Seabourn and the current issues surrounding the Corona Virus

[sfvoyage]

Westmount:

 

I heard that Sojourn will dock in Singapore on 21st March.  Can you confirm if this is indeed the latest development?

[Mark56]

40 minutes ago, NoVa Mimi said:

We just returned from the Odyssey. Our cruise was cut short by one week. All passengers had to disembark in Barbados. Many of the crew are being sent  home as well. Not certain where the ship will go from Barbados but it will not be staying in the Caribbean to finish the last weeks of the season. It was handled very poorly onboard from a passenger stand point. Notified at 9:30 pm that we had to disembark the following morning.

 

I’m sorry that happened to you. Was there daily updates before the final day to tell you what was going on? Was there any assistance given to help you get home or make arrangements to stay in Barbados? Any screening done when you got off the ship? 

[NoVa Mimi]

Mark, assistance at Seabourn Square by from the kind ladies there for flights, no lodging assistance was offered that I am aware of,  but absolutely no Officers made a showing. Cruise Director was also absent. Interestingly enough, no evening announcement such as sea conditions, ETA to Barbados, welcome back onboard for the day, etc. was made that evening. I suspect they were aware much sooner than we realized though no certain. They certainly knew with enough time to print info for those of us that had to disembark early. Absolutely no health screenings, questionnaires departing Barbados at the airport, none in Panama and none in D.C. when we arrived in an International flight. They just asked passengers if we had food and how much cash we were bringing in.... nothing health related.

[sfvoyage]

1 hour ago, sfvoyage said:

Westmount:

 

I heard that Sojourn will dock in Singapore on 21st March.  Can you confirm if this is indeed the latest development?

 

Please disregard the above.  I think my friend found some obsolete information online - the original itinerary is 21st March in Singapore, which was changed long ago.

[3418ahl]

I guess the "good old days" are gone!  We were on Azamara in 2014 when the ship broke down the the cruise had to end.  They flew everyone from the ship to Shanghai at their expense, put all guests up for two days at the Hyatt on the Bundt and then flew everyone home at their expense.

[jozi]

58 minutes ago, 3418ahl said:

I guess the "good old days" are gone!  We were on Azamara in 2014 when the ship broke down the the cruise had to end.  They flew everyone from the ship to Shanghai at their expense, put all guests up for two days at the Hyatt on the Bundt and then flew everyone home at their expense.

Not sure that is a fair comparison to what we are all facing today. 

[westmount]

First things first, if we’re heading to Singapore, the sun is rising on the wrong side of the ship. Secondly, I’m gathering 30% of the cruisers in the area are probably from Australia and New Zealand, so holding their citizens hostage on board ships probably sounded good as a future plan, but banning ships three weeks after they knew these ships were coming is not thought through. Nothing has changed in Australia or New Zealand other than Yoda telling foreigners to stay out, and it’s catching on. 
in any case, we will be in Perth on Wednesday, and maybe we’ll simply have to all stand naked on the balconies for someone to notice us and figure out a better plan( actually I like that idea) we all have tickets out of the country, hoping our airlines are still flying us home, so a little wisdom is required here. How about a bus form the ship to the airport , a private hanger to keep us away from real people, and a sign on our foreheads that we are current cruise passengers , so please stay 6 feet away. 
the only other solution might be for carnival to buy Tasmania , I prefer Bora Bora. 
  I can only hope that while we started off with the virus being handled by ignorant politicians who did nothing to now can I say orderly insulated doctors who see 6 months quarantine for the world as the solution that we find a proper mix of ideas so that after 14 days someone figures out how to start the machine again. 
It’s bad enough humans are hoarding toilet paper and Amazon has no more consumer goods to sell ( think about that one) but I dare say 14 days will pass and then what? Canada had one death, hopefully it stays there, but if we have three does it mean another 14 days?

the virus is real, but if they wanted to contain it in China, that battle was lost in January, so closing airports and borders is called nationalism, racism, but not sound planning. More people will die from the measures taken to protect us than the opposite. Testing and treatment was needed three months ago, this is now called finger pointing. 
ok, I’m done, oatmeal, fruit and granola is on its way, and can someone send me a picture of land, it’s been awhile. 
today, it’s going to be secrets to a flatter stomach ( try that after 17 days at sea) and Dr. Stu on the war in Yemen, hopefully they find some chips. 

[IanL]

5 hours ago, NoVa Mimi said:

We just returned from the Odyssey. Our cruise was cut short by one week. All passengers had to disembark in Barbados. Many of the crew are being sent  home as well. Not certain where the ship will go from Barbados but it will not be staying in the Caribbean to finish the last weeks of the season. It was handled very poorly onboard from a passenger stand point. Notified at 9:30 pm that we had to disembark the following morning.

That was about the same time I received my notice of cancellation while sitting in a hotel in Barbados, due to join the next day. I would add that the 150% FCC was certainly not a goer in those circumstances.

[NoVa Mimi]

Oh Ian, so many of us were thinking of your group of passengers all looking forward to boarding. We felt terribly for you all to have arrived only to be told the cruise was not to be. How were you notified?

[Cantara24]

Good post Westmount, forget the light my hair on fire crowd on this forum. Perth you will be. Australia is known as a sensible country. Enjoy what is left of a unique experience!!!

[HappyFeet13]

Westmount....I tried to get tickets to Perth asap to see 400 people standing naked on the balconeys of an arriving ship, but no dice.  Maybe a local will take pix and post here?  You have handled this amazingly welll. Under the circumstances I might have jumped overboard and swum for shore...any shore. I love sea days, but I'll bet they ran out of trivial pursuit questions, and Seabourn pens and umbrellas for winners,  a while ago. Thanks for sharing your  ordeal with us. Best of luck to you! 

