News on the Westerdam

[BarbarianPaul]

My heart goes out to all the passengers stuck in Cambodia, and it sounds like there’s a lot of them. What bothers me the most is that HAL is not staying in contact, and seems to have washed their hands of any further responsibility once they got folks off the ship as fast as possible. But maybe it’s not true. Does anyone know if HAL has offered to assist stranded passengers? Who’s paying for their hotels?

 

And why does it seem that HAL is all alone in this mess, other than, of course, the Diamond Princess? Wasn’t the Crystal Serenity facing some challenges? Not sure, but I think the Seabourn Ovation was supposed to be in Hong Kong the same day as the Westerdam on Feb. 1. How did they avoid this? Or did they bypass Hong Kong?

[AlanF65]

1 hour ago, LoraJ said:

Meanwhile, my parents have been in transit and HAL has not reached out to them at all and are only getting updates from family. My brother is picking them up at the airport and called HAL to make sure and they said they said they are good for pick up. 

Sounds like they will be contacted once they get back to the states

 

According to Holland America, all crew and passengers were individually screened for elevated temperatures on Feb. 10; no one at the time had a fever.

 

"We are in close coordination with some of the leading health experts from around the world," said Dr. Grant Tarling, Chief Medical Officer for Holland America Line, in a statement. "These experts are working with the appropriate national health authorities to investigate and follow-up with individuals who may have come in contact with the guest."

Cruise passengers who have already returned home will be contacted by their respective local health departments for next steps, the Holland America statement says.

 

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Cambodia-gets-more-praise-for-allowing-cruise-15060606.php

[dado123456]

KUALA LUMPUR: Six foreigners, who were onboard a Westerdam cruise ship docked in Cambodia which had one passenger test positive for Covid-19 infection, have been given a clean bill of health.

 

 

Four of the six are Americans while two are Dutch nationals. They were among 145 people from the cruise ship who had arrived in KL via a Malaysia Airlines chartered flight last week.

 

Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a statement tonight, said the six were subjected to Covid-19 detection tests on Feb 16.

 

 

He said test results from the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) showed that they did not have the Covid-19 infection.

 

“They are currently in good health. The related embassies have been informed accordingly of these results and they will be allowed to continue with their respective outbound flights to their next destination,” he said.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/02/566169/covid-19-six-foreigners-given-all-clear-fly-home

 

[knitter]

Heard on the news this morning that one person on the ship did test positive for Covid-19. This was after many people had already left on flights from Cambodia. Not a good situation, I imagine.

[cruiseing marly]

35 minutes ago, BarbarianPaul said:

My heart goes out to all the passengers stuck in Cambodia, and it sounds like there’s a lot of them. What bothers me the most is that HAL is not staying in contact, and seems to have washed their hands of any further responsibility once they got folks off the ship as fast as possible. But maybe it’s not true. Does anyone know if HAL has offered to assist stranded passengers? Who’s paying for their hotels?

 

And why does it seem that HAL is all alone in this mess, other than, of course, the Diamond Princess? Wasn’t the Crystal Serenity facing some challenges? Not sure, but I think the Seabourn Ovation was supposed to be in Hong Kong the same day as the Westerdam on Feb. 1. How did they avoid this? Or did they bypass Hong Kong?

I read the were having 50 dollars food paid for a day have no idea how far that goes in a Cambodian 5 star hotel. I was making the assumption HAL was also was paying the  hotel but not sure.

[kazu]

49 minutes ago, BarbarianPaul said:

And why does it seem that HAL is all alone in this mess, other than, of course, the Diamond Princess?

 

HAL seems to have done more for their passengers than Princess.  More than 500 passengers are getting off the Diamond Princess on chartered flights with protocols in place.  Two planes by the U.S. Government and one by the Canadian Government.  The Governments made the move to do this.  

 

Passengers are being tested first, of course and then they will be quarantined upon arrival.  

