Let’s tell Carnival to look for additional non US Port Options to restart Cruising

[chengkp75]

23 minutes ago, jperry2011 said:

The CDC is definitely telling cruise lines they can't cruise. "No Sail Order"

Yes, there was a no sail order, that applied only to ships entering the US.  The CDC had no control over cruise ships sailing anywhere else in the world.  And that has passed.  And the same requirements that were listed in the NSO as being required for cruise ships wishing to obtain "free pratique" (health clearance), once the no sail order had expired, are the same requirements that are contained in the CSO.

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

It looks like at this point Carnival has not options but to schedule some cruises from Nassau, Cozumel, and other ports that will allow them.

I doubt nassau, as rcl is staking that out. That's why I suggested nearby Freeport instead. What about Puerto rico, it's already set up. Cuba has more set up but further than the bahamas. There are many other places carnival could use.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:

If the CDC's mandate is to protect the US from outside, couldn't they simply require the crew on cruise ships to be vaccinated or present a negative covid test result before getting off of the ships in the US?  As far as the passengers, the people are boarding the ship from the US and leaving from the US, so the only outside threats would be the crew, right?  

I guess the passengers who get off at foreign ports might be considered a threat when the ship returns to the US ports.  In that case, the same type of proof should be good enough too.

Because every cruise has to visit a foreign port (a foreign country), you re-enter the US when you return to a US port.  Therefore, part of the clearance for the vessel to obtain permission to enter a US port is to obtain "free pratique" or a health clearance from the CDC, advising the USCG.  So, every soul on the ship would be "from outside".

[Purvis1231]

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

I doubt nassau, as rcl is staking that out. That's why I suggested nearby Freeport instead. What about Puerto rico, it's already set up. Cuba has more set up but further than the bahamas. There are many other places carnival could use.

Is there an air port in Freeport?  Pueto Rico is American territorry so we have the CDC problem. Is Cuba welcoming American travelers now?

[chengkp75]

23 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

In that case, proof of vaccination and a negative covid test should be all that is required to resume cruising.  If international travel by plane and by land is permitted, cruising is no different.

The CDC, in its most recent instructions, considers cruise ships to be "close residential living", which they are, so they are essentially the only hotels or resorts that the CDC has jurisdiction over.  Air and land are travel, not residence.

[lazydayz]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I doubt nassau, as rcl is staking that out. That's why I suggested nearby Freeport instead. What about Puerto rico, it's already set up. Cuba has more set up but further than the bahamas. There are many other places carnival could use.

Nassau could work, as Royal has only one ship moving there (at least for now).  Puerto Rico is a U S territory so it’s out.  Freeport has hardly any flights.  Cuba could work but I don’t think Americans could board there.  I think Nassau, St. Maarten and Bermuda were good choices.  

[firefly333]

3 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

Is there an air port in Freeport?  Pueto Rico is American territorry so we have the CDC problem. Is Cuba welcoming American travelers now?

I've been to freeport 20 years ago but not recently. Used to be a $59 flight from florida when I lived there. I'm just throwing out ideas. Hard to predict who will allow a vaccinated cruise.

 

Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA) (IATA: FPO, ICAO: MYGF) is a privately owned international airport in Freeport, Bahamas. The airport is a joint venture between Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) and The Port Group (or the Grand Bahama Port Authority).

Operator: Grand Bahama Airport Company

Owner: Hutchison Port Holdings and the Grand Bahama Port Authority

Hub for: Passenger: Bahamasair; SkyBahamas Airlines; Western Air

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Gra...

[Purvis1231]

Just now, firefly333 said:

I've been to freeport 20 years ago but not recently. Used to be a $59 flight from florida when I lived there. I'm just throwing out ideas. Hard to predict who will allow a vaccinated cruise.

 

Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA) (IATA: FPO, ICAO: MYGF) is a privately owned international airport in Freeport, Bahamas. The airport is a joint venture between Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) and The Port Group (or the Grand Bahama Port Authority).

Operator: Grand Bahama Airport Company

Owner: Hutchison Port Holdings and the Grand Bahama Port Authority

Hub for: Passenger: Bahamasair; SkyBahamas Airlines; Western Air

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Gra...

Sound good, I am ready to book.

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, lazydayz said:

Nassau could work, as Royal has only one ship moving there (at least for now).  Puerto Rico is a U S territory so it’s out.  Freeport has hardly any flights.  Cuba could work but I don’t think Americans could board there.  I think Nassau, St. Maarten and Bermuda were good choices.  

Idk I'm thinking not room for 2, people are already wondering if nassau has the infrastructure for 1, or hotels if you wanted to come early.

