One of First Cruise Ships to Sail Has Covid 19 Outbreak

[rallydave]

7 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

If the cruise companies used it, it would not remain a tender port...not with all the money they would throw at it. And Cabo is one of the safer Mexican cities. And very close to LA.....

You need to rethink Cabo being very close to LA. it is 912 air miles between them.  Also saying one if safer cities is like saying a 22 caliber gun is safer than a 38 caliber. The cartel is everywhere. 
 

And where would the cruise to?  The cities in Mexico south are nowhere good for tourists and US ports wouldn’t work so why throw money into Cabo??

Edited September 15, 2020 by rallydave

[Pcardad]

Regent currently goes both north and south of Cabo as well as heading west.

 

Do you have a suggestion for a better port?

[rallydave]

40 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Regent currently goes both north and south of Cabo as well as heading west.

 

But you are suggesting Cabo to stay out of the US so North  won't work unless ending in Vancouver/Victoria??

 

40 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Do you have a suggestion for a better port?

Perhaps Nassau or Freeport but, most knowledgeable cruisers avoid the Bahamas like the plague.  Would cost less than Bermuda or Cabo as docking is available and the logistics pipeline is relatively short but, other than that,  no other  suggestions as any port would take longer to get up and running than the CDC and Virus will allow sailing to restart from the US.  And after restarting US Ports all of the millions spent to get the ports up and running.

[Pcardad]

Sure - Cabo to Alaska. It would add a couple of days but running the ships is better than not running them.

 

I was playing this game assuming that the CDC will not allow cruising to continue.....for the foreseeable future. Reasons for this would be loss of immunity and /or ineffective vaccine. In short - what if we have to live with this forever?

[rallydave]

13 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Sure - Cabo to Alaska. It would add a couple of days but running the ships is better than not running them.

 

I was playing this game assuming that the CDC will not allow cruising to continue.....for the foreseeable future. Reasons for this would be loss of immunity and /or ineffective vaccine. In short - what if we have to live with this forever?

Thought about Alaska but, that wouldn't work because last I looked Alaska is part of the US.  And a lot more than a couple of days.  2 days to LA 2 more days to Seattle then 2 orf thi 3 days to Alaska. 6 to 7 is a lot more than a few.

 

As to live with it, unfortunately that would see a lot of businesses like cruise lines and airlines to name two get really smaller and/or go out of business.  Putting millions of dollars at this time to make ports available would be throwing good money after bad.  Simply both the cruise lines and CDC need to be more pro-active in getting the protocols in place.  There are issues on both sides causing the delays.  And even if sailings began in the US by say the end of the year, Europe and other areas may continue to have the issues that are stopping cruises there so waiting seems the only viable answer.

[Pcardad]

Yep - sry - brain dead today working on a little project.

 

Millions of dollars is small potatoes though in the scheme of cruise profitability. My tiny group drops over a million a year on Regent alone.

 

But this is probably not based on reality - just a little fun. Although, tbh, there is absolutely no certainty (yet) that this will have a happy ending. There is no vaccine (yet) and no certainty that immunity will be permanent (yet) and no idea of long-term effects/dangers.

[BarbarianPaul]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Yep - sry - brain dead today working on a little project.

 

Millions of dollars is small potatoes though in the scheme of cruise profitability. My tiny group drops over a million a year on Regent alone.

 

But this is probably not based on reality - just a little fun. Although, tbh, there is absolutely no certainty (yet) that this will have a happy ending. There is no vaccine (yet) and no certainty that immunity will be permanent (yet) and no idea of long-term effects/dangers.

Even if immunity isn’t permanent, its not the end of the world if it becomes a once a year flu shot kind of thing. In terms of long term effects/dangers, I think there’s going to be at least some form of leap of faith involved, unless you want to wait years. And of course that strategy involves risk as well.

[Pcardad]

I agree - not arguing it one way or another. Just imagining scenarios based on the unlikely event that there is no usable vaccine.

