For Amsterdam WC passengers getting off/getting home and beyond

[Tampa Girl]

11 minutes ago, Snoop Sister said:

ANA from Perth to Tokyo and from Tokyo to Houston was superb. Filled with Amsterdam passengers. 
Self quarantine for 14 days. Just me and the cats. 
Thanks for this board. Can keep up with friends. 

 

What was the flying time from Perth to Tokyo?

[RMLincoln]

18 hours ago, AD5ZA said:

....

I'm very disappointed in HAL. As far as their stated greatest concern in this cluster was for the 'health, safety and wellbeing of their guests' and that there was no medical facilities available if needed by a guest if they returned home via the ship. If that was true they would not have subjected us to the exposure of a possible fatal illness. Of those of us who were expelled from the ship, how many will get coronavirus? How many will DIE? 

Airports and airplanes are germ factories and we were forced to endure that rather than the virus free safety of the ship.

 

Jim & Chom

Cabin 3346

 

My Bold above...

 

Fewer will be at risk if travelers self-isolate for 14 days! 

We will have to self quarantine when we cross the state line to get back home after 4 months being away for cancer treatment, and hopefully we can continue to the end of the full treatment schedule.  We are in Texas at MD Anderson but live in New Mexico.  I'll be very glad to be home even if I have to quarantine for 2 weeks.  Kind neighbors have offered to do food drops for us to replenish our empty refrigerator.

 

Being at sea now is a dangerous craps shoot as to what port will be open to accept you.  We have a niece who is a radio officer on a container ship, and have concerns about their ports of call - Port of Houston shut down several days ago. 

 

Everything is changing so fast that I'm even concerned if we will be allowed to drive the 1000 miles home three weeks from now, if gas stations will be open, let alone hotels - we may have to drive straight through.  

It's difficult for everyone, and in many ways right now, but we are pulling together for the greater good.  I'm happy you and your fellow passengers are getting home, and I hope we all stay well.  Been keeping you all in my prayers!  

Maureen

 

 

[MMDown Under]

17 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

I have been home about an hour.  We were about three minutes from boarding when they announced there was no First Officer and they were looking for one.  They finally found one and we landed only about 10 minutes late.  There were only about 40 on the flight and most people had a row to themselves.

I hope you are managing OK now you are home, and adapting to the time difference.  As well as a world which would be quite different from when you left.  Every day brings new restrictions and lockdowns here in Australia.  All states have now closed their borders.  If you are interested in what is happening in Australia, since you left, you can check abc.net.au.  I keep informed through the BBC as well because they are usually a day or two ahead of us tightening restrictions.  Keep well. 

Edited March 24, 2020 by MMDown Under

[cruzingnut]

1 hour ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Get real.  Just where do you think you would be sailing to if HAL kept you on the ship?  Are you not aware that the Zaandam is still trying to find a port for disembarkation of its passengers?  What port do you think would be open to you six weeks from now?  FLL is even trying to close.  The Amsterdam barely made it into Australia. 

 

Someone posted that it would have taken approximately 45 days to sail a straight run to FLL.  Where do you think the ship was going to get provisions, medical supplies and fuel along the way?  Right now the Amsterdam is due to refuel somewhere on the west coast of Africa. 

 

Sorry that you cruise did not end in the way that you expected, but to blame HAL for not allowing you to sail back to FLL, thereby subjecting the company, and you, to possible damage, is shortsightedand unfair.  Besides, you do have a 125% FCC or 100% cash back, I believe.  It seems to me that HAL has made every attempt to make you whole.

 

As the starter of this thread, I must insist that this stop!  If you were not our cruise, you have no place criticizing us.  We were there and went thru all this; you did not.  It was very trying for us and trust me you have NO idea so please, just stop.

 

Linda R.

[Harley57]

7 minutes ago, cruzingnut said:

 

As the starter of this thread, I must insist that this stop!  If you were not our cruise, you have no place criticizing us.  We were there and went thru all this; you did not.  It was very trying for us and trust me you have NO idea so please, just stop.

 

Linda R.

I can’t imagine how exhausted each of you are after a very trying week and  long travel.   I didn’t take Tampa’s response as criticism but took it as more of a reality check.  It truly is concerning that ships are not being allowed to disembark passengers.   
 

Having been out of the country on 9/11, I realize that how we process events from a distance is very different from those actually being there.  Of course, in this scenario, it applies to both the WC folks and those of us that are here in the U.S. as the situation rapidly evolved.

