HAL's Poor Response to Corona Virus

[kazu]

8 minutes ago, Taters said:

They may have run out of choices: 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-thailand-cruiseship/thailand-bars-cruise-passengers-amid-coronavirus-fears-idUSKBN20503T

 

 

OMG 😲😪

 

 

[debshomespun]

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1855034/thailand-denies-westerdam-cruise-ship-entry-china-virus-toll-passes-1-000

 

[gatour]

14 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

 HAL needs to get the pax off the ship asap before  any potential for long term depression & anxiety set in  .

That is exactly what HAL is trying to do.  Get passengers off the ship and back.  Kind of hard to do when no country is allowing them to dock.  With Thailand being the latest one after initially giving approval.

[sail7seas]

15 hours ago, Viv0828 said:

 

i somehow think the residents would disagree with you.

it's always take them anywhere but near me.

yah,     "Not in my backyard "

 

But,  the odds are high wherever in U.S. she 'lands' persons on the ship  will be quarantined on a U.S. military base where they will have sufficient quarantine, personnel and facility  to keep the population safe from infection  while providing the care  ai any ill persons may require.    NOT  to ignore the fact those people   serving   / working on the  base need the same protections  as general population.      The ship and people on board have to 'land' somewhere soon.

 

What are reasons it is suggested she cannot sail to Seattle from Japan?  insufficient  fuel, provisions  ?

 

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

16 hours ago, cruiserchuck said:

 

In its financial reporting, Carnival Corp states that it does not carry insurance coverage related to loss of earnings or revenues from its ships or other operations.  

 

Interesting

thank you for your response,  it is something about which I have been wondering

 

Getting fuel and provisions, one would think should not be that big a problem,  No one must leave or come a board the ship in order to accomplish that

 

Trash disposal, might be a different matter.   I t presumably must  b e

burned ?  ASAP ?

[Viv0828]

2 hours ago, sail7seas said:The ship and people on board have to 'land' somewhere soon.

absolutely agree. The sooner the better. 

[Mary229]

16 minutes ago, sail7seas said:

Interesting

thank you for your response,  it is something about which I have been wondering

 

Getting fuel and provisions, one would think should not be that big a problem,  No one must leave or come a board the ship in order to accomplish that

 

Trash disposal, might be a different matter.   I t presumably must  b e

burned ?  ASAP ?

I listened to a recent podcast by Essential Cruise Tips discussing disposal and purification issues.  Remarkably much of trash and other disposal is self contained. Look it up, it was very interesting 

 

[ted144]

6 hours ago, gatour said:

That is exactly what HAL is trying to do.  Get passengers off the ship and back.  Kind of hard to do when no country is allowing them to dock.  With Thailand being the latest one after initially giving approval.

I wonder if Vietnam was on the “possible country” list. I haven’t seen where this country had rejected the ship. 

[Earthworm Jim]

2 hours ago, sail7seas said:

What are reasons it is suggested she cannot sail to Seattle from Japan?  insufficient  fuel, provisions  ?

 

 

 

Well, first of all the US would have to say we'll allow her to dock. Which for all I know has long since happened, since we at CC would be unlikely to know of such negotiations. Assuming that was a go, it would probably be limited to where the US was willing to accept them in case there did turn out to be quarantine issues, rather than an open invitation to go anywhere.

 

However, it may not be a matter of "cannot" but rather of "not desirable". If allowed, Seattle wouldn't be a great place to run rescheduled cruises from in the winter. (It's probably safe to assume she won't soon return to east Asia itineraries, despite some of them not having been cancelled yet) From Seattle, they'd just have to sail somewhere else before they could eventually start cruising again in March or April. (Or who knows when) Southern California for Mexico itineraries perhaps? Or better yet, Australia, if Australia was willing. If they were able to debark in Hawaii, a repositioning cruise from there to wherever they'll next be based might sell.

[npcl]

1 hour ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Well, first of all the US would have to say we'll allow her to dock. Which for all I know has long since happened, since we at CC would be unlikely to know of such negotiations. Assuming that was a go, it would probably be limited to where the US was willing to accept them in case there did turn out to be quarantine issues, rather than an open invitation to go anywhere.

 

However, it may not be a matter of "cannot" but rather of "not desirable". If allowed, Seattle wouldn't be a great place to run rescheduled cruises from in the winter. (It's probably safe to assume she won't soon return to east Asia itineraries, despite some of them not having been cancelled yet) From Seattle, they'd just have to sail somewhere else before they could eventually start cruising again in March or April. (Or who knows when) Southern California for Mexico itineraries perhaps? Or better yet, Australia, if Australia was willing. If they were able to debark in Hawaii, a repositioning cruise from there to wherever they'll next be based might sell.