 

At least HAL ponied up for the flights.  It’s a shame they hadn’t chartered to some key spots and even if the passengers had to be quarantined they would have had  better medical facilities and treatment available than where they currently are.

[Mandalay1903]

58 minutes ago, BarbarianPaul said:

 

 

And why does it seem that HAL is all alone in this mess, other than, of course, the Diamond Princess? Wasn’t the Crystal Serenity facing some challenges? Not sure, but I think the Seabourn Ovation was supposed to be in Hong Kong the same day as the Westerdam on Feb. 1. How did they avoid this? Or did they bypass Hong Kong?

Good questions, BarbarianPaul. I researched Ovation a little just now on various news sites, without wading through any of their CC boards. Ovation left Hong Kong on 2/1, same day as Westerdam, on a 14 day cruise. They worked through their itinerary (not sure if they missed any ports), and docked in Phuket on 2/13. They completed their cruise in Singapore on 2/15, and the Ovation is now docked next to the Sapphire Princess at the Semwabang Shipyard in Singapore. They also announced that none of their passengers had shown any symptoms of Covid-19 [yet].

 

On 2/14 Seabourn announced the cancellation of the 2/15 sailing of the Ovation, apparently giving their passengers only one day notice. This is the same short notice that Princess gave it's Sapphire passengers when they canceled their 2/14 sailing, as has been discussed previously on this board.

 

My hope and concern is that HAL doesn't try a trick like that to wait until 2/28 to cancel Westerdam's 2/29 sailing.  As far as I'm aware, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but there are very few nearby Asian nations who would accept an international cruise ship in port at this time. Japan, SK, Taiwan (who sadly experienced their first Covid-19 death), Philippines, HK are all closed ports at this time. Malaysia has a bitter taste from Westerdam experienced only recently.  I'm not sure what itinerary that HAL could announce for its 2/29 sailing, other than the open berth behind Ovation at the Semwabang Shipyard.

Edited February 16, 2020 by Mandalay1903

[cruisemom42]

17 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

HAL seems to have done more for their passengers than Princess.  More than 500 passengers are getting off the Diamond Princess on chartered flights with protocols in place.  Two planes by the U.S. Government and one by the Canadian Government.  The Governments made the move to do this.  

 

Passengers are being tested first, of course and then they will be quarantined upon arrival.  

 

At least HAL ponied up for the flights.  It’s a shame they hadn’t chartered to some key spots and even if the passengers had to be quarantined they would have had  better medical facilities and treatment available than where they currently are.

 

I think it may be an entirely different situation though. The Diamond Princess was under government quarantine, so I imagine governments had to get involved in that situation, rather than an individual company. Westerdam was never under quarantine.

[freetalkfreelaugh]

I think both Princess and the government were extra vigilant and did the right thing. They were quarantineed, tested , and then able to board a flight so as not to infect more people on the flight. 

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I think it may be an entirely different situation though. The Diamond Princess was under government quarantine, so I imagine governments had to get involved in that situation, rather than an individual company.

 

 

Good point - on the other hand there were  plenty of the same citizens literally stranded on the Flying Dutchman 😉  

 

3 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Westerdam was never under quarantine.

 

Until now.  I’m pretty sure a number of those people are even if it’s not called that.  If no one will fly them out, they are stranded. 😞  Perhaps the two Governments will get involved now?  Time will tell.

[cruisemom42]

1 minute ago, kazu said:

 

Good point - on the other hand there were  plenty of the same citizens literally stranded on the Flying Dutchman 😉  

 

 

Until now.  I’m pretty sure a number of those people are even if it’s not called that.  If no one will fly them out, they are stranded. 😞  Perhaps the two Governments will get involved now?  Time will tell.

 

I'm almost wondering whether HAL might not be better off getting out of Sihuanoukville before they are "officially" quarantined in Cambodia, given the infrastructure there. 

 

But then again, where can they go? 

