Europe - June 2021

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

In addition to the ban that I mentioned in the earlier post, possibly making entry to the Netherlands impossible, I'm not sure that the current UK travel restrictions would allow cruise ships to visit its ports. And being a couple of months earlier than @drakes2's cruise, there is a stringer possibility that Celebrity won't be up and running. Overall, I'm not optimistic about your chances, but everything is in a state of flux and could possibly change before July.

 

As for when Celebrity might cancel, for much of last year cancellations came late, after final payment. Although there have been similar late cancellations this year, Celebrity has more often made them before final payment. What goes into their decision making process I really don't know, but I'd guess that they won't cancel while they think that there's a chance of sailing. So if by May 1 they feel that there's a chance that they can have a ship up and running and headed to Europe by July, and that both the UK and the Netherlands will no longer have entry restrictions in place, they won't cancel.

 

A number of posters questioned my judgement last year when the L&S program was first introduced and I chose to bump a March 2021 cruise to March 2022. I was accused of being unnecessarily pessimistic. Maybe your cruise will sail, but I have my doubts. Still, you have 2 months before final payment, and you could delay making a decision until late April in the hope that the situation will have taken a more positive turn. I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong and the cruise does sail.

I cancelled my Europe sailing last year as well....seemed too iffy with the virus still raging and unlikely to improve before 6/21...didn't wait for a cancellation or L&S  from X;  didn't want to commit to the same ship and timing.  Received a refunded deposit.    Booked June/22, different ship, as a replacement and safer than guessing on 2021.

[TeaBag]

It seems to me that if the sailing is iffy, Celebrity would save themselves a lot of work and please their cruisers by extending the final payment date closer to the sailing date when things would be more definite.

[Ashland]

11 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

It seems to me that if the sailing is iffy, Celebrity would save themselves a lot of work and please their cruisers by extending the final payment date closer to the sailing date when things would be more definite.

Yes....RCI has done this on some... moving final date out to 45 days.

[wrk2cruise]

On Celebrity this is limited to the Alaska sailings "on hold".   They could do something similar with Europe sailings if governments close and give some indication that things will open up later.

 

The Alaska policy I think is pretty good.  You can get refund or FCC now, move your sailing to next year with price protection, or wait it out til 45 day out and see if things improve and sailings can happen.  Really gives you quite a bit of control.

[Denny01]

June and Sept Euro cruises?? Heck, I’m concerned my Nov 2021 7N Caribbean Thanksgiving cruise won’t go!! 

 

Heck, my wife would have to make Thanksgiving dinner! Do you know how much that holiday has cost us making cruise after cruise in Thanksgiving to get out of making all that stuff!?!

 

Den

[georgiaguy]

Thanks everyone. And just to be clear. We are expecting it to be canceled. I do have this lagging fear that some how the cruise will go but with not less than desirable conditions, however unlikely that might be, and we wont be able to back out. But really I was just asking cause I haven’t seen anything and wanted to make sure that I hadn’t missed it. 

[sandancer]

On 2/26/2021 at 7:58 AM, upwarduk said:

As things stand at the moment, anyone flying into England has to quarantine for 10 days, either in a hotel if they come from a country on the ‘red’ list, or at home. 
So, this could make a big difference for cruise embarkation. If the ships even come to Southampton for the summer season, who will be able to embark- maybe only passengers who live in UK?
I quite fancy a Round Britain cruise.😱

I fancy any cruise. However unless GovUK lifts that cruising ban we can’t bring all those cruise clothes out of the wardrobe. I just don’t know if we could put up with not being to get off the ship independently. Masks?  Yeh, well working in the NHS I feel naked without one so I could put up with that. 

Edited February 27, 2021 by sandancer

[kwokpot]

12 hours ago, georgiaguy said:

Thanks everyone. And just to be clear. We are expecting it to be canceled. I do have this lagging fear that some how the cruise will go but with not less than desirable conditions, however unlikely that might be, and we wont be able to back out. But really I was just asking cause I haven’t seen anything and wanted to make sure that I hadn’t missed it. 

Why would you say that you can't back out if the cruise dies actually sail? You could invoke the Cruise with Confidence Clause and get a future credit for a cruise in the future.

[Bruin Steve]

I will answer this differently than most of the people out there guessing.  NOBODY has any accurate information...because there is none.  People seem to be very pessimistic...likely because they've seen so many cruises being canceled, little by little...and various lockdowns getting extended little by little.  And, beyond current cancellations, various cruise schedules have been altered.