Technically the US could allow her to dock in Guam for that matter since it is a US territory. However Guam already said no.

[sail7seas]

1 hour ago, npcl said:

Technically the US could allow her to dock in Guam for that matter since it is a US territory. However Guam already said no.

3 hours ago, ted144 said:

I wonder if Vietnam was on the “possible country” list. I haven’t seen where this country had rejected the ship. 

 

While I  imagine,  it could be hard on many crew,  How about Indonesia? 

 

I seem to recall  there was some  question as  to possible infected cases there.  I don't know if they tested positive.

 

 

[ted144]

1 hour ago, sail7seas said:

 

While I  imagine,  it could be hard on many crew,  How about Indonesia? 

 

I seem to recall  there was some  question as  to possible infected cases there.  I don't know if they tested positive.

 

 

I guess Singapore would work location-wise.  It none of the possibilities now is particularly close. Maybe 4 days to reach Singapore from where they are now, 8 am Wednesday local time. Given the downside of letting 2000 people loose in any city, with a very unlikely yet still possible threat that someone had been exposed, it’s become difficult for any country to readily agree as we’ve seen. 

[Earthworm Jim]

The Guardian is reporting they'll be docking in Cambodia on Thursday:

 

24m ago 07:04

Cruise ship turned away from five countries finally allowed to dock in Cambodia

A cruise ship that has been turned away from five countries over coronavirus fears despite having no sick passengers has finally been allowed to dock in Cambodia.

The MS Westerdam, which has 1,455 passengers and 802 crew, will dock at Sihanoukville on Thursday, where those onboard will be allowed off, the Holland America Line has confirmed.

The ship has already been turned away from Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Guam and the Philippines.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/feb/12/coronavirus-live-updates-deaths-infections-symptoms-transmission-wuhan-china-cruise-ship-quarantine-cases-latest-update-news

[Earthworm Jim]

They're actually quite close to Sihanoukville now, so I assume the delay to Thursday is either berthing availability or Cambodia wanting to wait a certain amount of time without any coronavirus cases before allowing them to dock. Will Thursday be 14 days since they sailed perhaps? Though Thursday isn't nearly as far away there on the other side of the International Date Line than it seems like to me here in the US.

 

https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9226891

 

I know nothing of Sihanoukville, but since I've never heard of it I'm questioning whether they have a major international airport. But any port in a storm, so to speak.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Earthworm Jim

[gatour]

58 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

They're actually quite close to Sihanoukville now, so I assume the delay to Thursday is either berthing availability or Cambodia wanting to wait a certain amount of time without any coronavirus cases before allowing them to dock. Will Thursday be 14 days since they sailed perhaps? Though Thursday isn't nearly as far away there on the other side of the International Date Line than it seems like to me here in the US.

 

https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9226891

 

I know nothing of Sihanoukville, but since I've never heard of it I'm questioning whether they have a major international airport. But any port in a storm, so to speak.

According to another thread, they will be flown from Sihanoukville to another city (they name the city) presumably it has an international airport.  I will be a several day operation.  HAL is picking up all costs in getting passengers to their home towns. 

[ted144]

17 minutes ago, gatour said:

According to another thread, they will be flown from Sihanoukville to another city (they name the city) presumably it has an international airport.  I will be a several day operation.  HAL is picking up all costs in getting passengers to their home towns. 

More details on this from HAL update:

 

Updated Statement Regarding Westerdam 

Submitted by: Julie

Update: 2/12/2020 3:30am Pacific Time

Westerdam is now sailing for Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where the current cruise will end. We will arrive at 7:00 a.m. local time on Thursday, Feb. 13 and will remain in port for several days for disembarkation. Guests will be able to go ashore. All approvals have been received and we are extremely grateful to the Cambodian authorities for their support. 

Guests will disembark in Sihanoukville over the next few days and transfer via charter flights to Phnom Penh for forward travel home. Holland America Line will arrange and pay for all flights home, in addition to the full cruise refund and 100% future cruise credit already communicated. 

Future Westerdam voyage plans are still being finalized. The Feb. 15 cruise scheduled to embark in Yokohama has been cancelled. No cancellations for cruises with departure dates beyond Feb. 15 have been announced at this time. However, we are assessing the impact of current port restrictions in Asia on cruises departing Feb. 29 or later. We will communicate details as they become finalized in the next few days.

Westerdam was on a 14-day cruise that departed Hong Kong Feb.1. There are 1,455 guests and 802 crew on board. The cruise was previously scheduled to disembark Feb. 15 in Yokohama, Japan. 