 

Of course, it would make things interesting (in a negative way) if immunity only lasts 90 days. Or the fatality rate increased every time you were infected. 

 

This still has the possibility of being a very long term thing........although we all hope it is resolved in the next 6 - 12 months.

[SusieQft]

Pcardad, I agree about the relative safety and proximity of Cabo.  Putting in a cruise port could totally change the atmosphere of the town.  We really enjoyed traveling there in the past, but have not gone (by air) for quite a few years.  The safety issues in Mexico really turned us off, and we started vacationing elsewhere.  I was really looking forward to stopping there next month on the Mariner, but it was not to be.

 

Hopefully we will get a handle on making this disease less of a threat and people will feel safe cruising.  And along with that, hopefully the CDC and the cruise lines will come to an agreement, and we won't remain the pariah country for cruising.

Edited September 16, 2020 by SusieQft

[greykitty]

Delete - I completely misread a news story about RCL ships itineraries in Mexico, etc., in November 2020.  

Edited September 16, 2020 by greykitty

[BBWC]

Maybe Pcardad is not that far off. SeaDream just announced that Caribbean cruises will start in November. They will be entirely out of US waters, even though SeaDream qualifies for the CDC exemption. Interestingly, they start from Barbados, which can accommodate several large cruise ships.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/caribbean-cruise-comeback-seadream/

[pingpong1]

On 8/1/2020 at 3:37 PM, johng75370 said:

 

"......when our October Mariner sailing was cancelled we chose to rebook for Dec 2021, and likely will make it a back to back in our desire to get to know Regent (and our pent up demand for a longer cruise)."

Johng75370 - By any chance, did you folks book onto the "Mariner" Panama Canal "holiday cruise" (Miami to San Francisco), departing  Miami on Dec 18, 2021?  If so, we're on that cruise as well, along with 2 of our friends.  Best Regards.

[johng75370]

21 hours ago, pingpong1 said:

By any chance, did you folks book onto the "Mariner" Panama Canal "holiday cruise" (Miami to San Francisco), departing  Miami on Dec 18, 2021? 

 

We have not....we’re in a holding pattern on booking any additional cruises until we see what shakes out.  Mainly concerned about the onboard experience; as first timers on Regent the 10 day on the Mariner in Caribbean in December seems just right.  Had friends recently on Europa2 “cruise to nowhere”, and while they had a good time I would not want to be so restricted for more than a week or so. Having said that, tacking on the Panama Canal to it is still an option but not until ships are sailing again and we know what we’re signing up for!

[pingpong1]

Johng - Completely understand.  These are certainly uncertain times for traveling anywhere.  We booked our Mariner PC cruise in October of 2019 (while we were on another Regent cruise - so we could take advantage of the 50% deposit discount), long before the "Coronavirus thing" was even on the radar screen.  I can remember at the time, wishing that the Mariner PC cruise wasn't going to be so far off in time.  In hindsight, we're now very glad that the cruise is still more than a year away!  We're also very much hoping that by late December 2021, things will have settled down and that cruising will have returned to something that would approach "a near normal experience", again.

 

On one of our very first Regent Cruises (back in 2012), we were on (just) a 7-day itinerary and we were having such a great time.  On the afternoon of "day 4", we were sitting at the pool deck bar watching the ocean "sail by", and almost spontaneously said to each other, "Why on earth were we so dumb to book such a short cruise?  What on earth were we thinking!?"  To us, a 7-day cruise feels like we're just "settling in", when it's time to start thinking about re-packing to go home.  I feel the same way about 10-day itineraries overseas.  It just seems like such a long way to travel for such a short period of time. However, a 10-day cruise in the Caribbean would be a bit more "manageable" for those of us in the U.S.

 

Although we probably would think that anything over 20 days away from home would be a bit too long (we do have 5 little kitties at home who would miss us),  a 12-18 day cruise seems "just about right" for us.  I think you'll probably find that Regent cruising is extremely enjoyable and can even become addictive!  Best Regards.

