MADflyer

Many hospitality and tourism companies that are privately held had this to offer to those laid off or with even reduced salary.

While the $500 is not excessively generous, many of these players are now coming with the second round of money being released by the foundations formed with the crisis. Often those affected are low income employees to start with. 

The programs were already in place and just had to be activated for the foundation management company to start the process of releasing funds to  those affected. Applications with bills or payments attached qualified the first time and for the second dispersion a new application was not necessary for many. 

41 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Just wondering...is there much testing going on over there these days?

There is a great deal of contact tracing going on in Spain. 40% of new cases have been tied to family gatherings. They are oddly affected in rural areas now to a much greater extent than the big cities. 

Masks are mandatory now in all public spaces and it has been strictly enforced. Fines rise substantially repeat offences. 

Testing is available at many levels. While Spain does have standard health care through the health care services and they will even in most cases come home to the individual that has a possible case. They have been coming the same day the test is needed for the most part. 

Then many have relationships through private local clinics were you can be a member and have access to rapid 2 day testing and full antibody screening. It ranges from $60 to $225 at private clinics. Those taking more money give quicker results as I think public testing is running about 3 days now. Some exclusive plans from Employers or for business owners are  all inclusive with an annual fee. Private results are same or 2 day results. 

The itineraries have been released now for the Asia 2021 season with only Voyager and Spectrum.

Spectrum  HK / Shanghai / HK 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2021_2022/SC_2021.pdf

Voyager May to October Beijing   (most likely Singapore October to May)

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2021_2022/VY_2021.pdf

Next question is whether Wonder will be added a year later or will she just be moved to another region? Will she just start with a Singapore deployment possibly and then move to Beijing in 2023? 

It sounds like they printed that a few weeks ago. 

Every provider form I have seen just simply asks :  "Have you traveled outside the country in the past ____ weeks?  "

It is ridiculous to list specific countries as that is changing all the time. 

The current highest risk countries are: 

Brazil

USA

Mexico

India

Colombia 

Iran

Peru

Russia

South Africa 

Iraq

The UK is the only European country in the top 20 at the moment. 

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/new-cases

53 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

But she was begun in the 80's

 

Costa Victoria scrapped by choice, just 24 years old

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/costa-victoria-cruise-ship-scrapped/

Interesting that Costa Victoria was delivered just prior to the shipyard going bankrupt. I would wonder if the ship always had issues. 

Also noted that the ship is awaiting likely scrapping after the buyer had originally stated the ship would be used as accommodations and just a week later presented her for possible scrapping. 

I think Monarch will be the first cruise ship built in the 1990's to be scrapped by choice. I guess it is an indicator of what is coming across the cruise industry. 

The current holding company for Birka Cruise Line did operate the Swedish ship and had changed the name to Birka Cruises actually. They have a total of 8 ships among 3 lines. 

These Baltic lines do have a very rich history and they have actually had a great impact on modern cruises as many of the innovations, such as the Promenade first appeared on ships sailing the Baltic, with the Silja Serenade and Silja Symphony.

Without those advancements in the early 90s you would not have many of the features on the Voyager and Freedom class, such as the Royal Promenade 9 years after the introduction in the Baltic. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Silja_Serenade

Having lived in Sweden for the 90s, I do recall Birka's ship as one of the 'stars' of the Swedish soap TV show, Rederiet that ran for 10 seasons. It was referred to as the Swedish television's 'Dynasty'.

I only sailed with them one time when they had the former Royal Viking Sky for one year after NCL had operated the ship for a while. I had sailed on this ship around South America and on a Panama Canal sailing both in the 80s and it was nice being able to walk from my home to the 'Cruise' Terminal for boarding 45 minutes prior to departure. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103523/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

The company being taken into bankruptcy in Spain is the travel agency that sells the cruises on the Pullmantur Cruise Ships, Pullmantur SA.  This agency was owned by Pullmantur Holding together with RCL. 

The ownership information for each ship is shown on the ship register website at Det Norske Veritas. 

I am no expert in this area but it is interesting to note how each ship is registered. Quantum is owned by "Quantum of the Seas Inc" and Sovereign is owned by Pullmantur Cruises Sovereign Ltd. and not by the now bankrupt Pullmantur SA nor directly by Pullmantur Holdings. 

Interestingly, Grandeur is owned by RCL directly at the moment and the planned move to Pullmantur would be cancelled. 

The information for Sovereign is as follows currently: 

 https://vesselregister.dnvgl.com/VesselRegister/vesseldetails.html?vesselid=G107405

46 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Was hoping to see faster. 

I saw her at 16.9 kn earlier. 

Local media discussed the disappointment with the Allure of the Seas project at Navantia due to the fact that in the end the work only required around 400 workers a day as the length of the project had been extended in dry dock. 

They re-emphasized how the work was restricted only to the maritime maintenance and propulsion issues and nothing else. 

Interestingly they discuss that although the contract for the Carnival Victory has not been cancelled they have not done any work on the ship. There is suspicion the ship could be one of the 6 ships mentioned by Carnival as leaving their fleet. 

There was no mention of the Celebrity Constellation that was due into the Navantia yards when the Carnival ship was completed. 

Navantia delayed a meeting with all personnel concerning the future of the shipyard's cruise ship contracts until Wednesday, allowing the Allure of the Seas project to be completed with her departure today, and stated that while none had been cancelled they expect there will be severe impact on the shipyard in the near future. 

https://www.diariodecadiz.es/noticias-provincia-cadiz/Navantia-Allure-crucero-reparado-Cadiz_0_1478252462.html

Royal Caribbean's airline Wamos is flying in to Barbados now from Madrid.  Flights from Barbados have been flying with some frequency from Barbados to Doha on Qatar Airways. 

