WHEN DO YOU BELIEVE HOLLAND AMERICA WILL START CRUISING FRM US PORTS

[rucrazy]

15 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

but I'd get on a cruise and just sail around the ocean without even a port of call if that would allow me to cruise again

At least you would save money on Port Charges! 🙂

[idiebabe]

1 hour ago, cruzin4us said:

I dunno the answer to this question, but I'd get on a cruise and just sail around the ocean without even a port of call if that would allow me to cruise again 🙂

 

So would we! 😀 We book some Cruises for Itinerary and others we book just to Cruise and don't care if we get off!    

[mcrcruiser]

Seems like a  alternative to sail with out port stops   ;however  ,then  what   are the experiences  except being waited on  hand & foot & good entertainment 

[Mary229]

I certainly appreciate those who are willing to take a cruise to nowhere.  They may be the Trail Blazers.  I hope CDC skips that phase but if they do not be happy for those who are willing

[CruiserBruce]

7 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Whatever comes down  from the CDC should not stop  any cruise line  sailing from foreign ports . Waiting for the CDC   could mean bankruptcy  

None of that answered my questions....

[mcrcruiser]

54 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

None of that answered my questions....

The CDC is NOT working with the cruise lines except the mandate  that ends Oct 31 ,2021 .From there the ball is in  the air with the CDC  .Regardless what the CDC decides  ,cruise lines already have & will continue to sail from foreign ports  where the local government approves  .Just follow the money  ;because there are those foreign ports that want & need that extra money  . From here on in  all the cruise lines can do is to meet CDC guidelines  ,if they want to return to US ports . That is the bottom line 

[idiebabe]

8 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Who may start? Some sources for this? What port?

It was mentioned to me two weeks ago by someone at HAL but no detail was given as to Port, etc.  

 

What I read today on Heald and Your Captain there are two Ships on their way to Galveston (Vista and Breeze) and will begin getting Crew onboard.  
 

Another Post this afternoon:
 

“2B OR NOT 2B.....

That is the question.  Actually the question that we are all looking forward to be announced soon is the implementation of Phase 2B of the CDC Protocols that permits simulated (mock) voyages with volunteer guests aboard.

QUESTION:  Obviously the sooner the better but when the time comes would YOU be willing to volunteer to be a participant in one of these mock voyages?”

 

Until Officially Announced it’s just a guess by all of us here!  Hopefully, there will be some good news soon!  
 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

16 minutes ago, idiebabe said:

It was mentioned to me two weeks ago by someone at HAL but no detail was given as to Port, etc.  

 

What I read today on Heald and Your Captain there are two Ships on their way to Galveston (Vista and Breeze) and will begin getting Crew onboard.  
 

Another Post this afternoon:
 

“2B OR NOT 2B.....

That is the question.  Actually the question that we are all looking forward to be announced soon is the implementation of Phase 2B of the CDC Protocols that permits simulated (mock) voyages with volunteer guests aboard.

QUESTION:  Obviously the sooner the better but when the time comes would YOU be willing to volunteer to be a participant in one of these mock voyages?”

 

Until Officially Announced it’s just a guess by all of us here!  Hopefully, there will be some good news soon!  
 

 

 

 

 

 

Encouraging but those are not HAL ships.
 

The last sentence says it all perfectly - it’s just a guess.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

The CDC is NOT working with the cruise lines except the mandate  that ends Oct 31 ,2021 .From there the ball is in  the air with the CDC  .Regardless what the CDC decides  ,cruise lines already have & will continue to sail from foreign ports  where the local government approves  .Just follow the money  ;because there are those foreign ports that want & need that extra money  . From here on in  all the cruise lines can do is to meet CDC guidelines  ,if they want to return to US ports . That is the bottom line 

Do you know the cruise lines ARE attempting to meet the CDC guidelines? Because I haven't seen them complying with things like increased medical staff, increased medical care and quarantining capabilities,  and written contracts with ports and countries for dealing with Covid cases. The cruise lines could easily be saying if we do it outside the US, we could save lots of money. People aren't going to flood to the Bahamas to board ships...the local logistics probably can't handle it. Some ships will start there...but there is a easily reached capacity. 

[cruisemom42]

Interestingly I read on the Celebrity forum today that even though Celebrity originally said that they would only sell balcony cabins on their new summer sailings (from St. Martin and from Athens), they have apparently now opened up ocean view and even inside cabins for bookings.

 

This raises two possibilities: either the cruises are not selling that well (at the fairly inflated balcony ticket prices) and they are having to look for ways to entice cruisers to book at lower cost without slashing the prices on their balcony cabins.

 

OR

 

Celebrity is going for a higher percentage of cruisers than originally promised. (I believe they said the capacity of the ships would be not more than 50%).  Which, if it were me, would be very concerning as it is going to make it more difficult to ensure there is appropriate social distancing in entertainment and dining venues, for starters...

