Where will all the ships dock???

[P_Mcruisers]

No NCL ships in New York on 3/13

[Comi.uy]

1 hour ago, Valchie said:

I hope you're right. I was hoping for a cancellation by NCL but missed by 1 day. We are scheduled for Encore on 4/12. If there was any trip I wasn't looking forward to it was this one. I know I have a choice but it still stinks.

Same here, 4/30, hope they do add one extra month to this global cancellation.

 

1 hour ago, FLcruisergrl said:

Just got on (and off) the Sun today. We were canceled 30 minutes before sailaway. It was very sad for us, but my heart broke for the crew. Both our butler and concierge were very concerned about their jobs.

That was terrible, getting canceled like this....

[BoundForSea]

No folks. They don’t get ‘vacation’ or some down time on the ship, they get laid off. 

 

The Crew will be sent home and their contracts canceled. 

 

Please keep them in your hearts. These folks and their families at home depend on their income.  For us its about a vacation, we will sail again I promise, for them its about feeding and supporting their children and families, selflessly from thousands of miles away. 

[TheSpaver]

3 hours ago, jancl57 said:

I can't imagine the ships heading to Italy will be cleared in 30 days.  I hope so, we haven't canceled our May 28 out of Rome....yet.

Still haven't cancelled our May 3 Med cruise either.  Holding out for them to cancel so I can get a cash refund.

[njhorseman]

47 minutes ago, P_Mcruisers said:

No NCL ships in New York on 3/13

And why would there be? The Bliss is scheduled to return to NY on 3/15 and the Gem on 3/16.

[Love my butler]

49 minutes ago, BoundForSea said:

No folks. They don’t get ‘vacation’ or some down time on the ship, they get laid off. 

 

The Crew will be sent home and their contracts canceled. 

 

Please keep them in your hearts. These folks and their families at home depend on their income.  For us its about a vacation, we will sail again I promise, for them its about feeding and supporting their children and families, selflessly from thousands of miles away. 

You mean like for us when we are at work?

[JustAPilot]

You guys realize these are basically temporarily workers from 3rd world countries that have thousands of others lined up for a job. They work like 12+ hour days serving you drinks not because they love their job but because that’s all they could get to support their families back home. 

[Comi.uy]

29 minutes ago, JustAPilot said:

You guys realize these are basically temporarily workers from 3rd world countries that have thousands of others lined up for a job. They work like 12+ hour days serving you drinks not because they love their job but because that’s all they could get to support their families back home. 

Usually getting a cruise job for them is life changing, way better than other local alternatives or getting in a fishing boat...

They actually do love the job!!

[em-sk]

4 hours ago, www3traveler said:

Cruise ships will not be allowed to dock in Canada until the 1st of July unless they have less than 500 people total on board according to an announcement by the Prime Minister of Canada.

 

For the four ships that NCL has doing Alaska what choice do they have.  Re position empty (with no passengers)  up to Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle and stay docked until July.  The crew required to re position an empty ship is going to be under 500 people.

 

There is no point in "creating a new last minute cruise" somewhere else.  Who is going to buy that when the existing cruses are going to be running partially empty.  

[em-sk]

36 minutes ago, JustAPilot said:

You guys realize these are basically temporarily workers from 3rd world countries that have thousands of others lined up for a job. They work like 12+ hour days serving you drinks not because they love their job but because that’s all they could get to support their families back home. 

 

The whole 1st, 2nd, 3rd world thing is going back to the cold war and out of place these days.  Personally I would rather live in a 3rd world country like the Philippines over a former 2nd world (eastern block country) like Russia.  

 

That said, many of the crew members have choices and back in their home country most of them could have ended up getting a local job.  The cruise ship industry provided a better opportunity.   

 

I do agree the contracts they have is what puts food on the table for their family back home and terminating a contract early is going to cause a cause problems from them and their family.  Hopefully this start to recover in the summer.

[ew101]

11 hours ago, teach/2/cruise said:

Does anyone have any idea where all of the ships will dock during this suspension?  I can't think of any ship yard that would be big enough or have enough dock space for the length of the suspension.  

I'm sure they will be doing deep cleaning, repairs, etc.  The ships should be shiny and clean when they are back up and running.

Time for the Chengkp75 Bat Signal.   There are a lot of ships- hopefully some safe docks or protected anchorages.  I think the mega ships will do poorly anchored in a storm.  And they have to unwind all the containers of supplies en route to distant ports- and get supplies to the now parked ships.   

 

Hopefully the cruise lines will honor all the crew contracts - they made billions and the crews are not highly paid.  To kill time they can clean and maybe set up online college programs - food and beverage management, tourism, deck officer training etc.    

Edited March 14, 2020 by ew101

[Turtles06]

53 minutes ago, ew101 said:

Time for the Chengkp75 Bat Signal.

 
And here it is. @chengkp75

 

I too would appreciate hearing from him on this. 

[Isabella Benjamin]

deleted

Edited March 14, 2020 by Isabella Benjamin

[chengkp75]

The ships can dock at commercial docks that just aren't set up for passengers, or anchor in major ports' anchorages.  The port prohibitions are on releasing large groups of passengers into the ports, not having the ships sit idle or anchored.

