Seabourn and the current issues surrounding the Corona Virus

[SLSD]

11 hours ago, ael123 said:

Spoke to Seabourn. They will not let passengers on board who have traveled through Hong Kong or Main Land China.

There are people in Ovation right now who embarked in Hong Kong.  

[rols]

5 hours ago, SLSD said:

I am not expert, but I have found that sometimes cruisemapper is incorrect.  I was following the reports of passengers on Ovation as to their location on a FB page. Then, I went to cruisemapper and that site was reporting the original itinerary and assumed the ship was in the planned location, when it was not.  

I use vesselfinder which uses (if available) the actual AIS data from the ship, and it will tell you how recent that data is, eg I just checked Ovation and the data is from 12 minutes ago. They still don't always have the right destination, which AIS doesn't publish, however you can often tell from where they are (and the track, where they came from), where the ship is actually going. 

[SLSD]

15 minutes ago, rols said:

I use vesselfinder which uses (if available) the actual AIS data from the ship, and it will tell you how recent that data is, eg I just checked Ovation and the data is from 12 minutes ago. They still don't always have the right destination, which AIS doesn't publish, however you can often tell from where they are (and the track, where they came from), where the ship is actually going. 

In other words, these ship finder sites are not always accurate--with some being more accurate than others. 

 

[Westiesheepie]

Just heard from someone on Ovation right now. They made port in Pattaya and Ko Kood and now sailing towards Kuala Lumpur. They embarked from HKG  Feb 1 and will be allowed to continue from Singapore Feb 15. They have temperature screening everyday. Seems like everyone is having a good time. Crew and staff outstanding. We are joining the Ovation in Singapore next friday. 

[rols]

16 minutes ago, SLSD said:

In other words, these ship finder sites are not always accurate--with some being more accurate than others. 

 

Several of them use AIS data for current position and track, most of them use planned itinerary data for 'next port' which goes right out of the window in times like these (eg vesselfinder is stuck at next port ko kood 3 days ago). Some, I don't know which ones, only use the planned itinerary data because it's cheap and easy and those are useless. 

Right now Ovation seems to be quite close to me, I have no idea where it's going, but I shall enjoy watching to find out. 

[oceanviewer21]

10 minutes ago, Westiesheepie said:

Just heard from someone on Ovation right now. They made port in Pattaya and Ko Kood and now sailing towards Kuala Lumpur. They embarked from HKG  Feb 1 and will be allowed to continue from Singapore Feb 15. They have temperature screening everyday. Seems like everyone is having a good time. Crew and staff outstanding. We are joining the Ovation in Singapore next friday. 

Please keep posting when you are onboard. We join for the following cruise.

[SLSD]

21 minutes ago, rols said:

 Some, I don't know which ones, only use the planned itinerary data because it's cheap and easy and those are useless. 

Right now Ovation seems to be quite close to me, I have no idea where it's going, but I shall enjoy watching to find out. 

Glad my observations were not off base.  I was surprised to see that some position sites just used widely available informaition.  Useless.  Rols--I never realized you live in Asia.  

Edited February 10, 2020 by SLSD

[Westiesheepie]

24 minutes ago, oceanviewer21 said:

Please keep posting when you are onboard. We join for the following cruise.

Yes I will update everyone on our Feb 15 sailing. We leave on Tuesday for Singapore.  

[rols]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

Glad my observations were not off base.  I was surprised to see that some position sites just used widely available informaition.  Useless.  Rols--I never realized you live in Asia.  

We're in Singapore. So we're living the current situation daily; just on land, not at sea. 

[ael123]

7 hours ago, SLSD said:

There are people in Ovation right now who embarked in Hong Kong.  

That may be but it is on their website under news that they are no longer allowing those to board that have had flights through mainland China or Hong Kong. This is from SB website:

For guests booked on Seabourn Ovation in Asia, in light of new restrictions throughout the region on travelers coming from Hong Kong, disembarkation on Saturday, February 29 (departed on February 15) will now take place in Singapore rather than Hong Kong. Guests who have purchased their air through Seabourn’s Flight Ease will have their return flights rebooked to depart from Singapore rather than Hong Kong at our expense. Guests with independent travel arrangements should rebook their air to depart from Singapore’s Changi Airport no earlier than 12:30 PM on Saturday, February 29. Guests arriving for the February 29, 2020 voyage aboard Seabourn Ovation should also rebook their travel to depart from Singapore rather than Hong Kong. Please be sure your inbound flights do not route though any city in mainland China, Macau or Hong Kong.

