EU Healthy Gateways advice fr restarting cruises

[Cathygh]

So this is what they are thinking

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/eu-healthy-gateways-issues-covid-19-guidance-restarting-cruise-operations

There is a link at the end of the article to the full guidance

Cathy

[Eddie99]

Thanks for posting

 

Lots of interesting points there.  The ‘pax 65 & over’ is a difficult one for P&O & Cunard - certainly out of school holidays

 

Sadly, I’m with another poster (Wowzz, I think) who can’t envisage cruising, as we know it, for at least 5 years.  We’re all getting older during those 5 years, which adds to the cruise-doom.

I really think our cruising days are done, without a vaccine anyway

[wowzz]

Actually it's probably not a bad idea to have a separate thread for the report.

As I said previously, needing to wear masks at all times when inside the ship, requiring tables to be 1.5 metres apart, with no sharing other than with your family, seems to me to be the kiss of death to the cruise industry.

[mickrory]

Getting more and more pessimistic that cruising can recommence in 2021.

FCCs will be worthless.

Dr Anthony Fauci US CMO forecasting 100,000 new cases a day in US unless drastic steps taken immediately.

[Selbourne]

Blimey. If that’s even remotely close to what cruising will look like once it resumes, then I’m glad that we don’t have any future bookings. It sounds more like an ordeal than a holiday. Whilst initially disappointed to have had our future cruises cancelled, we are now relieved to have got all our money back and not be committed to anything. We have used a small proportion of our refunds to book four U.K. breaks in holiday cottages over the next 18 months. We would like to return to cruising once we are all vaccinated and the experience returns to something that we would enjoy, but I fear that this may be a few years away. 

[grapau27]

17 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Blimey. If that’s even remotely close to what cruising will look like once it resumes, then I’m glad that we don’t have any future bookings. It sounds more like an ordeal than a holiday. Whilst initially disappointed to have had our future cruises cancelled, we are now relieved to have got all our money back and not be committed to anything. We have used a small proportion of our refunds to book four U.K. breaks in holiday cottages over the next 18 months. We would like to return to cruising once we are all vaccinated and the experience returns to something that we would enjoy, but I fear that this may be a few years away. 

A vaccine seems more important than ever for life/cruising to return to any type of normality.

 

[mickrory]

If they discover a vaccine by this time next year how long will it take to immunise the UK population?

[Harry Peterson]

Very interesting.  All sounds eminently sensible,  but it doesn't exactly sound like an appealing holiday.

[indiana123]

Its all quite sad to read.  Of course it's all written in desperation to start trading again, and the best they can offer in the circumstances, but it just doesn't sound like an enjoyable experience.

[kalos]

12 minutes ago, mickrory said:

how long will it take to immunise the UK population?

 

Good question when you consider how many parents refuse their kids childhood vaccinations and then 

take into account people who avoid the flu jabs ? 

We haven't got the vaccine yet and we have people are posting over the internet "No way" are they having it 

when one comes along .

So at a guess the answer will be never ,we will have to rely on herd immunity as well as the vaccine .

[majortom10]

Personally would not even consider cruising under those conditions and if implemented can see the death knell for many cruise lines unless a vaccine is found soon. You would have to be very desperate to cruise if you went ahead and cruised in those conditions but I am sure there will be many. Can certainly see more smaller and older ships being dumped by cruise lines, with the bigger modern ships it will give them more room to apply regulations and to easier if not already applicable to make changes to more modern ships than older ones which would perhaps not make it financially viable to do it and also make more profit.

Edited July 2, 2020 by majortom10

[yorkshirephil]

The problem with vaccines is proving they are safe and effective, drugs take years to get to the market, there are fast track methods which I am sure will be implemented if a promising vaccine becomes available. However would you want to be a guinea pig just so you can cruise? I will wait a while and see what happens.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, indiana123 said:

Its all quite sad to read.  Of course it's all written in desperation to start trading again, and the best they can offer in the circumstances, but it just doesn't sound like an enjoyable experience.

It's not actually written by the " trade". But an expert panel, funded by the EU. The report describes itself as  a guidance document. If you read the report rather than the published summary, there are a number of times where the report states it's advice is only valid whilst the pandemic is current. It is restrictive, bit still allows a degree of interpretation. In Eurospeak, the report is informative, not " Normative ". It's not all doom and gloom by any means.

