When will we sail the Hawaiian Islands Again?

[farmersfight]

42 minutes ago, seaman11 said:

and he said before that post US Citizens . then changed it to us residents .  i was not referring to your post . 

 

  13 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

"since the crew are all US citizens"

 

Woops, you are absolutely right @seaman11. My bad. Bottom line, @chengkp75 answered my question. See my next post below.

Edited October 24, 2020 by farmersfight

[farmersfight]

26 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

All licensed deck and engine officers must be US citizens, and only 25% of the unlicensed crew can be Green Card holders.

 

Thanks again @chengkp75, this is what I was thinking. Except, I forgot that the 25% unlicensed crew were required to have green cards (i.e. be U.S. residents).

[Love my butler]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Everyone in the US can trace themselves back to someone living here who wasn't a "citizen", even me, who can trace my family back to living in the US in the 1600's.

Denial aint just a river in Egypt.....

[don't-use-real-name]

1 hour ago, Love my butler said:

Denial aint just a river in Egypt.....

Oh that was so good !

[98420934]

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Also, since the crew are all US citizens, and would have quarantined on the ship when joining to meet state and local requirements, I'm sure they are free to come and go off the ship as their work schedule allows.

 

Unfortunately, on that particular ship, crew are not allowed ashore for the duration of their contract, so it's a difficult time to be on board.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, 98420934 said:

 

Unfortunately, on that particular ship, crew are not allowed ashore for the duration of their contract, so it's a difficult time to be on board.

I would be surprised at that, since the USCG has declared merchant mariners to be essential personnel.  And, if the state has a quarantine, then after that quarantine, those crew should be able to go ashore.

[THIS IS US!]

21 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

POA's last dry dock was Feb-March 2016 in San Francisco. We were on her when she sailed back to Hawaii.

 

 

Thank you bluesea777, I remember that dry dock fondly as DM DD and I cruised on the POA in 2017. Tutone56 had mentioned a potential dry dock April or May of 2020 earlier in the thread. I wanted to loop back around in case someone also heard of it. I would love another dry dock right before we sail on her again in 2022. If not we enjoyed ourselves so much and she can stay just the same. If anyone hears of a dry dock in the near future please let us know. Happy cruising!

[dexddd]

30 minutes ago, THIS IS US! said:

Thank you bluesea777, I remember that dry dock fondly as DM DD and I cruised on the POA in 2017. Tutone56 had mentioned a potential dry dock April or May of 2020 earlier in the thread. I wanted to loop back around in case someone also heard of it. I would love another dry dock right before we sail on her again in 2022. If not we enjoyed ourselves so much and she can stay just the same. If anyone hears of a dry dock in the near future please let us know. Happy cruising!

We were also on that trip from SFO to Hawaii.  If the requirements are every five years, it would be by March.  I vaguely recall a mention too.  Older ships supposedly more often based on what we were told on Spirit.  Not sure where POA falls.

[THIS IS US!]

9 minutes ago, dexddd said:

We were also on that trip from SFO to Hawaii.  If the requirements are every five years, it would be by March.  I vaguely recall a mention too.  Older ships supposedly more often based on what we were told on Spirit.  Not sure where POA falls.

Great info dexddd and much appreciated!

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

We were also on that trip from SFO to Hawaii.  If the requirements are every five years, it would be by March.  I vaguely recall a mention too.  Older ships supposedly more often based on what we were told on Spirit.  Not sure where POA falls.

POA will reach the magic 15 year interval in 2021.  After that, she will have to drydock twice in 5 years.

[THIS IS US!]

33 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

POA will reach the magic 15 year interval in 2021.  After that, she will have to drydock twice in 5 years.

Thanks chengkp75 we sail summer 2022 and then will be looking at 2026 when the itineraries come out.

[janice2348]

We’re hoping to sail on her in 2022.  As we are older we are waiting for a vaccine before we cruise again.  It’s much too risky for us ( hubby has heart disease). We sailed on POA in 2016 and had a marvelous time.  Fingers crossed for another Hawaiian Cruise.  

[THIS IS US!]

