Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

[Pushka]

Re the Qld man who died yesterday. Most media are reporting he was on a 'Royal Caribbean' ship. After some ferreting I found SBS saying it was Voyager of the Seas

The news services last night were pathetic. Lazy. They reported he was from the Royal Caribbean line and then stated "however we can't confirm if it was the Ruby Princess ship". Good grief. I did hear he had significant other health issues as well.

 

[tgh]

Potentially bucking the trend other cruise lines are setting, Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) still hasn't decided whether it's on board with keeping its ships in port after the 30-day cruise suspension, which began on March 13, expires. A post this morning on the company's Facebook page said that the decision is still up in the air, but promised a final answer by this Friday, March 27.

I guess a push back was inevitable with arguments about saving a few -v- getting back to normal …..but this seems ultra tacky ( from an ultra tacky org)

 

[Pushka]

Potentially bucking the trend other cruise lines are setting, Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) still hasn't decided whether it's on board with keeping its ships in port after the 30-day cruise suspension, which began on March 13, expires. A post this morning on the company's Facebook page said that the decision is still up in the air, but promised a final answer by this Friday, March 27.

I guess a push back was inevitable with arguments about saving a few -v- getting back to normal …..but this seems ultra tacky ( from an ultra tacky org)

Celebrity arent much better (RCCL). They still havent cancelled a TA that leaves Florida in mid April through to Rome!

 

[Pushka]

I need a brick wall to bang my head against. We all know THAT Ruby Cruise. Well, I'm reading a TR on cruise critic from an American who was on that cruise. Blithely unaware of the mess that has been left here. Another person on that cruise asked them if they'd received an email from the NSW Department of Health. Why yes, they replied, and I deleted it without reading as I do not read emails from unsolicited sources!

It gets worse. I posted yesterday advising that people had tested positive on their cruise and that a lady had died. And Cruise Critic deleted my post! WT? I've tried again, lets see what happens.

If you are interested:

Ruby Princess March 8 New Zealand Cruise Review

My wife and I took this cruise. We are Elite and had an oceanview cabin, E207, and late (7:15pm) Late Seating TD (table for 2). We flew to LA on the 5th, stayed at a Comfort Inn and visited the Aquarium of the Pacific before our 10:15 pm Delta flight to Sydney. We had booked round trip flights to...

boards.cruisecritic.com

 

[odysseus]

Celebrity arent much better (RCCL). They still havent cancelled a TA that leaves Florida in mid April through to Rome!

Plus they only finally decided yesterday that they would extend the suspensions through April, even though it was clear from airlines and governments that lock downs were in force through then. Frustrating for those pax with bookings in that period.

 

[DaveB]

I can see most major airlines around the world getting bailed out by respective governments but can't see the same happening with cruise lines which unfortunately which as an industry will take a lot longer to recover.
We have a cruise booked for next April which having been able to have my deposit from a July cruise rolled into without charge, my concern is whether the cruise line will survive.
Having looked into my corporate travel policy with AIG, any financial defaults by any airline, tour operator, cruise line etc affecting the holiday is not covered with a similar exclusion with Amex. My Citi card does provide some cover up to $5,000 per person and $12,000 per family though unfortunately was not been used in paying the deposit.
My corporate policy is up for renewal in October so the broker will seek to have some cover included then though may well be a mute point by then.
I am probably going to go all in and not cancel next years cruise and am wondering firstly if others are taking the same approach and also know of travel policies that include loss due to a travel provider defaulting.

 

[Anna]

I'm not considering any more cruises before I've been vaccinated against covid19, at the earliest - whenever that may be. Or until I've had covid19. Maybe not even then.

 

[Pushka]

I have a cruise in July in the Med. throughout Italy. Not cancelled. People carrying on like it's going to happen. US passengers just don't get it. They won't cancel until after final payment date in May. They will likely delay that date? Who knows. I'm not paying. Will extract the voucher but likely won't be using it.

 

[luxury-lizard]

I can see most major airlines around the world getting bailed out by respective governments but can't see the same happening with cruise lines which unfortunately which as an industry will take a lot longer to recover.
We have a cruise booked for next April which having been able to have my deposit from a July cruise rolled into without charge, my concern is whether the cruise line will survive.
Having looked into my corporate travel policy with AIG, any financial defaults by any airline, tour operator, cruise line etc affecting the holiday is not covered with a similar exclusion with Amex. My Citi card does provide some cover up to $5,000 per person and $12,000 per family though unfortunately was not been used in paying the deposit.
My corporate policy is up for renewal in October so the broker will seek to have some cover included then though may well be a mute point by then.
I am probably going to go all in and not cancel next years cruise and am wondering firstly if others are taking the same approach and also know of travel policies that include loss due to a travel provider defaulting.

