Brisbane41

19 hours ago, Pushka said:

Yeah, I was extrapolating there. 😆
The Government is now allowing Year 11 and 12 students into Australia from China as long as they aren’t coming from Hubei. Uni students will be considered next. 
 

I think this will likely become a virus that circulates the world like the flu virus with the exception that as yet there is no vaccine or immunisation. 

I really do not like that idea just yet. The problem is that the chinese communist party was very devious in their dealings with this virus early on and they sat back and tried to hide it while tens of thousands of people became infected and died. Too many people escaped the source of it and the incubation period is far too long to even consider letting and Chinese person back or into this country. Assuming a plane load of Chinese came here who were supposedly all clear, all it takes is one person to slip through the net and spread it on the plane and then two weeks after arrival they are giving it to everyone and it is growing out of control.

Its reputation may be tainted from here on. Who would want to sail on it. From what I hear some Japanese people will be keeping clear of it and it hit the news so hard over there in prime time every day for two weeks with cases growing that it could be highly unlikely any local authorities let that ship dock in and Japanese ports for the foreseeable future. Besides it will be a massive task to undertake.

Imagine removing all the carpets, cabins included, all the mattresses, bed linens, curtains, almost everything and anything that has been in contact with passengers. All the items in the ships shops that have been touched and handled, all the guardrails are coming off and getting replaced. This does not sound like an overnight job. This sounds like 6 months worth of intense work with people in hazmat suits doing it.

Has there been any news updates on this in the last week such as the court dates for trial or lawsuit, where the lawsuit stands and so on.

As of lately I have been caught up with this Diamond Princess situation and have not been on the forums. I was supposed to be going on that ship fairly soon which has now been unfortunately cancelled due to that nasty virus.

11 minutes ago, NSWP said:

To test all 3700 pax and crew will take some weeks, so more like quarantine end date will be at least another month, mid April?  Some of the pax will be ready for the Yokohama Lunatic Asylum by then.

 

David Abel of FB fame wants Sir Richard Branson to send in a plane and right now and take all 70 Brits on board back to England.

Yeah its a bit of a worry. I think they are taking it seriously now. If my translating skills are any good from what I could gather last night on SBS Japanese news a taxi driver has been diagnosed in Okinawa with the virus. She was 60 years old and wearing a face mask and had recently driven passengers on the Diamond Princess.

From what I can understand the virus is highly contagious. It is not fatal to everyone but because of its transmission rate it is more dangerous.

I think starting from now we will see the numbers drop off of those diagnosed on the ship. Maybe a few more but even if 500 get diagnosed that is only 13% of the above figure of passengers and crew. Which leaves 3,200 who didn't get it. Personally I would bet 500 as the possible highest. I think it might ultimately be between 250 and 350 that are diagnosed. If more than 500 are diagnosed then I would be getting worried and I would assume my cruise would be cancelled.

The other worry on the following cruises is clearance in all the ports. The ship is now well known entirely though Japan. Will they allow it to continue on cruises and send people all around their country is the question?

Reading the full details of this the company made a big blunder in the first place. They were told very clearly by the Philippines that if their ship docked in Hong Kong and picked up passengers then it would not be given clearance to dock in Philippines. This set off a series of incidents where Westerdam did dock in Hong Kong and as a result the Philippines barred it out of precaution to going to a zone where a passenger had disembarked Diamond Princess and caused issues on that ship. The Philippines had every right to deny it. Then following on a few other countries decided it was in their best interests to deny it as well. Effectively a two week precautionary quarantine at sea. I dare say that almost two weeks at sea factored into Cambodia allowing it to dock.

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Lovely. We missed the peak season when we were on Diamond two years ago but did see a couple still in flower at Himeji Castle. 

 

Nah. it's not China's fault. Blame it on ScoMo!  🤣🤣🤣

The media really hates him don't they. He was not in charge during the fire crisis and copped all the blame for the man of the hours failure as a fire chief when the country burned. Inevitably the planet seems to be getting hotter, the Cherry Blossoms are starting early, a lack of snow in Japan, record number of typhoons, same weather patterns replicated in Australia, though at least with our fires mismanagement factors in as well in regards to land clearing and burn offs. Its sad but when you look at the emissions China increases its emissions more per year than what Australia cuts. 

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I doubt they will all get off on the 19th. There must be some passengers that were cabinmates with people diagnosed during the quarantine and whom it would be impossible to determine when they caught the virus. Plus the crew are still living in close quarters so I would imagine some have or will get infected. 

