Thinking of booking a cruise?

Old Sep 30th, 2021, 03:32 PM
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Thinking of booking a cruise?

It is probably safe to book cruises in the Caribbean and Western Europe, but many global cruises, cruises in Australia, New Zealand and Middle East, and some to Hawaii have very recently been cancelled. Some lines have cancelled only through
Jan 1, some through May, but a few even through next Summer.

They had not anticipated the extent of logistical issues resulting from the Pandemic. Supplies and food, delivery of goods, services for the ships in some ports and diminished crew and staff are all impacted and it is taking time to restore all of those things.
COVID situations and political situations are also having an impact.

It should be obvious that cruise lines do not want to do this, but they can’t operate without crew and services.

Different lines are giving explanations and how they are handling things. One line stated that they were combining the crews from different ships to have enough for some ships. Another said that lack of services in some places and the COVID situation in others is causing their cancellations.

Just my personal thought, so may or may not be fact, but I am guessing that food offerings may at times be impacted. While probably not terribly noticeable to most, there are items (not anything rare or unusual) that have not been available in my local supermarket for weeks. Chefs on ships may have to make substantial substitutions.

To me, cruising is as safe (thinking of COVID) as any vacation, but might require some flexibility.


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Old Oct 1st, 2021, 02:49 PM
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True. As supplies are not at full tilt it could be that this will effect cruise ship as well.

Our next cruise is 6/2022 so I hope by them we will be well on our way to normal. But.....
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Old Oct 1st, 2021, 03:34 PM
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Jacketwatch, I bet your cruises will be just fine. A couple are saying Fall, but most major lines expect to be fully operational by Summer and the ones affected are in the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia, so should not affect you at all. We are hoping for another Caribbean cruise during GD’s Spring break, just beaches, snorkeling, shows on the ship, lots of ice-cream, stuff like that for her. We will wait a bit to book though, see how things are going.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2021, 06:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Sassafrass
Jacketwatch, I bet your cruises will be just fine. A couple are saying Fall, but most major lines expect to be fully operational by Summer and the ones affected are in the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia, so should not affect you at all. We are hoping for another Caribbean cruise during GD’s Spring break, just beaches, snorkeling, shows on the ship, lots of ice-cream, stuff like that for her. We will wait a bit to book though, see how things are going.
Thank you.

I certainly hope so. its a really nice one out of Iceland with several stops there as well as Norway and Scotland.

We also booked the Rhapsody for 2/2023 for 14 days RT Barbados. Its an older ship but has stops in a bunch of ports many of which we have not been too. All in all it stops in Cartagena, Panama, Costa Rica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, the ABC islands with an overnight in Aruba and Trinidad.

I told my son and DIL they will need new T-shirt drawers.
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Old Oct 5th, 2021, 08:44 PM
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Jacketwatch, would you kindly share the name of cruise line & the cruise you are taking out of Iceland. Thank you.
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Old Oct 6th, 2021, 03:27 AM
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Originally Posted by auntgrapes
Jacketwatch, would you kindly share the name of cruise line & the cruise you are taking out of Iceland. Thank you.
Of course!

https://www.ncl.com/vacations?cruise...&date=jun-2022
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Old Oct 6th, 2021, 05:39 AM
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Hmmm. I C/P the above from the NCL site but say two mos. ago the Ireland and England stops were scrapped and stops in Norway, Olden and Alesund as well as Edinburgh and Kirkwall, Orkney Island, Scotland were added. I logged into my NCL account to check and yes the adjusted itinerary is the current one.
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Old Oct 6th, 2021, 06:35 AM
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https://www.ncl.com/vacations?cruise...norwegian-star

This is it. The top one is the one we are on. Why they list the older itinerary below it I have no idea. As you can see its the same ship and departure date for both.

