Seabourn and the current issues surrounding the Corona Virus

[phillipahain]

Well now the UK government has announced anyone over 70 must not go on a cruise ...so Seabourn needs to face up to their responsibilities 

[teamflames]

1 hour ago, Joc123 said:

I have no knowledge just speculation but I think Sojourn will make it to Perth.

The ship has been self isolated for over 2 weeks so is probably the safest place in the world at the moment. Broome is isolated by it’s very position but it is a tourist destination so who knows if the virus has arrived there or not.

The problem with Australia is we are coming into our flu season (winter officially starts June 1st) and although relatively clear here, we are starting to record more cases daily - even Tom Hanks and his wife, who were making a movie on the Gold Coast have the virus. 

I read they are trying to trace whether they contracted it here or on a return visit to LA.

[ab21au]

1 hour ago, Joc123 said:

The problem with Australia is we are coming into our flu season (winter officially starts June 1st) and although relatively clear here, we are starting to record more cases daily - even Tom Hanks and his wife, who were making a movie on the Gold Coast have the virus. 

I bet those who tried to but missed out on getting selfies are glad now and those who did, wish they hadn’t. 
 

It will spread more in Australia. The male from Brisbane who tested positive a couple of days ago, had no symptoms and was only tested because his mother made him after returning from Italy, Spain. He went to work at Friday’s, a bar/disco in Brisbane, Friday to Sunday. They are currently contact tracing now. It is all unknown....

[ab21au]

1 hour ago, Joc123 said:

Just announced - Australian F1 Car race will go ahead in Melbourne this weekend but without spectators.

The masses of people I am watching on tv queued at the gates waiting for them to open will be annoyed with that info.

 

Also they just announced no fans will be allowed into the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the game but the game against NZ will go ahead. 

Edited March 12, 2020 by ab21au

[teamflames]

I am not American so others can tell me if this has political leanings, but it seems to confirm the USA was not prepared and has not been able to test adequately for the virus. There are quotes from Dr Fauci admitting failure.

https://apple.news/A_JC2gFz4Tqi9_59e_2OZaw

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, rols said:

Yes the prohibition is on anyone who has been in a schengen country in the past 14 days, it's not where you fly out of, it's where you've been. So no going to the UK and flying out of there doesn't help you. This is similar to the current rules about China, it's not whether you fly out of China, it's whether you've been there in the previous 2 weeks. 

.. and if that wasn't clear from the .. speech .. that's because it was incoherent and error riddled, you have to read some of the guidance which came out later. 

 

OK.  I agree.  Whoever wrote Trump's speech let him down in the details.  Evidently, he does NOT have the very best people after all.  

[ab21au]

9 minutes ago, teamflames said:

I am not American so others can tell me if this has political leanings, but it seems to confirm the USA was not prepared and has not been able to test adequately for the virus.

I would say based in the numbers below (26 tests/1 million) that is the case.  
 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/covid-19-testing/

[zimflyer]

Formula One 3 day grand prix event in Melbourne cancelled.

 

...Ouch, on the opening day, 15 minutes before gates open....

 

This could well presage closedowns across Australia at large gatherings...

 

Not good news for us on Sojourn next week.

[teamflames]

Video from John Hopkins professor. Very critical of Dr Fauci.

Households should have 3 months supply of food and medicine.

Where will be 1,000 deaths a day at the zenith.

https://apple.news/A7Fd6WpvIQS-lHhoImDOapQ

[chipmaster]

2 minutes ago, teamflames said:

Video from John Hopkins professor. Very critical of Dr Fauci.

Households should have 3 months supply of food and medicine.

Where will be 1,000 deaths a day at the zenith.

https://apple.news/A7Fd6WpvIQS-lHhoImDOapQ

 

Ah this clearly explains the run on toilet paper: input / output, LOL

[ab21au]

5 minutes ago, zimflyer said:

Formula One 3 day grand prix event in Melbourne cancelled.

They just announced that the 9 teams principals met last night and decided not to race. So why has it taken so long????

 

The cynic reporters on tv said the Vic Gov put 60 million plus into the race and they were the ones who wanted it to go ahead. 
 

Seems like total confusion everywhere.

