How will ships get to Europe for Fall 2020 TAs

[ShibaInuMom]

Most of the Princess ships are now docked at U.S. ports.  Will they go back to Europe for fall 2020 trans-atlantic cruisers or will they stay in the U.S.?  Will Princess develop new itineraries for the remainder of the year?

 

[ShipsAreTheBest]

Just my opinion...  Transatlantic cruises are sold so ships don’t have to “deadhead” (sail empty) when moving between North America and Europe.  If the ships have no reason to go over to Europe, I don’t think they’ll be sailing the fall transatlantics.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I think the only people that know the answer for sure are those at Princess in the itinerary & logistics dept. (or whatever they call it).  My guess is that they'll stay in North American waters (Caribbean, Mexico, Canada/NE, Hawaii, Panama Canal, etc.) until spring of 2021.

[Esprit]

Well Enchanted Princess is in the Mediterranean and is expected to sail back to Ft Lauderdale in the autumn.

[chipmaster]

1 hour ago, ShibaInuMom said:

Most of the Princess ships are now docked at U.S. ports.  Will they go back to Europe for fall 2020 trans-atlantic cruisers or will they stay in the U.S.?  Will Princess develop new itineraries for the remainder of the year?

 

 

I think the larger questions is when any type of cruising will start, I'd say the earliest would be September, foget anything for summer.

[Ken the cruiser]

We're currently booked on the July 9, 2020 sailing of the Island Princess from Copenhagen to Southampton and the ensuing TA back to NYC scheduled to sail on July 23rd and arrive in NYC on Aug 8th. It will be interesting to see if they add a TA from wherever the Island currently is to Copenhagen. If they do, we would probably book that one as well to avoid the flight to Copenhagen. But I would image the CDC would first have to allow folks to board the ship if a US port, such as Ft Lauderdale or Miami, is involved.

[ShibaInuMom]

We are booked on the Island Princess May 27 from Florida to Southampton, via the Norwegian Fjords.  We know that cruise will be canceled.  I'm wondering about our TA in November from Europe to FL.

 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, ShibaInuMom said:

Most of the Princess ships are now docked at U.S. ports.  Will they go back to Europe for fall 2020 trans-atlantic cruisers or will they stay in the U.S.?  Will Princess develop new itineraries for the remainder of the year?

 

I think the summer European cruise season will mostly disappear this year.  There is no indication that the European countries are eager to reopen their ports to cruise ships.  New itineraries will probably not happen because the cruise lines will likely have trouble selling the existing itineraries, if and when they can cruise.  Let us be very honest with ourselves.  COVID-19 is not going to disappear this year and may well be around next year.  In fact, in might be around for many years until there is a safe/effective vaccine coupled with increased immunity from those who already had the bug.

 

At this point I think that many cruise ships will remain in "cold layup" for the remainder of the year.  Lines will bring back ships on a gradual basis in order to deal with issues attracting and staging crew members and filling the ships with paying passengers.  The cruise industry will not be like a spigot that simply gets turned-on.  The airlines will also go through a gradual return to their new normal.  I now wonder if cruising will ever return to what it was.  Mass market cruise ships are obviously terrific incubators for any bug, be it Noro-virus, flu, COVID-19, etc.  Many frequent cruisers were well aware of this problem but we looked the other way and took our chances.   But we are not as likely to ignore the threat of COVID-19.  HAL already cancelled a 30 day cruise we had booked and yesterday we cancelled an August 18 day Princess cruise.  Next on the chopping block will be a 28 day Princess cruise in October!  All this is happening because of COVID-19 and that bug is not going away!

 

Hank

[beg3yrs]

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

....

 

At this point I think that many cruise ships will remain in "cold layup" for the remainder of the year. ....

 

Hank

 

I don't think they'll go into a cold layup. Maybe a warm one. According to chengkp75 the cold layup is very involved and expensive both to establish it and to come out of. For this relatively short duration as far as cruise liners are concerned, they'll keep them reasonably operational until they're ready for service.

[HappyCruiserettu]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 

 

At this point I think that many cruise ships will remain in "cold layup" for the remainder of the year.  Lines will bring back ships on a gradual basis in order to deal with issues attracting and staging crew members and filling the ships with paying passengers.  The cruise industry will not be like a spigot that simply gets turned-on.  The airlines will also go through a gradual return to their new normal.  I now wonder if cruising will ever return to what it was.  

 

Hank

There is a post earlier on this forum (Apr 16) that shows a gradual return to service (by ship), beginning on July 3 and running up to mid-September or later. (I'm looking at Pacific starting Sep 16 to Hawaii and Tahiti. (I want to book one of those segments.)

[Ride-The-Waves]

16 hours ago, Esprit said:

Well Enchanted Princess is in the Mediterranean and is expected to sail back to Ft Lauderdale in the autumn.

Enchanted is still in the shipyard in northern Italy and work has stopped.  

 

Pure speculation regarding schedules for other ships with timing dependent on a vaccine, country/port clearances, crew/labor markets, costs (and available workforce) to return ships to acceptable standards.  The US no-sail order extends through July.  

