Going on my first cruise post COVID

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We ended up booking a cruise to the Mexican Riviera and set sail in just under 2 weeks. Pretty excited. I did a rough count of available cabins and I'm guessing my sailing is going to be about 65% full. The sailing this week seems to be around 50% full based on some comments on cruise critic.

 

[Koolau]

We ended up booking a cruise to the Mexican Riviera and set sail in just under 2 weeks. Pretty excited. I did a rough count of available cabins and I'm guessing my sailing is going to be about 65% full. The sailing this week seems to be around 50% full based on some comments on cruise critic.

What would be a typical booking - especially pre-pandemic? The only cruise we took seemed to be virtually full but that was in the early 80s.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

What would be a typical booking - especially pre-pandemic? The only cruise we took seemed to be virtually full but that was in the early 80s.

Hmm, that's a good question. I'm not really sure, particularly pre-pandemic.
On the CC boards I'm currently reading, it's pretty variable: from 50% to nearly full. Part of the issue IMO is likely the uncertainty of Asian destinations like Japan and China opening back up to foreign cruise ships. Lines likely allocated ships to Asia this year with the hopes of certain itineraries opening up in 2022 but then needing to cancel the original Asian itinerary when countries didn't open up, plan a new itinerary, and try to fill those cabins within months.

There's been a lot of capacity added with many new ships coming online the last few years. That would make me guess that sailings pre-pandemic would be pretty full enough to justify the capital investments.

 

[Koolau]

I wonder how the cruise lines are paying for their inflated fuel costs. IIRC we had a discussion on board the only cruise I ever took. I think the steward we talked to said it took a gallon of bunker oil to move the ship 12 feet. Also, IIRC, there were bigger costs on cruises - like food and empl*yees. YMMV

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I would guess cruise lines hedge their fuel costs with future contracts like some airlines do so they would have some cost certainty for their cruises during certain periods (??).

I was always under the impression that cruises only allocate about $10-20/day/person for food so it's a relatively small expense. And that on top of that, there's now all these specialty restaurants that generate additional revenue.
Found a reference from a cruise blogger I follow:
https://emmacruises.com/cruise-food-how-much-do-cruise-ships-spend-per-cruise-and-per-person

A lot of the service employees are dependent on gratuities for most of their compensation and such are dependent on full ships. The cruise lines likely struggled with proper staffing levels as they relaunched this year. IIRC, I read some complaints of a lack of crew on some sailings. On the sailings not selling, there are some decent sales and incentives. I've also read of free cruises (you pay the taxes, fees, and gratuities) being offered to previous cruisers that are part of the line's casino loyalty program. Very likely to help fill the cabins so that staff can get paid. I'm curious if the lines are topping up wages for emptier sailings.

 

[DrRoy]

What would be a typical booking - especially pre-pandemic? The only cruise we took seemed to be virtually full but that was in the early 80s.

Pre-pandemic all of our cruises were nearly full. In Jan this year we did two short ones back to back out of LA. One was about half and the other was 3/8 full. A Danube river cruise in May was full.

 

[friar1610]

We leave in one week for our first cruise in 2 1/2 years. That’s if there’s enough water in the Rhine River to float our boat.

Just ran across this thread to which I had posted a while ago. There was indeed enough water in the Rhine to complete the cruise normally. We tacked on a few extra days in Zurich. Unfortunately, either on the cruise or in Zurich, I contracted COVID. It wasn’t awful but I don’t necessarily want to go through it again.

Incidentally, this was our first Viking river cruise after having been on several river cruises with other lines and 3 Viking Ocean cruises. We thought the overall Viking river experience was a notch below the ocean experience. Part was due to the smaller ship size with less room for some of the amenities available on the ocean ships. But even the service, although excellent, wasn’t quite as good as on the bigger ships. I liken it to the ocean ships being like the major leagues and the river being AAA baseball. Perhaps an unfair comparison because I haven’t experienced the ocean ships post-COVID and we may have seen an understaffing situation that the ocean ships are also dealing with. But that’s still my story and I’m stickin’ with it.

 

[Sunset]

...

Incidentally, this was our first Viking river cruise after having been on several river cruises with other lines and 3 Viking Ocean cruises. We thought the overall Viking river experience was a notch below the ocean experience. Part was due to the smaller ship size with less room for some of the amenities available on the ocean ships. But even the service, although excellent, wasn’t quite as good as on the bigger ships. I liken it to the ocean ships being like the major leagues and the river being AAA baseball. Perhaps an unfair comparison because I haven’t experienced the ocean ships post-COVID and we may have seen an understaffing situation that the ocean ships are also dealing with. But that’s still my story and I’m stickin’ with it.

We did the 15 day Grand European Viking river cruise , and a couple of years later a Viking Ocean cruise. All were pre-covid. We considered the Ocean service & meal service to be less than the River cruise quality.

An example was, on the river cruise, it was pretty automatic for the staff to offer to refill our beverage, on the ocean cruise we had to wave them down to come over so we could request a refill.

The Viking Ocean ship had more amenities as it was larger, including shows, but some of the shows were pitiful compared to normal cruise ships.

 

[Koolau]

We did the 15 day Grand European Viking river cruise , and a couple of years later a Viking Ocean cruise. All were pre-covid. We considered the Ocean service & meal service to be less than the River cruise quality.

An example was, on the river cruise, it was pretty automatic for the staff to offer to refill our beverage, on the ocean cruise we had to wave them down to come over so we could request a refill.

The Viking Ocean ship had more amenities as it was larger, including shows, but some of the shows were pitiful compared to normal cruise ships.

