jimmieg

20 minutes ago, mgfendley said:

I just looked at Alaska cruises after July 1st and it shows every southbound not available for any ship/cabin category! We are booked on Coral Aug 5th but was hoping to find a better room for our children. There were lots of cabins last night. When I saw this for our cruise I checked the others - all the same!

Check again.  Might have been a momentary blip. Seeing lots of cabins.

12 hours ago, Mrs.Ripper3785 said:

I want to say I'm disappointed in how they are handling it as well.  But I'm metering that with the fact that they have another ship at sea that was refused foreign ports and has sick passengers aboard that is heading to FL on Saturday.  They have had their hands full.  I imagine an announcement is forthcoming. They've acknowledged the issue in tweet replies on twitter.  

 

Handling a particular ship in crisis and adjusting a sailing schedule for future passengers are two different matters.

I would have expected more in the way of responsiveness from a veteran company.  They have a hole in their decision-making which will need to be addressed.

(BTW - I've seen this response quoted, but it is not easily found on their Twitter feed, nor would most of their passengers turn to Twitter to find out what's going on.) 

39 minutes ago, Captain_Morgan said:

 

Just to be clear, the HAL Group only includes P&O Australia, not P&O UK as they along with Cunard come under Carnival UK which is separate in an operational aspect from anything relating to the HAL Group.  Yes, they're all part of the same dysfunctional family known as Carnival Corp. but they're run autonomously from HAL, Princess, etc...

 

To further break it down, Stein Kruse was the President and CEO of HAL until late December 2013 when the concept of the HAL Group was formed and he was then appointed CEO of the group with brand specific presidents put in place (i.e. Jan Swartz for Princess and Orlando Ashford for HAL) both of whom report to him (Kruse) and he in turn reports to Arnold Donald.

And interesting then, that Cunard has (at least some of their graphics work here in the Princess facilities. And under Carnival Corp officers Jan Schwartz is listed as not only as Group President for Princess but also Carnival Australia.

Definitely convoluted in my mind. Will be interesting to see who rises to the top in the current dilemma.

Guess these are hard times for Princess.  Probably gave a bit to the developers for the advertising.

Just a little warning would have helped me bet like a high-roller since I'm under house arrest and had over 163,000,000 points! 😵

Maybe I can ask for a FCC?

I have am still a month out from final payment on a Mediterranean cruise. Am waiting on cancelling to see if Princess will cancel first in this giant game of chicken.

I did try to cancel my not paid for yet flexible EZAir flights twice.  Used the red "cancel for all" button.  The flights remain. Some glitch in system.

19 minutes ago, fredflint said:

I don't think they will combine brands, each one has something that makes it that brand.  Plus I am sure they are all insulated from each other so that a lawsuit or penalty of some sort cannot take them all down.

 

I assume right now that employees can rotate between them without any issues.

 

Don't forget they are not necessarily competing with themselves so much as filling up the  shelves so to speak so the other brands do not have space.

 

These brands are all the same company

 

Good point.

The corporate announcement today in attempting to raise $6bn in cash, which is different from the periodic rolling pause announcement:

 "We cannot predict when any of our ships will begin to sail again," Carnival said."

An alternative would perhaps be to mothball a few ships in the largest brands (Princess, Carnival, HAL) to reduce capacity and expense in the near term. Roll them out as demand increases.

But, nobody is asking me. I just remember working in the rust belt when seismic changes were coming to the tire, steel and auto industries. There is a psychological denial that things are changing and denial can effect decision-making for the future 

I do trust some smarter people are talking round the clock about saving an industry I love with all options on the table.

3 hours ago, John99 said:

  "We cannot predict when any of our ships will begin to sail again," Carnival said.

This is my key takeaway. This is truth, regardless of rolling pause updates.

If they are successful in raising $6bn, and then take a conservative approach to deploying itineraries as ports re-open, cut expenses (keep some ships mothballed for a time), and engender passenger confidence in speeding up refunds, I think there is hope.  As an avid cruisers, I am sadly losing 49 days at sea this year, but have an additional 64 days already booked so far in 2021-2022 and looking to add another 10-20 days as business resumes.

Hope is not a not a business plan.  Trusting there are strategy sessions taking place at the highest levels of CCL with all its brands.

8 minutes ago, Wakepatrol said:

I canceled my March 14th cruise on March 

10th. I was told I would see my refund in 7 to ten business days. I waited 10 business days no refund, so I called again.

 

i was told any day now you should see it. 
Today is March 30th no refund so called again. They put me on hold then came back and told me it would be 60 days.

 

why not tell me this on March 10th when I canceled instead of me checking bank statements and endless hold times waiting for a rep? 

Like everything about this crisis, it has grown beyond what anyone thought.  Whatever anyone tells you about refunds, it has turned into a giant nightmare. Anything shorter than 90 days will "exceed my expectations."

Carnival Corp is now trying to negotiate a 7 billion dollar cash infusion.  That will give you an idea of how much cash they are burning through.

