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Princess Suspending Operations for 60 Days

ozzie0075

By ozzie0075,
in Holland America Line

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ozzie0075

ozzie0075

Posted
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Just now, iancal said:

A company with decisive leadership. 

 

Agree with this. I expected most lines to follow suite eventually as the pressure from their customers are only going to ramped up now. 

 

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sfocruiser

sfocruiser

Posted
Posted

Viking is suspending Ocean and River operations though 4/30.   Part of the email received last night

 

"Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend operations of our river and ocean vessels embarking from March 12 to April 30, 2020 – at which time we believe Viking will be in a better place to provide the experiences our guests expect and deserve. This is a decision we made with a heavy heart, but with present circumstances what they are, we are unable to deliver the high-quality Viking experience for which we are known."

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conwakr

conwakr

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8 minutes ago, ozzie0075 said:

 

Agree with this. I expected most lines to follow suite eventually as the pressure from their customers are only going to ramped up now. 

 

Pressure from customers cancelling or trying to push off cruises to a later date?  What pressure are you speaking of? 

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ozzie0075

ozzie0075

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Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, conwakr said:

Pressure from customers cancelling or trying to push off cruises to a later date?  What pressure are you speaking of? 

 

Cruise lines in general are going to be under a lot to pressure to shut down as the virus spreads. Either they are going to shut themselves down or the government is going to do it.  Princess made a responsible decision and I expect most lines will do the same.   The cruising industry as a whole is going to be damaged by this virus.

Edited by ozzie0075
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fatcat04

fatcat04

Posted
Posted (edited)

If HAL does, how will that effect the long haul cruisers like the GWV or the Kdam's reposition to Alaska? Obviously the Kdam 44 day + reposition which was starting in FLL on March 15 was gonna be messy with ports closing and who knows what on the other end but should HAL shut down, they still have to get her to Alaska in time should they resume cruises in 60 days. She can't just do the Panama Canal. What a logistical nightmare. Golly I don't envy the jobs of the folks who make all the port arrangements, arrange the supply chains, and just do all that behind the scenes work that I just kinda all took for granted.

Edited by fatcat04
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Randyk47

Randyk47

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24 minutes ago, conwakr said:

I feel sorry for all the crew that will be laid off for 60 days but I don't think Princess had much choice.  Their brand is damaged right now and people are scared of their ships. 


Laid off?  To where?  The ships are all over the world and sending just the service staff home would be a monumental undertaking.   Then only to try to get they back to these same ships six or seven weeks later?   

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iancal

iancal

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Posted (edited)

It is not simply the Princess brand that has challenges.  I believe it is an industry challenge. HAL’s  Westerdam performance was considerably  less than stellar.

 

It is always interesting to see who are the industry leaders who are the followers. It never seems to change.

Edited by iancal
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Jacqueline

Jacqueline

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Princess and Holland America are part of the same corporation.

Viking, I believe, was the first to make this decision.

its inevitable that all lines will follow suit. Cruise ships are the worst place to be in an epidemic bar none as the populations tend to be older and more medically fragile.

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FNSIII

FNSIII

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I don't think crew will be sent home. I think they will be working to stay healthy and make the ships healthy. I know berthing all the ships would be terribly expensive. I see them docking, discharging passengers and anchoring out.

 

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Heartgrove

Heartgrove

Posted
Posted (edited)

One thing to keep in mind is that these are not companies that have their ships flagged in the USA. There is a reason for that and that is revenue tax purposes. Other than the CDC doing Health inspections and the Coast Guard doing Safety inspections, the US Government does not have any power over them.

 

Princess should not be praised for making the decision that they did. Princess has a tainted product with three ships having been in the news (don't forget the Regal Princess) with regards to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Also Norwegian making false claims by their sales staff to keep their revenue stream intact is wrong. One of the examples used was telling customers that it was safe to do a Caribbean cruise as the virus would not be in a warmer environment. Now they are requiring a doctor's statement about the health of passengers over 70 years of age. Viking on the other hand, without any prompting, can be possible said to having done the right thing.

 

While we navigate  through the next few weeks, the last thing that the US Government needs to do is provide a bailout to the cruise industry. Something that is just being whispered about at this time. True, cruise corporations do provide revenue to port authorities and companies associated with the ports. But a number of cruise lines no longer exist due to  previous market conditions/events. We live in a capitalistic society where the strong survive. Lets see where this takes us.

Edited by Heartgrove
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Xaintrix

Xaintrix

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Posted

As of right now Holland America is sticking to their current FCC policies.  No cash refund option as of 3/12/2020 07:30 PT.  I asked the rep to escalate the issue that their sister line offered this and was seeking a cash refund and they refused.  Currently set to sail for the 18th, was actually going to continue to go until the a full stop to operations mid cruises was announced.

 

I knew there would be some breaking point. I can handle closed ports and what not - but if we're going to be just shoved back to shore right away AND be given the refund, just give me the refund and don't waste my time on top of it all.

 

REAL shame.

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catl331

catl331

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50 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

Then only to try to get they back to these same ships six or seven weeks later?

 

30 minutes ago, FNSIII said:

I don't think crew will be sent home. I think they will be working to stay healthy and make the ships healthy. I know berthing all the ships would be terribly expensive. I see them docking, discharging passengers and anchoring out.

 

If they went home I believe a lot would not return.

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ozzie0075

ozzie0075

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4 minutes ago, JeremyTexas said:

Carnival had $518m in cash and $4.7b in customer deposits as-of 11/30/2019.  They physically cannot refund more than ~10% of their bookings before they run out of cash.  

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/dda3ed91-579c-4930-96bf-55bc4e839497


They are most likely counting on a bailout from the federal government and hoping people take the increased FCC. 

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