bigedwin

Hello

I agree with you 100% 

After 3 years of planning and canceling and rebooking and switching ships etc etc...

We just got back....

 

I can tell you that all the testing before, all the testing upon arrival , all the pre board testing was ALL WORTH IT!

 

We had an amazing Vacation, did the 18 Day DOUBLE the TAHITI on the Breeze. 

We were Blessed by 18 days of Sun and Clear skies.

The Fish and the Coral were Vibrant and abundant.

 

This trip Exceeded our wildest dreams and expectations...

 

Kudos to you and your wise recommendations. We did ATO Lissant tour in Fakarava and We keep pinching ourselves to make sure we were not in a dream.

Fakarava waters were incredibly Crystal clear and the Snorkeling location he took us were indescribable.  We were so lucky to end up at LOW tide on the Lunch Stop and were were able to Walk what seems for ever on one inch deep water over the Sand Bar.

The memories of that day will stay with us forever.....

 

So YES Sometimes we have to let life happen and do what we can to protect ourselves but we need to LIVE. 

 

You go!!

 

 

Hello

 

Just got back form 18 days on the Breeze.

Currently Amphora is Open for dinner but the tables are spaced out so it is not crowded at all there.

There is also the back of the ship in Verandas its open for Breakfast and Lunch with mostly outside seating. ON several Evenings This becomes CANDLES and the full candles menu is served there mostly on outside Seating.  

Cuadro 44 is Not open indoors. They are setting up the Tables around the 8th Floor Sky bar and Grill all outside and they serve the Full Cuadro 44 Menu there on several evenings. 

For Candles and Cuadro 44 You need to make reservation when you arrive at check in. You can make 1 reservation in each place for the week. Later in the week you can check if there is any availability for a second night but it also depends on how many people are on board. ( in our sailings we were at 50%)

 

 

 

We are giving this another try...Just booked January 16 2022 Twice the Tahiti. Have a group, hoping we can finally make it to Tahiti.

 

 

@bigedwin
Thanks so much for posting this. Very helpful. So much for United agents saying testing will be provided in the terminal! Unless you hear otherwise guess we can plan on getting our testing done 72 hours prior. And I guess on arrival and on the 4th day. Sure be wonderful if you get back an encouraging reply from the UA leisure travel person about in terminal testing......

Reply from UNITED
NOT testing will be done in SFO
“Hi Edwin – sorry but that is incorrect. We are not conducting any COVID testing at SFO. Our agents will only be reviewing passengers documents before they can board.

Thanks for the question.”




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I guess the agents I spoke to were full of it. Imagine hearing the same info and showing up for your flight today fully expecting to be tested in the terminal [emoji20]

Received answer from UNITED
NOT doing test in SFO

“Hi Edwin – sorry but that is incorrect. We are not conducting any COVID testing at SFO. Our agents will only be reviewing passengers documents before they can board.

Thanks for the question.”




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On 8/1/2020 at 12:20 PM, Petoonya said:

@bigedwin

Thanks. Will be anxiously awaiting your findings.

 

 

Hello

Just listened to United presentation. Hosted By Tahiti Tourism.

 

First Tahiti tourism updated  PG Issue.

They reported the Health Protocol is Working.

They consider the PG incident as a positive outcome of the Plan.

Testing procedure has been strengthened by adding the Testing on the day of boarding.

 

UNITED

They Will start tonight with the first flight to Tahiti.

The first flight back will return on August 5th.

 

Mask Will be required in airport and in Airplane.

Crew will have additional mask for passengers that need a replacement.

Highlighted their Clean Plus initiative in partnership with Clorox. 

Information on the program is their website.

Food services will be provided in sealed packages.

No blankets or pillows will be provided in any class of service.

 

International departure city will not check documents, The Documents will be checked in SAN FRANCISCO.

Inquired about the Testing in San Francisco by United,

They totally Ignored the question............

 

They reinstated that they have updated their website with the latest information.

 

Sent in the Question to Sandy Everett United Leisure Sales Representative to see if she can provide an answer.

