Our S, DIL, and 2 year old GS are planning to fly to see us in Texas from NYC sometime this summer. The 2 adults have tested positive for antibodies and the little one most assuredly had the virus also - all in mid-March. So they are thinking they are okay to travel here and interact with us. I hope so - 6 months is a long time not to see our only GS.
Our flight to Rome in October changed, without notice, from Austin-Dallas-Rome to Austin-Dallas. Of course had no trouble getting our non-refundable miles redeposited with no fee. I just hated giving up my good deal. We’ve rescheduled our trip for the same time next year. We plan to tour Sicily on our own and then cruise back to Florida from Rome. I’m not comfortable with a cruise or an international flight this fall.
We catch a cold every time we fly or cruise, even with all the precautions we can think of. Can’t imagine effectively staving off something so much more contagious and dangerous.
It’s still challenging for airports to have effective screening of passengers from all I’ve read so those are largely challenging and no one knows who is coming in from where with what symptoms.
There are still challenges having adequately fast and reliable tests for presence of the virus or antibodies. This is making some venues very wary of travelers and continue as a major stumbling block. Our state is grappling with all of this.
Additionally, acquiring adequate N95 masks at affordable prices continues to be challenging for places (like dental offices) who want to reopen safely.
Have not yet seen what restaurants locally will do for reopening to dining, tho that’s slated for 6/5.
I’m definitely not interested in cruising—we only went on one cruise and weren’t all that enthused about it. I’m very disappointed at how the passengers and employees were treated by cruise companies and how the ships are huge vectors of infection.
I am starting to think about the possibility of the Caribbean next winter, or maybe Key West. No idea how things will be then really, so would only want to book someplace refundable and with changeable airfare.
Can’t think of any place I would rather not be then a cruise. Our good friends are cruisers and they dragged us with them about 15 years ago. I hated everything, except the days we were actually cruising and not in a port. It reminded me of Vegas but on the ocean. And I hate Vegas.
Add me to the cruise hater list. We took a Norwegian cruise out of nyc 8 years ago and everyone hated it. Waited in line to do everything, get meals, get off the boat, get on the boat, get umbrella for the beach, pool was too crowded, Days at sea with nothing much to do, tiny room, etc…it was awful. Worst vacation ever, totally not our thing. Funny thing was, no one complained while we were on the trip. But when we got back home, I said “I don’t think I want to go on a cruise again”, then my husband said “gosh no way it was awful”, my daughter “omg I hated it”. My 7 years old son at the time “if I had a family I would never bring my family on a cruise!” ??.
Thanks for your honesty guys! I didn’t think it was that bad lol. Gotta give them credit to keep it all in until it was over though lol.
We’ve pondered cruises - and totally rejected them. My mom loved them and kept telling us to just try one. We’ll still pass.
I might make one exception for Alaska, but on the other hand, the Alaskan ferry is pretty appealing. Hmm, maybe an exception for the Panama Canal at some point. It’s not anywhere near the top of the bucket (list) though.
We went on our first cruise, spring break 2009. My sons were 15 and 12. The ship was gorgeous, the largest cruise ship that year In the world. (by 2 inches from its sister ship). It really was unbelievable. But it was one of our least favorite vacations, except for the 12 year old.
We were really bored during cruise days, and spent the time just looking forward to cocktail hour, dinner and entertainment. I’m glad we went just to experience it, but not for us.
We did get a kick out of the 12 year old wanting to get through dinner quickly so he could “go clubbing”. He had made a friend, maybe it’s easier at that age than 15. The 15 year old was more bored than us.
Usually after our vacations, we all can’t stop talking about how great it was, etc. this time no one said much of anything.
Cruises are great for large gatherings, a big family get togethers. Gives a chance to hang with each other, travel logistics are taken care of, eating sleeping, light entertainments.
We went on a ten day southern Caribbean cruise with 17 others. It was a lot of fun. At each port, we got off and did something either fun or informative…or both. Our group was part of a lot of what was going on in the evenings too…karaoke, couples game, shows, etc. We did some sitting around too…but not a lot. Several of us got spa times, everyone went to the gym, participated in a fund raising walk around the ships deck. We took a jewelry making class, ballroom dancing, scrapbooking.
As I look at the list, I can see that the cruise industry will need to “reinvent” some of their on ship entertainment and activities.
The 17 of us ranged in age from high school to grandparents. There was something for everyone.
I know some folks don’t find cruises fun, entertaining etc…and never want to set foot on a cruise ship again.
We, however, wanted to do the Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Athens, and the 10 cruise around the Hawaiian Islands (that’s the one we were supposed to do January 2021). I think all of that is completely on hold for many reasons.
It will be interesting to see how the cruise lines change what they are doing.