Last edited by jacketwatch; Oct 6th, 2021 at 07:16 AM. Reason: My account is showing in link I had provided.
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Old Oct 13th, 2021, 07:12 AM
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We currently are hanging onto two cruises in the Caribbean for Jan and Feb but am concerned about being allow to go ashore outside of the ship's bubble. We are now leaning towards cancellation.
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Old Oct 13th, 2021, 03:13 PM
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We just booked a seven day on Carnival out of Baltimore for January. We were comfortable with the Covid protocols, the port is an easy drive from here, and it's the Bahamas, so if they need to skip a port or we're not comfortable getting off, we should still have a good time. We hadn't expected to be doing this yet, but between the safety measures (it's a vaccinated cruise, and you have to test), and the unbelievably awesome price, we decided we were ready.
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Old Oct 15th, 2021, 11:56 AM
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Persimmondeb, please come back with a review of the ship after your cruise. I am anxious to see what it is like compared with the ships that did port from Baltimore. Have you cruised from here before? We live in Baltimore, so it is easy to port from here, but I lament the lack of interesting ports and the days of bad weather going and returning. We cruised on Pride a couple of times though and enjoyed it, especially when they still had hammocks in the adult area. They replaced those with sun beds, which take up less space, but are not nearly as nice or as much fun. The RC Grandeur of the Seas, which used to sail from Baltimore, was very popular and the adult pool with the retractable roof was nice even in bad weather. It was snowing once when we left Baltimore, so they let the children use that pool too. I thought that was very nice.
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Old Oct 18th, 2021, 03:40 AM
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Hi Sassafrass! It is the Legend, which is the same class as the Pride (I sailed on the Pride with my dad a few years ago), but we have not been on it before. From what I have seen online, it's quite attractive in the older Carnival style, and the Serenity deck looks nice. No hammocks, looks like they have sun beds, but it looks like a nice area, and I like the Serenity with the pool. We are taking DS, but since he's 26, he can hang out there with us (or go somewhere else, he's more or less a responsible adult). I think the rear main pool on Legend has a dome, so hopefully we'll be able to use it out of Baltimore.

We're actually really glad we're doing this. We hadn't expected to be cruising yet, but between the cautious, low key itinerary (Half Moon Cay, Nassau, Freeport), and the Covid protocols, we're comfortable (and we should have our boosters by early next month), and it's a time of year when I know we're going to be ready for some sunshine. We're viewing it as a week in a comfortable resort hotel (with all meals!) that magically transports itself to a subtropical beach and back again. I wouldn't have booked something we truly weren't okay with, no matter the price, but the great deal did make us look at it (and their safety measures) in a way we probably wouldn't have otherwise. I did buy the insurance though, which I usually don't.
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Old Nov 1st, 2021, 09:49 AM
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Silversea cruise

We bought a Silversea cruise to Lisbon Portugal leaving Fort Lauderdale in march, 2022. We were suppose to sail on the Silversea Dawn, but apparently the Dawn will not be finished in time for this cruise. We don't know if we will sail, and Silversea won't tell us. Does anyone know what is going on with Silversea or this cruise ?
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Old Dec 20th, 2021, 08:40 AM
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I just booked a 5 day cruise leaving January 16, on (Norwegian) Bliss out of Los Angeles (San Pedro). That is a mega ship that was purpose built for Alaskan cruises. I cruised on that ship in Nov 2019 with a friend from the East Coast when they had a great deal on the Panamal Canal transit. (He flew here before the cruise, then I flew back home from NYC).

The 16th is the last day NCL pays for testing at the port before you board. If I test postive I just drive home and get a FCC (Future Cruise Credit). I think they may reinstitute masking, I hope so. And I hope they have reduced passenger loads, still.

For this particular short cruise they are not whacking single travelers with a 100% surcharge. So I'll have 5 nights of my own room, not needing to cook (great Indian food last time in the buffet), looking at nice scenery from the Observation Lounge if I don't upgrade to a balcony, and the jacuzzi up on the top deck. Two sea days, two shore excursions, one in Ensenada (blowhole and winery) and whale watching in Cabo. I haven't been in Ensenada in ages. Cabo is somewhere I've stopped on a few cruises, so really no need to walk around town again.

