Talks mid June about restarting cruising

[GUT2407]

The tourism minister is reported to have said talks will be held around the middle of the month re a road map to re starting cruising.

[Aus Traveller]

15 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

The tourism minister is reported to have said talks will be held around the middle of the month re a road map to re starting cruising.

It will be great to hear projected plans on re-starting cruising. At least, we will have a tentative date to look forward to. 🙂

[By The Bay]

Here is a link to the Guardian article. A lot of if, could and maybe talk. At least it is a step in the right direction.🤞

Edited June 3, 2021 by By The Bay

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, GUT2407 said:

The tourism minister is reported to have said talks will be held around the middle of the month re a road map to re starting cruising.

Where did you hear that GUT?

He did say on Monday during a sydney harbour junket cruise that he is expecting a review of the cruise ban.

 

https://issues.cruiseweekly.com.au/2021/Jun21/cw010621.pdf

[Chiliburn]

3 minutes ago, By The Bay said:

Here is a link to the Guardian article. A lot of if, could and maybe talk. It least it is a step in the right direction.🤞

I don’t know how that’s going to work?

 People will leave the country and can still carry the virus back to the community.

There was a 80 year old man in a Melbourne nursing home who tested positive with no symptoms.

He had been vaccinated but was contagious and they had to quarantine him.

[Chiliburn]

There’s another one but he is only the minister for tourism.

I think the decision is up to the health minister Greg Hunt.

 

There was talk of raising the passenger limit from 100 to a 1,000 .

That would keep the boarder closed but would allow a couple of mid sized ships such as Radiance of the seas and Pacific Explorer to operate at 50% capacity.
 

https://cruisepassenger.com.au/tourism-minister-says-he-will-hold-talks-mid-june-on-a-possible-cruise-return/

[OzKiwiJJ]

Quite a few cruise lines would have ships that would probably work with half, or just under half, their normal passenger load. Coral Princess, Celebrity Solstice-class ships, Cunard, Carnival Spirit or Legend, probably Norwegian and Holland America as well. Plus all the luxury lines.

 

If they do allow a restart I hope they allow a decent selection of ships to return, not just one or two lines, as people differ so much in what they want in a cruise holiday. Some people like the fun ships, with lots of activities, others like quieter, more traditional ships.

[By The Bay]

10 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

There’s another one but he is only the minister for tourism.

I think the decision is up to the health minister Greg Hunt.

 

There was talk of raising the passenger limit from 100 to a 1,000 .

That would keep the boarder closed but would allow a couple of mid sized ships such as Radiance of the seas and Pacific Explorer to operate at 50% capacity.
 

https://cruisepassenger.com.au/tourism-minister-says-he-will-hold-talks-mid-june-on-a-possible-cruise-return/

Interesting that APT’s Caledonia Sky was able to recruit 30 Australian hospitality staff for their Kimberley cruises. I doubt that the larger cruise ships would be able to meet the Home Affairs Australian staff requirements.☹️ No doubt that will be part of the discussions😉.

[GUT2407]

Bring back the small Princess ships they could sail full capacity.

 

I guess the number will be capped to something like 50% of cabins or no more than (say 1,000) PAX. Probably even go into more detail if they have 1/2 a brain and so no adjoining cabins can be occupied.

[Chiliburn]

The 2 ships that have been operating in Singapore SINCE NOVEMBER without incident have had balcony cabins only.I think the newer ships have been up to 70% capacity.

 I don’t know if the older ships have that many balconies.

 

 Singapore is operating at 25% at the moment and it doesn’t look so good.

Hop over to Singapore cruise society and have a look 

[OzKiwiJJ]

39 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

The 2 ships that have been operating in Singapore SINCE NOVEMBER without incident have had balcony cabins only.I think the newer ships have been up to 70% capacity.

 I don’t know if the older ships have that many balconies.

 

 Singapore is operating at 25% at the moment and it doesn’t look so good.

Hop over to Singapore cruise society and have a look 

Having to dine in cabins would put me off. For us dining in the MDR and speciality restaurants is an integral part of our enjoyment of cruising.

 

I think balcony cabins only is a sensible idea, it allows people to get fresh air whenever they want without having to go into the public areas. But even then there could be some risks if idiots in the cabin above cough or sneeze over their balcony, or upwind of your cabin on the same deck.

 

But I'd be happy with a near 50% capacity of fully vaccinated passengers. In that case precautions like wearing masks while moving around the ship and less socialising in bars and dining areas may not be needed.

[Chiliburn]

1,000 people on a ship at 50% capacity couldn’t be any more risk than being at a large RSL ,a shopping centre or a religious service.
Not to mention a sporting event with people yelling.
 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

27 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

1,000 people on a ship at 50% capacity couldn’t be any more risk than being at a large RSL ,a shopping centre or a religious service.
Not to mention a sporting event with people yelling.
 

 

Exactly. Let's hope those making the decisions realise that. I suspect some of them still think cruise ships manuacture viruses out of nowhere! 🙄

 

The other attitude that seem prevalent among politicians is that cruising is a luxury instead of being a seriously good value holiday for everyone. Especially families where the kids can go off to kids club and give mum and dad a real break, and no cooking or cleaning either. And, of course, it's great for us older folk and people with mobility issues.

