Australia cruises

[BBWC]

Looks like Australian international borders will likely be closed until well into next year, sounding the death knell for any cruises this coming winter season. Even 2022/23 looks iffy at this point.

 

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/finance-minister-simon-birmingham-says-no-overseas-travel-until-later-in-2022/news-story/8098512c990408a8643fe8f404f05a1c

 

I would not be surprised if New Zealand follows along.

[AJCM]

Opening the border is not promising, at this stage, for early 2022. However, there's already a fragile travel bubble for flights between Aus/NZ. Perhaps cruise companies may seek approval for cruises specifically visiting these two countries in the Dec - Mar period; open only for local guests. It may depend on whether the companies consider it economically viable to have a cruise season relying solely on local customers. There might not be sufficient demand at RSSC prices (and potentially competing with Seabourn & Silversea for the same clients). 

[loriva]

And there goes the Mariner WC for 2022?

[mrlevin]

Lori, I think there are plenty of replacement ports for Mariner WC in Asia and the Pacific Islands; I think Explorer's trip to Australia and New Zealand will definitely be cancelled; I wonder if they will even try to have a fall Asia season.

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, loriva said:

And there goes the Mariner WC for 2022?

It will run but they will alter some of the stops...

[travelwell]

Australia and New Zealand are a huge focus of the WC for us. Leaving those weeks off would be hard to replace. We are looking forward to Ayers Rock. I am hoping the vaccinated cruise will be a game changer.  Did the 2020 WC not make an unplanned stop in Melbourne to end that WC? Does anyone remember if that is correct and if this was when Australia saying no to ships? I am hoping it is the relationship with countries that earns FDR his salary.

[pingpong1]

I don't mean to throw a bucket of cold water on this but....It is not only Australia saying "No" to cruise ships.  The country is actually saying "No" to all travel to/from overseas (other than NZ), regardless of the mode of transportation.  My Aussie relatives are virtual "prisoners" in their own country at the present time and well into 2022.  Aside from NZ, they are not legally allowed to travel anywhere outside the country, except for 5 very rare/unique/specified reasons.  For them to do so requires a special written exemption from the Australian "Department of Home Affairs".  And "leisure travel (which includes cruises) is definitely NOT one of those permitted reasons.

 

The same applies to Aussies wanting to leave their country, as well as all "foreigners" wanting to visit Oz; whether it be by plane or ship.  Anyone arriving from overseas to Australia has a mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement (in an Australian government designated hotel - at the traveler's expense).   At the moment, even Aussie citizens living inside the country (like Sydney or Brisbane) are not permitted to visit/travel across their own country to the state of Western Australia (Perth, York, Geraldton, Albany, etc.), because WA has been identified as a "Covid hot spot".

 

It is not only a case of foreigners not being allowed to visit Australia under any general circumstances, but Australians are being legally restricted from leaving their own country, as well.  FDR's relationship with other countries, no matter how friendly it might be, will have nothing whatsoever to do with when/if "his ships" are allowed to once again visit Australia in the "near future" (that timeframe currently being defined as upwards of a year out by Australian government officials).  Regards

[Jimmcdaniel]

2 hours ago, travelwell said:

Australia and New Zealand are a huge focus of the WC for us. Leaving those weeks off would be hard to replace. We are looking forward to Ayers Rock. I am hoping the vaccinated cruise will be a game changer.  Did the 2020 WC not make an unplanned stop in Melbourne to end that WC? Does anyone remember if that is correct and if this was when Australia saying no to ships? I am hoping it is the relationship with countries that earns FDR his salary.

The 2020 WC on the Mariner was diverted away from Southeast Asia to southern Australia in an effort to avoid areas with known Covid outbreaks. We went from Sydney to Burnie, Tasmania, Geelong and Phillip Island (near Melbourne), on to Portland, Adelaide, and Kangaroo Island. Our last stop before the plug was pulled was in Port Lincoln. We were disembarked in  Fremantle and flown home from Perth. 

[loriva]

3 hours ago, Pcardad said:

It will run but they will alter some of the stops...

 

We will continue to think positively!  I'm beginning to get a complex, however, and think Regent doesn't want us to sail with them--three cruises booked as new-to-Regent clients and three cancelled.  I don't want to extend that record to four and hope this one goes!  We are only on a segment of the WC, and really looked forward to our post-cruise extension in New Zealand, a country on our bucket list.

[BBWC]

5 hours ago, Pcardad said:

It will run but they will alter some of the stops...

I actually wouldn’t mind island hopping in the South Pacific, but there are some logistical considerations. Sydney is a major supply hub, and the next one is not until Singapore.I would hate to run out of champagne as happened on our Amazon cruise.😉

 

[sanne]

The Pacific countries may also be a problem. Most so far have escaped Covid ... but Fiji recently had a 14 day lock down because of an outbreak from their mandatory quarantine hotel on arrival. Vaccines are arriving via COVAX and supplies from Australia and NZ ( maybe others ) but there is a strong resistance to being vaccinated so that may be a problem. 

[BBWC]

3 hours ago, sanne said:

The Pacific countries may also be a problem. Most so far have escaped Covid ... but Fiji recently had a 14 day lock down because of an outbreak from their mandatory quarantine hotel on arrival. Vaccines are arriving via COVAX and supplies from Australia and NZ ( maybe others ) but there is a strong resistance to being vaccinated so that may be a problem. 

Yes, I agree. And some of them would like to form a bubble with Australia and New Zealand. Of course, there are also other countries where opening is in question of as far as the WC is concerned, such as  New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China (including Hong Kong), and Japan. And of course Canada. 
If the CDC keeps its ridiculous rules, then we probably don’t want to go to San Francisco,   Hawaii or Alaska. So what is left?