It's coming in at under $100 a night, which is my limit. I haven't decided if I will spring for the extra specialty dining package. Probably best not to, I'll be eating enough as is!

Last edited by mlgb; Dec 20th, 2021 at 08:46 AM.
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Old Dec 21st, 2021, 04:07 PM
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Just upgraded to a balcony. Prices dropped so I got the balcony and $50 back. With Omicron I might be on the balcony a lot.

Hopefully that cruise sails at reduced capacity and all the people who won't wear masks will cancel. I'll look for another cabin upgrade with a refund closer to the sail date (January 16).
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Old Dec 21st, 2021, 06:48 PM
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I hope all of you get to go on all of your cruises. Looking forward to hearing about all of them. I am hoping so very much that Omicron will pass through quickly and travel will seem safe again. My GD has been isolated for such a long time. A cruise during her Spring Break would be like medicine. Nothing spectacular, just fun with other kids and ocean and beaches.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2021, 06:25 AM
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mlgb- We are suppose to sail from Ft Lauderdale on Celebrity leaving !-15-22. It looks like it's going to sail. Then in March we sail from Ft Lauderdale to Lisbon on Silversea. Not certain it will sail, Other than asking your agent, do you have any secrets to getting upgraded that you are willing to share ? Thanks
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Old Dec 22nd, 2021, 04:31 PM
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I don't really have any secrets, just check the cruise line website or one of the other ones such as Vacations To Go, especially as you get close to the sailing date, and see if fares have dropped. If they have, call whoever you booked through, and ask what they can do. It may make a difference on how close to final payment date you are.

I booked direct with NCL so called them. In the past when I've used Vacations to Go, they had to wait for NCL to approve any changes.

Yesterday, I had to call a second time after I saw the invoice, the first agent upgraded me two (or more ?) categories to some kind of minisuite, for a small charge. It offers no advantage over a regular balcony for a short cruise. A second agent corrected it and issued a refund to my credit card for the reduced fare and removing the upcharge.

On a longer cruise two years ago, we booked through VTG and upgraded from inside to balcony for a room we could select, and added the Free at Sea the package (specialty dining etc) for about $300. Our VTG agent was a little suprised we could do this. So you do need to read all of the fine print and be a little insistent.

Last edited by mlgb; Dec 22nd, 2021 at 04:41 PM.
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Old Dec 24th, 2021, 05:57 AM
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Good fortune with the upgrades.
I use a TA who once got us a group rate after we booked and we saved like $500.00 so this is another way you can reduce your fare though I just say she is very busy and has a lot of customers so that does help.
Bon voyage!
We are booked for 10 days out of Iceland in June but who knows what will happen by then. Friends of ours who went to Iceland last April had to have a vaccine card and were swabbed for a rapid test at the airport and were confined to their hotel until the test came back which took say 4-5 hours. However currently you have to provide results of a PCR test done no sooner that 72 hrs.prior to your planes scheduled departure as well as proof of vaccination. Again by June who knows.

Happy holidays to all!
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Old Jan 2nd, 2022, 04:20 PM
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We're still on for the Legend. At this point I think they would have cancelled if they were going to, so we're calling it go.

We are going to have to test (which we knew), and are planning to be extra cautious in the week or so going up to our departure (no eating out, etc.--we normally mask at work and in stores). They have reinstated masks, not a biggie, and makes us a little more comfortable with this enterprise. We've also gotten our boosters. We still haven't decided if we're driving to Baltimore early that morning or the night before, but we probably won't make that decision until we have a weather forecast.

We also still haven't booked any shore excursions. Obviously we don't really need one for Half Moon Cay, and Freeport is such a short stop that I don't see any point. We'd kind of like something for Nassau, but the selection is definitely more limited than usual. We're contemplating day passes at the Hilton, but since we'll have been on the private island the day before, we're wondering if we will have had enough beach already. I am also SUPER cautious about independent exploration away from the ship. If it's not in walking distance, I want it booked through the cruise line. We may just end up taking a nice walk at the rate we're going.
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