Mandalay1903

FWIW, on 3/19/2020 I cancelled four prepaid HAL shore excursions. The EXC desk said that it would take up to 60 days for the refund. The refunds credited my cc today (51 days) and I did not have to contact my cc issuer to request a charge back.

FWIW, on 3/19/2020 I cancelled four prepaid HAL shore excursions. The EXC desk said that it would take up to 60 days for the refund. The refunds credited my cc today (51 days) and I did not have to contact my cc issuer to request a charge back.

50 minutes ago, Flying-Dragon said:

 

Same here for our April and May cruises.  They appear to be letting the booking automatically drop off after sailing date, probably to save the extra work of going in and removing it from our individual accounts online.

Yes, that is what happened for our two cancelled March 2020 China/Taiwan/Japan cruises on the Westerdam. The cruises continued to appear in our online HAL account until the departure date, and then they dropped off. I found that was handy so that I could go back into the booking to confirm the excursions and other items I'd booked, and to verify that the refund was fully and accurately completed.

35 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Be a bit cautious of this news as it came from a stock and bond offering, which the company makes these statements to cover their backsides. 

True, but healthy companies never have to make that statement.

...and today Norwegian Cruise Lines says there’s ‘substantial doubt’ about its ability to continue as a ‘going concern’...

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/05/norwegian-cruise-line-says-theres-substantial-doubt-about-its-ability-to-continue-as-a-going-concern.html

Great news!  Based on the count, that must mean all the passengers in the hotel and those still on the ship?  I hope information about the results for the crew will be forthcoming.

58 minutes ago, BarbarianPaul said:

 

 

And why does it seem that HAL is all alone in this mess, other than, of course, the Diamond Princess? Wasn’t the Crystal Serenity facing some challenges? Not sure, but I think the Seabourn Ovation was supposed to be in Hong Kong the same day as the Westerdam on Feb. 1. How did they avoid this? Or did they bypass Hong Kong?

Good questions, BarbarianPaul. I researched Ovation a little just now on various news sites, without wading through any of their CC boards. Ovation left Hong Kong on 2/1, same day as Westerdam, on a 14 day cruise. They worked through their itinerary (not sure if they missed any ports), and docked in Phuket on 2/13. They completed their cruise in Singapore on 2/15, and the Ovation is now docked next to the Sapphire Princess at the Semwabang Shipyard in Singapore. They also announced that none of their passengers had shown any symptoms of Covid-19 [yet].

On 2/14 Seabourn announced the cancellation of the 2/15 sailing of the Ovation, apparently giving their passengers only one day notice. This is the same short notice that Princess gave it's Sapphire passengers when they canceled their 2/14 sailing, as has been discussed previously on this board.

My hope and concern is that HAL doesn't try a trick like that to wait until 2/28 to cancel Westerdam's 2/29 sailing.  As far as I'm aware, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but there are very few nearby Asian nations who would accept an international cruise ship in port at this time. Japan, SK, Taiwan (who sadly experienced their first Covid-19 death), Philippines, HK are all closed ports at this time. Malaysia has a bitter taste from Westerdam experienced only recently.  I'm not sure what itinerary that HAL could announce for its 2/29 sailing, other than the open berth behind Ovation at the Semwabang Shipyard.

8 minutes ago, dreamers25 said:

We are watching our in box like hawks at the moment, leaving for Tokyo on Tuesday prior to the Feb 29th Cruise.... No news yet. 

 

Waiting for the cancellation email, so we can pull out all together. Less than 48 hours for us. 

We are, too. But our flight doesn't leave until the 27th, I think. HAL Flight Ease canceled our flights to Shanghai ten days ago or so when that itinerary change was made. But they never rebooked us on new flights to Tokyo despite our questioning them about it two or three times.

My guess is the 29th cruise gets canceled by Monday or Tuesday. Hang in there, dreamers25, and lets hope it gets cancelled by tomorrow.

Pasted from HAL's Westerdam blog on their site:

Update: 2/15/2020 10:40 am Pacific Time
While the first results have been reported, they are preliminary at this point and we are awaiting secondary testing for confirmation.

We are working with officials in Malaysia, Cambodia and the U.S. CDC as is standard.

On Feb. 10 all 2,257 passengers and crew on board Westerdam were temperature-tested and not one person had an elevated temperature. Disembarking guests also completed a written health questionnaire and the passports of everyone on board were reviewed to ensure no one had traveled through mainland China in the prior 14 days. During the voyage there was no indication of Covid-19 on the ship.

