WHAT ARE THE ODDS THAT HAL WILL SAIL IN 2021 or WILL IT BE 2022

[mcrcruiser]

We have a 18 night Hawaii cruise Feb 2 ,2022  on koningsdam & the way the vaccine has been rolled out so far  we are glad we booked so far in advance 

 

 What do you say about 2021 or 2022 bookings ?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I think the Rotterdam will sail  in 2021

[CruiserBruce]

Nobody knows...all just speculation, and discussed here dozens of times. If anybody knew, believe me it would be headline news.

 

And, believe me, we are just as seriously interested as anyone, as we get on Kdam when you return, and another cruise booked for July 2022.

[Mary229]

I think it will depend on the vaccine roll out.  Bookings are brisk by the reports I am hearing but most of those are for 2022.   

[AncientWanderer]

We have bookings for 2022, as that was our best guess as to when things would really be a go.

Now, though, with all these virus variants popping up, my guess is that while there will be sailings in 2022, destinations will be very limited.  A lot of places just won't be prepared to receive passengers who are potential carriers of a covid variation.  Probably places that are really dependent on tourist dollars will need to open up, but many places simply will not.

 

I know that's a rather pessimistic viewpoint, but seems like hard reality to me.  We will no doubt get our vaccinations and cruise to places that might not be first choice for us.

[deliver42]

I think late 2021 is possible. November or December.

[Mary229]

I had a sit down visit with my favorite travel agent.   She said sailings from Barbados instead of Florida are really being considered.  

[Roz]

Are you a bookie? 😄

[KirkNC]

I don’t think there be many if any cruises in 2021.  Most countries are closed to cruise ships and probably will not open until 2022 or later.  Exceptions maybe be some private island cruise stops or cruises to nowhere.  Estimates are that much of the world (South America, Asia and Africa particularly) will not have wide spread vaccinations until 2023.
 

 Those cruises that do occur will be tightly wrapped up in Covid protocols like negative Covid test, vaccinations required, mask wearing, ship excursions to get off the ship, regulated dining times and locations, limited or no access to speakers, entertainment shows and casinos.  Sounds like fun....

 

O’ yea, forget using the elevator.

Edited February 3, 2021 by KirkNC

[foodsvcmgr]

Third to fourth quarter of 2021 but not necessarily to or from US ports.

[prescottbob]

2nd quarter 2022 for, perhaps, longer cruises depending on worldwide vaccinations, the effectiveness of the aforementioned vaccines available & worldwide “leaders” making pragmatic decisions. No guarantee there IMHO.

 

Be well. Enjoy the ‘now’.

Bob

[Sunshine3601]

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I had a sit down visit with my favorite travel agent.   She said sailings from Barbados instead of Florida are really being considered.  

Yes, rcl started offering their new itineraries out of Barbados starting either end of november or beginning of december 2021.  They had great prices with great itineraries so we booked a suite for a b2b for feb 2022.

[LocoLoco1]

Marketing of 2021 cruises lately is limited at best. That tells me a lot. 

[Sue from Canada]

How will HAL handle sailings with those who've had their two shots and those who haven't.  Will it sail with just the former?  Will it offer refunds to the latter or rebook them in 2022?

[mcrcruiser]

8 hours ago, Roz said:

Are you a bookie? 😄

  Well had worked  with Las Vegas Casinos & hotels for 30 + years . does that qualify me LOL

[rodndonna]

We have a  cruise booked in December 5 2021.

 

Googling 'pandemic' and 'Covid' became a reality ' in mid-March when it was declared a pandemic about 330 days ago. We are now  about as many days into this pandemic as we are away from our cruise date (just over 300 days)

 

When I think of how much has happened since the start of this in March 2020, I would have never thought it possible to be where we are now .  So, I figure ALOT can happen in the upcoming 300 days, and I like the think (hope)  mostly positive. 😃 

 

I am giving our cruise a solid 50/50 chance. 🙂

[Roz]

4 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

  Well had worked  with Las Vegas Casinos & hotels for 30 + years . does that qualify me LOL

 

Maybe we should just stick with betting on the Super Bowl; probably a safer bet.

