CRUISING START UP

[ipeeinthepool]

58 minutes ago, pumpkin 11 said:

Which honestly is fine. I’m fine with restrictions fit the first 3 months or so as long as the ship sails 

 

As I read the CDC notices all international travel and specifically cruise ship travel are under Level 3 travel advisories, Avoid Unnecessary Travel.  Since we still haven't opened up the entire US, I'm not sure that I see international travel restrictions eased anytime in the near future.  Most medical coverage does not seem to cover travel under these level 3 restrictions.   Would you still sail without medical insurance coverage?  

[Pinboy]

1 hour ago, LXA350 said:

even if this involves a lot of restrictions at the begining.

I understand--

However, It's a comfort level for each passenger whether they want to spend their time and money within the rules of the revised cruising conditions . Initially ,we will wait to hear how it's working out .

 

[GeorgesGal]

ECCruise   

 

• They absolutely can.

Just like they can restrict bringing liquor onboard.  Or prevent you from walking around the ship nude (except for certain charters) or spitting in the buffet food.

 

BouHunter, sorry!    It was ECCruise who stated 'certain charters'.

My apologies.

Donna

Edited June 1, 2020 by GeorgesGal

[elaineb]

My cruise is 10/21 with final payment July 18th.  I am waiting until FP is due in case the cruise is cancelled first.  If not, I will cancel.  I do not feel safe cruising this year.  I am sad because it's our 45th Anniversary.  For our 25th we had a hurricane and had to reschedule, for our 35th we had a trip to Italy planned but I had a stress fracture in my foot and had to reschedule, now this.  Unfortunately no Lift and Shift for us as there are no 6 night cruises within the 4 week window.

[Cruising89143]

I don’t think we will see cruises start back up from the U.S anytime soon. Read this article yesterday. The last couple of paragraphs pretty much sums it up.

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/cdc-cruise-lines-face-herculean-task-fighting-covid-19

[saphir]

On 5/30/2020 at 11:03 PM, pumpkin 11 said:

With a .3% death rate? Yes. Whine at me all you want but at some point we have resume. Everyone says listen to the science, but they don’t want to.

 

diamond Princess had passengers averaging about a thousand years old: 750 with covid but only 14 of them died. As far as numbers that’s the most truth we’re going to get. I’ll take those chances any day.

 

if the 14 deaths were family members?

[DYKWIA]

 

UK cruise line P&O (part of Carnival) have announced that they are not restarting operations until October 15th at the earliest,  effectively writing off the entire European summer season.  In addition UK is announcing quarantine of 14 days for all visitors. I can't see any cruises coming in and out of the UK this summer, and very little or anything in Europe.

 

 

 

 

[pumpkin 11]

1 hour ago, saphir said:

 

if the 14 deaths were family members?

What if they we're murderous thugs?

[Denny01]

Pumpkin 11 - It’s interesting you reference science and then put out the ‘0.3%’ death rate. Death rates of diseases are normally set for those that have had the disease, which in the case (using your numbers) is over 2%. And The COVID Death Rate in the US is over 5%. So if you think those are great numbers, go for it. And by the way, I’ve not been on many cruises, 1 week, 2 week, 3+weeks and so on where 14 people died. The 14 died during a relatively short window. Just as those who tried to equate COVID with the annual Flu’s missed the point that we’ve lost 100,000 people in the US in 3 months. 

 

I realize this is a mistake.....but what the heck.

 

Den

[hcat]

We only suffered one death in our county overnight..suburban NY.

Big improvement in all stats being tracked. Restrictions easing....

 

Hope those on board get home safe and well, so the next phase of cruise planning can get underway.

[SeaHunt]

CC shows the first European River cruise has set sail - here's what they required (NOT that the US will be the same, but interesting to see just how thorough their plan is:

 

Guest embarkation

• Scylla requests its tour operators to investigate the whereabouts and physical health of guests before boarding the ship by means of a questionnaire.

• Scylla AG requires a pre-boarding statement from the tour operator confirming the validated health checks for all passengers participating in the journey, ensuring all passengers being fit to travel.

• Only registered guests and crew are allowed to enter the ship, after performing safety/health checks such as measurement of body temperature and hand disinfecting.

• In case elevated temperature is measured, the passenger will not be allowed on board until the potential risk of a passenger has been defined by the local health authorities.

• Embarkation is arranged with respect for social distance and adapted procedures minimize the interaction between guests and crew.

• Every step of the check-in procedure is being revised to have a contactless experience.

• The main safety rules will be communicated to guests (verbal and in writing) before entering the ship the first time.

• The use of plastic screens and other protective gear is used for embarkation steps that require interaction.

• Before embarkation, the entire ship, including cabins is being cleaned/disinfected and ventilated.

 

Guest interaction on board

• The use of mouth masks is mandatory onboard when walking around.

• Respect for 1,5-meter social distance or compliance with local guidelines with regards to social distancing is guaranteed and clearly communicated onboard.

• General safety measures such as coughing hygiene are requested and clearly communicated on board

When needed, meals and activities are being arranged in time slots to lower the used capacity of communal areas.

