Star Princess to take Philipino workers back to Philippines

[casavaha]

I just learned from a crewman on the Royal that the Star Princess will sail back to the Philippines with Philipino workers from other Princess Ships.  I believe the Royal and possibly the Grand.  It is a good idea especially since it is so hard to book chartered flights.  Plus Princess is paying these workers.

 

Greg

[dockman]

well deserved ....should be interesting cruise with crew staying in guests rooms, eating in dining rooms etc....i suspect few other cruise lines like Holland America may do same with their crews....

[pms4104]

25 minutes ago, casavaha said:

I just learned from a crewman on the Royal that the Star Princess will sail back to the Philippines with Philipino workers from other Princess Ships.  I believe the Royal and possibly the Grand.  It is a good idea especially since it is so hard to book chartered flights.  Plus Princess is paying these workers.

 

Greg

The good news is that these folks will be home with their families ...

 

The bad news is that they have no idea when they will sail again, if ever ...

 

I hope they will be safe and healthy in their home countries ...

 

And they can find suitable emplkyment to support themselves and their families ...

 

Good on Princess for taking on this responsibility

 

[voljeep]

how many different nationalities is Princess doing this for ? just the Philipino workers ? Indonesia ? Russia ?

 

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

That’s great!

[casavaha]

I think it would be more cost effective if the Star would also pick up workers from

other CCL Corp ships.  If I find out more I will pass it along.

 

Greg

[SeaDog-46]

This is already happening - Golden,  Sun &  Sea  Princess left Australia & are well on there way to Philippines.

 

Also 4 x RCC,  1 x Celebrity,  3 x P&O Australia all going to Indonesia / Singapore / Philippines.

 

 

[MarLieb]

5 hours ago, pms4104 said:

The good news is that these folks will be home with their families ...

 

The bad news is that they have no idea when they will sail again, if ever ...

 

I hope they will be safe and healthy in their home countries ...

 

And they can find suitable emplkyment to support themselves and their families ...

 

Good on Princess for taking on this responsibility

 

 

This question has been lingering in my mind for quite a while.  With all of the crew, deservedly, going home (and hopefully staying healthy and safe with their families), how will the cruise lines ramp up and sail again?  It seems most lines have only cancelled most cruises through mid-May.  I feel like there is no way they can sail the crew home and then be up and running in May - am I missing something?

[Aus Traveller]

9 minutes ago, MarLieb said:

 

This question has been lingering in my mind for quite a while.  With all of the crew, deservedly, going home (and hopefully staying healthy and safe with their families), how will the cruise lines ramp up and sail again?  It seems most lines have only cancelled most cruises through mid-May.  I feel like there is no way they can sail the crew home and then be up and running in May - am I missing something?

Cruises will not be running in May. We will be lucky if they start again this year.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Aus Traveller

[Pushka]

27 minutes ago, MarLieb said:

  I feel like there is no way they can sail the crew home and then be up and running in May - am I missing something?

Yes, as per Aus Traveller. Ships will not be back in May. All cruiselines currently in Australian waters or now just out of them, are coordinating to take their crew back to their home countries, except for a skeleton crew. There were significant operations last week on Sydney Harbour where crew were transferred to other ships to coordinate their return. Perhaps that is a good benefit of the Australian Govt to force  ships from Australian waters - it forced the cruiselines to get their crew back to their home instead of aimlessly being at sea waiting for something. 
 

Once it's safe - god knows when that will be - Then they will need to be reassembled, tested, safely quarantined, then brought back to service. That will take months and can't even start in the foreseeable future. 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Pushka

[pms4104]

39 minutes ago, MarLieb said:

 

This question has been lingering in my mind for quite a while.  With all of the crew, deservedly, going home (and hopefully staying healthy and safe with their families), how will the cruise lines ramp up and sail again?  It seems most lines have only cancelled most cruises through mid-May.  I feel like there is no way they can sail the crew home and then be up and running in May - am I missing something?

I think this is a clear indication the cruiselines know they won't need to ramp up their operations any time soon.

 

Their next challenges?  Reworking their cruise schedules, likely with very limited offerings for a long time ... and processing boatloads of refunds.

[Thrak]

43 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

I think this is a clear indication the cruiselines know they won't need to ramp up their operations any time soon.

 

Their next challenges?  Reworking their cruise schedules, likely with very limited offerings for a long time ... and processing boatloads of refunds.

 

Our "next" cruises are scheduled in November/December. Even if Princess is getting back on their feet by then I'm not at all sure the governments of Australia and New Zealand will be amenable to having ships port in their countries. We're "supposed" to do 33 days out of Melbourne for Southern Australia, New Zealand, and Queensland. At this point nobody really knows if the governments (or the citizens) will have any interest in allowing these cruises to take place.

