When will you feel comfortable going on a cruise again?

[RunBikeCruiseDC]

Vaccine or antibody test.  If I already had it and have immunity then i wouldn't be so worried about it.  I had a bad cold in February without a fever or cough.

[mugtech]

9 hours ago, cabincop said:

 I think they’d rather have half full ships then no ships sailing.

They still lose money on half full ships, just not as much plus they get to hold all those deposits.  They cannot sail half full for very long, less on board spending, same old fixed costs, additional variable costs.

[hamrag]

16 hours ago, cabincop said:

.....Also hoping for vaccine by winter🤞🏼

 

Indeed, but if it's going to be 'by winter' that'll be winter 2021....IMHO.

[Mercury]

I will only cruise again once there is a vaccine available and when proof of the vaccine is required for all on board - both crew and passengers. Too many people have been caught unable to disembark as a result of a Covid 19 outbreak on a ship. If only (say) 40% of passengers are vaccinated, there could still be an outbreak onboard. The vaccine is for the safety of all.

 

I just don't think the cruise lines are going to be profitable sailing at 50% capacity so that social distancing can take place. They need the numbers on board and they will only get that once a vaccine is available.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Mercury

[vpearlkc]

I will only cruise again when things are back to what they  were before this whole mess started. Happy crowds sitting by the pool at the bars and shows  etc.

 

If none of this comes to pass I will never cruise again. Maybe it's time to see some of the natural wonders around the country and enjoy the open road.

[CruiseMH]

2 hours ago, Mercury said:

 

 

I just don't think the cruise lines are going to be profitable sailing at 50% capacity so that social distancing can take place.

 

I do think that for a realistic and all-time working social distancing it can be max. 30-35% of the regular capacity on board.

But one will still need almost max. of crew to be able to serve the passengers as fast as possible to avoid any form of crowds.

With max. crew and the usual operating costs(port fees, fuel,etc.) no ship can be operated with profit in such a case. The only option would be to raise the cruise prices dramatically.But i don`t think it will work.

So i assume that it would be even cheaper for them to store the ship somewhere on the water then to operate it with only 30% of capacity.

 

[Buford T Justiice]

3 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

 

I do think that for a realistic and all-time working social distancing it can be max. 30-35% of the regular capacity on board.

But one will still need almost max. of crew to be able to serve the passengers as fast as possible to avoid any form of crowds.

With max. crew and the usual operating costs(port fees, fuel,etc.) no ship can be operated with profit in such a case. The only option would be to raise the cruise prices dramatically.But i don`t think it will work.

So i assume that it would be even cheaper for them to store the ship somewhere on the water then to operate it with only 30% of capacity.

 

I agree. NCL ( with strong recommendations / requirements from the CDC) is going to have to come up with some percentage of capacity that works and possibly reduce onboard activities: closing some dining, reserved dining including buffet, reservations for shows (with an upcharge added for your convenience), etc.

 

Prices will be increased for the enhanced experience of cruising... We may look back and say we sailed during the last economically golden ages of cruising.

[warburg]

I've booked a cruise on the Bliss, with my sister for February 2021. Since we have no vaccines for so many serious diseases, including bubonic plague, rare but it still pops up, I'll take my chances. There is also no vaccine for pandemic economic suicide, a contagion making its debut now. By February 2021, hopefully NCL will be sailing again. The Bliss is not a small ship,  and we want to know what recovery will look like.  Final payment is in October, so there is plenty of time

[Gershep]

As much as I love cruising I don't see myself going on a cruise until I know there aren't any reported cases on cruise ships. A vaccine would help me want to get on a ship.

[Fartlek]

I like cruising but I will wait at least 6 months after it starts.  Would not consider cruising until a vaccine is created.  18-24 months for a vaccine and at least 6 months for cruises to start and another 6 months for me.  I really don’t think I’ll be on a cruise ship until 2023
 

I seriously expect cruises to be the very last industry open and unfortunately a number of companies will no be in business do I expect it to be different.  

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

I've got a cruise already booked for next June, but I'll only be going on it if there's been a few months of sailings without incident. 

[LEtue]

I have a cruise booked for August 2021 so lots of time to see how things go.  Hoping for a vaccine.....

[loungelady55]

On 4/24/2020 at 6:47 AM, Diver2014 said:

You can choose to be a prisoner in your own home or you can go out and see the world.  It's your choice.  We can hardly wait to get on a ship but have to wait until November for our next scheduled cruise.  We're not exactly spring chickens anymore and there's still a whole lot of the world we haven't seen.

 

btw, if you don't like the answers folks are posting, why ask the question?  Just to see if anyone agrees with you?  

 

I agree!  I work in healthcare front line and it has been rough.  99% of these people never have taken a cruise so do the math.  I can not wait to cruise again and put my feet up!

[Friscorays]

7 hours ago, loungelady55 said:

I agree!  I work in healthcare front line and it has been rough.  99% of these people never have taken a cruise so do the math.  I can not wait to cruise again and put my feet up!

 

I guess it depends on which math one wants to do.

 

For me, the pertinent math includes the number of people that get on a ship along with one or two people that are unknowingly spreading the virus and find themselves infected by the end of the trip.  If the cruises that were effected toward the beginning of the pandemic are an indicator, the number is high.  Although not a cruise ship, a recent example for which numbers are available is the US Navy Aircraft carrier that recently had an outbreak on which one in five sailors ended up positive.