• When spaces do not allow social distancing, one-way movements are being installed and clear routing is defined onboard to exclude crossings without a safe interpersonal distance.

• All meals are being served and no buffet services are offered.

 

Onboard services and facilities

A doctor accompanies journeys to preform health checks with crew and guests, for onboard consultations and to assess the potential risks on a frequent basis.

• Quick tests for COVID-19 are available onboard. These can be used by the accompanying doctor in case of suspected risk.

• The temperature of every guest is being measured on a daily basis.

• Clear signage is provided onboard to make guests and crew comply with the defined routing plans.

• Services such as massage, hairdresser for which social distancing is impossible are not available.

• Services with a medium risk of spreading bacteria such as luggage handling are being minimized and performed with adapted procedures to limit risks.

• Facilities with limited space or elevated infection risks such as elevators and public toilets are out of order.

• Our cleaning staff will be taking additional measures in disinfecting surfaces to minimize the spread of bacteria by cleaning handles, staircases, toilets, armrests, guardrails … with cleaning solutions adapted to COVID-19 on an even more frequent basis than is usually done.

• Room service is being stimulated as one of the measures to limit the number of people in the restaurant.

• Non-essential items that would be touched by multiple people are not made available (newspapers/umbrellas/ …)

• No orders can be placed at the bar, all services are based on table services at all times.

• All food and beverages will be served as individual portions with a minimal need for contact between the person serving and the food/drink item.

• Each cabin is being disinfected twice a day, without the presence of the guest. Cabins are cleaned by the same member of the housekeeping staff every time and all members of the housekeeping staff are obliged to wear a face mask and gloves during their activities.

• Al cabins will be provided with a bottle of hand sanitizer.

• Payments can be made by credit card only, except for tips which will be deposited in a tip box.

 

Crew for hotel and nautical operations

• Every crew member will be officially tested on COVID-19 before boarding.

• The crew arrives onboard days before guests to guarantee a quarantine period, after being questioned about their past whereabouts and current and past health situation.

• Procedures are being put in place to ensure social distance between crew members in sleeping, recreational and mutual areas for the crew.

• All crew is being clearly instructed and trained to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.

• The onboard crew is obliged to wear protective gear during working hours and when interacting with guests.

• If it is determined by the onboard doctor that there is a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 disease on board, an outbreak management plan will be activated. The suspected case will be immediately instructed to wear a medical mask, follow cough etiquette, and practice hand hygiene; the suspected case will be isolated in a predefined isolation cabin with the door closed. Infection control measures will be applied in accordance with WHO guidance (2, 6). The disembarkation and transfer of the suspected case to an onshore healthcare facility for further assessment and laboratory testing will be arranged as soon as possible in cooperation with the health authorities at the port.

 

https://scylla.ch/uploads/files/200519_scylla_protocol_overview.pdf

 

After a nearly three month pause because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, cruising has restarted -- but only in Germany, with half the usual passengers onboard.

Nicko Cruises, a German domestic line using ships chartered from Scylla, boarded 110 passengers yesterday on NickoVision and set sail at 5.30 p.m. CEST (11.30 a.m. EDT) today for a 13-day voyage along the Danube and the Rhine.

If all goes well, A-ROSA, another German line will restart on June 17 on the Douro river and Scylla’s sister brand VIVA will restart in July. Scylla also charters vessels to Tauck, although that American line still has cruises on hold until August 1.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5376/?et_cid=3335856&et_rid=16683889&et_referrer=June 2008 Boards Mailing

[dutchclogs]

Interesting. Scylla has ships winter mooring in the Netherlands. I had heard that they had plans to resume but as at last week it was not yet possible to book cruises starting from the Netherlands.   I understand that the ships are considered floating hotels by Dutch government. At moment that means that a maximum of 30 persons may dine  inside a restaurant , so plans were for passengers to dine in batches of 30.

[Suite Susie]

We love cruising, but am now not sure whether we will ever cruise again. Have one booked for 2021 and one for 2022, but without a successful vaccine we will not fly or cruise. I’ve only warn a face mask for 5 minutes or so and found it so claustrophobic that the thought of having to wear it for any extended time is a deal breaker.  We were very fortunate to have our first Penthouse Suite on the Solstice in February To New Zealand - it was totally amazing in every way and if that was our last cruise, we certainly went out in style. 

[bouhunter]

1 hour ago, Suite Susie said:

We love cruising, but am now not sure whether we will ever cruise again. Have one booked for 2021 and one for 2022, but without a successful vaccine we will not fly or cruise. I’ve only warn a face mask for 5 minutes or so and found it so claustrophobic that the thought of having to wear it for any extended time is a deal breaker.  We were very fortunate to have our first Penthouse Suite on the Solstice in February To New Zealand - it was totally amazing in every way and if that was our last cruise, we certainly went out in style. 

