Sailing with fewer passengers: TUI

[Quo Vadis?]

Here is an interesting article about possible changes when cruising first opens again:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22934-tui-expects-to-restart-cruise-ships-with-less-occupancy-more-changes.html

TUI was once home for Celebrity Mercury and Galaxy

Edited May 13, 2020 by Argo.
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[TeeRick]

33 minutes ago, Argo. said:

Here is an interesting article about possible changes when cruising first opens again:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22934-tui-expects-to-restart-cruise-ships-with-less-occupancy-more-changes.html

TUI was once home for Celebrity Mercury and Galaxy

Thank you for the article.  I think this will be an early trend when cruises start up again.  If safe to do so personally, I would love to be on a ship with only 1/3 the passengers.  But does that mean only 1/3 the crew as well?  I wonder.

[drlucy12]

It does make you wonder how the crew feels about coming back to the various cruise ships.  Of course, we can read the all the news reports but who knows? Will they have a hard time recruiting new crew, will the senior crew come back?????

I know this has been discussed in other threads but we are all having the same thoughts right now.  

 

I agree with the post #2.  They will have to sail with decreased capacity, like a "trial" run.  

[Want2Cruise 701]

If a ship sails with 1/3 of it's passengers, but bookings exceed that, I wonder how it will get decided on who gets to sail or not.  

Edited May 13, 2020 by Want2Cruise 701

[drlucy12]

6 minutes ago, Want2Cruise 701 said:

If a ship sails with 1/3 of it's passengers, but bookings exceed that, I wonder how it will get decided who will gets to sail or not.  

Good point - Will they eliminate inside? However I do not think there will be a huge demand in the first few months.  Hopefully cruise lines can sail a few months without an incident and it will improve their public image. 

[paulh84]

18 minutes ago, Want2Cruise 701 said:

If a ship sails with 1/3 of it's passengers, but bookings exceed that, I wonder how it will get decided on who gets to sail or not.  

 

I posted about that point a few days ago. If slow refunds are such a hot topic, what if they can sail but have to cut capacity to satisfy new regulations, including cutting some of those already booked. The complaints will be endless. I also wouldn't be surprised a single bit if sailings get shorted and routes get altered substantially to account for changes along these lines. The suspension of operations is just one part of what's bound to be a really bumpy few years. 

[begood2me]

The biggest issues with cruise travel right now are the areas where people congregate should to shoulder.  

 

1.  First is boarding the ship.  They cannot allow the typical boarding and my suggestions is to move to remote check in process.  Allow travel agents to check in passengers.  For those booked directly with the cruise line, they can go to a travel agent that checks this in.  The travel agent would have to get paid and they would also need to assume some liability. The technology is possible to do this without too much trouble.  

 

2.  They need to change the process for getting off the ship in ports and of course the end of the cruise.  At ports, people should have assigned times to get off and must not congregate.  This is a huge problem with current cruises and needs to change as they are not going to cut more holes in the side of ships.  At the end of the cruise, they should end the process of picking up your luggage.  If you are going to the airport, the luggage should be checked through.  If you aren't going to the airport, the luggage would need to go to an open air area (with covers for rain) that will allow for access in a safe manner.  You cannot do it in the cruise terminals as they do not have enough space to make it safe, IMHO.

 

3.  As far as on the cruise, the theaters are a huge problem.  You cannot even consider every other seat as you still have walk in front of someone already sitting.  This needs some type of solution, but I would suggest of the time being, it's going to have to be open air entertainment.  While not foolproof, the transmission rate in open air is much less.  Not zero, but much less.

 

4.  Lastly, eating, NO BUFFET. Just can't happen until this is over.  Restaurant service staggered to allow for safe usage.  

 

5.  Elevators, not going to be used of sure.  Make stairwells one way and if you can't use the stairs, you aren't going on a cruise.  

 

Last bit, they need to be able to test and trace.  This means that I would say they need to be able to also be able to isolate people quickly.  Even though I believe the technology for contract tracing could be used to track all movements, I'm not sure if they make this effective enough in the short term.  Isolate anyone infected as quickly as possible. 

[Bo1953]

54 minutes ago, drlucy12 said:

It does make you wonder how the crew feels about coming back to the various cruise ships.  Of course, we can read the all the news reports but who knows? Will they have a hard time recruiting new crew, will the senior crew come back?????

I know this has been discussed in other threads but we are all having the same thoughts right now.  

 

I agree with the post #2.  They will have to sail with decreased capacity, like a "trial" run.  

Actually, I do not have any staffing 'thoughts' as it is up to X to figure that out and for me to decide rather or not it is acceptable.

 

As all ships will not be sailing at the same time, I Am sure there will be enough crew to appropriately staff the ship.

 

I Am sure that there will some who will bemoan, with the reduced staffing and passengers, that something is not right with the world of cruising and you know what, they would be correct for sure to some degree or another.

 

I say let us see what X brings to the table and evaluate it from there... it is the least stressful way of dealing with it IMO, but if others want to continue down that road of speculation, that is fine too...

 

Hopefully my Edge and Silly sailings will be a go when they start up again!

 

bon voyage

Edited May 13, 2020 by Bo1953

[drlucy12]

3 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Actually, I do not have any staffing 'thoughts' as it is up to X to figure that out and for me to decide rather or not it is acceptable.

 

As all ships will not be sailing at the same time, I Am sure there will be enough crew to appropriately staff the ship.

 

I Am sure that there will some who will bemoan, with the reduced staffing and passengers, that something is not right with the world of cruising and you know what, they would be correct for sure to some degree or another.

 

I say let us see what X brings to the table and evaluate it from there... it is the least stressful way of dealing with it IMO, but if others want to continue down that road of speculation, that is fine too...

