VP Pence to meet with Cruise lines

[twangster]

What came of this isn’t going to be offered to the media or the public.  It’s not like that are posting the meeting minutes. 
 

The public facing gathering was rightfully planned with careful words to avoid the market crashing and public panic on one wrong word.  
 

Initially skeptical but I think this meeting was a good idea.  Both sides understand the other and lines of communication are open that might not have been last week.  
 

We’ll likely never fully comprehend the good that came from this.  

[Anton]

 

I saw the opening statements at the meeting with the media present, and when Adam Goldstein finished his remarks the media was rather forcefully told to get out of the room,  almost in a drill instructor manner by whoever was actually yelling at them to hurry up and leave.  They indeed do not want to lose control of whatever message is finally announced.

 

It would not surprise me if guests have their temperatures taken not only at embarkation, but also prior to debarkation at the end of the cruise and even once or twice during the cruise if it's a long one.   Having coronavirus test kits on the ships is a good idea, and I think that will be part of the plan.  Nobody wants the media optics of yet another ship stuck at sea or isolated in port.  They want to be able to identify, verify, isolate, and get to a shore facility, anyone who tests positive.   Oh, and just don't cough or wipe your nose on your cruise.  You might be singled out for special attention.  Fellow allergy sufferers, you know what I mean.

[thrifty99]

1 hour ago, Anton said:

It would not surprise me if guests have their temperatures taken not only at embarkation, but also prior to debarkation at the end of the cruise and even once or twice during the cruise if it's a long one.   Having coronavirus test kits on the ships is a good idea, and I think that will be part of the plan.  Nobody wants the media optics of yet another ship stuck at sea or isolated in port.  They want to be able to identify, verify, isolate, and get to a shore facility, anyone who tests positive.   Oh, and just don't cough or wipe your nose on your cruise.  You might be singled out for special attention.  Fellow allergy sufferers, you know what I mean.

All good ideas. And as a fellow allergy sufferer, I know exactly what you mean. I will have a big selection of allergy medicine on my April Harmony cruise so I don’t get thrown overboard if I sniffle / cough. 

[mugtech]

• The good news is they are not taking up Trump's idea of keeping everyone on the ship so the disease does not enter the country.  Hope they get those people on Grand Princess into that non-commercial port soon.

[mishelly76]

23 minutes ago, mugtech said:

• The good news is they are not taking up Trump's idea of keeping everyone on the ship so the disease does not enter the country.  Hope they get those people on Grand Princess into that non-commercial port soon.

Where did you hear that? Does that mean they will not be quarantining future cruises that have passengers that test positive?  
Scheduled to sail Friday on Serenade and considering canceling...not for fear of getting sick but out of fear of being quarantined and stuck if a fellow passenger becomes sick. 

[mugtech]

32 minutes ago, mishelly76 said:

Where did you hear that? Does that mean they will not be quarantining future cruises that have passengers that test positive?  
Scheduled to sail Friday on Serenade and considering canceling...not for fear of getting sick but out of fear of being quarantined and stuck if a fellow passenger becomes sick. 

No, but quarantined on land instead of on the ship, hence the search for the non-commercial port

[twangster]

5 hours ago, mugtech said:

No, but quarantined on land instead of on the ship, hence the search for the non-commercial port

 

The only non-commercial ports that can handle large ships are government ports such as US Navy or Coast Guard bases.  It's not like they can beach a ship so when you take commercial ports out of the mix there isn't much left.

[A&L_Ont]

Found this photo on FB. In all seriousness I hope all the cameras left quickly so they could actually have good communication.  I still think cruise stock is dropping on Monday, with the Grand Princess sitting off the shore of California.

 

[mugtech]

5 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

The only non-commercial ports that can handle large ships are government ports such as US Navy or Coast Guard bases.  It's not like they can beach a ship so when you take commercial ports out of the mix there isn't much left.

I thought that must be what they meant by non-commercial ports, don't really know what they had in mind, why not just say government ports?

[cruiserhal]

13 hours ago, Anton said:

 

I saw the opening statements at the meeting with the media present, and when Adam Goldstein finished his remarks the media was rather forcefully told to get out of the room,  almost in a drill instructor manner by whoever was actually yelling at them to hurry up and leave.  They indeed do not want to lose control of whatever message is finally announced.

 

It would not surprise me if guests have their temperatures taken not only at embarkation, but also prior to debarkation at the end of the cruise and even once or twice during the cruise if it's a long one.   Having coronavirus test kits on the ships is a good idea, and I think that will be part of the plan.  Nobody wants the media optics of yet another ship stuck at sea or isolated in port.  They want to be able to identify, verify, isolate, and get to a shore facility, anyone who tests positive.   Oh, and just don't cough or wipe your nose on your cruise.  You might be singled out for special attention.  Fellow allergy sufferers, you know what I mean.

I agree with you about allergy suffers because I am also one.  This year I have started early with the runny nose and tight chest.  Mucinex and Claritin are my saviors every year.  The good thing is my allergies never give me a fever.  

[flamingos]

14 hours ago, time4u2go said:

So did anything useful/helpful come out of the meeting?

 

Photo ops of men looking concerned.  🙂

[flamingos]

8 hours ago, mugtech said:

No, but quarantined on land instead of on the ship, hence the search for the non-commercial port

 

 

At least some are going to Dobbins AFB in Georgia.