We have a B2B2B scheduled for January/February 2021 but likely will not make final payment.  Not because we're afraid of the virus, but because the experience will not be the same and not very fun.  Nor do we want to end up on a quarantined prison ship.  We'll be happy to go to Florida for the winter as scheduled and have booked an extra 3 condo weeks instead of the cruise.  I think for a while many of the people on ships will be those addicted to their "cruising lifestyle", those who go year round and just can't live without it.  I hope they have fun in their masks while dealing with all the "social distancing" requirements.  We won't be there.

[yorky]

I’m still of the opinion that cruising will be up and running again in the Autumn with restrictions in place, announced on our news this morning they have started producing a vaccine, hopefully it’s successful. I think when they start inoculations many of those restrictions will start to be dropped. 
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/04/astrazeneca-doubles-capacity-for-potential-covid-19-vaccine-to-2bn-doses

Edited June 5, 2020 by yorky

[TeeRick]

12 hours ago, hcat said:

We only suffered one death in our county overnight..suburban NY.

Big improvement in all stats being tracked. Restrictions easing....

 

Hope those on board get home safe and well, so the next phase of cruise planning can get underway.

In our county in suburban Philadelphia, we are going from Red to Yellow in our restrictions as of today June 5th.  We have been stuck on Red since March 13, so 12 weeks total with a restrictive Stay At Home order.  So things starting to improve a bit here too.  Yellow is still pretty restrictive but at least some progress! Can't wait to get to Green but who knows when that will happen.  So hard to think about a cruise when we are still unable to do many things on the home front.  I know many parts of the country and world are opening up but there are still some of us still living highly restricted lives.  When I'm able to get a haircut - that is the milestone I will use to move on to cruise planning!

[39august]

How can the cruise travel operator confirm the health status of the passenger as stated early on in the provisions posted? Sounds like a doctor's letter to me. 

[bikerunner]

 

2 minutes ago, 39august said:

How can the cruise travel operator confirm the health status of the passenger as stated early on in the provisions posted? Sounds like a doctor's letter to me. 

That is all the wait and see of this.  There are probably so many plans and contingencies being bounced around right now.  Its working with CDC, countries etc.  Will be a while before we get any info on that I fear.  

[TeeRick]

Take a look at the video just released from RCCL CEO Richard Fain for discussion of the new normal in cruising.  He uses the term Horse Bucky - pretty interesting and kind of funny too.  LLP's boss!

 

 

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, yorky said:

I’m still of the opinion that cruising will be up and running again in the Autumn with restrictions in place, announced on our news this morning they have started producing a vaccine, hopefully it’s successful. I think when they start inoculations many of those restrictions will start to be dropped. 
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/04/astrazeneca-doubles-capacity-for-potential-covid-19-vaccine-to-2bn-doses

The news is encouraging but the fact remains that they are still early in their clinical trails. Richard Hatchett, chief executive of CEPI "admitted that the organisation was taking a “substantial risk” by investing in manufacturing while trials were still ongoing, and admitted there was a possibility that the vaccine may not work."

[Mike981]

23 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

I don’t think we will see cruises start back up from the U.S anytime soon. Read this article yesterday. The last couple of paragraphs pretty much sums it up.

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/cdc-cruise-lines-face-herculean-task-fighting-covid-19

 

Says a lot:
"Global migration and quarantine chief Martin Cetron told the paper lines face a 'herculean' task to protect future travelers from COVID-19, comparing the risk of infection on cruise ships to meatpacking plants, long-term care facilities and prisons."

 

The mention of meatpacking plants hits home to me. Minnesota has been hit hard at our meatpacking plants. The county next to me in two weeks went from 55 cases to almost 2,000.

[Denny01]

You are exactly right Mike, for many of us, its pretty safe as we talk proper precautions, but there are so many working in conditions impossible to protect themselves and COVID ravishes. Most of us have options of what risk we are willing to take, and that is what the whole discussion here on CC is about......well, along with when am I going to get my refund?!?!

 

Den

[RICCruisers]

8 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Take a look at the video just released from RCCL CEO Richard Fain for discussion of the new normal in cruising.  He uses the term Horse Bucky - pretty interesting and kind of funny too.  LLP's boss!

 

 

 

Watched the entire video. It was obviously sent out the travel agents. To me it was very encouraging. He obviously hates the term “new normal “. Will there be be some changes...Yes. Will they be overwhelmingly intrusive...No. Will all of the changes be permanent...No. 

 

They are not going to open up cruising until they are confident their guests are going to have a great experience. They are not going open to cruising in a way that will damage their brand. 

 

Please watch the whole video. It starts a bit hard to watch (at least for me) but I wound up encouraged that they have a solid strategy on how RCCL will come out of this (you pick your favorite word) time. 

[hcat]

I could not watch beyond the " horse bucky.." comment.

It was boring enough up to that point...except for the nice landscaping in the background ,   As my grandson says:  blah blah blah !

 

To us, it did  not instill much  hope or confidence  about delivering  an upscale product in the future. 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by hcat

[Germancruiser]

Very interessting video- well said. The good man could do with a haircut- I suppose the hairdressers are still in lock down where he lives. LOL.