Volendam To Brazil November 2020 - Would You Go?

[JeffElizabeth]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I think the majority of posters I have read have said their main concern is being stranded at sea and  being denied entry to a significant number of ports from the itinerary.  That is not fear, that is making rational decisions based on the latest data 

Valid concerns. Our first trip is to Hawaii from Vancouver. I am not ready to go far this year, but in 2021 we do have a trip from London to NYC in June.  Some travelers are too scared to cruise,  worried about ships sinking, or Norovirus,  or even too many people at once. They are missing out on nice vacations because of irrational fears.

[kazu]

14 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Valid concerns. Our first trip is to Hawaii from Vancouver. I am not ready to go far this year, but in 2021 we do have a trip from London to NYC in June.  Some travelers are too scared to cruise,  worried about ships sinking, or Norovirus,  or even too many people at once. They are missing out on nice vacations because of irrational fears.

 

Bolding, underlining is mine.  

 

I’m sorry but while we are pretty fearless travellers, I don’t think being cautious with covid 19 Is an irrational fear.  I so feel for your country currently with over 80,000 deaths and a lot of suffering with so much loss of life ❤️. I suspect many people will not want to take the risk of the virus until a proven vaccine is available.  

[iancal]

We do fair amount of independent travel  Usually 2 months a year in each of  Asia and Europe.  Sometimes  to places on the so called travel advisory lists.  This past winter it was 7 weeks wandering around Mexico.   We are far from nervous nellies when it comes to travel.

 

We are not booking cruises because of irrational fears.  We are not booking because we do not know what the post covid onboard environment will be like.  We are not booking because although itineraries may be published there is nothing to say that the the ports stops will be changed/ cancelled.  Until we know with some degree of certainty that ports will be open we will not put our money down. 

 

Nor do we want to be in a position where we needlessly risk our personal health or well being simply to get on a cruise ship.   Not to mention cruise around aimlessly.   The cruise lines'  behaviour (not the on board staff) pre covid gives us little assurance that the cruise lines will place our health and well being interests ahead of their financial interests.  In fact, the opposite is true.  We will probably cruise again but are rational enough to want to know in general terms what the experience will be.

 

You might want to do even the smallest amount of checking on line as to the current covid situation in Brazil and how their Government is or is not handling it.

Edited May 12, 2020 by iancal

[iancal]

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/05/brazil-coronavirus-hot-spot-bolsonaro/611401/

[Mary229]

@JeffElizabeth I spend most of my cruise critic time on this board and I have never once seen someone express concern about a cruise ship sinking or express irrational fear of disease.  

[JeffElizabeth]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

@JeffElizabeth I spend most of my cruise critic time on this board and I have never once seen someone express concern about a cruise ship sinking or express irrational fear of disease.  

I wasn't talking about people who cruise. I was talking about people who refuse to cruise they think it is too dangerous. When in reality, cruising is almost as safe as flying. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by JeffElizabeth

[HeyJude408]

Definitely not this year! We're booked on the South America/Antarctica voyage (next January), but are closely monitoring events in South America, especially Brazil where Covid-19 cases are on the rise, especially among the povery-stricken who have little to no access to healthcare.

[iancal]

Not just covid.   There is a great deal of simmering social unrest in Brazil  that could boil over at any time.  Not to mention Argentina where the Gov't is about to default on loans and possibly collapse.

Edited May 14, 2020 by iancal

[DeeniEncinitas]

My answer is simple NO. 
Denise😊

[SargassoPirate]

Looks like the decision has been made for HAL by Trump.  He just announced he is closing the border to travel from Brazil.  I suspect HAL will be cancelling this cruise for us. 

 

[DFD1]

7 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Looks like the decision has been made for HAL by Trump.  He just announced he is closing the border to travel from Brazil.  I suspect HAL will be cancelling this cruise for us. 

 

 

Makes sense to me......

[rafinmd]

On 4/29/2020 at 6:32 PM, iancal said:

My guess is that HAL will wait until after final payment to announce a decision.  They will want the cash flow from those final payments.

They didn't with me.  Let's stop that nonsense.

 

Roy

[JeremyTexas]

November is 5 months away...without social distancing, I cannot imagine the virus in Brazil will not have burned itself out by that time.  Remember "flattening the curve" is all about spreading the peak over a longer amount of time to avoid overwhelming the hospitals.  If they don't have measures in place to flatten the curve, it just means it will burn out faster albeit with a much higher peak.  This may overwhelm their hospitals in the process, but when it burns out, it is out.  