 

Either way, it's worth pondering.

 

 

[nocl]

3 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

The CDC is NOT working with the cruise lines except the mandate  that ends Oct 31 ,2021 .From there the ball is in  the air with the CDC  .Regardless what the CDC decides  ,cruise lines already have & will continue to sail from foreign ports  where the local government approves  .Just follow the money  ;because there are those foreign ports that want & need that extra money  . From here on in  all the cruise lines can do is to meet CDC guidelines  ,if they want to return to US ports . That is the bottom line 

The current order ends then. That does not mean that there will not be another. Or more likely the publication of a new permanent regulation with some of the same requirements as in the CSO.

[Heartgrove]

Cruising will be happening soon and not just in Europe. By chance i happened on the Viking site the day that they opened four cruises sailing in Iceland. We got lucky and were able to book a DV on the fourth cruise. Reduced numbers of cabins were sold which probably  hastened the sellout. Mask mandates, bubble excursions, frequent PCR testing, and social distancing among other protocols will be in effect. A strict policy on not conforming for the passengers will be enforced. The four cruises sold out on the first day! A few weeks later they added two additional Iceland cruises with a second ship. Another ship is doing similar protocol cruising in Bermuda.

 

There is the proof that people will cruise wearing masks and traveling in a bubble. More than likely Viking has "crossed ther T's and dotted their I's" to conform with the CDC, and these cruises are the test cruises.

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Heartgrove

[mcrcruiser]

7 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

Cruising will be happening soon and not just in Europe. By chance i happened on the Viking site the day that they opened four cruises sailing in Iceland. We got lucky and were able to book a DV on the fourth cruise. Reduced numbers of cabins were sold which probably  hastened the sellout. Mask mandates, bubble excursions, frequent PCR testing, and social distancing among other protocols will be in effect. A strict policy on not conforming for the passengers will be enforced. The four cruises sold out on the first day! A few weeks later they added two additional Iceland cruises with a second ship. Another ship is doing similar protocol cruising in Bermuda.

 

There is the proof that people will cruise wearing masks and traveling in a bubble. More than likely Viking has "crossed ther Ts and dotted their Is" to conform with CDC and these cruises are the proving cruises.

Very interesting  & hopefully all will go well aboard those Viking ships

[MTAK]

1 hour ago, Heartgrove said:

More than likely Viking has "crossed ther T's and dotted their I's" to conform with the CDC, and these cruises are the test cruises.

 

Do any of these cruises have US ports? If not, what make you think they are conforming with CDC requirements?

[rucrazy]

15 minutes ago, MTAK said:

Do any of these cruises have US ports? If not, what make you think they are conforming with CDC requirements?

Exactly!

I see it as another corporation trying to fight regulations that are in place for the safety and wellbeing of it's citizens, all in the name of a larger profit  for the "shareholders"!

 

As a shareholder in CCL personally I would rather you conform to regulations and keep all healthy instead of trying to find loopholes.

[Heartgrove]

6 minutes ago, MTAK said:

Do any of these cruises have US ports? If not, what make you think they are conforming with CDC requirements?

 

Two ways to look at this.

 

RCCL, NCL, and MSC proclaim that the cruise lines in Europe have proven that they can sail safely. Of course this blanket statement is not true. Just look at the turmoil created within Hurtigruten on their July 2020 cruises that saw the CEO and COO booted and 400 passengers needing to be contacted for for contact tracing. I'm sure the CDC is looking at that as an example.

 

Does the CDC require the test cruises be from the US? If no, then Viking is okay. If yes, then the European, etc. cruises don't prove anything and all of the cruise lines are back to Square One.

[MTAK]

1 minute ago, Heartgrove said:

 

Two ways to look at this.

 

RCCL, NCL, and MSC proclaim that the cruise lines in Europe have proven that they can sail safely. Of course this blanket statement is not true. Just look at the turmoil created within Hurtigruten on their July 2020 cruises that saw the CEO and COO booted and 400 passengers needing to be contacted for for contact tracing. I'm sure the CDC is looking at that as an example.

 

Does the CDC require the test cruises be from the US? If no, then Viking is okay. If yes, then the European, etc. cruises don't prove anything and all of the cruise lines are back to Square One.

I guess I'm still unclear what leads you to believe they are complying with CDC requirements.  To do so would require a plan conforming to the CSO framework.  Without that it's pure speculation.  More than likely they are simply conforming to whatever Iceland and Bermuda require.

[Heartgrove]

11 minutes ago, rucrazy said:

Exactly!

I see it as another corporation trying to fight regulations that are in place for the safety and wellbeing of it's citizens, all in the name of a larger profit  for the "shareholders"!

 

As a shareholder in CCL personally I would rather you conform to regulations and keep all healthy instead of trying to find loopholes.