 

All cruises through to late January are cancelled so that still gives plenty of time for an extended quarantine and for deep cleansing of the ship before your cruise. Fingers crossed for you that your cruise happens. Will that be in peak cherry blossom season?

Cherry Blossoms have peaked earlier this year due to a lack of snow and cold weather. We can probably thank China again for that one thanks to carbon emissions if you appreciate my sense of humour. However according to the schedule they will be in peak for Aomori, Kanazawa, Akita, Niigata and a few other places for the Diamond Princess itinerary.

49 minutes ago, Fletch1 said:

 

I wish you well and hope your cruise eventuates, but I would not get my hopes up yet. 

I am feeling the same way. I am just going to go with the flow. If it is cancelled then I will just fly to Tokyo and stay a few nights and then move to a nice cherry blossom city for a few days and fly home. It is in the school holidays and over Easter so essentially it is no drama for me.

The way I see it at this stage it could very well be canceled. From what I am seeing on the SBS on demand of Japanese news is that Japan plans to test every single crew member and passenger before they get off that ship. They have hotels on standby.

Besides if it is cancelled then it is money back and hopefully whatever they decide to credit which may be down to 25% by April.

On 2/10/2020 at 9:22 PM, Fletch1 said:

Who knows how many are infected now? Could be a lot more.

It stands at 217 at the moment and I am betting it will get higher. Actually I am booked to go on the Diamond Princess on the 11th April for a 18 night Cherry Blossom cruise. Have a Japanese friend coming with me for the first 9 nights on the Yokohama turnaround. She knows exactly what is happening at the moment due to it being headline news in prime time each day. She has not indicated if she will pull out as of yet.... At this stage I am just waiting to see what happens. The ship will be free of passengers for 25 days after the 19th February assuming they all get off. The Japanese government has been chartering numerous hotels surrounding Tokyo in places like Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa. These are full hotels they have taken and using every room for quarantine.

I am 100% convinced that anyone diagnosed up to this point contracted the virus during the proceeding cruise and not during quarantine.

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I found it. It was in the Diamond thread on the Princess forum.

 

"Just received a notification from Princess Cruise that Diamond Princess cruise departing February 20, 2020 has been cancelled. (M006 & M006D)

All passengers will receive a full refund & 50% FCC."

Cruises from March 15th are advertised on their website as for sale. No cruises on sale before that date. Could be a sign they expect to see it back to normal by then.

I am booked on 11th April.

15 minutes ago, GarlicBread said:

The parents:"We have never wanted charges filed against Sam because we know with all of our hearts that he would never put Chloe in harm's way,' they said last week,"

 

I would love to know what their idea of harms way is if they think hanging a child out a window isn't...

 

 

I really hope they lose now that it will proceed. Personally I hope Royal Caribbean hires private detectives and does a complete background check on the entire family including insurance policies held........

3 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I wonder if this is because Japan has enough to deal with over the Diamond Princess quarantine?

That and probably other measures as well. Australia has banned people travelling through mainland China from entering out country. I suspect the cruise line would have to ban the same otherwise the Japanese would not want to take the risk.

They have Tokyo 2020 Olympics coming up in July and it is a big economic and national pride moment for them and they must protect their country at all costs. For them the consequences are bigger.

I am beginning to wonder if it will hit the Chinese market now more than anything else. These viruses continually come from China. Possibly due to viral infected bats being caught and used as food in a market where people ate them, became infected and passed on the virus to others. The Chinese communist party in its wisdom decided to hide the truth, censor its citizens and punish the Doctors. As a result we are seeing the repercussions of it now. There are multiple civilised and clean countries in Asia that are worth visiting. Will the embarkation and disembarkation ports change in the future with no more ports originating or finishing in China. There are plenty of other options like Japan, South Korea, Singapore to say the least where China can be omitted completely.

33 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I saw a copy of the quarantine menu posted, lunch -  stir fry or stir fry, dinner - lasagne or beef stew, better than nothing, Princess staff on board would be under the pump alright.  I would have withdrawal symptoms by now - no alcohol, , I would have quaffed our Elite Mini Bar by day 3.  Good luck to all those on board.

You ought to turn on SBS on demand and take a look at the Japanese news. There is no subtitles but you will understand the pictures. I watch it every night before bed. The food the Japanese are getting seems to be better with things like ham and cheese croissants and a wider range of food. 

