WannaCruise

You can add me for Dec 19th on Anthem (fingers and toes crossed that cruises are back up and running!)

You can add me for Dec 19th on Anthem (fingers and toes crossed that cruises are back up and running!)

I embrace their opinions,  less competition for my preferred sailings and stateroom selections  😁😁🛳⚓🛳⚓⛴🤣🤣

+1 on this line completely!  We had the exact same conversation a few days ago.

Completely agree.  We never get internet for this reason.  And it's a vacation for me...no cooking or cleaning.
I'll second what others have said.  Love the feeling when you take that first walk on the ship, relaxing with the family and at the same time, participating in activities such as scavenger hunts, sky pad, waterslides, abyss, etc, MDR each night followed by a show, the game shows and fun evening stuff, the drinks (Lava Flow, Mojito and Blue Hawaiian!), exploring the ship, walking laps on deck 5 (depending on the ship) where you can see the water...so peaceful.
And like others, I'm a planner so love the anticipation of the next cruise, daily price checks for cruise an cruise planner, researching ports (although it's more about the ship than the ports for us).  Of course, this time it's hard as you don't know if those cruises will go ahead so its bittersweet. 
I honestly said to DH yesterday that if we can't cruise for our family vacations, and Disney is also out of the picture, I can't think of any alternative that even comes close.

Completely agree.  We never get internet for this reason.  And it's a vacation for me...no cooking or cleaning.
I'll second what others have said.  Love the feeling when you take that first walk on the ship, relaxing with the family and at the same time, participating in activities such as scavenger hunts, sky pad, waterslides, abyss, etc, MDR each night followed by a show, the game shows and fun evening stuff, the drinks (Lava Flow, Mojito and Blue Hawaiian!), exploring the ship, walking laps on deck 5 (depending on the ship) where you can see the water...so peaceful.
And like others, I'm a planner so love the anticipation of the next cruise, daily price checks for cruise an cruise planner, researching ports (although it's more about the ship than the ports for us).  Of course, this time it's hard as you don't know if those cruises will go ahead so its bittersweet. 
I honestly said to DH yesterday that if we can't cruise for our family vacations, and Disney is also out of the picture, I can't think of any alternative that even comes close.

Not having to cook is always top of my list, but I really enjoy the escapism of a cruise. It really does help me feel disconnected from the world at large (primarily the news).

... I also miss that first tropical drink after lunch to kick off the cruise!

No words needed 🤪🤪🤪🤩

Apart from all of the wonderful aspects of cruising, right now, I am missing the anticipation of the next trip. Even with upcoming cruises, the usual excitement is tempered knowing they may not happen. 😳🙁😟

The build-up. Counting down the days and obsessively checking the Cruise Planner to try and snag a good deal on something. Checking a gazillion excursion websites for each port in an effort to find the best ones. Reading and re-reading the live blogs for our chosen ship in the run-up to cruise day.
It's hard to get excited and enjoy the thrill of planning when you can't be sure your cruise is even going to happen.

I miss everything.   The excitement of embarkation day, the first drink by the pool, getting to see our room for the first time, first night in the dining room, and so on.
But one thing that particularly stands out for me is watching the sun go down, the stars come out, smelling the clean ocean air, and watching the wake drift lazily behind the ship.  Such a calm and peaceful experience (for me anyway).

I suspect that some number of employers will require a 14-day quarantine after cruises for the foreseeable future.  Many of us here would probably consider that to be unfairly judgmental or even irrational, but given the generally negative impression of cruising among the public at large, I believe such restrictions are likely.  

What about the stigma about people flying again? How many more people are exposed to God knows what from flying everyday compared to cruising? What about going to a concert or sporting event?
When all this is said and done, if people refuse to fly and/or cruise, that just leaves better cruise and flight selections for me.

At least on RCCI there is "Washy, Washy"......... at a lot of places you have kids who sneeze on everything, scratch their butt, touch everything after touching something filthy...the list goes on. These are tiny humans that don't always have the mental capacity to know better. Real size humans know better and often don't do better...the same kind that are charging for parties and throwing bon fires during a shelter in place pandemic.
I definitely think that with a lot more knowledge and insight we will become less prone to hyperbole. If is is true that we become more immune after having COVID-19, then is will become something like Noro or the Flu. Like we take the proper precaution but don't have to automatically be put on a 2 week quarantine upon returning from a cruise or vacation. At least that is my hope, because mama needs her cruises.