 

I will note for those who have not looked at nassau with rcl there is a $60 bahamian Visa to protect you if you get covid, and to cover 2 weeks of being quarantined. I'm doubting 2 ships in there as taking off from there. I think rcl was giving a $50 obc to cover the cost of the visa you are required to purchase.

[lazydayz]

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

Idk I'm thinking not room for 2, people are already wondering if nassau has the infrastructure for 1, or hotels if you wanted to come early.

 

I will note for those who have not looked at nassau with rcl there is a $60 bahamian Visa to protect you if you get covid, and to cover 2 weeks of being quarantined. I'm doubting 2 ships in there as taking off from there. I think rcl was giving a $50 obc to cover the cost of the visa you are required to purchase.

We booked the Celebrity Millennium out of SXM.  No need to fly in early as the ship leaves at 10 p.m.  COVID negative test is required for entry and boarding, so it makes sense to fly in day of. 
 

I am surprised Carnival hasn’t announced a sailing from the Caribbean.  Guess it is ok with allowing the losses to amass.  It will keep issuing more shares of stock, resulting in a dilution of equity for existing shareholders, and selling junk bonds.  Not a business model I believe in, especially when other lines have figured out a way to make money. 

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

We booked the Celebrity Millennium out of SXM.  No need to fly in early as the ship leaves at 10 p.m.  COVID negative test is required for entry and boarding, so it makes sense to fly in day of. 
 

I am surprised Carnival hasn’t announced a sailing from the Caribbean.  Guess it is ok with allowing the losses to amass.  It will keep issuing more shares of stock, resulting in a dilution of equity for existing shareholders, and selling junk bonds.  Not a business model I believe in, especially when other lines have figured out a way to make money. 

Rcl is going both from bermuda and nassau. Idk but I'd think if two ships could be supported they wouldnt be leaving from Bermuda. Higher port fees. Flying in the day of you cant really see Bermuda and it's a more costly flight, and worse cruise. The fees and taxes out of nassau around 100 ish and out of bermuda 175ish pp. Bermuda 1 day coco cay, vs nassau 2 days at coco cay. It's no wonder bermuda not selling well.

 

I'm sure carnival is eye balling how these cruises are selling.

 

I think rcl is leaving at 930 pm, so same. I was more thinking of quarantine possibilities that have to be in place does nassau have enough hotel rooms to support 2 ships.

 

Bermuda is cheaper but about the same with the higher fees. I think I'd want to see more of Bermuda if I flew there rather than nassau. I've been eyeing all these sailings myself. 

 

Yes, i dont get that carnival isnt mitigating it losses and learning from doing some sailings. ..as a shareholder. Agree. ..ìm booked sept on vista, but losing hope.

[Oldsweets]

Some wonderful comments here and as a Carnival stock holder I do have some concerns with the value of my holdings given Carnival’s money bleed.  Clearly, these sorts of financial drains are never good for company. Having said that I am simply not ready to simply give up and throw in the towel.  We currently have 2 Cruises booked out of ST Marten.  The first with Celebrity in early June and the second  with Windstar at the end of June.  So clearly St Marten has decided so far they can handle 2 Cruise Lines.  I won’t say I am confident that Windstar will actually sail although it certainly has nothing to do with the CDC.

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

I am surprised Carnival hasn’t announced a sailing from the Caribbean.  Guess it is ok with allowing the losses to amass.  It will keep issuing more shares of stock, resulting in a dilution of equity for existing shareholders, and selling junk bonds.  Not a business model I believe in, especially when other lines have figured out a way to make money. 

I'm not surprised.  Ms. Duffy's statement from 10 days ago seemed pretty conclusive.  But this is a fast changing environment, the CDC has released its next step guidance (finally), and the week has barely started, so who knows what will happen in the days to come?

 

As for business models, I'm sure RCL and NCL will continue to issue more stock and more bonds as this thing drags out.  There seems to be a large appetite for travel and leisure stocks that can profit as things open up.  And there's a large appetite for bonds that yield more than 2%, as long as the underlying firms can be counted on to keep paying the interest.  These little cruises out of the Caribbean aren't going to make much profit for Royal or whomever, not enough to really matter.

[TNcruising02]

4 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'm not surprised.  Ms. Duffy's statement from 10 days ago seemed pretty conclusive.  But this is a fast changing environment, the CDC has released its next step guidance (finally), and the week has barely started, so who knows what will happen in the days to come?

