Beanb41

On 4/3/2023 at 6:23 AM, SeaWatch12 said:

I don't believe there is anywhere to find out who is working on any given ship now or in the future. 

There used to be a CC member who posted a detailed spreadsheet for each Celebrity ship senior staff. I believed the CC member got in big trouble after a while. It was probably an invasion of privacy of all those employees shown on the spreadsheet. 

I have had my favorite cruise directors, unfortunately they no longer sail with Celebrity as they left the business. 

I think.it was more of a Covid thing when it stopped. Pax updated the table . It was very interesting to see who was whatand where. Shame  it's gone

Back in the day pre pandemic there was a thread on current Cruise Directors and other senior officers ob Celebrity ships. Is it still in existance

Thirteen parties including 3 individuals have been charged in connection with the White Island tragedy. The corporate parties face fines up to $NZ1.5 million and the individuals $NZ300,000. Names of those involved have not been released although some of those involved have acknowledged they are being summoned. The court cases have been brought about by Worksafe New Zealand and advice is that the pending actions do not cover any rescue missions which will be part of a coroners inquest. Court convenes on 15th December

Unless your two day cruise is doing a circumnavigation of Willis Island you may have some issues with the shops and the liquor store. getting Duty Free prices. In order to get duty free allowances one must be returning from overseas and a Sydney / Sydney cruise does not permit that. A circumnavigation of Willis Island is however deemed overseas for duty free purposes. We had that issue some years ago when our Bali visit was cancelled (it being our overseas port) and willis island was substituted

We are currently short of approx $800 which should be refunded by Travel insurance within the next 10 days. Future cruising is not on our horizon now any time soon

6 months after instigating refunds for two cancelled Celebrity cruises my TA advised me yesterday the last instalment has finally arrived. It appears that my TA is also getting his commission due had I actually completed the cruises.

In order to get my refunds a number of emails, txts and international phone calls have been necessary.

Will I be taking up future cruise options? - Unlikely in the medium term but who knows long term.

The refund process for cancelled cruises is a disgraceful indictment on the cruise lines who have deliberately dragged out the process.

Any holiday in the short term is now restricted to New Zealand thanks to COVID

It will be interesting to see down stream if anyone has a claim on Travel insurance going forward as the NZ Govt has recommended no overseas travel. It is safe to assume I think that any COVID 19 related claim would be void.

Stage 4 in NZ was a little tougher than you have in Victoria. The only places that were open in NZ for our Stage 4 were petrol stations, chemists and supermarkets and corner dairies. Everything else was shut and bubbles at the start of lockdown had to remain until stage 3. People over 70 were recommended to stay at home and others would do their shopping for them. No visitors to home were permitted. Social distancing for those at supermarkets was rigidly enforced in fact it became the norm. Supermarkets were limited to numbers inside the shop in fact it got quite eirie with the silence. Stage 3 was similar except the bubbles could be enlarged. Thousands were dobbed in for breaking the rules and police stopped cars to ascertain why someone was driving and where they were going. It was bloody tough but it worked. Aussies in order to beat this must also follow similar rules. Beaches, golf courses and the like were off limits until level two

I heard a rumour that the AFL Grand FInal is going to be played at Eden Park in Auckland as its the only stadium on the planet free of COVID 19 and can house 60,000 paying spectators. Noone will understand how the game is played though

The Trans Tasman bubble now seems further and further away and that will definitely affect cruising down under. Under normal circumstances the ships in the Northern Hemisphere would be heading our way within the next month or so. That is definitely not going to happen. I note in the news over the past couple of days one of the NCL ships has COVID 19 on board and apparently the Paul Gaugin in Tahiti also has COVID 19 on board  Chystal cruises are reported as having cancelled 2020 as a cruising year and I wonder just how long the big boys will do the same. the CDC in the USA doesn't appear to be in any hurry to lift sailing restrictions on USA ships and to top things off there are approx. $NZ 1.5 billion in refunds still outstanding to NZ customers. Many of us are worried that our Travel Agents who are seeking these refunds will still be around in a couple of months after the Government wage subsidies stop on 1 September.

The pandemic in Australia is starting to get out of control. If only the locals obeyed the instructions to stay at home. then the authorities can get on top of the pandemic. We in NZ obeyed the rules and have had no Community transmission since April 28th and despite that govt officials still want to test us. Test us for what I ask you . All our Covid 19 is being imported and caught at the border. But life goes on

9 minutes ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

You can revive the economy ,

you can’t revive the dead.