Those people who have stigmatized cruising are living in either stupidity or ignorance*. I guess the idea of being with the same people in a moving unit brings the idea of recycling germs. But it almost no different from any other type of vacation....in fact it is better. It is much easier to pinpoint any sort of outbreak on a ship. Hundreds of thousands of people can visit an amusement park like Disney or Universal each day.  The same can be said for museums, hot spots in foreign countries and airplanes. How often are these places cleaned thoroughly? Look at the current rate of infection in the US or any country. The only issue is with the ships inability to handle such a huge thing like an influx of people with a illness.  If employers chose to force quarantines or places restrictions on cruise vacations, they would have to place those same restrictions on a lot more options.
*I am in no way calling you fine folks stupid. Ignorance is literally a lack of knowledge, while stupidity is people who know the cruise industry had nothing to do with COVID-19 but even with all the information still choose to blame it.

Seems the ships are getting a lot of media, but I am of the opinion that it is the airlines that spread the virus on a global scale in a fast and thorough manner.

The term "floating petri dish" can kiss my big butt.
 
I'm so tired of people judging cruising and the cruise industry.  I'm pretty dang sure that 90% of these
so-called health experts have never even been on a cruise, and if they did, it was probably the tugboat line.

My parents are appalled that we are booked for two more cruises.  They say ships are dirty.  Honestly, after going on one I think going to the grocery store is 100 times worse- there’s just no way to track it since everyone is not in the same place for a week plus.  Not once did I go into the bathroom and there wasn’t some attendant cleaning it and it seemed like the second I touched something on the ship someone was right behind me wiping it down.  Our stateroom bathroom was cleaned twice daily.  One of the cleanest places I have ever been!  Much judgement towards my husband and I are from people who have never been.  

There will always be people that live in extremes.  It will take time before some people think sporting event, theatre performances, and even movies are safe and acceptable.  The issue today is the threat of TOO many people being sick at once and there not being enough resources to manage it. When that time has clearly past, most reasonable people will slowly resume their normal lives. The extremists will judge and argue that people should not be doing what they do and the fools may start doing it all too soon 😉 
We can’t always make everyone happy and as much as some say we’re in this together it doesn’t really feel like that’s 100% true... on my neighborhood Facebook group there people arguing about what’s acceptable while walking in the neighborhood or kids riding their bikes. They feel that since other people’s actions could impact their health that it gives them the right to tell others what’s acceptable and what’s not. Most people don’t react well to others telling them what to do or not to do.  It’s divisiveness and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
My wife and I will be patient and probably wait longer to use the impending FCC than some others but when we do cruise next year we will enjoy ourselves and won’t be thinking too much about who may or may not like it. I just believe that  life’s too short to waste time judging or being judged. 
 
 
 
 

I, thankfully, don't have some of the same concerns that those who don't work from home all the time or those who have kids are facing, and I'm sorry you're having to think about these things!
I've really been wrestling in recent days with the idea of cruising. When there was talk of a bailout for cruise lines, the vitriol against the cruise companies, cruisers, and cruises was scathing. I'm honestly keeping a very small circle of people informed that I'm planning on cruising in June if my cruise goes ahead. I sadly think a lot of people who haven't taken a cruise look at it as some big luxury, and yet they don't bat an eye at folks who take any other sort of travel and book hotels or travels or ski vacations or anything like that
Bluntly, it flat-out sucks that cruisers are being seen as some privileged class who are just being careless in deciding to take their trips on what people are basically calling giant petri dishes. 😕
I wish I had answers about how people will react post-cruise, but I think everybody's gonna be viewed with suspicion for a while -- though yeah, I worry cruisers are going to see additional scrutiny. 😞
I wish you the best in whatever y'all decide!

We know that ships are stopped, ports aren't allowing cruise ships now and airlines have stopped for general travel.  Eventually things will start up again, but there will still be the fear of a ship getting hit, etc.  But one thing people don't talk about much...do you think they'll be a stigma for anyone who decides to cruise?  We have a cruise in August + a few days at Disney beforehand.  Today DH questioned that even if cruises are back and the park is open...can we even go?  His concerns are things like....Will school let our kids back or will we need to stay home another 2 weeks?  Will their friends' parents let their kids see our kids for 2 weeks after? etc.  Anyone else think concerns like these may also prevent you from cruising (at least within the first while when things are back)?
 
 

Thank you for doing this belated review. It is well needed right now. I love reading about how your love of cruising happened. You never know until you try it . Looking forward to hearing more. 
Congrats on your engagement.

Thank you for doing this belated review. It is well needed right now. I love reading about how your love of cruising happened. You never know until you try it . Looking forward to hearing more. 
Congrats on your engagement.