 

 

[GrJ Berkshire]

On 9/16/2020 at 4:45 PM, BBWC said:

Maybe Pcardad is not that far off. SeaDream just announced that Caribbean cruises will start in November. They will be entirely out of US waters, even though SeaDream qualifies for the CDC exemption. Interestingly, they start from Barbados, which can accommodate several large cruise ships.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/caribbean-cruise-comeback-seadream/

Believe it only if it happens................................

[pappy1022]

Meanwhile, many countries are experiencing a resurgence in COVID-19, including countries like France, that are recording more positive cases than back in the spring. I don't think we are going to see Regent sailing for quite some time.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

2 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

Meanwhile, many countries are experiencing a resurgence in COVID-19, including countries like France, that are recording more positive cases than back in the spring. I don't think we are going to see Regent sailing for quite some time.

 

I think we're entering the second wave.

[Guerncruising]

We went over 190 days with no Covid cases and then two weeks ago one came in from the UK (picked up on our self isolate, test and trace system). Yesterday we were Covid free again. Today one case, again from the UK.

It would be nice to know that one day we will finally free of this disease. Life and cruising can return to normal. 

[flossie009]

2 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I think we're entering the second wave.

 

A second wave of the pandemic - possibly.

A second wave of pessimism on this Board - definitely.

[RachelG]

Unfortunately I am very pessimistic.  IF there is a vaccine, how long will it’s effects last?  Can a person get the disease again once they have had it? (Very possibly).  What side effects will the vaccine have—could be significant and worse than the disease given that there has been no long term follow up of those vaccinated?

 

I have entered a pretty negative mindset about all this, partly to avoid being disappointed yet again with having to cancel long made cruise plans, reservations,etc.  I just go to work every day, wear my mask, wash my hands, because apparently that is how things are going to be.  Only positive is that my production numbers at work have never been higher.  George and I are going to take a driving land trip (I hate the driving part) in a week, just because we need a break.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I too am very pessimistic about travel, and I'm reluctant to make cruising plans--the disappointment of cancelling the 2021 world cruise was bad enough, thank you.  But I'm not a gloomy person, and I'm getting on with life--if I can't go anywhere, I will find joy where I am.

[SWFLAOK]

On 9/16/2020 at 11:45 AM, BBWC said:

Maybe Pcardad is not that far off. SeaDream just announced that Caribbean cruises will start in November. They will be entirely out of US waters, even though SeaDream qualifies for the CDC exemption. Interestingly, they start from Barbados, which can accommodate several large cruise ships.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/caribbean-cruise-comeback-seadream/

While GrJBershire might only believe it when they see it, both SeaDream ships sailed all summer in Norway, where the Hurtigruten carried Covid 19 positive passengers from port to port, and SeaDream only had one false positive on a passenger who already had disembarked,  and then retested negative. SeaDream was very successful in keeping their passengers safe, as well as being successful by nearly selling out all summer while sailing in Norway.

I don't know how the megaships will ever be safe. Many were never able to control norovius. I'm more hopeful with smaller ships once there's a vaccine, or Covid 19 miraculously starts to fade away as SARS1 and MERS did.

[ronrick1943]

4 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

While GrJBershire might only believe it when they see it, both SeaDream ships sailed all summer in Norway, where the Hurtigruten carried Covid 19 positive passengers from port to port, and SeaDream only had one false positive on a passenger who already had disembarked,  and then retested negative. SeaDream was very successful in keeping their passengers safe, as well as being successful by nearly selling out all summer while sailing in Norway.

I don't know how the megaships will ever be safe. Many were never able to control norovius. I'm more hopeful with smaller ships once there's a vaccine, or Covid 19 miraculously starts to fade away as SARS1 and MERS did.

We've cruised a few times on SeaDreams, really a nice ship with some of the best service we've had cruising.  The only problem, short cruising is what they have--we like a little longer cruise and a little bigger ship (which is why Regent fits us now).