 

As for business models, I'm sure RCL and NCL will continue to issue more stock and more bonds as this thing drags out.  There seems to be a large appetite for travel and leisure stocks that can profit as things open up.  And there's a large appetite for bonds that yield more than 2%, as long as the underlying firms can be counted on to keep paying the interest.  These little cruises out of the Caribbean aren't going to make much profit for Royal or whomever, not enough to really matter.

Even though the cruises out of the Caribbean may not be profitable, they may have value in displaying that cruising can begin again without any major issues.

[SNJCruisers]

12 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Even though the cruises out of the Caribbean may not be profitable, they may have value in displaying that cruising can begin again without any major issues.

In this hemisphere with a predominant number of passengers from the US.  Unlike the cruising in the Eastern Hemisphere located in Europe and Asia, which are limited to cruisers primarily from a specific country.

[topaz123]

Ready to  book on NON US port.....enough of the insanity of the CDC.

[topaz123]

Let's face it...soon as the CDC allows some resemblance of cruising..then up goes another WALL of Regulations....now, we've got the VARIANT issue, that media keeps pushing.....Hoping Carnival escapes the madness  and chooses to port from other ports. ..non US.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, topaz123 said:

.Hoping Carnival escapes the madness  and chooses to port from other ports. ..non US.

Duffy has already proclaimed that Carnival will be sticking to US departure ports.  Your other options of course are Royal or Celebrity for 10 weeks over the summer.  Or the all inclusive route.

[BlerkOne]

“While we have not made plans to move Carnival Cruise Line ships outside of our U.S. homeports, we may have no choice but to do so in order to resume our operations which have been on ‘pause’ for over a year,” company president Christine Duffy said in a statement.

[firefly333]

4 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Duffy has already proclaimed that Carnival will be sticking to US departure ports.  Your other options of course are Royal or Celebrity for 10 weeks over the summer.  Or the all inclusive route.

You missed ncl has joined in. Got this email yesterday. I couldnt figure out why rcl was talking about Jamaica until I saw where one of the ncl cruises was leaving from. Oh boy ...

 

[dbrucern]

On 3/29/2021 at 9:13 PM, SNJCruisers said:

Do you consider it intelligent leadership when their idiot CEO Arnold Donald is quoted as saying that vaccines would probably only be required on those cruises that are favored by seniors.  First of all, what are cruises on Carnival favored by seniors?  A handful of journeys cruises and the once in a blue moon TA?

Royal, Celebrity and Princess have all mandated that adults be vaccinated.   Why should Carnival swim upstream and allow non vaccinated people on board?  Even if it increases the possibility of an outbreak by one percent,  that's one percent too much. 

He is referring to Holland America

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, dbrucern said:

He is referring to Holland America

That isn't what he said.

[BlerkOne]

Let's all cruise to Mexico!

 

https://www.wdsu.com/article/fully-vaccinated-nurse-stuck-in-mexico-after-testing-positive-for-covid-19-on-her-vacation/36048811

[joeyancho]

One factor that needs discussion is the subject of provisioning the ships.  Do Nassau and the Bahamas have the infrastructure to supply the ships?  At what price?  US ports are at large cities that can easily supply the ships at reasonable prices.  We have all seen the list of goods that every cruise needs.  The islands would have to import the needed supplies,  which makes it pricey.  And would the supply chain be  reliable?   This may be why Carnival is reluctant to start up in foreign ports.  

[Honolulu Blue]

17 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Let's all cruise to Mexico!

 

https://www.wdsu.com/article/fully-vaccinated-nurse-stuck-in-mexico-after-testing-positive-for-covid-19-on-her-vacation/36048811

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

This brings up a couple of issues.  First of all, I have a little Mexican adventure planned for this October - not a cruise.  This is one of the scenarios that I worried about before booking - what if I test positive just before heading home?  I'll be fully vaccinated by then, but that doesn't stop infection 100% of the time, of course.  Fortunately, the AI I'll be staying at is offering a free stay in a broom closet for up to 14 days while I recover.  I thought  that was nice of them and it pushed me over the edge into booking.  We'll see how it goes.

 

That brings up my second point...  how are the cruise lines going to handle someone who turns up positive on disembarkation day?  Yes, I'm assuming that will still be a thing for the next several months at least.  I can't imagine them letting them stay on the ship; that's how scary documentaries get made.  Royal shared a bit of their plan - they're willing to pay for quarantine/isolation accommodations on land for up to 14 days.  But where would they end up?  The terminal?  Nearby hotel?  Airport??  Having a plan for stuff like this is part of what the CDC is asking from the cruise lines.  They should spend some (more) time working on this rather than B&M'ing in the media.