 

My belief, unless the cruise lines believe this will last longer than 30 days, is that the crew will remain onboard.  The cost of airline tickets to get them home and back to the ship at start up, would offset the payroll savings, and keep continuity onboard, so there is not a large "start up" again, taking more time.  By international law, they will receive the minimum wage set, and perhaps all of their normal wage.  Those who are at the end of their contract will be allowed to leave (if they can get travel), but their positions will not be refilled until closer to starting up again.

 

If they are sent home, I believe (its been a while since I saw a cruise ship employee contract) that the language in it, and in the MLC 2006 labor convention requires that in the event of the ship being laid up, they get paid until the normal end of their contract, which is also why I think they will remain onboard.

[roger001]

I worry about how long they will have money to meet required obligations...and how soon they just file chapter 11 to get out for under these obligations.  Going to be an interesting next few months.

[maryivo]

11 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

"Don't believe everything your read on the internet".

 

-  Abraham Lincoln.

omg, that's a good one 🙂

[ew101]

27 minutes ago, roger001 said:

I worry about how long they will have money to meet required obligations...and how soon they just file chapter 11 to get out for under these obligations.  Going to be an interesting next few months.

If I was a cruise line CFO and short of cash you pay the crews first, refund the passengers then put the mortgage bills for the ships in the drawer.  Cruise ships in a shutdown are worth nothing so the lenders can squawk but really not do much.   They know you will go back to paying once you get cash flow again.  

[chengkp75]

3 minutes ago, ew101 said:

If I was a cruise line CFO and short of cash you pay the crews first, refund the passengers then put the mortgage bills for the ships in the drawer.  Cruise ships in a shutdown are worth nothing so the lenders can squawk but really not do much.   They know you will go back to paying once you get cash flow again.  

Even in Chapter 11, crew wages are protected.  However, while a cruise ship in shutdown is not generating income, it is still worth something, even if only for the scrap value, so lien holders could choose to seize the assets and hope to recoup by selling when the industry starts up again.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

Our cruise is scheduled for July. If our cruise goes forward I plan on asking my cabin steward whether he is new or was working on a ship before the shut down.

If he/she was working on board a ship at shut down time, I plan on adding the most I can afford to the normal addition to my tipping for a steward.

Treat them as you would be treated.

[JamieLogical]

40 minutes ago, roger001 said:

I worry about how long they will have money to meet required obligations...and how soon they just file chapter 11 to get out for under these obligations.  Going to be an interesting next few months.

 

So far, I don't think NCL has lost any significant money.... this week will be their first big loss with no onboard spending, but they haven't refunded anyone any cash yet and they haven't had anyone use their credited FCC yet.... Aside from the inability to sell last-minute firesale staterooms for this week and next week's sailings, and on board spending, this hasn't cost them much money YET. It will definitely cost them quite a bit moving forward, which is why they aren't even beginning to take requests for cash refunds until the 23rd and aren't processing them for 90 days. We have all given NCL an interest free loan to help keep them afloat.

[erdoran]

As a convert to the whole crew tipping/DSC thing --- 

 

once things are back up and running, AT A MINIMUM no one better remove DSC and I think "over and above" tipping should become the norm for a while.

[ew101]

32 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

We have all given NCL an interest free loan to help keep them afloat.

Years ago the UK Government went on a rage after tour guests were stranded and denied refunds after package tour operators went broke and set up a deposit protection system called ATOL.  Hopefully cruise industry has this- so that deposit money is in escrow.    Visa and Mastercard and Amex would not be amused to be on the hook for all these credit card refunds.   https://www.abta.com/help-and-complaints/frequently-asked-questions/what-atol

Edited March 14, 2020 by ew101

[Gershep]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

The ships can dock at commercial docks that just aren't set up for passengers, or anchor in major ports' anchorages.  The port prohibitions are on releasing large groups of passengers into the ports, not having the ships sit idle or anchored.

 

My belief, unless the cruise lines believe this will last longer than 30 days, is that the crew will remain onboard.  The cost of airline tickets to get them home and back to the ship at start up, would offset the payroll savings, and keep continuity onboard, so there is not a large "start up" again, taking more time.  By international law, they will receive the minimum wage set, and perhaps all of their normal wage.  Those who are at the end of their contract will be allowed to leave (if they can get travel), but their positions will not be refilled until closer to starting up again.

 

If they are sent home, I believe (its been a while since I saw a cruise ship employee contract) that the language in it, and in the MLC 2006 labor convention requires that in the event of the ship being laid up, they get paid until the normal end of their contract, which is also why I think they will remain onboard.

Thank you for this info.

[texasgirl29]

Not NCL but good information I think. I follow Chris Wong on You Tube, he’s a casino manager on Oasis of the Seas. He plans to post a video every day for 30 days with updates on what’s happening. He says the crew will remain on the ship. Even before all of this, I found him to have interesting insight to crew life.


Sent from my iPad using Forums

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

We have all given NCL an interest free loan to help keep them afloat.

Explain?