting destinations relatively close to home.

        It is unfortunate to think we will not be enjoying travel on the seas to various interesting ports any longer. We feel that it is the new normal for us and the effect of a despicable disease that has changed our personal reality.

YMMV - 

[fluffybunny22]

41 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

As most of us here, we had to cancel our 2020 cruises. Our last successful one was over 2020 New Years. Canceled our Viking river cruise from Bucharest to Budapest in Mar 2020 (really really wanted that one), and moved the FCC to a Great Lakes cruise in 2022. Silverseas canceled our May 2020 Med cruise and we got full refund. Then we canceled our Celebrity Apex TransAtlantic in Oct. moved funds to a Thanksgiving 2021 on the Apex.  Our Vinking Midnight Sun to Norway this May, we canceled just before final payment and will use the deposit sometime in 2022. All those cruises were booked prior to ‘You Know What’. 
 

so as all others, havent cruised in a year and won’t until things really pan out. Not interested in climbing into a facility w a few thousand or even a few hindered and mixing it up until the pandemic is under control. 
 

even if I’m vaccinated, don’t want to be on a ship that has someone with it and we end up not pulling into ports and just being isolated. 
 

so, we just hope for Thanksgiving 2021 but that is a bet that may not make it and will concentrate on 2022. For those thinking they’ll go with land-only vacations, unless you plan to zip around in an RV and stay away from everyone, going to a spot such as DisneyWorld or a resort thinking it’s safer, all it means is, you’ll catch it, leave and then come down with symptoms and not make the connection. 
 

And my wife’s idea of a vacation does Not include taking the kitchen, bathroom,, bed, laundry and whatever as in an RV vacation. She gets tired of supervising me while I’m cooking, cleaning, making beds, doing laundry.....yeah right. And she’d just love to watch me wandering down the road in something the size of a Greyhound Bus and me jabbering along as I miss the turns and cross into oncoming traffic! COVID would be the least of our worries. 
 

den

 

We've safely done Disney twice this year. They are requiring masks, have markings on the ground in line to distance people, aren't loading up all of the vehicles, one party per elevator, limiting capacity in the parks and restaurants, not all of their resorts are open. We isolate before and after. We drive and only make one super quick masked stop for gas. We are saving the rv travels for retirement. Our neighbors used to have one that they rented out so if they still did we might have tried it.

[naturelovergirl]

Booked a Celebrity cruise for summer 2022... 

We would love to hope that we all will start to see some normalcy eventually return for the new year... but we are just not planning our normal big trip until we see things improve.

We like having things to look forward to with vacations... so 2022 is just going to have to do 😊

 

[davekathy]

7 hours ago, Pinboy said:

Well said !!! 

We are doing exactly the same , and besides, we don't want to book a cruise, make a deposit, then,  the cruise gets cancelled and we're stuck with more FCC's. I will bet that more than 50% of the FCC's out there never get used.

Sounds as if you are not even " depressed " over not cruising.

 

 

If Celebrity cancels your cruise you have the option of a refund or FCC regardless if your deposit is refundable or non refundable. 

Edited December 21, 2020 by davekathy

[jg51]

Our most recent successful cruise (of many) was taken late in 2019.

 

Shortly after the "plague" struck, we felt "tentatively optimistic" about the first half of 2021, so we booked (with refundable deposits) two back-to-backs -- each pair as a "backup" to the other, in case of cancellation of one (but not the other) by "X."  Roughly six months later, realizing that the situation looked bleak and was not improving fast enough, we canceled everything and received refunds within less than a week.  (We don't believe in the concept of "future cruise credits," not even 125% -- nor in "lift and shift.")

 

We have been ready to cruise for a long time now, and we will cruise again some day, if all of a set of prerequisites are met:

 

(1)  ... If we have been vaccinated and feel well afterwards.

 

(2)  ... If the CDC "backs off" enough to allow either (a) fourteen/fifteen-night cruises or (b) back-to-back cruises totaling at least two weeks.  We'd actually prefer 14+7 or 12+9 or 7+7+7. or some other three-week combination.

