Today, I read some online journals which noted that NCL was cancelling cruises on 8 of its ships due to uncertainties related to the pandemic. NCL is not alone, as many ports are refusing to accept ships if there is a hint of Covid on board. And this is causing many cruisers problems, as at least one cruise was cancelled on the day it was scheduled to sail. I can only imagine what potential cruisers felt when they arrived in town, and found that their trip was cancelled.
The act of planning a cruise has taken on new risks. In the past, all one had to think about was arriving in town a day before a cruise, this would provide adequate margin for delayed flights and allow for cruisers to make it to a cruise terminal on time. Now, cruisers must test negative for Covid before leaving for the cruise, and hope that they test negative again at the port. Cruise ports may now refuse to allow a ship to dock, and people may not be able to go on the excursions they wanted when they booked their cruises.
I'm trying to nail down what NCL is doing for its 11 day cruisetour. If you have to be Covid tested negative within 96 hours of boarding the ship (to ensure that NCL gives you a future cruise credit, instead of forfeiting your cruise payment), then you would need to be tested on Tuesday for a cruise leaving Saturday afternoon. (Wednesday would be a transit day, and Thursday thru Saturday would be occupied by land touring.) There is no reasonable way that the average person should gamble $5k/person with this risk factor. So I want to find out what NCL's procedures are for their cruisetours, as this would require a different process from a normal cruise.
At the time I'm writing this, the Pride of America's sailings have been cancelled for the next few weeks due to Covid. If I book the flights on my own, then I have to work with a travel agent to get things changed/fixed. But, if I let the cruise line book the air legs of the trip, they are responsible for making sure that my air arrangements are taken care of. This is a great convenience, considering that several cruises out of Miami, Florida have been cut short. (Who wants to get stuck in Miami for a week, because a cruise returned to its home port several days early?) Considering that one woman I cruised with last month has just had two cruises cancelled on her, it's nice to be able to let the cruise line deal with all of the hassles of cancelling flights to and from the destination ports.
Right now, the CDC is recommending that even fully vaccinated and boosted people avoid cruising for the present. If one has already scheduled a cruise, one should see what the line's Covid cancellation policies are, and act accordingly. As for me, I plan to book my Hawaii cruise now, and hope that things have improved by the time my trip is set to start.