 

Hopefully my Edge and Silly sailings will be a go when they start up again!

 

bon voyage

I have a cruise on Norwegian in December (shhh not Celebrity HaHa) and two cruises with Celebrity next year.   I agree.....we need to have faith in the cruise lines to do the right thing even though it is hard at times!

[Bo1953]

2 minutes ago, drlucy12 said:

I have a cruise on Norwegian in December (shhh not Celebrity HaHa) and two cruises with Celebrity next year.   I agree.....we need to have faith in the cruise lines to do the right thing even though it is hard at times!

Yet, we need to be prepared for any 'unforeseen' incidents as well.

 

As such, any one who cannot deal with a potential 'less than perfect' situation may want to reconsider ANY pleasure cruising for quite some time...

 

bon voyage

Edited May 13, 2020 by Bo1953

[drlucy12]

2 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Yet, we need to be prepared for any 'unforeseen' incidents as well.

 

As such, any one who cannot deal with a potential 'less than perfect' situation may want to reconsider pleasure cruising for some time...

 

bon voyage

I agree.  It will take the travel industry several years to recover and then we will have to adjust to the "new normal".  

[Bo1953]

2 minutes ago, drlucy12 said:

I agree.  It will take the travel industry several years to recover and then we will have to adjust to the "new normal".  

LOL, I adjust well (not chiropractic), for the most part, when cruising...

 

bon voyage

[Pinboy]

Just now, Bo1953 said:

I say let us see what X brings to the table and evaluate it from there... it is the least stressful way of dealing with it IMO, but if others want to continue down that road of speculation, that is fine too...

 

Well said--- There is much too much speculation for the past few months regarding when we will cruise, how we will be able to cruise, what steps Cruise Lines will take, will you cruise if this, if that----etc, etc. 

LOL---Should we go back to discussing Gratuities ????

( Here come the BYE BYE's or So, Why are you on CC ) 

[Bo1953]

2 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Well said--- There is much too much speculation for the past few months regarding when we will cruise, how we will be able to cruise, what steps Cruise Lines will take, will you cruise if this, if that----etc, etc. 

LOL---Should we go back to discussing Gratuities ????

( Here come the BYE BYE's or So, Why are you on CC ) 

I trust we will once ships are sailing again.... LOL

 

bon voyage

[PTC DAWG]

38 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Actually, I do not have any staffing 'thoughts' as it is up to X to figure that out and for me to decide rather or not it is acceptable.

 

As all ships will not be sailing at the same time, I Am sure there will be enough crew to appropriately staff the ship.

 

I Am sure that there will some who will bemoan, with the reduced staffing and passengers, that something is not right with the world of cruising and you know what, they would be correct for sure to some degree or another.

 

I say let us see what X brings to the table and evaluate it from there... it is the least stressful way of dealing with it IMO, but if others want to continue down that road of speculation, that is fine too...

 

Hopefully my Edge and Silly sailings will be a go when they start up again!

 

bon voyage

Well said Bo..

[TeeRick]

30 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Yet, we need to be prepared for any 'unforeseen' incidents as well.

 

As such, any one who cannot deal with a potential 'less than perfect' situation may want to reconsider ANY pleasure cruising for quite some time...

 

bon voyage

Funny but I never thought that my 2019 cruises would be defined as the Golden Age of Cruising.  😀  But I think cruising will change dramatically from what we knew and loved.

[Bo1953]

29 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Funny but I never thought that my 2019 cruises would be defined as the Golden Age of Cruising.  😀  But I think cruising will change dramatically from what we knew and loved.

Oh yes, I Am not delusional in that way at all! LOL

 

bon voyage

[Prost Seattle]

I hope the employees aren’t going to have reduced earning by this.  

[Fouremco]

21 minutes ago, Prost Seattle said:

I hope the employees aren’t going to have reduced earning by this.  

I think that it will depend on which employees. For example, cabin stewards will probably be assigned the same number of cabins, so their gratuities should remain the same. On the other hand, unless they close down a number of bars, bartenders will have a reduction in tips. They could close down some bars and try to keep a higher number of passengers using the remaining bars, but that would defeat social distancing. All speculation at this time, as we have no idea how TUI plans to implement its plan. 

[az_tchr]

6 hours ago, Want2Cruise 701 said:

If a ship sails with 1/3 of it's passengers, but bookings exceed that, I wonder how it will get decided on who gets to sail or not.  

No difference than today.  First to book is first to get cabins.  Celebrity sold out MardiGras cruise in a week a couple years ago.

The important thing is the comment about working with port authorities to put a COVID plan in place.  Carnival and Holland did not put anything in their return to cruising press release.

[HS2BS]

RCL is 50% owner of TUI

 

Hal

[Ride-The-Waves]

Sounds like fun!!!???

[K12Guy]

9 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

As such, any one who cannot deal with a potential 'less than perfect' situation may want to reconsider ANY pleasure cruising for quite some time...

 

Absolutely the best advice that could be given!

Those who expect and demand perfection need to (1) Put themselves in the shoes of the crew and/or (preferably) (2) Stay home and enjoy the perfection of the server staff at the estate. "Estate" is by definition and I think in most cases 'server staff' might be the passengers themselves.

 

Capiche?

[K12Guy]

4 hours ago, Prost Seattle said:

I hope the employees aren’t going to have reduced earning by this.  

 

With a reduced passenger count I would expect there will be a reduction in earnings with regard to tips. Unless the staff maintains the same number of passenger contacts as before, in ratio with booked passengers. Once we find out what's happening we likely will increase our cash sharing if necessary. We can't take it with us, right?

[goofysmom99]

Lots of negative financial buzz about RCL today on Wall Street with its stock being downgraded to junk category.