Carnival Bookings Up 200%

[cman]

I never saw this one coming.

Carnival Bookings Spike as Cruises Set to Resume in August

Carnival Cruise enthusiasts aren't letting a pandemic scare them away from booking their spots now.

www.tmz.com

 

[Luanne]

Natural selection?

 

[TravelTime]

I am not surprised. I said on another thread that if big ship cruising were my thing, I would have no fear about resuming cruising. I also said with the great deals that Carnival is offering, I could see many people taking advantage of it. People have been stuck at home for months. If the government says it is safe to go out and travel, people will do it. Especially for $28 per day (I am assuming that is an inside cabin). I am glad to hear people are ready to get out of their homes and they are not living in fear.

 

[Luanne]

I am glad to hear people are ready to get out of their homes and they are not living in fear.

I'm really sick of that phrase. Because I choose to NOT go out unless necessary, because I choose NOT to travel at this time, because I choose NOT to eat in a restaurant, go to a gym, etc., etc., etc. does NOT mean I am living in fear. It means , for me MY opinion only, that I am being careful, not just for myself, but for the other members of my family. We are in risk groups for several reasons.

 

[TravelTime]

I'm really sick of that phrase. Because I choose to NOT go out unless necessary, because I choose NOT to travel at this time, because I choose NOT to eat in a restaurant, go to a gym, etc., etc., etc. does NOT mean I am living in fear. It means , for me MY opinion only, that I am being careful, not just for myself, but for the other members of my family. We are in risk groups for several reasons.

I do not judge people who wish to stay at home. I am just happy that many people are willing to take a risk to live life. We all need to make our own choices. You can eliminate your risk by staying home 100% of the time. That is fine. We all have different risk tolerances. We all have different values. For some of us, freedom is a value. For others, health is more important. We all have reasons for believing what we do. We need to respect all opinions and points of view.

BTW, I have also chosen not to go out unless necessary, not to travel in 2020, not to go out to eat in restaurants, to wear a mask when going out, to practice social distancing, etc. Yet I applaud people who want to live their lives differently.

 

[Cornell]

WOW! I’m surprised by this. But it’s a good surprise

 

[Luanne]

@TravelTime I didn't think it was aimed at me personally. I was just expressing my frustration with that phrase, which I have heard from others as well.

 

[Panina]

Wow, what happens to the cruise when an asymptomatic person gets on the cruise and others get it? A few day cruise and many might go home carriers, long cruises and multiple sicknesses and quarantined ships?

I am all to moving on the best we can but to me this is a disaster in the making. The virus is still active, it didn’t go away, still no concrete treatment. We just flattened the curve so hospital beds are available. Sorry I just see hard lessons to be learned.

 

[normab]

I believe it...

I want to book a cruise for 2022. We use the Costco travel agent to book. I couldn’t get through today and they wouldn’t even do a call back, the message just said try again later. I would do the booking online but I need an agent to use future cruise credit for the deposit...and if you read cruisecritic.com, they are busy with new reservations, not just cancellations. Lots of cruisers can’t wait to get back out there....

PS. Everyone needs to do what is right for them. No judgement here.

 

[dioxide45]

I think this is more like the timeshare sales technique, buy now because we are selling out! My wife and I are both travel agents, though we don't do a lot of volume. Reading in agent forums and such, I see no real indication that Carnival or any other bookings are way up. Perhaps up 200% from April bookings? Which were very low. Also, any bookings now are by people just trying to burn all the future cruise credit they have from past cancellations, not many new cash bookings.

 

[CO skier]

Natural selection?

Or informed adults calling bs on over-reactions to a run-of-the-mill virus.

Many informed adults called bs on the media-hyped novovirus and booked cruises -- for years following the outbreak.

 

[PigsDad]

Reading in agent forums and such, I see no real indication that Carnival or any other bookings are way up. Perhaps up 200% from April bookings? Which were very low.

The article said bookings were up 200% from the same time period in 2019. With that said, I think much of that could be due to pent-up demand -- they just opened up some cruising dates with some great rates, so people jumped at the opportunity.

Kurt

 

[cman]

Or informed adults calling bs on over-reactions to a run-of-the-mill virus.

Would this be the same, "informed adults", that insisted that this was just the flu? What happened to those people?

 

[pedro47]

We are cruisers, but we will not book a cruise until after 2020. Are the cruise ports going to be open??. I have not heard any Caribbean countries officially opening up their ports or beaches to the cruise lines.

Please name the cruise ports that are officially open? Thanks for your information.

 

[Bucky]

LOL. There is no clue what people will do when given a choice. The cruise industry had enough problems all on their own before the pandemic. Seems like their was a report almost weekly of another ship having a health attack of some type or another. Personally I think they should all be turned into casinos/hotels and docked like the Queen Mary.