That's scary. The only cruise I was on (the big C) the shows were already pitiful. You see ads with what look like Vegas style stages and in reality, there's a curtain tacked up and about 5 performers is the most that would fit on the stage. Reasonably talented performers but the "effect" was 2nd rate at best. YMMV

 

[PG_Photo_Gal]

I have booked a cruise for March 2023. Final payment isn't until December, so I have until then to make a final decision. One of my dreams for retirement was to take a warm weather vacation in the winter, and cruising is a fairly inexpensive way to do it. Fingers crossed!

I have booked a balcony cabin, will mask indoors, and spend most of my time outdoors. Definitely will avoid crowded spaces.

 

[Sunset]

I have booked a cruise for March 2023. Final payment isn't until December, so I have until then to make a final decision. One of my dreams for retirement was to take a warm weather vacation in the winter, and cruising is a fairly inexpensive way to do it. Fingers crossed!

I have booked a balcony cabin, will mask indoors, and spend most of my time outdoors. Definitely will avoid crowded spaces.

Sounds good, which Cruise line ?

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Just back from our cruise to the Mexican Riviera. Had a great time and can't wait to book another one.
Ship was about 55% full based on what the crew were telling us. I didn't wear a mask but the missus did strategically. There were a few times during events, raffles, etc where we were packed in like sardines. About 5-10% of the pax and staff wore masks.

 

[PG_Photo_Gal]

Sounds good, which Cruise line ?

MSC Cruises on the Divina out of Miami. I have never tried them before, and they get mixed reviews, so we'll see how it goes. Price was definitely right for a solo cruise.

 

[Sunset]

The news reports a princess ship docked in Australia with about 800 covid cases..

All were minor and they were allowed to leave the ship. It's roughly 20% of the people got infected on a 12 day trip.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kelseyweekman/majestic-princess-cruise-ship-australia-800-covid-cases?ref=upstract.com

 

[Coach Shoe]

We went on a post pandemic cruise to Greek Isles w/o a problem. Then did European land trip where both contacted COVID. (Mild symptoms). We leave on a 140 day World Cruise in January. Fingers crossed.

 

[Sunset]

We went on a post pandemic cruise to Greek Isles w/o a problem. Then did European land trip where both contacted COVID. (Mild symptoms). We leave on a 140 day World Cruise in January. Fingers crossed.

What happens if you get mildly sick, I guess you can hide it for a few days and then carry on with the cruise.
But what will happen if you are noticed being sick, do you get kicked off the cruise and lose out on the rest of the trip and $$

 

[Koolau]

^^^^^^^

Are cruise lines no longer screening for Covid before each cruise?

 

[Dash man]

^^^^^^^



Are cruise lines no longer screening for Covid before each cruise?

Testing isn’t required. I think they ask if you’re vaccinated, but it’s not required. We’re leaving on one Dec 31, and those are what we’ve been told.

 

[Amethyst]

I have a cruise coming up with Regent Seven Seas, which is a Norwegian line. They ask you to present your vaccination credentials, while adding that you would be prudent to get tested before the cruise, and that if you do turn up with COVID during the cruise, they will isolate you. Given that I contracted COVID once already after four shots, I'm a bit nervous about it all.

Unvaccinated passengers must present a negative COVID test - not a home test, either - time/dated no more than 72 hours before sailing.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We found it pretty loosey goosey for our recent cruise with X.
We filled in a health check form on X's app the day before boarding. I filled in that we were vaccinated and boosted and did not have any symptoms. During check-in, they just checked that we submitted our info but didn't ask us to present any proof of our vaccination or boosters even though we were ready with our vaccination details on our phones.

Proof of vaccination was also a non-event entering the US or returning to Canada.

 

[ElizabethT]

We will be going on our 24th & 25th cruises next summer, one to Greek Isles, the other to Alaska.

We were on the last cruise to circle S. America successfully in early 2020, before COVID shut down the cruise industry.

We took a cruise to Mexico this past December, our first since the pandemic began.

All to say that we have never contracted Noro or COVID on a cruise. Those two lovelies were contracted by us both after trips by plane, one back from Asia and the other back from Europe. So I view the air travel as the perilous piece, not the cruise ship. YMMV

 

[Koolau]

We will be going on our 24th & 25th cruises next summer, one to Greek Isles, the other to Alaska.

We were on the last cruise to circle S. America successfully in early 2020, before COVID shut down the cruise industry.

We took a cruise to Mexico this past December, our first since the pandemic began.

All to say that we have never contracted Noro or COVID on a cruise. Those two lovelies were contracted by us both after trips by plane, one back from Asia and the other back from Europe. So I view the air travel as the perilous piece, not the cruise ship. YMMV

Great! One more thing to worry about during air travel. Apparently, the little "wipes" the airlines hand out for your tray table and personal space don't do anything to curb the disease either. Just lovely.

 

[Amethyst]

I will be flying on LATAM within South America. I plan to mask up, for what good it may do. Probably should get my vax ticket punched for a fifth time, as well.

 

[Souschef]

We were more concerned about the Noro virus. We had a can of special Lysol disinfectant with us. When we got to our cabin, the steward opened the door, and then we sprayed the handles inside and out.
Next was the remote control and the telephone. Then all the drawer knobs and the entire bathroom.
That may sound over the top, but we were on a 32 day cruise and did not want to come down with anything.

 

[audreyh1]

We were more concerned about the Noro virus. We had a can of special Lysol disinfectant with us. When we got to our cabin, the steward opened the door, and then we sprayed the handles inside and out.
Next was the remote control and the telephone. Then all the drawer knobs and the entire bathroom.
That may sound over the top, but we were on a 32 day cruise and did not want to come down with anything.

What about dishes and eating utensils when dining onboard? Seems like that would be a common source. You can wash your hands before and after, but during your meal your dining service is handled by other people.