 

But is Viking actually circumventing the CDC? Viking only does a few (never counted how many) cruises from the US each year. I know a lot more about how Viking is operating for this cruise than what HAL has published for my October HAL cruise.

[mcrcruiser]

11 minutes ago, MTAK said:

I guess I'm still unclear what leads you to believe they are complying with CDC requirements.  To do so would require a plan conforming to the CSO framework.  Without that it's pure speculation.  More than likely they are simply conforming to whatever Iceland and Bermuda require.

What does CSO mean  ??  Here is a link   :https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/CSO

 

 I can't see the connection to the CDC . Thus ,imo others won't understand either  what CSO means  in  regards to cruises

[YXU AC*SE]

7 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

What does CSO mean  ?? 

 

Conditional Sail Order.   ie this:  https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/CDC-Conditional-Sail-Order_10_30_2020-p.pdf    Scott. 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by YXU AC*SE

[mcrcruiser]

4 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

 

Conditional Sale Order.   ie this:  https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/CDC-Conditional-Sail-Order_10_30_2020-p.pdf    Scott. 

 

 

Thanks Scott for your post & clarification   of how CSO pertains to the CDC document   pf Oct 30 ,2020  . 

[harkinmr]

11 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Interestingly I read on the Celebrity forum today that even though Celebrity originally said that they would only sell balcony cabins on their new summer sailings (from St. Martin and from Athens), they have apparently now opened up ocean view and even inside cabins for bookings.

 

This raises two possibilities: either the cruises are not selling that well (at the fairly inflated balcony ticket prices) and they are having to look for ways to entice cruisers to book at lower cost without slashing the prices on their balcony cabins.

 

OR

 

Celebrity is going for a higher percentage of cruisers than originally promised. (I believe they said the capacity of the ships would be not more than 50%).  Which, if it were me, would be very concerning as it is going to make it more difficult to ensure there is appropriate social distancing in entertainment and dining venues, for starters...

 

Either way, it's worth pondering.

 

 

The chatter on the Celebrity board seems to lean towards difficulty selling available balconies and suites.  But there is also some legitimate suspicion that Celebrity may be backing out of its capacity promise.  This kind of action is not going to be permitted by the CDC for a US restart certainly and really gives further credence to the need for CDC oversight of the process.  The thing that's most bothersome is that the cruise lines and CLIA made assurances that ocean view and inside staterooms would not be used simply from a health and safety standpoint.  They appear to be backing away from that.  Shameful.

Edited April 28, 2021 by harkinmr

[Heartgrove]

37 minutes ago, MTAK said:

I guess I'm still unclear what leads you to believe they are complying with CDC requirements.  To do so would require a plan conforming to the CSO framework.  Without that it's pure speculation.  More than likely they are simply conforming to whatever Iceland and Bermuda require.

 Viking Cruises is a private company. I believe that because of that they do not need the bluster in the media that shared ownership corporations need. It is cheaper to do that than comply. For all we know, Viking could be working with the CDC on meeting the CSO. But being privately held do not need to disclose any negotiations.  Plus all cabins are outside verandas or above. No inside or oceanview cabins to contend with.

 

I guess i will find out what the capacity controls are for my cruise when I board. The three before mine may start low and ramp up, or they may just stay the same. For dining we needed to make reservations each night for the MDR. From comments by previous Viking passengers this is different as only the specialty restaurants needed reservations before. All tables are two-tops as well.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Heartgrove

[mcrcruiser]

4 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

The chatter on the Celebrity board seems to lean towards difficulty selling available balconies and suites.  But there is also some legitimate suspicion that Celebrity may be backing out of its capacity promise.  This kind of action is not going to be permitted by the CDC for a US restart certainly and really gives further credence to the need for CDC oversight of the process.  The thing that's most bothersome is that the cruise lines and CLIA made assurances that ocean view and inside staterooms would not be used simply from a health and safety standpoint.  They appear to be backing away from that.  Shameful.

Well Xs  prices are very high to start out  vs  HAL or Princess  . Chances are this is why the  balcony & suites  are slower moving  .Then add in the extra air fare cost    it is easier to take a vacation flying say to Hawaii  than cruise & be on American   islands where the  CDC officiates  the rules  

[MTAK]

12 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

 Viking Cruises is a private company. I believe that because of that they do not need the bluster in the media that shared ownership corporations need. It is cheaper to do that than comply. For all we know, Viking could be working with the CDC on meeting the CSO. But being privately held do not need to disclose any negotiations. 

Any plan filed with the CDC would be public information, and these cruises would need to comply with the provisions for test cruises. I believe it a requirement that you as a passenger would also be officially notified if this was a test cruise under CDC oversight.

 

If Viking only does a few US cruises, it's even more doubtful they are working with the CDC, but simply resuming sailings in jurisdictions where they are currently allowed to do so.