# the future of Cruising?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

I'm wondering when (or IF) the operating of all those behemoth ships built in the last decade or so will ever become viable again? I assume to be profitable they'll still need to have a full, or nearly-full load of passengers crammed in, as before...
If not, what.....?


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

I really like cruising but I won't be going until the pandemic is long gone.

If or when I go again, we will book a top level suite with balcony and stay in the room. Private dining......sitting on the balcony.....that is it.

The days of being stuffed into a lower level inside cabin and lining up for the midnight buffet are over for us.

Sags........has put away his Speedo.


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

jargey3000 said:


> I'm wondering when (or IF) the operating of all those behemoth ships built in the last decade or so will ever become viable again? I assume to be profitable they'll still need to have a full, or nearly-full load of passengers crammed in, as before...
> If not, what.....?


Sure they will, the pandemic is ending in the first world.

They'll likely have to develop better procedures to quarantine and evacuate the ships for diesease outbreaks in the future.
But I don't imagine cruises will be gone forever.


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

IIRC, during the Q&A in the quarterly earnings call a few months into the pandemic, RCL's CFO indicated that their newer larger ships only needed to be at about 30-40% capacity to be profitable. So they're likely fine once they get sailing again even if at reduced capacity to start.

I'd like to cruise again but for us, it's also dependent on the state of the ports of call. 
Prices aren't cheap either for the brands we normally sail on. We're always looking for a deal and I don't think the cruise lines have any incentive to offer (good) sale prices at this point and might be wanting to capitalize on pent up demand.


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## hboy54 (Sep 16, 2016)

I'll be splitting my cruising time between my Tanzer 22 on the Great lakes, and my (pending purchase) Corbin 39 out of Nova Scotia.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Some American cruises have already launched itineraries starting this summer. RCL will be doing cruises in the Bahamas starting in June. I believe in Asia and Europe there has been some limited cruising even during the pandemic. Singapore was operating cruises to nowhere where you get on board, enjoy the ship for 5 days without stopping at any ports, and then get off back in Singapore at the end. I think Germany had some cruises as well. 

I do think it will be a while before the cruising industry is back in full swing, though. Packed ships were already known as petri dishes and voluntarily boarding a petri dish during a pandemic is not that appealing. Also, many ports will likely remain closed to cruises for at least another 6 months to a year.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We are certainly in no rush. We have done 20 plus cruises. Since retiring we tend to cruise as an add on to land travel. It is not unusual for us to buy last minute cruises or indeed some AI resort time while we are in the midst of that land travel. We have been doing fewer and fewer cruises over the past eight years. Prices are up, quality is down. We now view them as a bit of a respite from independent travel. 

We will commence land travels well before we even consider a cruise, let a lone buy one. We have zero interest in buying until we know exactly what ports will be open, whether or not we have to take cruise line excursions in order to get off the ship in port, and what the on board health restrictions will be. No interest whatsoever in floating around endlessly on an MS Covid.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

sags said:


> The days of being stuffed into a lower level inside cabin and lining up for the midnight buffet are over for us.
> Sags........has put away his Speedo.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

sags said:


> I really like cruising but I won't be going until the pandemic is long gone.
> 
> If or when I go again, we will book a top level suite with balcony and stay in the room. Private dining......sitting on the balcony.....that is it.
> 
> ...


We only book balcony cabins. We typically book last minute when the cruise lines are blowing out the cabins at a reduced price. In the past we have booked anywhere from three days out to five or six weeks out. Have not been to or even seen a midnight buffet on any ship in years.


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## Retiredguy (Jul 24, 2013)

Ive made a deposit on Oceania for next January out of Florida.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

We never understood why cruising is so appealing to some ...


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

Most cruise lines will be operating away from the USA at this point, as even though everyone is vaccinated, the US will require mask enforcement in public areas on board ship while in USA waters....too funny.

At any rate my cruise to BC is coming up...no mask wearing will be required of the crew!


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## pwm (Jan 19, 2012)

gibor365 said:


> We never understood why cruising is so appealing to some ...


Agreed. I would gladly pay to not have to do that.


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## afulldeck (Mar 28, 2012)

pwm said:


> Agreed. I would gladly pay to not have to do that.


I can hardly sit still at a large land resort, so I would probably where the deck out looking for an escape route. No way...cruise ships are not for me, nor dw....


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## birdman (Feb 12, 2013)

gibor365 said:


> We never understood why cruising is so appealing to some ...


No more cruising for us as well. Eat to much, exercise is limited to walking the deck and the gym, crowded, sales pressure, and many ports of call are not enjoyable. One of our best cruises was the eastern seaboard from New York to Quebec City. Nice ports of call.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

gibor365 said:


> We never understood why cruising is so appealing to some ...


I couldn't either, for a long time...til we did a couple.
Just another diversion, as I see it, for those inclined. different strokes...to each her own.
and, you don't have to jump in the car to go anywhere!
we never do the port excursions, just hop on & off & walk around.
I'm a bit of a 'people-watcher' too, which is kinda fun on a cruise...I esp. enjoy noticing the ones that seem have a different outfit for every day, every meal..& go all out on the "formal" night.lol
Also enjoy the talk about the 'quality' of the food etc. IMHO ..you dont go on a cruise -where they mass-feed 1000's of meals a day- for haute-cuisine!
( It is painful to see the amount of food wasted, at the buffets!)
And I do enjoy trying to be nice, to the hard-working crew.
Just chill a bit, eat & drink too much..the 5 day ones are plenty for me! How people do those 14-day back-to-backs , or longer , is beyond me!


