Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

[tgh]

The cruise lines have a vested interest in maintaining the pretence of continuing their planned Itineraries asap.
They do not have to commence refunds until they cancel , it is a buying time game predicated on restarting income before the line of credit runs out.
I remain of the opinion that few , if any ships will sail anywhere carrying passengers in 2010 and not many more in 2011.
Au National lines like Coral Expeditions could conceivably restart this year ; sailing to the Kimberley, Tasmania or New Zealand, BUT they will not be carrying International passengers so they may not find it worth the effort.
Internationally the start up costs will be significant , re-commencement will not happen until the virus is no longer a threat.

 

[Pushka]

Courtesy of cruise critic I just read this article
The Pandemic At Sea
It’s from the Washington Post long but a worthwhile read

Thankyou Excellent article. CC would likely ban me if I posted a link to it.

 

[tgh]

Perhaps a ray of sunshine or perhaps wishful thinking
Silver Muse and Silver Explorer are now anchored south of the Panama Canal ; they have both been there for a few weeks now.
They were reported to be bound for Tenerife but for some reason they have not transited the canal.
Leads to… maybe Ss are pondering some cruises in au/nz late this year ?.. makes sense.

 

[p--and--t]

Perhaps a ray of sunshine or perhaps wishful thinking
Silver Muse and Silver Explorer are now anchored south of the Panama Canal ; they have both been there for a few weeks now.
They were reported to be bound for Tenerife but for some reason they have not transited the canal.
Leads to… maybe Ss are pondering some cruises in au/nz late this year ?.. makes sense.

...or the company is loathe to pay the huge transit fees for empty ships if they don't know where the next embarkation port will be?

 

[drron]

Well the Muse was scheduled to be in Australia and NZ this coming summer.
the Explorer was scheduled to cruise the sub Antarctic Islands and Antarctica from NZ.

Though I am not sure it really classes them as optimists as those schedules are for December for the Muse though October and November between Australia and Asia.
The Explorer is due to start a cruise transiting the Panama Canal on 31/10 then sail via Easter Island and Tahiti to NZ.Leaves NZ in Feb for Australia and Asia before returning to the Kimberleys in June.

 

[drron]

The cruise lines are putting out tentative restart dates.First Carnival.

Carnival Cruise Lays Out Plan to Begin Limited Sailings Aug. 1

Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator, said it plans to resume North American sailings on a limited basis starting Aug. 1. The CDC’s current no-sail order runs through July 24.

www.barrons.com

Will a Princess ship be let back into Japan or Australia?

Silversea is also starting to plan for a restart and it appears better thought out.This from a letter written to a Cruise Critic poster by the US MD of Silversea.

“hoping to resume operations in July but for us or any cruise line to begin again we need the following:

* Countries need to allow cross boarder travel,

* Airlines need to be flying to get guests to the destinations where or cruises operate,

* We need to have a test process in place which helps identify infected guests in order to keep them off the ships.”

“We have a couple of options we are considering and are trying to source them.
1st we are considering sending a test kit to guests with their documents where they would test themselves the day of departure and if positive not travel.

2nd we would test them again at either a pre-cruise hotel or at the pier prior to boarding and if positive they would not be allowed to board.

“To do either we need an easy and reliable testing kit that gives immediate results like the test for pregnancy, iron content and diabetes. If we can get the testing correctly done we can begin to operate due to the limited number of guests we carry and the spaciousness of our ships.”

So need to do 2 Covid tests before being allowed on board.

Their parent Royal carribean is now repatriating crew.A massive undertaking.

Royal Caribbean Announces Major Crew Repatriation Plan

Royal Caribbean is preparing a major plan for the repatriation of thousands of its crew members back to their home countries. In a letter sent to the crew signed by Michael Bayley - President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, the company announced the repatriation of the crew from 60...

crew-center.com

 

[Anna]

So need to do 2 Covid tests before being allowed on board.

Which will be useless unless it also applies to every single crew member, every single time they go ashore and want to come back on board.

 

[Pushka]

The cruise lines are putting out tentative restart dates.First Carnival.

Carnival Cruise Lays Out Plan to Begin Limited Sailings Aug. 1

Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator, said it plans to resume North American sailings on a limited basis starting Aug. 1. The CDC’s current no-sail order runs through July 24.

www.barrons.com

Will a Princess ship be let back into Japan or Australia?

Silversea is also starting to plan for a restart and it appears better thought out.This from a letter written to a Cruise Critic poster by the US MD of Silversea.

“hoping to resume operations in July but for us or any cruise line to begin again we need the following:

* Countries need to allow cross boarder travel,

* Airlines need to be flying to get guests to the destinations where or cruises operate,

* We need to have a test process in place which helps identify infected guests in order to keep them off the ships.”

“We have a couple of options we are considering and are trying to source them.
1st we are considering sending a test kit to guests with their documents where they would test themselves the day of departure and if positive not travel.

2nd we would test them again at either a pre-cruise hotel or at the pier prior to boarding and if positive they would not be allowed to board.

“To do either we need an easy and reliable testing kit that gives immediate results like the test for pregnancy, iron content and diabetes. If we can get the testing correctly done we can begin to operate due to the limited number of guests we carry and the spaciousness of our ships.”

So need to do 2 Covid tests before being allowed on board.

Their parent Royal carribean is now repatriating crew.A massive undertaking.

