Anyone else given up?

[jane01jp]

I so miss cruising and I’m similarly depressed about future/potential European travel.

Same. I am genuinely worried about future anything.

 

[tvguy]

Nope, I am a first time cruiser and I am booked on the September 2021 Norwegian Fjords. As the American CDC does not jurisdiction in Europe, The Disney Magic does not have to got through the certification process in order to resume the European summer season. Therefore there is a good possibility that the European summer schedule can go ahead, even if the other Disney ships don't.

I don't know. I think Europe is going to continue to be much more restrictive than anything the CDC requires. My concern could be getting to that cruise. It may be nearly impossible this coming summer. Europe is not afraid to crack the whip to try and contain covid.
We've pretty much decided no travel at all of any kind until covid is in check. Not a hardship for us as we plan to retire in mid-2021, live off savings for 2 1/2 years until full Social Security age, and we didn't plan to do any traveling for that time frame anyway for financial reasons. Actually we HAD planned to retire this past July and live off savings for 3 1/2 years, but the pandemic and working at home made it easier to work another year and bank the money.

 

[cvjw]

We have been so excited about disney cruises starting back up. Our May 2020 cruise was cancelled so we booked the same cruise for May, 2021. We were sure it would sail. Now, not so much. We are trying to decide if we should rebook, or just cancel altogether.

We aren’t scared about getting the virus, we are fine wearing masks and traveling - we have already spent 2.5 weeks at disney. What concerns us is all the changes. Will it still feel like the disney cruises that we love so much? And, will it be worth the massive premium that we pay for that disney cruise experience?

To be honest, we don’t know. I am leaning towards cancelling the 3 cruises we have booked (5 cabins on those cruises) and just waiting. $20,000 is a lot of money to have tied up with DCL right now when we still don’t know what the “new” experience will look like.

 

[jlwhitney]

We cruised Feb 2020, and planning on summer 2022. Things will go back.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I don't know. I think Europe is going to continue to be much more restrictive than anything the CDC requires.

Have you actually read https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/COVID-19-cruise-ship-guidance and compared it to https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/CDC-Conditional-Sail-Order_10_30_2020-p.pdf

When you compare the EU Guidance for Cruise Ship Operations and the American CDC Framework For Conditional Sailing , The American CDC Framework has far more steps and is far more involved. Considering that cruising has already restarted in Europe, there is a bigger chance that The Disney Magic will restart in Europe before the other ships will restart from Florida.

 

[tvguy]

Have you actually read https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/COVID-19-cruise-ship-guidance and compared it to https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/CDC-Conditional-Sail-Order_10_30_2020-p.pdf

When you compare the EU Guidance for Cruise Ship Operations and the American CDC Framework For Conditional Sailing , The American CDC Framework has far more steps and is far more involved. Considering that cruising has already restarted in Europe, there is a bigger chance that The Disney Magic will restart in Europe before the other ships will restart from Florida.

I haven't read the reports but Europe is rapidly......at the current time....closing up. IMHO Europe has been bolder in moving forward, and bolder in admitting they moved forward too soon.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I haven't read the reports but Europe is rapidly......at the current time....closing up. IMHO Europe has been bolder in moving forward, and bolder in admitting they moved forward too soon.

Read the reports. My view is based from reading and comparing both documents

 

[dreamer17555]

I have March 22 booked and even that one I am feeling iffy about. I do not want to be in international waters if there is an outbreak on board... Also so much of cruising is about the social part- teen clubs for DS, 1820 Society for DD. If masks are needed because covid is still a large concern then how could I feel safe eating in a restaurant or in a pool without one?

Disney would need to seriously alter the experience and for the price point it would no longer be a good investment for my family. Will wait and see how 2021 shakes out but I am mentally preparing to pull the plug.

 

[tvguy]

Read the reports. My view is based from reading and comparing both documents

I will try to read them tomorrow. But actions speak louder than works and Europe is a mess now.

 

[emilymad]

We have moved our cruise a couple of times. We currently have a November cruise booked but I very much doubt that I will be on it. I'm not concerned about catching the virus but the price of DCL charges is way too much for a reduced experience. Plenty of other places to travel.

 

[jtntx34]

To me, being on a cruise is about being carefree, relaxed, pampered, seeing new places, interacting with new people, etc.

I do not finding wearing masks and stressing about social distancing relaxing or carefree. I can do that now without paying one cent. So many of the onboard experiences I enjoyed on my last cruise would be fundamentally changed in a way that would lessen my enjoyment. Who knows if the spa would even be open?