 

It feels to me that they are going to follow Air Tahiti Nui Process of requiring testing 3 days prior to international portion of the flight.

But today is the first day the flight departs in about 2 hours so we should start seeing some reports on how the real experience went.....

 

 

 

 

Thanks

 

This is exactly what I tough will be required.

 

It is not a mayor issue to do the extra testing if they want to be able to cruise.

 

I think this scenario gives a stronger case for slowly returning to cruising.

 

It will be a lot easier to implement in small ships like PG and WS.

 

Still hopeful the larger cruise lines are looking at this and learning what works and how many safety nets are needed.

 

 

This is definitely a case study in the making.
Did the testing plan worked as planned.?
Was the response part of the plan?
What will be the options if people want to continue or stop the cruise?
What will the government in Tahiti allow WS to do?
Was it part of the plan?

They must have a plan in place with the possibility of this happening.
You don’t really start cruising with no plan B or C.

All cruise lines will be watching and hopefully learning best practices from this.




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This is very sad news indeed.
https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/covid-19-case-paul-gauguin-french-polynesia
Thought I read that the (RT) PCR test, that which is currently required 72 hours prior to flight, is highly accurate. But now read that it's accuracy is related the number of days after exposure, 5-8 days being the most accurate. (Don't quote me- hearsay.)
Unfortunate for the people on the ship. More unfortunate for French Polynesians who may have been exposed.
 
For those of us traveling soon or in 2021, I hope no one loses hope over this. There are other options and as we all know the testing process is being refined constantly. I'll post more about those on PG as soon as I hear something.

Well it had been going too good to be true.....

Best case scenario is a false positive.....

Now time to wait and see if the procedure in place works....
Not exactly the way you want to see if your plan of action is valid...
But hope the procedure works as intended and no other person gets COVID


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I will be listening to a webinar on Tuesday with United presenting regarding Tahiti.
Once we hear I will come here and report.....




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Susie,
Why not wait and see how it's going for PG passengers in September. You've nothing to lose.

We were on the September 10 and it got Cancelled by WS.
We are now booked for the 7 day Jan 21 2021
Hoping for the best



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As of right now, I saw the video for the self administered test in Tahiti, It looks complicated but then again they spell every step in detail. It might work for them for the time being....

 

Paul Gauguin Cruises stated they have 2 Instruments on board that can do the Molecular test.

So I would gather they can do the test without having to do the SELF testing kit......

 

Pauls G starts its cruises late July so we will monitor to see how that flows.....

 

Link to announcement in English

 

  https://tahititourisme.com/en-us/covid-19/?

 

 

https://tahititourisme.com/en-us/covid-19/?
 

opening July 15

Just throwing in my 2 cents.....

 

You probably will spend more than $1200.00 In Hotel and Meals in Moorea Only.

Meals are not included in most hotels stays and the Islands are very Very $$$.

 

The cruise will cover your meals and your stay for those extra 4 days.......

 

I am biased because as long as we are flying that far we rather spend more time in the smaller Idyllic Islands.....

 

We have researched both Rangiroa and Fakarava and it would be a deal breaker if we cannot go to the Blue Lagoon once we are in French polynesia.

 

Good Luck.... 

Lots of changes and canceled cruises are not reflected in the online site. Call your TA for assistance if rebooking.  Insist on transferring booking, not cancel and rebook.  

First Wind Spirit Cruise is scheduled for September 2020. After dry dock in Singapore.

Windstar Cruises announced today the 148-guest Wind Spirit will be its first yacht to resume sailing after suspending operations further due to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Wind Spirit will resume sailing in Tahiti with its first cruise departing on September 3, 2020 and other yachts will follow later in 2020 and 2021.


148-guest Wind Spirit:Resumes sailing September 3, 2020 in Tahiti on previously scheduled itineraries.




