good to see some rain coming into the fire affected towns and regions .  was one hell of a light and wind show last night .  was interesting watching Sydney live cams

thank goodness the aussie gov is putting them in another 14 day quarantine  I would make it at least 21 to be on the safe side .  well done Australian gov . the containment of this virus must come first , no matter what.

43 minutes ago, kip6 said:

Thank you. I am in a mini suite, and I understand that others are not so lucky, being in inside or oceanview. The people in these cabins are being allowed to go out on deck on a regular bases and this is helping any cabin fever they maybe experiencing. 

they said there is about 200 aussie's on board  has the aus gov been in contact with you about bringing you's home .  or thinking of transporting you's to Christmas island  for the duration of the quarantine period 

wish they could do a kiss cruise here in Australia next time kiss is here impossible to get a ticket in the states .   

even if cruising goes bad for a yr or until they work out this virus . these cruise companies have made billion's .  you can replace a ship  you can replace cruise destination's . you  cant replace your life  so take every precaution .    I hate when people say stop over reacting  .. this over reacting is what has stop the spread of it so far.  if they didn't stop flights and checked people before boarding  this virus would be even more rampant.  prevention is better than cure .

54 minutes ago, NorthwestCruiser said:

The situation has changed.   The sewage disposal system and all of the pipes in the toilets are loaded with a BSL-4 biohazard, of the kind that has shut down several large cities in China.    What ever nation that special service dock is located in will not allow plumbers onboard to replace the sewage system, even you could anybody smart enough to know how to  safely use weapons-lab grade safety gear and dumb enough to want the job.    I live near a shipyard, if that thing shows up here the citizens will be out with pitchforks and tar and the union will refuse to work on it -- assuming that the Coast Guard lets it near our shores in the first place.

 

Think about it, a ship that doesn't even have the virus is being denied entry by several nations, and now you want me to process the S*** from the holding tanks on a ship that has a confirmed large number of infected passengers when the virus is excreted by infected people?     Once you are past that hurdle, you now have a ship that many people (every sane person) will shun.   There is just no business case for restoring an older cruise ship that possibly nobody will want to cruise on.    It is not really that big of a deal overall to the company, ships go onto rocks or catch fire from time to time and the industry deals with it.   The people are the big deal.

and to think some of these ship's dump that crap out in the sea and its legal to do it once they are in international  waters..  hate to see what that is doing to our oceans health. hope pacific doesn't just dump all that out in the seas .. 

fire , smoke , hail, and rain all in summer.  how great is Australia , that's why I love it so much and will fight tooth and nail, to save its beauty.  we all should be saving its beauty in all forms. I think you all know what I mean.

10 minutes ago, Skoobdo said:

Why would anyone knowingly get on a cruise ship with any infectious disease? Crazy.  I know why, because people only care about themselves. As always, unfortunately☹️

same as they are doing now with coronavirus they don't think they have the disease , but once on board its to late it spreads like wildfire.   also people rather take stupid risks than loose a couple thousand .  money can be earned and replaced so can a cruise . your  health is more important than any cruise ship.    

Just now, trinitygirl said:

If you have the flu, you shouldn’t be boarding a cruise-ship!  Flu is highly contagious and you’d just ruin the holidays of others, and put those who can’t take the flu vaccine at risk.  That’s what travel insurance is for....

that's true but nobody stays at home they go on the cruise.   if somebody comes in coughing , runny nose etc at workplace, I send them home tell them don't comeback until your cleared . 

here in aus we are coming to the end of summer , and soon to be in the flu season .  don't know about other countries  flu time or season they are in,  are the cruise lines going to say sorry we cannot let you on board because you have the flu . flu and corona virus are almost alike in nature and symptoms .  are the cruise lines now going to say sorry your not permitted on the ship even if you have a flu, as they cant tell if its the flu or coronavirus.. I think this virus now has put a curse of cruising .  spewing a little not much but a little as im trying to hopefully get tickets to the kiss cruise for the misses as a present. 

175 infected is bad . I hope they all pull thru .  take them all of the  ship and sink it .. nobody is going to want to board that ship anymore.  or at least change the name of it as they will probably do . that will fool plenty..  but honestly why would anybody want to go cruising on any ship knowing that this is one person away from a disaster on any ship.  better of spending your money in your own country till its either contained around the world  etc.  

6 deg of separation as they say. 

4 hours ago, fragilek said:

 40 % of domestic cats carry FCoV a type of Coronavirus that mutates  in 10% of infected animals to a more deadly form FIP of the virus that is always fatal. There is no treatment or vaccine available all trials have failed so far.  Not suggesting it has any link at all just highlighting that this virus exits in many animals we come into contact with daily so it may be some time to completely identify the cause so far a few vector are under suspicion, including  bats, snakes and the pangolin

there are some pics of them throwing cats and dogs out of high rises thinking they transmit the virus its a myth spread by locals in china...  but here is food for thought.. in Canada they were researching the coronavirus . Chinese  targeted that microbiology lab and had a couple Chinese spies in there that stole some of the virus and ended up at the Chinese microbiology lab a military base 20ks from the Wuhan markets.   them markets as bad as they are have been going for 30+ yrs as they are. I think the Chinese were researching the coronavirus and something went wrong . so not to alarm the world by telling them its started in there bio weapons laboratory , they came up with lets blame it on the markets.. you can never trust the Chinese gov to tell you the truth .. the Canadians did a enquiry as how china got hold of there virus from there labs. after the enquiry the Canadians found they had Chinese spies a husband and wife scientist working there and were forcibly removed for stealing the virus . 

with that many infected on that ship its probably going to be a ghost ship now as I think people will be a bit scared to board that ship now..