26 minutes ago, loge23 said:

That's an interesting scenario given that none of us can predict the demand level after this crisis. Some folks on SM have been declaring the end of the cruise era. I'm not in that corner, but I do think that the peak demand we saw before this situation will not be seen again for some time. This will result from a combination of factors: economic, societal, and the lingering effects from cruises being at the forefront of recent communicable diseases.  

That said, we should all find it interesting that Princess and Holland have been under the same management team since 2013. Arguably Princess has had, up until now, the higher brand profile of the two but this crisis may change that perception among consumers. It would be a shame to see the brand expire but that's among the least of our worries now I suppose. 

Loge23

I wanted to dispute your reference to same management team, but trying to figure out the overlapping responsibilities of executive VP over multiple brands, groups, officers, etc is confusing, especially when Seabourn, P&O, Cunard, Carnival UK, etc are thrown in the mix. So, I can't dispute, but neither could I draw an org chart (I know, I'm old school 😉)

So what actual responsibilities and decision-making powers do Jan Schwartz and Orlando Ashford have for their brands?  Who made the decision for the PCL 60-day pause?

4 hours ago, HotRoot said:

Just an fyi, Seaborn is competing with SilverSea and Regent, not Azamara and Oceania.

Perhaps so. None of them are in my personal wheelhouse. Just read comments from smaller ship, more inclusive amenity lovers comparing their experiences.

7 hours ago, sfaaa said:

No need to speculate. Wait till Monday.

Nature abhors a vacuum, or at least I do. 

The original Princess 60 day pause was bold.  Others following with 30 day moves, the rolling 30 day moves, finally early Alaska cancellations have been after the fact announcements of what avid cruisers already knew.

Monday is a great opportunity for another bold move by CCL Corp to lend confidence.  A tepid response will be chilling to the industry.

Watched Aaron Donald's video to reassure employees in regard to financial challenges. Then read that a forward announcement scheduled for today was delayed until Monday.

I am wondering if there would be a significant financial advantage for CCL, at this time, to consolidate brands in some way.  It is usually thought of the larger brands in the family that Carnival competes in the same market with RC and possibly NCL. Competition with Celebrity is Princess.  Azamara and Oceana might be competing for same demographic as Seaborne.

Does HAL have a niche?  Has the Princess brand been damaged too much by events surrounding Diamond/Grand/Ruby or now the HAL brand with Zaandam news?

Mergers are complicated with history, corporate culture, brand loyalty, but auto, airlines and hotel brands have had to deal with it.

Don't know what you would do with any unneeded ships in this environment to raise capital. Savings might be only to management, advertising, sales and operations.

This is meant to be a positive outside the box consideration in counterpoint alternative to the various bankruptcy speculation threada on various brand discussions.

Thoughts?

5 hours ago, Esprit said:

We booked Enchanted for 1st August. If cruises don’t resume in June I’m fearful I may have to cancel. I can’t go at another time of year and don’t want to take the FCC.

As someone else said, it no big deal in the scheme of things. I’m so lucky I can keep working in this difficult times.

Be cautious if you want a refund. So far, unless final is extended, I believe an August 1 sailing requires a 90 day  (May 2?) final. Check your cruise booking.

While they assure you that YOU can cancel later, that is for FCC only, unless they cancel.

I am booked on this same departure, though I am doubtful it will sail as planned.

Fincantieri shipyard is shutdown until April 3 at this point. Don't know how long finish and sea trials will take. Don't know how much extra time was built into schedule before launch.

"STOPPAGE OF PRODUCTION ACTIVITY FURTHER EXTENDED
26 MARCH 2020
Trieste, March 26, 2020 – Despite having already implemented all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of its employees, Fincantieri has decided to  further extend the work stoppage in all its Military and Cruise Vessels production plants and offices from March 30th until the date indicated in the decree of the President of the Council of Ministers adopted on March 22nd. This decision was made in consideration of the current COVID-19 situation, the need to continue contrasting the epidemiological phenomenon through stringent and incisive measures, and the dispositions set forth in the above-mentioned decree.
To this end, Fincantieri and representatives of the national Trade Unions FIM – FIOM – UILM signed an agreement to guarantee continuity in production at the end of the stoppage.
In particular, the agreement sets forth that:
• the Company shall apply for Ordinary Redundancy Fund for “COVID-19 Emergency”, at zero hours, for all employees of all Company sites, as of March 30th and for the entire stoppage period envisaged by the decree as of today’s date;
• as an alternative to the Ordinary Redundancy Fund, employees may take accrued holidays/paid annual leave (PAL), with prior approval request;
• during the period of time covered by the Ordinary Redundancy Fund, all maintenance and safety activities and essential servicing of plants and facilities shall continue, as shall also all managerial and management activities that are strictly necessary to fulfil the Company’s current obligations and to carry out all activities that are preliminary to resuming production;
• the Company shall continue adopting smart work solutions where applicable, as determined by the specific work activities concerned and the availability of compatible IT equipment.
Moreover, given the need to extend the work stoppage, the agreement redefines the type of economic compensation applied from March 16th to March 29th, 2020 (stoppage period). The agreement sets forth that instead of anticipating the regular two-week period of collective leave, employees will take holidays and/or PAL matured as of December 31st, 2019, and/or PAL hours matured in the year 2020, as envisaged in the current National Collective Labor Agreement.
Employees with insufficient remaining holidays or PAL hours to cover the stoppage period, may request individually that other relevant tools (holidays matured in 2020, hour bank, recovery leave, etc.) be applied to cover the 80 hours of the period concerned.
Lastly, in order to comply with the current product plan, the agreement sets forth that upon resuming the production activity, there will be no annual summer stoppage.  Individual accrued holidays will be authorized as scheduled at every worksite after taking into consideration relevant technical and production needs."
 

