Carnival Indicating August for Phase In

[TestingH2O]

I am not from the US so I think it is worth noting that the vast majority of your neighbouring countries think that the US is opening too quickly. I am not saying this to spark an argument but to say that it’s all well and good to be able to cruise from US ports but there may not be a lot of ports that will accept the ships due to the risk that it could be brought into their ports with the ship and its passengers.

(I was on the Wonder when it was turned away from Colombia and Panama.)

Most polls indicate that the majority of Americans think things are opening too early too. However, social safety nets don't exist here and people are equally scared about being able to feed and house their families.

 

[StelmackFamily]

You can't make everyone happy.

Cruise lines (and Disney) are not going to come out and announce "Hey, we're not sailing until 2021." Can you imagine the nightmare of rescheduling, cancellations and refunding guests? These companies can barely handle a month or two. People are going crazy wondering where their refunds are from last month.

Cruising will resume eventually. I appreciate their transparency and attempting to keep their guests informed about sailings going forward. I completely take ANY "opening" date for ANY company with a grain of salt. I keep seeing people frustrated with cruise lines (and Disney parks!) about the lack of information being released, so I don't necessarily consider coming up with a tentative plan for slowly resuming operations a bad thing. JMO.

agree! There can't be a definite answer to openings and sailings starting because COVID and its effects are a fluid situation. I think it was intended that Aug 1 is their goal if progress continues on the path currently. Any set back in relation to COVID can cause the dates to fluctuate.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I am not from the US so I think it is worth noting that the vast majority of your neighbouring countries think that the US is opening too quickly. I am not saying this to spark an argument but to say that it’s all well and good to be able to cruise from US ports but there may not be a lot of ports that will accept the ships due to the risk that it could be brought into their ports with the ship and its passengers.

(I was on the Wonder when it was turned away from Colombia and Panama.)

I am from the US, and you are absolutely correct. We're opening too quickly, and we will have a spike in infections that will follow as a result. As it is, our federal government revised what they thought the death total through August 4th up from 60K to 100K. Pretty soon, that will revised upwards again. The internal number out of the White House of daily deaths now is that we're at 3,000 dead per day by June 1st. That would get us to roughly 150,000 deaths by July 4th.

Our only hope is the summer gives us a little bit of a break, but other than that, as we spike back up, the hospitals will fill up again, and not just in NY, NJ, WA and other cities, but in rural areas as the virus continues to spread.

I think that the states will have a very difficult time getting their citizens back in again after this first round of the virus, so we'll see businesses defying newly issued "stay at home" orders....and a certain level of chaos will reign. And then, all on their own, as many Americans who can stay home....will. Here in the US, there is no federal response, and with states doing whatever they want, we are clearly determined to make this so much more difficult than it needed to be.

And all of that to say.....highly doubt that Carnival is cruising by August 1st. And if they're crazy enough to do so, after seeing what is going to happen here for the next three months, no island or country would allow a ship from the US to dock. I wonder how many ventilators they can fit in a cruise ship's medical unit?

 

[dclpluto]

I am not from the US so I think it is worth noting that the vast majority of your neighbouring countries think that the US is opening too quickly. I am not saying this to spark an argument but to say that it’s all well and good to be able to cruise from US ports but there may not be a lot of ports that will accept the ships due to the risk that it could be brought into their ports with the ship and its passengers.

(I was on the Wonder when it was turned away from Colombia and Panama.)

It’s only some states the ones that haven’t been hit hard. We can’t stay shutdown forever. Lots of people are hurting for $$$$. If people are still scared when their states open stay at home. No one is forcing anyone to go eat at a restaurant or go watch a movie.

 

[dvcgirl67]

It’s only some states the ones that haven’t been hit hard. We can’t stay shutdown forever. Lots of people are hurting for $$$$. If people are still scared when their states open stay at home. No one is forcing anyone to go eat at a restaurant or go watch a movie.

These are Dept. of Homeland Security Models.....

The poster who was not from the US was making a point that other countries, islands may not want people from the US cruise ships disembarking to their shores because we haven't handled things all that well.

We're seeing already that countries who have done well in handling the virus are creating "travel bubbles"....Australia, New Zealand are moving in that direction. I don't think any country is going to want to be in our "bubble" for quite some time.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I wonder when they will post their conditions of sailing, ie: masks, distancing, etc. Or will they?

I doubt they will have special conditions. Most people aren't going to want to wear masks on vacation, and social distancing as we know it isn't possible on a mass market cruise ship. I imagine they won't allow self-serve at the buffet, but beyond that it'll be business as usual.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I doubt they will have special conditions. Most people aren't going to want to wear masks on vacation, and social distancing as we know it isn't possible on a mass market cruise ship. I imagine they won't allow self-serve at the buffet, but beyond that it'll be business as usual.