Can't you do a chargeback with your credit card company/bank if the supplier (ie cruise company or airline or hotel, etc) goes bankrupt.

 

[DaveB]

Can't you do a chargeback with your credit card company/bank if the supplier (ie cruise company or airline or hotel, etc) goes bankrupt.

My understanding is this is largely discretionary by the card company as there has not been any fraud or refund issues.
I do a lot of business with Amex but doubt that will help either. Business Platinum and Corporate Platinum insurance cover both do not cover for loss due to a travel company defaulting.
My feeling is at least half of the vouchers and travel credits being written by the various cruise lines will be worthless before this is over with US market in particular decimated.

 

[tgh]

From facebook….

The second Canadian passenger with Covid-19 from Silver Shadow who was in the hospital at Recife - Brazil, died today, unfortunately.

He was kept on mechanical ventilation and hemodialysis, received medications such as the antiviral oseltamivir (tamiflu), indicated to treat influenza in people with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Also according to SES-PE Hospital, he also received the combination of azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine, but he did not resist and died this morning.

So all friends from this group and all world,
Stay at home !!

 

[luxury-lizard]

My understanding is this is largely discretionary by the card company as there has not been any fraud or refund issues.
I do a lot of business with Amex but doubt that will help either. Business Platinum and Corporate Platinum insurance cover both do not cover for loss due to a travel company defaulting.
My feeling is at least half of the vouchers and travel credits being written by the various cruise lines will be worthless before this is over with US market in particular decimated.

Yes BUT my understanding is that you have a right to chargeback when the product or service is not "delivered" - certainly in the past CC companies have "worn the loss" when say an airline went under. Plan to ask AmEx the question next week .... will report back.

 

[kpc]

I have had very little interest in doing a cruise previously, and have absolutely no intention of taking a cruise moving forwards. Surely, the cruise ship industry will be quite different ie smaller after all this?!

 

[moa999]

Surely, the cruise ship industry will be quite different ie smaller after all this?!

And they've got a big problem with all the new vessels under construction given the massive leadtimes .

Eg. Virgin Voyages, one delivered, maiden voyage deferred. 2 more in the way.
Disney has 3 new vessels under construction

 

[drron]

Plus the Virgin ships and the Silver Moon are bring built by Fincantieri in Italy which is shut down for at least a month.

 

[Pushka]

And Viking has several new ships in process. RCCL was about to christen another mega ship this month for the Med. Sitting empty.

 

[amaroo]

This is another cruise you don't want to be on.

Rapid increase in coronavirus cases aboard US aircraft carrier

There are now 25 sailors who have tested positive for the coronavirus aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, just two days after the Pentagon announced that three sailors aboard the ship had tested positive for the virus, a Navy official has confirmed to CNN.

edition.cnn.com

 

[tgh]

Velly intellesting…….

Is air conditioning as a genre , safe ?

A mechanical engineer explains why cruise lines are so prone to spreading the coronavirus and why hospital ships are safer :

A mechanical engineer explains why cruise lines are so prone to spreading the coronavirus and why hospital ships are safer

Luxury cruise ships like Carnival Corporation’s Diamond Princess have proven fertile ground for the spread of COVID-19. In contrast, two naval hospital ships -if operated with certain precautions – should safely halt transmission, says Qinyang Chen, a professor of mechanical engineering at...

www.businessinsider.com.au

 

[DaveB]

I really feel for the crews and passengers still on board a ship.
With around 20+ cruise ships idling off our coastline averaging 2,000 crew and roughly 20% still with passengers off WA with no place to go, it looks like we will have a massive humanitarian crisis to deal with in 1-2 weeks time.

 

[Pushka]

I really feel for the crews and passengers still on board a ship.
With around 20+ cruise ships idling off our coastline averaging 2,000 crew and roughly 20% still with passengers off WA with no place to go, it looks like we will have a massive humanitarian crisis to deal with in 1-2 weeks time.

There’s only 1 cruise ship to deal with now and there’s no illness onboard. They have been refueled and reprovisioned. There is no need for them to be here but the cruiseline seems to not come to their aid to get them home by chartering a plane. And they won’t leave. The ship line that has Covid onboard is chartering 3 planes to get healthy people back to Germany. The sick are being treated in Australia.