[iancal]

I think HAL’s statements contain a great deal of gobbly  gook and CYA.

 

My view is that HAL was considerably less than prudent for stopping in HK.  Their performance in Cambodia has left me cold.  Overall it is a pretty bad show.

 

 The on board team clearly tried to make the best of things, performed above and beyond,however they could not remediate the basic issue.  
 

All the rah rah rah and press releases will not change the basic facts of this unfortunate situation.

Edited February 16, 2020 by iancal

[npcl]

58 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

HAL seems to have done more for their passengers than Princess.  More than 500 passengers are getting off the Diamond Princess on chartered flights with protocols in place.  Two planes by the U.S. Government and one by the Canadian Government.  The Governments made the move to do this.  

 

Passengers are being tested first, of course and then they will be quarantined upon arrival.  

 

At least HAL ponied up for the flights.  It’s a shame they hadn’t chartered to some key spots and even if the passengers had to be quarantined they would have had  better medical facilities and treatment available than where they currently are.

Big difference in situations - On HAL there were no government placed restrictions.  On Princess the entire ship was under quarantine.  As such there was nothing that Princess could do.  Princess had announced that they were going to pay the way home for those once they were released.

[iancal]

Ponied up for flights and placed  people on commercial flights lasting as long as 14 hours without safe pre clearance.  This was all about getting rid of a potentially larger problem as quickly as possible.  
 

Move the shell with the pea under it to some other organization.  No doubt KLM and other carriers were thrilled.  Not.

Edited February 16, 2020 by iancal

[npcl]

41 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm almost wondering whether HAL might not be better off getting out of Sihuanoukville before they are "officially" quarantined in Cambodia, given the infrastructure there. 

 

But then again, where can they go? 

Doubt Cambodia will impose quarantine.  For that matter they are still allowing flights from China.

 

https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/china-and-cambodia-love-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/

[kazu]

56 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm almost wondering whether HAL might not be better off getting out of Sihuanoukville before they are "officially" quarantined in Cambodia, given the infrastructure there. 

 

But then again, where can they go? 

 

I don’t know about the feasibility or not but, if it were and if they could be re-provisioned & re-fueled they could head back across the Pacific to the United States.  By then the quarantine period would nearly be up and they could either a) stay on the ship or b) be tested and then go to a quarantine centre in the U.S.

At least that way they would be back in North America.  Crazy thought maybe?

 

[Rowsby]

10 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I don’t know about the feasibility or not but, if it were and if they could be re-provisioned & re-fueled they could head back across the Pacific to the United States.  By then the quarantine period would nearly be up and they could either a) stay on the ship or b) be tested and then go to a quarantine centre in the U.S.

At least that way they would be back in North America.  Crazy thought maybe?

 

 

Not a crazy thought....probably the best safe solution.......

 

Just read on BBC....of the 400 Americans being extracted from the Princess.....40 are positive and will be admitted to the Japanese hospital.........:(

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51524460

 

 

[hal2008]

 

From the beginnig HAL has behaved like a sleez bag.

 

Sure, HK was not ona prohibited list. It were, they wud not have choice.

But given choice, they turned out to be greedy ones.

 Western media and especially HAL's press releases were trying to make fun of countries rejecting Westerdam.

Without being able to test a single person, HAL kept saying that there is no case of coronavirus (similar to what Indonesia is claimimg about their country).

 

They keep repeating that temperature scan were taken on Feb 10.

But pax disembarked on 13/14.

 

Combodia goofed up big time by not insisting on proper diagnostic test before letting people off. But their PM has even less moral standard than some other leader we are familiar with. He is still allowing flights to/from China. So he obviously doesnt care about safety of his people.

 

I hope friends/relatives picking up the timebombs that have escaped and are now landing in US population behave with some common sense and morality.

 

US Govt should round these (potential) escaped time bombs and quarrantine them just like Wuhan evacuees, IMHO.

