Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

[Pushka]

Just boarded the QM2. Apparently lots of cases so all staff are back to wearing masks.

Viking still requires masks for crew, never stopped them. Stay well. I guess at least you won't miss any ports on a TA.


It was these windows that were damaged on the Viking ship. The top half lowers.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It may well be a Bali only issue and severity of outbreak overstated. SA has Oasis docking next week. But we seem to be pretty much ignoring issues now, change of Govt etc, but I imagine our panic merchant academic Epidemiologist from a Uni who isn't qualified as one anyway will be all in a swathe of sweat.

I thought I read that affected passengers were required to wait on board until private transfers could be arranged, etc. I wonder if this means that a 12pm boarding could be pushed back to 3pm, and so on. The journey between ports is probably well padded… but it would be a shame to miss out on a couple of hours of ‘ship time’ on embarkation day!

 

[Pushka]

I thought I read that affected passengers were required to wait on board until private transfers could be arranged, etc. I wonder if this means that a 12pm boarding could be pushed back to 3pm, and so on. The journey between ports is probably well padded… but it would be a shame to miss out on a couple of hours of ‘ship time’ on embarkation day!

Agree about the delay but this happens. Frequently. With us pre Covid on our Alaskan cruise. We were supposed to be able to board at 11am in Vancouver. But there was no berth for us. The ship had to wait until others left at 5.30 pm then it could pull in. We weren't able to board until 6.30pm. They catered for us until 2pm then they decided to get people into the building as we had to pass Canadian immigration and then US immigration. Which meant we were corralled into a building, not allowed to go anywhere, for four hours. kiosk food and drinks. Well used toilets. While we watched others board their ships and sail out. Some extremely unhappy campers and you can imagine the angry phone calls being made to the US company from the US cruisers.

And again in Barcelona where there was a Noro outbreak on the previous cruise. We were delayed six Hours.

 

[Port Power]

I thought I read that affected passengers were required to wait on board until private transfers could be arranged, etc. I wonder if this means that a 12pm boarding could be pushed back to 3pm, and so on. The journey between ports is probably well padded… but it would be a shame to miss out on a couple of hours of ‘ship time’ on embarkation day!

The ship arrived in Fremantle several days (?about 5?) before due date. After various stages of departing passengers, there would have been plenty of time for a thorough clean and sanitisation before the next passengers were due.

 

[tgh]

I wonder if the brave new world order ( and less robust conveyances) will have brought and end to stuff like this.
We wondered why the captain was bashing his way into the ice ; backing out and ploughing back in over and over until the ship was well wedged in place.
Down went the gangway and we were invited to disembark….

 

[Pushka]

I wonder if the brave new world order ( and less robust conveyances) will have brought and end to stuff like this.
We wondered why the captain was bashing his way into the ice ; backing out and ploughing back in over and over until the ship was well wedged in place.
Down went the gangway and we were invited to disembark….
View attachment 309531

I think that this kind of environmental damage brings the rotten reputations to cruise lines.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Agree about the delay but this happens. Frequently. With us pre Covid on our Alaskan cruise. We were supposed to be able to board at 11am in Vancouver. But there was no berth for us. The ship had to wait until others left at 5.30 pm then it could pull in. We weren't able to board until 6.30pm. They catered for us until 2pm then they decided to get people into the building as we had to pass Canadian immigration and then US immigration. Which meant we were corralled into a building, not allowed to go anywhere, for four hours. kiosk food and drinks. Well used toilets. While we watched others board their ships and sail out. Some extremely unhappy campers and you can imagine the angry phone calls being made to the US company from the US cruisers.

And again in Barcelona where there was a Noro outbreak on the previous cruise. We were delayed six Hours.

Thanks Pushka.That was something I hadn’t thought of!

The ship arrived in Fremantle several days (?about 5?) before due date. After various stages of departing passengers, there would have been plenty of time for a thorough clean and sanitisation before the next passengers were due.

Yes… but undoubtedly it’s trip from Fremantle to wherever will similarly have covid, and people needing to be accommodated until they can be disembarked. I think the Sydney layover is just a day… arrives at 6am and out the same night. Not as much time disembark and clean.

 

[Port Power]

Yes… but undoubtedly it’s trip from Fremantle to wherever will similarly have covid, and people needing to be accommodated until they can be disembarked. I think the Sydney layover is just a day… arrives at 6am and out the same night. Not as much time disembark and clean.

I was assuming the ship would be cleared in Fremantle as it is the end of the cruise. I was forgetting that Cunard sell multi sectors, with a percentage passengers coming and going at various ports.

 

[tgh]

I think that this kind of environmental damage brings the rotten reputations to cruise lines.

