What We Found Travelling

It will become quite obvious when cruising can resume........  International travel will be happening with minimal restrictions as crew will be needed to fly in from various countries around the world to staff the ships.  When that happens cruising will be 3-4 weeks away.  

There’s more to life than watching cruise critic and posting more than 3 times a day for several years.  CC should eliminate post numbers, certainly not necessary in todays world.  Way too many frivolous posts from people wanting to increase their post count & ego.

Would be good if the cruise companies installed voice activated lifts & auto entry doors to all public areas.

Covid19 is still an unknown virus.  The linked article below makes you wonder how bad it really is.
 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2020/04/27/why-is-covid-19-coronavirus-causing-strokes-in-young-and-middle-aged-people/#6ba68c8334df

My doctor gave me the flu vaccine yesterday.  He also told me a vaccine for Covid19 is at least another 12 months away.  But, a blood test (similar to testing for glandular fever) for Covid19 to detect 1)antibodies 2)if you’ve had it & 3)if you’ve never had it, should be available within 6 months.  He believes international cruising will not happen until the blood test or a vaccine becomes available.  If international cruising starts beforehand & one person gets Covid19 the entire cruise industry will go bankrupt.

Thanks for the memories.  

We did Vision Med in July 2019 return Barcelona, Cannes, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Athens, Mykonos, Chania & Valletta, & absolutely loved it.

We had booked B2B Med cruises out of Venice for August 2020 visiting Croatia, Montenegro & the Greek Isles.  Maybe we’ll get there next year?!

I’m really enjoying your journey of last year & reliving some of mine.

Cheers!

According to the Australian government there’ll be no international travel in or out of Australia until early next year & only to selected countries.  International cruising is a long long way off.  Maybe 2022.  Unless a vaccine is available.

During our governments press conference tonight where they stated Australia is leading the way in the world in flattening the curve.  300,000 tests, 6,000 positive, 44 deaths & 14 of those cruise passengers.  Social distancing will be in place for at least 6 months & international travel will not resume to normal levels for at least another 12 to 18 months!  In 12-18 months a vaccine should be available.  Until then our borders will be closed.  
I assume all other countries will also be closed, therefore, not much cruising happening anywhere in the world until a vaccine.  
A game changer could be finding a way to test for the virus with immediate results.

Royal must be in deep financial problems considering they had a 2.2 billion dollar cash injection last month.  If I was in charge of Royal, the first thing I would do is look after the current customers who have paid with their after tax dollars & have financed Royal some up to 18 months in advance, & refund their cash without delay!  Also, I would offer a 200% Future Cruise Credit, a 125% FCC won’t cover the cost of the exact same cruise next year.  Maybe by offering a 200% FCC more people will not want a cash refund, hence, Royal has extra cash.  Heads need to roll at Royal as there is absolutely no excuse not to refund the customer within 7 days.  The only excuse, the quicker we refund the customer the quicker we go bankrupt.

There’ll certainly be no cruises from Australia & New Zealand before Xmas this year.  Also, with Carnival facing criminal charges for telling their crew on the Ruby Princess not to tell the passengers that there are sick people with flu like symptoms on board before they disembarked in Sydney.  Now over 600 passengers from the Ruby Princess have tested positive to the virus & 11 have died & 90% of the positive tests in Australia have some connection with the ship, currently 5600 positive people in Australia. It is highly unlikely there’ll be any cruising anywhere in the world this year.  Impossible to guarantee not only passenger but crew safety from the virus.  Ruby Princess currently has 200 sick staff onboard, & all the Royal ships heading to Asia also, have sick staff on board.

Imagine...... when cruising resumes the first ship to have another flu outbreak...... results in the closure of ports & most likely passenger confidence will reach an all time low & the rest of the cruise industry will suffer dramatically.  A vaccine is the only answer to cruising resuming in the foreseeable future.

There’s a criminal investigation underway into how 2700 passengers from the Ruby Princess were allowed to disembark with over 260 of them now positive to corona virus.  The Ruby Princess is the epicentre of the outbreak in Australia.  85% of positive cases in Australia are linked to this ship.  Apparently Carnival lied about the state of the health of their passengers (Covid19 symptoms throughout the ship) before our health & port authorities allowed them to disembark.  

I can’t see any cruises departing or stopping in Australia until there’s a vaccine or the virus has been eliminated totally.

Truth be told.......  they were all refused into any Australian ports despite repeated requests, hence, they had no option but to take their crew members home.

1 hour ago, steveru621 said:

 

Australia had a curious initial response to Covid 19.  After we left Radiance on March 15 it was necessary for us to spend a few days at the Hilton Sydney CBD.  We witnessed large crowds of people and absolutely no social distancing what-so-ever.  Then after we left the government started the 14 day quarantine.  This was in the middle of urgent emails and Facebook posts from relatives and friends in the U.S.sounding the alarm.

