Status update on ships & crew?

[nycruiser2006]

Does anyone have a list, or an update on which Princess ships are still at sea or trying to offload passengers?

and for ships that have no passengers and are just docked or floating around -do you know if they have released all crew to go back home?

[WmFCoyote]

Check out https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/ It is a few days old but does provide some info. It is to the best of my knowledge that the Pacific Princess is the only ship still at sea.

[brisalta]

Operation Status of All Ships Updated April 5, 2020 1:15PM PT

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/status-of-all-ships.html

[brisalta]

Grand Princess has left San Francisco Bay and is about 20 miles or so offshore performing operations that need to be done offshore.  She is supposed to return to San Francisco on April 7, 2020 for provisioning and then depart.

[Aus Traveller]

5 hours ago, WmFCoyote said:

Check out https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/ It is a few days old but does provide some info. It is to the best of my knowledge that the Pacific Princess is the only ship still at sea.

The only passengers the Pacific Princess has on board are around 117 people who were deemed not fit enough to fly back to USA from Perth Australia when the ship cut its world cruise short.

[brisalta]

The following is from  https://sfport.com/covid19

Grand Princess cruise ship

• The Grand Princess has completed 14 days of mandated quarantine and has been cleared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to leave anchorage.
• The vessel has been disinfected and sanitized in accordance with CDC standards and regulations.
• The vessel does not pose a risk to the health of the public or the surrounding community.
• The Grand Princess will head out to sea and return to the Port of San Francisco early the week of April 6 for provisioning.  The vessel may return periodically for provisioning.
• Non-essential personnel on board may disembark 
• All crew and personnel remaining aboard the Grand Princess will be required to comply with existing local and state Shelter-In-Place orders and be restricted to the vessel while in port
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will detain all crew onboard the vessel while it is at berth.  For urgent situations and departing crew, CBP will issue paroles.  

Edited April 6, 2020 by brisalta

[nycruiser2006]

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

The following is from  https://sfport.com/covid19

Grand Princess cruise ship

• The Grand Princess has completed 14 days of mandated quarantine and has been cleared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to leave anchorage.
• The vessel has been disinfected and sanitized in accordance with CDC standards and regulations.
• The vessel does not pose a risk to the health of the public or the surrounding community.
• The Grand Princess will head out to sea and return to the Port of San Francisco early the week of April 6 for provisioning.  The vessel may return periodically for provisioning.
• Non-essential personnel on board may disembark 
• All crew and personnel remaining aboard the Grand Princess will be required to comply with existing local and state Shelter-In-Place orders and be restricted to the vessel while in port
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will detain all crew onboard the vessel while it is at berth.  For urgent situations and departing crew, CBP will issue paroles.  

Great information. Thank you!   I was hoping the crew would be allowed to leave by now.  

[cruzingnut]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The only passengers the Pacific Princess has on board are around 117 people who were deemed not fit enough to fly back to USA from Perth Australia when the ship cut its world cruise short.

 

Has anyone heard anything from anyone onboard?  I'm curious as to how things are going with them.

 

Linda R.

[snoozecrooze]

I just updated the original thread of ship locations here if anyone's interested in that aspect, along with some additional article links: 

 

In terms of the questions regarding the crew, they're not likely to freely disembark all at once in these current circumstances and most aren't sanctioned to leave at all (or even have the available flights to actually make it back home). Ships in the Asia/South Pacific regions are more well-adapted to repatriate Asian crew via ship, but for the rest of the fleet, it's much more restrictive. As of this past week, there have still been many posts posted on social media made by crew, from the entertainment staff to the galley staff, still onboard Princess ships (but crew have also not been embarking so crew # are net negative on a gradual basis). Positions, such as engine room/deck crew and cooks, will likely always need to be staffed as long as there's a test to be conducted or an officer to feed (my assumptions, of course). We may all think it's best for them to get home now ASAP, but now that the world's in a mess, the ship's bubble (for the presumably "clean" ships, at least) may be more safe for everyone involved for the immediate time being. In a way, I kind of feel they've also come together to help one another and make each other's experiences more familial (such as Sky's CD Corey and his team creating "Sky TV" for all of the crew). This article might also briefly explain why it would be impossible to ever fully disembark the crew of a cruise ship a company is still intending to deploy at any minute. But anyways, I'd probably expect more "non-essential" staff will gradually trickle out in the coming weeks/months if it's allowed, and also assuming that cruise operations don't actually resume until much later in the year. Whatever happens, it will certainly be a long road ahead for the crew and their families, for sure. 

