Predict when cruising will start again post-Coronavirus

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, mr walker said:

We will be following along on your SA trip. While the river cruise we were planning was all booked out, we haven't given up hope of getting to do one soon

I'm still not sure it will happen. The cruise company were advised all restrictions were coming off but the press release shows only quarantine is no longer required. PCR tests at days 1, 5 and 12 are still required with self isolation until the first negative result comes back. That doesn't make it easy for tourists. Athough we have planned to arrive in SA on the Friday before the Sunday afternoon embarkation we would have to find somewhere to get tested then stay in the motel until the results came through, and if they didn't come through by Sunday we'd miss the cruise. I'm not prepared to travel to SA under those conditions. SA have stated they hope to remove the rest of the restrictions "soon" but who knows when that will be. 😡

[MicCanberra]

Australian Government has reiterated the no international travel this year line, so we had all better tsake up tennis if we want to visit other countries.

[Chiliburn]

We have 6 weeks till this current ban is reviewed.

 I can understand the international travel ban but domestic cruises should be allowed.

Singapore has had success and have extended cruises till the end of April.
With possibly more ships and a port call.

 

 Surely we can follow their example.

[mr walker]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Australian Government has reiterated the no international travel this year line, so we had all better tsake up tennis if we want to visit other countries.

Yes the next round of panic buying will be tennis rackets

[mr walker]

15 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I'm still not sure it will happen. The cruise company were advised all restrictions were coming off but the press release shows only quarantine is no longer required. PCR tests at days 1, 5 and 12 are still required with self isolation until the first negative result comes back. That doesn't make it easy for tourists. Athough we have planned to arrive in SA on the Friday before the Sunday afternoon embarkation we would have to find somewhere to get tested then stay in the motel until the results came through, and if they didn't come through by Sunday we'd miss the cruise. I'm not prepared to travel to SA under those conditions. SA have stated they hope to remove the rest of the restrictions "soon" but who knows when that will be. 😡

Well that's disappointing. Always the details are the most important thing.

Yes, we wouldn't proceed based on those regulations either.

The unknown of changing restrictions seems to be a sign of the times. I see that tourists are stuck on Norfolk Is now due to flight cancellations due to changed border restrictions for NZ to Australia, as the flights are with AirNZ. Talk now of a charter plane to rescue people stuck on Norfolk😮 Without any pressing matters back home, I could think of worse things 🙂

I think we will stick with NSW travel for the time being & hope that our QLD coastal cruise in Mar 2022 still goes ahead, although if Ms P & the kindergarten teacher (aka CHO) are still in charge I guess we will just stay onboard, lest we get stranded 😉

Edited January 28, 2021 by mr walker
typo

[lyndarra]

31 minutes ago, mr walker said:

Well that's disappointing. Always the details are the most important thing.

Yes, we wouldn't proceed based on those regulations either.

The unknown of changing restrictions seems to be a sign of the times. I see that tourists are stuck on Norfolk Is now due to flight cancellations due to changed border restrictions for NZ to Australia, as the flights are with AirNZ. Talk now of a charter plane to rescue people stuck on Norfolk😮 Without any pressing matters back home, I could think of worse things 🙂

I think we will stick with NSW travel for the time being & hope that our QLD coastal cruise in Mar 2022 still goes ahead, although if Ms P & the kindergarten teacher (aka CHO) are still in charge I guess we will just stay onboard, lest we get stranded 😉

Air New Zealand cancelled our flights to Norfolk Is last week. We were due to go there on 11/2 - Newcastle/Brisbane/N I. Reason given was "due to COVID-19". I checked Air NZ website and there were still flights listed from Sydney and Brisbane on the dates we were to go and return.

[MicCanberra]

maybe for the best with people stuck on the island.

[Chiliburn]

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/cruise-industry-says-successful-asian-voyages-during-pandemic-show-they-are-covidsafe/news-story/1657023578a2178eec2b8e77a48962d3

[joejoe 59]

On 28/01/2021 at 11:01 AM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Fingers crossed our SA Proud Mary river cruise next month looks like it will go ahead. They contacted me earlier to say they had been notified that the SA border restrictions will be eased on Saturday. Also Victoria have announced they will probably change their border restrictions for Greater Sydney tomorrow which means we could stick to our original booking plan of driving down via Hay. The alternate would have been going via Broken Hill which avoids crossing Victoria but adds an extra day onto the travel time. And with bit more luck we might be able to come home via Melbourne and catch up with family and friends there. We're also hoping to go down to Kangaroo Island after the river cruise.

Good luck on your travels.

We are booked to travel to Tassie in less then 2 weeks for a 2 week motorhome trip, I have everything crossed😁

[lyndarra]

On Impulse today I looked at some Murray Princess cruises that had been bundled with ocean cruises on Princess and Cunard.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, joejoe 59 said:

Good luck on your travels.

We are booked to travel to Tassie in less then 2 weeks for a 2 week motorhome trip, I have everything crossed😁

Thanks, it's all going to depend on what SA does with its border restrictions. They seem to be being more cautious than the other states. 

 

Plus, of course, we have to hope there isn't another outbreak. 

[lyndarra]

I was today tempted to book a SA holiday for September. It included five night in Adelaide that included a show starring Russell Morris and Daryl Braithwaite,  Borossa Valley and Kangaroo Island tours. Airfares etc. Max 250 pax. The only thing stopping me was the possibility of border being suddenly closed.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

I was today tempted to book a SA holiday for September. It included five night in Adelaide that included a show starring Russell Morris and Daryl Braithwaite,  Borossa Valley and Kangaroo Island tours. Airfares etc. Max 250 pax. The only thing stopping me was the possibility of border being suddenly closed.