 

However, looking at this logically, here is what we know:

1.  Celebrity HAS canceled cruises through April 30.

2.  Celebrity has deleted cruises on two ships in Europe beyond that date.  Other ships are, at least, still scheduled to sail AS OF NOW.

3.  Certain countries have CURRENT travel restrictions.

 

Based on the above, no one can say with certainty that there will be no cruises.  Doesn't mean there will be, but anyone who says anything with any absolute answer is merely guessing.

 

What we also know, based on logic:

1.  Celebrity (and other cruise lines) would LOVE to sail.  It is how they make their money and, by canceling cruises, they LOSE lots of money.

2.  Countries and ports restricting entry would LOVE to reopen--if they thought, with any degree of moderate certainty--that it would be safe to do so.  Most ports' economies are largely dependent on tourism...and remaining closed hurts them economically.  But they need to balance it with the need to protect their citizens from the virus.  Any country currently restricting travel could also lift that restriction at any time.  No such restrictions have dates set in stone--they could be extended or pulled back.

3.  The numbers of people being vaccinated is increasing by great numbers every day...with new vaccines coming into the market.  Unfortunately, vaccinations are occurring in some countries faster than others...and some are a LONG way from the necessary numbers.

 

Cruise lines do NOT want to cancel cruises too far into the future...as they need to operate under the idea that things will improve to where they can be sailing again.  They do not want to cancel a whole lot of, say, July bookings...and then have the Covid "numbers" go way down (due to vaccinations and other factors) by, say, May...and ports start reopening.  Is it "wishful thinking" on the part of the cruise lines?  Probably.  But is it entirely possible?  Yes.  There are simply too many unknowns and too many variables to rule it out.

 

Additionally, we could see a return to cruising and travel with some qualifications--like all passengers needing to provide evidence of vaccination.  Maybe we are all cruising with our Covid vaccination card.  Also, certain logistics to be worked out--Crew would need to be vaccinated, ships would need to be repositioned from wherever in the world they currently are (I've seen some question on this board things like whether they'd move a certain ship all the way from the Caribbean to the Med empty...Sure they would--if it's been empty for over a year, a few more days means little).

 

Personally, I have two Med cruises booked for July.  I am not canceling them...I am playing the waiting game along with the cruise line.  If the cruises actually happen, I am there.  If they are to be canceled, I will wait for Celebrity to cancel in order to get my best value for the booking.  Of course, I am NOT booking any NEW cruises for 2021.  Everything beyond what I currently have booked is "wait and see".  But my current bookings are 2020 cancelations that have already been lifted and shifted once.  The deals, based on current prices, are sensational...I will wait and take them in 2022 if I must...but zero reason to panic now.  I really do NOT know if they will sail in 2021.  I'll be sailing somewhere in 2022 anyway.  I have nothing to gain by panicking...and I will not make any assumptions one way or another until I know for certain.  In the meanwhile, I have been fully vaccinated and my wife is scheduled for her first dose tomorrow.  And I would love to cruise again...but none of it is in my control.

 

[TFree]

2 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

I will answer this differently than most of the people out there guessing.  NOBODY has any accurate information...because there is none.  People seem to be very pessimistic...likely because they've seen so many cruises being canceled, little by little...and various lockdowns getting extended little by little.  And, beyond current cancellations, various cruise schedules have been altered.

I think I agree with @Bruin Steve on this.  We have a May 5, 2021 British Isles cruise.  Everybody I know (including me) believes that this cruise will be cancelled, and in fact I am shocked that it hasn't been cancelled already.  Maybe next week it will be.  It is hard to see, between the continuing pandemic, the fact that both the UK and the E.U. (the cruise is RT from Amsterdam) are technically closed to Americans and many others, the difficulty of getting the entire crew vaccinated, the fact that the ship is currently in the Caribbean, etc., how this cruise can happen on May 5.

But having said that, one of these months cruises will start up again.  I doubt it will be May.  But could it be June or July or August?  Who knows, but one of these months it will happen.  

Tom & Judy

[NMTraveller]

On 2/26/2021 at 12:58 AM, upwarduk said:

As things stand at the moment, anyone flying into England has to quarantine for 10 days, either in a hotel if they come from a country on the ‘red’ list, or at home. 
So, this could make a big difference for cruise embarkation. If the ships even come to Southampton for the summer season, who will be able to embark- maybe only passengers who live in UK?
I quite fancy a Round Britain cruise.😱

I would do a Round Britain cruise.  UK is second in vacinations with the USA third.  I would expect that the UK will be one of the first to open up after vacinations are completed.  The surrounding countries not as much as they are behind.  If nothing else I may fly into the UK and do a land trip late summer.

