How To Start Cruising

[Empehi]

I bet the first cruises will be to the Private Islands of the cruise companies.

Also .... instead of just going to a private island and back, the itinerary could include a number of US ports ..

as well  a private island stop. Say you leave Port Canaveral on a 7 day, you could also include Charleston, Miami or Ft Lauderdale, Key West, Tampa, Mobile, New Orleans etc.

What does everyone think?

 

e

[John Reid]

I think that the passengers will come from different states and areas which may not have clearance for admission to some American ports.

[brenderlou]

I don’t think Key West is allowing cruise ships. It depends on the county.


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[Smiles1984]

I'd say that the more US ports people are disembarking at, the more nervous the private islands will be about allowing visitors, and the more nervous international travellers will be about joining these cruises. 

[bouhunter]

I don't see them adding a bunch of US ports.  In fact probably none.

[Mapleleafforever]

Why not just start off small and keep the cruising bubble in Florida and see how that goes? Only Florida residents cruising for a couple of months?

[molly361]

39 minutes ago, brenderlou said:

I don’t think Key West is allowing cruise ships. It depends on the county.


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They vote on that next month

[bigrednole]

There won't be US ports. It will be to private islands and probably Nassau. The Bahamas are going to want money and cruise passengers if they let the cruise lines hit the private islands. The reason is they know there can be no US sailings without stopping in at least one foreign port. 

[2chiefs]

1 hour ago, bigrednole said:

There won't be US ports. It will be to private islands and probably Nassau. The Bahamas are going to want money and cruise passengers if they let the cruise lines hit the private islands. The reason is they know there can be no US sailings without stopping in at least one foreign port. 

Are Labadee & Coco Cay considered foreign ports?

[flyguyjake]

45 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

Are Labadee & Coco Cay considered foreign ports?

I'd be perfectly fine with a 7 day to these 2 ports only. Coco Cay is wonderful.

 

I'd also be ok with a cruise to nowhere. Airlines are even getting in on this, flights to nowhere.

[HBE4]

3 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Why not just start off small and keep the cruising bubble in Florida and see how that goes? Only Florida residents cruising for a couple of months?

 

Italian style bubble of cruising in Florida?

 

The idea has merit. Curve is on the downward slope, large drive-up population eliminates those traveling to & from states that have travel restrictions, 3 (??) ports that can handle Oasis-class ships, which will probably be the first to sail.

 

I can see 6-8 of these types of cruises before being expanded to all.

 

While PE is the smart money choice for cruising to restart, I'd go with PC. It just seems to be in the least "hot" area. I read on another thread PC doesn't expect cruising until 2021 due to budgetary reasons but you never know. If you look hard enough, you might find a couple of million $$$ under a seashell somewhere. 

 

[garywatson]

1 hour ago, 2chiefs said:

Are Labadee & Coco Cay considered foreign ports?

 

Yes, in Haiti and Bahamas respectively.  

I just got off the phone with a Bahamas tourism rep - he says that Atlantis (near Nassau) would be permitted to re-open on Oct 15 if they want to but they have not decided.  I have a waterpark pass pre-paid for Atlantis.   The guy said that the Bahamas government will be holding a press conference in October to announce whether or not cruise ships will be permitted and under what conditions - note that right now you need a health passport to enter the Bahamas which requires a negative Covid test in the last 5 days.  So for instance, I have a booking on Mariner for Nov 2.  Assuming cruises are permitted, they might require the Covid test for either CocoCay or Nassau or both, and it's not clear when the 5 day clock starts.  If I took the test on Friday Oct 30, it would still be valid by the time I arrived in Nassau on Nov 4 but might not be valid for Nov 5 when I re-enter CocoCay for the second time on the cruise.  I don't think many of our Covid test places operate on Saturday or Sunday but I guess I could check on that.

[bigrednole]

1 hour ago, 2chiefs said:

Are Labadee & Coco Cay considered foreign ports?

To the US they are. Coco Cay is an island of the Bahamas. Labadee in on the coast of Haiti. As far as I know, the US does not own either country. 

[Mapleleafforever]

42 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

Italian style bubble of cruising in Florida?

 

The idea has merit. Curve is on the downward slope, large drive-up population eliminates those traveling to & from states that have travel restrictions, 3 (??) ports that can handle Oasis-class ships, which will probably be the first to sail.

 

I can see 6-8 of these types of cruises before being expanded to all.

 

While PE is the smart money choice for cruising to restart, I'd go with PC. It just seems to be in the least "hot" area. I read on another thread PC doesn't expect cruising until 2021 due to budgetary reasons but you never know. If you look hard enough, you might find a couple of million $$$ under a seashell somewhere. 

