CCL ship to start sailing!!!

[sprint180]

Yes, one step closer!

 

[Ombud]

On 8/24/2020 at 12:44 PM, drsel said:

Both Costa and AIDA are restarting in September

AIDA is put off until November 

[satxdiver]

CCL is now starting to sail out of select US ports on November 1 according to current plans.  No word yet as to what pax have to do to be able to get aboard such as temperature checks, COVID tests, medical history or other.  It will be interesting as we get closer to CCL starting select ships as to conditions to board, safety measures on the ship and what pax can do in the ports-of-call.  

[Ken the cruiser]

10 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

CCL is now starting to sail out of select US ports on November 1 according to current plans.  No word yet as to what pax have to do to be able to get aboard such as temperature checks, COVID tests, medical history or other.  It will be interesting as we get closer to CCL starting select ships as to conditions to board, safety measures on the ship and what pax can do in the ports-of-call.  

If possible since this development seems pretty important for a variety of reasons, would you please post the link to your source of information.

[npcl]

11 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

CCL is now starting to sail out of select US ports on November 1 according to current plans.  No word yet as to what pax have to do to be able to get aboard such as temperature checks, COVID tests, medical history or other.  It will be interesting as we get closer to CCL starting select ships as to conditions to board, safety measures on the ship and what pax can do in the ports-of-call.  

Are these like all the previous plans with earlier start dates?

 

Basically dates for determining cancellations and refunds up to that time.

[satxdiver]

42 minutes ago, npcl said:

Are these like all the previous plans with earlier start dates?

 

Basically dates for determining cancellations and refunds up to that time.

The plans CCL has now could easily be scrubbed just like in the past.  All we can do is sit tight and watch hoping someday soon we can cruise again.  

[satxdiver]

45 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If possible since this development seems pretty important for a variety of reasons, would you please post the link to your source of information.

 

We were booked on a November 7 cruise on the Vista.  Although we canceled ($100), CCL told our TA that the cruise was still going to happen.  You can go to Carnival.com and see the cruises they are offering out of select ports (Galveston in our case) and see what is offered.  Are these cruises going to happen, who knows but there is hope. 

[rabin1]

I am on the December 20th Panama Canal 15 day cruise on Princess. I have heard nothing. I have three of what they are calling the compromised immune issues for Covid, my weight, my age and diabetes. If the ship sails I sail. I refuse to live my life in fear.

The only way I will not go is if they say mask at all times. I will not go on a vacation wearing a mask. I have friends going on RCCL the same date and they have heard nothing as well.

 

Guess we are a wait and see or should I say sea........

Kathy

 

 

[caribill]

http://sailcosta.com/8118_Safety/8119.01_10Things.pdf

 

Costa's restart safety protocols. (I find number 7 confusing.)

[Ombud]

It seems to contradict itself

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

It seems to contradict itself

Interesting, strongly recommend is not absolutely require like MSC.

[Abercrombie2019]

https://www.costacruises.com/cruising-soon-again/safety-above-all.html

 

It doesn’t say anything about getting off the ship  independently in the above link.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

https://www.costacruises.com/cruising-soon-again/safety-above-all.html

 

It doesn’t say anything about getting off the ship  independently in the above link.

#7 on that link is very different from the #7 in post #35. It now says you can only get off on their excursions.

 

I wonder when it was changed, it must have been quite recently.

[Ombud]

I took that screenshot after getting the link from @caribillin post #34 --  the link in #34 has a different #7 then the link provided by @Abercrombie2019hopefully it's changed for the better (or will by April)!! 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Ombud

[caribill]

4 hours ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

4 hours ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

https://www.costacruises.com/cruising-soon-again/safety-above-all.html

 

It doesn’t say anything about getting off the ship  independently in the above link.

 

So, two different documents on the Costa web site do not say the same thing.

 

How unusual in the cruise industry.

[Abercrombie2019]

I went directly to the Costa Cruises website and clicked on their "new safety protocol" to get the list I posted above.  It's possible that they revised it since the first list was put out.

[Ombud]

I hope so! I'd rather not do ship excursions in Spain but if I have to I have to

[npcl]

15 minutes ago, Ombud said:

I hope so! I'd rather not do ship excursions in Spain but if I have to I have to

Might not see Spain from a cruise ship for a while, their Covid case counts when measured by new cases per 100,000 per week is approaching US number.

[Ombud]

Just now, npcl said:

Might not see Spain from a cruise ship for a while, their Covid case counts when measured by new cases per 100,000 per week is approaching US number.

I just made a $100 deposit on an April TA!🤬 

[EatonDoolittle]

I read number 7 as a bit of lawyer speak...the first part is to protect the cruise line (you must...)  and the addendum (you may go independently but...) to protect them as well, from law suits yes, but also from excessive guest complaints about personal freedom..

 

I expect they are hoping ppl will stop and adhere to the "you must take our tour" section. It will increase their revenue,  of course.