[Angel57]

Goodness - as a solo passenger these proposals will make the cruise experience much less sociable.

For me a large part of my enjoyment of a cruise is making new friends and chatting to old friends from previous adventures.

If I had to dine alone or in my cabin then I might just as well be at home where I would at least have my dog to talk to!

Sadly, i suspect it’ll be a few years before I return to the high seas.

[Zombatar]

Don't worry about a vaccine. If and when it is produced the USA will buy it all anyway the same as they have done with the treatment the rest of the world have been testing!!

[Denarius]

2 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Goodness - as a solo passenger these proposals will make the cruise experience much less sociable.

For me a large part of my enjoyment of a cruise is making new friends and chatting to old friends from previous adventures.

If I had to dine alone or in my cabin then I might just as well be at home where I would at least have my dog to talk to!

Sadly, i suspect it’ll be a few years before I return to the high seas.

Sadly, I am in complete agreement. For a solo passenger it would be a joyless experience best avoided.

[kalos]

41 minutes ago, Zombatar said:

Don't worry about a vaccine. If and when it is produced the USA will buy it all anyway the same as they have done with the treatment the rest of the world have been testing!!

The NHS did not seem worried and say they have plenty of Remdesivir in stock on the news this morning .

The USA has bought 3 months of stock which is not a cure ,it helps recovery by about 3-4 days.

Oxford Uni vaccine research is said to be one of the best placed for a vaccine and our country are the 

first in line for the drug .

 

[jeanlyon]

What depressing reading.  Not for me.

[Chrisdriving]

Not a chance we would consider cruising under anything like those conditions i think our November cruise is off as far as we are concerned.

[majortom10]

4 hours ago, Zombatar said:

Don't worry about a vaccine. If and when it is produced the USA will buy it all anyway the same as they have done with the treatment the rest of the world have been testing!!

Apparently according to an expert on TV he said there was an alternative drug which is just as good if not better and is a lot cheaper than Remdesivir so there was nothing to be concerned about.

[welshwizards]

one of the reasons we enjoy cruising is the social interaction between passengers. I cannot see us cruising whilst this pandemic continues. we are due to pay the balance of a cruise scheduled to depart on 28/9/20 (Celebrity) the company are still taking bookings for it - despite 50% of the ports are Spanish! I am of the view they will cancel but who knows? we won't be sailing but will lose our deposit if we cancel

 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Apparently according to an expert on TV he said there was an alternative drug which is just as good if not better and is a lot cheaper than Remdesivir so there was nothing to be concerned about.

Indeed it's called dexamethasone, cost £40 pp vs £3000pp for Trumps choice.

[davecttr]

25 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Indeed it's called dexamethasone, cost £40 pp vs £3000pp for Trumps choice.

And it actually saves life unlike Remsdivir which shortens the length of the illness. Been around for decades and apparently out of patent so can be made anywhere.

[Captain_Morgan]

If the current Hurtigruten model is any indication of how things will go, I can't see the industry surviving in its current form.  From what I've read they're only sailing 30% capacity on coastal Norwegian routes (based on being a Norwegian company) and those people onboard cannot go ashore but can make use of peripheral activities (i.e. kayaks, boat trips, etc) so long as they don't go ashore.

That says to me they (Hurtigruten) must be pretty desperate to either get some revenue or want to be the first to claim they re-started cruising as i fail to see the point of operating that way but that's just my opinion and i'm sure others wouldn't mind sailing around the UK going nowhere but the ship so long as they were onboard?

[tring]

10 minutes ago, Captain_Morgan said:

If the current Hurtigruten model is any indication of how things will go, I can't see the industry surviving in its current form.  From what I've read they're only sailing 30% capacity on coastal Norwegian routes (based on being a Norwegian company) and those people onboard cannot go ashore but can make use of peripheral activities (i.e. kayaks, boat trips, etc) so long as they don't go ashore.

That says to me they (Hurtigruten) must be pretty desperate to either get some revenue or want to be the first to claim they re-started cruising as i fail to see the point of operating that way but that's just my opinion and i'm sure others wouldn't mind sailing around the UK going nowhere but the ship so long as they were onboard?

They are ferries up the coast and the only practical form of transport and goods deliveries for many communities.  The cruise element subsidises their operations.  Hence even a bit more revenue can only be good for them.