Westerdam is alongside in Sihanoukville Cambodia with 236 guests and 747 crew on board. The remainder of guests from the voyage departed Sihanoukville via charter flights to Phnom Penh yesterday and today and are in various stages of transit home.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/ships/ms-westerdam/statement-regarding-westerdam-in-japan/

15 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Everyone tries to compare it to the deaths due to the flu, but there are great differences. You're much, much more likely to catch the flu than coronavirus. But you're much, much more likely to recover from the flu than coronavirus if you catch it. As in 100 times more likely. (Flu death rate about 2 per 100,000 and I believe I saw coronavirus death rate is around 2 per 100)

 

Of course, it's also a familiarity thing. Like driving a car, we're accustomed to and accept the risks of the flu even though there is a real danger. We've all had flu before. But since the coronavirus is a new threat, we're more scared of it.

Agree. I'm also curious about what portion of people who passed away from the flu had had their flu shots.  Last time I checked there is no immunization for Covid-19.  The flu is a bad situation in many places and so are other causes of deaths, but Covid-19 is a new situation that they're still trying to understand and prevent from getting out of hand.

8 minutes ago, Alphen said:

Reuters picked it up, but maybe from the same Malaysian source;

Reuters' source seems to be a statement from the Malaysian health ministry.

Very bad, indeed. And this was a day after docking and being cleared in their health checks. I do wish her a speedy recovery and that this is a very isolated situation.

5 minutes ago, Viv0828 said:

dh read in usa today online that japan will be closing all its ports to cruise ships.

if that is true (??), the next few westerdam voyages will not be happening. 

and hope all current pasengers get home safe and healthy.

Thank you for this information. I had read that Prime Minister Abe closed the Japan ports to international cruise ships on around February 4th or 5th after Westerdam was booted from Taiwan.  Is this a new news story that dh saw--if so I'd sure like to see it. Can you send a link?  Thanks!

Just now, bennybear said:

Lol!   Thanks for explaining!   I knew it didn’t make sense! 

It had me fooled too. So I had to look up OPL. Nevertheless, so sorry to see Sapphire's last minute cancellation... I'm worried about their sister company Holland America pulling the same thing with the Westerdam's next sailing on 2/29, which we're booked on. Our best to all those stranded Sapphire cruisers in Singapore!

5 hours ago, Viv0828 said:

 

YES! we did that with the sep 15 cruise. HAL kept urging us to take the FCC but we waited and waited till they finally cancelled.

Check out the blog Princess cancels next two Sapphire Princess sailings.

Princess canceled the 2/13 cruise from Singapore on the Sapphire with about 24 hours notice. Passengers joining the 2/13 cruise had already flown to Singapore by the time the line canceled the cruise. Unconscionable!

4 hours ago, bennybear said:

Has to be a glitch!  Can’t be there by tomorrow.  But another tracker also shows heading to Anchorage?   

The tracker says "Anchorage OPL". "OPL" means outside port limits. They will be anchoring outside of Singapore's port limits....

10 minutes ago, Earplug said:

 

3 minutes ago, Viv0828 said:

 

i think there are a lot of folks on that cruise who plan to cancel but are waiting and hoping HAL cancels first so they will receive a refund rather than FCC - JMHO.

A game of chicken...

15 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Your post is a bit depressing.  HAL is still selling berths on your cruise as thought everything is normal.  It is very interesting  that nobody has contacted you about changing your flights.  And assuming you booked via EZAIr we know that you would not normally be able to go into your own account and change your flights which likely do not even exist since many airlines have suspended or significantly reduced their flights into China.  We are really puzzled as to why HAL is waiting so long to either cancel all their Asian cruises or at least announce some kind of alternative.  

 

Hank

P.S.  We are booked on the 4/11 Westy cruise and have not received any kind of guidance from HAL.  They do have a special phone number listed on the web site, but one suspects that calling them would not get any answers other then "we are reviewing our options.

 

Hank

I guess my post reflects our mood about the whole thing... 🙂  We booked through EZAir as we always do. And no, no one contacted us about the change. The Shanghai flight and hotel has been removed, but no replacements added.  We emailed and spoke to our PCC about this and she called the special number--but it's had no results.  That said, we're not too concerned about our missing air--and HAL doesn't seem to be too concerned either--maybe because they really don't know what embarkation city they should be flying us to!

Are any other CC bloggers booked on the 2/29 cruise with flights booked through HAL EZAir, or is it just us? 🤔

I don't mean to be too specific about the 2/29 cruise on this blog, but I think the future itinerary changes relate to Westerdam's travels through April and into May.

1 hour ago, Taters said:

I imagine that your cruise being allowed to depart from Yokohama will depend on whether they will once again allow cruise ships.  Diamond Princess' issues aren't helping at all.  They are reporting more and more CV every day, and it seems to be out of hand, as if the ship is one of the biggest breeders of the virus.  I feel truly sorry for those on board DP.

