How About a Cruise With No Ports for Safety

[cherylandtk]

Put us in the not interested side of the vote.  Many reasons for that, but cruising in general won’t be our vacation choice until a vaccine is in widespread use.  

[Potstech]

There is no way to gaurantee that any of the embarking passengers are COVID free and are not carriers. What happens if an someone does come down with the disease or any other? Having been restricted to a Navy ship for much longer than this I can tell you that things happen and they are not always as planned.

[Daniel A]

29 minutes ago, cherylandtk said:

Put us in the not interested side of the vote.  Many reasons for that, but cruising in general won’t be our vacation choice until a vaccine is in widespread use.  

You raise an interesting point.  My attitude is that I probably won't cruise again until I have been vaccinated and Princess requires a vaccination certificate for all passengers.  If they don't require a vaccination certificate for every passenger, I don't know if I would want to cruise.  If they didn't require everybody to have a certificate and a case appears onboard would I be quarantined onboard even if I were already vaccinated and immune?  These are rhetorical questions - I don't think anyone has any definitive answers to these questions.

[Charles4515]

52 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

But if it were to be a cruise stopping at Princess Cay in the Bahamas would that eliminate the US work visas?

 

A cruise stopping at Princess Cays is allowed.  Of course the US government, the US homeport and the government of the Bahamas would have to have lifted their travel restrictions.  
 

As for safety though since it is a tender port riding the tender would be problematic from a safety standpoint.  

Edited May 24, 2020 by Charles4515

[gmjc2]

I think the tender issue can be resolved. It would mean longer wait times but mandatory masks and 50 % capacity should work. If this was a cruise to nowhere type, then the private islands are the answer for those just yearning for a few days trip. Overnight at the private island would work to deal with the restricted tendering times. A little snorkel or sunbath on the beach sounds great right now!!!

[Daniel A]

5 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

A cruise stopping at Princess Cays is allowed.  Of course the US government, the US homeport and the government of the Bahamas would have to have lifted their travel restrictions.  
 

As for safety though since it is a tender port riding the tender would be problematic from a safety standpoint.  

Carnival has replaced the "tenders" with "water shuttles" at Princess Cay.  The water shuttles are much larger than the tenders kept onboard the ships so it would be easier to keep social distance on the trip to the beach.

[Paula_MacFan]

Re Princess Cays:  not to mention Eleuthera is not a deserted island and thousands of people live there.  You'd still have to get permission to stop there from local authorities and I can't imagine they would be open to that possibility in the near term.  Also as mentioned above, the tender process would be virtually impossible to conduct safely or efficiently and remain socially distant.  

 

We cruise for the ports and have no interest in a cruise to nowhere, especially in this environment.  It's more RV trips for us in the next year.  

 

Edit to say per above comment:  we were just at Princess Cays in late January before COVID-19 blew up.  The 'water taxis' were PACKED with people and ran all day long.  I can't imagine cutting back on passenger load and still having an efficient process.

Edited May 24, 2020 by Paula_MacFan

[voljeep]

as I remember way back when mighty cruise ships roamed off the coast … Princess Cay was used by the crew to release pent up frustrations and have a grog or 7

 

if you go to the Carnival site and look up August cruises, Princess Cay looks like it is gonna be a stop

[gmjc2]

We have not been to Princess Cay but have been to other private islands and the only people there are the cruise line employees who are caretakers of the island.  So it could work for other cruise lines I guess. Princess is not the only game in town!

Staying overnight solves the time it would take to off load everyone for a 4 hr visit say!

Edited May 24, 2020 by gmjc2

[Charles4515]

We have not been to Princess Cay but have been to other private islands and the only people there are the cruise line employees who are caretakers of the island.  So it could work for other cruise lines I guess. Princess is not the only game in town!
Staying overnight solves the time it would take to off load everyone for a 4 hr visit say!

Princess Cays has had local people that are not employees there. Most people don’t notice but there is even a gate that you can go thru out of “Princess Cays” to Eleuthera.




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[Charles4515]

as I remember way back when mighty cruise ships roamed off the coast … Princess Cay was used by the crew to release pent up frustrations and have a grog or 7   if you go to the Carnival site and look up August cruises, Princess Cay looks like it is gonna be a stop 

 

 

 If the CDC stop order is lifted and the Bahamas government lifts their travel restrictions then Princess Cays can be a stop. Carnival is planning to stop there in August but I would not count on it. Time will tell.  

I would not do it but risk takers can go and be guinea pigs. I intend to wait and see what the virus is doing and the reviews from the guinea pigs after cruises restart whenever that is.

 

 

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[Thrak]

We love sea days but a 5 - 7 day cruise is too short. Also, if we stop in Ensenada I want to wander over to Hussong's and get a couple of Margaritas.

[CineGraphic]

3 hours ago, BigGuy25 said:

I think talking about ways to distance on a ship ... but then actually have them work effectively are two entirely different conversations. After a couple of days even well intentioned passengers will slowly start forgetting about “new rules.” Just look around. As we begin to “open up” too many people in grocery stores and other public places are already forgetting about the lessons of the past several months.

 

What happens if you don't follow the rules on board, they disembark you.