 

Please understand that when you start a thread not everyone is going to agree with your perspective.   That said, I appreciate that you did start this thread as a way to track everyone’s return.   I hope that you are able to rest and relax in the coming days.

 

[cruzingnut]

23 minutes ago, Harley57 said:

I can’t imagine how exhausted each of you are after a very trying week and  long travel.   I didn’t take Tampa’s response as criticism but took it as more of a reality check.  It truly is concerning that ships are not being allowed to disembark passengers.   
 

Having been out of the country on 9/11, I realize that how we process events from a distance is very different from those actually being there.  Of course, in this scenario, it applies to both the WC folks and those of us that are here in the U.S. as the situation rapidly evolved.

 

Please understand that when you start a thread not everyone is going to agree with your perspective.   That said, I appreciate that you did start this thread as a way to track everyone’s return.   I hope that you are able to rest and relax in the coming days.

 

While we really would have preferred being taken back to Ft. Lauderdale, I think most of us realized that wouldn’t be a good option.  We were told several times that even the crew didn’t know if they’d make it back with the ship.  Fuel, supplies...yes, we heard that.  But not everyone would totally get that unfortunately. We were also told that the medical center couldn’t be expected to handle the issues that could come up; it’s equipped to stabilize people to be able to get them helicoptered off (which did happen the day before Fremantle).  We would be in areas too remote with no idea if anyone could (or would) come out even if the ship deviated towards land.

 

So, we really were given that “reality check” and more than once.  As far as trying, that started far more than a week ago. Telling us to “get real” was cruel in my opinion.

 

I know people won’t always agree but someone who wasn’t there really doesn’t know the situation.  Lots of us wished that we had turned around and headed back while we were still safe,  since up til New Zealand we hadn’t been ANYwhere there was virus.  But, no....corporate didn’t think we needed to do that apparently.

 

It will take us some time before we settle down; longer than those of you that weren’t on the world cruise.  I would never say people that have been home dealing with this virus haven’t had it as hard as us so don’t take this the wrong way, please.  While we were all well and not sick on the ship, remember that we had to fly halfway around the world on multiple flights.  Most of us came home to no foodstuffs since we were gone so long.  So, then we had/have to go out and get stuff.

 

There is so much that anyone who wasn’t on our cruise knows...please don’t anyone “beat” on us.  We’ve really been through the wringer.

 

Thank you,

Linda R.

 

 

Edited March 24, 2020 by cruzingnut

[cruzingnut]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I hope you are managing OK now you are home, and adapting to the time difference.  As well as a world which would be quite different from when you left.  Every day brings new restrictions and lockdowns here in Australia.  All states have now closed their borders.  If you are interested in what is happening in Australia, since you left, you can check abc.net.au.  I keep informed through the BBC as well because they are usually a day or two ahead of us tightening restrictions.  Keep well. 

While on the ship I was monitoring that website for information.  I saw that shutdown coming...  I so hope it helps you keep the virus count down by doing that.  I’ll continue to check up on you as I feel like I have a vested interest in you guys!  We love Australia and can’t wait to get back. 😎❤️🇦🇺  
 

Time change is crazy what with it being 12 hours different for us here in Florida.  Day is night, night is day...🤪😳😴

 

Linda R.

 

 

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, cruzingnut said:

While on the ship I was monitoring that website for information.  I saw that shutdown coming...  I so hope it helps you keep the virus count down by doing that.  I’ll continue to check up on you as I feel like I have a vested interest in you guys!  We love Australia and can’t wait to get back. 😎❤️🇦🇺  
 

Time change is crazy what with it being 12 hours different for us here in Florida.  Day is night, night is day...🤪😳😴

 

Linda R.

 

 

I'm pleased you were aware of our public broadcaster, as they are the best source for factual information, which is more important than ever, during this difficult time.  

Hope you don't take ten days to get over jet lag like I do.

Many of us are chronic WC blog followers, so feel like we "know" many passengers, as well as Captain Jonathan, who did an absolutely brilliant job getting his ship to port before the borders shut between states and most flights stopped.  I suggest those who don't read his blog, Captain Who's Driving, might like to do so to obtain an understanding of the stress he was under. 

We all need to be kind and understanding of each other during these uncertain times. 

(Background - Australians are in shock with 133 infected passengers from Ruby Princess, with one death of an older lady.

