Interim guidance for restarting cruise operations

[exlondoner]

11 hours ago, ew101 said:

Short of a magical vaccine (that almost everyone agrees to take) the "turn back the clock to November 2019" scenario seems pretty improbable at the moment.   This was just tried at scale in Florida and Arizona.  I'm not sure it went very well.  

 

I'm not impressed by the work of the lines so far.   Nor it seems are the governments.  

 

The bad news to guests- like wearing masks -will come from a commission.  That way, like a firing squad issued some blanks, exactly who exactly delivered the suggestion will remain unknown.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vaccines aren't magic, they're the application of scientific knowledge.

[ew101]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

 

Vaccines aren't magic, they're the application of scientific knowledge.

The word magical was chosen carefully.  

 

"Previous attempts to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus diseases SARS and MERS established considerable knowledge about the structure and function of coronaviruses – which accelerated rapid development during early 2020 of varied technology platforms for a COVID-19 vaccine – but all the previous coronavirus vaccine candidates failed in early-stage clinical trials, with none being advanced to licensing"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine

 

Vaccine development is not a sure thing.   I think sensible measures should be taken to slow the spread of the virus on board passenger vessels while we wait.  

Edited July 9, 2020 by ew101

[JP82]

Will be interesting to see what is happening here...

 

 

“Cast off!” for first #AIDA cruises in August 2020. Supported by the theme "With certainty the most beautiful #vacation", AIDAperla will be the first to set sail on August 5 from Hamburg, followed by AIDAmar from Rostock-Warnemünde on August 12 and AIDAblu from Kiel on August 16.

[BlueRiband]

On 7/8/2020 at 3:47 AM, Victoria2 said:

.... it implies those of us who have booked and are prepared to wait until our favourite mode of vacation recommences  are a sad lot who don't know what we're doing. I like to think we will have a head start on  life at sea and the dull lot will be those who can't book their favourite cabins as they will be sold out to the dreary lot who had faith.

The new normal will possibly be different, I don't know but I have faith Cunard will not start operations up again under all the interim proposals laid out in the named document. If the ships are sailing again one day, we will hopefully be aboard.

One can only hope that those who choose to book will do their research and with full knowledge of the situation on board.  Nobody like a bad surprise.  What I have in mind was the last-minute provision that CLIA put in back in March: a requirement that over-65s present a doctor's "fit to sail" letter. 

 

I have a winter TA booked but will have a decision to make when final payment is due.  I don't want to be in a cancellation penalty phase only to then find out that I'll have to wear a mask, dine alone, and compete for scarce seats at entertainment venues.  If somebody is aware of those conditions and still decides to sail then it's their informed choice. 

[exlondoner]

Isn't it Aida that has naturist decks? Will they have to wear masks there? 😀

Edited July 9, 2020 by exlondoner
Typo

[BlueRiband]

And exactly where will they wear the mask?😜

[Victoria2]

25 minutes ago, BlueRiband said:

One can only hope that those who choose to book will do their research and with full knowledge of the situation on board.  Nobody like a bad surprise.  What I have in mind was the last-minute provision that CLIA put in back in March: a requirement that over-65s present a doctor's "fit to sail" letter. 

 

I have a winter TA booked but will have a decision to make when final payment is due.  I don't want to be in a cancellation penalty phase only to then find out that I'll have to wear a mask, dine alone, and compete for scarce seats at entertainment venues.  If somebody is aware of those conditions and still decides to sail then it's their informed choice. 

I knew some lines had a fit to sail letter clause but I didn't realise Cunard had one too. If they had, it passed me by. At the moment, the UK government has advised against all cruises so no one with  UK travel insurance which will cover this pandemic, will be sailing if they have any sense as they won't be covered.

 

I have high hopes the situation will ease as the months go by but if needs be, I'll happily wear a mask if required in certain situations. As I said in my previous post, I can't see Cunard starting up operations unless a suitable product is available and that doesn't include the regime as outlined in the document  at the core of this thread.

