No 2021 travel to New Zealand?

[NSWP]

9 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Not just the north, that's later in the year. They were offering Tassie cruises for the next month or so. They sounded great but way too expensive.

Crew wages mark the prices up, like $1000 a day, outreagous.

[Porky55]

19 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

The will be no approval of cruise ships before the next Federal election, which will probably be held after the vaccine delivery has reached 70-80% of the population. I'm guessing that would be by August.

 

So Federal election in Sept/Oct and maybe consider cruise ships a month later. Maybe.

 

Canada has banned cruise ships until Feb 22. Australia might be tempted to do the same.

PM has stated quite firmly that there will be no Federal Election before it is due - which is 2022. 
 

If so - the future of cruising looks dire ☹️😩😢

 

But - nothing has been predictable in the past 14 months - fingers crossed this trend continues. Anything could happen 🙏

[NSWP]

Carnival Corp has released their CDC policies for the new world of cruising, masks, vaccination, ships tours only, reservation of seats in theatres etc on board. Not for moi, thank you. Paying all that money out to suffer those constraints.

 

Several links to the information, I will see if I can do it.

 

Edited February 5, 2021 by NSWP

[Aus Traveller]

6 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Carnival Corp has released their CDC policies for the new world of cruising, masks, vaccination, ships tours only, reservation of seats in theatres etc on board. Not for moi, thank you. Paying all that money out to suffer those constraints.

 

Several links to the information, I will see if I can do it.

The Carnival statement also says these protocols are a transition to cruising and that they will continue to evolve.

[By The Bay]

There is a link to a PDF document on the Princess website. Click here to view page and click on Health and Safety infographic link to the PDF.

 

Here is what is proposed before boarding. Nothing about requiring a vaccine?

 

"Enhanced Health Screenings

Every guest and teammate will undergo enhanced pre-embarkation health screenings, including pre-travel COVID-19 testing, touchless temperature checks and health questionnaires, in accordance with the latest guidelines from public health officials."

Edited February 5, 2021 by By The Bay

[OzKiwiJJ]

Given it will be at least six months, and maybe more, before we see cruising resume here I'm not going to get too concerned about restrictions outlined by a US-based authority at this point in time. Anything could change between now and then.

[Aus Traveller]

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Given it will be at least six months, and maybe more, before we see cruising resume here I'm not going to get too concerned about restrictions outlined by a US-based authority at this point in time. Anything could change between now and then.

I feel the same.👍

[NSWP]

7 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I feel the same.👍

I note a few cabins available on your Coral worldie, today. A few Aussies are worried enough to cancel.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

I note a few cabins available on your Coral worldie, today. A few Aussies are worried enough to cancel.

Princess has been selling a limited number of cabins for the whole cruise, with certain numbers set aside for segments. Have there been cancellations or are these cabins that haven't yet sold?

[NSWP]

12 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Princess has been selling a limited number of cabins for the whole cruise, with certain numbers set aside for segments. Have there been cancellations or are these cabins that haven't yet sold?

Probably cancellations or never sold. I only looked at the whole cruise and half cruise sectors. There are GTY cabins and actual cabin numbers available. I have no doubt some Aussies booked on the entire cruise have recently cancelled, given the CDC policies. 

 

I don't like the sound of this reservation business, i.e. gym, theatres, bars, dining areas. The queues for lifts will be intolerable at times, a crew member will have to ride the lift to limit people therein due to social distancing.  Tenders could be slow too if they reduce the capacity say from 150 to 100. Not my cup of tea. I was on the threshold of booking Coral WC for 2022, well half worldie anyway, until these latest policies came out, together with some doubt of it happening. Although I think Coral will go on the WC with an altered itinerary due to several port closures.  Now I am definitely not a starter.

 

So I have saved myself solo fare of around $35k in an Balcony cabin  plus airfare, shorex, booze, another $15k there, so $50k all up. That is real big money to me.

Edited February 6, 2021 by NSWP

[Aus Traveller]

53 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Probably cancellations or never sold. I only looked at the whole cruise and half cruise sectors. There are GTY cabins and actual cabin numbers available. I have no doubt some Aussies booked on the entire cruise have recently cancelled, given the CDC policies. 

 

I don't like the sound of this reservation business, i.e. gym, theatres, bars, dining areas. The queues for lifts will be intolerable at times, a crew member will have to ride the lift to limit people therein due to social distancing.  Tenders could be slow too if they reduce the capacity say from 150 to 100. Not my cup of tea. I was on the threshold of booking Coral WC for 2022, well half worldie anyway, until these latest policies came out, together with some doubt of it happening. Although I think Coral will go on the WC with an altered itinerary due to several port closures.  Now I am definitely not a starter.

