To PNG or not to PNG, that is the question…

[Sparky74]

As part of what I’m calling our "Mad Itinerary" we are booked to sail out of Brisbane on the Pacific Encounter on 4th October 2022. This cruise is to PNG (Papua New Guinea).

Smart Traveller is currently showing "Reconsider your need to travel" advice for PNG.

As far as I can tell, apart from Silversea's Silver Explorer and Ponant's Le Soléal, both of which are small luxury vessels with less than 300 passengers, ours will be the first cruise to sail from Australia to PNG since the shut down.

 

I'm preparing for an itinerary change and will be fine with that. I try to just roll with the punches. But what do you think the chances are of us actually getting to PNG?

[Cbtours]

6 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

As part of what I’m calling our "Mad Itinerary" we are booked to sail out of Brisbane on the Pacific Encounter on 4th October 2022. This cruise is to PNG (Papua New Guinea).

Smart Traveller is currently showing "Reconsider your need to travel" advice for PNG.

As far as I can tell, apart from Silversea's Silver Explorer and Ponant's Le Soléal, both of which are small luxury vessels with less than 300 passengers, ours will be the first cruise to sail from Australia to PNG since the shut down.

 

I'm preparing for an itinerary change and will be fine with that. I try to just roll with the punches. But what do you think the chances are of us actually getting to PNG?

The Current warning is to do with country election unrest from memory???

slso what does your insurance say?  Some I researched say they don’t insure for that reason either, not just do not travel.

[arxcards]

If the warning remains in place in the lead-up to your cruise, they are likely to modify it. There will be no conflicts at the Conflict Islands, so hopefully they can still work in something around that stop.

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, Sparky74 said:

But what do you think the chances are of us actually getting to PNG?

 

The PNG visa website currently says that Visa-on-arrival is "Forbidden".

 

As far as I know that is how visas were arranged on previous cruises. Without it I don't see how any PNG cruises are possible.

[Tikibird]

Apparently there is a special form for cruise ship arrivals.  This is the Princess one.

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/PNGDeclarationForm.pdf

[arxcards]

Also likely to be a copy of this in your cabin prior to arrival, similar to them providing Australian arrival cards for your return home.

[Gerko]

The travel advice on PNG is mostly aimed at people flying into Pt Moresby and the other big towns. The places the cruises go to are pretty safe.

[cruiser3775]

Smarttraveller advice is for the whole country, so 'reconsider your need to travel' takes into account places like Port Moresby and the Highlands, where there are security concerns.   It is not likely to apply to the safer far eastern areas of PNG, where the cruise ships go.  But check your travel insurance, because some companies will not cover you for places with that Smarttraveller rating.

I am more concerned with the 'visa on arrival' situation for cruise passengers, because there is currently no clear indication that I can find that says the previous system, prior to covid lockdowns, will be re-instated for visits later in 2022.

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Smarttraveller advice is for the whole country, so 'reconsider your need to travel' takes into account places like Port Moresby and the Highlands, where there are security concerns.   It is not likely to apply to the safer far eastern areas of PNG, where the cruise ships go.  But check your travel insurance, because some companies will not cover you for places with that Smarttraveller rating.

I am more concerned with the 'visa on arrival' situation for cruise passengers, because there is currently no clear indication that I can find that says the previous system, prior to covid lockdowns, will be re-instated for visits later in 2022.

I'm sure Princess will have sussed out the visa situation in time to either proceed with that cruise or cancel it. Cruise ships don't go blindly sailing into ports without the necessary approvals unless, of course, the port pulls a last minute swifty.

[cruiser3775]

Thanks, Ozkiwi. As a first time cruiser, I'm a bit anxious about how things will turn out for this much wanted cruise happening at all.

[arxcards]

Princess' first PNG cruise is pretty much Queensland coastal plus Conflict Islands in late September. The first of the more traditional PNG itineraries is on Pacific Encounter in early October, so still a little way off.

 

Yes, Smarttraveller isn't always selective, and that may affect insurance, but not at a "reconsider your need to travel" level. Apart from covid though they have only listed those selected regions to avoid, and as mentioned, these are a long way away from the cruise stops.

[NSWP]

9 hours ago, Gerko said:

The travel advice on PNG is mostly aimed at people flying into Pt Moresby and the other big towns. The places the cruises go to are pretty safe.

Might be reasonably safe from crime but not from covid. Therein lies the danger.

[MicCanberra]

On 8/8/2022 at 11:02 AM, Sparky74 said:

As part of what I’m calling our "Mad Itinerary" we are booked to sail out of Brisbane on the Pacific Encounter on 4th October 2022. This cruise is to PNG (Papua New Guinea).

Smart Traveller is currently showing "Reconsider your need to travel" advice for PNG.

As far as I can tell, apart from Silversea's Silver Explorer and Ponant's Le Soléal, both of which are small luxury vessels with less than 300 passengers, ours will be the first cruise to sail from Australia to PNG since the shut down.

 

I'm preparing for an itinerary change and will be fine with that. I try to just roll with the punches. But what do you think the chances are of us actually getting to PNG?

I would be very surprised if the itinerary is not changed at all. Good luck 

[Tikibird]

If they are going to change it, I wish they would hurry up and do it before final payment is due.  If they completely gut the itinerary, I would rather postpone to 2023 with my fare protected as current prices are way above what we booked for. 

But I don't think visas are an issue based on that link I posted above.  Cruises do their own entry document outside the normal visa thing. 

The islands are small enough, Alotau is just 15k population, surely by now everyone who is going to get Covid has already had it?  And cruisers will be vaccinated.   We are waiting on our 4th one until Oct to be at maximum strength when we go.  There will probably be some kind of social distancing measures in place or masks required.  I plan to go bird watching if this cruise happens. 