 

With the measures in the US, Covid is probably going to be with the US much longer since we have been going through the efforts of flattening the curve.  I would not be surprised out all if the US opens cruising, but Brazil and everyone blocks the ships because of ongoing cases in the US.

[sail7seas]

There is absolutely  NO   chance I will give a nano second of  thought to cruising to Brazil in the foreseeable future

 

 

 

I might have sailed to Canada but HAL    cancelled those cruises.

 

[cruisemom42]

On 5/11/2020 at 6:21 PM, JeffElizabeth said:

Amazing to see so many people here scared away from cruising. Do something every day that scares you? I am a high risk individual and am still willing to get back on the boat. We were also on one of the last cruises in March on the Rotterdam.  We could have canceled because of Covid fears but I am glad we didn't.  It was great seeing the Panama Canal and so many other great ports. 

 

I am definitely one that looks at things logically and tries to consider actual risks. (For example, I never could understand the fears a few years ago re: traveling to Europe due to the tiny possibility of random terrorist events occurring at the EXACT moment on the EXACT day that I would be in a SPECIFIC place.)

 

However, this is a bit different. In addition to the risks of contracting COVID-19 oneself, one has to consider also the risks of anyone else on, let's face it, a fairly large ship, contracting COVID-19 and then having your entire trip/vacation/cruise of a lifetime ruined by countries turning you away, in-cabin quarantine, and possibly having to pay for non-commercial transportation home.

 

Maybe it would be a bit different if I was looking at a 5-day Caribbean cruise.  But that's not the OP's case...

[KirkNC]

On 5/26/2020 at 7:28 PM, JeremyTexas said:

November is 5 months away...without social distancing, I cannot imagine the virus in Brazil will not have burned itself out by that time.  Remember "flattening the curve" is all about spreading the peak over a longer amount of time to avoid overwhelming the hospitals.  If they don't have measures in place to flatten the curve, it just means it will burn out faster albeit with a much higher peak.  This may overwhelm their hospitals in the process, but when it burns out, it is out.  

 

With the measures in the US, Covid is probably going to be with the US much longer since we have been going through the efforts of flattening the curve.  I would not be surprised out all if the US opens cruising, but Brazil and everyone blocks the ships because of ongoing cases in the US.

And this article says it will be around for ten years:

 

https://apple.news/AhmK4ImYgQoS-hz6H75YASw

 

 

[FlaMariner]

This is a personal choice and, in my view, has nothing to do with Holland America's decision to float a boat to Brazil or not.....It's your decision/responsibility.

 

(If it were me, since it's not critical that I cruise to Brazil, I would hold off and not go)

 

All the best with what you decide.  

 

 

 

[Himself]

On 4/26/2020 at 7:34 AM, SargassoPirate said:

I haven't cancelled yet, but I sent this to Holland America:

 

"I know Holland America is monitoring the Covd-19 pandemic, but are you watching the situation in Brazil?  The Volendam is scheduled to sail there in November, 2020.

The government in Brazil is not supporting testing, physical distancing, and the use of personal protective equipment.

A vaccine for Covid-19 is 12-18 months away from availability.

Do you really want to take a shipload of people to Brazil in the absence of a vaccine and with conditions in Brazil that are getting worse by the day?

Please consider conceling this cruise and redeploying the ship to a safer venue."
 

 

 

 

Under the current situation I think it would not be wise to go there at this time.

[Mary229]

HAL has Now extended the book with confidence guarantee to cover the duration of this particular cruise so the decision can be postponed.   I made my fully cancellable airline reservations today even though I think this is not going to happen. 

[SargassoPirate]

Brazil has closed their borders to arrivals by sea and air through July 31.  The final payment on this cruise is due to the Big Box Warehouse Club on August 7.  As the end of the month approaches I'll have to see what Brazil does, but if they extend their border shutdown another  30 days, it would be a bad business practice for HAL to accept those final payments with the chances of entering Brazil not looking good.  Regardless, I'll be cancelling before the end of the month, but hoping HAL blinks first and I can get my non-refundable deposit back.

 

 

[iancal]

Why doesn't HAL simply come clean with those booked on this cruise and cancel it?    From my perspective failure to do so subtracts from HAL's already questionable covid credibility.

 

Clean the slate, then move forward.  I suspect that many cruisers are getting tired of the FCC book and rebook gag.  IF it were me I would want to call it quits, get any monies refunded in a timely manner (ie not 90 plus days), and wait it out until it is safe to cruise.

Edited July 6, 2020 by iancal