 

IF, and its a big "IF," any part of the Med cruising season will be available (don't count on any French, Italian or Spanish ports), several ships could deadhead eastbound for a part season and then trans-Atlantic west.  

 

I don't say any of this lightly having reservations on Enchanted for an October Med cruise then its first TA.  Its likely more cost effective to keep Enchanted in a pre-operational status and activate existing ships than it is to finish Enchantment.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Ride-The-Waves

[spyro1952]

I have 3 cruises booked -  for August, on thE Island and then 33 days on the Crown which includes TA.  Not really counting on any of actually happening, but will make my decision before final payment.  I am still waiting for cancellation FCC for spring TA and do not want to have anymore money tied up in cruise lines.  Too risky especially if they have to continue to cancel cruises.

[Cruiserkenn]

Bummer.  I have a Spain and France cruise booked for November.  Cruise personalizer still says it's going.  I guess probably not.  Final payment would be due around July 30. 🙄

[skynight]

17 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We're currently booked on the July 9, 2020 sailing of the Island Princess from Copenhagen to Southampton and the ensuing TA back to NYC scheduled to sail on July 23rd and arrive in NYC on Aug 8th. It will be interesting to see if they add a TA from wherever the Island currently is to Copenhagen. If they do, we would probably book that one as well to avoid the flight to Copenhagen. But I would image the CDC would first have to allow folks to board the ship if a US port, such as Ft Lauderdale or Miami, is involved.

For the Island Princess to sail from Copenhagen on July 9th it would have to deadhead accross the Atlantic, an expensive voyage with no income. Worldwide Princess has paused all voyages until June 30th, and in the U.S. the CDC could extend that date. Will European ports be accepting ships with passengers in early July? The Island is currently at anchorage off the Bahamas. 

[susancruzs]

I cancelled my Aug./Sept. Baltic + TA on the Sky, also from Copenhagen.  Same deal, Sky is at anchorage, people are still posting on the Roll Call, will be interesting to see what happens.

[Ken the cruiser]

27 minutes ago, skynight said:

For the Island Princess to sail from Copenhagen on July 9th it would have to deadhead accross the Atlantic, an expensive voyage with no income. Worldwide Princess has paused all voyages until June 30th, and in the U.S. the CDC could extend that date. Will European ports be accepting ships with passengers in early July? The Island is currently at anchorage off the Bahamas. 

OTOH if all is looking good with regards to COVID and The Bahamas allows the Island to port there to pick up passengers, after July 1st of course, to head to Copenhagen for a "short notice" TA, we would definitely consider flying to the Bahamas to board the ship for that cruise. 

[caribill]

I would assume if ships currently in North America can actually do any of their European season, then they will sail with no passengers to Europe to the first embarkation port.

 

If current crew (othe than needed to keep the ship in operating condition) gets to go home during the shutdown, then I expect minimal crew to be on board for the TA with the needed crew joining the ship in Europe.

 

The crew question that may need to be answered is how experienced will the new crew be when cruising restarts?

[Roberto256]

2 hours ago, susancruzs said:

I cancelled my Aug./Sept. Baltic + TA on the Sky, also from Copenhagen.  Same deal, Sky is at anchorage, people are still posting on the Roll Call, will be interesting to see what happens.

I messaged with someone on sky.

 

Right now, they think the ship will be going to europe.

As Mr. Caribill mentioned, probably with no passengers;

but possibly re-patriating europeans from the princess ships in the bahamas.

 

I don't know anything about any revenue cruises.

 

[Hlitner]

14 hours ago, HappyCruiserettu said:

There is a post earlier on this forum (Apr 16) that shows a gradual return to service (by ship), beginning on July 3 and running up to mid-September or later. (I'm looking at Pacific starting Sep 16 to Hawaii and Tahiti. (I want to book one of those segments.)

I really think that many folks are in denial about the COVID-19 situation.  To the best of my knowledge I am not aware of any reputable authority who thinks this virus is going to disappear in the next few months or even the next year.  How can cruise ships operate in an environment where COVID-19 still exists?  A temperature check at embarkation is certainly a good idea, but far from an effective measure to guarantee nobody with COVID-19 gets aboard a ship.  Even the fast tests for COVID-19 apparently have some problems with false negatives.    If the cruise lines do start cruising before there is a reliable vaccine for COVID-19, it will be like rolling the dice that nobody onboard has that virus.  But what happens if even a single person on the ship develops COVID-19 symptoms?  I would assume the cruise line would have to immediately confine everyone to their cabins and then start searching for a port willing to accept the ship.  Does this sound familiar?   

 

There may also be a problem attracting crew to work on these ships.  Look what has happened to crew members.  As of a week ago there were an estimated 90,000 crew members trapped on ships in just the area adjacent to the USA.  There have already been some reports of unhappy crew members who simply want to go home...but are trapped on their ship.  Are they all getting their full pay adjusted for the absence of tips?  Once the cruise lines finally get these crew members to their homes, are they going to want to return to ships?  I do not know the answer and would assume some will want to work on the ships and many others will want no part of the cruise industry.