I don't think facts support that statement at all and your statement is fallacious..
Pack Ice is routinely and quite legally broken up by the square mile all over the world.. this was just a hundred metres or so for a parking spot.
It was early in the season and the ice was melting.. the bay would have been ice free in a month.

 

[RooFlyer]

Who, me? Hey, I just loved The Poseidon Adventure when it came out

View attachment 309406

No-one 'liked' this (and I understand!) so its going to disappear.

 

[tgh]

It's still here…..in post 1810 above..
I just watched it.. pretty silly stuff .. don't remember the film..
The thread seems to have taken a dark turn..

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

I never watched it or the flying high movie, I can't stand any Leslie Neilson movies !!

 

[Pushka]

I think that this kind of environmental damage brings the rotten reputations to cruise lines.

I don't think facts support that statement at all and your statement is fallacious..
Pack Ice is routinely and quite legally broken up by the square mile all over the world.. this was just a hundred metres or so for a parking spot.
It was early in the season and the ice was melting.. the bay would have been ice free in a month.

You know I love cruises. But I disagree entirely that this is something cruise ships should do.

 

[tgh]

A Cruise Ship Like Never Before | Megastructures: Icebreakerwww.youtube.com

Even National geographic is getting to the ice breaking business ….

 

[ksthommo]

Aussie would be cruisers denied boarding in LA, didn’t obtain
visas for Chile. You would think someone would have done some research
prior.

More than 40 Aussies stranded in LA after cruise confusion

 

[Pushka]

Aussie would be cruisers denied boarding in LA, didn’t obtain
visas for Chile. You would think someone would have done some research
prior.

More than 40 Aussies stranded in LA after cruise confusion

I'm currently working through Visas for our next cruise. India. Oman. Jordan. Egypt and Israel. We know we have to do India on our own, our guide in Jordan has that sorted but Viking is very vague on what happens with Egypt Oman and Israel. Likely to CYA. I'm thinking I'll get them myself just in case.

 

[Port Power]

Aussie would be cruisers denied boarding in LA, didn’t obtain
visas for Chile. You would think someone would have done some research
prior.

More than 40 Aussies stranded in LA after cruise confusion

It has always been the case that passengers must find out what visas are required for their route. The problem with this one is that the rules changed only in early November. Nevertheless, as Pushka says, it is sometimes really hard to find out from the cruise company which ports they have a blanket visa for. I really feel for these people, but in the end, they needed to have kept themselves informed. This is where a good cruise travel agent is necessary.

 

[RooFlyer]

@Pushka ( or anyone) that prompts a very general question from me which probably won’t have a straightforward answer. When a cruise destination offers Visa on arrival, is that usually available to the passengers or do cruise lines usually insist on seeing a Visa before they allow you to board?

Or do countries not usually offer Visa on arrival to cruise arrivals?

Egypt offers a very easy Visa on arrival to airline passengers. It’s essentially a revenue raising measure, and they really couldn’t care less about the details of the arriving passenger.

 

[p--and--t]

I'm currently working through Visas for our next cruise. India. Oman. Jordan. Egypt and Israel. We know we have to do India on our own, our guide in Jordan has that sorted but Viking is very vague on what happens with Egypt Oman and Israel. Likely to CYA. I'm thinking I'll get them myself just in case.

Egypt is online application and pay online with credit card, quite easy. Similar to other countries like Cambodia where it appears to just be merely a money making exercise.

Yes in Jordan the tour operators normally organise it all and include in their tariff. (Our guide met us at the end of the aero bridge, glued the visa into the passport and escorted us through all the formalities in the airport through to our waiting car.

No idea with the other two countries.

 

[Pushka]

@Pushka ( or anyone) that prompts a very general question from me which probably won’t have a straightforward answer. When a cruise destination offers Visa on arrival, is that usually available to the passengers or do cruise lines usually insist on seeing a Visa before they allow you to board?

Or do countries not usually offer Visa on arrival to cruise arrivals?

Egypt offers a very easy Visa on arrival to airline passengers. It’s essentially a revenue raising measure, and they really couldn’t care less about the details of the arriving passenger.

Great question. And I don’t know the answer. Some ports require the visa even if you don’t plan on getting off the ship. Saudi Arabia in our case. Which means the ship must sight it first The process to get through from cruisers who’ve been there sound toturous. And it’s hot. And need to be covered up. Both sexes. Many ports have staff come onboard the port prior and spend the next days going through everyone’s passport for the visa check. China officials had a wow of a time being lavished onboard QM2 for a few days before Shanghai. We’d had our visas checked prior to embarkation. And expensive. Yet they went through every passport and then we had to do visual ID on arrival.

I’m getting them on my own. Just in case. I forgot Saudi Arabia in the list above.