Edited February 16, 2020 by hal2008

[hal2008]

 

Are members here from Australia and Netherlands can update rest of us about how their governments are handling the few potential time bombs that have landed in their communities?

(potential because they cud easily be virus free)

[hal2008]

 

While we all hate bureacracy and regulations, we can see the benefirts/advantages they offer.

 

Both Princess and HAL are owned by CCL.

 

But as many have observed both have behaved differently.

 

Reason?

 

Diamond Princess is under control of responsible government following laws/regulations.

 

Westerdam and HAL were not and behaved extremely poorly.

If goverment actors who got involved are of questionable morals and/or good decision makers.

(HAL thanked them both)

[iancal]

Canada has a plane on it’s way to pick up non infected citizens on the Diamond.  They will be transported to a NavCan facility in Cornwall and remain under quarantine for 14 days or so.

Edited February 16, 2020 by iancal

[hal2008]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

HAL seems to have done more for their passengers than Princess.  More than 500 passengers are getting off the Diamond Princess on chartered flights with protocols in place.  Two planes by the U.S. Government and one by the Canadian Government.  The Governments made the move to do this.  

 

Passengers are being tested first, of course and then they will be quarantined upon arrival.  

 

At least HAL ponied up for the flights.  It’s a shame they hadn’t chartered to some key spots and even if the passengers had to be quarantined they would have had  better medical facilities and treatment available than where they currently are.

 

Beg to differ.

 

HAL has been extremely irresponsible.

 

Stopping in HK - even with information available then - was greedy.

They took no preventive measures even when country after country wisely denied them porting.

They constantly kept repeating unsupportable statement that no one on ship has coronavirus.

 

They did not participate in proper EFFECTIVE checks before releasing danger into world population just so that they can wash off their hands.

 

Princess Diamond would have done the same if Japan was as weak as Combodia.

Edited February 16, 2020 by hal2008

[iancal]

The difference is between the public interest/proper thing to do vs the bottom line P&L.

 

One huge difference... non infected cruisers on the Diamond are being transported in a private plane AND will be placed in quarantine for 14 days.

 

HAL’s plan.  Transport the cruisers by charter to an airline hub such as KUL.  Drop them off with a ticket on a commercial flight to wherever and forget about them. It’s OK, we took their temperatures

and they are good to go.

 

See the obvious difference between the two?  Would you like to spend 12 or 14 hours sitting beside one of those unfortunate cruisers on a commercial aircraft???

Edited February 16, 2020 by iancal

[gatour]

2 hours ago, BarbarianPaul said:

My heart goes out to all the passengers stuck in Cambodia, and it sounds like there’s a lot of them. What bothers me the most is that HAL is not staying in contact, and seems to have washed their hands of any further responsibility once they got folks off the ship as fast as possible. But maybe it’s not true. Does anyone know if HAL has offered to assist stranded passengers? Who’s paying for their hotels?

 

And why does it seem that HAL is all alone in this mess, other than, of course, the Diamond Princess? Wasn’t the Crystal Serenity facing some challenges? Not sure, but I think the Seabourn Ovation was supposed to be in Hong Kong the same day as the Westerdam on Feb. 1. How did they avoid this? Or did they bypass Hong Kong?

Why don't you go over to the Crystal and Seabourn boards and find out for yourself.  I have been bouncing between the HAL and Princess boards to see what is going on, even though I have no skin in the game.  I.E. no current cruises booked.

Edited February 16, 2020 by gatour

[SunNFunCruzer]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

At least HAL ponied up for the flights.  It’s a shame they hadn’t chartered to some key spots and even if the passengers had to be quarantined they would have had  better medical facilities and treatment available than where they currently are.

 

 

I don't believe it was an issue of Princess not paying for flights. Japan wouldn't let any passengers off the Diamond once the virus was identified onboard.  I think HAL rushed as many passengers off asap as soon as Cambodia allowed it.