I WAS going to book a Princess cruise !!!!

[bazzaw]

- but after browsing through some of the postings here, I think I will wait until another 6 months passes. The CoronaParanoia virus ( which is far more disruptive than the Corona virus) is still rampant!! 😞 

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, bazzaw said:

- but after browsing through some of the postings here, I think I will wait until another 6 months passes. The CoronaParanoia virus ( which is far more disruptive than the Corona virus) is still rampant!! 😞 

That's fair enough! It is how the authorities handle things that will make or break it I think. 

[arxcards]

Lots are sitting back and waiting to see how everything tracks at restart. A lot of the paranoia has dropped away, but it is baby steps on any restriction being changed or relaxed. Hopefully there is a deal or two to be had when the time comes.

 

I did exactly the same with a Port Douglas holiday in 2020, and it was much worse then - is the border open or closed - was a daily decision, so I never did get around to booking it.

[Ozwoody]

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

- but after browsing through some of the postings here, I think I will wait until another 6 months passes. The CoronaParanoia virus ( which is far more disruptive than the Corona virus) is still rampant!! 😞 

Yes there is a mess, with all the conflicting requirements, coming out of different government bodies/organisations, confusing everyone, not least the cruising companies/cruisers.

I believe as time passes this will settle down.

By xmas this year it will be calmer than now, and hopefully settling back to normal.

Air travel seem to be OK, but some people have a bee in their pants re cruising.

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by Ozwoody

[losfp]

For the first time ever, we have 3 upcoming cruises booked (Don't think we've ever had more than one booked in advance before). I think there is appetite for cruising, but a lot of it is still unknown so if you're booked... you're making a few assumptions in hope.

 

Our next one in Jan is to New Zealand, I have reasonably high hopes that will go ahead without too many issues.  The two after that are Europe/Transatlantic cruises and since they've restarted for quite a few months already, I actually have slightly higher hopes for those ones (plus they are 16-17 months away).

 

I definitely didn't have any wish to book something in the first few months though, I will see how it goes with the first few cruises to see whether I panic or not haha

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

- but after browsing through some of the postings here, I think I will wait until another 6 months passes. The CoronaParanoia virus ( which is far more disruptive than the Corona virus) is still rampant!! 😞 

Cunard is waiting for you Barry, so dust of thy dinner suit and book a voyage.

[Cascade1]

I understand your concerns. We are fairly conservative also so we have made a booking for the end of 2023 and the another for early 2024. A long way off but we may as well plan. We are long-term Princess loyalists so we are just keeping our fingers crossed. Must say though that our two cruises booked are Aus and NZ  areas only. Not at all excited about going to Europe/USA/Asia for the time being. You may think I am a newby to Cruise Critic but I was a regular until 2 1/2 years ago and have now re-commenced under a different name.

[bazzaw]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

Cunard is waiting for you Barry, so dust of thy dinner suit and book a voyage.

Already have Les - better still , paying for it with Cunard's money!! 🙂 

[OzKiwiJJ]

We're doing the opposite with three Princess cruises booked over the next four months. We've taken advantage of the very reasonable fares and upgraded ourselves to suites and minisuites where we'll have more private space to relax if we feel the ship is crowded at times. Those cabins also give us Club Class dining which we hope will be a little less crowded than the rest of the MDR.

 

I feel confident that Princess will be doing its utmost to ensure the cruises are Covid-safe. I'm not sure all of the passengers will be doing the same, unfortunately, but we'll be taking every precaution to keep ourselves safe and having wonderful times at sea.

[bazzaw]

Just read about an American family on a recent river cruise in Europe. Did everything right - vaccinations, PCR tests before the cruise , RAT tests for all passengers on every day of the 10 day cruise - EXCEPT for the second last day when they were tested positive, put off the boat into a quarantine hotel - cost them $10K US!!!!! 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

24 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

Just read about an American family on a recent river cruise in Europe. Did everything right - vaccinations, PCR tests before the cruise , RAT tests for all passengers on every day of the 10 day cruise - EXCEPT for the second last day when they were tested positive, put off the boat into a quarantine hotel - cost them $10K US!!!!! 

 

Hopefully that won't happen here. Princess have stated they will cover all costs, including quarantine, if you test positive onboard a cruise.

