Where will all the ships go?

[zonacruiser25]

So the line is shut down.  Canada just closed all ports to cruise ships.  Other port are closed to cruise ships.  Do shipyards have enough dock space to accommodate these ships?   

[DannyMac]

Depending on maintenance schedules, some ships may go in for a refit/upgrade or general maintenance.

[npcl]

I suspect that most will simply go to someplace to anchor like cargo ships do.  Much cheaper then staying in port.

[Colo Cruiser]

46 minutes ago, DannyMac said:

Depending on maintenance schedules, some ships may go in for a refit/upgrade or general maintenance.

These are planned months or years in advance.

[paul929207]

Once the future schedules are finalized, some ships will have to be moved from where they wind up to where the new schedule starts.

[Adventures ahead]

2 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

These are planned months or years in advance.

For sure.

Would be nice if the 'pause' gave Princess an opportunity to fix the generator on the Crown Princess, if it can be done somewhere else, before the scheduled dry dock in October. 

[Colo Cruiser]

12 minutes ago, Adventures ahead said:

For sure.

Would be nice if the 'pause' gave Princess an opportunity to fix the generator on the Crown Princess, if it can be done somewhere else, before the scheduled dry dock in October. 

I agree, that should be #1 on their list.

[zonacruiser25]

I cannot help but imagine that ships would love to do delayed maintenance, too bad the big jobs require quite a bit of planning.  There will be much speculation on CC and interesting to watch

[cruze610]

6 hours ago, zonacruiser25 said:

So the line is shut down.  Canada just closed all ports to cruise ships.  Other port are closed to cruise ships.  Do shipyards have enough dock space to accommodate these ships?   

I was wondering the same thing.  Do they just stay where they dock and let the last people off? No I’m sure they don’t. So where do they go urging the next 60 days?

[beg3yrs]

[Earthworm Jim]

Do cruise ships need a skeleton engineering crew onboard to keep things operational, or can they just leave them empty for 60 days?

[zonacruiser25]

I asked about skeleton crews with the Diamond.  I wish someone with cruise ship engineering experience would chime in.  I know in the Navy as long as a ship was commissioned (in service) we had a full crew.  I did a 2 year reactor refuling overhaul and the crew berthing was a barge tied up along side of the submarine.  I believe on these ships crew and workers live in cabins aboard while working.

[teachingforme]

I would think some crew would have to be onboard. If moving pieces are not used regularly couldn't it cause more problems down the road. I am thinking doors, faucets, toilets can't sit for 60 days with out movement. Plus keeping the engines running and lubricated.

[skynight]

18 ships around the world, quite a problem and expense without any flow of income. Don't believe any ship will remain empty of crew. The bridge and engine rooms will be staffed at all times. Some may be docked at less expensive docking facilities, some may anchor.

What happens to the hotel staff crew? Send them home? Keep them on board with maintenance work? 

[chengkp75]

Ships will be able to dock at non-cruise commercial docks, or anchor at anchorages at major ports.  The prohibition on cruise ships is because of the unloading of masses of passengers.  Cargo ships are not precluded from docking in ports, even if they have been to China, so a cruise ship just sitting there poses no threat.

 

My belief is that the crew will remain onboard.  If this is only a 30 day shutdown, the cost of airfare to send everyone home would offset the payroll savings.  And, yes, there needs to be a minimum crew of deck and engine officers and crew to keep the lights running.  Shutting down a ship "cold iron" (completely turning off the power) requires time and lots of money to set the ship up for preservation as sea water and air will quickly damage things, and then more money and time to open it back up again.  Even if they went to a skeleton crew, time would be lost regrouping the crew, and restarting the hotel services (cleaning cabins that have been left for a month, etc).  Under international law, if they are onboard, they get paid the mandated minimum wage, and possibly more, depending on the company's decisions.  If they are sent home, I believe (it's been a while since I saw a contract, and things changed a lot a few years ago) that they are entitled to their pay until the end of their contract anyway, so why send them home.  Those whose contracts expire will be allowed to leave (travel restrictions applying), but their positions will not be refilled until closer to start up.

[WH_Cruise]

In princess case hopefully somewhere with cleaning products.