[rols]

6 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Thanks galeforce! I was just about to say if any of my fellow UK cruisers heard anything different or I misunderstood anything please add it to the thread. I

Actually I'm a bit shellshocked by the 10-14 week thing,  perhaps naively I had expected it to peak within the next 3-4 weeks!

3-4 unlikely. I'd have gone with about 10. China took about 6 weeks after it realised there was an epidemic to mostly shut it down, the rest of the world is a few weeks back from the point China had that realisation. Herd immunity kicks in about 40% population, we;re two months away from that (my opinion)

[Isklaar]

3 minutes ago, rols said:

3-4 unlikely. I'd have gone with about 10. China took about 6 weeks after it realised there was an epidemic to mostly shut it down, the rest of the world is a few weeks back from the point China had that realisation. Herd immunity kicks in about 40% population, we;re two months away from that (my opinion)

Taking it as 10 weeks, Seabourn cruises to the Med and to Northern Europe are likely to be affected as far out as May/June at least. 

 

[teamflames]

19 minutes ago, ab21au said:

They just announced that the 9 teams principals met last night and decided not to race. So why has it taken so long????

 

The cynic reporters on tv said the Vic Gov put 60 million plus into the race and they were the ones who wanted it to go ahead. 
 

Seems like total confusion everywhere.

I heard other Melbourne media commentators yesterday cynically pointing out that the Premier of Victoria had previously made announcements about the need for schools etc to close and how a pandemic was inevitable yet it refused to cancel the F1 and how hypocritical it was.

[tv24]

We have a Cunard Atlantic crossing scheduled for June.  Today we received a blast email announcing a liberal cancellation policy in exchange for a future cruise credit.  And if you choose to keep your booking, you get a modest amount of extra OBC.  Maybe Seabourn will have a similar policy, also in Carnival Corp.?

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, teamflames said:

I am not American so others can tell me if this has political leanings, but it seems to confirm the USA was not prepared and has not been able to test adequately for the virus. There are quotes from Dr Fauci admitting failure.

https://apple.news/A_JC2gFz4Tqi9_59e_2OZaw

Most definitely not prepared and still not ready even now - a shame forever and this most likely will be causing many people their lives unnecessarily.

[teamflames]

12 minutes ago, tv24 said:

We have a Cunard Atlantic crossing scheduled for June.  Today we received a blast email announcing a liberal cancellation policy in exchange for a future cruise credit.  And if you choose to keep your booking, you get a modest amount of extra OBC.  Maybe Seabourn will have a similar policy, also in Carnival Corp.?

The cynical side of me says this is an attempt to get people to take a fcc before the cruise is cancelled and a refund is mandatory. 
We have not taken any fcc early cancellation offers on any of our upcoming cruises, our Seabourn was cancelled with refund and 25% fcc we expect the same will happen with the other 2

[westmount]

Good evening to all. Just catching up on events, and yes. Yesterday was a bad day all around . Our prime Ministers wife was tested positive, and do it goes.

 For those thinking of getting on in Perth, we are doing great, the healthiest people in the world right now, but I sure as heck wouldn’t want to be staying on unless all new passengers were on a quarantined ship for 14 days prior to getting on. 
  I will be surprised if it’s not ball fame over when we arrive in Perth, or at best, the cruise continues with zero people allowed on. 
   It would just seem very logical and necessary to simply end all cruises for 60 until at least June 1st to allow ships to reposition and give the travel world a break from all the bedlam. 
it might happen sooner than we think.

the good news seems to be that with testing  and isolation occurring, China, Singapore and South Korea seem to be Diminishing the threat, something that now seems to have caught hold everywhere.
  America seems to have blown it. and now they might be in for a really tough time. 
the story on Tom Hanks seems to be he had a “cold” in America and only went to be tested in Australia as it was easily available etc, so I gather at this stage the USA could be a net exporter of the virus contrary to its Kings hunch. 
   Everyone knew he was simply an unqualified president who was playing the role for the fun of it and money I gather. Who thought he would perform in a crisis, but then again, they voted for him, they elected him. Maybe just maybe they got what they wanted or deserved, history will tell. 
a stupid  nut case guy beat a unpopular woman, our friends in America will learn one day. 
back to the business at hand, it’s 95 degrees out there and I had spicy curry chicken on the patio for lunch, let me say I felt cool once I got up from lunch and moved Into the sun. 
I read this morning that Australia might stop flights from Europe, and let me tell you, this is a tough place to get home if you can’t fly.