 

Hank

[Ombud]

22 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I really think that many folks are in denial about the COVID-19 situation.  To the best of my knowledge I am not aware of any reputable authority who thinks this virus is going to disappear in the next few months or even the next year.  How can cruise ships operate in an environment where COVID-19 still exists?  A temperature check at embarkation is certainly a good idea, but far from an effective measure to guarantee nobody with COVID-19 gets aboard a ship.  Even the fast tests for COVID-19 apparently have some problems with false negatives.    If the cruise lines do start cruising before there is a reliable vaccine for COVID-19, it will be like rolling the dice that nobody onboard has that virus.  But what happens if even a single person on the ship develops COVID-19 symptoms?  I would assume the cruise line would have to immediately confine everyone to their cabins and then start searching for a port willing to accept the ship.  Does this sound familiar?   

 

There may also be a problem attracting crew to work on these ships.  Look what has happened to crew members.  As of a week ago there were an estimated 90,000 crew members trapped on ships in just the area adjacent to the USA.  There have already been some reports of unhappy crew members who simply want to go home...but are trapped on their ship.  Are they all getting their full pay adjusted for the absence of tips?  Once the cruise lines finally get these crew members to their homes, are they going to want to return to ships?  I do not know the answer and would assume some will want to work on the ships and many others will want no part of the cruise industry.

 

Hank

With current Indonesia wages, I have no doubt that some will need work. I was going to cancel my September 2020 Sky Princess Transatlantic cruise but with kids going to school soon in Denmark and a reopening Germany, I'm waiting to see what actually happens. 

 

2 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

I messaged with someone on sky.

 

Right now, they think the ship will be going to europe.

As Mr. Caribill mentioned, probably with no passengers;

but possibly re-patriating europeans from the princess ships in the bahamas.

 

I don't know anything about any revenue cruises.

Hoping!!

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

I really think that many folks are in denial about the COVID-19 situation.  To the best of my knowledge I am not aware of any reputable authority who thinks this virus is going to disappear in the next few months or even the next year.  How can cruise ships operate in an environment where COVID-19 still exists?  A temperature check at embarkation is certainly a good idea, but far from an effective measure to guarantee nobody with COVID-19 gets aboard a ship.  Even the fast tests for COVID-19 apparently have some problems with false negatives.    If the cruise lines do start cruising before there is a reliable vaccine for COVID-19, it will be like rolling the dice that nobody onboard has that virus.  But what happens if even a single person on the ship develops COVID-19 symptoms?  I would assume the cruise line would have to immediately confine everyone to their cabins and then start searching for a port willing to accept the ship.  Does this sound familiar?   

 

There may also be a problem attracting crew to work on these ships.  Look what has happened to crew members.  As of a week ago there were an estimated 90,000 crew members trapped on ships in just the area adjacent to the USA.  There have already been some reports of unhappy crew members who simply want to go home...but are trapped on their ship.  Are they all getting their full pay adjusted for the absence of tips?  Once the cruise lines finally get these crew members to their homes, are they going to want to return to ships?  I do not know the answer and would assume some will want to work on the ships and many others will want no part of the cruise industry.

 

Hank

 

I agree.....there are going to be way more people getting COVID-19 before people will be getting on cruise ships.....if there is no effective vaccine or treatment then there is no way cruise line can realistically operate......too  many obstacles to overcome at this time and probably in the near future too.....they struggle to just contain Norovirus on their ships and COVID-19 is a killer.

[Ken the cruiser]

In our case our first of many currently booked Princess cruises is July 9th out of Copenhagen. That is almost 3 months away and a lot of positive things in the world can happen between now and then. For us the worst that can happen is Princess cancels the cruise and we get 125% FCC to go towards one of our other booked cruises. The best thing that can happen is we get to go on another cruise!

 

As far as catching COVID on the cruise, that really doesn't concern us (much) as we are confident Princess will do EVERYTHING they can to make it a very safe adventure. But if they don't feel they can provide a safe voyage by the time July gets here, then I'm sure they will postpone cruising for a little awhile longer.

 

But don't get me wrong, we understand why folks have their concerns and that's fine. We just want to be ready when the world opens back up for business and the cruise lines feel it's safe to go cruising again.

 

[Ombud]

Just heard on the news that 50-85×s the expected numbers show antibodies for Covid-19. Wonder when herd immunity will take over (Still think 19-July may be premature) or the computer enables scientists to create vaccines faster nowadays (several per Google)

[HappyCruiserettu]

15 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

 

 

Pure speculation regarding schedules for other ships with timing dependent on a vaccine, country/port clearances, crew/labor markets, costs (and available workforce) to return ships to acceptable standards.  The US no-sail order extends through July.  

 

I don't say any of this lightly having reservations on Enchanted for an October Med cruise then its first TA.  Its likely more cost effective to keep Enchanted in a pre-operational status and activate existing ships than it is to finish Enchantment.

 

[HappyCruiserettu]

Just now, HappyCruiserettu said:

 

The US no-sail order runs till late-June. That is why Princess and others have cancelled thru the last few days in June. The order originally was for 100 days, but, the next day CDC shortened that to 80 days.