First & Last ships to restart

[ziggyuk]

I'm looking to book another cruise April/May next year, I'm quite open to itinerary and want to base my choice on:

1, likelihood of sailing

2, likelihood of entering region.

 

With that in mind what do you think will be the order of restart?

Beyond Encore which I am booked for Alaska I'm really not sure which ships have real restart dates.

 

Clearly NCLs biggest struggle now will be staffing up the ships, once they are a go they will be unlikely to stop so what do we think will be the first ships, ships like the Encore will be one of the first, which will be the last?

 

The sands can shift day to day but what order would you put the ships on a likelihood to sail any time soon?

 

[JamieLogical]

As of right now, the Jade is likely to sail to Greece on July 25. Encore and Gem are likely to start in August. Breakaway is likely to start in September. The rest is anyone's guess! FDR has said that, once cruising resumes, they hope to bring a new ship online every week or two, but he hasn't given any specifics about the order.

[trivimp]

First -- They seem to be putting all their eggs into the Gem basket in the Caribbean.  I can see the behind-the-scenes stuff going on with my October cruises (shorex being added & so forth) which tells me that NCL thinks that one is going to go.  (As opposed to the Sky, which had pretty sparse shorex before it was cancelled/swapped for the Gem) 

 

Last -- I'm guessing the pre-Jewel class ships like the Sky & Sun.  With fewer bells & whistles, they're just not the moneymakers of the fleet.   

Edited July 2, 2021 by trivimp
typo

[JamieLogical]

5 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

As of right now, the Jade is likely to sail to Greece on July 25. Encore and Gem are likely to start in August. Breakaway is likely to start in September. The rest is anyone's guess! FDR has said that, once cruising resumes, they hope to bring a new ship online every week or two, but he hasn't given any specifics about the order.

 

Just want to clarify that Epic, Bliss, and Getaway all have sailings listed for the Fall, but they seem the more likely be cancelled, because they are "old" listings, meaning they were not added as part of the "Return to Sea" plan... they are just old sailings that haven't been canceled yet.

[ziggyuk]

Thank you both @JamieLogical @trivimp very useful.

I really don't want to book anything further unless it was at least as sure as Encore is, if they could put a little more hope into a couple more ships I'm sure it would pay dividends in bookings.

I don't need certainty but I want better that a gamble.

[podgeandrodge]

49 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Just want to clarify that Epic, Bliss, and Getaway all have sailings listed for the Fall, but they seem the more likely be cancelled, because they are "old" listings, meaning they were not added as part of the "Return to Sea" plan... they are just old sailings that haven't been canceled yet.

Wow.  You seem very pessamistic about those ships sailing - you think it is that unlikely?  I had been hoping Epic was safe given that it had already been canceled through Sept. 1st.. 

[spirit rev]

My wondering is: when the Gem begins to sail from Miami will they still reposition her to NYC for the winter season? Haven't heard much about other Miami sailings for the winter. 

[oteixeira]

Just now, spirit rev said:

My wondering is: when the Gem begins to sail from Miami will they still reposition her to NYC for the winter season? Haven't heard much about other Miami sailings for the winter. 

A quick search shows that just December in Miami NCL will have:

Encore, Getaway, Joy and Pearl all sailing.

 

Escape will also be out of Orlando at the same time, and the Dawn out of Tampa, so that is 6 ships in Florida that I am aware of this winter season.

[JamieLogical]

20 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

A quick search shows that just December in Miami NCL will have:

Encore, Getaway, Joy and Pearl all sailing.

 

Escape will also be out of Orlando at the same time, and the Dawn out of Tampa, so that is 6 ships in Florida that I am aware of this winter season.

 

I sincerely doubt all of those will sail.

[Luvsparties]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Just want to clarify that Epic, Bliss, and Getaway all have sailings listed for the Fall, but they seem the more likely be cancelled, because they are "old" listings, meaning they were not added as part of the "Return to Sea" plan... they are just old sailings that haven't been canceled yet.

I'm scheduled on the Getaway in October in the Med.  I thought it was part of the return to sailing?  Do you know which ships were part of that?

 

[JamieLogical]

33 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

Wow.  You seem very pessamistic about those ships sailing - you think it is that unlikely?  I had been hoping Epic was safe given that it had already been canceled through Sept. 1st.. 

 

There's no way to no for sure, but my suspicion is that more of the "old" sailings are going to get cancelled still. Obviously NCL is going to put its resources into the "Return to Sea" sailings first. It seems like they are having a VERY hard time recruiting staff. FDR's hope of getting one new ship up and running every week or two is seeming over ambitions with the staffing problems they have run into. If they are struggling to just staff up these first four ships, I can imagine it is only going to get harder to staff additional ships.

[oteixeira]

4 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I sincerely doubt all of those will sail.

I am not saying they for sure will.  I am just trying to be optimistic.  They are all still on the books, so that is the answer to Spirit Rev's question of what will be sailing out of Miami (and Florida I added) this winter.  

I agree that everything is up for change right now, as we are all very aware after that past 16 or so months.

Edited July 2, 2021 by oteixeira

[JamieLogical]

Just now, Luvsparties said:

I'm scheduled on the Getaway in October in the Med.  I thought it was part of the return to sailing?  Do you know which ships were part of that?