Seabourn might be the only way home. 
the good news about markets tanking is it’s so forceful , and with any luck, investors will eventually look to 2021/22 and think long term and not just three months out.

those fcc might be the only way we can cruise in the future, let’s just hope our favorite cruise lines are still out there

  one last question, does anyone know where these two items are located?

 

[zimflyer]

Could not agree more.... half of the forum wants to fight for their US political bias, the rest want to tell us how wrong we are to expect Seabourn to act with integrity (perceived brand quality = failed before departure)...

 

Here is how professional companies react.. 

Multiple brands grounded in response to COVID-19 threat.

Globus family of brands, consisting of major divisions such as Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and Avalon Waterways, has decided to suspend all travel until 30 April.

Travellers booked on affected holidays from now until 30 April will be able to reschedule their trips in 2020/21/22, to any destination or brand without incurring a cancellation fee.

Globus will also offer travellers a credit of up to $300 per person 

 

 

[Nops]

Has anybody noticed or am I making a mistake. All reference to Covoid 19 has been removed from the Seabourn website. Maybe I am missing something if so apologies. Until this morning in the UK there was a travel advisory link at the top left of the web page that linked to the advisory video and the latest cruise changes. That seems to have been removed. Also using the search function for "covoid" returns no hits. This of course maybe a web glitch. 

[Isklaar]

31 minutes ago, Nops said:

Has anybody noticed or am I making a mistake. All reference to Covoid 19 has been removed from the Seabourn website. Maybe I am missing something if so apologies. Until this morning in the UK there was a travel advisory link at the top left of the web page that linked to the advisory video and the latest cruise changes. That seems to have been removed. Also using the search function for "covoid" returns no hits. This of course maybe a web glitch. 

 

For me, the Travel Advisory link has disappeared. However if you search 'covID' not 'covOID', information still appears.

(I'm in the UK, looking at the UK site and using a Macbook Air right now)

Perhaps the travel advisory is being updated, or perhaps it's just a UK site glitch. The website frequently has them!

Edited March 13, 2020 by Isklaar

[teamflames]

1 hour ago, Nops said:

Has anybody noticed or am I making a mistake. All reference to Covoid 19 has been removed from the Seabourn website. Maybe I am missing something if so apologies. Until this morning in the UK there was a travel advisory link at the top left of the web page that linked to the advisory video and the latest cruise changes. That seems to have been removed. Also using the search function for "covoid" returns no hits. This of course maybe a web glitch. 

I couldn’t find the link to it either, I think I went to press using a link at the very bottom of the page and found the old warnings on there. The cancellation policies seem to have been upgraded. Definitely difficult to find though

[Isklaar]

Can anyone confirm that the Quest cruise from Buenos Aires on Sunday 15th has been cancelled? If so what is happening with the guests who are already onboard and booked through to Miami?

[Mauzac]

44 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

Can anyone confirm that the Quest cruise from Buenos Aires on Sunday 15th has been cancelled? If so what is happening with the guests who are already onboard and booked through to Miami?

 

Yes, it's definitely been cancelled, I've been on their Roll Call and someone has posted the email they received.  It embarks on Sunday and has only just been cancelled.  

If the ship is not going to Manaus, I presume we're not too.... we are in limbo at the moment and waiting for the TA and in fact SB to ring back...

  But SB told our TA who told us... that if we cancel by close of play today there will be no refund penalties... but I'm hoping the new 48 hour cancellation policy applies to our 2 b2bs.  If so, it isn't so urgent.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Mauzac

[zimflyer]

1 hour ago, teamflames said:

I couldn’t find the link to it either, I think I went to press using a link at the very bottom of the page and found the old warnings on there. The cancellation policies seem to have been upgraded. Definitely difficult to find though

Hopeless...just hopeless...

 

Really...am I the only one of few to realise the utter compacency of this mob...?

They must have been really good in the old days to engender such support...

Sad... I liked the good old days..