Cruises Cancelled Through End of June

[BBWC]

Yes, cold lay up means more than 12 months. So most of the NCLH fleet (including Regent) will not be sailing for at least a year.

[mrlevin]

12 minutes ago, BBWC said:

Yes, cold lay up means more than 12 months. So most of the NCLH fleet (including Regent) will not be sailing for at least a year.

 

Maybe Splendor (Pacific coast and Mexico) and Explorer (Caribbean) will all that will be sailing this year.  If USA passengers can't fly to Europe I imagine it would be only European cruise lines that will sail at all in Europe this year.  Of course, Voyager has had large Asian passenger loads on Far East trips so maybe it will be home-ported out of Shanghai or Hong Kong for a while.  Aa for Alaska, I sure hope Mariner still has an Alaskan season this summer.

 

Marc

Edited April 27, 2020 by mrlevin

[BBWC]

I actually see the Mariner as a candidate for extended lay up. If the cruise lines cannot operate until late July (due to CDC rules), then Alaska season does not make much sense anymore. We are booked on the Grand Voyage around South America end of October, and the cruise is not selling well. In fact, it was discounted even pre-COVID.

[Pcardad]

21 minutes ago, BBWC said:

Yes, cold lay up means more than 12 months. So most of the NCLH fleet (including Regent) will not be sailing for at least a year.

 

Actually, according to Lloyds, a warm layup is good up to 12 months and a cold layup is good for up to 5 years. There is no requirement to keep a ship in cold layup for 12 months. I was just told that although there is no current order to put Regent ships into cold layup, it is possible. Dry dock has been postponed for all but Navigator.

 

https://issuu.com/lr_marine/docs/lay-up_guide_26_october_2015

[mrlevin]

11 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Dry dock has been postponed for all but Navigator.

 

https://issuu.com/lr_marine/docs/lay-up_guide_26_october_2015

 

Do you have a new date for the Navigator dry dock?

[RJ2002]

23 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

 

I was just told that although there is no current order to put Regent ships into cold layup, it is possible.

 

but NCLH itself is saying the majority of ships are being prepared for cold lay up...  ???

 

http://www.nclhltdinvestor.com/news-releases/news-release-details/norwegian-cruise-line-holdings-ltd-provides-business-update

 

COVID-19 Action Plan

The Company has swiftly undertaken several proactive measures to mitigate the financial and operational impacts of COVID-19. This action plan includes cost mitigation and cash conservation levers the Company has deployed to preserve and enhance liquidity and is part of an overall plan that, as described below, also contemplates additional sources of capital and liquidity. These measures include:

Reduced Operating Expenses

• Meaningfully reducing cruise operating expense which includes reducing expenses associated with crew payroll, food, fuel, insurance and port charges. The majority of ships in the Company’s fleet are currently transitioning to cold layup.
• Significantly reducing or deferring marketing expense in the first half of the year.
• Introduced a temporary shortened work week and reduced work hours with commensurate 20% salary reduction for shoreside team members.
• Paused employer 401(k) match contribution.
• Implemented a company-wide hiring freeze.
• Suspended travel for shoreside employees across the organization.

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, BBWC said:

Yes, cold lay up means more than 12 months. So most of the NCLH fleet (including Regent) will not be sailing for at least a year.

 

32 minutes ago, RJ2002 said:

 

but NCLH itself is saying the majority of ships are being prepared for cold lay up...  ???

 

http://www.nclhltdinvestor.com/news-releases/news-release-details/norwegian-cruise-line-holdings-ltd-provides-business-update

 

COVID-19 Action Plan

The Company has swiftly undertaken several proactive measures to mitigate the financial and operational impacts of COVID-19. This action plan includes cost mitigation and cash conservation levers the Company has deployed to preserve and enhance liquidity and is part of an overall plan that, as described below, also contemplates additional sources of capital and liquidity. These measures include:

Reduced Operating Expenses

• Meaningfully reducing cruise operating expense which includes reducing expenses associated with crew payroll, food, fuel, insurance and port charges. The majority of ships in the Company’s fleet are currently transitioning to cold layup.
• Significantly reducing or deferring marketing expense in the first half of the year.
• Introduced a temporary shortened work week and reduced work hours with commensurate 20% salary reduction for shoreside team members.
• Paused employer 401(k) match contribution.
• Implemented a company-wide hiring freeze.
• Suspended travel for shoreside employees across the organization.

 

32 minutes ago, RJ2002 said:

 

but NCLH itself is saying the majority of ships are being prepared for cold lay up...  ???