We will see what the ramifications of the economy downturn are. Dont underestimate the worst outcome. It could be greater than Covid.

We did what we had to do at the outset. The ramifications of that are still to be fully revealed. Whilst Covid 19 is under control the economy is anything but. Wage support comes off in a month and huge layoffs and redundancies are anticipated then

Returnees are housed in hotels at taxpayer expense . The hotels are surrounded by 6 ft high fences. There are security on site comprising police , defence and govt security personnel.  There is an element of voluntary compliance as the returnees are not in prison or criminals.

For 8 weeks at the outset we were in voluntary lock down throughout the country which is why the only Covid in NZ is imported from returnees. 

These toerags should be charged for the costs involved in isolation, looking for them and then fined or imprisoned. They have put 5 million people at risk.

Here in NZ we have had no Community Transmission since April 28th but we have had 9 escapes from compulsory isolation . Compulsory isolation for 14 days and a negative Covid test after that period is required for everyone returning to NZ. There is no sympathy from the NZ public for escapes and all are facing court action. Over 30000 returnees have followed the rules and the offenders are all facing court action.

I have been fighting refunds since February. Two days ago I received part of the outstanding monies but still have several hundred dollars outstanding. What is gaulling is the fact that I don't know what the outstanding amount is for and why it wasn't paid with the monies received earlier this week. Refunds for me are being handled from the Australian Office, but the wont talk to me so I have been communicating through Celebrity Head Office who told me this morning that I have not received the monies I have let alone what the balance is for.  Is it any wonder that cruises in the foreseeable future are unlikely. Who in their right mind would commit thousands of dollars to a cruise in the future only to have it cancelled and then a refund taking two to three months to actually happen? Only someone with rocks in their head methinks

In New Zealand we went two months with social distancing of 2 metres and generally no issues. We queued up two metres apart and kept our distance in the shops. At the checkout were crosses two metres apart where we waited. It worked because we have no community transmission

TAs in your area must be different than here in NZ. With our borders closed they have nothing to do such that they are raising a petition seeking govt support to enable staff to be retained.

I guess its a pretty safe bet no ANZAC bubble in the short term. I was hopeful of being able to cross the ditch to Sydney pre Xmas but now not so sure I want to risk it even if possible

I also use Robbert Imms Columbia bags when travelling

I have yet  to have a quality coffee in Australia and have been looking for about 50 years. International Roast is the coffee often found here in cheap 2 star motel rooms which explains the OPs post. With all that criticism Ido buy and use an Australian coffee here in NZ . It suits my taste and as it turns out is amongst the cheapest in our supermarkets. Its "Delta" coffee.

I am getting promo emails nearly daily but wont consider any of them until I get my March cruises refunded. Head office has told me that the refunds are approved but things have got to a situation that I don't believe anyone any more

The X is a stick on decal on the glass. WE had part of the X on our balcony a year or so ago and it was starting to peel off. It may have been removed now

On ‎7‎/‎1‎/‎2020 at 12:12 PM, icat2000 said:

Realistic this year. No. Maybe next year. 

2021/22 summer season perhaps but I don't think any earlier. Community transmission is the big fear. Quarantine at the port for 14 days is manageable if COVID is present but as has been seen in Australia recently where community transmission is present why would one risk it. I accept as this pandemic goes on govts are going to come under greater pressure to take the risk. Are they brave enough? Not in NZ this side of the September election methinks

We applied Feb 16th and still waiting. We were advised yesterday that our "Approved refund" is still to be given to an "Account Executive" for payment. I wish I was religious so I could ask the guy upstairs when I will receive it because God Knows

2 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

 

I don't think there's any scientific/medical disagreement on the wearing of face masks - they're viewed as likely beneficial.

 

That's also just a political stance that was taken to try to justify not using them when there were shortages initially. It wasn't a good look to walk that position back so they came up with 'the false sense of security' argument.

 

While using them is not a guarantee of safety, on the science and medical side masks are viewed as preferable to reduce the spread.

Your comment on face masks is in correct. The WHO at the outset stated that masks were not required. This is the process NZ followed. Asian New Zealanders who were used to pollution and the like in their original home wore them but most didnt. The WHO now recommend the use of face masks. Our response here in NZ hasnt changed apart from returnees in isolation must now wear them. Who is right and wrong. Social distancing and compulsory lockdown has worked for us. We have had no Community transmission since 28 April and no Covid cases from returnees for the past two days. Our Deputy Prime Minister indicated on radio this morning that until there is either a vaccine or a reciprocal country has no Community transmission our borders will remain closed