Social distancing was only recommended by our Prime Minister on March 15th 2020.  By March 30th it became law, with heavy fines & even jail for offenders.

Australia’s chief medical officer advised that it is most probable the infection rate of people is between 5 & 10 times higher than the current amount of positive cases in all countries around the world.  There is a very high percentage of people carrying the virus with no symptoms.  That’s why social distancing is imperative.

Sydney’s police commissioner just announced the 5 Royal ships currently parked outside the heads will be refuelled & restocked today & will be leaving our waters & making their way back to USA.  Ovation, Radiance, Spectrum, Voyager & Solstice.  Also, Carnival Spirit & Splendor are heading back.

Unless there’s a vaccine there’ll be no cruising in the next 6 months.  No government will open up ports & risk the virus returning in huge numbers.  New Zealand have said no ports will be opening this year.  Australia have said no ports opening for the next 6 months at least.  
Sydney has 8 cruise ships parked outside the heads with 8,500 crew on board wanting to get off the ship & the government has denied them.  In Sydney NSW most of the corona virus cases came from the 2,700 people who got off the Ruby Princess.  Last count over 170 tested positive & it’s estimated that they infected another 1,500 people.  NSW currently has 2,300 positive cases & 10 deaths, 5 from cruise ships & we have tested 108,000 people with symptoms.  We will be entering our winter season in a couple of months, so our government is taking no chances. People who get corona virus & the flu will most likely end up in hospital in a serious condition.
Based on the European numbers at present the USA will peak at about 1 million positive cases before any ports will open.  So USA is roughly a quarter of the way through the main crisis.

To all you Americans good luck, stay home, be strong, start planning your summer 2021 cruises & god bless you all.

My doctor explained, if you catch it within the first 2-3 hours once it’s outside the host, you’re going to get really sick.  Possibly Pneumonia or even heart attack.  If you pick it up after 2-3 days from the surface of something you’ll most likely get a mild case of flu like symptoms.  However, if you’re over 70 with other health problems the virus may contribute to major health complications.  That’s why it’s so important to have social distancing, to lessen the impact of the virus.  Apparently it spreads very fast.

I guess in 12 months time we’ll know exactly the true extent of Covid19.  
The government in Australia is not taking any chances, lockdown, stay at home & for most likely 6 months, so our Prime Minister keeps telling us at press conferences.

My doctor told me today, as I get winter asthma & have high blood pressure, to get the flu vaccine in April & try to get out of Australia for our winter if you can, if our government allows you, & hopefully go to a Greek Island if the Greek government allows.  
He also said that unless there is a vaccine or at least 60% of USA has been infected by June, the virus will be in the USA for the next 12 months, so best to not plan on visiting the USA until mid 2021 at the earliest.

I certainly wouldn’t be booking a cruise in any country around the world during the winter months if there is any sign of Covid19 unless I’ve been vaccinated or immune.

In Sydney Australia we are in lockdown from midnight 30th March.  We have approximately 4,200 positive cases from 133,000 tested, 18 deaths.  Over 90% of our positive cases came from cruise & airline passengers returning to Australia.  All future Australian citizens returning to Australia are escorted by army personnel from the airport to a nearby 5 Star Hotel & quarantined for 14 days & then tested for the virus before being allowed home.

Our government has advised us that this lockdown may last at least 6 months with 1.5m social distancing. No more than 2 people to gather outside unless you are from the same household.  People over 70 years old are not to go outside.  Huge fines & even jail time for those caught breaking the new laws.  

No toilet paper, tissues, pasta, flour, hand sanitiser & gym equipment in any shops!  You can only leave home to go to work, the doctor, supermarket, chemist or exercising.  Everything else closed including beaches, parks, golf courses etc. except fast food takeaway joints & other essential services.

No foreigners will be permitted to enter Australia for at least 6 months as we are heading into our flu season which starts in mid May & goes through to mid September.  
Australia’s economy will be crippled & the government is now paying businesses $1,500 a fortnight per employee to keep them employed.  Plus an estimated 2 million job losses!  It’s an economic nightmare, like domino toppling.  It will take our county 25 years to recover!

I just hope our government is not using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut?!

I have no issues with governments bailing out any business, BUT, the bailout MUST come with one condition, the CEO/Directors/Management all have their yearly salary including bonuses capped at 10 times the current median salary for the basic worker for a 3 year period.

On my recent Med cruise on Vision I had the UDP, & when I ate in the MDR I was not allowed to order from another restaurants menu.  However, there are a few specialty restaurant items on the MDR menu which are chargeable, but, if you have the UDP they are at no cost to you. And yes, I could eat as much as I wanted!

Surprisingly, when I ate in Chops, Giovanni’s or Izumi they were more than happy to serve me a dessert from another restaurant!?

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

It's not $500 a day -- it's a total of $500 per account (so $250/person if on a shared account).  Once you rack up $500 in charges, they're going to cut off your card until you come pay it down.

