Deployment 2021-22 booking season begins

[mugtech]

25 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I can feel your feelings Michelle.
I have a wife stuck in the Philippines and it’s basically in marshal law .She is on a mission and won’t come home.

Where is she in the Philippines?  We are in Ilocos Sur north of Manila, our restrictions are easing slightly on Friday, we will actually be allowed to travel within the province or to neighboring provinces who also have eased restrictions.  The bigger the city, the more strictly the Luzon Lockdown is enforced.

[Chiliburn]

17 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Where is she in the Philippines?  We are in Ilocos Sur north of Manila, our restrictions are easing slightly on Friday, we will actually be allowed to travel within the province or to neighboring provinces who also have eased restrictions.  The bigger the city, the more strictly the Luzon Lockdown is enforced.

Subic Bay Area  ,alongapo, I cant remember the town.

I haven’t heard from her in a couple of weeks but she got a $150 out of my bank account yesterday so she must be alive.

[mugtech]

She is in the prime area of Luzon Lockdown, won't be seeing any of the few lifted restrictions on Friday.  $150 should allow her to eat well and survive.  Is she on a church mission?  We were scheduled for a cruise on Quantum stopping at Subic Bay starting on 2/24/20,   Hope she is doing well, hard to communicate with all the internet cafes closed.

[mugtech]

Wondering if anyone knows or has any ideas where Ovation is headed in September, 2021, after the Alaska season?  Looking for the trans Pacific cruises in September or October of 2021.  Was surprised to see the Norwegian Sun is booking Seattle to Tokyo for October 2021 and October 2022.  Wonder when the October, 2021, Asia cruises will be available as NCL has the Sun and the Spirit all ready to book into April of 2022.

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, mugtech said:

Wondering if anyone knows or has any ideas where Ovation is headed in September, 2021, after the Alaska season? 

Without any other info, one would assume back to Australia.

[MADflyer]

6 hours ago, mugtech said:

Wondering if anyone knows or has any ideas where Ovation is headed in September, 2021, after the Alaska season?  

 

Looks like they have all 4 ships currently doing Hawaii. They should all be headed to Australia. 

 

Honolulu bookings : 

Radiance of the Seas  20 Sept 2021

Ovation of the Seas    28 Sept 2021

Serenade of the Seas  7 Oct  2021

Quantum of the Seas 13 Oct 2021

 

[mugtech]

5 hours ago, MADflyer said:

 

Looks like they have all 4 ships currently doing Hawaii. They should all be headed to Australia. 

 

Honolulu bookings : 

Radiance of the Seas  20 Sept 2021

Ovation of the Seas    28 Sept 2021

Serenade of the Seas  7 Oct  2021

Quantum of the Seas 13 Oct 2021

 

So it looks like Spectrum and Wonder for China Hong Kong Singapore?

[R & T]

7 hours ago, MADflyer said:

 

Looks like they have all 4 ships currently doing Hawaii. They should all be headed to Australia. 

 

Honolulu bookings : 

Radiance of the Seas  20 Sept 2021

Ovation of the Seas    28 Sept 2021

Serenade of the Seas  7 Oct  2021

Quantum of the Seas 13 Oct 2021

 

Is this what you think will happen or is this real.  I could not find it on Royal site.  Thanks

[springaussie]

1 minute ago, R & T said:

Is this what you think will happen or is this real.  I could not find it on Royal site.  Thanks

This is mainly  a deployment guessing post based on port bookings.. 

Info supplied by Hawaii Ports. 

[MADflyer]

6 minutes ago, R & T said:

Is this what you think will happen or is this real.  I could not find it on Royal site.  Thanks

 

These are all actual bookings with the port, as stated. They would show other Hawaii port bookings, but I only listed the Honolulu bookings. 

[R & T]

Just now, MADflyer said:

 

These are all actual bookings with the port, as stated. They would show other Hawaii port bookings, but I only listed the Honolulu bookings. 

Thank you.  How long  do you think, before Royal will post these sailings?

 

[MADflyer]

3 minutes ago, R & T said:

Thank you.  How long  do you think, before Royal will post these sailings?

 

This will be a very difficult year to predict. Cruising in Australia and New Zealand may turn out to be even more restrictive, depending on how things develop. 

[MichellePerth]

27 minutes ago, MADflyer said:

This will be a very difficult year to predict. Cruising in Australia and New Zealand may turn out to be even more restrictive, depending on how things develop. 