There is going to be that risk for some time.

[ELep]

13 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

We have 6 weeks till this current ban is reviewed.

 I can understand the international travel ban but domestic cruises should be allowed.

Singapore has had success and have extended cruises till the end of April.
With possibly more ships and a port call.

 

 Surely we can follow their example.

Domestic cruises sound great, BUT, I am imagining a scenario whereby a typical 10-12 night itinerary, Syd-BNE-Airlie-Port Douglas-Cairns-Morton-Syd has all it's port cancelled because Sydney has an "outbreak" and QLD closes their borders to people who have been in Sydney or NSW.  To have any good chance of success the cruises would need to visit destinations in the same state as the cruise passengers embarked. 

[Chiliburn]

28 minutes ago, ELep said:

Domestic cruises sound great, BUT, I am imagining a scenario whereby a typical 10-12 night itinerary, Syd-BNE-Airlie-Port Douglas-Cairns-Morton-Syd has all it's port cancelled because Sydney has an "outbreak" and QLD closes their borders to people who have been in Sydney or NSW.  To have any good chance of success the cruises would need to visit destinations in the same state as the cruise passengers embarked. 

I would say they would start with short cruises, probably about 3-4 days .

Thats what is happening in other places.

That way they wouldn’t be to far from their port of origin and if there was a closure ,the ship could go somewhere else.
 

It would be a start .

[MicCanberra]

9 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I would say they would start with short cruises, probably about 3-4 days .

Thats what is happening in other places.

That way they wouldn’t be to far from their port of origin and if there was a closure ,the ship could go somewhere else.
 

It would be a start .

Apart from Samplers, they are also likely to be just intrastate travel as well.

Brisbane to FNQ (Cairns, Port Douglas, Airlie Beach) and back.

Sydney to Eden, Port Kembla and Newcastle and back.

Adelaide to Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island and back.

Fremantle to Esperance, Albany and Busselton and back or Broome, Geraldton and back.

[Chiliburn]

26 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Apart from Samplers, they are also likely to be just intrastate travel as well.

Brisbane to FNQ (Cairns, Port Douglas, Airlie Beach) and back.

Sydney to Eden, Port Kembla and Newcastle and back.

Adelaide to Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island and back.

Fremantle to Esperance, Albany and Busselton and back or Broome, Geraldton and back.

Yeh probably  

It sounds like the Alaska season has gone out the window.
The local CLIA sounds pretty confident about some trials , So let’s get a ship of each brand down here.

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Sydney to Eden, Port Kembla and Newcastle and back.

 

There don't seem to be any ports in NSW on the north coast. I would have thought that Coffs Harbour could have rated as a tender port. The main basin seems deep enough and is protected from northerly and southerly seas, just open to the east. They could also throw in extended sails to Lord Howe island and Ball's Pyramid. I don't see why it would be necessary to land there, the places are spectacular enough just from the sea.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

There don't seem to be any ports in NSW on the north coast. I would have thought that Coffs Harbour could have rated as a tender port. The main basin seems deep enough and is protected from northerly and southerly seas, just open to the east. They could also throw in extended sails to Lord Howe island and Ball's Pyramid. I don't see why it would be necessary to land there, the places are spectacular enough just from the sea.

 

 

I only listed ports that have been used previously by the larger lines, like P&O, etc.

[Chiliburn]

15 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

There don't seem to be any ports in NSW on the north coast. I would have thought that Coffs Harbour could have rated as a tender port. The main basin seems deep enough and is protected from northerly and southerly seas, just open to the east. They could also throw in extended sails to Lord Howe island and Ball's Pyramid. I don't see why it would be necessary to land there, the places are spectacular enough just from the sea.

 

 

That’s a great idea a sail past lord Howe, go to the top of the class and get a star on your hand.

 I don’t know why it hasn’t happened before?

leave sydney-a sea day - a half day around Lord Howe -another sea day - Eden and back to Sydney.

 

Thats 4-5 days 

[SinbadThePorter]

36 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I only listed ports that have been used previously by the larger lines, like P&O, etc.

 

Yes, but I was musing that in the current circumstances, if it comes to intrastate cruises, how good it would be if the cruise lines could extend their options a bit.

 

For instance I recall that the old Pacific Aria occasionally used to anchor off the west side of Fraser Island for tendering. She had a draught of 7.71m. The draught of Coral Princess is 8.2m.

 

Was it the Dawn that used to go to Cooktown sometimes?

 

Then there are places that just dropped off the cruising map entirely, like Sherrard Island.

Edited January 29, 2021 by SinbadThePorter

[OzKiwiJJ]

The downside to the curren trend of bigger and bigger ships is less ports that can take them, and tendering is more affected by weather conditions.

[Aus Traveller]

We were on a cruise on the Pacific Sun where Cooktown was a tender stop. At the last minute, the Captain announced that it was too windy to use the tenders so the port was cancelled. I was told that P&O eliminated Cooktown from their itineraries because that often happened.

[Esilef]

I would be really happy to book a coastal viewing cruise even if the ship doesn’t stop anywhere. The Australian coast is spectacular. 
 

We just did Hobart and what a beautiful place it was. The food and wine is some of the best in the world. Tasmania really is a hidden gem. 
 

that said I would be happy to cruise from Melbourne to Tasmania.

[Esilef]

BTW I am still planning my river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam in December this year. APT is holding all our money as credit. If that doesn’t go ahead we will keep moving the river cruise forward.