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

[Fouremco]

39 minutes ago, erlyvon said:

Used FCC from September 2020 cruise to book a March 2021 cruise.  As soon as Celebrity cancels the cruise I'll take a refund.

Celebrity will simply reissue an FCC in the same amount as the one you used, not give you a refund for that amount.

[Pinboy]

20 minutes ago, ABoatNerd said:

As many others have said, I have no intent on booking a cruise for some time, if ever.

Once the cruise lines are underway and time has passed to determine what the on board product will be ....I will think about it.

We are with you 100 %, and, hate to think that our cruising days might be over.

If so, --- so what !!  C'est la vie --- That's life .

We are thankful to have been able to cruise as much as we did.

We had such great times , never had anything to complain about  ( oops, except the time our waiter forgot my 3rd order of shrimp cocktail --( I mentioned this before----- maybe 10 times ), and met so many nice people. 

Based on what we " anticipate " regarding new restrictions , passenger's '' I got my rights " attitude ,

and the high probability of being quarantined ( 5000 people on board ) , the overall cruise experience will not be the same. Time will tell .

 

 

 

 

[ABoatNerd]

7 hours ago, Pinboy said:

We are with you 100 %, and, hate to think that our cruising days might be over.

If so, --- so what !!  C'est la vie --- That's life .

We are thankful to have been able to cruise as much as we did.

We had such great times , never had anything to complain about  ( oops, except the time our waiter forgot my 3rd order of shrimp cocktail --( I mentioned this before----- maybe 10 times ), and met so many nice people. 

Based on what we " anticipate " regarding new restrictions , passenger's '' I got my rights " attitude ,

and the high probability of being quarantined ( 5000 people on board ) , the overall cruise experience will not be the same. Time will tell .

 

 

 

 

Thank you everyone for your analyses and Pinboy above.

There is no right nor wrong answer, it is unique to each person.

 

Once things change, there will be the typical variety of travel options. I am currently watching a PBS Swiss Rail train tour. Outstanding. Did Switzerland in 2019 and no way does a cruise come close to the real life, real food, real people, experience of Switzerland and Austria.

 

This single trip made me realize what a fake experience it is aboard ship - ocean vistas yes indeed, everything else aboard, no.

 

Will not be quarantined with 1,000 let alone 5,000 people. 

 

So moving on from cruising to land trips with private drivers and guides and expediting everywhere. Really, it is so great.

 

I will acknowledge there are some geography's that are best suited to cruising - like South America, Norway, SE Asia etc, but having time to analyze, everything else is better on a land/train trip, IF you wish to see reality.

 

[naturelovergirl]

2 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

I will acknowledge there are some geography's that are best suited to cruising - like South America, Norway, SE Asia etc, but having time to analyze, everything else is better on a land/train trip, IF you wish to see reality.

I can promise that Norway can absolutely be done on a land trip. My first trip to Norway in 2017 was on their trains, rental cars, and ferries. Just wonderful! 

Now- that said... it took LOTS of planning... creativity because of the food and cost (we do know Norwegian grocery stores very well now) and driving there was thrilling often and not for the faint of heart. Hahaha! BUT we had an amazing time.
Our second trip to Norway was on a cruise in 2019... and we got to go to places we had not been able to go on our first trip- like above the Arctic Circle. We still rented cars in several ports- we love it, even though it is a challenge. So, we used the knowledge we had from the previous land trip!

Norway is much "easier" from a cruise, that is for certain... but both ways have their charms and plusses.

 

 

[TeeRick]

12 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

I can promise that Norway can absolutely be done on a land trip. My first trip to Norway in 2017 was on their trains, rental cars, and ferries. Just wonderful! 

Now- that said... it took LOTS of planning... creativity because of the food and cost (we do know Norwegian grocery stores very well now) and driving there was thrilling often and not for the faint of heart. Hahaha! BUT we had an amazing time.
Our second trip to Norway was on a cruise in 2019... and we got to go to places we had not been able to go on our first trip- like above the Arctic Circle. We still rented cars in several ports- we love it, even though it is a challenge. So, we used the knowledge we had from the previous land trip!

Norway is much "easier" from a cruise, that is for certain... but both ways have their charms and plusses.

 

 

We have Norway planned for Aug 2021 by cruise.  We would consider a land trip instead.  Maybe by an organized tour group?  Uncomfortable on our own since we do not speak the language.

[tfred]

The "no planning" aspect of cruising is what many people enjoy.  It is a virtual pull down menu where you choose pre arranged activities and places and you know it will all work.  People love Disney World because it is an absolutely no fail experience. They will pay the money for no ripples on the water.

 

Organized land tours are successful since they are highly organized, but you are on their schedule that starts at 6 am and goes to 9 pm.  No sleeping late or ducking down a side alley to explore on your own for the most part

 

You can certainly do a land tour of Norway and see all sorts of sights.  However the "where to go" and "how to get there" can be confusing to some/most.  Renting a car or arranging train schedules can be a challenge. BTW - almost everyone speaks English in Norway

 

We did a month long trip to Switzerland - Austria - Danube River cruise - London - Liverpool last year.  Navigating the Swiss/Austrian train schedules, finding hotels while maximizing time on the ground is a multi-day activity with many moving parts.  I am pretty experienced in travel (business) and also speak German.  Many happy cruisers wouldn't like the planning experience or what happens when there is a problem on the ground (in 35 years of travel something always goes wrong - CX airplane, overbooked hotel, car too small/flat tire) 

 

 

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

We have Norway planned for Aug 2021 by cruise.  We would consider a land trip instead.  Maybe by an organized tour group?  Uncomfortable on our own since we do not speak the language.

90% of Norwegians speak English as a second language. Don't let that deter you.

[lyndarra]

7 hours ago, TeeRick said:

We have Norway planned for Aug 2021 by cruise.  We would consider a land trip instead.  Maybe by an organized tour group?  Uncomfortable on our own since we do not speak the language.

I would not be too concerned about the language. I have met Norwegians in many places around the world and all have had a good to excellent command of English. A few years back I did a self drive tour of Greece. The only Greek I new was from highschool algebra. It was fascinating how this little bit of knowledge came in handy.

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, lyndarra said:

I would not be too concerned about the language. I have met Norwegians in many places around the world and all have had a good to excellent command of English. A few years back I did a self drive tour of Greece. The only Greek I new was from highschool algebra. It was fascinating how this little bit of knowledge came in handy.

Yes thank you.  I am more concerned with me and dw not knowing any of the language - so we need to learn some of the basics before we go.