Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

[Pushka]

Princess also sent the 'how was your cruise' email to pax who were stuck in isolation on Diamond Princess last month

There's not a lot of "lessons learnt" happening here.

 

[k_sheep]

You're a brave person - at least I would have booked an outside cabin - GOOD LUCK

I'm a stoopid person I think! Oh well!

I reckon Alaska would be the safest destination ATM

Fingers crossed .... but it's on a Princess ship so not looking great

 

[sanne]

Looks like India has closed its ports to cruise ships also UAE including Dubai. Have friends on Azamara from CapeTown to Dubai. They have no idea at this stage where they will end up.

 

[Anna]

it's on a Princess ship so not looking great

Regal Princess and Royal Princess now have crew cases onboard and Regal is being held off the coast of Miami The affected crew members were on Grand Princess and were transferred, not sure when. If nothing else, I hope covid 19 puts to rest the myth peddled by cruise lines that sickness onboard cruise ships is due to pax not washing their hands in the buffet It's been pretty obvious from Diamond Princess that crew play a major role in spreading sickness, and yet some of them were not even washing their hands when dealing with the quarantined pax

Covid 19 aside, Alaska is one cruise destination where the scenery is almost 24 hour because of the long hours of daylight. And it is amazing scenery, so pristine with no signs of humans. If you could upgrade to a balcony I would recommend it for Alaska in particular, more so than other destinations because the beautiful views are almost non stop.

 

[Pushka]

Regal Princess and Royal Princess now have crew cases onboard and Regal is being held off the coast of Miami The affected crew members were on Grand Princess and were transferred, not sure when. If nothing else, I hope covid 19 puts to rest the myth peddled by cruise lines that sickness onboard cruise ships is due to pax not washing their hands in the buffet It's been pretty obvious from Diamond Princess that crew play a major role in spreading sickness, and yet some of them were not even washing their hands when dealing with the quarantined pax

Covid 19 aside, Alaska is one cruise destination where the scenery is almost 24 hour because of the long hours of daylight. And it is amazing scenery, so pristine with no signs of humans. If you could upgrade to a balcony I would recommend it for Alaska in particular, more so than other destinations because the beautiful views are almost non stop.

I totally agree that cruiselines have in the past blamed the passengers and refused to look at the crew. And the Princess habit of swapping over crew from ship to ship mid contract (ie with no break in between which is the practise of other lines) has resulted in this cross contamination.

We were on Equinox in the Med a few years ago. For several cruises in a row, Noro was rampant. So there is no way it was passengers being the cause. Our departure was late as they did a big clean in Haz suits and there was no buffet self serve for most of the cruise. The cruise after ours had to be spotless as it was an Atlantis Charter (they removed all the female toilet signs ). We didn't hear anything during that cruise but sure enough next cruise - noro was reported again. Had to have been crew but in admitting that the ship I'd suspect became liable.

 

[tgh]

My back pocket is twitching loudly as the possibility of Chapter 11 looms for the cruise industry.
Fewer ships will be sailing anywhere soon as the barriers go up and even fewer passengers will be risking the ride.
Donald will likely be very quick to shore up US businesses .. caveat emptor…..

 

[Anna]

@Pushka yes agree. I wonder too about the hygiene of onboard swimming pools. When I got gastro on day 12 of a 14 day cruise the only thing I’d done differently that day was have a nice long peaceful swim in the main pool at 8am.

 

[tgh]

US State department advice :

Passengers on Cruise Ships

U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. CDC notes increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment. In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, many countries have implemented strict screening procedures that have denied port entry rights to ships and prevented passengers from disembarking. In some cases, local authorities have permitted disembarkation but subjected passengers to local quarantine procedures. While the U.S. government has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities.

This is a fluid situation. CDC notes that older adults and travelers with underlying health issues should avoid situations that put them at increased risk for more severe disease. This entails avoiding crowded places, avoiding non-essential travel such as long plane trips, and especially avoiding embarking on cruise ships. Passengers with plans to travel by cruise ship should contact their cruise line companies directly for further information and continue to monitor the Travel.state.gov website and see the latest information from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html.

 

[Pushka]

US State department advice :

Passengers on Cruise Ships

U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. CDC notes increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment. In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, many countries have implemented strict screening procedures that have denied port entry rights to ships and prevented passengers from disembarking. In some cases, local authorities have permitted disembarkation but subjected passengers to local quarantine procedures. While the U.S. government has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities.

This is a fluid situation. CDC notes that older adults and travelers with underlying health issues should avoid situations that put them at increased risk for more severe disease. This entails avoiding crowded places, avoiding non-essential travel such as long plane trips, and especially avoiding embarking on cruise ships. Passengers with plans to travel by cruise ship should contact their cruise line companies directly for further information and continue to monitor the Travel.state.gov website and see the latest information from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html.

And a major issue in people not heeding the advice is that cruiselines won't refund your money if you cancel. Only if they do which of recent times has been as late as embarkation time. So unless the Governments have the gumption to say Do Not Travel then this advice is pretty much pointless. There is no way I'd tie up thousands of dollars with a cruise credit right now. So if you've already paid for your cruise then I'd be hanging out for a last minute cancellation by the cruise. Too many CYA exercises happening right now. And there is no way any cruiseline can effectively screen for this virus.

 

[tgh]

The problem with your /our / everyone hanging on is explained in post #366….