 

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[Ray66]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

At the moment, the UK government has advised against all cruises

 

Yes, just got an email off Cunard (and P&O) about this.

 

by now you may have seen the updated guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advising against cruise ship travel at this time.

Our current focus is to work in partnership with public health agencies at the highest level as well as Department for Transport; EU Healthy Gateways and CLIA, the industry governing body. We will follow applicable guidelines to further enhance our already stringent measures to keep our guests and crew healthy and well and we will not resume sailings until this framework is in place. This will include rigorous protocols pre-boarding, on ship and in the destinations we visit.

As per the guidance, the Government will continue to review its cruise ship travel advice based on the latest medical recommendations and the FCO has said that it continues to support the Department for Transport's work with industry for the resumption of international cruise travel.

[Victoria2]

15 minutes ago, Ray66 said:

 

Yes, just got an email off Cunard (and P&O) about this.

 

by now you may have seen the updated guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advising against cruise ship travel at this time.

Our current focus is to work in partnership with public health agencies at the highest level as well as Department for Transport; EU Healthy Gateways and CLIA, the industry governing body. We will follow applicable guidelines to further enhance our already stringent measures to keep our guests and crew healthy and well and we will not resume sailings until this framework is in place. This will include rigorous protocols pre-boarding, on ship and in the destinations we visit.

As per the guidance, the Government will continue to review its cruise ship travel advice based on the latest medical recommendations and the FCO has said that it continues to support the Department for Transport's work with industry for the resumption of international cruise travel.

with the additional

 

In the meantime should you wish to transfer your existing booking then please see our website for our flexible transfer policy.

Confidence in cruising is strong and we are seeing increasing demand from our guests, and we very much look forward to welcoming you back on board when the time is right.

Simon Palethorpe
President of Cunard

[IB2]

Cunard has already said no cruising until at least November, so we're almost at my no cruising until 2021 prediction.  I doubt any operator is going to find this first version of restrictions either sellable or viable.  Probably some of the more restrictive provisions will be relaxed as and when the pandemic recedes. Currently it looks like the US will be bringing up the rear in terms of timing.

[beaveh]

I wonder if big cruise ships could moor up somewhere and open as an out door theme park / cafe area. No indoor cabins and upee deck buffets could open as waiter service restaurants. 🙂 I could get my cruise fix then 

[Ray66]

Front page headlines on today's Daily Mail:

 

They've Sunk Our Cruises

 

British tourists were last night warned against all travel on cruise ships.

 

The dramatic intervention from the Foreign Office is a huge blow to the tourist industry

 

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/0F83/production/_113317930_mail.jpg

[IB2]

4 minutes ago, Ray66 said:

Front page headlines on today's Daily Mail:

 

They've Sunk Our Cruises

 

British tourists were last night warned against all travel on cruise ships.

 

The dramatic intervention from the Foreign Office is a huge blow to the tourist industry

 

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/0F83/production/_113317930_mail.jpg

Typical Daily Mail hyperbole.  With cruise lines shut down for the summer (and many for the autumn), the government coming out and clarifying that cruise travel isn't covered by the current opening up of the UK lockdown and travel restrictions is hardly dramatic news.

 

Cruising isn't going to re-start until things in the US start getting significantly better, which looks like being a long time away given how fast things there are currently going downhill.

Edited July 10, 2020 by IB2

[LadyL1]

Surely going on a cruise is  now safer than travelling 24 hours in economy class to the other side of the world, with a stop off in some Asian airport! (Mr Palethorpe has gone to great pains to tell us of health and safety 😬).  That would especially apply to the smaller cruise ships with massive space ratio and plenty of dining choices. After all some of the suites on ships are far larger with only an occupancy of 2, than some people, unfortunately, live as a family.

I would go on a Cunard ship, even better if the pax numbers were reduced. The thought of flying, even in premium grades which have been dumbed down significantly it seems, holds no joy whatsoever, and that is after braving an airport.