7 hours ago, janice2348 said:

We’re hoping to sail on her in 2022.  As we are older we are waiting for a vaccine before we cruise again.  It’s much too risky for us ( hubby has heart disease). We sailed on POA in 2016 and had a marvelous time.  Fingers crossed for another Hawaiian Cruise.  

Completely understand Janice2348 hopefully sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed as well that we will all enjoy safely cruising again shortly. 

[farmersfight]

4 hours ago, THIS IS US! said:

Fingers crossed as well that we will all enjoy safely cruising again shortly. 

 

🤞

[98420934]

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I would be surprised at that, since the USCG has declared merchant mariners to be essential personnel.  And, if the state has a quarantine, then after that quarantine, those crew should be able to go ashore.

 

Yes, I was surprised also, but that has been the rule since the middle of March; I've seen the email the captain sent out at that time, and the order still stands. Also, the two-week quarantine when boarding the ship is a requirement in order to maintain green ship status, which all the company's ships still in North America are doing.

[98420934]

19 hours ago, THIS IS US! said:

If anyone hears of a dry dock in the near future please let us know.

 

It's been rescheduled to June of 2021, but I would say anything beyond the next month is not for certain at the moment.

[chengkp75]

15 minutes ago, 98420934 said:

 

Yes, I was surprised also, but that has been the rule since the middle of March; I've seen the email the captain sent out at that time, and the order still stands. Also, the two-week quarantine when boarding the ship is a requirement in order to maintain green ship status, which all the company's ships still in North America are doing.

I'm also surprised the unions went along with that.  Was this a company decision, or a governmental one?

[BirdTravels]

Early during the shutdown, but More than 14 days after the POA stopped passenger operations (I.e., during a period when only crew were aboard), there was a small COVID outbreak on the POA. That could only happen with someone brining it onboard. Wasn’t the best advertisement for resuming cruising. 

[sirenitas]

On 10/23/2020 at 3:44 AM, Coastalbreezes said:

Initial start-up, at least through first quarter 2021, will be just a few ships and they will sail only from Florida. According to the article below "no cruise visitors until the second half of 2021.

https://cruise.blog/2020/05/hawaii-estimates-no-cruise-visitors-until-late-2021

That article is from May - in COVID time that is years ago ;).  The one below is from earlier this month but it still does not say anything definite. 

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/10/02/hawaii-news/cruise-ships-return-to-isles-remains-in-muddy-waters/

Edited October 28, 2020 by sirenitas

[BermudaBound2014]

On 10/23/2020 at 12:15 AM, BirdTravels said:

The Pride of America has been sitting quietly in port since the shutdown, waiting for the day she can resume sailing the Hawaiian islands. She has only left her berth in Honolulu harbor once since the shutdown to run from a hurricane for a few days (July 24-28). Hawaii has had a strict 14 quarantine for anyone entering the state since the COVID shutdown. Last week, some islands began allowing travelers to bypass the quarantine if they provided a negative COVID test from specific, trusted test facilities within 72 hours of arrival. Will this allow the Pride of America to start operating again in the not to distant future?

Monday, October 19, 2020

 

I predict that Hawaii will be one of the very last places to allow cruising. I've been following the events in Hawaii because since our South American adventure was cancelled (well, technically it's not cancelled yet but everyone knows there will be no ships sailing in South America this January) we will be wintering in Hawaii. Govenor Ige and the mayors of each island are extremely strict. They just lifted the 14 day quarantine on arrival on October 15th and there is already talk of bringing the quarantine back. My Governor in Michigan has lots of covid restrictions, but nothing compared to Ige. 

[Darcy03231]

We booked for 2023!  I know its a long way off, but it gives us something to look forward to.   We have another cruise booked for 2022.  I'm hoping cruising returns to some semblance of normal by late 2021.

[98420934]

On 10/26/2020 at 6:50 AM, chengkp75 said:

I'm also surprised the unions went along with that.  Was this a company decision, or a governmental one?

 

I was surprised also. At first, it was a company decision, but then it became a requirement in order to maintain green ship status.

 

On 10/24/2020 at 5:49 AM, 98420934 said:

…testing is also required for moving between islands (with the exception of travel from neighbor islands to Oahu). So, all ship passengers would have to test before travelling to Hawaii, and then be re-tested after arriving in Hawaii, within the required intervals, before being permitted to go ashore at other islands. The only way for that to happen quickly enough would be for the ship to install its own testing facilities, capable of processing 3,000 results overnight. Perhaps they might try that, but it seems unlikely.

