Marella Discovery Itinerary Change. Colours of the Far East (Merged threads).

[Vitalsign]

Glad you had a good cruise and glad no one on the ship has the virus hopefully it stays that way

[Roger88]

Cambodia is such a beautiful place. The only bad thing about it is its being poor. Last time we visited Cambodia was during our cruise. We stopped there for literally one day or to be more exact on the beach not far away from some village the name of which I cannot remember. It had sky clear bay n stuff. OMG its unforgettable. I would defiantly recommend this cruise. It will leave you both with nice memories and gorgeous photos

[Vitalsign]

Roger88 - unfortunately Discovery cannot go into Cambodia as if they did they would be banned from any future ports in Malaysia so Cambodia has been dropped from the itinerary 

Next year maybe

[Southendweather]

Doesn't look like Discover stopped at Vietnam?

[Lil_Gem]

Just seen on the cruise critic page of closed ports that malaysia is closed to cruise ships;

"Malaysia: The country has closed its cruise ports to cruise ships following a decision taken by the Health Ministry and Transport Ministry."

 

Any idea what this means for Discovery? we were due to board in Langkawi on 26th March but I've already asked my local store to call me tomorrow once they speak to head office and am now working on the assumption my cruise will be cancelled 😪

[Monarch93]

Oh no. We are boarding Langkawi on the 12th. If that's the case with Malaysia banning cruise ships, i can't see how the cruise can go ahead. Nothing from tui and you can still book it online. Will see what happens.

[Southendweather]

I can’t ever remember a situation like the present before?

[Lil_Gem]

Neither can I, previous outbreaks the world wasn't so connected as it is now!

 

They must have no choice but to cancel now, but i feel for the poor people on board now who may be going nowhere.

 

i saw a post on Facebook say their parents are on board (didn't specify which ship) but said they have 10/14 days at sea because ports are closed and crew don't know whats going on either.

[Southendweather]

1 hour ago, Lil_Gem said:

Just seen on the cruise critic page of closed ports that malaysia is closed to cruise ships;

"Malaysia: The country has closed its cruise ports to cruise ships following a decision taken by the Health Ministry and Transport Ministry."

 

Any idea what this means for Discovery? we were due to board in Langkawi on 26th March but I've already asked my local store to call me tomorrow once they speak to head office and am now working on the assumption my cruise will be cancelled 😪

How are they going to get people home as Langkawi is the airport used?

[Lil_Gem]

they might be allowed to send the current people home from there? who knows!

 

if not, they will have to charter a flight from any port they can get the people off at i guess.

 

i can still see ships in some of the 'closed ports' on the tracker

[Southendweather]

13 minutes ago, Lil_Gem said:

Neither can I, previous outbreaks the world wasn't so connected as it is now!

 

They must have no choice but to cancel now, but i feel for the poor people on board now who may be going nowhere.

 

i saw a post on Facebook say their parents are on board (didn't specify which ship) but said they have 10/14 days at sea because ports are closed and crew don't know whats going on either.

Not that this is any consolation, but I wonder if the cruise lines insurance covers this?

[Lil_Gem]

they will likely have catastrophe insurance, so the insurance company may be involved in whether or not they cancel and entire set of itineraries as that is likely to trigger a catastrophe whereas cancelling one or 2 sailings probably wouldn't trigger insurance.

catastrophe insurance would payout on anything over e.g. £10m

 

(i work in insurance, but not in this field so i don't know anything for sure but that would be my guess)

[rickg8]

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/03/08/malaysia-bans-cruise-ships

[Monarch93]

Also looks like the German operation of TUI Cruises have cancelled their Asia Season

[Vitalsign]

Mein Schiff 6 is currently berthed in Laem Chabang Thailand Only arrived today so will look to see where she is tomorrow

[Bertie Doe]

5 hours ago, Southendweather said:

How are they going to get people home as Langkawi is the airport used?

 

Similar situation to Costa Fortuna heading towards Singapore on the 10th. All passengers to be escorted to airport for flights home. A passenger "staffpage" is posting on Rollcall "19th March 2020 Costa Fortuna" states they are getting all their money back in the form of a 'voucher' to be redeemed within 12 months. See his posts from # 237 onwards. Fortuna cruise from the 10th is cancelled, needless to say.