[IB2]

3 minutes ago, LadyL1 said:

Surely going on a cruise is  now safer than travelling 24 hours in economy class to the other side of the world, with a stop off in some Asian airport! (Mr Palethorpe has gone to great pains to tell us of health and safety 😬).  That would especially apply to the smaller cruise ships with massive space ratio and plenty of dining choices. After all some of the suites on ships are far larger with only an occupancy of 2, than some people, unfortunately, live as a family.

I would go on a Cunard ship, even better if the pax numbers were reduced. The thought of flying, even in premium grades which have been dumbed down significantly it seems, holds no joy whatsoever, and that is after braving an airport.

Strictly in terms of chance of infection, I believe you are right; certainly the recent stories of multiple infections on various flights would suggest so, as would the speed with which the virus spread across the US, which unlike Europe did little to stop people flying about.

 

Nevertheless the airline industry is seen as more critical to national economies and employment than cruising, which has gone out of its way to base itself 'offshore', and air travel is used for business whereas cruising is almost exclusively leisure.  

 

Plus, if you get infected on a flight your problem lands wherever you do, whereas on a cruise it stays, and multiplies, on the ship, with other passengers effectively trapped at significant risk of infection.  Finally, the demographic on a cruise ship contains many more people in vulnerable high risk groups as far as Coronavirus is concerned, and the ships themselves aren't equipped to deal with anyone who becomes seriously ill.   

[Ray66]

2 hours ago, IB2 said:

Typical Daily Mail hyperbole.  With cruise lines shut down for the summer (and many for the autumn), the government coming out and clarifying that cruise travel isn't covered by the current opening up of the UK lockdown and travel restrictions is hardly dramatic news.

 

 

 

 Other newspapers are carrying the same story - Daily Express, The Times etc

 

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/cruise/1307386/cruise-ship-holidays-2020-fco-cruises-travel-advice-news-latest

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-cruise-holidays-scuppered-as-ministers-declare-ships-unsafe-wrkq8nz2p

 

Hurtigruten hope to have 4 Round the British Isles cruises in September. So it will be interesting to see what happens there.

[Host Hattie]

I'm struggling to understand the dramatic headlines, have people not noticed that the advice not to cruise has been there for months ?

[ovccruiser]

Can't go on a cruise ship, but it's ok to sit on an aeroplane for several hours, must be logic there somewhere. How about passenger ferries?

[Victoria2]

50 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

I'm struggling to understand the dramatic headlines, have people not noticed that the advice not to cruise has been there for months ?

March 12th to be precise. Makes more impact to highlight this specific exclusion as the travel industry cautiously re starts. 

[Ray66]

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

I'm struggling to understand the dramatic headlines, have people not noticed that the advice not to cruise has been there for months ?

 

It's because the Foreign Office updated their advice yesterday.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cruise-ship-travel

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/09/uk-foreign-office-urges-holidaymakers-to-avoid-cruise-ships

 

When you look at the cruise timetables website, there are plenty of cruises showing departures from the UK from August onwards.

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, ovccruiser said:

Can't go on a cruise ship, but it's ok to sit on an aeroplane for several hours, must be logic there somewhere. How about passenger ferries?

 

The logic is that the airlines are a more powerful lobby than the cruise lines, I should imagine. Some passenger ferries to France have started again, though not all.

[BklynBoy8]

I know many are speaking about the suspension of cruising at this time and what are their future plans for either 2021 or 2022 will be.

 

But since rescheduled our sailing to 21, it will be a good opportunity for us to investigate our country more by car. It would be a great chance to see more of the areas we haven't had the chance to see in the past and still in our state.

[Ray66]

The updated FCO information is the main item at the moment on ITV's website.

 

Also an article on CC's news page today

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/5451/

[Host Hattie]

3 hours ago, Ray66 said:

It's because the Foreign Office updated their advice yesterday.

I realise that but the section about cruising hasn't changed, it's just that the warning against all travel is different.

[Host Hattie]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

 

The logic is that the airlines are a more powerful lobby than the cruise lines, I should imagine. Some passenger ferries to France have started again, though not all.

And people are generally on cruise ships for longer than they would be on a flight.