 

So I have saved myself solo fare of around $35k in an Balcony cabin  plus airfare, shorex, booze, another $15k there, so $50k all up. That is real big money to me.

Some vacancies remained on the WC. We can't assume vacancies at the moment are from cancellations. It could be that some people have been hesitant to book.

 

When the cruise became available (last September I think) I booked two segments (Dubai - UK and UK - NYC). I will be travelling solo (and paying nearly double) so to keep the cost down, I booked an interior cabin. A week or so ago I decided to book the Aus-Dubai segment also. This will be much more comfortable than flying that leg, but yes, more expensive. When I enquired, there was only one interior cabin left.

[NSWP]

15 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Some vacancies remained on the WC. We can't assume vacancies at the moment are from cancellations. It could be that some people have been hesitant to book.

 

When the cruise became available (last September I think) I booked two segments (Dubai - UK and UK - NYC). I will be travelling solo (and paying nearly double) so to keep the cost down, I booked an interior cabin. A week or so ago I decided to book the Aus-Dubai segment also. This will be much more comfortable than flying that leg, but yes, more expensive. When I enquired, there was only one interior cabin left.

Good plan, almost a Three quarter worldie, lol.

[Aus Traveller]

8 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Good plan, almost a Three quarter worldie, lol.

We have done segments of the WC previously (NYC-Sydney; Sydney-NYC; Dubai-UK). The segments from Dubai to NYC are the ones that interest me the most because several of the ports are new for me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Aust-Dubai segment costs much less per day, probably because it would not have such wide appeal. It is mainly sea days, only stopping at Komodo Is (new for me), Singapore, Colombo (new for me) and Oman before arriving at Dubai. It is costing me $7,800 (as a solo). I will take some liquid refreshments on with me when I board. $575 OBC (just for that segment) will more than cover tours, corkage, and a few extra drinks if I feel like having them.

[Rassa]

Our Sunday paper travel section, indicated that cruise lines are saying bookings are up.   Cruise companies are probably also taking bookings that reflect the ships won't be fully booked for say the first 6+ months that cruising comes back.    The round Australia 2022 was booked out in a short time but I feel it may not be fully booked to allow for social distancing during the first several months. 

 

I read there are two small cruise ships with bookings for around Tasmania going soon.  I guess everyone will be watching for how they go.  Also a story and pictures of the PS Murray Princess doing the Murray River - looked very inviting.

[lorri111]

Considering some experts (BLOMBERG) are now saying long haul  air travel will  not be back to normal till 2023, I am now starting to feel more pessimistic  about cruising  now- how  can it  survive?

[onlyslightlymad]

25 minutes ago, lorri111 said:

Considering some experts (BLOMBERG) are now saying long haul  air travel will  not be back to normal till 2023, I am now starting to feel more pessimistic  about cruising  now- how  can it  survive?

I think it will survive but it will be different.  I am astonished at the posters on other boards who think that they will get a vaccine and things will go back to 'normal'.  First, a vaccine is not a magic bullet, just an important part of a comprehensive strategy.  Second, a vaccine is not a time travel device (to my best knowledge).  We can't go back so we may as well move forward.  Some cruise lines will probably go broke, those withe capital reserves will be okay and will probably profit by expanding their market share.  I do agree though that I can't foresee much happening til 2023.  One positive, I think the Asia-Pacific region will be the first to recover, simply because our governments have been so proactive.

 

Edited February 7, 2021 by onlyslightlymad

[lorri111]

2 minutes ago, onlyslightlymad said:

I think it will survive but it will be different.  I am astonished at the posters on other boards who think that they will get a vaccine and things will go back to 'normal'.  First, a vaccine is not a magic bullet, just an important part of a comprehensive strategy.  Second, a vaccine is not a time travel device (to my best knowledge).  We can't go back so we may as well move forward.  Some cruise lines will probably go broke, those withe capital reserves will be okay and will probably profit by expanding their market share.  

I have been looking forward to my booked NZ cruise in Nov, really hoping they can get that much talked about bubble open

[onlyslightlymad]

1 minute ago, lorri111 said:

I have been looking forward to my booked NZ cruise in Nov, really hoping they can get that much talked about bubble open

Sorry, I'm such a slow typist that I was editing my post above.  I don't see that NZ will be open to cruises this year.  Our government has been pretty clear about that.  They keep mention mid 2022 but of course the further into the future that we try to forecast the less certain things are.  I hope I'm wrong though and your cruise does go ahead.

