Will Disney cruising return during 2021?

[AquaDame]

Depends... I honestly think short Bahamian cruises will be the first back, with longer cruises and further afield ones coming online later. If ANY cruising counts, I'd still gamble on something in 2021, but if not, then I'd be less likely to put money down on any guess until later.

 

[Jacq7414]

I can’t imagine many cruise lines can survive being shut down until 2022. That’s over a year and a half. Most businesses wouldn’t be able to survive that.

 

[FigmentSpark]

At this point, I'm just hoping it won't be March 2021. While I want my cruise, I don't want to be one of the first out on a cruise. If they aren't back by Dec and safely, I may be cancelling my March.

 

[TestingH2O]

I'm fairly confident it will be back by then. Confident enough that I booked airfare yesterday! It wasn't a huge risk, since I got a killer deal on Southwest and their no-change fees mean we can just bank the credit for another trip if needed. But I put our odds at going at about 70% right now. I know many think I am crazy, but I watch the data very closely every day and I am optimistic for many reasons I won't get into because it tends to open a debate that gets us off the topic of cruising.

We booked SW for March this weekend too. However, we booked for our Plan B trip. I actually think it’s 60/40 that we WON’T sale. As you say though, SW is easy to work with.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I do not think Disney cruises will be back in 2021. As long as social distancing, masks, etc. are necessary to stop the spread - and really, as long as covid is spreading at all - I don’t see it happening.

Even if a vaccine is ready in 2021, it will take some time for it to be readily available to anyone who wants it. Perhaps a required rapid saliva test could help for boarding, but still - that only proves you are negative at time of boarding but you could turn positive while on board.

The outlook for cruising is not good.

 

[BartmanLA]

All the doom and gloom aside, it's pretty apparent that Disney at least is going to scratch the rest of this year, at least until December... but that's even iffy. The CDC isn't going to take any chances with passengers boarding ships from U.S. ports until the curve takes a huge downward turn. With the vast majority of cruises originating in Florida, and the issues that state is having with managing the infection rates there, allowing people to travel from other states and even internationally into Florida and the likelihood for transmission from various contact points through out the state makes for an obvious reason to hold off restarting cruising right now. The 3 or 4 international cruise lines that have restarted in Europe and Asia have both returned with Positive passengers and crew on board, so this is still a issue isn't going to go away at this time. On top of all this, until the U.S. lifts travel restrictions from international travelers to come into the U.S. to board a cruise and also the international ports that cruises routinely visit that are barring visits from cruise ships and passengers from U.S. ports open up, there isn't any place that cruise ships can go even if they do resume operations. Hopefully 2021 will offer a better outlook, (vaccine or Antibodies) or a big reduction in infections so we can begin to look forward to returning to the activities that so many of us enjoy and crave when we're on board those Magical ships.

 

[mousefan73]

Due to needing widespread vaccinations or development of some type of massive herd immunity, if I was a betting man, I'd say cruising won't be back until some time in 2022. Curious what others think.

I say cruises will start earlier, they have to If they don’t cruise lines as with airlines flying , will file. I could see Disney selling off the cruise line before waiting that long. Cruises have started already globally.

 

[mousefan73]

March 2021.

Hope so! We have the Wonder booked then!

 

[princessmommyx3]

Perhaps a required rapid saliva test could help for boarding, but still - that only proves you are negative at time of boarding but you could turn positive while on board.

The outlook for cruising is not good.

It is my understanding that these rapid saliva tests are so cheap that I imagine DCL would want test every guest and crew member every day of the cruise. That would also help with false negatives as I read that the odds of getting a false negative 2 tests in a row is only about 4%.

 

[bcwife76]

Hope so! We have the Wonder booked then!

Same! We are booked on the Wonder March 24-28!

 

[Jacq7414]

I just received an email from DCL saying that they extended the you can reschedule your cruise up to 15 days before until 5/31/2021. There is no way that they plan to open up anytime soon IMO.

 

[Ila Sikorski]

I just received an email from DCL saying that they extended the you can reschedule your cruise up to 15 days before until 5/31/2021. There is no way that they plan to open up anytime soon IMO.

While I agree and don't believe they'll be sailing for the rest of 2020, I think this might be more along the lines of "We might be opening with heavy restrictions." I.E. Masks, reservations for pool, activities, etc. But, hey, who knows!

 

[brentm77]

I just received an email from DCL saying that they extended the you can reschedule your cruise up to 15 days before until 5/31/2021. There is no way that they plan to open up anytime soon IMO.

I don't know if I read it that way. It sounds more like a policy to get people to book and keep reservations, the same as airlines are doing right now. If they can assure people that it is safe to hold a reservation because there is alternative options available nearly up to sailing time, people feel comfortable taking the wait and see approach. If DCL thought it was unlikely to be sailing, it seems policies that discourage people from holding reservations would be better.

 

[disneygeek401]

I just received an email from DCL saying that they extended the you can reschedule your cruise up to 15 days before until 5/31/2021. There is no way that they plan to open up anytime soon IMO.

I don't think that an extension of the flexible cancellation policy means that DCL does not plan to resume operations anytime soon. This is just an example of fantastic customer service and a fantastic business decision. They are doing everything in their power to keep every dollar of every booked cruise in their pocket. First they offered 125% FCC, then they extended the credits, introduced a flexible cancellaiton policy, extended the credits again, and now this. They are doing everything they can to entice people to keep their money tied up with DCL because we are in a pandemic and they need the $$ since they are short on cash

 

[Jacq7414]

I don't think that an extension of the flexible cancellation policy means that DCL does not plan to resume operations anytime soon. This is just an example of fantastic customer service and a fantastic business decision. They are doing everything in their power to keep every dollar of every booked cruise in their pocket. First they offered 125% FCC, then they extended the credits, introduced a flexible cancellaiton policy, extended the credits again, and now this. They are doing everything they can to entice people to keep their money tied up with DCL because we are in a pandemic and they need the $$ since they are short on cash

True. I do still plan on cancelling if they haven’t released plans by my PIF day

 

[mickey0624]

I'm assuming most people reading this thread have been on a previous Disney cruise so let me ask you this....is there ANYONE that would pay for a Disney cruise where you would have to wear a mask all day and make reservations for the pool. What are they going to do....no one else allowed on deck 10??? It would be impossible.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm assuming most people reading this thread have been on a previous Disney cruise so let me ask you this....is there ANYONE that would pay for a Disney cruise where you would have to wear a mask all day and make reservations for the pool. What are they going to do....no one else allowed on deck 10??? It would be impossible.

If it was possible to be sure that wearing masks and pool appointments would mean no COVID transmission onboard, yes, I'd still take a cruise.

 

[mickey0624]

If it was possible to be sure that wearing masks and pool appointments would mean no COVID transmission onboard, yes, I'd still take a cruise.

wow...I'm honestly shocked....I couldn't imagine spending money under those circumstances but i guess to each is own

 

[Jacq7414]

I'm assuming most people reading this thread have been on a previous Disney cruise so let me ask you this....is there ANYONE that would pay for a Disney cruise where you would have to wear a mask all day and make reservations for the pool. What are they going to do....no one else allowed on deck 10??? It would be impossible.

This would have been my first Disney cruise and no I would not pay close to 7000 for my family of 3 to go on the cruise with those restrictions. Sorry . I’ll just wait until things are back to more of a normal. It’s not worth the price IMO

 

[mickey0624]

This would have been my first Disney cruise and no I would not pay close to 7000 for my family of 3 to go on the cruise with those restrictions. Sorry . I’ll just wait until things are back to more of a normal. It’s not worth the price IMO

my point exactly...100% agree