 

http://www.nclhltdinvestor.com/news-releases/news-release-details/norwegian-cruise-line-holdings-ltd-provides-business-update

 

COVID-19 Action Plan

The Company has swiftly undertaken several proactive measures to mitigate the financial and operational impacts of COVID-19. This action plan includes cost mitigation and cash conservation levers the Company has deployed to preserve and enhance liquidity and is part of an overall plan that, as described below, also contemplates additional sources of capital and liquidity. These measures include:

Reduced Operating Expenses

• Meaningfully reducing cruise operating expense which includes reducing expenses associated with crew payroll, food, fuel, insurance and port charges. The majority of ships in the Company’s fleet are currently transitioning to cold layup.
• Significantly reducing or deferring marketing expense in the first half of the year.
• Introduced a temporary shortened work week and reduced work hours with commensurate 20% salary reduction for shoreside team members.
• Paused employer 401(k) match contribution.
• Implemented a company-wide hiring freeze.
• Suspended travel for shoreside employees across the organization.

 

Yep, I read it. Perhaps the Regent ships are planned to come back into service sooner....maybe their SQ FT per passenger numbers are the highest....maybe this meets some criteria being discussed. All conjecture. All I know is that I was told that none of the Regent ships have received such a directive yet. I accept the NCHL statement...everything else has a degree of uncertainty to it. 

[toseaornottosea]

Found this online.  It describes the difference between “hot lay up” and “cold lay up.”   Since NCLH says “The majority of ships in the Company’s fleet are currently transitioning to cold layup” that suggests that NCLH does not expect cruising for them to resume for quite some time.  Let's hope that the "cold lay up" of the NCHL ships is the less than 12 month variety.

YOUR DIFFERENT LAY-UP OPTIONS
FOR VESSELS IN SERVICE
When vessels become idle, further operation is
usually evaluated on a cost–benefit basis considering
different technical and economic conditions. The
duration of lay-up is the first criteria to consider, as it
serves as the basis for all other measures. There are
two main lay-up options centered on duration:

 

HOT LAY-UP FOR A TYPICAL DURATION
OF UP TO 12 MONTHS
In hot lay-up, the vessel is typically taken out of
service for up to 12 months; however, exceptions
have also been observed where a vessel is put in cold
lay-up for up to 12 months. In hot lay-up, the machinery
is kept in operation for the sake of fast re-commissioning.
However, measures may be taken to optimize
various operational costs, such as reducing manning
to below trading limit.
This option is ideal for quick market recoveries, as
the vessel is kept in a fully functional state and ready
for employment. Hot lay-up is best for a duration of
up to 12 months.

 

COLD LAY-UP FOR LONGER
DURATIONS
In cold lay-up, the machinery is taken out of service
and the vessel is kept “electrically dead”. Many vessels
in cold lay-up use a deck generator or utilize shore
power, which means even the emergency power is
off. Only minimum manning covering fire, leakage,
moorings and security watches is maintained. This
option involves more complex measures compared
to hot lay-up, such as steps to prevent corrosion
and ensure protection, the draining of systems and
pipes, and more. Cold lay-up is more common for a
duration of more than 12 months, but the duration
depends naturally on the owner’s needs.
Additional considerations for the choice of lay-up
When choosing to take your ship out of service, it is
important that you also take additional points into
account, apart from duration:
.Operational cost savings
.Re-commissioning time and cost
.Next intended destination after re-commissioning
(eg, normal trade, repair yard or scrap yard)
.Age of vessel and recycling value

 

CONSIDER RE-COMMISSIONING TIME
For both hot and cold lay-ups, re-commissioning time
depends on the level of preservation and maintenance
during lay-up. Re-commissioning time can vary from
one week for hot lay-up to one month for cold lay-up,
or even three months in the extreme scenario of a
vessel being laid up for more than five years.
 

[Pcardad]

Yes, full document linked about 5 posts up.

[RJ2002]

45 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

 

 

 

Yep, I read it. Perhaps the Regent ships are planned to come back into service sooner....maybe their SQ FT per passenger numbers are the highest....maybe this meets some criteria being discussed. All conjecture. All I know is that I was told that none of the Regent ships have received such a directive yet. I accept the NCHL statement...everything else has a degree of uncertainty to it. 

 

Thanks, and yes, it is certainly possible that none of the Regent ships are in the cold layup plan yet.   I do hope that is the case.  It would seem that smaller ships, across various lines, would be among the first to restart.

[catenai]

After reading this thread, I have pretty much come to the conclusion that the Nov. 3, 2020 Splendor transatlantic from Barcelona to Miami will not occur?  I was supposed to fly to Italy on October 15 (Regent air) and spend about four weeks there prior to the cruise.  Guess no travel this year.  (Sigh).  

Being safe and healthy is more important, but still a sigh.

