New CDC Announcement - Another Extension

[mugtech]

Just got the notice a few hours ago that our 9/20/20 Radiance from Tokyo to Singapore is cancelled.  Asked for refund, was told it will be 30-45 days until I get the refund.  This is a fully paid cruise for which I requested refund on 3/19/20 and have not received anything yet.

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

If you look at the CDC order in detail, Bahamas Paradise is the only cruise line that received the green light -- they are good to go.  Palm Beach to Bahamas and under 250 passengers. 

I thought they received it to only let crew off and on. Maybe the Chief can chime in.

 

If they had the go ahead to allow guests on board, why would they push back their start date?

[Ashland]

And I was worried about March 2021 so easily did a L&S for March 2022. Now I have to worry about May 2021, July 2021 and Oct 2021.

[crewsweeper]

There's a line in Kevin Barry's Night Boat to Tangier:   "...the ships will come and go again.  We are moved by water and our hearts lift up."

 

Patience all, Patience.

[ECCruise]

1 hour ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

If you look at the CDC order in detail, Bahamas Paradise is the only cruise line that received the green light -- they are good to go.  Palm Beach to Bahamas and under 250 passengers. 

But if you look at their website, no bookings until 1 October.

That tells the story.

[Pratique]

14 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

I thought they received it to only let crew off and on. Maybe the Chief can chime in.

 

If they had the go ahead to allow guests on board, why would they push back their start date?

They did it based on the Covid situation in Florida.

[A&L_Ont]

36 minutes ago, Pratique said:

They did it based on the Covid situation in Florida.

I wholeheartedly understand the Covid situation in Florida but I am not sure what you mean by this.  
 

Who pushed it back; the cruise line pushed the date back because of the new cases in Florida or the CDC pushed it back on them?  I though the Chief explained the green light meant they could not take on guests but could allow crew movement. 
 

Thanks. 

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

If you look at the CDC order in detail, Bahamas Paradise is the only cruise line that received the green light -- they are good to go.  Palm Beach to Bahamas and under 250 passengers. 

That CDC  page says nothing about passenger embarkation; as mentioned before the green light is for crew changes via commercial means. The Grand Celebration which BPCL plans to use first has a capacity of 1,500. Even with BPCL saying they will leave two decks completely empty, she has way more capacity that 250. And while the CDC no sail order will eventually expire, BPCL and other cruiselines need to also satisfy rules of the ports they visit  - according to BPCL for the Bahamas that means a negative PCR test no more 10 days old at the time of sailing.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Biker19

[livingonthebeach]

29 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

That CDC  page says nothing about passenger embarkation; as mentioned before the green light is for crew changes via commercial means. The Grand Celebration which BPCL plans to use first has a capacity of 1,500. Even with BPCL saying they will leave two decks completely empty, she has way more capacity that 250. And while the CDC no sail order will eventually expire, BPCL and other cruiselines need to also satisfy rules of the ports they visit  - according to BPCL for the Bahamas that means a negative PCR test no more 10 days old at the time of sailing.

 

Commercial travel allowed - not only crew.  I believe they pushed it back on their own.  Passenger capacity 1,900.  Will not be sailing anywhere near capacity at the start.  Read somewhere 250 passengers for first go round. 

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by livingonthebeach

[twins_to_alaska]

 

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

If they had the go ahead to allow guests on board, why would they push back their start date?

 

Also the issue that Bahamas require negative CoVid19 test to enter the country.

 

Negative COVID-19 Test Results Required: All incoming visitors must show proof of a COVID-19 RT-PCR Negative (Swab) Test, taken no more than ten (10) days prior to the date of travel. Upon arrival, any person presenting a test older than ten (10) days will not be allowed entry into The Bahamas. Children under the age of ten (10) do not need a test.

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by twins_to_alaska

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

Commercial travel allowed - not only crew.

That whole page where you got that talks about crew only - there's no mention of passengers.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/crew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html

[livingonthebeach]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

That whole page where you got that talks about crew only - there's no mention of passengers.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/crew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html

 

It states commercial travel allowed.  Crew is not commercial travel as I understand it.  Plus all those other ships already have crew onboard. 

Edited July 17, 2020 by livingonthebeach

[Biker19]

Just now, livingonthebeach said:

 

It states commercial travel allowed.  Crew is not commercial travel as I understand it. 

They mean commercial travel (regular airline flights) of the crew as opposed to charter air travel which I believe was an earlier requirement from the CDC.

[livingonthebeach]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

They mean commercial travel (regular airline flights) of the crew as opposed to charter air travel which I believe was an earlier requirement from the CDC.

 

Oh ok okay then - my bad.  They are definitely a step ahead of the other cruise lines though.

[Biker19]

Just now, livingonthebeach said:

They are definitely a step ahead of the other cruise lines though.

And not part of CLIA which helped them avoid the CLIA imposed suspension till 9/15 before this CDC extension.

[Pratique]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

I wholeheartedly understand the Covid situation in Florida but I am not sure what you mean by this.  
 