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by snoozecrooze

[Roger88]

Sometimes if feels like the crew and people who work on those ships dont use the internet. Its so weird. I feel like the company made them abondon any means of internet communication. These people are the most reliable source of information, why are they not allowed to use the internet? There is literally one guy on youtube who makes a blog out of the situation. As long as these people stay silent we will never have a transperent enough information.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Roger88 said:

Sometimes if feels like the crew and people who work on those ships dont use the internet. Its so weird. I feel like the company made them abondon any means of internet communication. These people are the most reliable source of information, why are they not allowed to use the internet? There is literally one guy on youtube who makes a blog out of the situation. As long as these people stay silent we will never have a transperent enough information.

Maybe because in their lives, they are not as bound to the internet and social media as westerners, and they tend to use social media to contact family, not blog about what I'm currently doing, or buying.  Maybe because they are tired after working 14 hours a day, where they can't have their phone in their hand while "on the clock".  Maybe they just don't care whether the passengers or the rest of the world know what is going on in their lives every moment of every day.  Maybe they don't care to be "transparent" about something that is none of your business.

[skynight]

3 hours ago, Roger88 said:

Sometimes if feels like the crew and people who work on those ships dont use the internet. Its so weird. I feel like the company made them abondon any means of internet communication. These people are the most reliable source of information, why are they not allowed to use the internet? There is literally one guy on youtube who makes a blog out of the situation. As long as these people stay silent we will never have a transperent enough information.

During normal operation crew just do not have much free time to even think about using the internet. Believe, not certain, that during normal operation, crew have to either pay for internet time, or only receive a certain amount of minutes. This is probably why you can spot them in port at wifi hot spots. Maybe during these paused times the company is providing free service to crew. I would hope so. Also remember that for almost the entire crew English is a second or even third language. I suspect that there may be postings and information at sites in their home country in their own language.

I would suspect that on ships that are COVID-19 free crew now have use of open passenger areas like the piazza and the lido pool during their off time. CD staff most likely arrange some activities, crew karaoke, shows, movies, etc. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by skynight

[hobbyfarmer2]

On 4/5/2020 at 9:15 PM, Aus Traveller said:

The only passengers the Pacific Princess has on board are around 117 people who were deemed not fit enough to fly back to USA from Perth Australia when the ship cut its world cruise short.

Not fit enough to fly back to USA but fit enough for a long sail on a ship with very limited medical facilities.  Does not make any sense to me.

[paradiselivin1]

On 4/6/2020 at 12:00 AM, cruzingnut said:

 

Has anyone heard anything from anyone onboard?  I'm curious as to how things are going with them.

 

Linda R.

Easy. Check out the Pacific Princess world cruise roll call. There are still active posters on there...

[brisalta]

Grand Princess status update from https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/grand-princess-updates.html

April 7, 2020 2:00PM PT

Grand Princess Update

Today, Grand Princess was authorized by local authorities to dock temporarily at the Port of San Francisco to take on necessary provisions and will be departing today or tomorrow. Plans for where she will be positioned during the pause of Princess Cruises global fleet are being finalized.

The health and safety of our crew remains a top priority. Prior to the crew quarantine, testing was done on any crew member who showed symptoms of COVID-19. Crew with symptoms were medically disembarked, or isolated on board until they met the CDC definition for recovery. All crew were quarantined for 14 days to monitor symptoms and to reduce the possibility of transmission if they became symptomatic. This quarantine plan was developed and implemented under the guidelines of the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program. Since the quarantine period ended Saturday, we have one crew member still in isolation for COVID-19. They will remain in isolation until April 9 when they are anticipated to meet the CDC definition of recovery. Currently there are 614 crewmembers on board.

