Can you see cruise holidays ever recovering ?

[Dave7]

Prior to this virus there were a number of cases were sickness overtook an entire cruise ship.......just one person catches something or a bit of food poisoning and you have nowhere to go.
WITH this virus there have been cruise ships with 100s dying and no real way to help them.
We were close to booking a cruise around Croatia this year but chose a land holiday............now there is absolutely no way we would go on a cruise.
There must be £billions of new, super big/super luxury cruise ships that will just sit there empty.
I cannot see it recovering for many years.

 

[Gunk]

They’ll have to sail with vastly reduced passenger numbers which means it just won’t be profitable, so like you say I can’t see it recovering.

 

[Slick]

I think it will eventually but there is bound to be casualties along the way as much like the airport industry 8 think it will be at least 2 years before they do. They were never my favourite ways of holidaying but I certainly wouldn't fancy going on one anytime soon.

 

[sleuthey]

Yes the liners are built to last decades and as long as they are maintained whilst they are alongside they are an asset that can be put straight back into service. The maintenance cost should be relatively small compared to the fuel and manning costs when in use. I assume they are owned by the cruise companies as fixed assets not leased so as long as they can retain the staff when the furlow ends they should be ok

 

[MarkF]

They'll be up and running by winter. If we can't fly then l'd go on a winter sun cruise.

 

[snorri]

there have been cruise ships with 100s dying

I hadn't heard of things being as bad as that, where did you get this information?

 

[NorthernDave]

I've never seen the attraction, floating around in a seaborne Petri dish, but a mate and his wife absolutely love them and are busting at the gut to book another cruise as soon as it's safe to do so.

Rather them than me.

 

[Alex H]

I hadn't heard of things being as bad as that, where did you get this information?

think it may be 'rumour' - THIS is the definitive cruise death website (allegedly)

 

[GM]

Prior to this virus there were a number of cases were sickness overtook an entire cruise ship.......just one person catches something or a bit of food poisoning and you have nowhere to go.
WITH this virus there have been cruise ships with 100s dying and no real way to help them.
We were close to booking a cruise around Croatia this year but chose a land holiday............now there is absolutely no way we would go on a cruise.
There must be £billions of new, super big/super luxury cruise ships that will just sit there empty.
I cannot see it recovering for many years.

Jane McDonald's out of a job then

 

[Slick]

Jane McDonald's out of a job then

We live in hope.

 

[snorri]

think it may be 'rumour' - THIS is the definitive cruise death website (allegedly)

Yes, I think it is just rumour, according to Wikipedia the death toll is less than 100.
That cruise death website is quite something, I have scanned many shipping websites over the years but had not heard of that site before, not sure that I want to hear of it again.

 

[slowmotion]

I don't think the current mass market model of toxic overcrowding, diarrhoea and drunken brawling is sustainable.

Smaller cruise ships have a better chance but they'll be expensive.

 

[MarkF]

I've never seen the attraction, floating around in a seaborne Petri dish, but a mate and his wife absolutely love them and are busting at the gut to book another cruise as soon as it's safe to do so.

Rather them than me.

I'll give you pros and cons Dave and like you I have never seen the attraction of cruises but know people who swear by them. I've spent long time in many port cities and cringed as regular bar & restaurant A boards were replaced with others at a mega mark up, yep, a load of dullard cruisers are arriving!

Me & MrsF decided to try one for some late sun a couple of years ago, first package deal either of us had been on in over 30 years. We booked one to do go down Portugal, so Porto, Lisbon, then onto a resort (?), Gibralter, Malaga and Casablanca. I think the cost was about £850 for 7 nights and it was phenomenal value.

Cons.
Spending time with a lot of fatsos. Never seen anything like it, still have nightmares about Captains night & fit-to-burst sequined dresses.
Boorish cruise experts who basically eat till they can't and get pissed every single day and NEVER leave the ship.
Food, I don't eat meat but was truly amazed at the choice and quality 24/7. So we didn't eat out, which is what we like doing on holiday.
Same place to eat/drink every night.
Can't get off it when you want. Was like jail for us.

Pros.
Wake up in a different place every morning.
Food, 24/7 whatever you want.

We both thought we'd never do one again but...........there was a caribbean one we saw for March that we'd have done. Jamaica, some other islands, Havana (not been), Limon (Costa Rica) & Cartegena. (Columbia) so that's the caribbean, Cuba, central & south america, a lot of boxes ticked for about £150 a night with PP, flights, transfers, food and drink! To try to do that yourself would cost many ££££'s more.

 

[Dave7]

I hadn't heard of things being as bad as that, where did you get this information?

As others have said it appears my info' was flawed......soz.
Having checked I see there are at least 40 ships affected. Many of them have hundreds of cases (one having over 700 cases). At least 70 dead in total.
However, the general point stands that it must be doing untold damage to the cruise industry as people start to think/realise how bad it must be to be trapped on a ship when any virus breaks out.
@slowmotion that photograph will be giving me nightmares for months to come

 

[Fab Foodie]

A few boats met-up for a meeting in Dover the other week....