We were cruise skeptics but did our first one in the Baltic when our D was in middle school. We absolutely loved it! It was on Norwegian but one of the “smaller” 2000 passenger ships. The only port we had issues with disembarking was in St. Petersburg but that was because of the Russian boarder control, not the ship (and they prepared us). 9 day cruise with only one sea day. We also took D to Bermuda as her graduation trip on a cruise but we knew there were would be more days at sea so upgraded to a big 2 bedroom suite. We were all exhausted from graduation and moving, and it was amazing sitting on our own spacious deck, reading on lounge chairs, and relaxing until port. Lots of perks for suite passengers too in terms of private breakfast, snacks, etc…
We were planning on a Greek Isle small ship cruise this spring but obviously that got cancelled and I don’t see heading on a cruise vacation anytime soon.
My parents cruise 3-4 times per year. They were scheduled for a cruise from Brazil to Barcelona in March. They postponed it until next year. Hopefully they will feel comfortable taking it.
I also love to cruise. We have probably taken 10 over the years. We cruised around the Hawaiian islands in February. I’m happy we didn’t schedule it any later. For Hawaii, we viewed the cruise as floating hotel that permitted us to visit 4 islands in one week. We were planning to take a Caribbean cruise this fall for a friend’s 60th birthday. Luckily we never booked it. We might celebrate 61 instead, but no decisions will be made this year.
My sister cruised once. Hated it. And I bet she would refuse to join us even if our parents offered to buy. She is also worried about 2 of her kids who are prone to motion sickness.
No disrespect at all intended as I know humans are vastly different in their preferences (and that’s ok!), but the absolute last way I’d ever want to see Hawaii is from a cruise ship. They come in for a short period of time, everything is crowded and rushed, then they leave before really getting to experience much. When we’ve been there we’ve purposely plotted our times around when ships or their buses were in. We’ve done that in other places too.
I suspect our rural loving nature has us preferring less crowds and more meandering time elsewhere. I know we have personal friends who prefer quick and highlights. Then there’s a couple who doesn’t even like to travel, period. Humans differ.
My mom loved the cruise ships because she loved casinos and being pampered with no effort necessary on her part aside from paying for whatever shore excursion she wanted. Plenty of food. Plenty of people bringing her anything at her beck and call. She liked casinos on land too.
To us, the fun of travel is in investigating, anticipating, exploring, and being able to be spontaneous. Even when my mom traveled with us she wanted us to do all the legwork - and that was fine since I love doing it.
We don’t care for resorts much either except at Disney where we love the Polynesian (though it was better before their “upgrade” for our preferences). We love AirBnBs and local guides (when needed).
The only cruise we ever took was in the Caribbean Christmas week 2002. The kids were 15 and 12.
The 15yo met a group of kids the first night and we only saw him for dinner and shore excursions the entire cruise. He was the only one of us to have a good time.
The 12yo would show up for his age group activities and be the only kid there. He went swimming by himself, played mini-golf by himself, and spent alot of time in the arcade.
DH and I won several trivia games, but that was the only activity we enjoyed. We’re not into the games they played poolside, and you couldn’t find a chair anywhere near any of the pools anyway. We’re not into non-stop eating. Some of our port calls were shortened because we arrived late. We haven’t gone on another cruise since.
I would consider an Alaska, Mediterranean, or European river cruise, but not anytime in the near future.
We’ve been on a few cruises (we were skeptical too at the beginning) but we did like them. I think there are places where a cruise works well - and for certain groups. Not for everyone, or for all places.
One of my husband’s favorite activities is hiking in NH. Spur of the moment trip typically. However, he called last week and found that we now need reservations before going on a hike. This is going to be interesting - he’s typically not one to plan these trips, but it looks like we will have to.
My favorite day trip is a drive over to Maine for the day - love walking along the beaches there. Or the cape. Again, sounds like something we can’t do spontaneously any more…
We’ve been on several cruises. Most recent was canceled and we decided to cancel our one for next year in favor of going back to camping. I said to my husband over the weekend that I feel just a sense of peace camping that I don’t feel anywhere else. I just made a list of my top 10 places I want to visit in the near future and I’m so much more excited about planning that than a cruise.
Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed our cruise vacations, but if you ask my college junior what his favorite vacation was as a kid, I’d put money on him saying the Shenandoah Mountains in our camper - not the three cruises he’s been on. Sometimes there’s something to be said for simplicity…
I just asked him…didn’t even skip a beat…“Shenandoah”. Huh.
The only “cruise” I’ve been on was a riverboat trip to Valaam Island. Summer of 2008… our trip to Europe. A friend of our friends who was our Saint Petersburg guide arranged the experience for us. The day hike around the island and tours of the monastery were spectacular. That was worth spending a couple of days on a restored Soviet era riverboat (it was not that bad!).
When I open this thread, I periodically see ads about shipping RVs to Alaska. Apparently, people do this instead of driving there. Canada is closed to US visitors for another month, so that option might look like a good one for anyone thinking about touring Alaska in their motorhome.