I love cruising, but I love Australia more.  A lot of Aussie cruisers think that we should have cruising come back in the ANZ bubble.   I disagree as I think most Australians don’t want to hear about cruise ships for quite awhile.  If the ships were only to carry domestic passengers, the economic impact for ports visited would not be that great as passengers would likely be ones who had previously cruised.  Newbies would not be cruising en masse.  As such, there would be a lot of been there done that.  Not a lot of money would be spent.  I recall hearing a business owner in Hobart complaining that the disruption caused by the ships was more costly than the tiny amount spent by the “tight” cruisers.  I don’t spend much in domestic ports. Sometimes I will find a retail item that I will buy, but not often.  Sometimes I’ll have a meal or a drink or two.  Sometimes people will hire a car.  There just is not that much spent on shore by domestic passengers.  If domestic passengers have to fly to Sydney to catch the cruise, they won’t go a few days early and spend lots of money, especially as the new policies appear to be that you will be able to self certify that you are sick and get a full refund.  If you have flight difficulties, you can get your cruise fare back.

 

if the cruise ships were to come and cruise in the ANZ bubble, most of the money will be sent overseas to service the debt and pay home office expenses.  Most of Royals food is shipped to the ports from overseas to ensure consistency.  Nearly all of the crew are foreigners.  The biggest  Australian expenditure will likely be fuel.  
 

If the ships are not allowed to cruise in the ANZ bubble, people who would have cruised will spend their money other ways.   They will dine out in their local restaurants.  They will spend money on their gardens and homes.  They will travel,domestically.  They might fly to Tasmania and spend two weeks touring the island, injecting more money in the Australian economy than if they had spent months cruising.

 

Im all about freeedom and personal choice.  I don’t see non cruisers wanting ships back in Australian waters.  I don’t blame them.  They see it as a risk. Regardless of whether it is a  huge risk or not, an outbreak could close the entire Australian economy down again.   We won’t have the money for another bailout.  Even if low likelihood of an outbreak,even though the virus has been oversold, if the economy is shut a second time, we will be sunk.  
 

There is not sufficient upside to allowing ships in our waters.  They will likely be a net drain financially and we can’t afford that.  
 

ANZ  cruisers should wait until foreign ports are open and go there to get their cruising fix.  Once things are open in Australia , we should capitalise on our success and attract fly in foreign tourists who will add so much more to our economy if they tour on land.

[springaussie]

48 minutes ago, MichellePerth said:

I love cruising, but I love Australia more.  A lot of Aussie cruisers think that we should have cruising come back in the ANZ bubble.   I disagree as I think most Australians don’t want to hear about cruise ships for quite awhile.  If the ships were only to carry domestic passengers, the economic impact for ports visited would not be that great as passengers would likely be ones who had previously cruised.  Newbies would not be cruising en masse.  As such, there would be a lot of been there done that.  Not a lot of money would be spent.  I recall hearing a business owner in Hobart complaining that the disruption caused by the ships was more costly than the tiny amount spent by the “tight” cruisers.  I don’t spend much in domestic ports. Sometimes I will find a retail item that I will buy, but not often.  Sometimes I’ll have a meal or a drink or two.  Sometimes people will hire a car.  There just is not that much spent on shore by domestic passengers.  If domestic passengers have to fly to Sydney to catch the cruise, they won’t go a few days early and spend lots of money, especially as the new policies appear to be that you will be able to self certify that you are sick and get a full refund.  If you have flight difficulties, you can get your cruise fare back.

 

if the cruise ships were to come and cruise in the ANZ bubble, most of the money will be sent overseas to service the debt and pay home office expenses.  Most of Royals food is shipped to the ports from overseas to ensure consistency.  Nearly all of the crew are foreigners.  The biggest  Australian expenditure will likely be fuel.  
 

If the ships are not allowed to cruise in the ANZ bubble, people who would have cruised will spend their money other ways.   They will dine out in their local restaurants.  They will spend money on their gardens and homes.  They will travel,domestically.  They might fly to Tasmania and spend two weeks touring the island, injecting more money in the Australian economy than if they had spent months cruising.

 

Im all about freeedom and personal choice.  I don’t see non cruisers wanting ships back in Australian waters.  I don’t blame them.  They see it as a risk. Regardless of whether it is a  huge risk or not, an outbreak could close the entire Australian economy down again.   We won’t have the money for another bailout.  Even if low likelihood of an outbreak,even though the virus has been oversold, if the economy is shut a second time, we will be sunk.  
 

There is not sufficient upside to allowing ships in our waters.  They will likely be a net drain financially and we can’t afford that.  
 

ANZ  cruisers should wait until foreign ports are open and go there to get their cruising fix.  Once things are open in Australia , we should capitalise on our success and attract fly in foreign tourists who will add so much more to our economy if they tour on land.

Michelle I agree with most of this.

If cruising was only allowed in Australia I can’t see more then 5 ships all up. I also can’t see every port agreeing to cruise ships. If Cairns and Tasmania says no to cruise ships it doesn’t leave many options. The Royal Aus Boss Gavin has been quoted as saying he hopes to starts Oz domestic cruising in October. If successful I can’t see Royal having more then 2 ships one of these could be Celebrity.  

