Will people return to cruising?

[AquaDame]

We almost certainly will. I'm not sure when, but once society opens back up we're going to be exposed to this anyway. I don't think we'll go back to the old normal, so if cruising changes drastically in a way that wouldn't make it enjoyable to us we might not, but that would be the only reason for us to give up on it.

 

[THE BARRON]

We have cruise with Disney since 2010, and our next cruise is April 2021, it will be number 20 with Disney. I’m not interested in cruising with any other cruise lines except Disney because of there reputation and we just love DCL.
But we have no problem with getting started Back with cruises

 

[KashasMom]

Can't wait to book more as soon as Disney drops the prices by 50%.

All I'm reading about are people who have had to cancel vacations/cruises. People are chomping at the bit to travel. On top of that, most are NOT spending money now. So why would any company - cruise line, airlines, whatever reduce prices? And Disney dropping prices by 50%?? OMG - I'm worried for you. Maybe you'be been locked down too long? BTW, I've cancelled 6 trips - and haven't booked anything new for Nov/Dec when I have time off. If I was good to go...I'd be outta here tomorrow no matter what the price! The super deals I'm seeing now are still in the time frame of uncertainty. Once that changes, I'm sure they'll go back up. Of course, all of this is just my onion. No one REALLY knows what's going to happen.

 

[KashasMom]

We have Alaska booked for 2021 and we feel kinda ‘eh about it. Definitely don’t want to take one before there’s a vaccine. We aren’t die-hard cruisers and reading the stories of people being isolated in their rooms and then in these crazy places to quarantine forever....just sounded so so awful that now a cruise just don’t sound that attractive

I'm kind of 'eh about our Disney Med cruise for June 2021. I think I'd rather make up some of the trips we've had to cancel. It was probably going to be our last "big ship" cruise for a very long time so I'm okay with canceling it.

 

[Wjbow1]

I keep hearing people say they won't do this or that until a vaccine. That may never happen and even if it does, so what. We have a Flu Vaccine/Shot and people still get that and some still have fatal results. I don't want to stop doing the things that I enjoy and make life worth living.

 

[randumb0]

I keep hearing people say they won't do this or that until a vaccine. That may never happen and even if it does, so what. We have a Flu Vaccine/Shot and people still get that and some still have fatal results. I don't want to stop doing the things that I enjoy and make life worth living.

I think a lot of people are depending on a vaccine because at the moment covid is showing to be a lot more contagious than influenza

 

[MillauFr]

And Disney dropping prices by 50%??

What will they do if demand doesn't pick up? How will they respond?

 

[Jess_S]

I was very interested to read other people's thoughts on this. I feel like the manner in which certain cruise lines mishandled things will make many people reluctant to cruise again -- even after this particular pandemic is over. The ease with which infection can spread from cabin to cabin was pretty vividly illustrated by what happened on the Diamond Princess. For those who are willing to cruise, I think that the combination of bad publicity for cruising and the impact of the economic downturn are going to put downward pressure on cruise prices. Unfortunately, I don't think I will ever be able to sell my husband on another cruise; he was nervous about being on a ship before any of this happened and now he is downright paranoid.

 

[gotomu212]

All I'm reading about are people who have had to cancel vacations/cruises. People are chomping at the bit to travel. On top of that, most are NOT spending money now. So why would any company - cruise line, airlines, whatever reduce prices? And Disney dropping prices by 50%?? OMG - I'm worried for you. Maybe you'be been locked down too long? BTW, I've cancelled 6 trips - and haven't booked anything new for Nov/Dec when I have time off. If I was good to go...I'd be outta here tomorrow no matter what the price! The super deals I'm seeing now are still in the time frame of uncertainty. Once that changes, I'm sure they'll go back up. Of course, all of this is just my onion. No one REALLY knows what's going to happen.

Who knows what things will look like in a year or two, BUT I remember my first ever DCL trip- 2010 height of the recession, 3 adults, 1 child, KSF, 12 night Baltic cruise over 4th of July for....$5400 oceanview. Thats one reason the current prices shock me, when I remember the last recession/recovery prices.

Who knows if we’ll have the same kind of downturn or if they’ll be a fast release of pent up demand, but at $20k for some of the summer cruises a 50% drop isn’t as crazy as the idea of WDW closing for 3+ months would have been to me in Feb.

 

[Canadian Girl]

I keep hearing people say they won't do this or that until a vaccine. That may never happen and even if it does, so what. We have a Flu Vaccine/Shot and people still get that and some still have fatal results. I don't want to stop doing the things that I enjoy and make life worth living.

The flu shot saves a lot of lives each year. Most children I read about in the media, who died this past winter with flu, and most younger people hospitalized had not been vaccinated. The elderly have immune systems that don’t always provide full immunity . That’s why it’s even more important for others at less risk to be covered to help protect the more vulnerable.

 

[goingtoexpo!!]

I don't like to think about it too much. Whenever I think of coming off the elevator onto deck 11, I get sad.

 

[MillauFr]

Who knows if we’ll have the same kind of downturn or if they’ll be a fast release of pent up demand, but at $20k for some of the summer cruises a 50% drop isn’t as crazy as the idea of WDW closing for 3+ months would have been to me in Feb.

