Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Frank Del Rio Interviews

[Petoonya]

7 hours ago, CintiPam said:

I have read many of your posts on this Oceania board over the past two months and have a great deal of respect both for the thoughtful way you express yourself and your attitude in these difficult times.  I hope you indeed will be able to visit FP once again next year.  

I just heard some wonderful news. We've gotten friendly with the proprietor of a Papeete B&B who wrote to me tonight. He said Tahiti might be opening July 1. Now who knows if that means cruise ships (doubtful) or citizens of USA (again doubtful) but hopefully a step in a better direction. Fingers crossed that if cruise ships are allowed soon, at least the smaller ones would be allowed where testing could be more manageable. I'd still rather wait for a vaccine but just Tahiti land vacationers would go a long way toward relieving some of the hardship on islanders. Who'd board United or Air Tahiti Nui to get there these days, although rocket ships should be a lot cleaner environment than ever in the past. It's still a puzzle but looking a little brighter for us anyway for spring/summer 2021.

[Cruzin Terri]

21 hours ago, Petoonya said:

Thanks for your kindness. My husband is disabled, he could never manage doing a land vacation again, but thank goodness we've done almost everything on our bucket list. I have to get a sitter for him when I visit the grandkids even for a few days. He can get in and out of the water though and loves Tahiti. I don't know how long he will be with me. Cruising is the only way we will be able to travel again. So if we can't cruise we are very happy as we live on the beach and see waves and rocks in the ocean, stars and moon over the water at night. That's our life.

 

I have many patients who are stuck in his same position, unable to handle the effort of land based vacations and long to and dream about getting back on a ship. Most have enough cognitive function to understand it may never happen.

 

I'll keep my cruise booked because I want to help my dear husband have something to look forward to. He has struggled now for a few years, and now with Alzheimers, doesn't remember a lot but knows he *might* get to go back to Tahiti. This works for us- perhaps not you, but it is what it is.

 

I hope this puts your mind at rest. I beg you to please stop challenging me about my choices. Life is full of challenges and I do the best I can.

 

Petoonya, 

You get nothing but respect from me.  We cruise under difficult circumstances as well. My brother-in-law lives with us, who is elderly and has been developmentally disabled since childhood.  We are his guardians.  We have taken him on cruises and it has always been a challenge when we have done so.  We have had to cancel two cruises literally minutes before sailing because of him.  We have a caregiver who stays when DH and I go without him, but it is always a worry.  DH is also older than I and he is starting to say that he doesn’t want to travel very much any more.  

I applaud your decision to book your cruise to Tahiti and I hope you both get to go worry free and enjoy every minute.  No criticism from me.

Right now, we have canceled three cruises and are waiting for refunds of our deposits.  I hope we see them soon.

Good luck in your future travels where ever they take you.

Terri

[Mura]

11 hours ago, clo said:

We had a couple on our last cruise and the man had glaucoma. Wore dark glasses and (successfully) used a cane. Wasn't always with his wife. He could still see some but obviously not much. I wish you could get your guy to give it at least a little try.  xoc

We have done a lot of traveling in the past 30 years.  He feels terribly frustrated when he cannot really "see" what he is looking at.  I can understand his feeling that way.  He's not at the point of needing dark glasses or a cane -- well, when he uses a cane it's because of arthritis, not his vision.  So I'm not trying to change his mind.

[Petoonya]

1 hour ago, Cruzin Terri said:

Petoonya, 

You get nothing but respect from me.  We cruise under difficult circumstances as well. My brother-in-law lives with us, who is elderly and has been developmentally disabled since childhood.  We are his guardians.  We have taken him on cruises and it has always been a challenge when we have done so.  We have had to cancel two cruises literally minutes before sailing because of him.  We have a caregiver who stays when DH and I go without him, but it is always a worry.  DH is also older than I and he is starting to say that he doesn’t want to travel very much any more.  

I applaud your decision to book your cruise to Tahiti and I hope you both get to go worry free and enjoy every minute.  No criticism from me.

Right now, we have canceled three cruises and are waiting for refunds of our deposits.  I hope we see them soon.

Good luck in your future travels where ever they take you.

Terri

Terri,

My heart goes out to you. You have a steep path to climb every day. You must be here because that idea of cruising is the brass ring always out of grasp. My thoughts are with you as you carry on. We all must have our hopes and dreams and not let go. Thoughts and prayers are with you. ❤️❤️❤️

[CintiPam]

12 hours ago, Petoonya said:

I just heard some wonderful news. We've gotten friendly with the proprietor of a Papeete B&B who wrote to me tonight. He said Tahiti might be opening July 1. Now who knows if that means cruise ships (doubtful) or citizens of USA (again doubtful) but hopefully a step in a better direction. Fingers crossed that if cruise ships are allowed soon, at least the smaller ones would be allowed where testing could be more manageable. I'd still rather wait for a vaccine but just Tahiti land vacationers would go a long way toward relieving some of the hardship on islanders. Who'd board United or Air Tahiti Nui to get there these days, although rocket ships should be a lot cleaner environment than ever in the past. It's still a puzzle but looking a little brighter for us anyway for spring/summer 2021.

I hope so.  
 

I just read on NPR that the Seychelles has declared it is closed to cruise ships through the end of 2021. That was a real shocker to me.  

[Petoonya]

2 hours ago, CintiPam said:

I hope so.  
 

I just read on NPR that the Seychelles has declared it is closed to cruise ships through the end of 2021. That was a real shocker to me.  

