Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

[p--and--t]

As expected , Ponant are first cab off the rank for au cruise procedures.
IMO ,it's a somewhat flashy motherhood document but does show us how the cruise industry will tackle the issues.

I am not at all sure I want to cruise in a face mask, and feel vindicated in my choice to cancel.
It appears that there will be so many procedures and processes that the end will not justify the hassle

Manifeste COVID 0620 CALAMEO EN UK

PONANT PROTOCOL Sail with confidence Version of June 4, 2020 - This document is not contractual and could be modified according to medical, sanitary and scientifical updates. Version of June 4, 2020 - This document is not contractual and...

fr.calameo.com

Certainly cruising has lost that fun, carefree, pack and go feel to it, regardless of whatever measures are put in place.

A lot of water will have to go under the bridge (see what I did there) before cruising will return to anything like the experience prior 2020.

 

[Anna]

I may have missed it but if you get denied boarding under this strict new regime, do you get a refund? Anything less than an unconditional 'yes' means I would not be booking with them. YMMV.

 

[Pushka]

I may have missed it but if you get denied boarding under this strict new regime, do you get a refund? Anything less than an unconditional 'yes' means I would not be booking with them. YMMV.

I understand you get a refund unless they try that flunky voucher thingy.

 

[Anna]

Personally I wouldn't be interested in a voucher.

 

[odysseus]

So Traveller is full of nonsense but it gets a wide readership. One bit of recurrent nonsense at the moment is Traveller saying that post pandemic, cruise ships will have to abolish inside cabins and buffets.

I just can't see either of those things happening. What do other people think?

As per the specs issued today, Ponant still plan to remove the buffet entirely. The only meal service is "a la carte".

 

[tgh]

Politicising my own thread… shame tgh … very entertaining presentation all the same...

The cruise industry is Donald Trump personified.

Decadent, exploitative, and totally full of cough.

www.motherjones.com

 

[jeza]

Financial update from Carnival.

Carnival Corporation & plc Reports Summary Second Quarter Results and Other Matters | Carnival Corporation & plc

 

[odysseus]

Basically lost a third of their share price in just the last quarter. Ouch.

 

[tgh]

This is the first example but likely many more to follow ..leads me to wonder how the bean counters (and well insured actuaries..) are justifying capital valuations of cruise company assets.
How do you run a liquidation auction of cruise ships ??

Attribution : From Cruise law news

This weekend, several employees of Pullmantur Cruises informed me that employees (or contractors) hired by Royal Caribbean (which has a 49% ownership in Pullmantur) were involved in removing equipment from and dismantling the interiors of two of the companies’ cruise ships.

The Monarch and Sovereign are currently at the cruise port of Naples, Italy (Stazione Marittima – Terminal di Napol) where a large amount of equipment is reportedly being removed. The interiors of both Pullmantur ships are essentially being dismantled in a huge undertaking where there are around 1,500 pallets being assembled to ship the items from each of the ships. Several individuals who do not wish to be identified state that “everything of value” is being removed from the ships, including artwork and navigational and electrical equipment.

For example, workers are dismantling the theater including the LED wall (photo right), on the Monarch, which projected show backgrounds as well as stage lighting and other production equipment.

Pullmantur is reportedly keeping the project “extremely secretive.” The crew is being kept in the dark regarding the plans for the future of the company.

Pullmantur’s third ship in its fleet, the Horizon, is currently off of the coast of Mumbai where it disembarked Indian crew members from both Pullmantur and Azamara.


Update : More here

Pullmantur Files for Reorganization

After placing ships in cold lay-up , Cruises Investment Holding and Royal Caribbean Group said they have filed for the reorganization of their Pullmantur C...

www.cruiseindustrynews.com

 

[drron]

Silversea has now set up a medical oversight committee for updating their post Covid policies.

The Healthy Sail Panel is formed by a team of 11 leading experts in areas of science and public health, with varied backgrounds in medical practice and research, infectious diseases, biosecurity, hospitality, and maritime operations. Governor Michael Leavitt, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will serve as co-chairs of the newly formed group.

 

[tgh]

…and the New Silver Origin has set sail for the Galapagos from the Shipyard at Rotterdam… talk about Optimists…...

 

[zig]

Silversea has now set up a medical oversight committee for updating their post Covid policies.

I was concerned that the panel is made up of Americans and not a mix of international experts.

 

[tgh]

I was concerned that the panel is made up of Optimists and not a mix of international experts

there ya go , fixed it for you…..

 

[p--and--t]

I was concerned that the panel is made up of Optimists Americans and not a mix of international experts

there ya go , fixed it for you…..

My alteration would have been

 

[tgh]

Dreadful Hypocrisy fuelled by money… who can you trust….nobody it seems.
Silversea will doing as they are told but there will be some head shaking

A Cruise is "Safer than a Major City" - Co-Chair of Cruise Lines' "Brain Trust" Sings Another Tune

Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line recently announced that they hired a panel of former public health officials to advise the cruise lines

www.cruiselawnews.com

 

[SydneySwan]

Dreadful Hypocrisy fuelled by money… who can you trust….nobody it seems.
Silversea will doing as they are told but there will be some head shaking

A Cruise is "Safer than a Major City" - Co-Chair of Cruise Lines' "Brain Trust" Sings Another Tune

Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line recently announced that they hired a panel of former public health officials to advise the cruise lines

www.cruiselawnews.com

I don't know why they just didn't co-op Dr Donald Trump onto the committee. Throughout the pandemic he has demonstrated unparalleled medical and scientific knowledge on the COVID-19 virus.

 

[odysseus]

Dreadful Hypocrisy fuelled by money… who can you trust….nobody it seems.
Silversea will doing as they are told but there will be some head shaking

A Cruise is "Safer than a Major City" - Co-Chair of Cruise Lines' "Brain Trust" Sings Another Tune

Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line recently announced that they hired a panel of former public health officials to advise the cruise lines

www.cruiselawnews.com

I don't see hypocrisy demonstrated in that article, nor what he says now is wrong.

The doctor says it "might be safer" in the future... but that's with many changes occurring onboard. This is compared against cautious comments he made months ago, when:
a) people's opinions change, as can be seen in differing views as the situation changes and more research is known, by everyone including CMOs and Premiers
b) more importantly, many protective measures are being/likely to be introduced

Given the uncontrolled environment you have on land (have you been to a shopping centre lately?), against a controlled environment on ship, it's a reasonable statement to make.

The author uses the Diamond Princess as an example - which is a very poor one as it was one of the first outbreaks so very little was known about the virus to even expect it, let alone controlling it. There's a huge difference between how the virus is being handled now compared to before.

 

[drron]

Well we have just booked our first cruise for 2021.
Big OS destination-The Abrolhos Islands out of Geraldton.Just hope the crayfish aren't good at social distancing.

 

[tgh]

So our TA has our Silversea refund, it will be back to us via amex on friday.
I have mixed feelings ; relief not to have lost our money and gratitude to an honest cruise line and an ethical ta.
However my overwhelming emotion is deep sadness for all the infected millions and for all the small businesses who will not survive.
We have been cushioned in Au by our strong economy but in many parts of the world people are both sick and starving with no hope at all

 

[drron]

Our October cruise has now been cancelled by Silversea.We have the option of a 125% travel credit + the number of days of the cancelled cruise added to our account or a full refund.
Being optimists we are going for the travel credit as with the days added to our account we will qualify for a free 7 day cruise at the end of our Feb 2022 cruise.