[voljeep]

10 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Our "next" cruises are scheduled in November/December. Even if Princess is getting back on their feet by then I'm not at all sure the governments of Australia and New Zealand will be amenable to having ships port in their countries. We're "supposed" to do 33 days out of Melbourne for Southern Australia, New Zealand, and Queensland. At this point nobody really knows if the governments (or the citizens) will have any interest in allowing these cruises to take place.

given the 'situation' with the Ruby … i'd be very surprised if there wasn't a mutual "ban" on CCL ships in AU and NZ for a year or so

[PaperSniper4]

8 minutes ago, voljeep said:

given the 'situation' with the Ruby … i'd be very surprised if there wasn't a mutual "ban" on CCL ships in AU and NZ for a year or so

Let's just hope that the Philippine government will allow the ships to dock and disembark their passenger-crews. Surely Princess et al has checked into that. I agree Princess would not be doing this if they reasoned they'd be needing them "anytime soon". How long is "anytime soon" I wonder? I'm guessing perhaps not until the Caribbean cruising season opens.....and opens late....I know I have no plans to cruise in 2020 or at least mid-way through 2021. I canceled my 2020 cruise about 3 month ago, and my Jan 2021 cruise about 1 month ago . But I am my nature a very cautious person, and I am in the "high risk" category we hear about on the news.😔

[AF-1]

As of today Easter Sunday;  both Royal and Star are sitting off the Los Angeles Coast.

Golden itinerary shows it headed to Singapore along with Celebrity Soltice

Ovation of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas are headed to Bali.  

All four of these ships are currently off the west coast of Australia

Edited April 12, 2020 by AF-1

[Pushka]

10 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Our "next" cruises are scheduled in November/December. Even if Princess is getting back on their feet by then I'm not at all sure the governments of Australia and New Zealand will be amenable to having ships port in their countries. We're "supposed" to do 33 days out of Melbourne for Southern Australia, New Zealand, and Queensland. At this point nobody really knows if the governments (or the citizens) will have any interest in allowing these cruises to take place.

The Australian Government indicated today that it is likely we will not have any international travel for 6 months, and possibly until the end of the year. No cruises into Australia. 
 

16 deaths of Ruby Princess passengers and over 650 passenger infections from just that one cruise in Australia 3 weeks ago, let alone the impact on the crew nor the overseas passengers means that cruising will take a long time to recover here. 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Pushka

[chengkp75]

And, while this is very good news for the Princess crew, realize that the estimated 80,000 crew docked or anchored on cruise ships near the US represents only about 5% of the active merchant mariners on ships today.  The 1.6 million mariners currently onboard ships are historically doing 100,000 crew changes a month, or 3300 per day.  Nearly all of these mariners are currently under crew change freezes, either because the ports don't allow crew changes, or there are flight restrictions to/from their home countries.  This will eventually lead to an even greater slowdown/shutdown of the world's economy, since 80% of the world's trade travels by sea.

[pms4104]

8 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

And, while this is very good news for the Princess crew, realize that the estimated 80,000 crew docked or anchored on cruise ships near the US represents only about 5% of the active merchant mariners on ships today.  The 1.6 million mariners currently onboard ships are historically doing 100,000 crew changes a month, or 3300 per day.  Nearly all of these mariners are currently under crew change freezes, either because the ports don't allow crew changes, or there are flight restrictions to/from their home countries.  This will eventually lead to an even greater slowdown/shutdown of the world's economy, since 80% of the world's trade travels by sea.

Thank you for your real-life insight on this worldwide pandemic ... it certainly adds a different perspective  

[skynight]

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

given the 'situation' with the Ruby … i'd be very surprised if there wasn't a mutual "ban" on CCL ships in AU and NZ for a year or so

I don't think the two Governments will be out to single out and punish certain corporations. When they feel health issues are safe then cruise lines will be able to resume operations in their waters. 

[dockman]

It seems it might make sense to load up a bunch of ships with crew from other ships and sail to Philippines and Indonesia and unload crew...then dock or anchor near there until a month or so before some cruising starts again then load up crew and head for new season whenever/wherever that might be.

 

  My guess is some fall foliage may start in Sep followed by a fairly heavy slate of Caribbean and Mexico in the winter.  I think most North America people who do want to cruise will likely want to be on cruises that are very close to ports/home so if problems develop they can hopefully quickly reach a port and disembark.  With some luck hopefully there will be an effective vaccine by winter 2021 in time to allow for full Alaska season summer of 2021.