[insidecabin]

6 hours ago, Lil_Gem said:

they might be allowed to send the current people home from there? who knows!

 

if not, they will have to charter a flight from any port they can get the people off at i guess.

 

i can still see ships in some of the 'closed ports' on the tracker

Marella use their own planes for these far east cruises they just change where they need to go. 

3 dreamliners a week with cruise passengers.

 

[kevinyork]

In addition to the Asia port closures, India has banned cruise ships and now the UAE have done the same so I can’t see how Discovery can reposition from Asia with any port stops or see how passengers could board or disembark.  Costa, Celebrity and Tui Germany have terminated their Asia cruises already.  I expect it’s just a matter of time now for Marella to do the same. 

[Lil_Gem]

I will be waiting for my call from my local Tui store today. i told them to speak to head office when they open and let me know, so we will see.

 

I see on facebook that people currently on board have been on for 5 days and not stopped anywhere, they are currently bobbing near Singapore, same as they were yesterday. It seems as though this morning the Captain announced that the cruise is cancelled and they are trying to arrange to fly passengers home this week (don't know where from, presumably Singapore).

 

I expect Tui will announce this morning that all Discovery itineraries are cancelled at least until it gets back to the Med but we will see, they have been ridiculously slow to react so far!

[kevinyork]

I agree they have been slow.  They shouldn’t really have flown out passengers to embark on Thursday. Marella on Facebook were denying any changes to any ports or cruises right up till last night.  We will see what today brings. I see the US are now advising no one to go on cruises right now. 

[Lil_Gem]

Yes, the Tui German cruise website says they have cancelled upto Dubai for their equivalent cruise but currently the sailing from Dubai to Crete is expected to take place.

It seems the diligent Germans were working yesterday and the lazy UK side of the business wanted the weekend off 🙄 i just hope they will do the right thing as soon as they start work this morning!

[kevinyork]

I agree. Not sure how Tui Germany can say that cruise will go ahead if Dubai isn’t allowing cruise ships and pretty much no port on the journey back to the med is either. Think this week could see all cruises grounded for now.

[Lil_Gem]

It really is huge isn't it!? never thought i would see all cruises stopped but i can really see it happening in the coming weeks.

 

what i dont understand is why the panic about cruises?

i mean i understand that viruses can spread easily on them, but they can on a plane too and very few countries are closing airports.

maybe it is about the media coverage because all the coverage about cruise ships is about how xxx got off and then got diagnosed and now people on board might get it too.

you dont hear that xxx got off a plane recently and others on that plane might get infected too, but it must be happening! (i know the exposure time is obviously a lot less on a flight than on a cruise ship but being sat next to someone infections for say 12 hours would be more than enough to catch it)

[kevinyork]

I think the main difference is on a plane people are generally seated in one spot (apart from going to the loo) but on a ship people walk around touching surfaces that may be infected, handrails, tables, serving utensils, furniture in their cabins etc so the chance of the virus spreading is much greater.   Also cruises generally can attract more elderly people who would be more vulnerable to the more serious effects of the virus. 
 

captain’s announcement on discovery today posted on Facebook.

Edited March 9, 2020 by kevinyork
Added photo

[davecttr]

this is the text from the US State Department about cruising

 

"U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship.  CDC notes increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment. In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, many countries have implemented strict screening procedures that have denied port entry rights to ships and prevented passengers from disembarking.  In some cases, local authorities have permitted disembarkation but subjected passengers to local quarantine procedures.  While the U.S. government has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities.  

This is a fluid situation.  CDC notes that older adults and travelers with underlying health issues should avoid situations that put them at increased risk for more severe disease.  This entails avoiding crowded places, avoiding non-essential travel such as long plane trips, and especially avoiding embarking on cruise ships.  Passengers with plans to travel by cruise ship should contact their cruise line companies directly for further information and continue to monitor the Travel.state.gov website and see the latest information from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html"