Seaside being held up in Ocho Rios

[Beardface]

Currently on the Seaside.  We've been in Ocho Rios waiting for a couple hours to get cleared for entry.  So far, no official updates other than Customs is not yet clearing us

 

I would not be surprised if MSC cancels all ports through here for a while going forward.  After the Meraviglia and now this, they are losing money hand over fist over this paranoia.

[CruisingMom77]

Please keep us posted. I hope the situation resolves soon. Somehow I suspected that after Meraviglia the Seaside will be in a similar situation this week. Strange enough, that last week Armonia did not have any issues at any of the ports such as Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman. 

 

 

[Beardface]

10:30, still awaiting clearance.

 

Crew looks frustrated this is happening again

 

[BermudaBound2014]

Firstly: VERY Sorry you are going through this. Regardless whether we always agree in discussions, I do wish you a wonderful cruise. Hopefully this is just a delay to check the Italian passengers!!!

 

The Dominican Republic (which is now the first Caribbean port with a NCoV case) turned away Fred Olsen's Braemer on Friday just because it had people who flew directly from Italy (at least that is what is being reported, whether or not it's factual I don't know). I would suspect that MSC also has a high number of people on-board with Italian passports, but that is a guess based only on my experience on-board Divina. 

 

Crossing fingers and toes for you! 

[Beardface]

They just announced 6 passengers to report to guest services... Sorry, now the medical center... Immediately

[BermudaBound2014]

7 minutes ago, Beardface said:

They just announced 6 passengers to report to guest services... Sorry, now the medical center... Immediately

 

We really need a dislike button on here :(. But... being optimistic, hopefully that is a good sign? Maybe they are going to take their temperatures and let you all off!

[Beardface]

3 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

We really need a dislike button on here :(. But... being optimistic, hopefully that is a good sign? Maybe they are going to take their temperatures and let you all off!

I'll be honest, there are worse places to get stuck than the YC

[ebonybee]

Everyone in good spirits and nobody appears to be distressed over the situation    .  Still calling two of the same passengers to go to the medical facility. 

[ebonybee]

Another announcement. Still haven’t been cleared. 

[Beardface]

The most recent announcement, the Cruise Director is not hiding her annoyance with local authorities at all.  Basically just threw them under the bus.  reading between the lines, Sounds like the senior staff is furious this is a thing.

[ebonybee]

At the CruiseCritic reception a ship officer did disclose that 300 personnel from targeted areas such as Italy, Iran, China were denied boarding. MSC stated that they covered their airline fare and refunded cruise fare. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by ebonybee

[BermudaBound2014]

I thought the letter MSC wrote last week regarding Meraviglia was quite 'real'. They threw Jamaica under the bus hard in the letter. I wonder if anyone from MSC spoke to Jamaica between the letter and your arrival.

 

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, ebonybee said:

At the CruiseCritic reception a ship officer did disclose that 300 personnel from targeted areas such as Italy, Iran, China were denied boarding. MSC stayed that they covered their airline fare and refunded cruise fare. 

 

Thank you for sharing! I hope you are staying calm and enjoying the day even though you aren't debarking yet :)

[Beardface]

Just now, BermudaBound2014 said:

I thought the letter MSC wrote last week regarding Meraviglia was quite 'real'. They threw Jamaica under the bus hard in the letter. I wonder if anyone from MSC spoke to Jamaica between the letter and your arrival.

 

As I said earlier, I would not be shocked if MSC sends a message to them by cancelling all calls here for the rest of this cruise season.

 

You can tell they aren't happy.  "Despite us being here on time, we are STILL awaiting their clearance"

[ebonybee]

1 minute ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Thank you for sharing! I hope you are staying calm and enjoying the day even though you aren't debarking yet 🙂

  

My group is good. We’ve all been to Jamaica many of times. I didn’t have any tours booked with local folks. 

[Beardface]

4 minutes ago, ebonybee said:

At the CruiseCritic reception a ship officer did disclose that 300 personnel from targeted areas such as Italy, Iran, China were denied boarding. MSC stayed that they covered their airline fare and refunded cruise fare. 

 

Heard the same on Saturday night before we sailed away.  The crew was of the opinion they went above and beyond to meet all demands, so I can only imagine the conversation happening between bridge staff, corporate staff, and local authorities right now

[Beardface]

Just heard from the YC Concierge that they turned away a few hundred people last week as well.  You can tell they are taking this hold up personally.  They thought they were doing far more than enough

[Fredric22]

If Jamaica is that worried then they just need to stop accepting cruise ship visits.  MSC should definitely cancel their future calls there and substitute with a different port.  

[Beardface]

And the people I feel worst for are the tour operators who have been sitting in Port waiting all day for us to get cleared.  I hope their employers pay them even if we can't take their tours

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, Fredric22 said:

If Jamaica is that worried then they just need to stop accepting cruise ship visits.  MSC should definitely cancel their future calls there and substitute with a different port.  

 

Right now it seems to be just a MSC thing. They haven't stopped any of the other lines from visiting... yet.

[floridian1]

is this because its an italian owned cruise line??

[Beardface]

11:30, another announcement, and we still don't have clearance

 

Doesn't sound like there is much urgency by Jamaica to get us cleared.

[Beardface]

At this point, we might have to leave before we could get clearance.  Already have most excursions canceled due to time constraints

 

[BermudaBound2014]

5 minutes ago, floridian1 said:

is this because its an italian owned cruise line??

 

No one knows. I suspect there is much behind the scenes we aren't privy to.

 

Some are speculating that this is not a retaliation (of sorts) to last week when MSC used very strong language against Jamaica with the Meraviglia debacle. Of course, that is pure speculation.  As I mentioned above, holding an Italian passport and/or traveling directly from Italy did play into Fred Olsen's refusal into the Dominican Republic last Friday.

 

But again, no one knows for sure

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, Beardface said:

At this point, we might have to leave before we could get clearance.  Already have most excursions canceled due to time constraints

 

 

That is exactly what MSC did last week with the Meraviglia. They did not wait for clearance. They technically were never turned away from Jamaica, they just didn't ever get cleared.

 

What is your next port? and arrival time?