Can’t roam free

[cruisinmeme]

Read an article on the carnival site (addressed to all cruise lines) that cruisers would not be allowed to roam free In ports. Also would have to do ship sponsored excursions. Well so much for the ship being empty on port days.  Also this may make or break people wanting to cruise.

[jeremyosborne81]

Yeah, this has been the standard since MSC started European cruises over a month ago. No surprise here. I just hope that gets lifted in a couple months.

[JamieLogical]

I think it may be a condition of ports allowing ships to dock. They don't want random ship passengers wandering all around, potentially spreading COVID. Having this measure of control and compartmentalization will help both the port authorities and the cruise lines feel more confident about potential exposure and contact tracing.

[ziggyuk]

One family were refused boarding at Naples by MSC after deciding the rules did not apply to them and leaving the excursion "bubble".

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/family-denied-cruise-boarding-coronavirus-msc-naples-italy-a9679536.html

[TrumpyNor]

7 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

I think it may be a condition of ports allowing ships to dock. They don't want random ship passengers wandering all around, potentially spreading COVID. Having this measure of control and compartmentalization will help both the port authorities and the cruise lines feel more confident about potential exposure and contact tracing.

This is actually the reason behind it - passengers are NOT allowed to leave the ship independently, this is a requirement form the ports that currently allows visit of cruise ships. And TOTALLY understandable when you take the current covid-19 situation in most of Europe in to consideration....!

Edited September 28, 2020 by TrumpyNor

[Budget Queen]

2 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

This is actually the reason behind it - passengers are NOT allowed to leave the ship independently, this is a requirement form the ports that currently allows visit of cruise ships. And TOTALLY understandable when you take the current covid-19 situation in most of Europe in to consideration....!

Just as important the other way. Nobody wants a newly infected “wanderer”  back on the ship either.   And spreading it to unsuspecting passengers and crew 

[jaja]

11 hours ago, cruisinmeme said:

.  Also this may make or break people wanting to cruise.

I agree.  Though I certainly  do understand the logic behind it as others have mentioned. .  Cruisers will have to take all the restrictions under consideration before booking.   I , for one, will be putting cruising on hold .

[Travelling2Some]

19 minutes ago, jaja said:

I agree.  Though I certainly  do understand the logic behind it as others have mentioned. .  Cruisers will have to take all the restrictions under consideration before booking.   I , for one, will be putting cruising on hold .

Exactly.  While the restriction is understandable it is also a deal breaker.  We cruise mostly for the ports and almost never do group excursions, especially not the ship-sponsored type.

[jaja]

3 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

Exactly.  While the restriction is understandable it is also a deal breaker.  We cruise mostly for the ports and almost never do group excursions, especially not the ship-sponsored type.

While I am not big on excursions for many ports (esp ones I have visited before), I do so love to just find a local place to eat and shop or revisit some place I did see on a past sailing .  That is all gone now.  

[pmatawan]

Deal breaker for me also.

[roger001]

26 minutes ago, jaja said:

While I am not big on excursions for many ports (esp ones I have visited before), I do so love to just find a local place to eat and shop or revisit some place I did see on a past sailing .  That is all gone now.  

Yea.  Without that, we're just not going to go until restrictions lifted.  Can you imagine looking at 5 ships docked at Cozumel, and not a single guest being allowed to wander and shop the downtown.  And imagine the merchants looking out at the ships with the captive passengers on board.  There's no point in doing port stops I think.   In fact, sea days only might be the first cruises.   

[jaja]

19 minutes ago, roger001 said:

Yea.  Without that, we're just not going to go until restrictions lifted.  Can you imagine looking at 5 ships docked at Cozumel, and not a single guest being allowed to wander and shop the downtown.  And imagine the merchants looking out at the ships with the captive passengers on board.  There's no point in doing port stops I think.   In fact, sea days only might be the first cruises.   

Yes--I thought about the merchants too....so very sad for them.  Guess the only locals who will profit are those affiliated with NCL for sponsored  excursions.

[shof515]

36 minutes ago, roger001 said:

 In fact, sea days only might be the first cruises.   

due to various laws and regulations, there is no more cruise to no where

 

the ship needs to find a place to port at

[1025cruise]

Please note that while this has been suggested, nothing has been carved in stone yet.