[Cruise Raider]

Count me in on that cruise without any stops, especially if it were up in Alaska where the scenery is the main attraction!  Just think, it would even keep the port charges to a minimum.   But, I realize that is just me as I am not one to travel for the ports as much as for cruise itself.... oftentimes, we don't even get off when in the ports.  At 50% capacity, that would be a dream cruise IMO.  

I see that Canada is considering allowing cruiselines to stop to pick up supplies but, no passengers can get off the ship and of course, no embarkation / disembarkation in one of their ports.  I don't know how this would work out in light of US maritime laws.  I'm sure when the cruiselines start back up, they request an exception to the PVSA .. whether or not they get it, that is another question.  

[Charles4515]

I see that Canada is considering allowing cruiselines to stop to pick up supplies but, no passengers can get off the ship and of course, no embarkation / disembarkation in one of their ports.  I don't know how this would work out in light of US maritime laws.  I'm sure when the cruiselines start back up, they request an exception to the PVSA .. whether or not they get it, that is another question.  

As has been explained it would violate the PVSA. The cruise lines could try to get the PVSA changed but they have not shown interest in doing that in the past. If they did try it is doubtful they would succeed.


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[Roberto256]

1 hour ago, gmjc2 said:

We have not been to Princess Cay but have been to other private islands and the only people there are the cruise line employees who are caretakers of the island. 

 

The concessions on princess cay -- shops, hair braiding, lifeguards, etc. are staffed by local bahamians.

 

Princess runs a bus to collect the local folks on cruise days.

 

We once were chatting with one of the lifeguards, and he mentioned that severe weather was forecast for the afternoon.

After that, we scurried back to the ship.

 

By the time we got back, the wind had picked up substantially.

 

We went to the lido (of course).  Everything there ... floor, ceiling, tables was shaking like crazy...

as they were running the thrusters full tilt boogie trying to maintain a lee.

 

After a while, it got so rough that they had to stop tendering ... leaving the remaining folks on land.

There was one tender that came from the island, and stood off the ship for about an hour,

waiting to come alongside.

 

After everyone was good and sick, and they went back back to shore.

 

Somewhere I have a great picture of the tender pontoon awash.

 

We were late leaving, as the ship waited until the weather improved, and brought everyone back.

 

Although, I have heard that there are times when they have to leave people behind.

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Roberto256

[vjblk]

18 hours ago, Coral said:

I would not be interested.

 

I want to see ports. I don't cruise just for the ship but for the convenience of not packing and unpacking

This! My sister and I cruise to see the different places without having to pack and unpack.  We find sea days boring.

 

[Cruise Raider]

10 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

As has been explained it would violate the PVSA. The cruise lines could try to get the PVSA changed but they have not shown interest in doing that in the past. If they did try it is doubtful they would succeed.


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Exactly why I said 'that would be another question'.  Times are different than ever before.  It really would depend on how badly the US government is willing to get business back up and running.  Even though cruiselines are not paying US taxes, a lot of US businesses (and tax payers) are affected by the shutdown.  Nothing political here ...

 

[Daniel A]

3 minutes ago, vjblk said:

This! My sister and I cruise to see the different places without having to pack and unpack.  We find sea days boring.

And it wouldn't work well for you.  The folks who don't like sea days will make it easier to have 50% capacity.

[chengkp75]

28 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

I'm sure when the cruiselines start back up, they request an exception to the PVSA .. whether or not they get it, that is another question.

Given that there is currently a US flag operation that does essentially what you want, the Alaska Marine Highway, there would be no case for granting an exemption to the PVSA.  PVSA exemptions are only granted when there is no available US flag carrier doing the route, and there is no requirement as to the size or quality of service that the US flag operation provides, only that it transports passengers along the same route.  And, exemptions to the PVSA are not merely administrative, they need to be passed by Congress.

[Cruise Raider]

7 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

And it wouldn't work well for you.  The folks who don't like sea days will make it easier to have 50% capacity.

 

I was kind of thinking that same thing.  They still have to keep the ships in operating order, even though the crew required would be at a minimum.  

Even if they lost money on taking a cruise out in August, it might be worth it for them in the long run in consumer confidence.  ???  

[voljeep]

could a port - like Ensenada - "build a wall" that would limit severely the area of the port that cruise ship passengers could visit, and then set up a 'straw village' and a Diamonds International in that area … would that qualify ?

[Coral]

16 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

And it wouldn't work well for you.  The folks who don't like sea days will make it easier to have 50% capacity.

It is not going to happen so it is a moot point.

[Cruise Raider]

3 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Given that there is currently a US flag operation that does essentially what you want, the Alaska Marine Highway, there would be no case for granting an exemption to the PVSA.  PVSA exemptions are only granted when there is no available US flag carrier doing the route, and there is no requirement as to the size or quality of service that the US flag operation provides, only that it transports passengers along the same route.  And, exemptions to the PVSA are not merely administrative, they need to be passed by Congress.

 

It's not what 'I want', it is what the administrative powers that be will do.There are exemptions to the PVSA given under extreme circumstances without changing the law via congress.  Whether or not this would be an extreme circumstance is not a decision for any of us here on these boards to make.  I highly doubt it will happen .. again, this is why I stated 'that would be another question'.  

[GottaLuvCruising]

We'd love a cruise that is just sea days, but wouldn't fly to port of embarkation.  Offer one out of Florida and we'd consider it.