Is this our future?

[KirkNC]

Ponant, a French luxury expedition cruise line, is restarting in July.  Here is an outline of changes to their cruise experience.  
 

Pre-Boarding
• Prior to boarding, all guests and crew members will have to present a signed doctor’s medical form, complete a health questionnaire and undergo a health check and screening by the ship’s medical staff.
• All luggage will pass through a disinfecting zone by sanitizing mist or UV lamps.
• Surgical and cloth masks, disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer bottles will be provided to passengers.

Onboard Experience
• 100 percent fresh air in staterooms, through non-recirculating air conditioning systems. Ventilated air will be renewed in the common areas at least five times per hour. 
• Restaurant layouts have been redesigned and will only offer contactless a la carte dining options.
• Public spaces, such as the fitness room and theater will be capped at 50 percent occupancy.
• Hourly disinfecting of high-touch points, such as door handles and handrails, with peroxide, which eliminates 100% of germs and bacteria
• Crew members are required to wear a mask or protective visor when in contact with guests. Guests will be asked to wear a mask in hallway corridors and will be recommended in public spaces. 
• Thanks to large investments over several years, Ponant said it has some of the most complete and renowned onboard medical centers in the world of cruising. Each vessel is equipped with advanced hospital equipment, including mobile laboratory terminals that enable testing on site for infectious or tropical diseases. Advanced diagnostic equipment such as ultrasound, radiology and blood biological analysis is available fleet-wide, one doctor and one nurse are present on every sailing.
• All ships will have five vacant staterooms should guests need to isolate. 

Shore Excursions
• Zodiacs will be thoroughly disinfected after each stopover.
• Re-boarding after shore excursions will only be permitted after temperature check and disinfection procedures (individuals and personal belongings).

[wrl001]

This sounds appropriate for the future of cruising until a proven vaccine is widely available. It also sounds really depressing to consider spending the amount of money a cruise costs to cruise in a modified hospital ward to places that may or may not want you.

 

As they say, as for me and my family, we will pass.  

Edited June 26, 2020 by wrl001
oops

[susiesan]

No, it's not the future for all cruise companies. Windstar is resuming cruises in Polynesia in September and they are not putting on this kind of pandemic theater show. I will be on Wind Spirit in January and am not worried in the least. There will not be a vaccine by then and I will be totally comfortable. Should be a normal Windstar experience.

 

If O were to start doing the things Ponant is next year for my cancelled and postponed Baltic cruise in August 2021 I will cancel it. Either I have the normal O experience or I won't sail with them. 

[Andee]

susiesan, you are much braver than I am.

The thought of being with a large group of unmasked people in confined spaces is very scary to me.

[susiesan]

Andee, being on the deck of a sailing ship is not a confined space, which is where you spend most of your time on a sailing ship cruise. On Wind Spirit there are multiples places to dine outside. The only confined space will be my cabin, and I will be in there with my husband.😚

 

Yes, we are brave. We have been dining out in restaurants as soon as they reopened. As soon as our gym reopened we started going to classes. We have changed very little about our lifestyle during the last 3 months except for not being able to travel as all of our planned vacations have been cancelled one by one.

[Paulchili]

Let's hope your good luck continues.

We have seen what is happening in those States that opened early.

[FeliciaLee]

49 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Andee, being on the deck of a sailing ship is not a confined space, which is where you spend most of your time on a sailing ship cruise. On Wind Spirit there are multiples places to dine outside. The only confined space will be my cabin, and I will be in there with my husband.😚

 

Yes, we are brave. We have been dining out in restaurants as soon as they reopened. As soon as our gym reopened we started going to classes. We have changed very little about our lifestyle during the last 3 months except for not being able to travel as all of our planned vacations have been cancelled one by one.

More this, please 🙂

 

Some people are so afraid of dying that they forget to live.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

No, it's not the future for all cruise companies. Windstar is resuming cruises in Polynesia in September and they are not putting on this kind of pandemic theater show. I will be on Wind Spirit in January and am not worried in the least. There will not be a vaccine by then and I will be totally comfortable. Should be a normal Windstar experience.

 

If O were to start doing the things Ponant is next year for my cancelled and postponed Baltic cruise in August 2021 I will cancel it. Either I have the normal O experience or I won't sail with them. 

I guess you haven't read what Windstar is planning to do, because their "pandemic  theater show" isn't all that different from Ponant's:

 

https://www.windstarcruises.com/health-safety/

Edited June 26, 2020 by njhorseman

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, FeliciaLee said:

More this, please 🙂

 

Some people are so afraid of dying that they forget to live.

and some are just irresponsible 🙄

[Paulchili]

12 minutes ago, FeliciaLee said:

Some people are so afraid of dying that they forget to live.

We all will die one day - I just don't want to commit suicide.

[deadzone1003]

1 hour ago, FeliciaLee said:

More this, please 🙂

 

Some people are so afraid of dying that they forget to live.

Amen!

 

or is it that people want others to behave like they do in order to justify their actions to themselves?  Every time you drive a car there is a probability that you can die in an accident.  Why drive?  Why not take a bus?  Because everyone does a cost/benefit analysis based on their own experiences.  I presume susiesan and her husband have done their cost/benefit analysis for themselves.  Heck, no one knows susiesan.  She could be under 60, healthy as horse with no underlying medical conditions.  Too many people project themselves onto others rather than assessing the actual facts.  It may seem risky to you if you were going on that cruise, but susiesan isn't you.

 

Susiesan, Windstar, in my opinion, is the best way to see French Polynesia.  Enjoy yourself and remember to take your Vitamin D & C, and maybe a little zinc. 

