No NCL cruises out of USA yet? Am I missing something?

[Solo Cruiser Memphis]

I keep seeing posts from people talking about July sailings but I still don't see where NCL is cruising out of US yet. I was interested in booking an August cruise out of Miami but when I called the toll free number, it was highly suggested that I book a refundable airfare ticket in case there still is no sailing. Why would I do that?!  Is anyone else hesitant to book and take time off work for a cruise that may not happen? I'm so frustrated but maybe others see something I'm missing.

[RumRunner2021]

5 minutes ago, Solo Cruiser Memphis said:

I keep seeing posts from people talking about July sailings but I still don't see where NCL is cruising out of US yet. I was interested in booking an August cruise out of Miami but when I called the toll free number, it was highly suggested that I book a refundable airfare ticket in case there still is no sailing. Why would I do that?!  Is anyone else hesitant to book and take time off work for a cruise that may not happen? I'm so frustrated but maybe others see something I'm missing.

It's the FL vs. NCL thing.  You may wish to consider Alaska instead for this year.

Edited July 23, 2021 by RumRunner2021

[BermudaBound2014]

First scheduled cruise out of the USA is Alaska on August 7th. Next is Gem on August 15 from Miami. I agree that the best plan is to have everything refundable for any upcoming Gem sailing.

[WorkNCruise]

1 hour ago, Solo Cruiser Memphis said:

I keep seeing posts from people talking about July sailings but I still don't see where NCL is cruising out of US yet. I was interested in booking an August cruise out of Miami but when I called the toll free number, it was highly suggested that I book a refundable airfare ticket in case there still is no sailing. Why would I do that?!  Is anyone else hesitant to book and take time off work for a cruise that may not happen? I'm so frustrated but maybe others see something I'm missing.

The posts about July sailings are probably referring to the Norwegian Jade which sails this weekend in the Mediterranean.

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by WorkNCruise
Typo

[mrlevin]

ZERO NCL (or NCLH) ships are sailing worldwide; as reported above JADE is first to sail on Sunday.  CCL and RCG and Crystal are sailing.  MSC and the rest of the European cruise lines are sailing.  Only major cruise lines not sailing are NCL, Oceania, and Regent; all owned by NCLH.

 

Florida is a red herring; NCLH is not sailing anywhere.

[Seany527]

12 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

ZERO NCL (or NCLH) ships are sailing worldwide; as reported above JADE is first to sail on Sunday.  CCL and RCG and Crystal are sailing.  MSC and the rest of the European cruise lines are sailing.  Only major cruise lines not sailing are NCL, Oceania, and Regent; all owned by NCLH.

 

Florida is a red herring; NCLH is not sailing anywhere.

Which is really too bad. I always thought NCL was a leader in the cruise industry. I’m disappointed in their leadership. 

[mscdivina2016]

7 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

Which is really too bad. I always thought NCL was a leader in the cruise industry. I’m disappointed in their leadership. 

The roadblock is the FL governor.  NCL wants vax only cruises, FL won't let them ask for it.

Steve

[Seany527]

3 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

The roadblock is the FL governor.  NCL wants vax only cruises, FL won't let them ask for it.

Steve

I’m aware of what’s going on.  There’s many places to sail from outside of Florida. 

[saltsandknit]

Everyone seems to forget that NCL said it would take 90 days to get ships up and ready and honestly the August cruises are really at about 90 days from when the CDC said cruising could possibly start toward the end of May. I think expectations are a little too high for what has been a very difficult year and a half.

[MichiganBound]

4 hours ago, Solo Cruiser Memphis said:

I was interested in booking an August cruise out of Miami but when I called the toll free number, it was highly suggested that I book a refundable airfare ticket in case there still is no sailing. Why would I do that?!  

I don't feel it's a good idea to book any NCL cruise out of Florida for 2021.  Too many ifs/buts/maybes.  Best to book something out of Seattle, NYC, or the Med IMHO.

[Old & Retired]

1 hour ago, Seany527 said:

Which is really too bad. I always thought NCL was a leader in the cruise industry. I’m disappointed in their leadership. 

NCL has been without leadership since the pandemic.  Truly pathetic.

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, mscdivina2016 said:

The roadblock is the FL governor.  NCL wants vax only cruises, FL won't let them ask for it.

Steve

 

 There is a roadblock (created by NCL) in Florida only. Ships are already sailing from Galveston, New Orleans, Alaska, etc.. NCL had an opportunity to generate revenue with both the Gem and Joy and their well publicized 'return to cruising' that they cancelled, yet here we sit weeks later with zero revenue. 

 

10 minutes ago, saltsandknit said:

Everyone seems to forget that NCL said it would take 90 days to get ships up and ready and honestly the August cruises are really at about 90 days from when the CDC said cruising could possibly start toward the end of May. I think expectations are a little too high for what has been a very difficult year and a half.

 

A
A good question..... Withouth revenue generating sailings just low should expectations go? Stockholders are furious, and scared.

 

 

1 minute ago, Old & Retired said:

NCL has been without leadership since the pandemic.  Truly pathetic.

Certainly their are reasons NCL is not sailing yet. I'm not sure it is entirely leadership as I believe limited resources play a bigger role. Perhaps it's both. I tend to believe we will know much more on August 6th when NCL publicizes the extent of 2Q21 losses. 

[ShakeDaddy]

3 hours ago, Seany527 said:

Which is really too bad. I always thought NCL was a leader in the cruise industry. I’m disappointed in their leadership. 

I disagree.  If anything NCL is leading even more than ever cruise industry by excelling in the highest possible manner of safe cruising in requiring 100% crew and passengers to be fully vaccinated.  I feel this policy is second to none.  Because of that reason our future cruise business is with NCL and we are looking forward our August 7 Alaskan cruise on the all new Encore in 15 days.    

