Anyone know if crew are already onboard the ships sailing this summer.

[seapals2]

With passengers all required to be fully vaccinated I wondered what the situation was with P&O crew.  Particularly those arriving from countries like India where currently they are experiencing very high cases of a new variant of Covid.  We know that from Friday anyone arriving by plane will need to be quarantined but wondered if there had been a rush to get crew here in the preceding days this week.  No one knows if our vaccines are effective against this new variant.  Let’s hope P&O are acting responsibly and ensuring all crew are tested and quarantined onboard.   NCL have said they plan to vaccinate crew onboard that have not been able to get the vaccine in their home country.  Here in the UK priority levels have not permitted younger people to receive the vaccination yet so it’s unlikely that P&O can guarantee this.   There is still several weeks before the first sailing and time to establish the crew is clear providing they get no outbreaks. 
 

[MX-Drew]

Someone posted a picture of crew getting off coaches and boarding Britannia the other day. I believe they found it on FB. 

[Adawn47]

I would assume that the crew have been here for a while now, well before India was added to the red list. With quarantine reqirements and all the new training procedures due to covid, I think they will have been here a while now.

Avril

[davecttr]

As far as I know you can't buy vaccine in this country so P&O doing so would generate a genuine storm of fury. A companies employees getting vaccinated so the company can make a profit. The press would be all over it like a rash!

 

They can make onboard quarantine and a bubble for the crew work, other cruise lines have done it.

 

There are also other countries not on the red list that can supply experienced staff. Many Eastern European countries can do so.

[MX-Drew]

4 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I would assume that the crew have been here for a while now, well before India was added to the red list. With quarantine requirements and all the new training procedures due to covid, I think they will have been here a while now.

Avril

I believe the crew arrived on Wednesday (21/04), I shall try and find the link.

[MX-Drew]

13 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

I believe the crew arrived on Wednesday (21/04), I shall try and find the link.

My mistake it was on the 20/04.

 

[MX-Drew]

Not sure if I will get away with this but this is an interesting group to follow on FB very naughty and probably against the rules for no reason, link.

[Son of Anarchy]

Seems like P&O are gearing up for the restart then.

[Pink-belle]

Also, keep an eye on the You Tube channel Same Ship different day.  A 2nd officer who works for Carnival corporation, recently moved to a P&O Australia ship.  
He has posted some great videos about life on board and working during the pandemic. 
You get an insight into how they are repositioning crew. 

Commodore Nash, also released a video for Princess, saying that ships were picking up crew.  With trips of 43 days that’s quite a quarantine period.

 

P&O have already released information saying not all crew will be vaccinated, I’m sure they would like them to be, but as we know that’s not possible at the moment. 
 

That said I have read reports that some states in the USA have offered vaccine to whoever would want one, regardless of nationality, with P&O being under the Carnival umbrella I wonder if they have access to vaccine depending on how crew reach the UK? 

[MX-Drew]

Latest news.

Link

[davecttr]

55 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Latest news.

Link

Well, if that happens to P&O crew we can say goodbye to the staycation cruises unless they manage to cobble together enough crew from other sources. Cruise lines that don't normally use Indian crew members will be somewhat happier

Edited April 24, 2021 by davecttr

[seapals2]

12 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

Latest news.

Link

obviously cause for concern in the current climate of outbreak in India.  The flights should have been put on the red list as soon as it was announced not given 4 days to fly without hotel quarantine.  At least any crew will have been taken straight to the ship and not gone home to mix with multi generational families and possibly school children.  Will be watching closely for any new outbreak centred round Southampton.  

[Chrisdriving]

Its terrible whats happening in India right now, hopefully they will get the crew levels they require.

 

As all passengers need both Jabs to sail(to protect the crew not other passengers) things should be OK for the restart.

[seapals2]

5 minutes ago, Chrisdriving said:

Its terrible whats happening in India right now, hopefully they will get the crew levels they require.

 

As all passengers need both Jabs to sail(to protect the crew not other passengers) things should be OK for the restart.

Yes .. however India have a new highly transmissible variant that as yet we are unsure how effective our vaccines will be against it.  As a country we have to remain vigilant against all arrivals particularly those from countries on the red list which India has now joined.  To avoid the hotel quarantine airlines even put on an extra 8 flights before Friday some of those arriving will have gone to homes to quarantine with other members still going out to work and schools.  Ludicrous that this was allowed to happen.  At least we can hope all crew have gone straight into quarantine on the ships.  

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, seapals2 said:

Yes .. however India have a new highly transmissible variant that as yet we are unsure how effective our vaccines will be against it.  As a country we have to remain vigilant against all arrivals particularly those from countries on the red list which India has now joined.  To avoid the hotel quarantine airlines even put on an extra 8 flights before Friday some of those arriving will have gone to homes to quarantine with other members still going out to work and schools.  Ludicrous that this was allowed to happen.  At least we can hope all crew have gone straight into quarantine on the ships.  

I read reports that those extra 8 flights had not been allowed because of the already long queues at immigration. there are normally 30 direct flights a week from India. It may be that some will try

via other means. e.g. executive jet if you are rich enough.

[downsmead]

16 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

Latest news.

Link

The article in the link says ‘this country’. I presume it refers to the USA not the U.K. especially as the cruises mentioned are those from St. Marten. However as stated our quarantine restrictions would affect crew flying into the U.K. and I cannot see RCI footing the bill for that, unless desperate!

[tring]

3 hours ago, downsmead said:

 

However as stated our quarantine restrictions would affect crew flying into the U.K. 