 

I do hope that your cruise can be salvaged.  We are booked on Westie's transpacific cruise scheduled to depart Yokohama on April 25th.  I can't imagine the stress you're feeling right now.  Best of luck to you!

Thank you, Taters, for the well wishes toward the 2/29 cruisers.

We're booked for 28 days from 2/29. It's my understanding at this point that ALL of the ports on both itineraries are still closed to international cruise ships.  PM Abe closed all of the Japan ports only one week ago and I'd be very surprised if he announced a reopening before the DP leaves port and it's passengers/crew complete their treatments. After all, Japan has an Olympics to worry about in a few months and they don't need more illnesses or bad press.

We elect to not receive cabin upgrade offers, and the only recent emails we got from HAL on our cruises are offers to cancel in exchange for a 100% FCC (they refund the port fees and taxes), or offers to stay on the cruise and receive some small OBC or FCC perks.  HAL has not yet rebooked our pre-cruise hotel or outbound air making the change from Shanghai to Yokohama.

I really wish they'd cancel these cruises because what we booked (healthy China, HK, Taiwan, Philippines) are nothing like what we're going to get if we go on the cruise (closed ports and possibly unknown destinations). We really like HAL, but it's time for HAL to either pull the plug on the March Asia cruises or announce some really great replacement itineraries. And given the port closings that we're hearing about all around the region (including New Caledonia, Tonga, etc.) I'm not sure that they can.

HAL's posting on their FB page about 1/2 hour ago:

Westerdam Update: The Cambodian Health Ministry has announced that the 20 samples taken onboard Westerdam have all been confirmed as negative for coronavirus by the Pasteur Laboratory in Phnom Penh. As stated in previous communications, there were never any suspected cases of coronavirus on board.

We sincerely thank all those in Cambodia who have demonstrated a willingness to welcome us with an open mind and make decisions based on facts.

“We also extend our deepest gratitude to President Trump, Cambodia’s Honorable Prime Minister Hun Sen, Canadian Foreign Minister Champagne, elected officials across the country and governments around the world for providing support and being effective allies in bringing our guests home,” said Stein Kruse, Group CEO, Holland America Group and Carnival UK. “We are pleased with the successful resolution of this challenging journey that was complicated by unfounded fears stemming from erroneous information with respect to the medical condition of Westerdam’s guests and crew. This has all been a terrible and unfortunate misunderstanding that has impacted 2,257 people on board and hundreds of others shoreside who have worked 24/7 to get our guests home.”

5 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

I just had an email from our friend who is on the Westerdam.  She said they are being escorted into a port about 25 kms. from Laem Chabang near a navy base, by the Thai navy, but she didn't know if they would be then allowed to disembark.  She said there is no one ill on the ship and she thinks people will come on board to check temperatures.  They are at day 12 after HK, so incubation period is almost over.  Plenty of food and drink on board!  She attached a picture.

 

 

Not going to Laem Chabang...

52 minutes ago, eroller said:

At the rate things are going, they may have to make a fuel-only stop and continue to Australia.  This is exactly what QM2 is doing.    She is currently refueling in Port Klang (Malaysia) with no pax disembarking, then continuing to Fremantle Australia.  

From CNN News updated about 3-1/2 hours ago. See the quote from the Thai PM highlighted in orange below about offering fuel and supplies to Westerdam if they so request...

A cruise ship carrying more than 2,000 people has been denied entry to at least 4 ports

From CNN’s Kocha Olarn in Bangkok

We are not allowing them to dock on our port, however we will look into humanitarian assistance, if they wanted to refill their fuel or resupply their food and water, we would definitely provide."
"There are a lot of people on board, more than 2,000 people. We have to be careful, not allowing the situation to turn into stage 3 of disease spreading (in Thailand),” he added.

5 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

If it weren't for the time and fuel use, that would be a good idea.

 

Does anyone know if all the Japanese passengers were able to disembark in Japan?

 

Westerdam wasn't allowed to dock in Japan on this cruise. So, no.

22 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I can't believe HAL would announce they were going to a port without having clearance. So who in Thailand said yes? Is HAL going to be a victim of a tussle between two cabinet ministers? 

 

Believe it. Refer to post #219 on this blog in which HAL reiterated by email on Saturday 2/8 to its passengers booked on the 2/29 cruise that it would be leaving on schedule for a round trip from/to Yokohama. And at the time of Saturday's email, Japan had already banned the Westerdam (and any other international cruise ship) from its ports. Japan has not since lifted that ban and HAL has not since announced a new itinerary.