Smokeyham

It will be interesting to follow this and see if the ports are able to open by October. Princess also still has a cruise (SF - Hawaii - SF) on the website for October, but they also carry a warning on their website that "We are currently assessing enhanced health and safety protocols in light of COVID-19 and how they may impact our future offerings. Our actual offerings may vary from what is displayed or described here"

Makes sense, and a very different world from the nice interior fittings of a cruise ship.

Excellent points! I suspect that the military ships that used to part of the "Ghost Fleet" in San Francisco Bay did not have a lot of soft furnishings on board! 🙂

I am wondering the same thing. I'm thinking that the ships could be put into some form of temporary mothball, with the thinking that they will be put back into service within about two years.

If you feel up to it, could you post updates back here on how that is going? Hopefully you will be able to enjoy your cruise!

Yes, October 3rd is the first date that NCL has listed on their website. It will be interesting to see if this cruise occurs. One factor will be whether or not the CDC has modified, or lifted, the "No Sail" order.

Good points..... The NCL website does not list any Hawaii cruises until October 3, so if permission is given for cruises to resume then NCL would have time to reassemble a crew for the Pride of America.

I am wondering if NCL's Pride of America might be able to resume cruising around the Hawaiian Islands when tourism is allowed to restart in Hawaii on August 1, as was recently announced? Visitors will need to have passed a Covid test in advance of flying to Hawaii, but once on board this will seem no different from other tourists who are travelling in the islands. I see that NCL has Hawaiian cruises listed on their website starting October 3. What do you think? Are these likely to occur?

I'd like to provide a different perspective to many that I am reading here. I've sailed on Norwegian and liked many aspects of the cruise, but did feel some of the "nickel and diming" frustration that is expressed elsewhere. This has more to do with what felt like a strong sales environment on board. The sale of gold chain by the foot in the atrium. The constant "would you like a drink" requests from staff in the pool area, and the numerous announcements for events. Of course, we did not have purchase/partake in anything, but in comparison to other lines I did feel like the push to buy things was more prevalent on NCL than what we experienced on HAL and Princess. I think NCL is a good line, as long as you understand that your lower initial cost will come with some additional sales pressure once you are on board. What I do think is unfortunate is that cruising is still portrayed as an all-inclusive activity and although what is, and is not, included is listed on the website a new cruiser could well miss that and be disappointed once on board.

Someone mentioned on another thread mentioned that labs doing the testing must also be certified. Getting that certification could be a challenge for a lab on board the ship. As you say, the testing must also be done 3 days in advance, so that would have to be planned into the itinerary - perhaps and extra day at sea on the way there to allow for that?

Good points! I've heard that Mexico (Ensenada is the typical foreign port for these cruises) is keen to restart cruising. I agree. The current spike in cases in California is worrying. Princess does have a Hawaii cruise listed for October, so it will be interesting to see what happens by then.

Interesting discussion. However, I can't help wondering if divesting ships this quickly is not premature. There was a huge demand for cruising before Covid and if an effective vaccine is found, and the number of cases diminishes to a low level, then I'm guessing that cruising will return as a popular holiday option. Given that possibility, I am surprised that there is not more talk of mothballing the ships, perhaps for a year, with the option to return them to service if demand returns.

Looking (longingly) at the Princess website for future cruises, I see that they now have a warning banner on the home page that states " Our actual offerings may vary from what is displayed or described here. Stay updated on current Travel Advisories and Health & Safety protocols." Now that Hawaii has announced a reopening of tourism (with the requirement of a covid check for those arriving) in August, I am hoping that the Hawaii cruises that are still showing on the Princess website for October may be able to happen.

It sounds like Hawaii will be reopening to tourism on August 1, with pre-testing for Covid-19 being a requirement. I'm wondering if this might be an opportunity for cruises from San Francisco to Hawaii to restart? Of course, the CDC's No Sail Order would have to be modified to allow this to happen. Presumably testing would have to happen both just prior to boarding and then would have to be repeated on board, just prior to arrival (assuming the ship has the capability to process the tests).

So fun that this thread has continued for such a long time. Hopefully, before long, we will back cruising safely and have more weird and wonderful antics to share! 🙂