Absolutely NO CHANCE, for no other reason that you have already highlighted, they get one case, no port will accept you and your stuck.
Seems to be a lot of great deals around (obviously!), but I'm concerned about getting trapped on a 'hospital ship' if even one passenger gets COVID-19.
Absolutely NO CHANCE, for no other reason that you have already highlighted, they get one case, no port will accept you and your stuck.
I've worked at sea since '94 and I can tell you ships are a breeding ground for illness with all the communal touch points, handles, rails doors etc. If someone joins a ship with a cold for instance within weeks everyone has it and it'll keep doing the rounds for a good while before disappearing. That is on a ships of say 50 crew, multiply that by a few thousand people and it'll only be worse. Testing may mitigate it but not totally I'd suggest.
I think you would be crazy to do this at the moment
Not if you paid me. The thought of being stuck on a floating plague village fills me with horror. If I absolutely had to I'd make an outside cabin a deal breaking condition.
And you won't be welcome in any of the places you visit, except for your money, and who wants to visit somewhere on those terms. Tourism is dead for a while I think.
No way would I go. We had a river cruise booked on the Rhône in June this year which was cancelled and we were given a credit note to use to book again. But I can’t see us booking one this or next year so we’ll probably lose it.
Being in close proximity to 160 odd people while the virus is still out there just seems foolhardy in the extreme. Multiply that to the amount of people on a big cruise ship on the seas and it’s a recipe for disaster.
So unless a vaccine or similar appears, no.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
We were on a Caribbean cruise in March that got cancelled mid way through due to the virus. I have to say whilst it was slightly scary at the time as no one knew what was happening, we were looked after incredibly well and refunded every the whole amount. I’ll certainly be going on more cruises in the future, but not on the December one that we’ve paid a deposit on - we just think it’s too early for that type of holiday due to the confinement’s of a ship. Also the logistics onboard of restaurants, theatres, getting onboard and disembarking.
I have one booked for the end of next January. Paid for before all of this started. If I cancel then there is no refund.
Bugger.
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we have been on several cruise ships always with P&O and thoroughly enjoyed them all.Sorry but after corvid 19 i dont think i will ever set foot on another.
Trap myself and my loved one on a mobile self contained petri dish? Cheap? Wouldn't consider it if it was free.
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A plane for 2-4 hours is one thing but a cruise? Absolutely no chance. I wouldn't even get on a 55 minute flight to Ireland this year.
A river cruise might be an acceptable exception for several reasons:
1) You stay (in your case) in one country, no international waters.
2) There is a criminal offence in France for "Non assistance à personne en danger" (refusing to assist), so whoever would have symptoms wouldn't be trapped on board but evacuated immediately and taken care of in hospital.
3) Stops are much more frequent, mostly daily I believe
4) I have never done a cruise on it but I know the Rhône valley a bit, and it's genuinely beautiful. And don't start me on the wines they make...
5) If it came to the worse, there are worse places to be treated than in a French hospital, especially as you would still be taken care of as a European citizen, with nothing to pay.
But I understand if you'd rather not. I think I would.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
You couldn't pay me to go on one. Locked up on a ship, can't think of anything worse especially in a rough sea 🤮
Was going to go on one in September. That's been moved to June 2021, now but I do have one lined up for March. Is it even possible to go on a cruise this summer / autumn?
Suggest thread title amendment:
"Russian Roulette: Good idea or bad?"
Because there are some great deal around?
I must admit, even if cruises appealed to me, I probably wouldn't take one this year, but clearly the cruise companies need to try and get some business or go under (not literally, one hopes!)
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
I think you'd have to be off your rocker.
Given the choice of staying at home, or risk dying in a nice place, I think I'll take the former. Reminds me of the saying 'see Naples and die!'
(I've heard it is beautiful there which is why we wanted to go, have already done two on the Rhine and they were excellent!)
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I would expect the cruise company to have a fully equipped lab (it's not a lot) with enough technicians to run daily evening tests, process them through the night to evacuate positive patients before breakfast (all passengers having been tested before boarding, and allowed on board on negative result.
Those companies need to survive, and while the lab could be an investment such a procedure would probably reassure people.
I do agree that September is cutting it a bit thin
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
We had one booked and paid for Next week - has been cancelled - refund being processed but we have to apply for the credit first then wrote to them saying we want a refund (all to buy them time)
We were going to go with elderly relatives - so no chance until next year maybe if we go without them -
As testing and screening gets faster and more efficient I would feel safer on a cruise ship than on a plane/airport
i'd be more weary of norovirus or listeria outbreak than coronavirus
Thanks All! That's a "No" then I think. :)
We have done several ocean cruises and one river cruise.
The problem with ocean cruises is that prices have always stayed flat and the cruise companies got over this by making ships bigger and pushed out the economies of scale to drive down prices. The final result is what was once a fairly upmarket holiday for a few people is now a glorified Butlins on water for more people than you can count, so standards drop. Also, as previous stated, the boats are a breeding ground for bugs.
River cruises are better, you have more space per person but it's still not ideal.
I think the reality is that anything that involves flying or being cramped up in a coach is going to be high risk and best avoided.
Just avoid buying shares in tourism.
I think I would give it a miss.
If there is an outbreak - you could be at the mercy of the port authorities of whatever country the vessel "tries" to enter.
Depends if you like to live dangerously. Cruises could become the new craze for thrill / adrenalin seekers (up there with jumping off a mountain in a flight suit).
I definitely won’t be going anywhere in 2020, and don’t anticipate that it will be sensible to go anywhere until mid 2021, depending on what happens.
To answer the specific OP’s question, may I suggest watching this.......
Not even if you paid for my ticket and gave me £1K spending money
Not a chance.
I watched that last night Andrew and certainly wouldn’t be getting on a cruise ship any time soon as in years.
I’m surprised they kept starting these cruises for as long as they did, but then it’s all about the money isn’t it.
Have to say having watched the documentary I did feel very sorry for the staff that were stuck on these cruise ships for months in some cases. Well worth watching.....
I had a cruise booked for my parents in September. It was with Princess Cruises.
Sometime in May they cancelled all cruises up to late in the year and offered a full refund. I'm still waiting for my refund but a couple of weeks back they followed up saying they're working hard to provide the refund and have gone through 60% of the refund requests.
Based on this I don't think the cruise industry would be restarting anytime this year. Perhaps spring next year at the earliest.
We have booked for May next year on Silversea’s which are small ships 650 passengers, We are hoping it’s going to be OK. I would not book for this Autumn/ Winter
Watched that programme last night and it confirmed for me why I have never been on a cruise and why after watching that I never will.
Having said that we do have a four night Rhine cruise booked in December to visit Christmas markets. Hopefully the German beer and gluwen will dull my senses!
The only other cruise I would consider is the local Hurtigruten post boat trips up the Norwegian coast.
I honestly can't think of any reason why someone would risk a cruise this year - unless there would only be 10% occupancy
A tin box moving on water with thousands of people inside. What could possibly go wrong?
I suspect if I did it would probably look like this
Like asking do i intend to self harm?
The industry is IMO well and truly ****** billions in ships sitting doing nothing, staff laid off, maintenance to be paid, loans to service, ports closed very depressing from somebody who has enjoyed cruising for many a year but go in the current situation no way not with your money.
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
Yeah - go for it
Anyone contemplating a cruise must be mad, absolutely mad!