How many cruises would have to go before you will take a cruise

[nbsjcruiser]

17 hours ago, Shaver John said:

Just curious, how many cruises will have to have been completed before you would be willing to get on a ship. We all have so much FCC that we will be using to pay for our next cruise that I bet Princess will make very little profit for many months, but would you take a cruise on the first ship to sail. 

Good question. The first cruise? Not if they offered it to fly me to the port, put me up in a hotel and put me on the ship all for free. The  reason is twofold - 1. The virus and 2. I dont know what will happen if there is a breakout on the ship. Will they be able to get back to port?

 

Cruising in general is going to have to wait for me until there is either a vaccine or viable and easy treatment for the virus, a treatment that the cruise lines can have on hand in levels sufficient to treat their passengers. So its not a matter of how many cruises have to be completed before I cruise. Its a matter of what is in place to ensure I can have a safe cruise. They're not there yet for me and wont be for some time sadly. I'll miss cruising until that time but there's not much I can do about it. 

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Many posters on this thread and other threads write in hopes of a vaccine, or write about not traveling much until there is a vaccine.  Perhaps there will be an effective one, but they never did come up with one for SARS and MERS.  So, who knows?  But we don't shelter in place in fear of those two coming around again.  If there is a vaccine, we don't know yet how effective it will be.  For example, many flu vaccines are only 50% or less effective, so even with a COVID-19 vaccine, you may not be immune.   (And IDK if a flu vaccine can be compared with a respiratory vaccine).

 

That said, if the vaccine is required for international travel, then I will look to get it.  No different than needing Hepatitis or Yellow Fever to visit some countries.

 

I don't think the statistic on the effectiveness of flu vaccines is really relevant. Each year, scientist must decide which flu virus to protect against in the upcoming year's flu season. If they guess wrong, the vaccine is not nearly as effective as when they get it right. If a vaccine is developed for covid 19, it will be specifically aimed at that virus and therefore should have a very high efficiency rate.

[nbsjcruiser]

13 hours ago, weedpindle said:

I'll go on the first one. And, all those people who are afraid, remember your chances of getting into a fatal car crash should preclude you from driving.

The problem with this line of thinking is that I can drive my car safely, obey the rules and will reduce the risk of injury to others because I drive safely. Most of us do this right?  To expand on your analogy a bit, if suddenly we remove all speed restrictions on roads and let people drive dangerously things change. The risk becomes much higher.

 

Now imagine I'm in a tank. What do I care? I'm safe. Me and my family aren't going to get hurt. This is the comparison to think about when packing thousands on to a cruise ship right now. I could very well be asymptomatic (there are no symptoms in my tank!) and be spreading it around to others unknowingly. Cruise ship passengers are on average an older group - they are the ones that the virus is especially hard on. Witness the outbreaks in senior residences where they're dropping at alarming rates. So while you or I may very well go on a cruise and be happily enjoying ourselves driving around in our tanks, healthy with no issues, many will not be because someone younger like me or maybe you goes on the cruise is outwardly healthy and spreads it around the ship. And this thing is much much more virulent than the flu. So I'm thinking more of others than me in this case. Do I want to cruise? Sure do. But I dont want to be responsible for killing someone's Granddad. 

 

And lastly, watching people get sick and in some cases die on a ship  while the ship bounces around as ports play hot potato is not something I'd consider a relaxing vacation. Not my idea of fun. So while I had a great deal of sympathy for those who got trapped on ships these last few weeks, anyone who would go on a cruise in the next few months has to be aware that this could happen again and they should not expect any sympathy from anyone. They wont get any from me. They should have known better and their own selfishness to cruise is what put them in the position they find themselves in.  

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by nbsjcruiser

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, Grego said:

I said  weeks ago that I would willingly go on the first voyage because that ship is going to be so clean that there wouldn't be an issue.  Remember it's the people not the ship that create the problem.

 

The ship may be clean but there is no way of knowing who has COVID-19 at this time and who does not because you can have it and still show no symptoms.....even with testing a person could still contact it after being tested and be on a ship and infect others.....I will just remember the Diamond plus Princess will have to do a lot more then have clean ships.....like refund people's money for cruises Princess canceled......which I now doubt is going to happen because of their pattern of continual stall tactics they seem to be using....