All sailings aboard Ovation in Asia from the February 15 departure through March 14 will not visit China, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Itinerary revisions and related policies for these cruises, where necessary, will be communicated to guests and their travel advisors. Similar policies as noted above will apply for guests with Flight Ease, independent air and Seabourn pre- and post-cruise hotel arrangements. 

[SLSD]

21 minutes ago, ael123 said:

That may be but it is on their website under news that they are no longer allowing those to board that have had flights through mainland China or Hong Kong. This is from SB website:

For guests booked on Seabourn Ovation in Asia, in light of new restrictions throughout the region on travelers coming from Hong Kong, disembarkation on Saturday, February 29 (departed on February 15) will now take place in Singapore rather than Hong Kong. Guests who have purchased their air through Seabourn’s Flight Ease will have their return flights rebooked to depart from Singapore rather than Hong Kong at our expense. Guests with independent travel arrangements should rebook their air to depart from Singapore’s Changi Airport no earlier than 12:30 PM on Saturday, February 29. Guests arriving for the February 29, 2020 voyage aboard Seabourn Ovation should also rebook their travel to depart from Singapore rather than Hong Kong. Please be sure your inbound flights do not route though any city in mainland China, Macau or Hong Kong.

All sailings aboard Ovation in Asia from the February 15 departure through March 14 will not visit China, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Itinerary revisions and related policies for these cruises, where necessary, will be communicated to guests and their travel advisors. Similar policies as noted above will apply for guests with Flight Ease, independent air and Seabourn pre- and post-cruise hotel arrangements. 

Yes, but there could well be passengers still on board who embarked in Hong Kong--that is what I was saying.  

[texanaust]

This is the problem with Thailand.  The 25 confirmed coronavirus cases could actually be 615.  (https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30381762)  I just don't trust the authorities and I live there half the year.  There was also an announcement today that Thailand still has over 100,000 Chinese tourists in the country.  Personally I think Seabourn is going to have real difficulties with their remaining Asia cruises.  They may need to think about redeploying Ovation to Europe early.  

[ael123]

36 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Yes, but there could well be passengers still on board who embarked in Hong Kong--that is what I was saying.  

Got it. That must be hard especially if they have their flights booked to leave out of Hong Kong. I know after speaking to SB they only help with air that is booked through them. If you have your own air booked then they give you free internet so that you can try to work something out. Not a great way to spend your vacation. I would hate to think I was disembarking in Hong Kong and find out while I was on board that they would be disembarking from Singapore. My heart goes out to those impacted. 

[SLSD]

18 minutes ago, ael123 said:

Got it. That must be hard especially if they have their flights booked to leave out of Hong Kong. I know after speaking to SB they only help with air that is booked through them. If you have your own air booked then they give you free internet so that you can try to work something out. Not a great way to spend your vacation. I would hate to think I was disembarking in Hong Kong and find out while I was on board that they would be disembarking from Singapore. My heart goes out to those impacted. 

My main concern is a health concern.  Flights can be worked out--but a quarantine for the corona virus would be a HUGE deal and not easy for anyone.  That is my concern about the fact that some passengers embarked in Hong Kong--as we don't know if they were people who just flew in or were people from Hong Kong or Mainland China.  

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by SLSD

[ab21au]

We were booked for the 29th out of HK but cancelled last week, before SB decided to turn around out of Singapore (not that that would have changed our decision).  Our son lived in China for 4 years and I know how they underreport things. It also concerns me why the WHO seem so blasé (seem so to me) about it. 

 

At this point in time, I do not want to go near China (it may be unwarranted and an overreaction - only time will tell).  I’m with SLSD, it is a health concern and so I think, at this point in time, it is better to be safe than sorry. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by ab21au

[SLSD]

23 minutes ago, ab21au said:

We were booked for the 29th out of HK but cancelled last week, before SB decided to turn around out of Singapore (not that that would have changed our decision).  Our son lived in China for 4 years and I know how they underreport things. It also concerns me why the WHO seem so blasé (seem so to me) about it. 

 

At this point in time, I do not want to go near China (it may be unwarranted and an overreaction - only time will tell).  I’m with SLSD, it is a health concern and so I think, at this point in time, it is better to be safe than sorry. 

Our son lived in China for three years ( so we share that experience ab21au)and also have a bit of insight into how things go there .  Our daughter in law is Chinese and her family is in China.  Their reports are not encouraging.  I think the WHO was trying mightily to get what they could from China and not cut all ties for reporting.  