The ports will certainly want us to spend our money while we are there and not toddling back to the ships at 1600 for Diamond Drinks.

Another thing that is very possible is for the Oz Fleet to take the Indian, Indonesian and Phillipines crew to Florida and quarantine on the way. 

 

[MADflyer]

1 hour ago, MichellePerth said:

I love cruising, but I love Australia more.  A lot of Aussie cruisers think that we should have cruising come back in the ANZ bubble.  

 

It certainly becomes more and more evident of the difficulties that will be facing the cruise industry all the way into 2022 at the minimum. This will become a very challenging couple of years. 

 

Even certain regions of the USA would like to establish bubbles if they could, but would definitely face legal challenges if an attempt were to be made. It really makes sense that a more limited region can plan and apply restrictions. 

 

The cruise industry has become so accustomed to limited restrictions and control that it might be a very difficult environment for them to function. 

[squadron]

13 hours ago, R & T said:

Is this what you think will happen or is this real.  I could not find it on Royal site.  Thanks

Who opens the ports in Hawaii - Federal or State gov"t?     

[MADflyer]

5 minutes ago, squadron said:

Who opens the ports in Hawaii - Federal or State gov"t?     

I think in a public health state of emergency either jurisdiction could influence movements through the ports. Some states even have systems where sets of counties can have more restrictive public health policies than their own state government. 

 

I have no idea which system internally Hawaii has, but due to it being a set of islands I would assume the islands have some form of autonomy on public health emergency issues and could close or restrict a port if it was viewed as a public health issue. If they have a system like Georgia, then the state would have total control. 

 

 

[Coralc]

Since Hawaii is a state, I believe they control their own ports and tourism. 

[pstone1]

We currently have 7 cruises booked next year that originate in either Australia or New Zealand.  We have already booked or spent thousands on both private and ship’s excursions in both Countries and have already reserved a pre-cruise apartment although we plan to have all meals out.  Our friends and family have done the same.  I’m not sure which cruisers are the ones that don’t spend money when they travel, but it’s surely not us, our friends, or our family.

 

On the bright side, if destinations start creating cruising “bubbles” and our cruises get cancelled, we will have a ton of extra cash to have fun spendIng closer to home.

 

Que sera sera!

[LXA350]

On 4/29/2020 at 5:06 AM, Chiliburn said:

I was told by senior officers of voyager at the suite party and also Ovation that wonder is  destined for Brisbane in the  future to go with the private island Lelepa.Thats during our season.

But that was a few months ago before the world got turned upside down.

 

Wonder is being designed for the China market, hence before a major dry dock to amend it more for western needs the idea would be to leave the ship in China / Asia year round.

 

Since it takes a few more years until the Island is ready I guess Oasis 6 or one of the existing Oasis Class ships might head to Brisbaine and given the mild climate throughout the year we will see a ship likely to do 7 day itinararies year round from Brisbane in the future.

[Chiliburn]

23 minutes ago, LXA350 said:

 

Wonder is being designed for the China market, hence before a major dry dock to amend it more for western needs the idea would be to leave the ship in China / Asia year round.

 

Since it takes a few more years until the Island is ready I guess Oasis 6 or one of the existing Oasis Class ships might head to Brisbaine and given the mild climate throughout the year we will see a ship likely to do 7 day itinararies year round from Brisbane in the future.

I think the private island Lelepa will be put on hold,It had supposed to have had a $200M budget and everyone will be short on cash.

 

But on the other hand vanuatu is in the middle of a power struggle between China and the west.China wants a navy base in the area and There will be a lot a foreign aid being thrown around to stop that from happening.

 

 I don’t think we will see Oasis 6 for a long time.

[Biker19]

24 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

But on the other hand vanuatu is in the middle of a power struggle between China and the west

I think it has a more immediate struggle:

 

 

In normal times, a category 5 cyclone sweeping across the Pacific, killing 31 people and destroying thousands of homes, would have led to an influx of foreign aid and volunteers arriving en masse to help with the recovery. But Vanuatu’s efforts to respond to one disaster are restricted by its efforts to prevent another.

 

Cyclone Harold, which also caused widespread destruction in the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga, made landfall in Vanuatu on April 3. One month later, around 1,000 people on the west coast of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu’s largest island, remain with minimal shelter and are running low on food and water. The communities there, among the most remote in Vanuatu, have seen little support due to restrictions put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

The country’s second largest island, Malekula, was among the worst hit by Harold. Media reports suggest that at least a third of the island’s population are in need of emergency relief but Malekula is now under a temporary lockdown, after a Filipino ship stopped there earlier this week, raising concerns of possible COVID-19 transmission. 