 

 

It might have been. I honestly don't follow European sailings as closely. I know the Jade was part of the return to sea, because it is supposed to be the first NCL ship to sail. Joy and Gem were originally supposed to be sailing out of Jamaica and the DR. Then Bliss was supposed to sail to Alaska. Joy's crew is getting moved to the Encore for Alaska. Not clear when Joy will get a new crew and be able to resume sailing, but I know it will be November at the earliest now. Gem has now replaced the Sky out of Miami. Breakaway was originally supposed to start sailing to Bermuda out of NYC in mid-October, but three earlier sailings got added as part of the Return to Sea. It is just so impossible to predict what will actually happen based on the little info we have.

[Luvsparties]

Just now, JamieLogical said:

 

It might have been. I honestly don't follow European sailings as closely. I know the Jade was part of the return to sea, because it is supposed to be the first NCL ship to sail. Joy and Gem were originally supposed to be sailing out of Jamaica and the DR. Then Bliss was supposed to sail to Alaska. Joy's crew is getting moved to the Encore for Alaska. Not clear when Joy will get a new crew and be able to resume sailing, but I know it will be November at the earliest now. Gem has now replaced the Sky out of Miami. Breakaway was originally supposed to start sailing to Bermuda out of NYC in mid-October, but three earlier sailings got added as part of the Return to Sea. It is just so impossible to predict what will actually happen based on the little info we have.

Thanks for the response...I'm new to the NCL boards, but already know you are a respected poster.  Seems to be a giant game of "musical crews."   I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed its a go and if not, I guess I'll do a land trip somewhere over there lol.

[SpainAlien]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Just want to clarify that Epic, Bliss, and Getaway all have sailings listed for the Fall, but they seem the more likely be cancelled, because they are "old" listings, meaning they were not added as part of the "Return to Sea" plan... they are just old sailings that haven't been canceled yet.

The Epic and Getaway were both part of the return to sailing plan so in theory should go ahead however so was the Joy and we know what happened there

 

[MichiganBound]

I would say the Jade (out of Athens) and Encore (out of Seattle) starts are as close to certain as you can be right now.  On the other side, I'm seeing Epic sailings in the Med this summer/fall are very cheap.  That would have me worried if I were booked on one of those sailings.

 

I personally would not book anything out of Florida for 2021.  Too much uncertainty regarding the rules and how they will work.  Now once Florida cruises on NCL start and run successfully without issues, I might change my mind on Florida cruises.  I also agree with another poster above that all the cruises NCL is currently showing as sailing out of Florida in the final months of 2021 seems like a whole lot.  Some of them definitely won't go.  They won't be able to staff them all.

[Sand and Seas]

42 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

The Epic and Getaway were both part of the return to sailing plan so in theory should go ahead however so was the Joy and we know what happened there

 

Yes, I was originally reassured about our October Joy sailing since she was planned for the summer 'Return to Sea' sailings.  Then they cancelled everything up to the cruise before ours, so again I was still hopeful.  

 

We were just past the 120 day mark when ours was cancelled on June 23rd.  We never saw the 'Your cruise is on hold' screen.   

 

[podgeandrodge]

The first Epic cruise in the Med is scheduled 5th September.  That is 65 days.  You would like to think that they would know by now if this was sailing.

 

Have any other cruises been cancelled within a period as short as 65 days?  

[JamieLogical]

25 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

The first Epic cruise in the Med is scheduled 5th September.  That is 65 days.  You would like to think that they would know by now if this was sailing.

 

Have any other cruises been cancelled within a period as short as 65 days?  

 

It does seem like it will sail. You would think it would have been in the recent round of cancellations if it wasn't a go.

[reeinaz]

I saw this posted elsewhere

[Sand and Seas]

Thanks for posting this reeinaz!

 

Very helpful list for all of us to refer to😎

[ziggyuk]

These tips are great, I think I have decided it's Jade from Greece in April 2022, the most likely ship to be a go in the med and a relatively easy country to access for me.

 

I'm actually cruising today (see signature), first time on a ship since the pandemic & I can't believe it's happening.

Edited July 2, 2021 by ziggyuk

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, reeinaz said:

I saw this posted elsewhere

Thank  you reeinaz. Folks should realize that some of these dates were only changed a week ago... and that link was suspiciously removed from the NCL home page a few days ago. In that past, that has always meant that "new" dates were forthcoming, but nothing came out today,,, so Tuesday would be the first opportunity for "new" return to service dates to come out. Near term cruises at risk would be those from Florida where NCL's intent to sail 100% vaccinated cruises is at odds with the local government. 

[Lvntrvl]

Currently booked on the December 3, 2021 sailing from Dubai to Cape Town on the Jade. Any thoughts as to the likelihood of that sailing happening? 

[podgeandrodge]

22 minutes ago, Lvntrvl said:

Currently booked on the December 3, 2021 sailing from Dubai to Cape Town on the Jade. Any thoughts as to the likelihood of that sailing happening? 

Jade is one of the ships mentioned in their "restart" , going from Greece in July. Hasn't been cancelled yet and not far away. So you could hope they are fully crewed up and will stay that way!