[SusieQft]

3 hours ago, mrlevin said:

 

Maybe Splendor (Pacific coast and Mexico) and Explorer (Caribbean) will all that will be sailing this year.  If USA passengers can't fly to Europe I imagine it would be only European cruise lines that will sail at all in Europe this year.  Of course, Voyager has had large Asian passenger loads on Far East trips so maybe it will be home-ported out of Shanghai or Hong Kong for a while.  Aa for Alaska, I sure hope Mariner still has an Alaskan season this summer.

 

Marc

The current schedule has Mariner doing Pacific coast (Alaska and then Mexico) this year, including our October RT LA booking.  Explorer doing Alaska next year.  Splendor is scheduled for Caribbean this winter and next winter.  Are you suggesting they will do a major rehaul of the schedule, including the already planned US based sailings, and moving them to a different ship?

 

It seems more logical to me to resume Mariner first for its existing Pacific coast itineraries, if possible, rather than substituting the Splendor on the west coast.  Predicting the future is very difficult, but if Regent can't sail in Europe how would they be able to schedule and fill a whole new series of US based itineraries?

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, SusieQft said:

The current schedule has Mariner doing Pacific coast (Alaska and then Mexico) this year, including our October RT LA booking.  Explorer doing Alaska next year.  Splendor is scheduled for Caribbean this winter and next winter.  Are you suggesting they will do a major rehaul of the schedule, including the already planned US based sailings, and moving them to a different ship?

 

It seems more logical to me to resume Mariner first for its existing Pacific coast itineraries, if possible, rather than substituting the Splendor on the west coast.  Predicting the future is very difficult, but if Regent can't sail in Europe how would they be able to schedule and fill a whole new series of US based itineraries?

 

In terms of Alaska, the cruise ports in either Vancouver or Victoria need to reopen due to the requirement for ships leaving U.S. water needing to go to a foreign port prior to returning to the U.S.  Regent does not do many Pacific Coastal itineraries but, again, it would require Mexico and/or Canada to have a port that ships that visit.

 

It would be easier for European itineraries to have itinerary changes. For instance, we are booked on a cruise that departs from Barcelona in November.  So if Barcelona were closed, they can depart from other countries - I would guess Athens.  

 

In terms of your cruise, L.A. is an "iffy" port.  Our cancelled March cruise was originally due to sail out of Los Angeles but was changed (months before any issues with Covid-19) to San Diego.  So, it is possible that your cruise could end up RT San Diego is there were issues with L.A. - again, as long as Regent stop in Mexico.  

 

As you noted, predicting the future is very difficult.  If I had to predict, I would say that Canada and Mexico will reopen by October.  

[SusieQft]

TC2 -- Of course I realize that the Alaska itineraries will require a Canadian port to be open, and that is still up in the air.  That is why I said, "if possible."

 

The reason I think the US based itineraries will be viable sooner is because they will not require flying to Europe.  I realize you don't think that will be a problem, but I do think it will be for some time.

 

Why do you say that LA is an "iffy" port?  Maybe I have this wrong, but I think Navigator was denied docking there for environmental reasons, but that Mariner meets the requirements.  Obviously that was not the issue for your March cruise, though, which I think was on Splendor and certainly not on Navigator.

[Travelcat2]

1 minute ago, SusieQft said:

TC2 -- Of course I realize that the Alaska itineraries will require a Canadian port to be open, and that is still up in the air.  That is why I said, "if possible."

 

The reason I think the US based itineraries will be viable sooner is because they will not require flying to Europe.  I realize you don't think that will be a problem, but I do think it will be for some time.

 

Why do you say that LA is an "iffy" port?  Maybe I have this wrong, but I think Navigator was denied docking there for environmental reasons, but that Mariner meets the requirements.  Obviously that was not the issue for your March cruise, though, which I think was on Splendor and certainly not on Navigator.

 

I only called L.A.'s ports "iffy" because it seems that they have more ships that have to change terminals than other ports.  As you said, I understand why Navigator cannot dock there but Splendor is new.  It doesn't make sense but I do not have any information as to why the change occurred.

 

The worst disembarkation that we have experienced was in L.A.  We were told by Regent that we could not put our luggage out the night before disembarkation because we had to have it with us when we left the ship.  Then we were told by the General Manager that this was not true and that we should put our luggage out the night before (which we did).  In the morning - some passengers had their luggage while others did not.  The ship was clogged with people and luggage.  We had no idea whatsoever where our luggage was and had to find the G.M. and ask him.  Our luggage was eventually found but it was quite a fiasco.  We hope to not disembark from L.A. in the future (this was in March 2019).