[Aussieflyer]

2 minutes ago, Tikibird said:

If they are going to change it, I wish they would hurry up and do it before final payment is due.  If they completely gut the itinerary, I would rather postpone to 2023 with my fare protected as current prices are way above what we booked for. 

But I don't think visas are an issue based on that link I posted above.  Cruises do their own entry document outside the normal visa thing. 

The islands are small enough, Alotau is just 15k population, surely by now everyone who is going to get Covid has already had it?  And cruisers will be vaccinated.   We are waiting on our 4th one until Oct to be at maximum strength when we go.  There will probably be some kind of social distancing measures in place or masks required.  I plan to go bird watching if this cruise happens. 

Just because a person has had COVID does not mean they are immune to future infections - in fact there are reports that reinfections are increasing and also increase the risk of long COVID or other complications. A fourth vaccination will not stop you contracting COVID - I and a number of others I know have had four (and comparatively recently) but still got COVID - luckily not a severe case but still not a walk in the park as the fatigue  and cough lingered. I can see why places without top notch health systems are less keen on an influx of visitors.

 

[Tikibird]

2 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

Just because a person has had COVID does not mean they are immune to future infections - in fact there are reports that reinfections are increasing and also increase the risk of long COVID or other complications. A fourth vaccination will not stop you contracting COVID - I and a number of others I know have had four (and comparatively recently) but still got COVID - luckily not a severe case but still not a walk in the park as the fatigue  and cough lingered. I can see why places without top notch health systems are less keen on an influx of visitors.

 

But they also need the income these ships supply.  The logical thing to do is be selective on who they allow to interact with passengers, keep their most vulnerable people at home on ship days and have the others masked and maintaining social distance.  And vulnerable Aussies probably won't be targeting a cruise like this, they will stick to domestic cruises. 

[cruiser3775]

16 hours ago, arxcards said:

Yes, Smarttraveller isn't always selective, and that may affect insurance, but not at a "reconsider your need to travel" level.

You definitely need to check your travel insurance. Some of the larger Australian companies I researched before I bought a policy did not offer travel insurance to countries deemed by the Aus Government through Smarttraveller to be 'reconsider your need to travel'. 

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

You definitely need to check your travel insurance. Some of the larger Australian companies I researched before I bought a policy did not offer travel insurance to countries deemed by the Aus Government through Smarttraveller to be 'reconsider your need to travel'. 

Happy to stand corrected. That alert level never used to be an issue prior to covid, but that has changed the game. The Smarttraveller definitions have also changed, and now that category includes "Avoid non-essential travel" which used to be its own category. A cruise holiday is indeed non-esssential travel.

 

On the travel advisory for PNG, it is only an all of country warning for covid, and the unrest warning is only specific to those affected regions away from the cruise ports. So if anything, it will be covid that modifies any upcoming itineraries.

[Chiliburn]

I don’t know if this has been posted yet.

https://southpacificislands.travel/new-caledonia-amongst-72-countries-worldwide-that-have-no-covid-19-travel-restrictions/?utm_source=SPTO&utm_campaign=b9d2a96e02-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_08_09_11_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a52e4ef901-b9d2a96e02-1401157377

[NSWP]

There will be a lot of unhappy cruisers if Conflict Islands is missed, let alone the main PNG ports.

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I don’t know if this has been posted yet.

https://southpacificislands.travel/new-caledonia-amongst-72-countries-worldwide-that-have-no-covid-19-travel-restrictions/?utm_source=SPTO&utm_campaign=b9d2a96e02-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_08_09_11_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a52e4ef901-b9d2a96e02-1401157377

Good news.

[SinbadThePorter]

I bit the bullet and booked the Nov 16th Pacific Encounter cruise from Brisbane to PNG.

 

The price was too good to pass up. $75pp/day for inside is cheaper than a motel. 😲

[arxcards]

On 8/11/2022 at 1:17 PM, Chiliburn said:

I don’t know if this has been posted yet.

https://southpacificislands.travel/new-caledonia-amongst-72-countries-worldwide-that-have-no-covid-19-travel-restrictions/?utm_source=SPTO&utm_campaign=b9d2a96e02-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_08_09_11_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a52e4ef901-b9d2a96e02-1401157377

I believe that the info provided at the link is extracted from an air travel site, and cruise ships are still unable to visit New Caledonia.

[cruiser3775]

I've been looking out for up to date information on PNG entry for cruise ship passengers. It's hard to find. 

This government website has advice on Covid restrictions for entry:

https://www.papuanewguinea.travel/travel-advice-update

If you click on the first of the links, you get the full information.

For visa information, see: https://ica.gov.pg/visa

If you read through this, you see that the Visa on Arrival scheme is not currently operating.  I understand it was operating prior to the pandemic for cruise ship passengers on day visits to ports, but I can't find any information that says it has resumed.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

I've been looking out for up to date information on PNG entry for cruise ship passengers. It's hard to find. 

This government website has advice on Covid restrictions for entry:

https://www.papuanewguinea.travel/travel-advice-update

If you click on the first of the links, you get the full information.

For visa information, see: https://ica.gov.pg/visa

If you read through this, you see that the Visa on Arrival scheme is not currently operating.  I understand it was operating prior to the pandemic for cruise ship passengers on day visits to ports, but I can't find any information that says it has resumed.

I thought the Visa on Arrival scheme was for people holidaying in Bali for less than 30 days and that it re-started in March this year. From what I read on the Indonesian government website, cruise ship passengers are regarded as in transit and do not require a visa.