Princess Cruises did work with numerous governments on the repatriation of guests and crew members prior to the quarantine including the Philippines. The government of the Philippines repatriated 438 crew members and six guests on a chartered flight prior to the crew quarantine, some crew members remained as they had symptoms and were not fit to travel.

Currently, Princess Cruises is working on a crew repatriation plan across the fleet that is still being finalized. In the interim, all crew fleetwide will remain onboard in the care of Princess until which time a plan of repatriation can be successfully executed.

 

 

[chengkp75]

51 minutes ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

Not fit enough to fly back to USA but fit enough for a long sail on a ship with very limited medical facilities.  Does not make any sense to me.

Some people cannot fly for medical reasons.

[beg3yrs]

On 4/6/2020 at 1:59 AM, Roger88 said:

Sometimes if feels like the crew and people who work on those ships dont use the internet. Its so weird. I feel like the company made them abondon any means of internet communication. These people are the most reliable source of information, why are they not allowed to use the internet? There is literally one guy on youtube who makes a blog out of the situation. As long as these people stay silent we will never have a transperent enough information.

I think there's another possible reason. Many companies, as part of their terms of employment, forbid their employees from disclosing what's going on. That's the job of employees specifically trained and authorized to let the public know what's going on. Before you all get upset and claim this is an infringement on freedom of speech, this is common even in the USA for many companies as well. It is not an infringement but is a condition of your employment which you willingly accept. I personally had this restriction on myself during my employment in the US defense industry.

[hobbyfarmer2]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Some people cannot fly for medical reasons.

Missed my point.  Seems they cannot be in an Australian hospital for medical reasons.

[chengkp75]

14 minutes ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

Missed my point.  Seems they cannot be in an Australian hospital for medical reasons.

No, they are not ill, they just cannot fly.  Conditions like COPD or DVT don't mean you need hospitalization, but because you have COPD, or have had a DVT in the past, you are not supposed to fly, per your doctor.

[hobbyfarmer2]

30 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

No, they are not ill, they just cannot fly.  Conditions like COPD or DVT don't mean you need hospitalization, but because you have COPD, or have had a DVT in the past, you are not supposed to fly, per your doctor.

What do they do when they disembark.  Do they all drive or walk home?

[brisalta]

14 minutes ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

What do they do when they disembark.  Do they all drive or walk home?

 

Drive, take a bus or a train to their destination.

Try asking them.

Edited April 8, 2020 by brisalta

[Aus Traveller]

3 hours ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

Not fit enough to fly back to USA but fit enough for a long sail on a ship with very limited medical facilities.  Does not make any sense to me.

Some people have medical conditions that make them unfit to fly, but they can go on a long cruise. One comment I read about the passengers returning to the US on the Pacific Princess was that "they were too obese to fly". I am not suggesting that is all of them.

[brisalta]

47 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Some people have medical conditions that make them unfit to fly, but they can go on a long cruise. One comment I read about the passengers returning to the US on the Pacific Princess was that "they were too obese to fly". I am not suggesting that is all of them.

 

More likely COPD, DVT, certain heart conditions, radiation burns after effects and other things such as certain prosthetic devices that would make a long flight very uncomfortable.

Edited April 8, 2020 by brisalta

[hobbyfarmer2]

48 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Some people have medical conditions that make them unfit to fly, but they can go on a long cruise. One comment I read about the passengers returning to the US on the Pacific Princess was that "they were too obese to fly". I am not suggesting that is all of them.

What made me wonder is that it is almost 1/4 of the passengers on the ship.  Seems like a lot.

Edited April 8, 2020 by hobbyfarmer2
Sp

[cruzingnut]

4 hours ago, paradiselivin1 said:

Easy. Check out the Pacific Princess world cruise roll call. There are still active posters on there...

 

Been there, done that.  Only one person posted and that was the day that they left (I think).  I check back periodically to see if anything else has been posted.  I'm wondering if they are getting internet or not....

 

Linda R.