 

You mentioned my comments about flying.  As I've posted, we were able to find a flight to Athens for May.  Today, Regent was able to book our flights to New Zealand (on New Zealand Air) - returning from Sydney on Air Canada.  We requested the deviation at the 270 day mark but it took a few days for Regent to accommodate the request.  We are able to go into the airline websites and see our reservation (the cruise is for January, 2021).  I mention this since, at the moment, both of these countries are closed to cruise ships.

[Pam]

Man, what confusion!  Jackie, my fingers are crossed for your flights/cruise!  I'm not sure our family trip will end up being a cruise; I booked this one because I am sentimental about Mariner and Alaska, and that won't happen again.  My SIL gets seasick and I was hoping we wouldn't hit rough water on that cruise, but I've hit rough water just about everywhere else.  We may be looking at a land trip.  I just don't know, there is too much uncertainty right now.

 

I wish, oh how I wish that I was good at solo cruising, because I love Regent.

 

 

[Travelcat2]

11 minutes ago, Pam said:

Man, what confusion!  Jackie, my fingers are crossed for your flights/cruise!  I'm not sure our family trip will end up being a cruise; I booked this one because I am sentimental about Mariner and Alaska, and that won't happen again.  My SIL gets seasick and I was hoping we wouldn't hit rough water on that cruise, but I've hit rough water just about everywhere else.  We may be looking at a land trip.  I just don't know, there is too much uncertainty right now.

 

I wish, oh how I wish that I was good at solo cruising, because I love Regent.

 

 

 

I truly hope that whatever you do with your family ends up being a wonderful vacation together.  Also hope that your might consider a Regent cruise hosted by our TA.

[flossie009]

8 hours ago, SusieQft said:

 

The reason I think the US based itineraries will be viable sooner is because they will not require flying to Europe. 

.......... if you are correct then those cruises would only be available to US residents as foreign nationals are not allowed to enter (the US ESTA visa waiver programme is suspended).
Also most countries are advising against non-essential international travel; in the UK that advice is in place for an indefinite period.

[Belfast Taxman]

Flossie - I agree with you, it is certainly possible that what we will see towards the latter part of the year is US cruising  (east and west coast involving Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean and possibly South America, although Argentina’s latest action may rule that out) for US residents by Regent and other US based cruise lines, with non US residents effectively being excluded.

On the other side of the Atlantic, European cruising would be likewise restricted to European residents on “European” ships (I don’t mean registered in Europe, but simply ships that operate in Europe). 

All of this is wholly speculative

 

[flossie009]

mmm .......... our next two booked cruises are TransAtlantic crossings; could be difficult 😕

[etual324]

4 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

Flossie - I agree with you, it is certainly possible that what we will see towards the latter part of the year is US cruising  (east and west coast involving Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean and possibly South America, although Argentina’s latest action may rule that out) for US residents by Regent and other US based cruise lines, with non US residents effectively being excluded.

On the other side of the Atlantic, European cruising would be likewise restricted to European residents on “European” ships (I don’t mean registered in Europe, but simply ships that operate in Europe). 

All of this is wholly speculative

 

Argentina latest action  ???  plz explain

[mrlevin]

10 minutes ago, etual324 said:

Argentina latest action  ???  plz explain

 

Here is a synopsis:

 

https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/argentina-imposes-toughest-travel-ban-americas-sparking-outcry

 

I can't imagine cruises would go farther than Mexico or Caribbean Islands; South America will be out of bounds for a while.

 

Marc

[Belfast Taxman]

1 minute ago, mrlevin said:

 

Here is a synopsis:

 

https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/argentina-imposes-toughest-travel-ban-americas-sparking-outcry

 

I can't imagine cruises would go farther than Mexico or Caribbean Islands; South America will be out of bounds for a while.

 

Marc

Thanks Marc, you just beat me to it !

it is reported in UK that countries like Brazil and Argentina are yet to reach their “peak”

[GrJ Berkshire]

51 minutes ago, Belfast Taxman said:

Thanks Marc, you just beat me to it !

it is reported in UK that countries like Brazil and Argentina are yet to reach their “peak”

The main problem is Brazil, as their President is a coronavirus denier , that has meant limited measures so far in this country.

[Travelcat2]

No one can predict what "indefinitely" means.  There are other places to go in the world besides for places that have been mentioned.  IF Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Down Under decide to open their borders/cruise ports, many cruises can continue as planned (likely later this year).   Yesterday Regent was able to book fights to Auckland and back from Sydney.  While this is not a predictor that this cruise will sail, it is more positive than negative.

 

We still predict (for whatever that is worth) that we will be sailing on Explorer in November.  However, Australia/New Zealand and our March transatlantic cruises remain iffy.  IF the virus returns, it would likely affect those cruises.  I'm basing the months on when Covid-19 became active in the first place which was around December, 2019.