Edited April 16, 2020 by PrincessLuver

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

I don't think the statistic on the effectiveness of flu vaccines is really relevant. Each year, scientist must decide which flu virus to protect against in the upcoming year's flu season. If they guess wrong, the vaccine is not nearly as effective as when they get it right. If a vaccine is developed for covid 19, it will be specifically aimed at that virus and therefore should have a very high efficiency rate.

 

Plus over 50% of Americans do not get the flu shot each year anyway.....so it is really comparing Oranges to Apples.....

[nbsjcruiser]

12 hours ago, GJCruiser said:

This is nothing more than any of our normal influenza virus - except there is no vaccine. 

 

While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity. That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease. Additionally, each person with Covid-19 will spread it to about 2.5 people meaning it has an R0  of about 2.5.  The seasonal flu for which many have a flu shot or have built up an immunity to, has an R0 of 1.3. So Covid is twice as spreadable, has no vaccine and kills almost 4 times the number of people as seen in recent studies where, globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.

You might want to spend some time reading up on this for your own sake.

[Georgeny]

We have 10 day NY to FLL reposition of the Sky Princess deposited pre-covid. We will have to make our decision, IF still scheduled, on August final pay date. Trying to play it by ear but honestly will most likely cancel then. This was a great deal, really great, so hate to see it not be used. But really not likely all will be good by August. Think we are fooling ourselves that all will be well and we will be sailing in November. Too many variables for us. Too many can go wrong's for us.

 

In general before we start cruising again, and we are cruiseaholics, about 100 of them since 1984, we will first want to see if our state, NY, has even come back to normal. If US is not on normal operation we are certainly not getting on a ship and  hoping to be allowed to disembark. If country isn't normal why would I get on a ship with limited medical and only travel insurance coverage. Medicare and most medical plans never covered you while on a ship, considered a foreign country. Who knows what happens to the travel insurance industry as well.

 

No we won't be booking and not going to buy stock in cruise corporations either. They are assuming a lot of debt on top of a lot of debt while only paying out money. I have seen ships " arrested " that's what they call it when bankruptcy hits and ship is grabbed at a port. Have concerns there as well.

 

George in NY

[dog]

Might consider April 2021 onwards from Northern Europe. 

[Bollycats]

9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Many posters on this thread and other threads write in hopes of a vaccine, or write about not traveling much until there is a vaccine.  Perhaps there will be an effective one, but they never did come up with one for SARS and MERS.  So, who knows?  But we don't shelter in place in fear of those two coming around again.  If there is a vaccine, we don't know yet how effective it will be.  For example, many flu vaccines are only 50% or less effective, so even with a COVID-19 vaccine, you may not be immune.   (And IDK if a flu vaccine can be compared with a respiratory vaccine).

 

That said, if the vaccine is required for international travel, then I will look to get it.  No different than needing Hepatitis or Yellow Fever to visit some countries.

 

I agree. Everyone's banking on a vaccine to save us. It may not. I'd rather live whatever amount of life I have left than cower in the corner.

[c-boy]

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

The ship may be clean but there is no way of knowing who has COVID-19 at this time and who does not because you can have it and still show no symptoms.....even with testing a person could still contact it after being tested and be on a ship and infect others.....I will just remember the Diamond plus Princess will have to do a lot more then have clean ships.....like refund people's money for cruises Princess canceled......which I now doubt is going to happen because of their pattern of continual stall tactics they seem to be using....

easy there and stay in your lane.

[GJCruiser]

1 hour ago, nbsjcruiser said:

You might want to spend some time reading up on this for your own sake.

I have. The denominator for your mortality rate is unknown. It will be far greater (up to 100x) more than the one being used.

 

[ExploringTheGlobe]

I'll go as soon as I can! Vaccine or not.

[metairiegal]

Ready to go as soon as Princess starts cruising again from Fort Lauderdale. Seeing half the fleet anchored over in the Bahamas just waiting to return to port is really sad.