 

[Brett]

Would this be the same, "informed adults", that insisted that this was just the flu? What happened to those people?

yes, good question. whatever happened to those people


.
(I'm not booking any cruises this year)

 

[bluehende]

yes, good question. whatever happened to those people


.
(I'm not booking any cruises this year)

They are still here turning even interesting conversations about cruise bookings into arguments.

 

[geekette]

....Also, any bookings now are by people just trying to burn all the future cruise credit they have from past cancellations, not many new cash bookings.

That is a very interesting tidbit!

 

[geekette]

Or informed adults calling bs on over-reactions to a run-of-the-mill virus.

Many informed adults called bs on the media-hyped novovirus and booked cruises -- for years following the outbreak.

I don't think anyone ever died from norovirus. You can consider a pandemic to be run of the mill, but I sure don't. Doesn't seem like many countries in the world consider it to be Nothing of Concern.

 

[dioxide45]

LOL. There is no clue what people will do when given a choice. The cruise industry had enough problems all on their own before the pandemic. Seems like their was a report almost weekly of another ship having a health attack of some type or another. Personally I think they should all be turned into casinos/hotels and docked like the Queen Mary.

Docking ships doesn't change the actual situation on board; small rooms, close quarters, shared common areas. I get that you think they should do that and you don't like cruising. However if people understand the risks and are willing to take the risk and likely pay higher prices long term because of new protocols, then they should be able to take the type of vacation they like.

I am also not sure of what weekly health attacks you are referring to? Ships over the years have had issues with Norovirus (Why are people are okay calling it Norovirus? It was named after an outbreak in Norwalk Ohio). Those certainly weren't weekly, but the media likes to sensationalize them. A cruise ship is probably kept cleaner than any other type of vacation method. I would trust my cruise cabin to be cleaner than a timeshare villa. Same with the buffet on a cruise ship to be cleaner than the local Golden Corral and the main dining room to be cleaner than a five star restaurant on land. Sanitation standards are already high on a cruise ship and I expect them to get even higher.

You can look at cruise ship Norovirus cases at the CDC website.

• 10 Ships in 2019 had Norovirus or unknown outbreaks.
• 1,201 reported cases out of 30,000,000 people who cruised in 2019 (s.CLIA)
• 0.004% of cruise passengers reported norovirus while onboard ships with an outbreak. There are likely many unreported cases.

Norovirus in the United States;
Each year, on average in the United States, norovirus causes:

• 900 deaths, mostly among adults 65 and older
• 109,000 hospitalizations
• 465,000 emergency department visits, mostly in young children
• 2,270,000 outpatient clinic visits annually, mostly in young children
• 19 to 21 million cases of vomiting and diarrhea illnesses

Those numbers indicate that 6% of the US population comes down with Norovirus every year. Perhaps people should stop living on land and we all move on to cruise ships?

 

[dioxide45]

I don't think anyone ever died from norovirus. You can consider a pandemic to be run of the mill, but I sure don't. Doesn't seem like many countries in the world consider it to be Nothing of Concern.

Apparently people do die, see my prior post. Looks like a death rate of about 0.004%. Surprisingly, that is the same rate as just the infection rate of Norovirus on a cruise ship. So the same percentage of people who get sick and die is the same percentage that just get sick on a ship.

 

[TravelTime]

If the CDC says it is safe for Carnival to start sailing in August, then it seems okay if people want to take a cruise. I am assuming the cruise lines will put safety protocols in place. As I understand, Carnival has not committed to sailing in August. They said it depends on safety. I am not a big ship cruiser and I certainly would not sail on Carnival, but I think people will start traveling again when it is deemed safe. People are already starting to travel. Look at how many Tuggers have travel plans that they are hoping to keep and/or moving forward with. There is pent up demand to travel.

 

[geekette]

...If the CDC says it is safe

CDC said it was safe for health care providers to use bandanas as PPE. Careful with how much credence you give them in making your personal decisions.

 

[TravelTime]

Carnival Plans to Sail Again in August, Maybe
The company’s flagship line said eight of its ships could begin cruising on Aug. 1, though it later said “there is no assurance” it would start sailing again on that date.

Over the course of Monday, Carnival Cruise Line backtracked several times as it outlined its plans to start sailing this summer. In an initial statement, the company said it planned to “resume cruises” on the eight ships “beginning August 1.”

In a second statement, the company played down the possibility of an Aug. 1 start date, saying that “any resumption of cruise operations — whenever that may be — is fully dependent” on discussions with government officials.

Carnival Plans to Sail Again in August, Maybe (Published 2020)

The company’s flagship line said eight of its ships could begin cruising on Aug. 1, though it later said “there is no assurance” it would start sailing again on that date.

www.nytimes.com

 

[TravelTime]

CDC has a no sail order until July 24 but I am assuming they could extend this order if they deem cruising is still unsafe.

Cruise Ship Guidance | Quarantine | CDC

CDC’s guidance for cruise ships operating in U.S. waters

www.cdc.gov