Cruise ships were banned by PM by a certain date.  Ruby Princess disembarked 2,700 passengers, after the ban.  These passengers were allowed to travel freely throughout Australia.  There will be an investigation into how this was allowed to happen, with Border Force addressing the public this morning.  10% of current infected people in NSW are from Ruby Princess passengers.  Prior to the cruise ship saga, the majority of recent infected people were from the US (including returning Aussies))  

 

[purduemom1]

19 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

That is not what you want to hear when you are flying.  You want the best in the business, not one found off the street!

A row to yourself is like winning the lottery on a long haul flight.  Hope you stretched out and slept. 

Welcome Home. 

 Believe me, the airline did not get a FO off the street. The airline has pilots on reserve who are fully qualified to fly a particular aircraft. No different from the pilot who, for what ever reason, is not able to fly a particular flight. They are all qualified, licensed pilots of that particular airline.

[WriterOnDeck]

23 hours ago, AD5ZA said:

I'm very disappointed in HAL. As far as their stated greatest concern in this cluster was for the 'health, safety and wellbeing of their guests' and that there was no medical facilities available if needed by a guest if they returned home via the ship. If that was true they would not have subjected us to the exposure of a possible fatal illness. Of those of us who were expelled from the ship, how many will get coronavirus? How many will DIE? 

Airports and airplanes are germ factories and we were forced to endure that rather than the virus free safety of the ship.

 

Jim & Chom

Cabin 3346

Having seen what the Zaandam is still going through, in highsight I think HAL made the best decision for us. At least the Zaandam has three HAL ships who can send medical staff and supplies to it. We would have been by ourselves in the middle of a very big ocean. And who could say that we would have been virus free on the ship (the Zaandam thought it was and it had been several days since it had been in a port -- although no one knows what illness is there yet)?

 

Yes, there was risk in flying home, but also in the drive home from the airport.

[MMDown Under]

44 minutes ago, purduemom1 said:

 Believe me, the airline did not get a FO off the street. The airline has pilots on reserve who are fully qualified to fly a particular aircraft. No different from the pilot who, for what ever reason, is not able to fly a particular flight. They are all qualified, licensed pilots of that particular airline.

Sorry I forgot I was on the international site.  That is tongue in cheek Aussie humour.  I know all pilots have to be fully qualified to fly planes in civilised countries.  I have the utmost respect for them, especially the ones who fly for Alaska Air.  

7 minutes ago, WriterOnDeck said:

 

 

[Cruising Is Bliss]

So happy to see everyone getting home safely.  I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts along the way from the GWV.

 

Amsterdam sailed yesterday and is going home the long way around through some very remote and empty waters.  She's going west across the Indian Ocean making for Durban, South Africa, will get there in 13 days. Load up on fuel and provisions, then down around Cape Good Hope, all the way up Africa, and across the Atlantic to Florida.

 

Captain Mercer talks about the decision and says he's going to keep posting to his blog on the voyage back to Florida.

http://captainjonathan.com/fremantle-and-the-end-of-the-world/

 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Cruising Is Bliss

[WriterOnDeck]

And thanks for starting this thread. I was updating on Facebook and now on my blog (www.WriterOnDeck.com), so will just say here briefly that we had a long but uneventful day or so getting back to Dallas. I'm thankful to be one who can't stay awake on a plane so I mostly slept.

 

I know we all have a lot of processing left to do. And my sister Elaine and I are self-isolating at home for 2 weeks to be absolutely sure we haven't contracted the virus in our travels. I hope others are doing the same.

 

Thanks for following us -- I really appreciate all the comments on my blog. This is a wonderful community.

[nbist]

Some seem confused or not aware regarding official guidelines regarding isolation upon return. Here is the link to the CDC guidelines: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/returning-cruise-voyages.html

 

Basically:

Stay home for 14 days from the time you returned home from a cruise ship or river cruise and practice social distancing:

Take your temperature with a thermometer two times a day and monitor for fever. Also watch for cough or trouble breathing.

Stay home and avoid contact with others. Do not go to work or school.

Keep your distance from others (about 6 feet or 2 meters).

 

These same guidelines also pertain to those that are returning from high risk countries which includes Australia.

 

Discretionary travel within the US is also being discouraged.

 

Welcome home.

[MMDown Under]

4 minutes ago, nbist said:

Some seem confused or not aware regarding official guidelines regarding isolation upon return. Here is the link to the CDC guidelines: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/returning-cruise-voyages.html

 

Basically:

Stay home for 14 days from the time you returned home from a cruise ship or river cruise and practice social distancing:

Take your temperature with a thermometer two times a day and monitor for fever. Also watch for cough or trouble breathing.