[KirkNC]

5 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

How will HAL handle sailings with those who've had their two shots and those who haven't.  Will it sail with just the former?  Will it offer refunds to the latter or rebook them in 2022?

I don’t see how the cruise lines can sail without requiring all passengers and crew to be vaccinated, too much risk of an aborted cruise otherwise.  Those who can’t or won’t get vaccinated just won’t be able to cruise.

Edited February 4, 2021 by KirkNC

[Roz]

4 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

I don’t see how the cruise lines can sail without requiring all passengers and crew to be vaccinated, too much risk of an aborted cruise otherwise.  Those who can’t or won’t get vaccinated just won’t be able to cruise.

 

No Covid vaccines are approved for use in children, so that is a huge obstacle to overcome if vaccinations are required.  Airlines, AIs, amusement parks, etc. are going to face the same issue. 

[KirkNC]

Probably by summer or sooner vaccines will be approved for children.  They have already started the process.

[Roz]

18 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

Probably by summer or sooner vaccines will be approved for children.  They have already started the process.

 

I know the University of Cincinnati is doing research on vaccines for children.  I just hope the children aren't allowed to leapfrog over us older folks who've yet to even get their first shot. 

[terrydtx]

13 hours ago, KirkNC said:

I don’t think there be many if any cruises in 2021.  Most countries are closed to cruise ships and probably will not open until 2022 or later.  Exceptions maybe be some private island cruise stops or cruises to nowhere.  Estimates are that much of the world (South America, Asia and Africa particularly) will not have wide spread vaccinations until 2023.
 

 Those cruises that do occur will be tightly wrapped up in Covid protocols like negative Covid test, vaccinations required, mask wearing, ship excursions to get off the ship, regulated dining times and locations, limited or no access to speakers, entertainment shows and casinos.  Sounds like fun....

 

O’ yea, forget using the elevator.

Still better than staying home and not going anywhere.

[KirkNC]

47 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Still better than staying home and not going anywhere.

Not for me, if it was free, maybe.

[AFNavigator]

2 hours ago, rodndonna said:

We have a  cruise booked in December 5 2021.

 

Googling 'pandemic' and 'Covid' became a reality ' in mid-March when it was declared a pandemic about 330 days ago. We are now  about as many days into this pandemic as we are away from our cruise date (just over 300 days)

 

When I think of how much has happened since the start of this in March 2020, I would have never thought it possible to be where we are now .  So, I figure ALOT can happen in the upcoming 300 days, and I like the think (hope)  mostly positive. 😃 

 

I am giving our cruise a solid 50/50 chance. 🙂

If you're going with a 50/50 chance, I'll shoot for a 51/49 chance.  We're booked 10 days after you on Caribbean cruise December 15th.

 

With the vaccine program picking up speed, and the likelihood many cruise lines will require at least their crew to be vaccinated, many of the small island ports will re-open....they are starving for cash. 

 

It won't be cruising as normal though, especially that early into restart.  There will probably be the cruise-line-only shore excursions like in Italy where you get denied boarding if you deviate from the excursion.  No walking around town on your own.  There also likely will be testing required before boarding and probably at least once during the cruise too to prove you are still OK when you get to your disembarkation port.  You can also just about guarantee mask wear will be required in all common areas unless you are eating, swimming, or sitting having a drink.

 

Even with those restrictions or more, I'm in!

[rodndonna]

25 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

 

Even with those restrictions or more, I'm in!

 

Same here.

 

We have spent the last year adapting to so many new ways of doing things which would have been unthinkable a year ago. Cruising with the type of restrictions you mention will not be an issue for us at all - we're pretty used to the 'new normal' in going about lives now.