News on the Westerdam

[voyageur9]

57 minutes ago, Divi said:

Curious as to what the legal ramifications would have been if passengers were prevented from boarding in Hong Kong?

.... Passengers denied boarding might be able to sue to recover additional expenses but hard to imagine much in the way of damages, certainly not "pain and suffering" for being denied a cruise. By contrast, passengers aboard exposed to a potentially fatal disease after HAL chose to board hundreds from a port with a significant likelihood of including some number of infected and then being kept on board involuntarily for an extended period of time, likely have a much bigger potential claim. Certainly the potential for damages goes through the roof if there are deaths on the Westerdam among passengers who were infected by those embarked in Hong Kong.

[voyageur9]

51 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

The thought of a pariah ship is worrisome. HAL is probably negotiating like mad to get people disembarked and home. I wonder if the solution might be to sail back the the US, so a naval base where the ship can dock and the people can be quarantined there, as is being done with the evacuation flights to the US and Canada.

Even if the Westerdam could get sufficient fuel and provisions for a trans-Pacific voyage there's no reason why the United States should provide quarantine to hundreds of non-citizens aboard a foreign-flagged ship. Passengers on board likely include citizens or lawful permanent residents from dozens of countries.

Far more likely, in my opinion, is that HAL will be expected to house passengers on board until their respective governments arrange for transport in quarantine or until they are deemed to pose no risk and are allowed to travel on normal commercial flights..

[Dr.Dobro]

Pariah ship, or....

 

[Viv0828]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I wonder if the solution might be to sail back the the US, so a naval base where the ship can dock and the people can be quarantined there, as is being done with the evacuation flights to the US and Canada.

 

we thought about that too. but 4000 people is a lot of people. don't know if there are any facilities that large?

Edited February 6, 2020 by Viv0828

[Tennessee Titan]

An awful lot of "what if" and other speculation here.......

[Vict0riann]

MomentsNotice posted this on the Feb. 15 roll call 2 hours ago -  (received from their TA)

 

We know our guests have questions and concerns around Coronavirus and travel. To ensure you have the latest information, this page will be updated as needed with new details.

As of Feb. 6, 2020 (10:45 AM PST)

Holland America Line has been notified that the Japanese Government will not allow Westerdam to call in Japanese ports. We are quickly working to develop alternate plans for guests currently on board and will keep them updated as information becomes available. As well, the latest updates will be posted here as soon as they are finalized.

The ship is not in quarantine and there are no known cases of coronavirus on board at this time.

The Feb. 15 cruise currently scheduled to embark in Yokohama has been cancelled. Booked guests and their travel advisors will be notified with further details.

For Westerdam sailings scheduled to depart after Feb. 15 no changes have been announced at this time but booked guests and their travel advisors will be notified as information is available.

[NSWP]

Westerdam could proceed to US Territory -Guam or even to Honolulu if they could make food and fuel supplies last. It may be difficult for HAL to find a port that will take the ship.  Good luck to all on board.

Edited February 6, 2020 by NSWP

[cruisemom42]

After the April 11 Westerdam cruise (circling Japan) that I am on, the ship is scheduled to return to the US/Canada by the northern route -- with a cruise ending in Vancouver.  I wonder if that passage is even possible in winter, were they to want to do it now?

 

[SilvertoGold]

5 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

After the April 11 Westerdam cruise (circling Japan) that I am on, the ship is scheduled to return to the US/Canada by the northern route -- with a cruise ending in Vancouver.  I wonder if that passage is even possible in winter, were they to want to do it now?

 

 

Doable surely, but possibly unpleasant.  We've done it twice and loved the 25 foot seas and force 11 winds (October).  In February or March it could be....... interesting :)

[dougypk]

25 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

(From HAL)

 

The ship is not in quarantine and there are no known cases of coronavirus on board at this time.

 

Of course there are no known cases, the ship is not equipped to test for the virus.  I find this statement quite misleading.

 

A better question is whether there are any possible cases on board.  Those will be discovered by whichever port allows the Westerdam to dock, and if so the question will be:  Why wasn't the ship in quarantine?

 

Hoping for the crew and passengers sake this is not the case.

 

 

[Taters]

2 minutes ago, dougypk said:

 

Of course there are no known cases, the ship is not equipped to test for the virus.  I find this statement quite misleading.

 

A better question is whether there are any possible cases on board.  Those will be discovered by whichever port allows the Westerdam to dock, and if so the question will be:  Why wasn't the ship in quarantine?

 

Hoping for the crew and passengers sake this is not the case.

 

 

I find it very misleading, too. 

 

I've read all kinds of news on all kinds of sites the past couple of days, as I am scheduled for Westie's transpacific sailing from Yokohama on April 25th.  I did read, but cannot remember where, that there is someone currently sick aboard Westerdam, but of course this cannot be tested for coronavirus at sea.  This would have to go to a shoreside lab.

