Caronavirus - effect on A/NZ cruise market

[banzaii]

So the Chinese Govt is preventing it's citizens from travelling overseas.  I assume this includes cruises turning around in China.  Also lets not forget the turmoil in HK.

 

When SARS pandemic struck, several cruise ships were relocated in Oz!

 

If more ships arrive, what effect on local cruise pricing?

Where is there capacity in the tegion to homeport additional ships?

Can we be so bold as to think Wellington, Dunedin, Tauranga, Hobart, Perth or Darwin?

Is this the time for RCCL to have year-round home porting?

[Chiliburn]

50 minutes ago, banzaii said:

So the Chinese Govt is preventing it's citizens from travelling overseas.  I assume this includes cruises turning around in China.  Also lets not forget the turmoil in HK.

 

When SARS pandemic struck, several cruise ships were relocated in Oz!

 

If more ships arrive, what effect on local cruise pricing?

Where is there capacity in the tegion to homeport additional ships?

Can we be so bold as to think Wellington, Dunedin, Tauranga, Hobart, Perth or Darwin?

Is this the time for RCCL to have year-round home porting?

I couldn’t see any booking for radiance in Alaska next year,maybe it will be here year round.

[banzaii]

8 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I couldn’t see any booking for radiance in Alaska next year,maybe it will be here year round.

I think that 21-22 will almost certainly see a RCCL ship with extended season if not year round out of Brisvegas.

 

Not actually looking at the regular deployments.  Looking at how the cruise lines deal with ships that wont be allowed to turn around in China over the next few months.

Edited January 27, 2020 by banzaii

[By The Bay]

So the Chinese Govt is preventing it's citizens from travelling overseas.  I assume this includes cruises turning around in China.  Also lets not forget the turmoil in HK.
 
When SARS pandemic struck, several cruise ships were relocated in Oz!
 
If more ships arrive, what effect on local cruise pricing?
Where is there capacity in the tegion to homeport additional ships?
Can we be so bold as to think Wellington, Dunedin, Tauranga, Hobart, Perth or Darwin?
Is this the time for RCCL to have year-round home porting?

From the ABC.
"Cruise operators including Royal Caribbean Cruises, Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises and Astro Ocean Cruises said that they cancelled a combined 12 cruises that had been scheduled to embark from Chinese ports before February 2."

Any word on what these shops are doing in the mean time?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[MicCanberra]

I think the restrictions on travellers in and out of China and surrounding countries will escalate. This will include the ships.

[lissie]

I'm wondering what will happen to the cruises that relocate from Oz to Alaska via Asia.  Wondering if there might be some very good deals on those cruises which typically seem to be around May?  I'm about to book an Alaskan cruise - now wondering if I  should wait a few more weeks 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

One of the ships re deployed to Australia during the SARS scare , was Superstar Leo (or Virgo,cant remember)  from Star Cruises . That was a "last minute" short notice cruise and was priced very keenly , so much so that it almost sold out as soon as it was released. 

I think if any other ships were sent down they would also be very keenly priced.

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

Cruise Critic is in constant contact with all major cruise lines regarding coronavirus. We are updating this story as we hear about each cancellation. Not enough cancellations (yet) to warrant any relocations; the ships just stay put. Good question about cheap deals on repositioning cruises that might have to re-route -- haven't heard of any, but please let us know if you do!

 

Cruise Lines Cancel China Sailings Following Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak

https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/5016/

[banzaii]

@CruiseCriticAUeditor

Thanks for linking to the story.

Am keen to watch how this all unfolds and both short and long term flow on effects.

[MicCanberra]

Not sure if I want to take advantage of any cheap cruises in Asia, at least not for a few months anyway.

[traveldayz]

We were booked to board Crystal Symphony in Hong Kong on 15 Feb.

 

Someone on board has posted to CC that the captain announced today that the ship will no longer be docking in Hong Kong - awaiting info as to alternate port.

[MicCanberra]

Not sure what alternatives would be better. If China is off limits, surely Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan would be as well. Maybe Singapore.

[The_Big_M]

China is the source so controls are greater there.

 

The number of cases in countries like Japan and Taiwan is similar to us, so can likely visit there as much as they visit here.

[MMDown Under]

Hopefully if the cruise lines do redeploy ships to 'Australia, they will offer different itineraries.  During SARS, I did a cruise from Sydney to Darwin, with Star Cruises.