[adelaidefc]

On 6/3/2021 at 12:38 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

But I'd be happy with a near 50% capacity of fully vaccinated passengers. In that case precautions like wearing masks while moving around the ship and less socialising in bars and dining areas may not be needed.

 

I reckon that requiring vaccinations will be a dealbreaker for the cruise lines coming to Australia, even if the Gov allowed them here. 

Hard to imagine they'd see it worth their while for at least another year when they'd have a market of only 3% of the population (fully vaxxed currently), and basically nobody under 50. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

26 minutes ago, adelaidefc said:

 

I reckon that requiring vaccinations will be a dealbreaker for the cruise lines coming to Australia, even if the Gov allowed them here. 

Hard to imagine they'd see it worth their while for at least another year when they'd have a market of only 3% of the population (fully vaxxed currently), and basically nobody under 50. 

Try doing the maths before making statements like that.

 

3% of the total population is roughly 750,000. If only 10% of those cruise that's 75 ship loads at 1000 passengers per cruise. If a ship averages 3 reasonable length cruises a month, that's around 17 cruises from mid-October to end of March. So four ships could easily cruise here for a full season each.

 

And possibly even more as I suspect many avid cruisers are happily getting vaccinated in tbe hope that cruising will happen this summer.

[gogo65]

In regards to our Ponant cruise,  they are only requiring vaccinations in Australia based on the roll out, so if your over 50, i would assume you must be vaccinated, and under 50 not necessarily so, however the over 50’s could cause an issue if they people are having AZ with a 3 month gap between doses.

Hubby and I will be getting Pfizer shortly, so will be fully vaccinated regardless, however, if we were having AZ we would not be vaccinated in time.

Edited June 4, 2021 by gogo65

[pully8]

The vaccine rollout needs to ramp up for all ages as soon as possible.

Unclear if supply and distribution are slowing the rollout.

Difficult to believe cruising will be permitted with so many not vaccinated, and even if fully vaccinated doubtful when travel outbound will be permitted.

Refreshing to read comments on other boards discussing their future cruising plans. We can only dream. 

 

 

[onlyslightlymad]

So, Australia's cruise ship ban expires on June 17, correct?  Only twelve days hence.

[onlyslightlymad]

13 hours ago, gogo65 said:

In regards to our Ponant cruise,  they are only requiring vaccinations in Australia based on the roll out, so if your over 50, i would assume you must be vaccinated, and under 50 not necessarily so, however the over 50’s could cause an issue if they people are having AZ with a 3 month gap between doses.

Hubby and I will be getting Pfizer shortly, so will be fully vaccinated regardless, however, if we were having AZ we would not be vaccinated in time.

Have Ponant actually gained permission to undergo these cruises or are they booking passengers under the assumption that they will be allowed to, like they did in NZ?  In which case, what dates are your cruise?

[Chiliburn]

46 minutes ago, onlyslightlymad said:

So, Australia's cruise ship ban expires on June 17, correct?  Only twelve days hence.

That is correct ,usually the government would have announced a renewed ban by now.

The legislation that allows superyachts or  vessels with under 100 passengers has just been extended till June 2023.

 

 I don’t know what’s going on ,why would they extend the super-yacht law if they will allow large ships..   

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, onlyslightlymad said:

So, Australia's cruise ship ban expires on June 17, correct?  Only twelve days hence.

https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/cruise-ships-and-maritime

[gogo65]

1 hour ago, onlyslightlymad said:

Have Ponant actually gained permission to undergo these cruises or are they booking passengers under the assumption that they will be allowed to, like they did in NZ?  In which case, what dates are your cruise?

We have had our cruise booked since September 2019, prior to Covid,  as far as I know they have cancelled all non Aussies on all 2021 Kimberley cruises, however they are still taking bookings for 2021, as are/were all the lines. SS have just cancelled June and half July cruises and scenic recently cancelled their 6 fully booked cruises. I believe APT just got permission to sail.

Ponant have extended final payment till 30 days out (which I believe is a good move on their behalf),  SS have their normal payment policy. 

[gogo65]

53 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/cruise-ships-and-maritime

I was really expecting to have an update earlier than this. Historically it looks like they have announced 2 weeks prior to the expiry of the ban.

[By The Bay]

13 minutes ago, gogo65 said:

I was really expecting to have an update earlier than this. Historically it looks like they have announced 2 weeks prior to the expiry of the ban.

Behind the scenes discussions? Hopefully, next week we will find out. Not looking good, IMHO. ☹️

[possum52]

29 minutes ago, gogo65 said:

I was really expecting to have an update earlier than this. Historically it looks like they have announced 2 weeks prior to the expiry of the ban.

The March announcement was on the 3rd to continue the cruise ship ban until June 17th so only a couple of days late. Perhaps the fed govt has other things on their plate this past week like dealing with the vaccination rollout, vaccinating aged care and their carers, building of quarantine hubs, providing payments to those with income in covid hotspots etc.

 

Leigh

Edited June 4, 2021 by possum52