All guests on board are healthy and despite erroneous reports there are no known or suspected cases of coronavirus on board, nor have their ever been.

[arabrab]

I wonder if HAL paid some special (extraordinary) fees to Cambodia or whether there is some other deal (future cruise stops, perhaps? Hiring Cambodian citizens?) in return for allowing the docking and offloading of passengers?  None of those things would be unreasonable, imo. 

[bEwAbG]

1 hour ago, ted144 said:

All guests on board are healthy and despite erroneous reports there are no known or suspected cases of coronavirus on board, nor have their ever been.

 

Julie seems a bit defensive.  And it's "there" not "their."   We're not supposed to correct that sort of stuff on Cruise Critic but it's fair game when talking about other sites.  😀

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, ted144 said:

More details on this from HAL update:

 

Updated Statement Regarding Westerdam 

Submitted by: Julie

Update: 2/12/2020 3:30am Pacific Time

Westerdam is now sailing for Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where the current cruise will end. We will arrive at 7:00 a.m. local time on Thursday, Feb. 13 and will remain in port for several days for disembarkation. Guests will be able to go ashore. All approvals have been received and we are extremely grateful to the Cambodian authorities for their support. 

Guests will disembark in Sihanoukville over the next few days and transfer via charter flights to Phnom Penh for forward travel home. Holland America Line will arrange and pay for all flights home, in addition to the full cruise refund and 100% future cruise credit already communicated. 

Future Westerdam voyage plans are still being finalized. The Feb. 15 cruise scheduled to embark in Yokohama has been cancelled. No cancellations for cruises with departure dates beyond Feb. 15 have been announced at this time. However, we are assessing the impact of current port restrictions in Asia on cruises departing Feb. 29 or later. We will communicate details as they become finalized in the next few days.

Westerdam was on a 14-day cruise that departed Hong Kong Feb.1. There are 1,455 guests and 802 crew on board. The cruise was previously scheduled to disembark Feb. 15 in Yokohama, Japan. 

All guests on board are healthy and despite erroneous reports there are no known or suspected cases of coronavirus on board, nor have their ever been.

Excellent.  No one was delayed possibly causing disruptions to their career.  HAL is taking care of the financials.  So all is going to work out.  And a big, heartfelt thanks to the Cambodians.  

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

 

Julie seems a bit defensive.  And it's "there" not "their."   We're not supposed to correct that sort of stuff on Cruise Critic but it's fair game when talking about other sites.  😀

 

To be fair to Julie (is that a real person or just a name on an account?), spellcheck often gets their/there/they're wrong. 

 

I'm surprised HAL hasn't cancelled the cruise that departs on the 29th. The situation isn't going to improve enough (if at all) in the next 2 weeks. The clock is ticking on snagging ports somewhere else while other lines are doing the same thing.

 

[kazu]

31 minutes ago, arabrab said:

I wonder if HAL paid some special (extraordinary) fees to Cambodia or whether there is some other deal (future cruise stops, perhaps? Hiring Cambodian citizens?) in return for allowing the docking and offloading of passengers?  None of those things would be unreasonable, imo. 

 

I was wondering the same thing regarding $$$$. 😉 

[kazu]

10 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I'm surprised HAL hasn't cancelled the cruise that departs on the 29th. The situation isn't going to improve enough (if at all) in the next 2 weeks. The clock is ticking on snagging ports somewhere else while other lines are doing the same thing.

 

I am surprised at that, as well.

I think an offer has gone out for people who want to cancel to do so without penalty but so far...no cancellation?

[ted144]

20 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I am surprised at that, as well.

I think an offer has gone out for people who want to cancel to do so without penalty but so far...no cancellation?

They have. It’s better for HAL to give a future cruise credit now for funds already paid, rather than officially cancel the upcoming 2/29 and 3/14 cruises. But cancellation is a real possibility. If they do cancel, my best guess is they would refund in cash (since they cannot provide what you paid for) plus throw in some credits. 
So waiting until they announce either a new itinerary or a cancellation seems to be better than taking current offer. Might be more favorable and unlikely to be less than current offer. 
 

[AncientWanderer]

46 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

 

I'm surprised HAL hasn't cancelled the cruise that departs on the 29th. The situation isn't going to improve enough (if at all) in the next 2 weeks. The clock is ticking on snagging ports somewhere else while other lines are doing the same thing.

 

 

What they lack in ports they can make up for with production shows, library and dedicated cruise director to plan fun onboard activities.

 

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

What they lack in ports they can make up for with production shows, library and dedicated cruise director to plan fun onboard activities.

 

 

Library?  On the Westerdam????  Nope.  No library.  At least, not what I would call a library.

 

It does sound like they stepped up activities though 🙂