Royal Caribbean Announces Major Crew Repatriation Plan

Royal Caribbean is preparing a major plan for the repatriation of thousands of its crew members back to their home countries. In a letter sent to the crew signed by Michael Bayley - President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, the company announced the repatriation of the crew from 60...

crew-center.com

And doesn't exactly help those who have to travel more than a couple of days to get to their cruise. It's a start I guess.

Except maybe issues for NCL. The first of many?

Norwegian Cruise Line sees 'substantial doubt' about its future, warns of possible bankruptcy as it seeks to raise $2 billion

"These factors have raised substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern," the company said.

www.cnbc.com

 

[tgh]

I was just about to post that but you beat me to it fast fingers…..

 

[SydneySwan]

Which will be useless unless it also applies to every single crew member, every single time they go ashore and want to come back on board.

I expect that crew movements ashore will be much more tightly controlled in the future.

 

[VPS]

Fly Him to the Moon. Or at Least, Fly Him Home. (Published 2020)

A shipboard entertainer is among those who have been quarantined for weeks on a cruise ship near Barbados. Stuck in his deluxe cabin, he has an audience of one.

www.nytimes.com

Interesting article. I got off the Quest on the 2nd Feb and the next cruise would have finished on the 21st Feb in Santiago and they have obviously not had guests since then.

I met this guy a couple of times and I really think this is over hyped. If they have moved the crew into the cabins then the showers are the ones that the people pay tens of thousands of dollars for and they are not tiny. I'm also a bit doubtful over the eating frozen bland food.

 

[Pushka]

Princess and HAL have pretty much cancelled all cruises through to Sept for Med cruises and varying other dates and places. Celebrity are hanging in like the grim reaper. They do have quite a nice option of a swap this years cruise to the same kind of one next year with all the perks etc and price the same as the current booking which in our case is quite sweet, as we originally had a great deal for a suite. So, with final payment due in 12 days time, if they cancel we can get a refund, or do we look at cruising a big ship in July 2021. Probably would consider if there was a vaccine so.....

 

[SydneySwan]

I also got an email today from Princess telling us the cruise we had only enquired about but which they had taken as a booking was now cancelled. Part of the email said

'We hope you will stick with us by accepting this special Double your Deposit Future Cruise Credit offer:

Transfer the money deposited for your vacation as a refundable Future Cruise Credit (FCC) and Princess will provide a matching bonus FCC for the same amount up to the base cruise fare amount of the current cruise (minimum $100AUD per person).'

We haven't paid anything but presume we will now have a minimum FCC of $A100 in our account.

 

[zig]

Received confirmation last night from Silversea that my Galapagos cruise on 27 June has been cancelled. This of course was expected.

 

[Pushka]

Received confirmation last night from Silversea that my Galapagos cruise on 27 June has been cancelled. This of course was expected.

Apparently that area is in immense trouble with the virus and one cruise ship in the area that just has crew, has over half the crew infected.

 

[zig]

Apparently that area is in immense trouble with the virus and one cruise ship in the area that just has crew, has over half the crew infected.

I have seen some dreadful news coverage from Guayaquil showing the impact of the virus. Deceased persons left in the streets, families unable to bury their loved ones etc. the poverty is immense. I imagine that this is replicated throughout Ecuador.

 

[drron]

Received confirmation last night from Silversea that my Galapagos cruise on 27 June has been cancelled. This of course was expected.

Silversea is now cancelling voyages until mis July.

Silversea’s Healthy Return to Sailing - Covid-19 Protocols

Your health and safety have always been our top priority. Learn more about our protocols, approved by the Healthy Sail Panel to sail with confidence.

www.silversea.com

Good news for us if our late October voyage is cancelled is that we will still be given our venetian Society days credit plus the days on any cruise booked with the credit.This will put us over the 350 days on Silverseas with a cruise next year which means a free 7 day cruise.

And yes if it is sailing we will be going.

 

[tgh]

The Vs days credit was an interesting carrot with the fcc.
We are another lifetime away from the next milestone having just managed 100 days , so I decided that there was a real risk of default so a Bithww2itb and asked for a refund.

 

[Pushka]

Silversea is now cancelling voyages until mis July.

Silversea’s Healthy Return to Sailing - Covid-19 Protocols

Your health and safety have always been our top priority. Learn more about our protocols, approved by the Healthy Sail Panel to sail with confidence.

www.silversea.com

Good news for us if our late October voyage is cancelled is that we will still be given our venetian Society days credit plus the days on any cruise booked with the credit.This will put us over the 350 days on Silverseas with a cruise next year which means a free 7 day cruise.

And yes if it is sailing we will be going.

So, I'm curious. Let's say there is no vaccine, or at least, one available but not enough in production for "everyone in the world" to have it. Are you ok cruising when some places might still be so wary as to Covid that they won't allow berthing, or how do you think you will go if there is an outbreak onboard? My concern travelling overseas is now lack of coverage should one of us catch this damn virus.

 

[drron]

Well if there is a vaccine available I am reasonably confident I could source 2 courses for mrsdrron and I.
As to the actual ship we would not be allowed to board until we had 2 negative Covid tests.I presume they would do the same for the crew.
The ships we would sail are 600 pax and probably won't be booked out so plenty of places to hide.
The only problem would be going ashore at the various ports.That would depend on extra research closer to the time.

Quite frankly I would now not worry if our March 2021 cruise was cancelled with the same conditions with VS days and FCC of more than that paid.It would take us well over 400 days and gives us a fighting chance to get to 500 days and a second free cruise.
It would also mean no cruises until November 2021.