Edited February 10, 2020 by SLSD

[ab21au]

34 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I think the WHO was trying mightily to get what they could from China and not cut all ties for reporting.

I think you are correct. I think what WHO report to the west, may be different to what they really know. I also do not think they want to panic the general population. We know how the media can take a 10sec grab and make a bad as they want to report. 

[oceanviewer21]

4 hours ago, texanaust said:

This is the problem with Thailand.  The 25 confirmed coronavirus cases could actually be 615.  (https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30381762)  I just don't trust the authorities and I live there half the year.  There was also an announcement today that Thailand still has over 100,000 Chinese tourists in the country.  Personally I think Seabourn is going to have real difficulties with their remaining Asia cruises.  They may need to think about redeploying Ovation to Europe early.  

I have contacted them several times asking why they are taking the chance of the ship being quarantined when they could cut their losses and get back to a safer area. They must be doing risk assessment. To me it looks like they are playing with fire. 

[oceanviewer21]

What happens if I leave home and arrive with ordinary seasonal flu to board the Ovation?

[photosg]

1 hour ago, oceanviewer21 said:

What happens if I leave home and arrive with ordinary seasonal flu to board the Ovation?

They will take your temperature. If you have a fever and show symptoms of respiratory disease you will be "medically evaluated". I was going to say you will be denied boarding but on closer reading of the Seabourn Health Advisory it just says you will be "medically evaluated", whatever that means. There will definitely be a lot of questions and flipping through your passport to see where you have been recently. Unfortunately Singapore now has the highest number of confirmed cases outside of China. Even more than Hong Kong. (Japan has asked for the Diamond Princess numbers not to be included in their country total.) So if you embark in Singapore you will definitely be coming "from or through an affected area."

 

The only way to differentiate between "ordinary seasonal" flu and the NEW coronavirus is a time consuming (hours, usually overnight) test. (When done in Singapore, at the moment. Faster tests are being (have been?) developed but don't appear to be in use at the moment in Singapore.)

 

Note that i stress the NEW. Apparently up to a quarter of what people think of as "ordinary" flu (or "a cold") is caused by four existing (known) strains of coronavirus. Two other known strains are why we are concerned about this new strain: SARS and MERS. Singaporeans have been reassured by their Prime Minister that this new strain is beginning to look at lot more like a cold or flu than SARS.

 

Note that on entry in Singapore you will also have your temperature taken. If you have a fever or are showing symptoms they will and your contact and other (e.g. travel history) details.

 

They are also currently doing temperature screening at large office buildings and shopping malls in Singapore.

[Paulchili]

21 hours ago, SLSD said:

Flights can be worked out--but a quarantine for the corona virus would be a HUGE deal and not easy for anyone.  

You are correct but the flights "situation"should not be underestimated.

We are boarding the Encore in Sydney on March 8th and have Cathay business flights via HKG. These were obtained a year ago. There is obviously no award availability on any of their partner routes this close to departure and buying 2 business class tickets would be over $10K(as much as one's 30 day cruise fare) The original tickets were award tickets the best we can do is redeposit the miles (for a fee) but none of this is covered by any insurance.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Paul,

 

Have you contacted Cathay to see if they can help you out?  With all that has been going on, seats may free up here and there.  Maybe they can get you an upgrade to a paid coach ticket, etc.

 

Ragnar

[rols]

I just read (channelnewsasia) that the Holland America Westerdam was refused permission to dock in Thailand today despite having been at sea nearly 2 weeks and having no reported infections on board. 

Given the earlier comments about Thailand's rather weak response to the virus thus far, it's odd that they should suddenly pick on a cruise ship to make an example of. 

I have to assume that come this Friday, when it will have been at sea for 14 days, assuming there is no infection which currently seems quite likely, it will be allowed to dock somewhere. 

[ael123]

3 hours ago, Ragnar Danneskjold said:

Paul,

 

Have you contacted Cathay to see if they can help you out?  With all that has been going on, seats may free up here and there.  Maybe they can get you an upgrade to a paid coach ticket, etc.

 

Ragnar

Ragnar, 

 

I called Cathay Pacific for days. They have a recording that says We are experiencing higher than normal call volume. Please call back. Then there is a click and the phone hangs up. My experience has been they are not taking calls.  

[jozi]

3 minutes ago, ael123 said:

Ragnar, 

 

I called Cathay Pacific for days. They have a recording that says We are experiencing higher than normal call volume. Please call back. Then there is a click and the phone hangs up. My experience has been they are not taking calls.  

If you are on FB or twitter try sending them a PRIVATE message, that sometimes works.