 

Seafarers are exempt from those rules and anyway they are, and always have been, doing what is effectively "hotel quarantine" as they are quarantined on the ship before being allowed to leave cabins and partake of duties as we all know.  I very much doubt there is any slipshod methods going on with the quarantine on any cruise line as they will be risking their summer program if they do.  I suggest the merchant ships will likewise be very careful.

Edited April 25, 2021 by tring

[the english lady]

NCL have said they plan to vaccinate crew onboard that have not been able to get the vaccine in their home country.

Royal Caribbean have also stated their crew will be vaccinated.

As the vaccines were only sold to countries, not companies, any idea how they will be managing to do this.

As regards the US and cruising I was "discussing" with somebody from there on FB  ,who as the discussion continued I decided was just this side of being as nutty as a fruit cake. Anyway under no circumstances would they get any jabs and were saying they wanted to sue the state governer, CDC and basically everyone should be sued, so ships can sail from there ,everywhere, with unvaccinated passengers as They want to go on holiday and don't want a jab.

I do worry a lot about how many from there are the  don't want to be vaccinated, and whether they will be allowed to travel here there and everywhere.

[tring]

25 minutes ago, the english lady said:

NCL have said they plan to vaccinate crew onboard that have not been able to get the vaccine in their home country.

Royal Caribbean have also stated their crew will be vaccinated.

As the vaccines were only sold to countries, not companies, any idea how they will be managing to do this.

 

I am sure all cruise lines hope to vaccinate crew, but were those statements just about their ships in a certain country?  In the US for instance some, or possibly all, companies have had vaccines to administer to their staff from when the roll out began, and that is how my US relatives were jabbed.  That did not (I think) apply to cruise lines initially, but it may change.  The individual States have their own priority lists for the vaccines they administer themselves, so that varies as well.

 

Also in the US the covid restrictions have been according to what is designated by the individual states.  In Utah, for instance, covid numbers have been high, but I was told by my relatives that everything remained open.

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by tring

[davecttr]

I remember reading that at least in some parts of California anyone can have a vaccine. If a corporation could legally buy vaccine would it be illegal to ship it to the UK and vaccinate crew here, or ship the crew to the vaccine!

[Son of Anarchy]

4 hours ago, the english lady said:

As regards the US and cruising I was "discussing" with somebody from there on FB  ,who as the discussion continued I decided was just this side of being as nutty as a fruit cake. Anyway under no circumstances would they get any jabs and were saying they wanted to sue the state governer, CDC and basically everyone should be sued, so ships can sail from there ,everywhere, with unvaccinated passengers as They want to go on holiday and don't want a jab.

I do worry a lot about how many from there are the  don't want to be vaccinated, and whether they will be allowed to travel here there and everywhere.

Funny old place the US.  In some States you can ride a motorbike without a crash helmet, because the State doesn't want to infringe peoples' rights to cause serious injuries to themselves!  

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, davecttr said:

I remember reading that at least in some parts of California anyone can have a vaccine. If a corporation could legally buy vaccine would it be illegal to ship it to the UK and vaccinate crew here, or ship the crew to the vaccine!

I think the question is more about morality than legality.

There are far more deserving cases for vaccinations than cruise staff.

[terrierjohn]

6 hours ago, davecttr said:

I remember reading that at least in some parts of California anyone can have a vaccine. If a corporation could legally buy vaccine would it be illegal to ship it to the UK and vaccinate crew here, or ship the crew to the vaccine!

I watched a YouTube video from a cruising videocaster, yesterday, he was saying that congress have thrown out some proposed legislation to enable cruising to restart in the US, therefore a US restart this summer is now in doubt.

[Captain_Morgan]

Any mention by cruise lines to suggest that their crew will be vaccinated is just a means to bolster consumer confidence as unless they're manning ships with a demographic comprised of 40+ year olds (on the low side) from the UK or a random mish-mash of ages from the US than where are these mythical creatures coming from?  

Looking at the terrible state of play in India where they're literally setting new records for positive cases on a daily basis (and lets assume the numbers are actually much higher, but they're not being accurately recorded due to lack of access to tests for rural and impoverished) and the fact that at least RCI have stopped recruiting/manning from there which is going to be next line to follow?  

Although not as publicly discussed I wonder what the state of play is like in the Philippines with respect to vaccine rollout, etc?  When you consider these are two of the major players in the industry when it comes to supplying crew to the industry I have a hard time believing any cruise line will be able to achieve their lofty guarantee of having a fully vaccinated crew any time this side of the end of the year.

[Pink-belle]

2 hours ago, Captain_Morgan said:

Any mention by cruise lines to suggest that their crew will be vaccinated is just a means to bolster consumer confidence as unless they're manning ships with a demographic comprised of 40+ year olds (on the low side) from the UK or a random mish-mash of ages from the US than where are these mythical creatures coming from?  

Looking at the terrible state of play in India where they're literally setting new records for positive cases on a daily basis (and lets assume the numbers are actually much higher, but they're not being accurately recorded due to lack of access to tests for rural and impoverished) and the fact that at least RCI have stopped recruiting/manning from there which is going to be next line to follow?  

Although not as publicly discussed I wonder what the state of play is like in the Philippines with respect to vaccine rollout, etc?  When you consider these are two of the major players in the industry when it comes to supplying crew to the industry I have a hard time believing any cruise line will be able to achieve their lofty guarantee of having a fully vaccinated crew any time this side of the end of the year.

Please could you point me in the direction of the information about cruise lines guaranteeing their crews would be vaccinated by the end of the year.  
 

I have only been following Princess and P&O as they are who I will be sailing with, but they both state crews will not be vaccinated, but will have been in quarantine.  I would be interested to read who is stating that they will be vaccinations all their crew by the end of the year.

 

my heart breaks for those in India, I can’t imagine the horror they are coping with right now.