41 minutes ago, coaster said:

I believe the lines with the oldest ships will go first. CMV is in big trouble. Fred Olsen also has a couple of former Royal Viking ships that are almost 50 years old. 

 

Fred Olsen should be safe. They just announced their 'Four Ladies in Lisbon' cruises yesterday, where all their ships will meet up in Lisbon in 2021. They are a 5th Generation family company with a very strong following. 

I have sailed on all the Royal Viking ships and the former Royal Viking Sky is the only ship I have sailed on under 4 different cruise lines. She was fully renovated again in 2018 and was in great shape the last time I was onboard. She followed us out from Lisbon when I was on a Liberty of the Seas' transatlantic some years ago and it was amazing how tiny she looked from that vantage point. 

The ship where CMV had the major incident with crew was supposed to leave service I believe. Without having much knowledge of the situation, I am glad a government stepped in to see that these crew members get repatriated to India. 

Both Anthem and Celebrity Infinity are finally in port in Mumbai today. 

Another Philippine Airlines flight is headed toward Bridgetown, Barbados from LAX now. 

Both Majesty and Empress are back in Southampton today. Looks like they are scheduled in to Southampton every 5 or 6 days in June. 

With the flight patterns that Wamos flights have been taking there could be some re-crewing of the ships going on with the repatriation. of crew. 

A Wamos flight that has departed today from Mumbai for Madrid. 

This aircraft flew Shanghai to Madrid and then on to Bridgetown and then to Mumbai via Madrid and is returning to Madrid now. 

The flight to Miami yesterday appears unrelated as they flew on to Lima Peru today. An Air Europa flight out of Madrid to Bridgetown today is possible working with Disney on repatriation. 

Wamos flight from Madrid arriving at MIAmi in a few hours. Unsure if any relationship to Brilliance that has been in port in Miami for a couple of days. 

I am not sure if the new Spanish decree for the New Normal would have anything to do with the timing of Pullmantur's decision. 

With the "New Normal" decreed by the Spanish government and approved when the Ciudadanos center-right party joined the coalition, insight was given what would be required of transportation companies after the state of emergency is lifted at the end of the month. 

The decree will be permanent until such time that the government considers the pandemic over. 

Masks will be obligatory in all indoor public spaces including workplaces, restaurants, hotels and airlines and other transport companies. Fines as much as 100 euros have been introduced. Outdoor mask usage and fines will be handled by the local regional governments around Spain. 

Transportation companies must keep records of where passengers were seated (dined - lounges) or moved for 30 days. This will allow for proper contact tracing should a confirmed virus case be found. 

It would be required for all transportation within or originating or arriving in Spain to allow for contact tracing. 

https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-06-09/spanish-cabinet-approves-decree-for-new-normality-after-coronavirus-state-of-alarm-ends.html

If the phases are strictly adhered to, it would seem that cruise ships would be in phase 4 for NOLA. 

https://ready.nola.gov/incident/coronavirus/safe-reopening/

Here is the article with cruise ship quote. 

https://www.nola.com/news/coronavirus/article_315022c0-aa8c-11ea-bf41-1fa12505cf45.html

Liberty of the Seas has been booked at Gran Cayman on either 7 or 14 night intervals through April of 2022 for the sailings out of Galveston. 

The Allure sailings that have been cancelled did not include Gran Cayman due to the delay of the dock at Gran Cayman. Liberty will be able to continue to call on popular Gran Cayman out of Galveston. 

On 6/3/2020 at 4:31 PM, Oceansaway17 said:

 

 

I am still curious where Ovation will so now that she is so far away from Alaska now.  I Caribbean opens first, then the Pacific ocean ships could be idle longer or become part of the Atlantic bunch.  I hope Ovation does NOT go back to China.

Ovation of the Seas departed Mumbai and is heading for Singapore now with a 18 June arrival scheduled. 

Majesty docked at Dover today. She is scheduled back into Southampton on the 15th for 2 nights. Empress scheduled for Southampton for the 12th and again the 15th. 

Jewel on a slow journey to Gibraltar arriving on the 18th. 

Ovation has arrived to Mumbai. Anthem is just over 2 days out from Mumbai with Celebrity Infinity just a day behind. 

Another Philippine Airline 777 heading for Barbados from LAX now. 

It appears that Jewel and Empress will be in Southampton together tomorrow, with Empress staying a couple of days and Jewel departing at 22:00. 

Wamos flight returned from Buenos Aires, Argentina via Montevideo, Uruguay back to Barbados and then on to San Pedro Sula, Honduras  and now returning to Barbados.  

Another Wamos flight has departed for London for the 2nd time this week. 

Wamos A330 arriving at Madrid soon from Barbados. The aircraft had an odd pattern the last few days flying to Bogata, Colombia, Santiago, Chile, Mexico City, Mexico and then to Cancun, Mexico, each time returning to Barbados before the flight headed back to Madrid. 

It seems they are about 2 weeks behind schedule for the South American and Mexican repatriations. 

Jewel is in anchorage now and likely soon joined by Majesty outside of Southampton. 

Wamos flew from Barbados to Bogata, Colombia and then on to Santiago, Chile yesterday with a return to Barbados. The aircraft is now landing at Mexico City from Barbados. 

Another Wamos A330 flight from Barbados is showing an unknown destination over Brazil and appears to be heading to Sao Paulo, Brazil.