[nbsjcruiser]

2 hours ago, GJCruiser said:

I have. The denominator for your mortality rate is unknown. It will be far greater (up to 100x) more than the one being used.

 

Source for your 100x?

 

And if you have been reading, you wouldn't say its " nothing more than any of our normal influenza virus".  That shows a complete lack of awareness.

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by nbsjcruiser

[jovisoul]

If my November cruise is going, I'm going. If not, then I will wait until my March 2021 cruise!

[bluesea321]

Well...  after reading this article it may be a while before the CDC allows any cruising from US ports.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-carnival-cruise-coronavirus/?srnd=businessweek-v2

[nbsjcruiser]

5 minutes ago, bluesea321 said:

Well...  after reading this article it may be a while before the CDC allows any cruising from US ports.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-carnival-cruise-coronavirus/?srnd=businessweek-v2

oh boy. Not good.

[mevs904]

7 hours ago, Grego said:

I said  weeks ago that I would willingly go on the first voyage because that ship is going to be so clean that there wouldn't be an issue.  Remember it's the people not the ship that create the problem.

I understand what you’re saying, but if asymptomatic virus carriers get on a perfectly sanitized ship it won’t matter.  The virus will spread.  As you said, it’s not the ship as much as the people.  It only takes one.  That’s why we will wait.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

We plan to go on the first cruise leaving from San Diego or LA on any line.   Ready to  Go!

[aronde]

A lot of things have to happen before cruising takes place again. Travel restrictions need to be lifted. Physical distancing rules need to be lifted. Attractions need to open up again. Bans imposed by governments on cruise ship visits need to be lifted. Travel insurance companies need to start issuing policies again. And a vaccine would be nice.

 

After all that personally I’d be looking at 6 months of trouble free cruising before I’d consider hoping on board again. And by trouble free I mean no ships being denied entry by port authorities if passengers on board have a sniffle! 

[nbsjcruiser]

20 hours ago, dog said:

Might consider April 2021 onwards from Northern Europe. 

Our line of thinking as well, provided there is a vaccine or relatively easy treatment for the virus. We'll be staying away from the US until at least the fall of 2021.

Edited April 17, 2020 by nbsjcruiser

[d9704011]

22 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

Our line of thinking as well, provided there is a vaccine or relatively easy treatment for the virus. We'll be staying away from the US until at least the fall of 2021.

Europe is out for us until (at least) 2022.  We are planning a cruise out of Tampa in January, 2021.  All depends on Government of Canada advisories on foreign travel and cruise ship travel.  We are planning a foray into Maine in late July on our way to SJNB..... gotta get the ferry to Digby (does that count as a cruise?).

Edited April 17, 2020 by d9704011

[nbsjcruiser]

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

Europe is out for us until (at least) 2022.  We are planning a cruise out of Tampa in January, 2021.  All depends on Government of Canada advisories on foreign travel and cruise ship travel.  We are planning a foray into Maine in late July on our way to SJNB..... gotta get the ferry to Digby (does that count as a cruise?).

ha ha - yep. Going over to God's country! My family is from that neck of the woods, a little place called Tiverton. You know what? You might have given me an idea. Since we wont be going away in the fall, maybe its time to take a trip back and see something of the old place.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, aronde said:

A lot of things have to happen before cruising takes place again. Travel restrictions need to be lifted. Physical distancing rules need to be lifted. Attractions need to open up again. Bans imposed by governments on cruise ship visits need to be lifted. Travel insurance companies need to start issuing policies again. And a vaccine would be nice.

 

After all that personally I’d be looking at 6 months of trouble free cruising before I’d consider hoping on board again. And by trouble free I mean no ships being denied entry by port authorities if passengers on board have a sniffle! 

You make a great point about trouble free. If and when cruising starts up again, a well publicized negative outcome will really set the entire cruise industry back a very long time. Even if there were to be no legal bans, getting passengers back would become exceedingly difficult.

[PrincessLuver]

22 hours ago, Bollycats said:

I agree. Everyone's banking on a vaccine to save us. It may not. I'd rather live whatever amount of life I have left than cower in the corner.

 

I  am pretty sure that most people would consider being on a cruise ship with COVID-19 not exactly living life to the fullest.....