[lorri111]

9 minutes ago, onlyslightlymad said:

Sorry, I'm such a slow typist that I was editing my post above.  I don't see that NZ will be open to cruises this year.  Our government has been pretty clear about that.  They keep mention mid 2022 but of course the further into the future that we try to forecast the less certain things are.  I hope I'm wrong though and your cruise does go ahead.

I didn't know it was so definite, will have to look into that - thanks. Can I ask where this comes from, there was always talk of a trans Tasman bubble opening first half of 2021, is this definitely off the table??

 

Edited February 7, 2021 by lorri111

[onlyslightlymad]

1 minute ago, lorri111 said:

I didn't know it was so definite, will have to look into that - thanks

It's not absolute (just very likely).  Here is a quote from Jacinda Ardern.

“But given the risks in the world around us and the uncertainty of the global rollout of the vaccine, we can expect our borders to be impacted for much of this year,” she said.

I guess if a travel bubble does open between NZ and Aus and a cruise ship is willing to be based only in that region and will accept passengers from exclusively that bubble and will quarantine their staff according to the rules then it's possible.  The cruise lines might be desperate for business and our region could look attractive.  I think regional lockdowns could be an issue.  For example, if a cruise was going from Sydney to Melbourne to NZ and Victoria locked down would they disrupt the entire cruise or would be enough flexibility to just skip Melbourne and carry on.  If Sydney locked down after the cruise had departed, would the ship have to return to Sydney or would it be okay to carry on.  

[lorri111]

5 minutes ago, onlyslightlymad said:

It's not absolute (just very likely).  Here is a quote from Jacinda Ardern.

“But given the risks in the world around us and the uncertainty of the global rollout of the vaccine, we can expect our borders to be impacted for much of this year,” she said.

I guess if a travel bubble does open between NZ and Aus and a cruise ship is willing to be based only in that region and will accept passengers from exclusively that bubble and will quarantine their staff according to the rules then it's possible.  The cruise lines might be desperate for business and our region could look attractive.  I think regional lockdowns could be an issue.  For example, if a cruise was going from Sydney to Melbourne to NZ and Victoria locked down would they disrupt the entire cruise or would be enough flexibility to just skip Melbourne and carry on.  If Sydney locked down after the cruise had departed, would the ship have to return to Sydney or would it be okay to carry on.  

Thanks for that. She does also say:

“In the meantime, we will continue to pursue travel bubbles with Australia and the Pacific, but the rest of the world simply poses too great a risk to our health and our economy to take the risk at this stage.”

So I guess there is still some hope. This bubble was supposed to be operational first half of this year. Maybe it will be dependent on vaccine roll out.

[NSWP]

44 minutes ago, lorri111 said:

Considering some experts (BLOMBERG) are now saying long haul  air travel will  not be back to normal till 2023, I am now starting to feel more pessimistic  about cruising  now- how  can it  survive?

If so, overseas cruising for Aussies is out. NZ and Pacific cruising is ok, but once you have done it you have done it. I like to cruise from Europe or the Americas, if no long haul air until 2023, there goes that plan.

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

We have done segments of the WC previously (NYC-Sydney; Sydney-NYC; Dubai-UK). The segments from Dubai to NYC are the ones that interest me the most because several of the ports are new for me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Aust-Dubai segment costs much less per day, probably because it would not have such wide appeal. It is mainly sea days, only stopping at Komodo Is (new for me), Singapore, Colombo (new for me) and Oman before arriving at Dubai. It is costing me $7,800 (as a solo). I will take some liquid refreshments on with me when I board. $575 OBC (just for that segment) will more than cover tours, corkage, and a few extra drinks if I feel like having them.

Sydney to Dubai might be ok for me, but if no aircraft, long swim back, lol.

[lorri111]

2 minutes ago, NSWP said:

If so, overseas cruising for Aussies is out. NZ and Pacific cruising is ok, but once you have done it you have done it. I like to cruise from Europe or the Americas, if no long haul air until 2023, there goes that plan.

Yes, I prefer cruising from overseas but will take local cruises if that is all that is going. I will be dissapointed if NZ falls through as is said in above posts

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, NSWP said:

Sydney to Dubai might be ok for me, but if no aircraft, long swim back, lol.

Cruise 1st. Package Sydney to Dubai with return airfare. The price is OK.