 

I am reminded of when Cuba first opened up to cruise ships.  The rule from the US State Department and across all lines was (paraphrasing) you must follow these rules,  and tour with a Company that meets these criteria. 

Then, all  the lines stressed "all our tours meet Gov't regulations". So people who did not do any research ended up taking substandard and expensive tours from the ship.  

 

Those of us who did a little research found that there were many wonderful tour companies based in Havana that met all the US Gov't regulations, and had first class tours of the island that were also a much better value. Or, you could walk off the ship and simply explore on your own. 

 

Hoping we can sail soon, but just read and understand the small print about leaving the ship once Princess distributes their rules. 

 

 

 

[Ombud]

2nd Costa ship starts up: 

Quote

The Costa Diadema is set to depart from Genoa later today, becoming the second Costa ship to return into service under a number of new health and safety protocols. .... From October 10 Savona will be the Costa Smeralda in Savona, which will be offering one-week cruise holidays in the Western Mediterranean. After a series of cruises intended for the French market, from November the Costa Diadema will also be moving to Savona, for 12-day cruises to the Canary Islands and 14-day cruises to Egypt and Greece.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23525-costa-adds-second-cruise-ship-back-into-operation.html

 

Edited September 20, 2020 by Ombud

[caribill]

There was a “Future of Cruising” Zoom meeting on September 17:  The two cruise industry representatives were Ron Guiaskey of Celebrity (part of Royal Caribbean Group) and Gordon Dirker of Celestyal Cruises, a Greece based cruise company.

 

This was not a canned presentation, but after some opening statements, was a session giving responses to questions by the Zoom participants.

 

o CLIA and the CDC are working together to set up standards for resuming cruises from USA ports. Most of the affected cruise lines have already given their proposed plans to the CDC. The standards will be minimum standards.

 

o Celestyal does not expect to restart cruising until March. Ron said that he expects cruising to restart near the end of November or early December, but did not indicate which cruise line(s) he was referring to.

 

o Cruise ship cleaning on turnaround day has always been extensive, but there will be additional work done due to Covid-19. Staggered boarding times are expected to be imposed.

 

o Rapid result testing is a “game changer” allowing testing at the pier and not requiring passengers to get tested on their own several days before the cruise.  Since, at least for the USA, there is expected to be a number of people who will not get a vaccination once it is available, this on-site testing might allow the cruise lines to not require proof of vaccination in order to cruise, but it is too soon to know for sure.

 

o Royal Caribbean Group already had announced their “virtual muster” which eliminates the need to everyone to gather in crowded areas at the start of the cruise for the muster drill.

 

o Ron indicated that the first four months of cruising may see passenger loads limited to between 50% and 65% of capacity. Because Celestyal usually has a large number of solo travelers, they often sail at that lower capacity anyway.

 

o Royal Caribbean Group expects initial cruises to be for 7 or less nights. Celestyal offers 3, 4, and 7 night itineraries.

 

o Buffets will continue to exist with no reduction in offerings, but with crew doing all the serving.

 

o Many hotels on land now do not clean a room during your stay unless you request it. Cruise lines may start asking passengers in each cabin how often they want their cabins serviced.

 

o The initial reduced capacity will help with the necessary physical distancing in restaurants and at shows.

 

o Referring to the MSC experience with limiting going ashore only with ship sponsored excursions, they said they are looking at this, at least at the beginning when cruising resumes.  This protects both the passengers from being infected from local contacts as well as the local population being protected from any contagious passengers.

 

o Crew will be under the same going on shore restrictions as passengers.

 

o Although the first ships out of the USA may include private islands where the cruise line has control of the environment, that is not a Celebrity thing.

 

o Ron indicated that with the bonus FCCs given for cancelled cruises, many are booking the replacement cruises at a higher cabin category. Also indicated that with the demand being experienced so far for next year’s bookings, people should not wait for big sales that probably will not occur.

 

o People denied boarding due to positive Covid-19 tests would get full refunds. Part of the plans submitted to the CDC includes how to take care of passengers denied boarding as far as isolating them until they can return home and also arranging for that return.

 

o Plans submitted to the CDC also include what to do if there is an outbreak on board to avoid having the entire ship quarantined for a period of time or not allowed to go to an appropriate convenient port.

 

o Cruise ships are a safer environment than staying at a hotel on land. In a hotel you are probably leaving the hotel and interacting with the local population as well as being near a changing population of hotel guests. Hotels at best may do a temperature check, but never do any rapid Covid-19 testing.

 

o Public restrooms on the ships will probably stay open, but with an enhanced cleaning schedule.

 

o Airlines are flying with passengers and so far have had no outbreaks attributed to flying. If planes are OK, then cruise ships should be even better.

 

o It should become clearer in the next two to three weeks if existing itineraries can still be maintained on the first few cruises still on the schedule when cruising resumes.