[disneylover89]

I read that the MSC  offered one free excursion per port so everyone will be able to get off the ship at no charge.

[GA Dave]

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

due to various laws and regulations, there is no more cruise to no where

 

the ship needs to find a place to port at

They could most likely port at Great Styrrup Cay and Harvest Caye with no issues/restrictions.  I would not have a problem with a cruise like that at this point.

[LouChamp]

exactly the reason to wait until this situation clarifies and is seriously under control.


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[DCGuy64]

10 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

They could most likely port at Great Styrrup Cay and Harvest Caye with no issues/restrictions.  I would not have a problem with a cruise like that at this point.

Me, either. And as @JamieLogicalpointed out, this could be as much the port authorities not wanting passengers randomly wandering around as the cruise lines wanting to ensure everyone is accounted for. Frankly, although I see lots of people pointing the finger at the cruise lines, I see almost no one mentioning that this requirement might be a condition of ports allowing ships to dock at all. Earlier this year, most (if not all) Caribbean ports closed to cruise ships altogether because of COVID. While not ideal by any means, this may be a necessary (and hopefully temporary) step to get ports to open back up. I'd also point out that it's been common knowledge for a long time that certain ports aren't considered safe for cruise passengers just to roam about freely, and that pre-arranged excursions (whether through the cruise line or independently) are highly suggested.

[Cruzinnana47]

26 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

They could most likely port at Great Styrrup Cay and Harvest Caye with no issues/restrictions.  I would not have a problem with a cruise like that at this point.

I wouldn't either, except that the local vendors on these stops could be exposed/infected by any asymtomatic passengers coming off the ship to visit the island/port.  Just one more consideration.

 

[shof515]

52 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

They could most likely port at Great Styrrup Cay and Harvest Caye with no issues/restrictions.  I would not have a problem with a cruise like that at this point.

that depends on if the Bahamas government allows the ships to be at GSC. While the cruise line owns the island, it is still governed by the Bahamas

[dexddd]

1 hour ago, disneylover89 said:

I read that the MSC  offered one free excursion per port so everyone will be able to get off the ship at no charge.

I had not seen that and I follow MSC boards but maybe I missed it.  They did offer three excursions for 100 Euros.

[DCGuy64]

7 minutes ago, dexddd said:

I had not seen that and I follow MSC boards but maybe I missed it.  They did offer three excursions for 100 Euros.

Yes, MSC is offering all experience types at least 1 free excursion. I believe the breakdown is like this: Bella gets 1, Fantastica 2, Aurea 3 and Yacht Club gets ALL ports free.

[Até]

2 hours ago, dexddd said:

I had not seen that and I follow MSC boards but maybe I missed it.  They did offer three excursions for 100 Euros.

From what I understand people who were already booked and were asked to move to the new Grandiosa itineraries were offered the excursions free, they got between one and five based on cabin level they had purchased.  Everyone else making new bookings got the option to purchase the 100‎€ package of three basic excursions.

[thistimeplease]

6 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Exactly.  While the restriction is understandable it is also a deal breaker.  We cruise mostly for the ports and almost never do group excursions, especially not the ship-sponsored type.

I agree.  I can't imagine going to Bermuda for 3 days and not being able to roam the island on our own.  Would definitely be a deal breaker for us.

[PATRLR]

5 hours ago, roger001 said:

Can you imagine looking at 5 ships docked at Cozumel, and not a single guest being allowed to wander and shop the downtown.  And imagine the merchants looking out at the ships with the captive passengers on board.  There's no point in doing port stops I think.  

I'd expect to find the local ports working with the cruise lines to define some manner of allowing passengers to safely (safe for both passenger and locals) shop in some of these bigger shopping areas.  The port would likely have to invest in infrastructure or people to keep passengers from leaving the approved zones, they'd have to demonstrate some level of controls over the merchants so the cruise lines can be confident some merchant won't infect one of the passengers., and I'm sure a bunch of other requirements I'd never think of.   

 

But, FWIW, not allowing passengers to wander ports would probably be one of the things we'd need in order for us to return to cruising.  We don't do much in ports beyond finding a local place to get a drink and meal, if we have to do without and stay on the ship, that would be OK.