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We were on the Regatta April 4 cruise. It got cancelled on March 12 or so. Had first the excursions refunded , a week later had the rest of the refund... we are in USA
For us it was less than a month, but we were on the first group of cancelations right after China ports. The number of cancelled passengers grew exponentially afterwards. Not all personal works in ACCOUNTING , so not everyone can process the refunds. It’s not an easy press a button process. Funds will come from different areas, tours, transfers, taxes, ports fees, cruise fare, pre paid grants, it’s not just one big bucket of cash to pay everyone back , it’s from many smaller buckets or accounts. So patience is key....





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Great! Love Windstar Wizard!

Just checked some sailings and it looks like it might be updating again. Could someone confirm... I checked some Wind Spirit dates and it looked accurate availability. This is a great Tool,

Ed




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We are Hoping that September 10, 17 day cruise is a go with Windstar Spirit.

We Booked our air directly with United From SFO.

Final payment is in mid June.

Hopefully will have a clearer Picture of the situation in Tahiti by Mid June.

 

So far Tahiti is starting to open up for the locals so we will need to see how that rolling openings go and if they are going to start allowing tourist to visit by August/September.....

 

Well, on 6th March, Oceania made a major itinerary change, replacing Italy by France, which corresponds to about 40% change. As I am living in the French Med seashore, I replied that such a change is unacceptable and is a break of contract, so I asked for a money refund, or as a backup a increased FCC. They refused to do both and transform it into a FCC of 100%; which I replied again is not acceptable, as a 100% cashback should be an option. A couple of week later, they cancelled the cruise, as all European countries were anyway not accepting ships in their harbours. They never offered 100% cashback nor 125% FCC, which I find at least unfair, maybe also illegal.

Unless you had insurance and you submit a claim, that is the correct outcome.

If you cancel for any reason the current cancelation policy is in effect. Your only recourse is insurance. Legally all cruise lines can change schedule of sailing due to unforeseen circumstances , this case pandemic was the reason for itinerary change.

They are being generous offering a 100% FCC. They do not have to give you that as that is not their standard policy.

IF THEY canceled and you were still booked Then and only Then they will follow their generous offer of giving you a full 100% refund (without you needing insurance submit all) or they generously provided extra offer to the people that THEY cancelled a 125% FCC.
So clearly not ilegal and you have no legal basis for a claim. This will be a good time to read over all the Oceania contract. You will clearly see they are fully within their right to do what they did and you will see you actually got a better resolution than their contract calls for. Good luck



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1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

I wonder how she pays her bills 🙂

Travel agents get a commission from the cruiseline directly. We do not pay them for their work.

So if the trip is cancelled and the customer gets a refund most cruise lines will not pay the commission to the TA.

 

So the statement “how she pays her bills” 

She pays her bills with the commissions given by the cruise lines and travel companies AFTER the customer completed their travel.

 

 

 

Hi

Cruise was cancelled by Oceania and they sent email to TA on March 12.

Oceania gave until March 20th for refund request unless you wanted a Future Cruise credit. 

TA called Oceania and placed request for refund that same day March 12.

We did not want a FCC because we would have had to use the FCC in 1 transaction and the cruise was 28 days so we did not feel like limiting ourselves to options longer than 28 days in order to redeem the Future Cruise voucher. Plus the FCC can only be used by the person who booked originally only so if we wanted to split the credit for 2-3 shorter trips it would have been imposible. 
 

So I’m gathering they processed all FCCs first then they processed cash refunds based on request date not sail date.

That’s great.
When did you actually cancel and request the refund?

Oceania Cancelled the Cruise on March 12.
The same day the cruise was cancelled by them they emailed offering FCC at 125% of value or 100% full refund.





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Had April 4 Oceania Regatta Cruise.
Requested refund for 2 rooms.
Both rooms were refunded and all cash in bank early this last week.



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3 hours ago, Travelicious said:

Has this changed over the last few days?  This is contrary to what the FAQs indicated as of several days ago.

 

Sorry NCL WILL allow splitting FCC.

 

I was On a OCEANIA Cruise with PETOONYA and Oceania Does not Allow splitting of FCC.

I was referring to the Oceania cruise that just got cancelled on us.

 

Sorry if i caused some confusion.