[MicCanberra]

Would certainly be interesting if they do all come here.

[gbenjo]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Would certainly be interesting if they do all come here.

Question is where do they go when they get here?

[MMDown Under]

57 minutes ago, gbenjo said:

Question is where do they go when they get here?

Queensland Coast, Darwin, PNG, South Pacific islands further afield, etc. 

[ilikeanswers]

12 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Not sure what alternatives would be better. If China is off limits, surely Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan would be as well. Maybe Singapore.

 

None of the other countries have shut their airports or closed off roads so I don't see why it would be a bad idea to travel to the rest of Asia🤔. So far the epidemic has been confined to China. 

[Beanb41]

The New Zealand Govt has today raised its Travel Advisory for China, by recommending all non essential travel to China be put off for the foreseeable future. This change in advisory means that travel insurance is void for those travelling to China and had purchased their insurance in NZ. Anyone contemplating going to China in the short term should check their insurance

[gbenjo]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

Queensland Coast, Darwin, PNG, South Pacific islands further afield, etc. 

True.... .but the pot is only so big..flooding the market could be  detrimental to the existing vessels  considering the "opposition" would be coming from  ships operated by their  own companies. The timing of it all is also  a bit awkward, there would not be a lot of berthing capacity available  immediately and then the peak season ends  (for a reason) and demand drops off. I think it would be a bit of a nightmare for the cruise lines figuring out where to place ships, ( with a large pax capacity), and where to go on such short notice.

[NSWP]

One would hope any ship redeployed to this region from Asia would have a big clean re the coronavirus.

[gbenjo]

1 minute ago, Beanb41 said:

The New Zealand Govt has today raised its Travel Advisory for China, by recommending all non essential travel to China be put off for the foreseeable future. This change in advisory means that travel insurance is void for those travelling to China and had purchased their insurance in NZ. Anyone contemplating going to China in the short term should check their insurance

We are due to fly to China on the 1st May. I rang Trip a Deal yesterday and they have suspended  trips until 20th Feb and will reassess then and my travel insurance provider were a little hesitant in their response just saying if our trip is cancelled to submit a claim and see what happens. At least we are not going till May so perhaps it will settle down a bit by then (wishful thinking  maybe). Might  just have to book a cheap cruise to the islands instead and with all those extra ships here there will be some good deals around.

[MMDown Under]

2 minutes ago, gbenjo said:

True.... .but the pot is only so big..flooding the market could be  detrimental to the existing vessels  considering the "opposition" would be coming from  ships operated by their  own companies. The timing of it all is also  a bit awkward, there would not be a lot of berthing capacity available  immediately and then the peak season ends  (for a reason) and demand drops off. I think it would be a bit of a nightmare for the cruise lines figuring out where to place ships, ( with a large pax capacity), and where to go on such short notice.

Agree not all ships could redeploy from China to Australia.  However, a few could, especially smaller ships.  They did it before for the SARS epidemic.  

With the weak Aussie dollar and the bushfire crises in Australia, I think there will be less Aussies cruising overseas later this year and next year.  From people I've spoken to, Aussies are keener to support tourism in their country, including local cruising.   

[gbenjo]

3 minutes ago, NSWP said:

One would hope any ship redeployed to this region from Asia would have a big clean re the coronavirus.

That goes without saying, they will have been "cleaned' several times on the way here and and also a deep clean when they arrive. Anyone booking the first cruise from here on one of the redeployed vessels can probably expect a delayed boarding time to allow the crew time to do their thing.   Lots and lots of Washy Washy.

[MMDown Under]

12 minutes ago, gbenjo said:

We are due to fly to China on the 1st May. I rang Trip a Deal yesterday and they have suspended  trips until 20th Feb and will reassess then and my travel insurance provider were a little hesitant in their response just saying if our trip is cancelled to submit a claim and see what happens. At least we are not going till May so perhaps it will settle down a bit by then (wishful thinking  maybe). Might  just have to book a cheap cruise to the islands instead and with all those extra ships here there will be some good deals around.

If Smart Traveller says "do not travel to China" you should be entitled to a full refund from the cruise line or your insurance.  

Agree there should be some good deals around if ships do redeploy here.  I took one during the SARS epidemic and cruised from Sydney to Darwin and would be happy to do that cruise again.