 

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/some-grand-princess-passengers-headed-to-atlanta/85-c3c9980d-b67d-46e1-b68f-de9fb9d17ae3

 

"I have learned that thirty-four Georgians and additional American citizens from the eastern United States who are currently on the Grand Princess cruise ship off the California coast will be securely transferred to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia," Kemp said in a release Sunday morning. "These passengers will undergo testing and be quarantined for possible exposure to COVID-19. They are expected to arrive at Dobbins late Monday, March 9 or early Tuesday, March 10."

There is no indication if any of the people being transported to Georgia have tested positive for coronavirus, nor how many individuals in addition to the 34 Georgians would be arriving at Dobbins.

According to California state officials, the Grand Princess has been given permission to dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday, where disembarkation of passengers will begin.

[dodgestang]

5 minutes ago, flamingos said:

 

Photo ops of men looking concerned.  🙂

 

I would offer the opinion of YES something good did come out of the meeting.  Do you think RCCL (and Carnival) announcing their new refund policy the day before as well as the new enhanced screen measures at port where simple coincidence? 

[flamingos]

1 minute ago, dodgestang said:

 

I would offer the opinion of YES something good did come out of the meeting.  Do you think RCCL (and Carnival) announcing their new refund policy the day before as well as the new enhanced screen measures at port where simple coincidence? 

 

Announcing something 'before' the meeting is not a result of the meeting.  🙂

[dodgestang]

1 hour ago, flamingos said:

 

Announcing something 'before' the meeting is not a result of the meeting.  🙂

 

Yeah because the whole "Hey, the VP is coming to visit with a mandate to discuss what you are doing to help control spread of a disease" doesn't make ANYONE think "gee maybe we should put some measures in place so we can point to them at the meeting to help avoid the .Fed thinking we aren't doing enough and trying to mandate things we don't like"

 

 

[TexasRon]

Just a comment about the "force" used to clear the media.  The media has a job and they never really want to leave just in case they can get one more answer (or, if you are more cynical, one more "gotcha" moment).  Asking them to nicely leave does not seem to work.  Either the person(s) answering questions need to leave the room or they need to be herded out.

 

Nothing unusual at all about the process...

[akcruz]

Saw this article earlier about this meeting.  Not a whole lot, but something.

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/coronavirus-cruise-lines-123455

[MADflyer]

The meeting had 2 topics according to industry news. 

 

1. The Cruise Line International Association and the lobbying wing of the Cruise Industry wanted to strongly support their statement from Friday concerning the possible action by the government to discourage cruise vacations for certain passenger segments. 

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22551-clia-responds-to-report-that-u-s-may-discourage-cruise-vacations.html

 

2. The US and Florida governments concern was about that the industry would "help"  pay for the transfer and care of sick passengers.  

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22556-industry-promises-to-go-above-and-beyond-pay-for-medical-care.html

 

I would imagine that the cruise industry had much stronger plans already in place for dealing with a health emergency and are just implementing well thought out plans that were already in place. 

 

This was a scheduled one hour meeting that went over to one hour and 15 minutes. That would indicate that there was not a lot of depth to the actual meeting. 

[flamingos]

15 minutes ago, dodgestang said:

 

Yeah because the whole "Hey, the VP is coming to visit with a mandate to discuss what you are doing to help control spread of a disease" doesn't make ANYONE think "gee maybe we should put some measures in place so we can point to them at the meeting to help avoid the .Fed thinking we aren't doing enough and trying to mandate things we don't like"

 

 

 

Actually, not my thought process at all.  I'm more concerned about the lack of information, the conflicting statements, the disinformation and the forced praise of the president at these events. The time to discuss spread of the disease was back in January.

[3CatsInMA]

12 minutes ago, flamingos said:

 

Actually, not my thought process at all.  I'm more concerned about the lack of information, the conflicting statements, the disinformation and the forced praise of the president at these events. The time to discuss spread of the disease was back in January.

The coronavirus task force was launched in January.

[flamingos]

14 minutes ago, 3CatsInMA said:

The coronavirus task force was launched in January.

 

And what did they do?  We are so far behind the curve, compared to most other nations. “Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.”  This does not fill me with confidence.

[3CatsInMA]

1 minute ago, flamingos said:

 

And what did they do?  We are so far behind the curve, compared to most other nations. “Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.”  This does not fill me with confidence.

You said the conversation should have been started in January.  It was.  Now keep moving those goal posts! LOL

[flamingos]

7 minutes ago, 3CatsInMA said:

I would love a link to that quote.  Thanks!🙂

 

 

 

[flamingos]

1 minute ago, 3CatsInMA said:

You said the conversation should have been started in January.  It was.  Now keep moving those goal posts! LOL

 

We had a pandemic team at the CDC; they are no longer there. They would have begun in January; they did not. What do you think this team of which you speak has been doing, before Pence was put in charge two weeks ago?

[A&L_Ont]

3 minutes ago, 3CatsInMA said:

I would love a link to that quote.  Thanks!🙂

 

”Trump also touted the low number of overall cases as a sign of the government's success. The president even said he'd prefer passengers stuck aboard a cruise ship off the coast of California with a number of COVID-19 cases remain onboard so as not to raise the overall American case count“.
 

Link to the story the Canadian News story is here. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/we-re-just-lost-why-the-u-s-still-lags-on-covid-19-testing-1.5488886