 

Exactly. 

 

And now that the Governor has opened the State and things are business as usual anyway it will be a good gauge of how it will go. When people get denied boarding they don't have too far to go back home which is good. And when people test positive on board no need to quarantine the ship because the people will all be going back to the same State and no further anyway. This will also help out the Florida economy which lets face it will be on the brink soon enough. 

 

Mind you it could also go horribly wrong and set cruising back even longer......

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

Are Labadee & Coco Cay considered foreign ports?

 

Foreign yes, distant foreign, no

[Iamcruzin]

7 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Why not just start off small and keep the cruising bubble in Florida and see how that goes? Only Florida residents cruising for a couple of months?

Good idea. Just like they did in Italy. 

[Sunshine3601]

8 hours ago, Empehi said:

I bet the first cruises will be to the Private Islands of the cruise companies.

Also .... instead of just going to a private island and back, the itinerary could include a number of US ports ..

as well  a private island stop. Say you leave Port Canaveral on a 7 day, you could also include Charleston, Miami or Ft Lauderdale, Key West, Tampa, Mobile, New Orleans etc.

What does everyone think?

 

e

my idea of a cruise is to get out of the US.   If  I want to travel in the US I can simply do that by train, plane or automobile.

[ReneeFLL]

Where's the person that would always consult his magic 8 ball? I'm sure he has the answers. Just saying. 😁

[lenquixote66]

10 hours ago, Empehi said:

I bet the first cruises will be to the Private Islands of the cruise companies.

Also .... instead of just going to a private island and back, the itinerary could include a number of US ports ..

as well  a private island stop. Say you leave Port Canaveral on a 7 day, you could also include Charleston, Miami or Ft Lauderdale, Key West, Tampa, Mobile, New Orleans etc.

What does everyone think?

 

e

When cruising as we knew it resumes in 5 years your question will be a moot point.

[John&LaLa]

25 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

When cruising as we knew it resumes in 5 years your question will be a moot point.

 

But the question relates to the near future

[Tapi]

11 hours ago, Empehi said:

Also .... instead of just going to a private island and back, the itinerary could include a number of US ports as well  a private island stop.

 

I think that a 7 night itinerary that includes multiple US ports and just one foreign port wouldn’t be a far fetched idea. Many years ago, Carnival had an itinerary that visited Tampa-Key West-Cozumel-New Orleans-Tampa. You could either roundtrip from Tampa or New Orleans. I think that something similar could be feasible again while more foreign ports of call open up again. I know that Key West is a wild card right now with the upcoming vote, but other ports could be worked out in its place. 
 

Along the east coast, you could do Bayonne-Charleston- Port Canaveral-Coco Cay-Bayonne. Once again, not super far fetched or radically different than what is already offered from Bayonne. 

[lenquixote66]

18 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

But the question relates to the near future

Correct but I do not see cruising as we knew it resuming in the near future.Nobody knows for sure when the virus will be eradicated,not the DDC,not the WHO,not the POTUS  ,nobody.

[time4u2go]

11 hours ago, Empehi said:

I bet the first cruises will be to the Private Islands of the cruise companies.

Also .... instead of just going to a private island and back, the itinerary could include a number of US ports ..

as well  a private island stop. Say you leave Port Canaveral on a 7 day, you could also include Charleston, Miami or Ft Lauderdale, Key West, Tampa, Mobile, New Orleans etc.

What does everyone think?

 

e

It can't be done unless the private islands are allowing visitors from the US.

[John&LaLa]

13 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Correct but I do not see cruising as we knew it resuming in the near future.Nobody knows for sure when the virus will be eradicated,not the DDC,not the WHO,not the POTUS  ,nobody.

 

It will return in some form before 5 years, way before. So in the mean time the OP has a valid question.

[John&LaLa]

21 minutes ago, Tapi said:

 

I think that a 7 night itinerary that includes multiple US ports and just one foreign port wouldn’t be a far fetched idea. Many years ago, Carnival had an itinerary that visited Tampa-Key West-Cozumel-New Orleans-Tampa. You could either roundtrip from Tampa or New Orleans. I think that something similar could be feasible again while more foreign ports of call open up again. I know that Key West is a wild card right now with the upcoming vote, but other ports could be worked out in its place. 
 

Along the east coast, you could do Bayonne-Charleston- Port Canaveral-Coco Cay-Bayonne. Once again, not super far fetched or radically different than what is already offered from Bayonne. 

 

We did that route from New Orleans. I think it was Sensation.

 

I would do the interporting with Pt Canaveral and Bayonne on Anthem in a heartbeat