Stay home and avoid contact with others. Do not go to work or school.

Keep your distance from others (about 6 feet or 2 meters).

 

These same guidelines also pertain to those that are returning from high risk countries which includes Australia.

 

Discretionary travel within the US is also being discouraged.

 

Welcome home.

I don't think Australia is a high risk country, but I will check.  But I do know, the USA tests the least amount of people per population, whilst Aust tests amongst the highest (Korea is higher).  I hope USA is now testing more people, for their sake.  

[nbist]

Just providing information and references from official sites. I realize that many will ignore the guidelines. 

 

Again, from the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.html

Countries that have a Level 3 Travel Health Notice (widespread, ongoing transmission):

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Ecuador
• India
• Indonesia
• China
• Europe (Schengen Area): Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City
• Iran
• Ireland
• Israel
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Qatar
• Romania
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Thailand
• Turkey
• United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We got very lucky 28 hours and we are home . But I have 35 boxes on the ship 20 box's 405 blankets and 15 box's of yarn . Hank said I have to get it off the ship when it gets to FTL 🤔

[jakkojakko]

There are still , non american, passengers of Amsterdam in Freemantle unable to get flights home as they cannot go nonstop and carriers are refusing non native passengers. Ie, only repatriating their own.

They are stuck.

[Krazy Kruizers]

26 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

We got very lucky 28 hours and we are home . But I have 35 boxes on the ship 20 box's 405 blankets and 15 box's of yarn . Hank said I have to get it off the ship when it gets to FTL 🤔

 

Glad you are home safe.

 

But how are you going to get all those boxes off the ship?  Will the crew take them off for you?

 

I gather that those blankets are the Linus ones that so many people like Kathi were working.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

35 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

 

Glad you are home safe.

 

But how are you going to get all those boxes off the ship?  Will the crew take them off for you?

 

I gather that those blankets are the Linus ones that so many people like Kathi were working.

I think it will come off like luggage. 

[Wehwalt]

Full-voyage GWV passengers in certain categories who booked early and live in US/Canada get luggage shipped each way via FedEx; for Vista Suite and above it is unlimited. Other passengers can have theirs shipped for a charge. I don't know if they are waiving shipping charges from FLL for those that don't already get it free. I am sure it is a lot cheaper for HAL to do it this way than air ship from Perth.

[cat shepard]

How about “2 Men & a Truck”? Or if you are ok with the physical aspect of the move, UHaul?

@Gail & Marty sailing away

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

38 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

How about “2 Men & a Truck”? Or if you are ok with the physical aspect of the move, UHaul?

@Gail & Marty sailing away

Thanks for the ideas.

My brother lives in FTL and has a truck.

[MMDown Under]

9 hours ago, nbist said:

Just providing information and references from official sites. I realize that many will ignore the guidelines. 

 

Again, from the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.html

Countries that have a Level 3 Travel Health Notice (widespread, ongoing transmission):

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Ecuador
• India
• Indonesia
• China
• Europe (Schengen Area): Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City
• Iran
• Ireland
• Israel
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Qatar
• Romania
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Thailand
• Turkey
• United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

OK I can see where you are coming from.  Thank you for sharing procedures Americans should be following on their return from travelling overseas from countries which have widespread, ongoing transmission, which includes Australia.  Numerically Australia is way behind most other countries with the number of people with the virus.  However, these numbers are increasing exponentially.  The latest increase is from cruise ship passengers, prior to that from people from the USA (including returning Australia).  Are people returning to the USA at this time being provided with this information?  The WA Government is currently going to transfer passengers from a cruise ship (Vasta Da Garma ?) scheduled to finish in Fremantle. on Rottnest Island under compulsory 14 day self isolation. 

[Floridiana]

6 hours ago, jakkojakko said:

There are still , non american, passengers of Amsterdam in Freemantle unable to get flights home as they cannot go nonstop and carriers are refusing non native passengers. Ie, only repatriating their own.

They are stuck.

 

 

Not a good situation, but I hope they can find a hotel that doesn't t close down. We were on a ship that ended her cruise after 8 days instead of 36 in Rio de Janeiro last week. One couple from Guam decided to return via Germany, Taiwan, Tokyo. I hope they made it back home in time. We were lucky we could fly back to Miami, just one flight. We also had passengers who insisted to remain on the ship, no medical reasons just "convenience". They were not permitted.

 

If you made it back home, count your blessings.