Arnold Donald Interview with Porthole Cruise

[Joe817]

3 minutes ago, Butterbean1000 said:

https://www.caribjournal.com/2020/05/26/us-virgin-islands-tourism-open/

This is good news, more ports opening. 

Yes it is! Thanks for posting. 👍

[ninjacat123]

Fantastic!  Thx @Butterbean1000for posting!

[Organized Chaos]

6 hours ago, Joebucks said:

It's a shame that true context doesn't find its way as much as rage and myth do. "Petri dish" "Greedy CEO" etc will rule.

 

He gave the perfect answer on this. No one knows for sure what the future of all of the ports look like. They can't send every ship to HMC and PC. People want black and white answers, and then they want action and compensation when those promises can't be met. It looks to me they are going to look at what they have, and go from there.

 

Yeah, when you think about it, I guess 2 private islands isn't nearly enough to sustain a fleet. Even with CCL alone. I was thinking that, during the initial start-up, if a particular country wasn't open yet, Carnival could supplement with a private island, but you're right, that creates a big problem with multiple ships.

 

I know it would never happen because other lines would be like, "No, they're mine, all mine," but how nice would it be if, for the time being, cruise lines opened up their private islands to one another to help get the ball rolling again while some of the islands choose to remain closed.

 

I guess by "private destinations," Donald is referring to places like Amber Cove, for example. A port complex that's only open to cruise passengers. Let's say the Dominican Republic didn't want to allow cruise passengers for the time being. Could Carnival even port at Amber Cove, seeing that they own it, as long as passengers didn't leave the port complex? Even if they could, I doubt a few thousand people would be happy cooped up in a relatively small area like that. But they still have locals within the port working the shops, restaurant/bar, etc., so I'd assume if the DR remained closed, its citizens couldn't work within Amber Cove.

 

In the end, it's all a logistical beast to get the cruise lines up & running again, what with all the measures they have to implement on board, at their home ports, working closely with all the island nations and ports of call. I commend them for the work that's going into getting us back to cruising.

[Honolulu Blue]

19 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Yeah, when you think about it, I guess 2 private islands isn't nearly enough to sustain a fleet. Even with CCL alone. I was thinking that, during the initial start-up, if a particular country wasn't open yet, Carnival could supplement with a private island, but you're right, that creates a big problem with multiple ships.

 

I know it would never happen because other lines would be like, "No, they're mine, all mine," but how nice would it be if, for the time being, cruise lines opened up their private islands to one another to help get the ball rolling again while some of the islands choose to remain closed.

 

I guess by "private destinations," Donald is referring to places like Amber Cove, for example. A port complex that's only open to cruise passengers. Let's say the Dominican Republic didn't want to allow cruise passengers for the time being. Could Carnival even port at Amber Cove, seeing that they own it, as long as passengers didn't leave the port complex? Even if they could, I doubt a few thousand people would be happy cooped up in a relatively small area like that. But they still have locals within the port working the shops, restaurant/bar, etc., so I'd assume if the DR remained closed, its citizens couldn't work within Amber Cove.

 

In the end, it's all a logistical beast to get the cruise lines up & running again, what with all the measures they have to implement on board, at their home ports, working closely with all the island nations and ports of call. I commend them for the work that's going into getting us back to cruising.

 

You make a few points that I wanted to reply to. 

 

First, on the sharing of private islands.  I wouldn't say "never" to this, though it is quite unlikely.  I'm sure if Carnival waved enough $$$ at Royal, they could rent out Perfect Day if it wasn't otherwise being used.  One problem, of course, is that some passengers might like Coco Cay better than what Carnival has to offer, and that might lead them to book with Royal instead in the future.

 

Second, if the DR isn't allowing any cruise ships in any of its ports, they wouldn't allow Carnival to dock at Amber Cove.  They could set up an agreement that no cruise passenger could leave the complex (except, perhaps, on an authorized excursion).  They could also allow residents into Amber Cove to work if they like.  I'm sure the workers and the complex would be screened and cleaned if they did this.

 

And third, I agree that the cruise lines have formidable challenges to opening the market up again.  It can't be easy for them.  I wish them all luck.

[Organized Chaos]

5 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

First, on the sharing of private islands. 

 

One problem, of course, is that some passengers might like Coco Cay better than what Carnival has to offer, and that might lead them to book with Royal instead in the future.

 

Yeah, they'd really shoot themselves in the foot there, wouldn't they. I've only ever seen Coco Cay on commercials and pictures, but I'd love to check it out.

 

30 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

They could also allow residents into Amber Cove to work if they like.  I'm sure the workers and the complex would be screened and cleaned if they did this.

 

Shift change at Amber Cove. 😁

 

[jimbo5544]

Interesting questions regarding Amber Cove.  While I guess the DR can do whatever they want in regards to opening their country, or any part of it, with other islands opening up, the pressure will mount.  It will be interesting to watch to see how it all flows out. 

[BlerkOne]

19 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Interesting questions regarding Amber Cove.  While I guess the DR can do whatever they want in regards to opening their country, or any part of it, with other islands opening up, the pressure will mount.  It will be interesting to watch to see how it all flows out. 

 

DR tourism was already hurting and trying to recover from the string of mysterious deaths of tourists and suspected tainted booze.

[mpdog42]

6 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

 

DR tourism was already hurting and trying to recover from the string of mysterious deaths of tourists and suspected tainted booze.

The cruise lines has also had many cases of Mysterious deaths of crew and tourists!

[jimbo5544]

5 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

The cruise lines has also had many cases of Mysterious deaths of crew and tourists!

And a capital M to boot!  Two different topics, but both concerning. 

Edited May 29, 2020 by jimbo5544