[BermudaBound2014]

3 minutes ago, ShakeDaddy said:

I disagree.  If anything NCL is leading even more than ever cruise industry by excelling in the highest possible manner of safe cruising in requiring 100% crew and passengers to be fully vaccinated.  I feel this policy is second to none.  Because of that reason our future cruise business is with NCL and we are looking forward our August 7 Alaskan cruise on the all new Encore in 15 days.    

 

The 100% vaccination rule has absolutely nothing to do with why NCL is not yet sailing (with the exception of one state).

 

Think outside the box people....

[ShakeDaddy]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

The 100% vaccination rule has absolutely nothing to do with why NCL is not yet sailing (with the exception of one state).

 

Think outside the box people....

We feel NCL is "thinking outside the box" and is showing so by demonstrating leadership.

 

Safety is more of a priority than share prices.      

[BermudaBound2014]

3 minutes ago, ShakeDaddy said:

We feel NCL is "thinking outside the box" and is showing so by demonstrating leadership.

 

Safety is more of a priority than share prices.      

 

Safety has absolutely nothing to do with why NCL is not sailing yet anywhere (besides Florida). The safety rational holds true for cruising out of Florida but goes no where to explain why NCL has yet to generate revenue.

Edited July 23, 2021 by BermudaBound2014

[BirdTravels]

22 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Safety has absolutely nothing to do with why NCL is not sailing yet anywhere (besides Florida). The safety rational holds true for cruising out of Florida but goes no where to explain why NCL has yet to generate revenue.

 

2 hours ago, Seany527 said:

Which is really too bad. I always thought NCL was a leader in the cruise industry. I’m disappointed in their leadership. 

NCL established August 7 as their return to service date months ago. Their leaders have stayed with that date (although they have changed their home port). Well planned and executed. 

[BermudaBound2014]

6 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

NCL established August 7 as their return to service date months ago. Their leaders have stayed with that date (although they have changed their home port). Well planned and executed. 

 

The OP was asking why there are no cruises out of the USA yet? It's a legitimate question.

 

I suppose some may consider restarting last a well executed plan. 

[MichiganBound]

13 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

NCL established August 7 as their return to service date months ago. Their leaders have stayed with that date (although they have changed their home port). Well planned and executed. 

Spot on.  Better safe than sorry.  NCL has got this right.  Whether they stick to their guns as far as Florida is concerned remains to be seen.  The highly contagious Delta variant of Covid tells us that NCL is right with their approach.  Those that don't agree are free to sail with MSC who have no limitation on unvaccinated passengers cruising.  Good luck with that!

[BirdTravels]

10 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

The OP was asking why there are no cruises out of the USA yet? It's a legitimate question. I suppose some may consider restarting last a well executed plan. 

NCL will restart with 60% capacity. When we sailed on Royal last month, we were at 20% capacity (running at a huge loss). A live post from the same cruise last week showed that they were still running at 20%-25% capacity. Our NCL cruise has been sold out at 60% for a while. It may even break even. 

 

Run a cruise "first" doesn't mean that it is a good thing. We were on Royal's first North American cruise. From a passenger perspective it was great. Best cruise we had ever been on because there were no passengers. From a business perspective, it was a disaster. Waiting, planning, and making smart decisions to have cruises that are remotely profitable would have been a much better business decision for Royal. Royal would have been much better off leaving the ship anchored off of Great Stirrup Cay with the rest of the Royal fleet than putting on a show and operating a cruise at a huge loss. Kinda business management 101. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by BirdTravels

[BermudaBound2014]

We have different opinions on the rational behind NCL's decisions. Time will tell how it all pans out.

 

I dp hope it works for NCL. I have a next cruise and, unfortunately, I can't sell it.

[RumRunner2021]

12 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

NCL will restart with 60% capacity. When we sailed on Royal last month, we were at 20% capacity (running at a huge loss). A live post from the same cruise last week showed that they were still running at 20%-25% capacity. Our NCL cruise has been sold out at 60% for a while. It may even break even. 

 

Run a cruise "first" doesn't mean that it is a good thing. We were on Royal's first North American cruise. From a passenger perspective it was great. Best cruise we had ever been on because there were no passengers. From a business perspective, it was a disaster. Waiting, planning, and making smart decisions to have cruises that are remotely profitable would have been a much better business decision for Royal. Kinda business management 101. 

Bingo!!  Companies don't exist to generate revenue.  They exist to generate profit.  Anybody can generate revenue while they run their ship into bankruptcy.  Be more attractive than your competition and you can charge higher prices.  Better utilize capacity and you can increase profit margin.  Watch and learn from your competitions' failed risk taking.  Understand economies of scale.  NCL just might be the smartest folks in the room.  Do people really think that a ship operating at 20% capacity can generate profit?

[zerooveride]

I think we should all just use a wait and see approach seeing as the first revenue sailing is Sunday on the Jade in Greece and the first US cruise will be in about 2 weeks.

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, zerooveride said:

I think we should all just use a wait and see approach seeing as the first revenue sailing is Sunday on the Jade in Greece and the first US cruise will be in about 2 weeks.

 

 

 

I agree. I can see the merits of Bird and zereo  but respectfully disagree. Time is the only thing that will tell, no use going back and forth.

 

The second quarter financials could also provide clarity. They are being released August 6th. Coinicidence? lol

[mianmike]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

NCL established August 7 as their return to service date months ago. Their leaders have stayed with that date (although they have changed their home port). Well planned and executed. 

 

On your recent cruise do you feel RCCL rushed to sail and offered a poorly planned and executed cruise?