 

(3)  ... If we can find reasonable, affordable fares.

 

(4)  ... And if we read enough reviews that describe the "X" ships as being places to which normalcy has returned in certain key areas (especially dining, non-theater entertainment, game/card room use, speed of bar service, and Internet response time).

 

Approaching the above list in the opposite direction, we would say that we could not enjoy ourselves (and would not book anything) ...

if the vaccine has produced bad side-effects ... or ...

if the CDC will not allow long-enough stays aboard ... or ...

if "X" has fares that we cannot afford ... or ...

if reviewers report poor conditions in one or more areas that are important to us.

 

Thanks for asking, G_P. 

Wishing everyone the best (and a merry Christmas).

.

Edited December 21, 2020 by jg51

[Jeremiah1212]

Our only cruise on the books is for Feb 2020 to the Southern Caribbean. It was a L&S booking that I would ultimately like to take, but we are not actively booking anything or price watching. The whole situation is too fluid to waste the time. We also had plans to move abroad for about 2 years that was due to begin sometime this spring (2021). While those plans aren’t  completely ruled out, timing is questionable and I wouldn’t fly from Europe to Florida for a Caribbean cruise. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

9 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

but we are not actively booking anything or price watching.

Exactly us!  Pre-pandemic I would spend Saturday morning pouring over my favorite cruise deal watch sites with a cup of coffee.  I'd find something interesting and then head over to Youtube to search for videos posted by previous travelers...then I'd scour the deck plans in search of the "best" stateroom.  If everything looked ship-shape, I'd pitch the plan to my DH (which was just a formality, of course).  I pray those days return, but until then there will be no more booking for us. 

 

Appreciate all the responses!

[cgolf1]

We have one on the books for late 2021 and one for early 2022. We hope to do both.

 

The one thing I will say is the thought of paying off our house quicker than cruising more is starting to sound better and better. Luckily we got in a cruise this year, but this will be the first winter without a cruise and honestly I am not sad about it. I always enjoy the time and cruising is a cheap way to see new countries and get away from the cold, but we will see once it gets going again how excited we are about it.

[TeeRick]

20 hours ago, Pinboy said:

Well said !!! 

We are doing exactly the same , and besides, we don't want to book a cruise, make a deposit, then,  the cruise gets cancelled and we're stuck with more FCC's. I will bet that more than 50% of the FCC's out there never get used.

Sounds as if you are not even " depressed " over not cruising.

 

 

I do miss cruising as it has been an enjoyable part of my life for years.  That must be obvious since I post often on these CC boards. 

 

That being said, I was never "depressed" over not cruising as it is a minor thing in comparison to what I am truly more depressed about-  all of the lives disrupted and lost from the damn pandemic.  I would much rather freely see my kids and family and go out to dinner and celebrate holidays like XMAS with family and friends.  That is much higher on my list than any cruise could ever be.

[Pinboy]

11 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I do miss cruising as it has been an enjoyable part of my life for years

I would much rather freely see my kids and family and go out to dinner

I was never "depressed" over not cruising as it is a minor thing

I couldn't agree more !! 

Your posts are excellent !!

 

[HMR74]

We just booked  a B2B on Reflection  April May 2022--to "use" the credits and possibly go.

Three considerations--

1) our health as we age

2) we do not go if the "experience " is compromised: by the virus or anything else.

3) others on this thread have mentioned this, but if prices do not come down significantly enough we probably will cancel.

The pricing has become complicated and more expensive  with everything included and the 2 wifi  liquor packages. Classic liquor with basically hourly usage internet and if you want the full internet you have to get the premium package at an further elevated price off set to old "normal" pricing  by non refundable  OBC is not necessarily helpful.

 

these 2 cruises of 25 days including a transpacific is far more expensive net cost than the two 14 day cruises that were cancelled. I am talking about 50% higher. comparable.

So while I booked and can cancel before the 90 days, if price do not come down to my comfort level, we are out of it.