This from SS cc board this morning :

I worry that RCL stock is down 41% in a month. Their cash flow will feel some pressure from refunds, low cruise participation, extra expenses etc. Taking the $$ while I can. I bet it won’t be hard to rebook if it all clears up in a couple months.

 

[Pushka]

The problem with your /our / everyone hanging on is explained in post #366….

This from SS cc board this morning :

I worry that RCL stock is down 41% in a month. Their cash flow will feel some pressure from refunds, low cruise participation, extra expenses etc. Taking the $$ while I can. I bet it won’t be hard to rebook if it all clears up in a couple months.

We don't have too much skin in the game currently. Just the deposit. We won't be paying for the cruise come mid May but by then the Trans Atlantic's have to occur (mid April) and there's no way in hell thats going to happen. Just my gut feel. And currently those people have paid in full, but they don't want the refund in the form of Future Cruise Credits but the money so many are hanging in there thinking that cancellation and full refund closer to the event is the most likely.

 

[drron]

At least we don't have any cruises booked until October.However that one is Athens to Venice.The ship will be getting to the Med via Asia and the Suez canal.Don't think that will happen so resigned to miss that one.
The next one is in November.It will be about the 6th voyage of the ship being built in Italy.Provided it launches on time i am confident our cruise will go ahead as a Trans Atlantic crossing.However they may slow the commissioning of the ship.So wait and see.

 

[Pushka]

The lack of worldliness of some cruisers from the good ole never ceases to amaze me.

Im tracking Med roll calls on our ship to see the first sign of wholesale cancellation that will start with the TA in a couple of weeks from Florida into Italy. Many are cancelling and taking advantage of the Future Cruise Credit. And one excited cruiser has just announced they have just booked the cruise yesterday and are excited about meeting y'all. Crickets.

 

[get me outta here]

The main thing is to ensure with the TI company that you are covered. And, agree, a balcony would be in order. If the cruise goes ahead, you may be able to get one on board due to all the other cancellations.

 

[VPS]

A review on the Sapphire Princess

We have cruised before but not with Princess. The sapphire was an absolute disgrace. Our stateroom cabin was growing mould!!! it was dirty and decapitated. Mould produces spores which research has shown pre disposes to health related respiratory problems.

I'm not sure what a decapitated cabin looks like but it might be nice and airy

 

[straitman]

Something dramatic would presumably be allowing you to cancel at a later date for no further penalty or even no penalty at all.

Yes. At the moment the option of a later cancellation would suffice.

The World is awash with cruise misery - cancellation, no matter what the cost has to be the only call?

In My Humble Opinion for a lot of cruises that is probably the case but not all. (Yet)

@straitman 46 nights! Wow, you're keen! What ship?

Regal Princess

@Pushka out of interest Pushka, why do you call the Princess ships 'Princess Diamond' and 'Princess Grand'? Don't the adjectives come first? I'm pretty sure it was 'Grand Princess' that we did the AFF cruise on?

It was Golden Princess

Based on the last week I wouldn't be cancelling yet as I think cruising is about to come to a screaming halt everywhere. Then you will get the deposit back.

I agree with this sentiment in principle. We'd like to delay our decision as long as possible.

I think anyone contemplating a cruise in 2020 is nuts. No ship anywhere is safe.

As I mentioned above. I don't agree at this time though it applies to many ships and destinations.

A family member is doing a 4 night cruise out of Sydney in a week's time.
I think she'll be fine.

We get on Carnival Splendor in Sydney on Wednesday for 8 nights.

It’s probably not the destination so much as the people on the ship that are the danger to the locals I would not be surprised if some of those small settlements in Alaska decide it’s too dangerous to have these people berthing because the villages don’t have the medical facilities to treat their own people. If they did refuse entry, it would be a huge economic penalty for them.

There are several Pacific Islands where the Chiefs have said no ships. Mare', Isle of Pines are two.

There's not a lot of "lessons learnt" happening here.

Absolutely.

 

[straitman]

Yesterday, without explanation, NSW health would not allow passenger or crew disembark from Ruby Princess until very late . This of course then led to very late embarkation for those leaving on the ship. They finally finished embarkation at 9 pm for a 10 pm departure which was approx 3.5 hrs late.

 

[Anna]

I'm not sure what a decapitated cabin looks like but it might be nice and airy

OT, but my favourite review remains the woman who complained that her husband was 'literally' killed by the mosquitoes at a resort

 

[Pushka]

Yesterday, without explanation, NSW health would not allow passenger or crew disembark from Ruby Princess until very late . This of course then led to very late embarkation for those leaving on the ship. They finally finished embarkation at 9 pm for a 10 pm departure which was approx 3.5 hrs late.

Apparently there were a lot of coughs on that cruise. They were asked to compete a form the night before then had to roll up at 5.30am for the NSW Health to give them clearance. Of course they didn't rock up until a couple of hours later and took their sweet time, according to someone. It's interesting though, a tweet was posted on CC saying that even the 11pm departure didn't happen and that was taken at gospel as another issue. Except I'd grabbed a screenshot that night where it was leaving at 10.53 pm (approx ).

 

[k_sheep]

I might let the cruise company suffer a little more, then in a few weeks see how much it'll cost to upgrade to a balcony .... suspect plenty of cancellations will be going on!

Every chance it'll be cancelled of course - the cruise is just the setting for a conference, so either the cruise will be cancelled or the conference.