I wish they would but more likely is they will attempt to fill the empty cabins by offering big discounts to DVC members. The DVCers will have plenty of points since the resorts have been closed and Disney knows they can get them to book. I don't think Disney wants to admit they are going to have to lower pricing.

 

[BartmanLA]

I wish they would but more likely is they will attempt to fill the empty cabins by offering big discounts to DVC members. The DVCers will have plenty of points since the resorts have been closed and Disney knows they can get them to book. I don't think Disney wants to admit they are going to have to lower pricing.

I'm booked on the 2021 WBPC on the Wonder, the entire cruise is SOLD OUT, no staterooms available, the group I'm on has over 500 members anxious to sail, that's 25% of the entire ships complement... I don't think there's going to be a problem filling up the ships when they start sailing again, at least I'm sure hoping to go on his cruise next Feb.

 

[tamu91]

No doubt people will return to cruising, probably lot sooner than most of us would feel safe

 

[gotomu212]

I'm booked on the 2021 WBPC on the Wonder, the entire cruise is SOLD OUT, no staterooms available, the group I'm on has over 500 members anxious to sail, that's 25% of the entire ships complement... I don't think there's going to be a problem filling up the ships when they start sailing again, at least I'm sure hoping to go on his cruise next Feb.

There are inside rooms available right now. The true test of all of these cruises will be PIF. That happens on a lot of limited specialty cruises when you hit PIF and it goes from pretty full to VGTs.

Fingers crosses for you guys- we met some of our best cruising friends on a DCL WBPC.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We almost certainly will. I'm not sure when, but once society opens back up we're going to be exposed to this anyway. I don't think we'll go back to the old normal, so if cruising changes drastically in a way that wouldn't make it enjoyable to us we might not, but that would be the only reason for us to give up on it.

My feelings exactly.

 

[cgolf]

The real question after this is will peoples spending habits change? Will people start to put aside more money for times like this. There are people that live close to the paycheck to paycheck line because of spending and not saving. Perhaps a nice car, DCL cruise, new phones every year, etc. It will be interesting to see. We are super thrifty, and maybe do fast food twice a month, Culvers, and pay for a sit down meal 3 to 5 times a year and that includes using one of the coupon books to get one meal free or discounted, and shop as many sales as possible for groceries and clothes. There are a lot too that have to live paycheck to paycheck.

It will be interesting to see if some people become more thrifty and decide that something like a DCL cruise is a luxury they can do without, or say once every three years instead of once or twice a year when this is all over. That on top of the unemployment numbers when this is over, expect many will get their jobs back, but not all.

We will and while we will be cautious, we won't worry about it too much. The Influenza A this year was a flu virus that was a virus of concern a few years back, so like that one this one won't go away any time soon. Although the first SARS magically disappeared, but I don't think we will get that lucky with this one.

That said reading comments on local FB stories, I think that there will be a group of people that will stay away from things like cruises, airplanes, subways and other mass transit, and just large public gatherings in general for a while. I also think that there will be a small percentage of people that will even be afraid to venture from home for a while. I think there is a going to be a large impact post virus, even for those that didn't get it. I just hope that the world bounces back from this and is in a good place, but it won't happen overnight.

On CC a poster mentioned that the virus hotspots have been centered around bigger cities with mass transit, international airports, people living in close proximity, etc which is interesting when you think about it.

I also think that you will see lower fares, because they will need to draw people back to cruising. We hadn't started cruising yet, but it sounds as if prices dropped or stayed low for a long time post 9/11. How long this lasts depends on how long it takes the economy to bounce back. Just because some of us on the boards still can afford to cruise, there are a lot of people out there that won't be able to for quite a while financially.

 

[KashasMom]

What will they do if demand doesn't pick up? How will they respond?

That will NEVER happen. There are too many people that are extremely loyal to Disney. I'm sure if you asked here if people would cruise at the same price as soon as Disney opened cruising (assuming it's "safe") you'd find enough people to fill their ships. There hasn't been anything to scare enough people away from Disney including their continuously rising prices.

 

[cgolf]

I think with the cruise line specifically some have found a different line, and they have just filled our rooms with new cruisers that will buy as much DCL gear as we still have in our closets and cupboards. Not sure on the parks though, I know with the pricing changes and how tickets could be used, my very pro Disney coworker and his family have really changed their habits with visiting Disney. They can't be the only one. When the great recession happened they did have a hard time filling ships up until I am guessing around the time we started cruising. I remember within our first three DCL cruises they were still running kids sale free on Alaska for sure, not sure if other itineraries as well. So it can happen, it really just depends on how bad the economy really is.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I'm very curious about what pricing will look like for fall/early winter of 2021. I plan to book a New Year's cruise, and am looking eagerly toward the release of those sailing dates & prices. I predict that we won't see a price increase from the previous year, just to start. Unless by release it looks like the fall of 2020 will be completely shut down, they probably won't price fall of 2021 actually lower just to avoid people jumping ship from fall '20 to fall '21. But I do predict no annual increase. And if by release fall of '20' is actually shut down (unlikely), then I predict significantly lower prices for fall of '21.