10 hours ago, coffeebean said:

I just read the Wiki page about George Smith. There were blood stains in his cabin and blood on the side of the ship. RCI compensated George Smith’s Estate after what appeared to be a homicide. What?????????? Why should any company have to compensate in this circumstance? This truly baffles me. 
 

From what I understand and correct me if I am wrong is that it appears to have been a homicide. There was enough complaints to justify security barging in the cabin and preventing a murder. That did not happen. While I do not agree that the wife deserves compensation and it is questionable as to her movements, I think Royal Caribbean or specifically the ships security team should have taken proactive action and burst into the cabin upon hearing such complaints. That'ts my thoughts on that one. I personally think the murdered mans family as in parents deserve the compensation and not his wife.

3 minutes ago, rimmit said:

Why do you say the ships crew is suspicious?
 

In all honesty, I was originally very much against this line of thinking.  Given the American mentality being known for its inability to accept responsibility and to sue for everything, I just assumed they wanted to make some money out of a tragedy.

 

However, Upon further thought I am slowly reconsidering my original thought process. I work In a field where unfortunately infant death occurs semi regularly.  Not due to accidents but typically circumstances beyond anyone’s control.  A child or infant death is ungodly painful and one of the most stressful events that could occur in life.  Observation of parental reaction after the initial shock of such an incident typically does lead to a blame game and in many cases divorce.  
 

Many families become quickly divided.  It is interesting that they are all standing beside each other.  Especially standing by the step grandfather....

One of the news articles a few pages back quoted the Ships Doctor as stating that "they separated the step-grandfather from the immediate family and did not let the immediate family anywhere near the vicinity of where they were keeping him" The article also states that they removed him from the scene very quickly to get him away from the other passengers. It also says he refused a sedative.

8 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Actually I don't believe there has been any mention of compensation for people currently in quarantine on the ship. Those that were due to board a day or so ago were offered a full refund and 100% FCC, probably those on the second cancelled cruise are getting the same. However Princess has just cancelled a third cruise on Diamond  full refund but only 50% FCC.

 

Furthermore they may be on a cruise ship but they are not on a cruise - confined to cabins, limited meals, no cabin service, can't buy drinks, limited entertainment, etc are not normal cruising conditions.

So what cruises are cancelled now in addition to the Feb 4 and Feb 12 ones mentioned on their website.

53 minutes ago, Bloodgem said:

I agree with you. The parents do have the right to sue Royal but the question is should they?

Chloe's death was a tragic stupid accident. I understand that the parents are trying to prevent another child dying the same way as Chloe but what about their own other children?  What message are they sending out to their other children?

"Hey kids it's ok to do something stupid because we will find someone to sue, as they should have known you would have done something stupid" 

 

I don't think this is the case. I think the family cannot come to terms with the fact that GF did something so stupid. 

The family may not be able to come to terms with the stupidity of the GF actions until after his court case.

Personally I do not think it is normal/reasonable or sane human behaviour to hold a child outside a window. So therefore I do not think they have a right to sue.

So they are sticking to the step-grandfather like glue. I recall from a few true crime documentaries that people are profiled that in situations like this the family normally breaks apart blaming each other unless it was some sort of pre-meditated action in which they stick together like glue. I also make reference to the McCann incident in Portugal who detectives in that case wrongly labelled the parents as suspects as they stayed close together. What I am trying to say is with experts claiming that with "accidents" the blame game begins and families are torn apart, it would be reasonable to assume that the step-grandfather not being of any biological relation to any of them would be the immediate target for blame. Looking at news reports afterward the ship even decided to separate him from the rest of the family.

From the very start the ships crew were suspicious of this. It beggars belief that they are not going after him with the same level of anger and animosity that they are throwing at Royal Caribbean. Surely the step-grandfather would have some assets, houses, insurance policies or anything financial that they could sue for and claim of him. He has been charged after all with negligent homicide. It is even quite bizarre that they paid up his bail.

Personally I am thinking something else went on in this case and it will only be a matter of time given the lawsuit before it all comes out.

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

I don't see any need for them to change anything. If the crew are traumatized then change them to a different ship and have counseling for them. As for any passangers that are traumatized also give them counseling and they should avoid the FOTS. I don't think they did anything to change George Smith's cabin on the Brilliance after he was killed.