 

Vanuatu is one of a handfull of countries that is virus-free, but the fear of the virus arriving is enough for authorities to put in place similar, if not stricter, measures than other countries in the region. Vanuatu declared a state of emergency in late March. All non-essential businesses closed, commercial travel was banned, and social gatherings limited. 

 

In Luganville, Vanuatu’s second largest city, aid agencies report that between 50 and 70 percent of buildings were damaged by Harold. More than half of the country’s population of 300,000 are in need of emergency shelter. The total damage caused by the cyclone is feared worse than Cyclone Pam, which hit Vanuatu in 2015 and cost nearly $600 million, more than half of the country’s annual GDP.

 

Dr. Christopher Bartlett, a climate scientist working on the island of Santo told Newsroom last week that they are still waiting for relief to come. “We’re all pretty much stuck here and the damage is severe – up to 80 and 90 percent of all structures have been completely blown away,” he said. 

 

“Any food gardens and crops have been decimated. We’re looking at a real humanitarian disaster at the moment and trying to pull together what we can with little resources and traditional knowledge to pull us through these days while waiting for relief.”

Despite the devastation, Vanuatu’s Disaster Management Office has banned foreign aid workers from entering the country due to COVID-19. In a statement, the office said “This is an internally run response. We need to work together.”

 

 

Although there are no known cases of the virus in the country, Vanuatu has not been spared the economic impact of the pandemic. A recent survey found that employment in the tourism sector had decreased by 70 percent. Tourism is one of Vanuatu’s most profitable sector. Cyclone Harold could not have come at a worse time. 

 

Australia, New Zealand and China were quick to respond after Harold passed. As of April 28, a combined $8 million worth of aid has been sent to Vanuatu but distribution to communities in need has been hampered by strict quarantine measures.

 

According to Jacqueline De Gailande, the Red Cross secretary-general in Vanuatu, getting relief to communities in essential but so is the ongoing work to protect Vanuatu from COVID-19.

“Cyclone Harold will have a big effect on our COVID-19 activities,” she said. “We cannot afford to have any confirmed cases in Vanuatu so we must really take care in the coming time.”

Complicating matters further is that responding first to the emergence of the pandemic and then to one of the worst natural disaster to ever hit Vanuatu was a caretaker government.

 

With the recovery effort underway and restrictions still in place, parliament elected Bob Loughman prime minister on April 20. In his first statement to parliament, he thanked the caretaker government for guiding the country through a difficult time and spoke of the daunting task ahead. “While we were focused on COVID-19, we could never have known Cyclone Harold would add to the burden,” he said. 

 

Given that COVID-19 has devastated the economy, aid agencies estimate that it could take at least a year for Vanuatu to recover from Cyclone Harold.

The Secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Dame Meg Taylor, acknowledged the challenges ahead but also said it has presented Vanuatu with a possibility to reshape its disaster relief operations. 

 

“This is a chance for nations to plan better, to include the most vulnerable in those plans, and to shape 21st century economies and societies in ways that are healthy, clean, safe and more resilient,” she told RNZ. 

 

She hopes that the region’s experience with the pandemic will lead to improvements to health infrastructure and better disaster preparedness – and in the case of a global emergency, perhaps one less dependent on other nations who may not be able to reach them.

[pstone1]

53 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

I think it has a more immediate struggle:

 

 

Thanks for posting the info about Vanuatu.  The situation there must be truly awful.  ☹️

[Chiliburn]

On 5/2/2020 at 6:45 AM, pstone1 said:

Thanks for posting the info about Vanuatu.  The situation there must be truly awful.  ☹️

One thing not mentioned was the Chinese plane’s were blocking Australian and NZ relief  planes from landing and they had to turn back.

Like I said there’s a power struggle.

[Tree_skier]

On 5/1/2020 at 11:21 AM, pstone1 said:

 

 

On the bright side, if destinations start creating cruising “bubbles” and our cruises get cancelled, we will have a ton of extra cash to have fun spendIng closer to home.

 

Que sera sera!

I was supposed to be boarding Radiance this coming Tuesday.  😞 This was a birthday present for a landmark birthday for my wife. We have replaced it with a luxury AirBnb on the shore of the warmest lake in Canada.  It's about a 5 hour drive.  We're going the week leading to Memorial Day. We could have gone sooner but the weather just isn't warm enough yet. I plan on replicating my cruise experience as much as possible. I bought a case of Pina Colada mix at Costco and an commercial grade blender. I've got a brand new gravity chair that will double as a lounge that I will set on the deck and overlook the lake.  I'm thinking about going out late at night, clipping a towel to the chair so I can curse chair hogs in morning.  When life give you lemons...

  

Edited May 3, 2020 by Tree_skier