 

The pertinent math also includes the chance of having infected people on any particular ship.  The cruise ships that had well documented outbreaks were toward the beginning of the pandemic when the number of people with the virus was relatively low.  At that time, the chance of an infected person being on any one cruise ship was relatively small.  Fast forward about two months and the US is currently approaching one million cases.  The chance of getting on a large cruise ship now or in the immediate future and having at least a few of the passengers or crew positive for the virus is now substantially higher and probably more likely than not.  I would be willing to bet that at least one person in a random sample of one or two thousand adult US citizens would currently be found to be positive.

 

For us, the high likelihood of sharing a confined space with people positive for the virus in an environment where the infection is proven to be readily spread (along with limited medical resources on cruise ships and many distant ports of call) equals a pretty easy mathematical decision to put off cruising for a good while.

[Mercury]

13 hours ago, warburg said:

I've booked a cruise on the Bliss, with my sister for February 2021. Since we have no vaccines for so many serious diseases, including bubonic plague, rare but it still pops up, I'll take my chances. There is also no vaccine for pandemic economic suicide, a contagion making its debut now. By February 2021, hopefully NCL will be sailing again. The Bliss is not a small ship,  and we want to know what recovery will look like.  Final payment is in October, so there is plenty of time

 

No other serious diseases in our lifetime have caused borders to be closed worldwide.

These are unprecedented times.

 

The cruise lines will not be able to be profitable without a vaccine. They had no problem operating during SARS/MERS so the difference is clear.

[momofmab]

I also don't think cruising will resume without an effective vaccine with a solid track record of proven results.  The cruise industry unwittingly became the poster child for this virus.  They won't risk resuming business as usual until they can be sure that there won't be a resurgence of the virus on their ships.  Unfortunately it may come too late to save the industry.

 

If it resumes, I believe smaller ships with less people will re-emerge in popularity.

[coin ops]

Well, since there probably won't be a Corona vaccine before next January, we decided to pull the plug on our January 2021 Panama cruise on the Joy and switch our reservation to the Jewel repo cruise from Panama to New York in January 2022.

 

We're hoping the vaccine will be ready by then. If not, the we'll keep on postponing....

[RaftingJeremy]

I would go tomorrow if anything sailed.  There will obviously be massive changes to the way things happen.   

[JimR24]

We have one planned in December and we hope to be on it.  My wife was looking in August with hopes we can go. 

 

I don't get the vaccine talk.  They have yet to find a "vaccine" that stops the flu and people are hoping they can control this virus with one.    

[Fartlek]

8 minutes ago, JimR24 said:

We have one planned in December and we hope to be on it.  My wife was looking in August with hopes we can go. 

 

I don't get the vaccine talk.  They have yet to find a "vaccine" that stops the flu and people are hoping they can control this virus with one.    

Really- you are comparing the flu to this virus? Please!  You are correct there is no vaccine for the flu but there are a “just a few “ more issues with this virus.  In case you have not noticed, the world has shutdown because of this virus and you actually think you will be on a cruise ship in August or December.    

[JimR24]

46 minutes ago, Fartlek said:

Really- you are comparing the flu to this virus? Please!  You are correct there is no vaccine for the flu but there are a “just a few “ more issues with this virus.  In case you have not noticed, the world has shutdown because of this virus and you actually think you will be on a cruise ship in August or December.    

Yes, I am comparing it.  It's amazing how this virus has "'cured" much of the other deaths.  Cancer death numbers are wayyyy down as well as the flu.  I'm sure the empty hospitals are being totally honest with the numbers they are reporting.  

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, JimR24 said:

We have one planned in December and we hope to be on it.  My wife was looking in August with hopes we can go. 

 

I don't get the vaccine talk.  They have yet to find a "vaccine" that stops the flu and people are hoping they can control this virus with one.    

 

There are plenty of vaccines that exist to prevent the spread of viruses. The seasonal flu is a special case because of how many strands there are and how quickly it mutates. They have already found that while this coronavirus is mutating some, it's nowhere near as fast as the flu and they don't have any reason to think that the mutations would prevent a vaccine from being effective. I don't KNOW that they will develop a vaccine that is effective fro the coronavirus and if so how long it will be effective; but the fact that influenza is not easily controlled with a vaccine isn't evidence that it won't work for this.

[IrieBajan54]

I am rooting for the scientists at Oxford University where human trials for a vaccine have already begun.

 

Even though I have no intention of being among the first to get back on a ship, I will be looking forward to cruise reports post-vaccine.

Edited April 29, 2020 by IrieBajan54
correction

[Trimone]

They have already committed to producing one million vaccines whilst the tests are ongoing.

 

[Loucat]

There is a wealth of Internet information on modes of transmission of the Covid 19 virus. Yet, much needs to be studied to validate how the virus can be transmitted.

We are so new at this Covid pandemic; with requests for an effective treatment, a vaccine, increased testing etc., this is another area needing focus.

Here is one useful site I found on modes of transmission. Know knowledge is changing as more information becomes evidence.

https://www.livescience.com/how-covid-19-spreads-transmission-routes.html

The World Health Organization and US CDC are also good resources for information.