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Let's hope your good luck continues.

We have seen what is happening in those States that opened early.

You might want to check out WI to test your theory.

[Paulchili]

2 hours ago, jagoffee said:

You might want to check out WI to test your theory.

What is happening in WI?

[clo]

5 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Let's hope your good luck continues.

We have seen what is happening in those States that opened early.

A friend in SF shared a London Breed announcement that they may have to take a step back...or perhaps better said to not take the next step forward. That's where NV is right now.

[Mura]

I don't know that the current problem will continue forever.  But the 1919 Spanish flu lasted three years, I think with three waves. I haven't heard that there was ever a vaccine for that BUT it was not that long before life went back to "normal" ... if you ignore the Great Depression and WWII!  I have no crystal ball that tells me we'll have a similar time frame, with or without a vaccine for Coronavirus. I can only hope so.

 

I am not looking forward to several years of home deliveries of groceries and depending on kind neighbors for the same.  I hate wearing a mask because of the discomfort but out of consideration for the people I will encounter, I do.  Its not so much for my protection as it is for theirs.

 

I wasn't anticipating much travel in the future even before this because of my husband's problems.  For now it's quite clear that we won't be traveling in the immediate future for sure.  I hope to travel again ... can't blame Europe for banning US-ers given our poor record with virus transmissions.  I'd love to go again but given my age, who knows?

 

And we DO know Susiesan from a 2006 Oceania cruise ... while we don't agree on every point, she does do her research!!

 

Mura

 

[EasyGoingGuy]

"Some people are so afraid of dying that they forget to live".  Good one. Forty years ago our mantra was 'Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse" (at times I tried hard to live up to that...luckily not successfully).  I can see you're probably about the same age we were. Lord, your perspective WILL change.

Edited June 27, 2020 by EasyGoingGuy
correction

[pinotlover]

I see no problem requiring a note from the doctor. The cruise lines would prefer not having you show up with one foot in the grave and the other sinking rapidly. Not allowing sick or severely ill passengers to board is probably a good thing.
 

I think the pre checks before Embarkment are a great idea. What’s the problem?
 

One doesn’t have to eat or drink in a mask, only the crew will serve you wearing one. Walking down the halls with one on isn’t a big deal to some of us.

 

I do see a few possible limitations . La Reserve May be more limited. Perhaps one must make reservations to attend the evening show, maybe even the enlightenment talks. Not overly intrusive, especially if they do capacity limits at 60-70%.

 

i wonder, with the new protocols, how many of the Noro cases will be eliminated? That would be a wonderful thing! An aggressive forced quarantine in lieu of a voluntary quarantine would be healthy for all!
 

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by pinotlover

[Paulchili]

22 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I see no problem requiring a note from the doctor. The cruise lines would prefer not having you show up with one foot in the grave and the other sinking rapidly. Not allowing sick or severely ill passengers to board is probably a good thing.

What do you consider “sick or severely ill”?

I think the only people that should not be allowed to board are the ones with an infectious disease (COVID, Noro, etc). Most other “ill” passengers do not pose any danger to you - only themselves. The medical center seems to make a nice profit out of looking after them.

If they have to be disembarked or even air-lifted in next port, it will be at their expense.

People die on cruise ships all the time - they didn’t expect to die when they boarded.

Again, how does their death inconvenience you?

Edited June 27, 2020 by Paulchili

[pinotlover]

10 hours ago, Paulchili said:

What do you consider “sick or severely ill”?

I think the only people that should not be allowed to board are the ones with an infectious disease (COVID, Noro, etc). Most other “ill” passengers do not pose any danger to you - only themselves. The medical center seems to make a nice profit out of looking after them.

If they have to be disembarked or even air-lifted in next port, it will be at their expense.

People die on cruise ships all the time - they didn’t expect to die when they boarded.

Again, how does their death inconvenience you?

Those with highly compromised immune system are at a far greater risks of catching and then facilitating the spread of contagious diseases. We all know this. That’s why nursing homes have been hit so hard! As my ship Medical Officer friend says “ Ships are not assisted living facilities!” Why do some try to make them so? I don’t want to replicate that environment!

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Those with highly compromised immune system are at a far greater risks of catching and then facilitating the spread of contagious diseases.

How do you test for this?

[clo]

5 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

How do you test for this?

I had wondered the same.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Those with highly compromised immune system are at a far greater risks of catching and then facilitating the spread of contagious diseases. We all know this.

We all do not know this .

 DH caught  a bad bug on a cruise back just after SARS   he was in bed for 2-3 days with fever/chills

Ship's doctor  told him to stay in the cabin ..not that he left the bed anyway

I on the other hand  was never sick  & I did  have  a compromised immune system

 

 

 

 

[FeliciaLee]

14 hours ago, EasyGoingGuy said:

"Some people are so afraid of dying that they forget to live".  Good one. Forty years ago our mantra was 'Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse" (at times I tried hard to live up to that...luckily not successfully).  I can see you're probably about the same age we were. Lord, your perspective WILL change.

In my 50's. But went through five years of hell on a feeding tube and life support due to a bad dose of chemo. Kind of changed my perspective. Sometimes there are worse things than death.

[clo]

8 minutes ago, FeliciaLee said:

. But went through five years of hell on a feeding tube and life support due to a bad dose of chemo.

Holey moley. 

[LHT28]

20 minutes ago, FeliciaLee said:

In my 50's. But went through five years of hell on a feeding tube and life support due to a bad dose of chemo. Kind of changed my perspective. Sometimes there are worse things than death.

So according to DR  PINOT  #19  you  should not be cruising with your  compromised immune system 😎