No one knows anything right now, because Disney has not released any real info about their plans. And this is one of the main things that I find so annoying. Other cruise lines have laid out plans, showed some of what they are planning to do. Not Disney. I am honestly beginning to wonder if Disney’s plan is to wait until the vaccines are widely distributed and they feel ok going forward with less to no restrictions. I am wondering if they even have a plan!

I am seriously considering changing my cruise from Jan 2022 to April 2021 to get a refund (originally booked Dec 2021 concierge so deposit is not refundable now, or I probably would have cancelled already).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Europe may allow cruising. They may not allow UK or American nationals into continental Europe to board or to disembark. And the cruise experience will not be untouched by change.

 

[Cheburashka]

No one knows anything right now, because Disney has not released any real info about their plans. And this is one of the main things that I find so annoying. Other cruise lines have laid out plans, showed some of what they are planning to do. Not Disney.

This. Their silence speaks volumes.

It was like that before the parks reopened, too. We had summer plans for WDW last year, so I followed its reopening very closely. No park reopening info was shared for the longest time, then all of a sudden all the details emerged at once, and the reopening date was later than anticipated, significantly later than the other Orlando theme parks, and there were a ton of cutbacks and restrictions announced.

I expect this pattern to repeat whenever American cruising eventually, finally restarts. DCL's restart will significantly lag behind the bigger cruise companies. I don't think they'll resume sailing until summer at the very earliest, and it's going to be a very reduced experience at first, compared to the DCL we're all used to.

 

[goofystitch]

We will never give up - there is always hope. It amazes me that all of these restrictions everywhere are even happening with a virus that has over a 99% survival rate for most people.

 

[Husker Mike]

I think because Disney (or any cruise line) has said little, if anything, about how they plan to restart, fear is taking over. I suspect the real reason why cruise lines are saying little about their future plans is that they know that there will be a change in leadership in the U.S. three weeks from now, which could change the rules the CDC announced last fall.

Into that void of information, speculation and rumor takes over. Some of them are very likely: masks, social distancing, testing. Some of them are just paranoia or fear of the worst: temperature checks (pretty much shown to be ineffective), elimination of room service (if anything, that might become more encouraged).

 

[Kevin Liu]

In a similar boat - have moved out concierge booking a few times now, currently booked for March 2022

So do I understand correctly, if I move my booking to April 2021 and that sailing gets cancelled by Disney, that I’ll receive the option of getting the portion I have paid (ie normally non-refundable concierge deposit) refunded?

 

[MonaMN]

For us, the unknowns make it hard. We live in Minnesota - any time we want to cruise we need to fly to a port.

What will be required in terms of testing/screening ahead of time? What if we are unable to board for some reason?

The cost involved should something happen that wouldn’t allow us to get on the ship factors into the decision as well.

 

[Cheburashka]

Some of them are just paranoia or fear of the worst: temperature checks (pretty much shown to be ineffective), elimination of room service (if anything, that might become more encouraged).

Elimination of room service is not at all unlikely, as it was eliminated at WDW resorts, and has also been eliminated from most non-Disney hotels and resorts. It's a staffing issue, not a Covid issue, and with money tight I especially can't imagine DCL encouraging 1,000+ cruisers to regularly use room service. It is more likely that they won't offer it at all.

It's important to keep in mind that a lot of the changes coming to DCL (just like many of the ones currently in place at WDW), will be based on a need to save money, and have nothing to do with Covid prevention. There will be Covid-based changes, too, of course (and temperature checks will undoubtedly be part of that just as they are at WDW), but as with WDW resorts there will undoubtedly be significant service cutbacks whose only purpose is to save money.

 

[Cheburashka]

In a similar boat - have moved out concierge booking a few times now, currently booked for March 2022

So do I understand correctly, if I move my booking to April 2021 and that sailing gets cancelled by Disney, that I’ll receive the option of getting the portion I have paid (ie normally non-refundable concierge deposit) refunded?

Yes, you will be able to get 100% of your money back if Disney cancels on you, despite being concierge. If you're paid in full they'll probably also offer you a 125% credit to use on a cruise through May 2022, but you can decline that and just take your refund instead.

 

[Husker Mike]

It amazes me that all of these restrictions everywhere are even happening with a virus that has over a 99% survival rate for most people.

To correct this statistic: COVID-19's death toll in the US is at 341,199 as of New Years' Eve 2020, with 19.6 million cases. So the survival rate is actually 98.3%. Only heart disease and cancer are claiming more lives this year than COVID.