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Don't know. But after 7 weeks of traveling independently in Europe we were more than happy to pick up a last minute blow out balcony cabin on an 8 day Med cruise. We needed one way air back to Canada. The airlines cruise air program saved us $200 on the best one way fare we could find. Plus, we were able to fly home from Barcelona instead of London.

My spouse cracked several vertebrae in Kuala Lumpur during a snowbird trip a few years ago. Our next stop was Australia/NZ. She made the decision to carry on rather than return home. Instead of several weeks of driving in Australia and NZ. we picked up a last minute 21 day cruise. It was wonderful for someone with mobility restrictions like her.

Lots of reasons why people cruise. For some, it is a choice, for others it is the only way that the can travel extensively. When we were working it was a great break to fly down Florida, get away from the snow, spend some pre cruise days on the beach and then take a Caribbean cruise for a week, ten days or so.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

We were just finalizing our family reunion cruise and we’re going to put deposit down the last week in Feb 2020. We decided to wait to see if this covid thing blew up. Guess that was a good decision.

Cruises are great low planning vacations especially in groups. You don’t have to worry about meals, everyone shows up at meal time. No trying to plan something to keep everyone happy, especially when you have 3 or 4 generations. More time is spent with family vs planning and you can hide from family too if needed.

i love cruising when to vacation and relax, I do different trips when I want to travel. We never did do our family vacation. We are planning when things open up maybe an all inclusive instead of a cruise with the one side that is very diverse in our preferences as our family reunion. We had planned an international trip before my oldest goes away, so that will most likely be in Japan or Asia as they are much safer. Then my side, we had a big trio planned so again, we may move that to a safer country. We will see , but no cruising for a while for us Which was the plan for a while.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

We have booked a Duoro River cruise for 2022. We love small ship river cruises!


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

My sister always goes to resorts and always complains about the food and accommodations. They are there for the free drinks.

I think if you have the $$$ to book into a top level resort it is one thing, but booking into an affordable resort in the DR.........not great.

At least that is what she says and they take 2 vacations every year to less expensive all inclusive resorts. They just get drunk so they don't care.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

^^^^ sounds like fun ^^^^^


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Yea.....but I don't know how they can get drunk every day and survive. If I got drunk I would be sick for a month.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

A few of us friends at work had the same PAA week off, so instead of the usual fishing trip we went on a cheap cruise together.

One of the guys laid out on the deck all day on the second day of the voyage. We had traveled all night and were into some really hot weather.

He baked like a lobster, went bright red and spent the whole week in the room ordering room service.........LOL.

I like cruises because there is lots to do on the ship, the food is really good in the dining rooms, and I am happy to sit in the shade and watch the ocean go by.

The one thing about a cruise is the scenery continually changes. Went up the Mississippi River to New Orleans during Mardi Gras on that trip.

It was cool winding through all the oil rigs in the Gulf at night. I wouldn't have believed there were so many out there all lit up like Christmas trees.

That trip was in February and was Tampa, Florida to the Grand Cayman Islands (where we spotted BreX's John Feldoff at the marina), then to Cozumel, Mexico and then up the mighty Mississippi River to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and then back to Tampa.

We met the Budweiser girls by the pool and hung out with them all week......just guys they felt safe with when we all went ashore.

Overall....it was a 10 out of 10 trip.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

kcowan said:


> We have booked a Duoro River cruise for 2022. We love small ship river cruises!


A number of years ago we picked up a inexpensive. one way Transat fare from Toronto to Porto. We were on our way to Italy but this fare attracted us. We spent 2 days in Porto then rented a car and toured the Duoro Valley for five or six days. It was wonderful. We hope to go back again at some point


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

sags said:


> My sister always goes to resorts and always complains about the food and accommodations. They are there for the free drinks.
> 
> I think if you have the $$$ to book into a top level resort it is one thing, but booking into an affordable resort in the DR.........not great.
> 
> At least that is what she says and they take 2 vacations every year to less expensive all inclusive resorts. They just get drunk so they don't care.


I don't love resorts as my family and I don't drink very much. If we got as a part of a family reunion, then we will usually choose higher end ones where it's expensive enough that you don't have drunken people every where. I hate just sitting on a beach, so it's has to have things to do, or excursions. My spouses side likes to just eat, and go by the water, which we get bored, so we try to find something that my family can leave and do. Hence why I would normally like cruise ships as there is so much more to do, and at least you get a change of scenery at each port.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

The advantage given to the cruise industry, as compared to the hotel industry, is that cruise ships are similar to hotels, except you can move them to wherever the business is best. If North America continues with lockdowns and/or restrictions, you just set sail from Greece or Morocco or Rio de Janeiro.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

On on pre covid trip land trip to Mexico we scored last minute 5 day stays at two different AI's. One in Playa, the other in Nuevo Vallarta. They were both higher end. Food was fine. We did not encounter one drunk at either. Same for a number of other AI's that we have experienced.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

sags said:


> Yea.....but I don't know how they can get drunk every day and survive. If I got drunk I would be sick for a month.


Keep practicing LOL


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