Sydney is getting hammered today with rain and winds, big tides as well ..  over 350mm in some parts .. first fires, then smoke , now the floods .. how good is Australia ..

6 hours ago, elliair said:

Coronavirus Deaths Hit 806, Surpassing Total From 2003 SARS Outbreak

 

Summary:

• Officials reported an additional 81 deaths in Hubei on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 806: more than the total from the entire 2002-2003 SARS outbreak

• WHO reported 31,481 confirmed global cases on Friday, up by 3,000+ cases from Thursday; SCMP says total cases closer to 35k

• First American citizen has died

• First Japanese citizen suspected of succumbing to virus

• France elevates travel advisory to orange after 5 Britons fall ill in ski resort

• Roundup of suspected infected in Wuhan continues

• Beijing appoints Xi protege to help lead virus response

• Vigil for Dr. Li held in Hong Kong

• China blocks Foxconn plan to reopen factories

* * *

Update (1745ET): The coronavirus outbreak has just reached another grim milestone: The death toll has eclipsed that of the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/first-american-citizen-dies-coronavirus-wuhan-5-britons-diagnosed-french-ski-town

I would think its way more than that , maybe ten times that .  the Chinese communist party officials have a pretty poor record on telling the truth.   I heard on the news the original doctor which was a young fella had died . also heard the Chinese officials also punished him when he broke the news of this coronavirus to the world..

16 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

The hills are all alight, the fire has a massive front

while I might not se eye to eye on certain threads , life is more important . stay safe and have those gutter's ready to be filled up with water ..  

5 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Take note of the name of the person you just quoted. This person already is on a mission against Royal Caribbean because the company supports building a cruise terminal in Botany Bay which is south of Sydney. They have some sort of vested interest or present as some sort of environmentalist opposed to development and as such they are on a mission against Royal Caribbean.

doesn't matter which ship it is ..  all companies have a responsibility to there workers guest etc..  be it a factory or a cruise ship etc .. I manage a company and I know we have  a responsibility to our worker's and even the public that go thru our workplace.. even if they are idiots..   we have to take measure's against idiots ..  my opinion of this matter is the grandfather or whoever his relation to is a idiot doing it in the first place. at the same time that window should of been closed to avoid what has happen or any idiots that carry on when drunk 

cruise ships have a responsibility  to keep passengers safe no matter what, just like any other corporation has..     could of been any other drunken nut falling out of the same window. 

with all that land that has been burnt , tree's down  might be a lot of fuel still left for next yr  might even be worse than this yr..  I seen nsw gov wants to do a independent inquiry  into the bush fires ..  I heard Gladys even mention  they knew it was dry from 1 july but sat back and did nothing so whats this inquiry going to do  they have been told for yrs .. 

 memorial service today for the American fire tanker crew  rip boys .. 

2 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I saw on the news they said because of all the dust in the air it created a mud rain. And here I was hoping a drive in the rain might clean my car 😜. They also say Gloucester got hit with mud rain and because of the high level water restrictions they can't just wash it off 😳. 

well I was lucky it washed of car is still a bit dirty tho  ..

today in Sydney I got up and seen my car , it looked like someone had taken it thru the outback dirt. the whole car was brown couldn't even see the windows  .. first was covered in ash , now all this outback dirt ..  we sure are coping it here in Sydney  ..  lucky it rained again before I took of and washed it down ..  its starting to rain lightly now hope it isn't that dirt again. and I sure hope it is getting to some of those fires  and farms ..

49 minutes ago, Teddy116 said:

I've been watching all the Australian news for 5 weeks.  I'm in Florida, USA.  Scheduled for 2 cruises out of Sydney-  a Royal Caribbean "Voyager" cruise Feb. 16 and then an "Ovation" cruise to New Zealand on Feb. 29.  All paid for now.  Supposed to be a life-long dream, come true.  But, with all the tragic events (weather, human, and animal) it seems so trivial to go on pleasure trips when so many are suffering.   I don't know what to do.  I live with a respiratory issue.  Do I come and hope for the best?  Or do I try to cancel and try to get some money back?  Any advice, please?

only you know your health  and what trigger's that can cause any harm to yourself  .. there will always be another cruise , nobody here can give you 100% assurance there wont be smoke , so put your health first  .. your health is more important than any cruise 

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

It sounds like you are a bit confused. how can you not believe in climate change but then state it does change and then you state that we have helped accelerate it.

I don't believe in climate change in the way people use it against all the crap that's going on..  climate has been changing since day 1 ..  greenhouse gases should be used as its the rising co2 that is causing the issues around the globe according to scientist ..  hut then again some predict we will be entering a mini ice age as well..  .. I just hope it rains in the areas needed ..  but who knows  if we don't get lots of rain soon Sydney just might be one of a few cities without water .. another case of a myan city  no water 

what is to blame here for all these condition's that are now happening around the globe in there summer or winter season's  .. 

I have heard stories from global warming to co2 emission green house gasses  , pollution, cattle methane , council's governments , etc  ..  what do people think and think its from .. 

me I don't believe in climate change as the earth has been changing since day one .. but in saying that I do believe we have accelerated the problem tho ..  

28 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's turned very hazy in Sydney now but, so far, no actual smell of smoke where we are.

it very hot and windy tho 

one of the fire fighting air tankers has gone down or missing in the south of nsw