Who pushed it back; the cruise line pushed the date back because of the new cases in Florida or the CDC pushed it back on them?  I though the Chief explained the green light meant they could not take on guests but could allow crew movement. 
 

Thanks. 

Not CDC. Probably on their own or at the urging of local officials. Either way it seems like the right thing to do.

[livingonthebeach]

If we can get to Europe (NOT): 

 

"Norwegian cruise expedition company Hurtigruten today is resuming trips to the Arctic’s wildlife-filled Svalbard archipelago with two ships: the 335-passenger Spitsbergen and the 530-passenger Roald Amundsen. Both vessels will operate at a sharply reduced capacity of 120 and 250 passengers, respectively, to ensure social distancing."

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/cruises-resume-arctic-circle-hurtigruten/

 

[Pratique]

6 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

If we can get to Europe (NOT): 

 

"Norwegian cruise expedition company Hurtigruten today is resuming trips to the Arctic’s wildlife-filled Svalbard archipelago with two ships: the 335-passenger Spitsbergen and the 530-passenger Roald Amundsen. Both vessels will operate at a sharply reduced capacity of 120 and 250 passengers, respectively, to ensure social distancing."

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/cruises-resume-arctic-circle-hurtigruten/

 

I hope we hear about the onboard protocols (dining entertainment etc.).

[livingonthebeach]

8 minutes ago, bigboaters said:

Some of you may enjoy these new loft suite cabin tours from the empty ships..

 

Beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing.  Hope I get the opportunity to try one of these on Symphony one day..... 🚢

[Baron Barracuda]

Found it interesting that CDC claims it has spent 38k person-hours (approximately 60 full time employees) since March working on cruise line issues.  

 

Overall tone of CDC letter strikes me as decidedly stern.  After overview of pandemic and conditions leading to shutdown goes into several pages of how cruise lines have not adhered to prior CDC orders or presented adequate response plans.  Sends them back to the drawing board with Sept. 30th I believe only being a placeholder that will likely be extended

[Milwaukee Eight]

33 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing.  Hope I get the opportunity to try one of these on Symphony one day..... 🚢

It was from a person who twice now has posted his YouTube videos on numerous threads for subscribers before Admin deleted. He will be back with a new name soon. 
 

M8

[Pratique]

1 minute ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

It was from a person who twice now has posted his YouTube videos on numerous threads for subscribers before Admin deleted. He will be back with a new name soon. 
 

M8

Last man on Earth.

[livingonthebeach]

5 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

It was from a person who twice now has posted his YouTube videos on numerous threads for subscribers before Admin deleted. He will be back with a new name soon. 
 

M8

 

Wow - had no idea.  Was it a crew member?  Must have been -- how else would he have gotten aboard the ship?

[livingonthebeach]

13 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Found it interesting that CDC claims it has spent 38k person-hours (approximately 60 full time employees) since March working on cruise line issues.  

 

Overall tone of CDC letter strikes me as decidedly stern.  After overview of pandemic and conditions leading to shutdown goes into several pages of how cruise lines have not adhered to prior CDC orders or presented adequate response plans.  Sends them back to the drawing board with Sept. 30th I believe only being a placeholder that will likely be extended

 

Yes, agree totally -- a snippet from the No Sail Order:

"By July 10, 2020, cruise ship operators had reduced the number of cruise ships they proposed to operate in U.S. waters to approximately 49 ships, with some operators choosing to temporarily withdraw all ships remaining in U.S. waters. As of July 10, 2020, one cruise ship operator representing only one cruise ship operating in U.S. waters had an NSO response plan meeting all the elements described in the April 15, 2020 Extension: Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line.

 

 

Findings and Immediate Action

The difficulty to date of cruise ship operators to submit and adhere to appropriate NSO response plans during a time of limited operations, as well as ongoing concerns relating to non- compliance with disease prevention protocols and continued outbreaks of COVID-19 onboard cruise ships, highlight the need for further action prior to resuming passenger operations.

Accordingly, and consistent with 42 CFR §§ 70.2, 71.31(b), and 71.32(b), the Director of CDC (“Director”) finds that cruise ship travel exacerbates the global spread of COVID-19, that the scope of this pandemic is inherently and necessarily a problem that is international and interstate in nature, and such transmission has not been controlled sufficiently by the cruise ship industry or individual State or local health authorities. As described in the March 14, 2020 Order, cruise ship travel markedly increases the risk and impact of the COVID-19 disease epidemic within the United States. If unrestricted cruise ship passenger operations were permitted to resume, infected and exposed persons disembarking cruise ships would place federal partners (e.g., Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard), healthcare workers, port personnel, and communities at substantial unnecessary risk."

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/No-Sail-Order-Cruise-Ships-Second-Extension_07_16_2020-p.pdf

[Milwaukee Eight]

3 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Wow - had no idea.  Was it a crew member?  Must have been -- how else would he have gotten aboard the ship?

No clue or someone posting for them.