Apparently it is being changed I am let to believe which is why the family demanded their lawyers assess the site as it is said to be unrecognisable after the alterations? I could be wrong but that is what I am led to believe is happening.

9 minutes ago, possum52 said:

So what will that patient(s) do if they are unable to be provided with their required medication, particularly if they are quarantined for 14 days?

You can read up on it here https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health-medical/pharmaceuticals/01.html

They are pretty strict. There are a wide range of drugs you cannot take in. Phentermine for example you cannot take in but that is not life dependent, however people on psychotropics may have a problem. 

42 minutes ago, possum52 said:

I would think that the ship is unlikely to have every medication required by passengers so the Japanese authorities will have to provide the needed medication.

 

Leigh

Not always possible. If the medication is prohibited in Japan then they will not have it which is entirely possible. A prohibited medication a passengers could bring a limited supply but must have permission in advance as well as the doctors letter. Its complicated but possible.

This is from the Princess website:

Updated February 4, 2020 at 6:00 PM PT

Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus on Diamond Princess

Princess Cruises can confirm that the first phase of health screening of all guests and crew onboard Diamond Princess, by the Japanese Ministry of Health, has been completed. We were notified that amongst the samples that have completed testing, 10 people have tested positive for Coronavirus. This includes two Australian guests, three Japanese guests, three guests from Hong Kong, and one guest from the U.S. in addition to one Filipino crewmember.

These 10 persons, who have been notified, will be taken ashore by Japanese Coast Guard watercraft and transported to local hospitals for care by shoreside Japanese medical professionals. It has been confirmed that the ship will remain under quarantine in Yokohama. The length of the quarantine will be at least 14 days as required by the Ministry of Health.

The ship plans to go out to sea to perform normal marine operations including, but not limited to, the production of fresh water and ballast operations before proceeding alongside in Yokohama where food, provisions, and other supplies will be brought onboard.

Guests will continue to be provided complimentary internet and telephone to use in order to stay in contact with their family and loved ones, and the ship’s crew is working to keep all guests comfortable.

Princess Cruises will continue to fully cooperate with and follow the instructions of global medical authorities and the Japanese government.

We will also be cancelling the next two Diamond Princess cruises departing Yokohama (Feb 4 and Feb 12) and will begin notifying guests today.

Princess Cruises confirms there are 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew currently onboard covering a range of nationalities. Approximately half the guests onboard are from Japan.

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

I would prefer to be in 14 day quarantine on Diamond Princess in Yokohama, rather that quarantined on Christmas Island in that 3rd world accommodation.

 

Good luck to those on the Diamond.  Everyone from the Captain down would be affected.  It would appear from other sources that the pax are not being fed for fear of the virus being in shipboard food. Bad situation.

The facilities on Christmas Island are in fact world class. They have excellent facilities, access to fresh and hot water, beds, air conditioning, electricity. The actually have it better than some nursing homes and defence barracks in Australia on the mainland. That is how good it is. Admittedly the toilets are prison style but what difference will that make, it still functions as such. 

14 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

Thoughts and prayers for the family.

 

Just our observation...we spent 6 weeks of the Freedom.

* That so called children's play area was mostly a smoking area for adults.

* We did not see a single child hanging around "that" area.

* I am visually impaired, but I could tell that there were windows open...I can feel the wind...even when the ship is docked.

* We stood there by the window and by the railing.  Yes, there is a gap between the railing and the window.  My guess was there was about 15 inches between the railing and the open window. (Actual distance reported was 19 inches.)

* If I had something in my hands and I dropped it...it would fall into the gap between the railing and the window...down to the deck floor.  I would have to either lean forward or stretch my arms for me to drop something outside.

* We had lunch with a few officers who told us that many of the crew members were traumatized by this incident.

 

The Freedom is currently under going it's amplification in Cadiz, Spain...wondering if they will re-design those windows or that area?

 

Thoughts and prayers for the family.

I am guessing they would have to redesign the entire area to prevent it from becoming some sort of horrible memory for passengers and crew who know of it. Once something tragic like this has happened the ship is tainted and the area needs changing. There will probably be something completely unrecognisable designed into its changes.

I am glad I am booked on it now this April for Cherry Blossoms on a rather long cruise encompassing Easter, the school holidays and Anzac Day. Been looking forward to it for some time. This is early days yet and I am skeptical there will be a problem in April. Though this is very reassuring to know that if the worst was to happen I would be looked after. At the very least now I am hoping some people cancel which enables me to have an upgrade.