Cruising used to be a heck of a nice cost effective easy on the body way to vacation and see things. Perhaps not so much anymore.

 

And I have reached an age where I do not want to do 7 cities in 16 days, packing and unpacking in different rooms and traveling on planes. And that's true even without covid.

 

Which is why crusing , at a reasonable price, and with safety and the  experience, is preferred. Is that a lot to ask?

 

The reality is that the cruise line companies have their hands full right now. A lot of staff changeover makes it more challenging. I called this week and had several difference calls on my reservation to fix what was wrong due to new folks manning the lines. and I still have issues.

 

This entire industry , the hospitality travel sector is under immense pressures from all directions. SO I will cut a little slack to see how things turn out.

Edited December 21, 2020 by HMR74

[Bo1953]

On 12/20/2020 at 10:16 AM, Georgia_Peaches said:

Hi everyone, 

I've taken a serious break from most social media over the last several months but this morning found myself caught up in some reflective contemplation on the events of 2020.  What a ride!  My last cruise was February 29 and was the second to last before the shutdown.  Like so many others, I've had several cruises cancelled since March including one that we booked for March 2021.  When we made that booking back in July I was fairly confident that by March 2021, the pandemic woes of the cruise industry would be left in the wake of the Silhouette, my favorite cruise ship.  Many of my fellow CC members called it when they projected that cruising in 2021 was in serious jeopardy.  I'm not above admitting when I am wrong.

 

In the past it was not uncommon for me to have several cruises on the books.  Currently, we have just one and it's set for Connie in March 2022.  Will we go?  Probably not.  Even if the cruise industry is fully operational in 2022, I have no immediate interest in sailing on the Constellation.  She missed her "Edgeification" so we'll likely sit that one out.

 

So I'm just wondering how other CC folks are regarding the cruise industry these days.  Have you continued to book with Celebrity with no end in sight to the cruising hiatus?    

 

Here's hoping you and yours are safe and well!

gp - you were not 'wrong' as opposed to being optimistic, which I remain so for our sailing in October 2021 to the western Med, which is doubtful given to the new break outs and etc. over there...

 

I, with short patience, continue to wait for sailing to start again in 2022, in earnest... talk about being optimistic... LOL

 

bon voyage

[ECCruise]

We may be the outlier here but we have 11 sailings (and 2 land trips) booked.  As well as numerous AirBnBs to accompany them.

 

All trips are fully refundable up to final, which is economically almost impossible with Celebrity now (one we looked at yesterday quoted ~$1400 premium for refundable).

 

There are some big caveats involved, though.

1)  We won't travel until we are vaccinated.

2)  We will want to closely monitor the virus where we will be travelling since the trips involve 4 different continents and dozens of countries.

3)  We will see exactly what the mandates that the cruise lines initiate when they restart.  Masks?  No problem. Vax required? Expected.  Reduced capacity? A positive.  Requiring cruise line only excursions? Will need to be fully examined.

 

Basically, if the parameters fit, we will be ready.  If they do not, however, we will cancel with zero regrets.

 

[bloomcruisers]

I will be waiting until ships have been sailing successfully without medical incidents and are offering something close to what they had as a pre-pandemic experience.

Until then, I will stick to drivable land vacations instead.

 I have a couple of weeks of Marriott time shares that I threw into Interval International for the first time so will be looking for potential locations to use those.

[TMLAalum]

We do have the Pacific Coastal on the Millennium booked for September. Vacillating about taking it because of the possibility of forest fires impacting the great ports of call on this itinerary.

 

Our Empress cruise is no more thanks to her departure from the RCCL fleet.

 

Seriously considering the France/Spain voyages out of Southampton on the Silhouette.

[Jthans24]

We were planning to wait until 2022, until last week when we got an amazing Email deal through the blue chip club for Dec 26-Jan 2. I guess technically we are waiting until 2022 for the last two days, Ha!

 

We already have the Dominican Republic, Vegas and a week camping planned, so we weren’t even considering it until getting the email.

[sydbarrett]

Just booked one for March 2022!! 😃😃