That is quite a shocker Pam. Disappointing but not be surprising if much of the South Pacific does the same. Maybe open to land trips but not cruise ships. I'm hopeful that my friend is right and that slowly things do open especially if by next early next year is there's a vaccine. But sure don't want to transport more viral toxicity to those good people.

[Paulchili]

2 hours ago, CintiPam said:

I hope so.  
 

I just read on NPR that the Seychelles has declared it is closed to cruise ships through the end of 2021. That was a real shocker to me.  

I read that as well and am not surprised. Any epidemic there would be very difficult to contain once started and I don't think they have the facilities to handle such an epidemic.

Their advantage is that they can "close the door" easily -     we cannot. I am sure they'll be fine without tourists for a couple of years given the choices.

[clo]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

I read that as well and am not surprised. Any epidemic there would be very difficult to contain once started and I don't think they have the facilities to handle such an epidemic.

Their advantage is that they can "close the door" easily -     we cannot. I am sure they'll be fine without tourists for a couple of years given the choices.

I think that's going to be a really big deal all over the world. Can a port provide the level/amount of medical care? And since availability of enough vaccine is likely a couple of years away, that's a big gamble for them. On another thread we were talking about Machu Picchu/Cusco - side trips for some cruises.  Gotta wonder.

[CintiPam]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

I read that as well and am not surprised. Any epidemic there would be very difficult to contain once started and I don't think they have the facilities to handle such an epidemic.

Their advantage is that they can "close the door" easily -     we cannot. I am sure they'll be fine without tourists for a couple of years given the choices.

The first of how many others?

[RJB]

14 hours ago, Paulchili said:

I read that as well and am not surprised. Any epidemic there would be very difficult to contain once started and I don't think they have the facilities to handle such an epidemic.

Their advantage is that they can "close the door" easily -     we cannot. I am sure they'll be fine without tourists for a couple of years given the choices.

Don't know how fine they will be but it seems that it will be harder to  "open the door" than it was to close it.  Great islands, very nice people.  Hope they will be O.K. and get opened pretty soon.  Would love to go back. 

[Shawnino]

15 hours ago, Paulchili said:

I read that as well and am not surprised. Any epidemic there would be very difficult to contain once started and I don't think they have the facilities to handle such an epidemic.

Their advantage is that they can "close the door" easily -     we cannot. I am sure they'll be fine without tourists for a couple of years given the choices.

Emphasis mine.

 

I'm not so sure. Wikipedia:

 

"The direct contribution of the tourism sector to GDP was estimated at 50 percent, and it provides about 75 percent of total foreign exchange earnings. Although difficult to measure, the import content of tourism expenditures is high, so net tourism earnings are significantly lower. 140,048 tourist arrivals were recorded in 2000, including over 114,000 from Europe. In the same year, Seychelles had 2,479 hotel rooms with 6,010 beds filled to 78% capacity."

 

Shutting down 50% of your economy for 18 months is a pretty big deal. Even the most ardent proponents of lockdowns in the Western World aren't trying to push anything close to that.

[Paulchili]

1 minute ago, Shawnino said:

Emphasis mine.

 

I'm not so sure. Wikipedia:

 

"The direct contribution of the tourism sector to GDP was estimated at 50 percent, and it provides about 75 percent of total foreign exchange earnings. Although difficult to measure, the import content of tourism expenditures is high, so net tourism earnings are significantly lower. 140,048 tourist arrivals were recorded in 2000, including over 114,000 from Europe. In the same year, Seychelles had 2,479 hotel rooms with 6,010 beds filled to 78% capacity."

 

Shutting down 50% of your economy for 18 months is a pretty big deal. Even the most ardent proponents of lockdowns in the Western World aren't trying to push anything close to that.

I said - given the choices. I'll take economic hardship for 18 months over death - what about you?

[Shawnino]

1 minute ago, Paulchili said:

I said - given the choices. I'll take economic hardship for 18 months over death - what about you?

 

Not sure.

How much hardship (and associated death from that that hardship) vs. how much death?

[KS&JW]

I did not read the original article but is the Seychelles closed to all tourism or just cruise ships?  And what is the percentage of people who visit via each?    If cruises are just a small percentage of their tourism traffic then stopping them is an easier choice. 

[clo]

49 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

I did not read the original article but is the Seychelles closed to all tourism or just cruise ships?  And what is the percentage of people who visit via each?    If cruises are just a small percentage of their tourism traffic then stopping them is an easier choice. 

https://www.fox23.com/news/trending/seychelles-says-no-cruise-ships-till-2022-protect-against-coronavirus/32W7DAN5ZVEDRK5RCLZF64F3LY/

[Petoonya]

Windstar's Wind Spirit French Polynesia starts up in September.....

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22973-windstar-plans-to-start-cruising-again-in-september.html

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Petoonya

[clo]

1 minute ago, Petoonya said:

Windstar's Wind Spirit French Polynesia starts up in September.....

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22973-windstar-plans-to-start-cruising-again-in-september.html

Link didn't work.

[Petoonya]

8 minutes ago, clo said:

Link didn't work.

Will try again.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22973-windstar-plans-to-start-cruising-again-in-september.html

There ya go.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Petoonya

[clo]

1 minute ago, Petoonya said:

Will try again.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22973-windstar-plans-to-start-cruising-again-in-september.html

There ya go.

That size ship is very appealing...after there's vaccine 🙂