Can the Cruise Industry Survive This Virus? Probably Not, but hope I am wrong.

After I got off my last cruise back on March 8th, I am done cruising until there is a vaccine, and more importantly, everyone is vaccinated. I cant see the cruise industry surviving this as they are set up right now. Yes, its either hedge fund rescue, bankruptcy, or mega mergers. Even now, passengers over 70 need a doctors note to cruise and proof of vaccine, or instant antibody test, can also easily be required in the future. You will need to restaff these ships (all the foreign workers being virus free from all the places they live in the world, good luck!), maintain them, insure them (good luck with that), and carry all the corporate and legal overhead while they sit idle or would sail with only a fraction of passengers. They continue to take deposits and final payments with a promise for future credit if you cancel. But that's a risky gamble. Knowing very well how cruise passenger density is a fact of this type of vacation, there is no way cruises can take place with this kind of virus out there. If they do, attorneys will have a field day, as they already have started filing lawsuits on all that has happened.... That alone can end the industry as we know it.

I sure hope not. I was looking forward to taking a cruise sometime in the near future since I have never been.

Lilian

I thinks it’s going to be quite awhile before cruising starts. I’m sure our planned Alaska cruise for August is off. We agreed that August seems too soon to cruise.

i will go in july to alaska if my cruise sails. i cant continue to live life in seclusion for an endless time.

i sure hope it survives but i am sure it wont be as fun or carefree as it was my last cruise right off the bat
sure there will be alot of changes


rehiring of staff from all the other countries is going to be biggest hurdle

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Originally Posted by dvandentop

i will go in july to alaska if my cruise sails. i cant continue to live life in seclusion for an endless time.

i sure hope it survives but i am sure it wont be as fun or carefree as it was my last cruise right off the bat
sure there will be alot of changes


rehiring of staff from all the other countries is going to be biggest hurdle

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Like you, I am scheduled for an end-of-July Alaska cruise with Celebrity. The pickle here is that final payment is due next week from me. If I don't make the final payment I lose my $500 non-refundable deposit. If I make the final payment (knowing almost certainly that cruise will be formally cancelled). I get a Future cruise credit or refund to my credit card for the entire amount. Regardless, I wont board a cruise ship until the items in the first post are resolved. Since the Future Cruise Credits expire at end of 2021, and refunds have yet to show up on most currently cancelled voyages, I may have to just throw in the towel on this voyage and lose the deposit since all other options are "games" I don't wish to play.
Trust me, after the nerve-wracking delay getting off the last ship in early March because of a passenger virus test result, its not worth the aggravation and risk.

yeah the chance of getting stuck.on is a factor but good lord i would hope they have a plan in place.it it would happen again once they start up vs being stuck on ship

If a cruise ship sails anywhere close to capacity, there is absolutely no way to socially distance. And they simply can't afford to sail half full.

Remember that some of the cruise lines sail with a majority of people that are in the high risk age group like Frank and I. I would not consider sailing until there is a vaccine or cure, and I would imagine that a large number of those folks feel the way that I do.

I definitely don't see all the cruise lines surviving this. How many will emerge is a mystery.

I thought I read about a ship still stuck in some port in the far east filled with sick passengers?

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Originally Posted by Pat

I thought I read about a ship still stuck in some port in the far east filled with sick passengers?

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It finally docked somewhere in Italy on Wednesday. Been out to sea since early January. I just couldn't imagine almost four months on a ship, and they were probably stuck in their cabins most of the time.

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I posted this on another thread, my Alaska cruise in May on NCL Jewel was cancelled. I knew it would be since it was to end in Vancouver, and that port is closed until the end of July. Now that NCL has officially cancelled all of the May cruises, we can start the process to get our money back. We have a 4 day window to fill out a form and request a full refund. We will do that on day 1.
This is two years in a row our Alaska trips have been cancelled....but, better safe than sorry.

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Originally Posted by bluesfan

I posted this on another thread, my Alaska cruise in May on NCL Jewel was cancelled. I knew it would be since it was to end in Vancouver, and that port is closed until the end of July. Now that NCL has officially cancelled all of the May cruises, we can start the process to get our money back. We have a 4 day window to fill out a form and request a full refund. We will do that on day 1.
This is two years in a row our Alaska trips have been cancelled....but, better safe than sorry.

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damn 2 years in a row ;(

that would make if even more tough

Very disappointed going to be announced that July cruise to Alaska is canceled pretty much this whole summer is a waste what a let down

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Originally Posted by dvandentop

Very disappointed going to be announced that July cruise to Alaska is canceled pretty much this whole summer is a waste what a let down

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Sorry that sucks :( Agree all my cancellations this Summer have been bad too had 2 LV trips cancelled and 5 concerts postponed!! An Alaskan cruise is on our bucket list! Did Amy get her camper yet? ;) You guys should try for KC Labor Day weekend!

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Originally Posted by dvandentop

Very disappointed going to be announced that July cruise to Alaska is canceled pretty much this whole summer is a waste what a let down

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Derek, salvage something this year and come meet us in KC for Labor Day weekend! I'm sure we'll find some good new restaurant and probably hit up Q39 or Char Bar again. Sorry about your cruise. We're holding out on Alaska till we can plan to go with Laurie and Greg!

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Originally Posted by tee2green

Derek, salvage something this year and come meet us in KC for Labor Day weekend! I'm sure we'll find some good new restaurant and probably hit up Q39 or Char Bar again. Sorry about your cruise. We're holding out on Alaska till we can plan to go with Laurie and Greg!

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might have to make that happen!

@dvandentop, would you consider flying to Seattle and then taking a driving vacation through Alaska?

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Originally Posted by Pat

@dvandentop, would you consider flying to Seattle and then taking a driving vacation through Alaska?

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They still need to open up the Canadian border.

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Originally Posted by Pat

@dvandentop, would you consider flying to Seattle and then taking a driving vacation through Alaska?

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had crossed my mind but would want to do some research.

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Originally Posted by TwoArmedBandito

They still need to open up the Canadian border.

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yeah idk why they keep delaying.

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Originally Posted by TwoArmedBandito

They still need to open up the Canadian border.

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I forgot about the Canadian border

@dvandentop, you might check the Alaska Marine Highway System dot.alaska.gov. They used to have a ferry sailing from
Bellingham, WA to Whittier, AK. They book up quickly. I know service is partially stopped on some routes.

Looks like Canada has closed the port to any cruise ships until October so basically canceling the whole Alaska season feel bad for all the Alaska businesses that relied on cruise industry what's even worse is I wonder if something will be able to survive until next summer

That really sucks! I know NCL gave us a furture cruise credit, but we opted for a refund instead. We have gotten two phone calls so far asking us to reconsider, and both times we say no, we would like our money back please. I don't know how the cruise industry is going to recover from this. I don't think they will all make it which is sad.

The East Coast Fall Foliage cruise season is also cancelled which will hurt those port economies as well. Hard to see how the cruise lines will be able to reboot their businesses this year at all. They are now only just returning the original cruise crews back to their home countries. It will take many months to re-staff these ships (as long as COVID is still active they may not be able to enter the USA or nearby neighboring countries at all), get all the logistics reset/restarted, and re-train thousands of new crew members. I do about 6-8 cruises a year and have, sadly, cancelled everything until at least early 2022. After being stuck for one extra day on the last ship just when the virus broke out due to one potential passenger infection (out of 4000 cruisers), its just too stressful a situation to call it a "vacation".