And with me using a credit card to secure my account, I gain a month or more of "free credit" -- not just seven days.  They bill the final amount to my card on the last day, then I have until after the credit card statement date and the payment due date on that statement to make my payment.  

Brillo, you’re missing my point.  I’m cashed up.  I don’t need to use a credit card.  Unfortunately, with my circumstances which have been detailed in depth throughout this thread, paying by debit or credit card at the end of the cruise will leave all the daily accrued pending charges on my account for several days on the credit card & 30 days on the debit card.  For me this restricts my ability to go about my life after the cruise because my funds in those cards are tied up until RC or the bank releases them.  I could pay by credit, debit or cash.  However, due to the way RC operates their seapass accounts, there’s no way I’m going to give them our card details to keep on file again.  Hence, a cash account will now suit us best.  I’ll pay it off by debit, credit or cash whatever is easiest at the time.  As long as we don’t get any pending charges on our card accounts.  Also, we always pre-purchase the deluxe drink package & unlimited dining packages, so we usually don’t chalk up more than $1,000 on the cruise.  So $500 credit from RC on my account & $500 on the wife’s account will definitely see us through the 7 day cruise.  

When I recently booked a restaurant for Fathers Day lunch, I had to leave a deposit of $100, I did so with my debit card. It showed up immediately on my banking App as a pending charge. Two weeks later after dining I paid the $720 bill on the same debit card & immediately the $100 pending charge was removed by the restaurant & the new pending charge was $720.  I simply don’t understand why RC doesn’t remove the pending charges when they go to charge you the final bill.  If restaurants & hotels can remove the pending charges when you go to finalise the account, I just can’t understand why a company as big as RC can’t or won’t.  At least issue the customer with a signed letter stating the account has been settled in full & they no longer require the pending charges to be held against the account.  That way customers like me can get the pending charges removed immediately by emailing the letter to the bank.  Remember..... this is my experience & thoughts...... others may have different experiences & may well be treated differently.

Cheers from Australia.

It’s very obvious the RC business model is geared to cash flow via upfront payments from deposits, final payment & the cruise planner, & there’s nothing wrong with that, business is business.  But, if they’re offering me a $500USD a day credit account as soon as I step on the boat, I’ll certainly accept it.   Finally, an instance where the customer doesn’t need to pay up front!

Banzaii,

When I do my online check in I’ll advise RC that I’ll be setting up my account as cash.  On embarkation RC will afford my wife & I a maximum $500 USD each per day cash account (our cruise is 7 days long).  When I get notified by RC that I’ve reached my $500 credit limit, I’ll go to an ATM (preferably in a port) & withdraw the cash & pay them as & when required.  I’m not sure if I’ll try & pay with my debit card....... whether it will be a pending charge or an official transaction, so, most likely wouldn’t risk it.  If they don’t want to store the card details on file maybe I would risk paying them that way as a debit card is in reality cash.  However, we are dealing with RC & things have been proven to be different from ship to ship or cruise to cruise.  But certainly on debarkation I’ll be paying them whatever I owe using my debit card.

This is how my dilemma ended.

RC issued me a letter on the 8th August 2019 titled Holds Release Form.  It basically said that I have settled my account with RC in full & that RC no longer requires any pre-authorised amounts to be held by RC against my debit card and advises my bank to immediately release these amounts as available funds.   I forwarded this on to Citibank & within 24 hours they had removed all RC pending charges from my account.

So......... the way Citibank debit card works is.......  the bank has absolutely no control over removing the pending charges applied to the account until 30 days have passed, which is when the bank removes the charges automatically, unless, a letter is provided to the bank from the vendor advising them to remove the charges.

My advice to people going on a cruise would be this:-

Set up a cash account & when RC ask you put money on your account or to top up your account, go to the ATM take out some cash & do so.  

If you set up a credit card account RC will effectively charge you twice also, & depending on the bank you use the pending charges will eventually drop off automatically usually between 5 - 30 days after settling the account.  You may end up with a problem when you go to settle the account if you are near your credit limit, or if you need to use the card again before the pending charges drop off.

The reason I use a Citibank debit card is because of the following:-

No account fees

No transaction fees

No ATM fees

No currency conversion fees (credit cards in Australia are currently 3%)  

I can activate & deactivate my card via the App at any time

I can set it up to alert me as soon as a transaction takes place

I can use 10 different currencies on the card

Unfortunately, as I travel around the world quite a lot, in the past I’ve had my credit cards skimmed & hacked more than a few times. These credit cards are linked to frequent flyer points etc. but they are also linked to all my regular bills (car, house, health insurances; water rates, electricity, telephone, council rates, strata levies, memberships, subscriptions, pay TV,  motorway tolls & the list just goes on), hence, the hassle of cancelling the cards & updating the new cards is extremely time consuming, so I won’t use them overseas if I can avoid it.  I simply prefer to transfer money in & out of my debit card as needed.  It works best for my lifestyle this way.

Cheers!!!