 

Our state has had some of the toughest restrictions in the country.  They are slowly being lifted...

Edited February 27, 2021 by NMTraveller

[georgiaguy]

5 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Why would you say that you can't back out if the cruise dies actually sail? You could invoke the Cruise with Confidence Clause and get a future credit for a cruise in the future.

I wasn’t sure how that might apply to a cruise that sails but I am choosing not to go one now. Maybe there is nothing to worry about. I certainly hope that is the case. 🙂

[hawkesbaynz]

Off the top of my head British folk can holiday from 17th May. Cannot go outside our district currently. We can actually enter restaurants and bars! Before that outdoors only. Hopefully end of restrictions 21 June. 
 

I would not imagine ex-UK cruises before 21 June! I am not sure if we will be able to enter Europe. We have vaccinated as many people as the whole of  Europe combined apparently.
 

I plan a Welsh trip in May, Islay in Scotland for walking & Whisky in June, stay at home for the packed July/August holidays as a lot of people do not plan to holiday abroad. We have an Eastern Med cruise in September but may change it to the Silhouette ex - Southampton.

 

@NMTraveller you will be welcome. Schools back 5th September or thereabouts. 

[upwarduk]

22 hours ago, sandancer said:

I fancy any cruise. However unless GovUK lifts that cruising ban we can’t bring all those cruise clothes out of the wardrobe.

Here is a link to the cruising ban in UK, mentioned by sandancer:

 

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/cruise/1402897/cruise-holidays-cruises-2021-fco-travel-advice-when-cruise-ship-will-start

[cruisestitch]

Perhaps the new one-shot vaccine will accelerate the process of making travel safe.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

Perhaps the new one-shot vaccine will accelerate the process of making travel safe.

I was thinking the same. Eventually it will all come back; just in a different way. 

[TeeRick]

It appears that the J&J vaccine might be approved by both the EU and UK in the month of March sometime.  But not sure about how many doses will be available.  But I think the wild card on starting cruises from the UK and EU will be crew member vaccination requirements and timelines.  I cannot see this really happening by summer 2021.  Easier if they get access to the one shot vaccine of course.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vaccine-europe/eu-regulator-to-give-verdict-on-jj-covid-19-vaccine-by-mid-march-idUSKBN2AG1WF

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-vaccine/single-shot-covid-vaccine-in-uk-could-be-weeks-away-the-telegraph-idUSKCN2AR0P1

[upwarduk]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

But not sure about how many doses will be available.  But I think the wild card on starting cruises from the UK

Apparently the UK has ordered 30,000 doses.

[dutchclogs]

And the Netherlands have ordered 7 m.  We are very behind with a vaccination roll out ...

[hawkesbaynz]

30,000,000 doses for the UK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55857530

[Ashland]

20 minutes ago, dutchclogs said:

And the Netherlands have ordered 7 m.  We are very behind with a vaccination roll out ...

So more than likely my July 2021 out of Amsterdam (British Isles) will be cancelled....hope Celebrity sees it this way and cancels by May 1st.

[dutchclogs]

13 hours ago, Ashland said:

So more than likely my July 2021 out of Amsterdam (British Isles) will be cancelled....hope Celebrity sees it this way and cancels by May 1st.

It's certainly tricky to make summer holiday plans. At the moment we are being cautioned not to book a summer holiday aboard but  I wouldn't rule out some EU countries will want travel corridors in the summer months of July and August. 

[drakes2]

3 hours ago, dutchclogs said:

It's certainly tricky to make summer holiday plans. At the moment we are being cautioned not to book a summer holiday aboard but  I wouldn't rule out some EU countries will want travel corridors in the summer months of July and August. 

I don't think cruises out of Amsterdam will happen this summer. Are you still on lockdown?

[RD64]

Just an FYI - Royal cancelled the Rome summer season of the new Odyssey of the seas. The ship is being moved to Haifa, Israel for cruises with locals only.

[kwokpot]

8 hours ago, RD64 said:

Just an FYI - Royal cancelled the Rome summer season of the new Odyssey of the seas. The ship is being moved to Haifa, Israel for cruises with locals only.

This really signals that Americans WILL NOT be boarding cruiseships in Europe during this summer.