The only way that scenario plays out is when we live in a world with a vaccine for this virus. But I agree, people won't want to wear masks when on vacation, especially on a cruise. And that's why cruising is just going to be decimated. It just will not return in any way, shape or form to what it was in 2019.

 

[China Expat]

Will airlines be flying by then? Hotels fully open?

 

[dvcgirl67]

Will airlines be flying by then? Hotels fully open?

Oh, I know the answer to this. No, and no. Also, factor in the deep, deep recession that we're just beginning to understand. Hospitality always takes a huge hit during a run-of-the-mill recession. This time is a whole different matter.

 

[soniam]

Will airlines be flying by then? Hotels fully open?

Airlines are still flying. It's required as part of their bailout. They do have reduced schedules though.

 

[soniam]

This article is interesting. It discusses the choice of ports. However, I don't know if the CDC April requirement for 14 day quarantine before flying after cruising is still in effect or when it will stop.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/cruises/carnival-cruises-resume-service-august

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Will airlines be flying by then? Hotels fully open?

Airlines have never stopped flying domestic routes. They've just reduced flights due to plummeting demand. Demand will climb in the summer as America gradually reopens.

Some hotels are still open. Others will begin reopening in accordance with the reopening of their local communities. Orlando hotels will open long before Manhattan hotels, for example.

 

[WB1971]

Most polls indicate that the majority of Americans think things are opening too early too. However, social safety nets don't exist here and people are equally scared about being able to feed and house their families.

Polls lie.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

The question of ports is a good one. We live in a country that has flattened the curve, but we are concerned that if we return to the U.S. for even a brief visit, we won’t be allowed back. The smart thing would be to not allow U.S tourists until there is a vaccine.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Polls lie.

This. Remember all of those polls & metrics right before the 2016 election that said that Clinton was a shoe-in? Mentioning that has nothing to do with who I voted for- just pointing out that the polls were flat out wrong.

Polls can be biased in their sampling, in how they phrase questions, etc., and that can skew the results. Also, this current situation is very time sensitive, and if people were asked in early April what their opinion was, and then that data is shared in early May, that skews results because some people's outlook will have changed as this very fluid situation quickly changes.

 

[dvcgirl67]

This. Remember all of those polls & metrics right before the 2016 election that said that Clinton was a shoe-in? Mentioning that has nothing to do with who I voted for- just pointing out that the polls were flat out wrong.

Polls can be biased in their sampling, in how they phrase questions, etc., and that can skew the results. Also, this current situation is very time sensitive, and if people were asked in early April what their opinion was, and then that data is shared in early May, that skews results because some people's outlook will have changed as this very fluid situation quickly changes.

This virus doesn’t care about polls. It’s not biased. It doesn’t vote. It doesn’t watch the news. And it doesn’t discriminate against people who live in Manhattan, or people who take vacations on cruise ships. It just doesn’t care.

 

[gotomu212]

Polls lie.

Eehhh maybe, consumer demand doesn’t lie though. Airlines (90% down), hotels (75% down), and takeout (50-80% down depending on type of venue) are all way way down despite being open since March. Advance bookings that come with cancellation rights aren‘t reliable indicators. So I’d be very curious to see how many people really show up for a cruise the first day they’re open. I know the diehards on here and cruise critic say they’d cruise tomorrow, but there’s a reason Carnival is bringing back only a fraction of their line- they can’t fill the ships even 4 months out.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Eehhh maybe, consumer demand doesn’t lie though...there’s a reason Carnival is bringing back only a fraction of their line- they can’t fill the ships even 4 months out.

Other reasons they're starting small are likely due to:

1. Needing to stick with currently realistic itineraries (no Canada, no Italy, no Australia, etc., etc.)
2. Needing to stick with currently realistic departure ports (no sailing out of New York, for example)
3. Needing to stick with shorter cruises to avoid allowing enough time for passengers to go from apparently healthy upon embarkation to critically ill while still onboard.
4. Knowing that this is a testing phase and that disruptions and closures could reoccur, and it's easier to deal with that on a small scale than on a massive scale like they had to in March.

So we can't assume that the limited size of their reopening is all about what customers want, especially when many customers are currently not allowed to leave their homes when they wish, let alone take vacations.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

This virus doesn’t care about polls. It’s not biased. It doesn’t vote. It doesn’t watch the news. And it doesn’t discriminate against people who live in Manhattan, or people who take vacations on cruise ships. It just doesn’t care.

Please calm down. Your response is off topic.

 

[Stratus22]

What is everyone's favorite recipe? Ask this question and you'll get a thousand different answers. Kind of like what's happening here and unless you have a crystal ball and can see into the future, you'll never get the answer you are looking for. Not even the experts can tell you what will happen. I'm living it day by day. You have too or else you'll drive yourself insane.