[Colo Cruiser]

42 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

My belief is that the crew will remain onboard.  If this is only a 30 day shutdown, the cost of airfare to send everyone home would offset the payroll savings.  And, yes, there needs to be a minimum crew of deck and engine officers and crew to keep the lights running.  Shutting down a ship "cold iron" (completely turning off the power) requires time and lots of money to set the ship up for preservation as sea water and air will quickly damage things, and then more money and time to open it back up again.  

^^^^This^^^^

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

My belief is that the crew will remain onboard.  If this is only a 30 day shutdown, the cost of airfare to send everyone home would offset the payroll savings.  

 

First of all, thanks for the valuable information, as always.

 

Second, in the specific case of Princess, the shutdown is for 60 days.  I was wondering how much that changes your thought process.

[NorthwestCruiser]

It is an interesting dilemma.   The big cruise ships are going to be white elephants for awhile*, maybe for a generation if this gets really bad.   If it looks like the industry is not coming back soon, then Princess doesn't have a lot of incentive to keep spending money to keep them up and if the crew are about to be laid off and abandoned then you could imagine that they don't have a lot of incentive either.   Would you really want to risk exposing yourself even more to the virus by mucking about with the sanitation system, especially if you have been told that your check stops next week?    

 

I think that at some point whoever financed the ship is going to have to finance some of the crew to keep the lights on.   Princess is in the business of selling cruises (and that market is gone for now), not ships.

 

*When the market comes back, I imagine it will be smaller high-end ships rather than sales based on volume and lots of people massed into small spaces.

Edited March 14, 2020 by NorthwestCruiser

[mringenoldus]

I can confirm per Princess that there is NO current plan for the ships impacted by the Canada port closures through July 31. As of this morning, the sailings remain for booking but will clearly be cancelled/revised. Anything further is just supposition on the part of Cruise Critic members.

[chengkp75]

54 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

First of all, thanks for the valuable information, as always.

 

Second, in the specific case of Princess, the shutdown is for 60 days.  I was wondering how much that changes your thought process.

Not much, if any.

[chengkp75]

55 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

First of all, thanks for the valuable information, as always.

 

Second, in the specific case of Princess, the shutdown is for 60 days.  I was wondering how much that changes your thought process.

Duplicate

Edited March 14, 2020 by chengkp75

[HappyCamper49]

Something very strange is going on with Princess cruises out of Port Everglades, FL.  IF PRINCESS IS SUPPOSED TO BE SHUT DOWN FOR 60 DAYS, WHY are their cruise ships still sailing out of Port Everglades?

The Caribbean Princess sailed yesterday, March 13th at 4:00pm.    The Sky Princess arrived this morning at 5:15am.  She is scheduled for departure at 4:00pm this afternoon for a multi-day cruise according to the Port Schedule.

 

This Emerald Princess is showing up on the Port Schedule for arrival on the morning of March 15th.

 

Why did Princess announce a shut down of 60 days if some of her ships are still sailing???????

[chengkp75]

7 minutes ago, HappyCamper49 said:

Something very strange is going on with Princess cruises out of Port Everglades, FL.  IF PRINCESS IS SUPPOSED TO BE SHUT DOWN FOR 60 DAYS, WHY are their cruise ships still sailing out of Port Everglades?

The Caribbean Princess sailed yesterday, March 13th at 4:00pm.    The Sky Princess arrived this morning at 5:15am.  She is scheduled for departure at 4:00pm this afternoon for a multi-day cruise according to the Port Schedule.

 

This Emerald Princess is showing up on the Port Schedule for arrival on the morning of March 15th.

 

Why did Princess announce a shut down of 60 days if some of her ships are still sailing???????

They stated that if the ship is already on a cruise, and if it ended before a certain date, it would complete its cruise, but if it ended after a certain date, they would determine whether to stop the ship at a convenient port, or finish the cruise.  It all depends on the availability of infrastructure, flights, etc, to handle the influx of passengers and get them most expeditiously to their homes.  I'm sure you wouldn't want to be told to get off in Podunk, Central America, and told that the first available flight was in 6 days.

[silversneakers]

20 hours ago, zonacruiser25 said:

So the line is shut down.  Canada just closed all ports to cruise ships.  Other port are closed to cruise ships.  Do shipyards have enough dock space to accommodate these ships?   

Currently Port Canaveral has 2 NCL ships, 1 Disney ship and 1 Carnival ship docked at the Port. Royal Caribbean has two ships returning on Sunday and Monday and Carnival has 1 other ship returning on Monday.