 

No idea what the fuel /food cost would be to go all the way to Indonesia etc but maybe similar to cost of airfares assuming they can even charter the planes?  But 80000 crew is a LOT of people.

 

 

[chengkp75]

33 minutes ago, dockman said:

But 80000 crew is a LOT of people.

Not all 80,000 are due to get off, and not all would be considered as "unnecessary".

[dockman]

7 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Not all 80,000 are due to get off, and not all would be considered as "unnecessary".

  

Few questions if you don't mind sharing your knowledge?

 

1.  Would it make sense economically to try and sail the crew that they need to get back to Indonesia/Philippines and leave ships there until time to redeploy? 

 

2.  If they are not allowed to disembark the crews and fly them home what other options do they have?  Will they just try and find some port that will allow disembarkation and charter flights or what?

 

3.  Is the maximum number of people on a ship dictated by number of life boats available?  Would ships likely try and use some of the rooms for triple and quad occupancy to carry as many as possible?

 

Thanks for your expertise. 

[chengkp75]

20 minutes ago, dockman said:

  

Few questions if you don't mind sharing your knowledge?

 

1.  Would it make sense economically to try and sail the crew that they need to get back to Indonesia/Philippines and leave ships there until time to redeploy? 

 

2.  If they are not allowed to disembark the crews and fly them home what other options do they have?  Will they just try and find some port that will allow disembarkation and charter flights or what?

 

3.  Is the maximum number of people on a ship dictated by number of life boats available?  Would ships likely try and use some of the rooms for triple and quad occupancy to carry as many as possible?

 

Thanks for your expertise. 

1.  Not from North America.  Not even sure it makes economical sense from Oz to Indonesia/Philippines.  You've got to pay fuel costs both ways.  Airfares would be far less.

2.  The same problems facing the roughly 200,000 merchant mariners who have been backed up on crew changes just over the last two months.  The crew stays onboard, or the company finds some port that will allow crew changes and charter or commercial flights.  Per the Manila Labor Convention of 2006 (MLC 2006), which governs mariner employment and protections, the maximum a crew member can be on a ship is 11 months, so when crew start to reach this limit, cargo ships, which are still moving, will start to stop due to lack of crew (even though the crew will be onboard, they will not be allowed to work), and this will slow the world economy in ways that very few economists have looked at.  In the US anyway, merchant mariners are considered essential personnel, so if you can get off due to port regulations, then you are okay to fly home or to the ship.

3.  The maximum number of "all souls" onboard is limited by the capacity of all "lifesaving equipment", meaning a combination of lifeboats and life rafts.  Passenger ships must have 125% capacity of all souls, which pretty much equates to the maximum capacity of passengers and crew.  Some pax cabins could be used for triple and quad, but not all, as there are more "bunks" on the ship than lifeboat capacity.

[Thrak]

7 hours ago, Pushka said:

The Australian Government indicated today that it is likely we will not have any international travel for 6 months, and possibly until the end of the year. No cruises into Australia. 
 

16 deaths of Ruby Princess passengers and over 650 passenger infections from just that one cruise in Australia 3 weeks ago, let alone the impact on the crew nor the overseas passengers means that cruising will take a long time to recover here. 

 

I figure the cruises will be cancelled. It's sad as we have never been to Australia or New Zealand and everything about these cruises magically lined up for us. 33 days in a Caribe deck balcony on Sapphire Princess. Gratuities, WiFi, and Beverage Package included. Over $1,700 AUD in OBC.  I doubt very much I'll ever see another cruise with those circumstances.

 

$250 of the OBC is from "bonus" gift cards that will simply be lost. We won't lose other money as we have only paid the deposit and used FCD for that which can be returned to our account.

[Astro Flyer]

7 hours ago, Pushka said:

The Australian Government indicated today that it is likely we will not have any international travel for 6 months, and possibly until the end of the year. No cruises into Australia. 

If possible could you share any links so I could read additional information...thanks.

 

We’re booked on the Sapphire’s Around Australia 30-day cruise beginning in mid-September however our Aussie friend has shared some dire predictions about what he’s reading. It’s our last dream cruise destination however it’s becoming less & less likely.
 

Princess continues to require final payment 120 days in advance for such longer cruises which is due in 5 weeks. It’s been over a month since our May cruises were canceled & we allowed them to keep our cruise fare however we haven’t received our 150% FCC nor refundable costs. Due to the uncertainty about this cruise around Australia we’re very unlikely to give Princess more of our money in exchange for more FCC if that cruise is also canceled. There’s too much uncertainty for us to pay in full 4 months in advance & their 60 day final payments are only for cruises through July so we’ll likely cancel our dream cruise. 😢