[zimflyer]

Hopefully paragraph 3 below will be of help to those on Sojourn, a bespoke solution may include the fact the ship has been effectively in self-quarantine. I certainly hope so.

 

Don't blame Australia.... doors are shutting everywhere. Friends on CMV on a Singapore-London from Mar 7, have been unable to port in Penang, Phuket and now India, Colombo and Dubai. They have been turned around and were heading to Perth,  now in limbo...possibly return to Singapore.

 

Sadly my own experience with SB (without even getting aboard) has made me very wary of their attitude to customers. Very complacent and zero effort to provide timely and customer focused communication despite a plethora of online options available such as airlines, hotels and others have used.

 

When the times are tough it is the best that shine... the batteries were dead. The CEO would do well to analyse how this has been handled. The experience has left a very bad taste in my mouth.

 

(Before a chain of responses to this on fiduciary responsibility,  share prices, staff, events beyond normal etc, I fully accept those facts.  However others have performed better and actually visualized the difficulty their customers faced - a good place to generate fidelity and further sales when this clears...)

 

In Australia we have had drought, fires, floods and now this, all within a year ! Companies have been pro -active, not hostile to client contact.

 

As the Aussie PM said

"How you support your customers, your suppliers, your employees during the next six months and potentially beyond, will say more about your company, your corporate values and the integrity of your brand, than anything else you’ve likely done as an organisation..."

 

Good wishes to all those caught in this situation.

Edited March 16, 2020 by zimflyer
Update

[teamflames]

Singapore is closed to cruise ships as well, so not sure your friends can return there (maybe they can argue they started there).

[jenidallas]

Just posted on a Seabourn-related Facebook group:

 

After Encore declared we terminate in Sydney on the 22nd, then cease operations, we docked in Adelaide this morning, to be told the Encore has now terminated.  NOw trying to change plane bookings etc etc. The world has gone MAD !

[florisdekort]

Encore docked in Adelaide this morning where the current sailing was then abruptly terminated. I expect the same will happen when Sojourn arrives in Perth. 

[cruzluvers]

7 hours ago, 3418ahl said:

I guess the "good old days" are gone!  We were on Azamara in 2014 when the ship broke down the the cruise had to end.  They flew everyone from the ship to Shanghai at their expense, put all guests up for two days at the Hyatt on the Bundt and then flew everyone home at their expense.

We were on that same cruise. Azamara could not have handled it any better.  We then got full reimbursement plus a nice discount on a future cruise.

[Joc123]

Westmount

I’m so sorry this is happening to you and fellow passengers. I’m one of the rare people who doesn’t handle sea days particularly well (2 in a row I can manage, anymore and I struggle) and I’ve been really impressed by you optimism during all this.

Hang in there, someone somewhere must realise you have been in isolation and currently fit and well.

All I can say is good luck. Hope you get home safe and well.

 

[westmount]

Good day to all, we just got word that we will be allowed to dock in Perth. as we were invited by the Aussies to come there, and have been in self quarantine already.

rules are being drafted, as they want everyone to be able to go home safely and quickly. 
since there is a 14 day quarantine in place, they are counting 12 days already , so if flights can it be found to peoples home for the day of arrival, two days self quarantine in Perth is needed. 
it’s a good thing the booze is free, as there’s going to be a party tonight I’m sure. 
surprises can occur, but getting off the ship was number one. Getting home to no toilet paper is for another day

 meanwhile, it’s roasted duck for lunch, on we ho

 

 

 

[Joc123]

At last some common sense.

Why wait until tonight - start the party now  - as I cook dinner I will have a toast to you all.

[IanL]

12 hours ago, NoVa Mimi said:

Oh Ian, so many of us were thinking of your group of passengers all looking forward to boarding. We felt terribly for you all to have arrived only to be told the cruise was not to be. How were you notified?

By Email, good job we carry (electronic) tablets with us. The really hard bit was going to sleep that night knowing the problems that we had to sort out the next morning.

[zimflyer]

6 hours ago, westmount said:

Good day to all, we just got word that we will be allowed to dock in Perth. as we were invited by the Aussies to come there, and have been in self quarantine already.

rules are being drafted, as they want everyone to be able to go home safely and quickly. 
since there is a 14 day quarantine in place, they are counting 12 days already , so if flights can it be found to peoples home for the day of arrival, two days self quarantine in Perth is needed. 
it’s a good thing the booze is free, as there’s going to be a party tonight I’m sure. 
surprises can occur, but getting off the ship was number one. Getting home to no toilet paper is for another day

 meanwhile, it’s roasted duck for lunch, on we ho

 

 

 

A bespoke solution as predicted... us Aussies are quite pragmatic  really....

 

Safe home and dont forget to " borrow " your toilet paper from the ship !!!

 

😉😉

[NoVa Mimi]

1 hour ago, IanL said:

By Email, good job we carry (electronic) tablets with us. The really hard bit was going to sleep that night knowing the problems that we had to sort out the next morning.

What a mess that must have been! Much worse for you than for us and I am so sorry your holiday was ruined.

[AMediator]

Can anyone comment regarding American passengers coming off the Encore today?  Will they be in quarantine?  Or will they be able to fly back to the states?

[rols]

3 hours ago, AMediator said:

Can anyone comment regarding American passengers coming off the Encore today?  Will they be in quarantine?  Or will they be able to fly back to the states?

That's covered in the other thread you're following (LIVE from the Seabourn Encore) in the post by catlover54 directly above yours. 

[florisdekort]

6 hours ago, AMediator said:

Can anyone comment regarding American passengers coming off the Encore today?  Will they be in quarantine?  Or will they be able to fly back to the states?

It was a domestic cruise so we all disembarked without issue.  
 

Floris