May have to cancel EZair flight separately.

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

What the article leaves out, is that evidence of the virus was found before any cleaning and disinfecting had been done to those surfaces.

 

Also, the study that reported the evidence of the virus indicated that it was not determined to be in a state that would be infectious.

 

Unless shown otherwise, I would assume that the cleaning/disinfecting procedures that are becoming common in the travel industry due to the virus would make cruise ships safe for passengers and crew as far as the virus is concerned.

 

Of course determining if a new crew member or passenger is harboring the virus is another problem. With many who are positive but not showing any symptoms and others who have been recently infected but not yet at the point they might display symptoms, it is impossible to tell if anyplace you go that others have been is safe. Not a cruise ship, not an airplane, not a bus, not an Uber vehicle, not a grocery store. Not anywhere.

Caribill- 

To the folks that dis cruise ships as "floating Petri dishes," I can only say that has not been my experience in 45 cruises. Constant cleaning of cabins and public areas that would put schools, hotels, office buildings, etc of similar size to shame.  I was sick once for 2 days, my wife the same on a different cruise.  Not a bad record.

But, you're correct- it's not the structure, it's the people.  Can't make people who touch common surfaces to wash hands before leaving restroom - although I've made an attempt on a couple of occasions.  Seen the same in offices as well.☹️

4 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I can't imagine this caught them or any major cruise companies by surprise.

More likely to catch by surprise those hoping for a waiver of the PVSA, which is unlikely under any scenario. 😉

Seems hard for a Celebrity to make a plan...

https://www.kinyradio.com/news/news-of-the-north/report-port-of-seattle-suspends-2020-alaska-cruise-season-indefinitely/

For what it's worth...

https://www.kinyradio.com/news/news-of-the-north/report-port-of-seattle-suspends-2020-alaska-cruise-season-indefinitely/

9 minutes ago, Mibele said:

I am booked on the May 16 Ruby cruise and called today to ask about it and was basically told just to hold on a few weeks to see what they are going to be doing with the cruises that are scheduled to sail into Canada before July 1.  But he seemed to think they will probably cancel (he did not say this, I just asked and he audibly nodded lol and I am guessing).  Very nice rep on the phone - I thanked him for taking the time to speak with me and he was very appreciative.  

Yes, RCI announced they would delay Alaska on all four of their brands until July.  Expect PCL will follow.

In addition, due to port closures around the world, Royal Caribbean added they expect to return to service for Alaska, Canada and New England sailings July 1, 2020.

2 minutes ago, Tab_Hardy said:

When are those refunds supposed to go out? They didn't give any indication of the timeframe on the online form. I feel like they're slow-walking it to avoid paying out a lot of capital in the near term. 

Updated March 20, 2020 5:00PM PT

Processing Time for Refunds

Thank you for your patience during this time. Given the volume of refund requests and the care being dedicated to ensure each guest’s request is processed accurately and in a coordinated manner, please allow for approximately 60 days for refunds to be processed. All refunds will be processed in due course, but delays should be anticipated. Please allow sufficient time for us to manage this process and know we are doing everything in our power to expedite where possible.

RCI today announcdd a secured line of credit for 2.2 Billion for 364 days, renewable for an additional 364 days. This is in addition to ship builds they say are funded. I assume same would be available to CCL.

So $$ is out there for cruiseline operational purposes. I just don't know what assets besides ships they have for security(real estate in Miami? Bahamas property?)

So, what lender would want a ship or two if things go south? Seems like all lines face the same challenges.

Ideally, cruise payments would be escrowed against sailings and not used for other cash flow purposes.  Apparently, that does not happen, and in times like this cash flow stresses the refund process.  Sadly, this does not engender confidence moving forward with future bookings and it starts the vicious cycle.

BTW, I am a long-time Princess loyalist.

4 hours ago, welly world said:

Does anyone know which ship will be used for South America cruiestours in 2022? And when these itineraries might be available?

Booking is available now.  I am booked Buenos Aires to Los Angeles under B.S.E.

Two $100 FCD's for a month long booking on a new ship two years out is the biggest bargain in travel.

Anything could happen happen to Princess or me, but it's scheduled.😉

6 minutes ago, lderochi said:

I know, I know. Today my wife ordered me to “just unpack the damn suitcases” sitting on the guest room bed that I have meticulously been organizing, even though the sail date isn’t until May 27. Ah well. Denial and anger are over. Acceptance beckons. 

I hear ya, Iderochi.  Had two long bucket list cruises this year - 1st already cancelled- had suitcase packed. The 2nd coming to final in 5 weeks- won't happen, just waiting to see if they cancel first.