 

My own sensibilities tell me that Westerdam will be quarantined when it is finally accepted somewhere.  Speculation abounds!

[Moparop]

Thank you to everyone who has updated the continuing saga that is the Westerdam. My parents are on the ship and are healthy and easygoing, but they are in their 70s and halfway around the world!

[Vict0riann]

4 minutes ago, Moparop said:

Thank you to everyone who has updated the continuing saga that is the Westerdam. My parents are on the ship and are healthy and easygoing, but they are in their 70s and halfway around the world!

 

Are you keeping in touch?  We have friends on board who usually do not purchase internet, and I wondered if perhaps the ship was supplying free internet to those on board now?

 

We are all hoping the best for all the passengers and crew.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Vict0riann

[rafinmd]

Crystal Symphony is in much the same situation as the Westerdam.  They are currently in Manila where they are disembarking some government officials (they were first to undergo screenings and then the decision came to ban all cruise ships).  They are being refueled in Manila so I assume Westerdam would be able to get fuel and I expect other provisions if the need arose.  They can do that without exposing themselves to any danger.

 

Roy

[Moparop]

They sent us a short email from Taiwan several days ago but we haven’t heard anything from them since. They’ve found HAL’s internet to be unreliable so don’t usually spend the money. I’m assuming we will hear something tomorrow. If I do, I’ll come back to share. They were scheduled to be on the ship until the 29th so I am sure they are scrambling to figure out new plans. 

[Vict0riann]

3 minutes ago, Moparop said:

They sent us a short email from Taiwan several days ago but we haven’t heard anything from them since. They’ve found HAL’s internet to be unreliable so don’t usually spend the money. I’m assuming we will hear something tomorrow. If I do, I’ll come back to share. They were scheduled to be on the ship until the 29th so I am sure they are scrambling to figure out new plans. 

 

Thanks for keeping in touch.  

[Viv0828]

19 minutes ago, Moparop said:

Thank you to everyone who has updated the continuing saga that is the Westerdam. My parents are on the ship and are healthy and easygoing, but they are in their 70s and halfway around the world!

 

so sorry. i would be worried sick. maybe you can buy them some internet time and have someone on the ship inform them of their gift??

[Tennessee Titan]

I was  on the Transpacific last year. Internet is fine. Are those people incapable of buying their own internet, assuming they want/need to??

[bobpatj]

We are at sea until we find a port that will allow is in and have flights available to get us home.  The Captain announced that we are not in quarantine.  HAL had cancelled the February 15th cruise. 

[Tennessee Titan]

3 minutes ago, bobpatj said:

We are at sea until we find a port that will allow is in and have flights available to get us home.  The Captain announced that we are not in quarantine.  HAL had cancelled the February 15th cruise. 

Realism: It's wonderful!

Good luck, and a safe journey home!

[1ANGELCAT]

3 minutes ago, bobpatj said:

We are at sea until we find a port that will allow is in and have flights available to get us home.  The Captain announced that we are not in quarantine.  HAL had cancelled the February 15th cruise. 

Thanks for the update. I’m assuming the ship was fully provisioned and fuel bunkered in Hong Kong. What is the maximum time she can realistically remain at sea ? 

[Plum Happy]

The current cruise as well as next week’s cruise has been cancelled.  They are working with The State Department & The US Navy because they can’t port anywhere.  You can listen to The Captain inform the cruisers via @Lorrain34100 twitter. the posted tweet was retweeted by Gene Sloan @CruiseLog .  He used to work for USA Today reviewing cruises, he now works with the Points Guy doing the same.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Plum Happy

[LoraJ]

2 hours ago, Moparop said:

Thank you to everyone who has updated the continuing saga that is the Westerdam. My parents are on the ship and are healthy and easygoing, but they are in their 70s and halfway around the world!

 

 

My parents are on board too. They are the same way. Hope they have lots of books to read. We were supposed to meet up in Seattle when they got off the ship, but now we have no idea what will happen. Hope they can get back to the states and that no one on board has the virus. 

[Moparop]

1 minute ago, LoraJ said:

 

 

My parents are on board too. They are the same way. Hope they have lots of books to read. We were supposed to meet up in Seattle when they got off the ship, but now we have no idea what will happen. Hope they can get back to the states and that no one on board has the virus. 

We just got a text from my parents saying the same info that the above poster noted. They were given free internet, probably to make sure everyone at home knows that they are fine. They’ve said the food is good and have assured us that the bar is ok, though I haven’t gotten confirmation on the ice cream status. 

[Alaska DogCat]

1 hour ago, bobpatj said:

We are at sea until we find a port that will allow is in and have flights available to get us home.  The Captain announced that we are not in quarantine.  HAL had cancelled the February 15th cruise. 

Good luck and safe travels.