Safe to now book mid-May sailing?

[NavyCruiser]

Just saw an excellent price on Carnival website about their mid-May sailing out of Galveston.  We put a 24 hour hold on a cabin, with no deposit in yet.  

We're an hour away from Galveston, so no flights to deal with.

Good deal, or still too risky to book?

Thanks,

[PhillyFan33579]

I wouldn’t book it but it’s not a big deal if you do.  Worst thing that will happen is the cruise will get cancelled, which is highly likely. 

[UGACamper]

Also eyeing one at the end of May.  My hope is that the extension to May 12 is the last one, but who knows. Its rolling the dice either way. 

[beachbum53]

Until Carnival sends out an email to everyone letting us know that they're open for business, it might be a good idea to wait. When  the cruise lines do start taking bookings again, I foresee lots of travel agents and PVP's getting carpal tunnel from typing almost non-stop on their keyboards. 😉

[tallnthensome]

I would not put any money into any cruise or cruise line for at least the next 90 days. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

I booked June 15, which would be the week after two 30-day extensions (if the extensions are for 30-day intervals, we will see).  I had to start somewhere, and hope I guessed correctly.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that becomes July 15 or August 15.

[ray98]

I would not book anything right now, too much uncertainty.  There is absolutely nothing saying cruises will be safer to take in May from where we are now.

 

If you are local I would just wait.  It isn't going to sell out early because the industry will not be back to 'normal' for many months.

[13cheermom]

Go ahead and book, then maybe some of us will get our refunds, 😂.

[mnp75]

I'm still planning on cruising May 30th, Horizon. Worst case is Carnival cancels and they give you some OBC for rebooking another cruise. 

[bahacca]

If you don't care if it is a cruise to nowhere. Carnival is only one piece of the puzzle. Many of the islands and places like Belize and Honduras are just seeing first cases. Odds are, if they are in a spike of cases by then, they will not be allowing cruise ships to dock.

[crzndeb]

I have a couple of cruises booked on the Legend in Oct., and I’m not counting on those. The Legend has to get over there in June, and not sure that will be happening.

[beerman2]

Not sure I would book any cruise right now. The will have trouble filling ships until this completely blows over.

 

There should be many deals to get people cruising again.

[sanger727]

"safe" from what point of view.

 

From potentially being cancelled? - no; we really don't know how long they will continue to extend the cancellations. I keep seeing that they expect the cases to peak in early May so I think we could continue having travel restrictions well into May and possibly into June at this point.

 

From having the itinerary drastically altered and find yourself drifting at sea for days when no one will take the ship? - no; same reasoning, if the cases in the US peak in May, would any island really want to take a ship full of US based cruisers in May?

 

From catching the virus on the cruise? Who knows; While I think the cruise lines will be working into overtime on extra sanitization and cleaning when they do re-open, there's no real way to practice social distancing on such a small space unless they sail way under capacity. If in May you are returning to work, restaurants and bars start to re-open, and you are back to shopping like normal; it may not be more risky than being home. 

 

If you are fine with these possibilities and potentially being quarantined for 2 weeks when you return home; go for it. Otherwise, I would probably wait until we see how this plays out. I personally was thinking about taking a trip in the fall but am waiting to book until we see how this plays out.

[dltvermont]

We arent considering anything until at least fall at this point. That being said, Im not pulling the trigger on any cruise until the country is back so some resemblance of normal. Just because a cruise line says its safe and they are going to go doesnt mean it is and doesnt mean any of the destinations will be open for business either.

[Hobby3333]

Almost 300 people died alone in NY yesterday.  Total in US so far over 1000.  Virus is spreading faster and killing more everyday.   It will spread to every part of the country.  Florida will soon be hit hard.  New Orleans is in real trouble.  We don’t have medical supplies let alone tests.  Does anyone really think that ships are going to sail in 30, 60, or 90 days?   More than 68,000 cases of Coronavirus in the US.  Worst is yet to come.  And we are talking about cruising in May?  No hoax or made up BS by the media.  Time to worry about more than a cruise for now doesn’t seem very important to me.  RCCL understands how bad it is going to be and they (RCCL) need to do the right thing and worry about real human lives instead of playing people just to try and keep a money flow on the false premise that their ships are going to sail soon.

[nhraformula00]

All valid points and I would agree to all. This is a Carnival Cruise thread not RCCL

[tallnthensome]

Why would anyone want to get on any ship anytime soon with the daily rise in cases and deaths? I love cruising as much as anyone but come on ..... Make plans to get through this and plans to stay alive, not plans to get on a floating virus factory right now ....... Save your cash and maybe your life. 

[sanger727]

9 minutes ago, psk2347 said:

Companies can only stay closed for so long. Carnival will be reopened by mid-may regardless of the status of the virus.  At some point the media will have to calm it down and realize this is just a new strain of a cold. We will live with this virus for the rest of our lives just like the flu and the common cold. At that point you cruise at your own risk but I refuse to live in fear because .02% of the population has Coronavirus. 

 

You must have missed every single news article about why this virus is not the cold and what it is doing over in Europe right now. 

[Hobby3333]

19 minutes ago, NavyCruiser said:

Technically, Sanger727 is correct.

 

As of today, 68,524 cases out of 330 Million population in the US = 0.20764%

 

Worldwide: 492,151 cases out of 7.64 Billion =  0.00644%

That have been tested.  How many are trying to get tested and how many are infected that can still pass the virus from person to person and not be aware?

[LaRue1975]

All this arguing about the pandemic and when cruises will sail again is ridiculous and pointless because absolutely no one knows what the next few months will bring. I do wish the cruise shamers would give it a rest, this is a message board for people that love cruising. Hoping and dreaming about when you will set sail again does not mean you are stupid or a bad person. 
 

The governing agencies will not let the ships sail again until it is safe, we can hope that will be sooner rather than later, nothing wrong with that. Happy cruising! 

[NavyCruiser]

BOOKED!

 

With 10 minutes on the courtesy hold, I've went ahead & booked the 5 nights on the Dream out of Galveston for May 16.

$473 for 2 in an interior cabin, all taxes/fees included.

If we go, great!

If we don't, no biggie, $ will be FCC...