 

As an update, Viking is actually doing that. It's possible that the same approach might be necessary in Hawaii:

 

"Viking announced that it has completed installation of the first full-scale PCR laboratory at sea. This new onboard facility allows for testing capacity in the cruise industry, enabling Viking to conduct PCR testing of all crew members and guests with a non-invasive saliva test, the company said, calling it an industry first. The lab has enough capacity for daily testing of every crew member and guest, which provides flexibility to respond to COVID-19 prevalence levels around the world."

 

Source: Viking Star Gets First PCR Laboratory at Sea for COVID Testing

 

On 10/28/2020 at 1:59 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

I predict that Hawaii will be one of the very last places to allow cruising. I've been following the events in Hawaii because since our South American adventure was cancelled (well, technically it's not cancelled yet but everyone knows there will be no ships sailing in South America this January) we will be wintering in Hawaii. Govenor Ige and the mayors of each island are extremely strict. They just lifted the 14 day quarantine on arrival on October 15th and there is already talk of bringing the quarantine back. My Governor in Michigan has lots of covid restrictions, but nothing compared to Ige. 

 

Yes, I have been wondering the same. Some colleagues had been predicting that Hawaii would be one of the first places to open up to cruising, because there is only one state and one country involved, therefore reducing the amount of red tape compared to international voyages. However, I don't buy that argument, personally. The neighbor islands have been very sensitive about tourism and, despite the recent opening of air travel to tourists, it would not surprise me if there is local resistance whenever an effort is made for cruise ships to start visiting again.

 

But who really knows, of course… I wouldn't be surprised if cruises in most places end up being delayed for a similar amount of time, but for different reasons.

[Silver Sweethearts]

13 hours ago, 98420934 said:

 

 

 

Yes, I have been wondering the same. Some colleagues had been predicting that Hawaii would be one of the first places to open up to cruising, because there is only one state and one country involved, therefore reducing the amount of red tape compared to international voyages. However, I don't buy that argument, personally. The neighbor islands have been very sensitive about tourism and, despite the recent opening of air travel to tourists, it would not surprise me if there is local resistance whenever an effort is made for cruise ships to start visiting again.

 

Hawaii is between a rock and a hard place here.  The State obviously has to cater to tourists to keep our economy running.  That may be fine under normal circumstances, but try selling that to residents who now fear if tourists are let in that Covid-19 may escalate and overtax medical facilities barely large enough for those who live here. 

[BirdTravels]

35 minutes ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

Hawaii is between a rock and a hard place here.  The State obviously has to cater to tourists to keep our economy running.  That may be fine under normal circumstances, but try selling that to residents who now fear if tourists are let in that Covid-19 may escalate and overtax medical facilities barely large enough for those who live here. 

A large portion of our economy is dependent upon tourism. There are a lot of residents who are out of work, not knowing where their next meal is coming from, because Ige and Mayors have kept the state closed. Even the re-institution of the "stay at home" orders did nothing to reduce COVID cases (89 new cases statewide today). Will Hawaii reopened, cruising of the Hawaiian islands will return soon after the cruise line resumes operations. 

[don't-use-real-name]

It will only be a matter of time before a vaccine is available and perhaps included in part of the cruise fare.

Guests will be only those folks who have been vaccinated and tested -Negative- at every stage of getting

on board and then maintaining that during the cruise.

 

Getting to Hawaii is or has been made easier with the 3 day -Negative- testing before flying to the island

of Oahu - I don't know the current status of Kauai Maui and the Big Island.

My reading of the news is the outer islands are somewhat in the NIMBY status not wanting any contact

with anyone who has been in an active zone of the virus.

 

Even with all the precautions there maybe someone who gets through the virus net -

The 14 day quarantine period is only a time frame that seems to satisfy stopping the spread.

 

That vaccine may work - may have side effects - may not work on everyone - but for the most part

the larger part of tourism should be able to travel with minor limited restrictions i.e. mask wearing.

 

It is only a matter of time before guests can get their fix of cruising - Safety is not rushed !