[losfp]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Hopefully that won't happen here. Princess have stated they will cover all costs, including quarantine, if you test positive onboard a cruise.

Yeah the princess webinar for covid protocols indicated that Princess will pay for transport home or to a quarantine hotel, and they will pay for the hotel as well.  On top of that you'll receive a prorated refund or FCC (can't remember which) for the days you had to be quarantined on the ship. I think you can't get a fairer deal than that at the moment.

[OzKiwiJJ]

28 minutes ago, losfp said:

Yeah the princess webinar for covid protocols indicated that Princess will pay for transport home or to a quarantine hotel, and they will pay for the hotel as well.  On top of that you'll receive a prorated refund or FCC (can't remember which) for the days you had to be quarantined on the ship. I think you can't get a fairer deal than that at the moment.

Agreed. Princess appear to be doing everything to make the restart here a success. Lets hope it works well in practice.

[Cbtours]

7 hours ago, Cascade1 said:

I understand your concerns. We are fairly conservative also so we have made a booking for the end of 2023 and the another for early 2024. A long way off but we may as well plan. We are long-term Princess loyalists so we are just keeping our fingers crossed. Must say though that our two cruises booked are Aus and NZ  areas only. Not at all excited about going to Europe/USA/Asia for the time being. You may think I am a newby to Cruise Critic but I was a regular until 2 1/2 years ago and have now re-commenced under a different name.

An undercover CC lol

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, bazzaw said:

Just read about an American family on a recent river cruise in Europe. Did everything right - vaccinations, PCR tests before the cruise , RAT tests for all passengers on every day of the 10 day cruise - EXCEPT for the second last day when they were tested positive, put off the boat into a quarantine hotel - cost them $10K US!!!!! 

 

WOW? Obviously werent allowed to isolate on board????

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, Cbtours said:

WOW? Obviously werent allowed to isolate on board????

River cruise boats probably don't have the facilities for that as they are always close to towns.

[Cbtours]

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

River cruise boats probably don't have the facilities for that as they are always close to towns.

That's true. I was thinking to isolate in their cabin seeing as it was only one day.... hopefully their insurance covered it????

[Aus Traveller]

8 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

That's true. I was thinking to isolate in their cabin seeing as it was only one day.... hopefully their insurance covered it????

I think Barry was indicating that they might not have had insurance.

[Cbtours]

6 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I think Barry was indicating that they might not have had insurance.

😔

[Aussieflyer]

10 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I think Barry was indicating that they might not have had insurance.

I have often read posts from US cruisers asking whether they should take out travel insurance and wondering why they would need it. 

[Elorac123]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Hopefully that won't happen here. Princess have stated they will cover all costs, including quarantine, if you test positive onboard a cruise.

Wonder how long this has anyone seen a date

Cheers Carole

[NSWP]

57 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I think Barry was indicating that they might not have had insurance.

A lot of Americans are silly that way, they think Uncle Sam will rescue them, Wrong !

[losfp]

2 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

I have often read posts from US cruisers asking whether they should take out travel insurance and wondering why they would need it. 

 

Not to mention all of the US cruisers asking if they really need to bring a passport (to be fair, on many of the closed loop cruises out of the US you don't technically need a passport, but gee it makes me panic a bit thinking of being stranded overseas and needing to get back in an emergency without a passport)

[arxcards]

So, they did everything right - except get an insurance policy.

 

[Porky55]

Just an interesting point about Covid and travel. 

We have just travelled overseas, visiting Singapore, Amsterdam and Prague. Other than needing masks while on board our flights, there were no restrictions in Singapore, Netherlands or Czech Republic. Even though we filled out the NL entry papers, at no point were we asked for our vaccination certificates or anything else. 
Until we returned to Australia …… we had to show our Vax certificates and proof of the completed and approved DPD - a Digital Passenger Declaration that needs to be submitted to ABF from 48hrs before boarding for the flight home. (Replaces that yellow hand filled one)
At no point did we feel uncomfortable, threatened or in fear for our health from Covid and we ate out nearly every lunch and dinner at a variety of places, shopped for the odd souvenirs etc.

The world is moving on and we are so glad that we got a chance to get back out there and see this.
 

Can’t wait to get back to cruising in 30 days 😎