Realistically, how long does it take to get a ship ready to sail?

[cruisestitch]

I am hoping that Cheng75 or Someone else with knowledge of logistics can give us some ideas here.

 

I am thinking of such issues as getting all the crew on board.  They have to be hired, trained, their visas and work papers arranged, then transported to the cruise port, all tests passed, and ready to safely operate the ship. 

 

Then there is the question of getting all food stuffs on board?   I should think that restocking the bars would be pretty easy, but all the food must be brought aboard, inventoried and stored.  kitchen staff will need to be trained.  Health inspections will need to be performed.  
 

Realistically, how long would it take to get a ship ready to sail?

 

[Gracie115]

My guess...start to finish at least 30 days...

 

[WestLakeGirl]

Can the Government  bodies in charge of visas and work permits work that quickly?

 

Potential new hires will all need passports.  Can their governments Quickly issue new passports?

Can USPH officials certify ships so fast?

 

of less importance, can entertainers get ready for shows in that amount of time?  

 

[cruisestitch]

Another question occurred to me today. Say you were a room steward from Goa, or a deckhand from the Philippines, or a bartender from Croatia. Would you want to come back to the United States and from there to a cruise ship?  Would you recommend it as a job if your cousin or neighbor asked, “should I go work for a cruise ship?”  How will the cruise lines ever get the staff they will need to operate?

[Tapi]

Although the logistics may seem unsurmountable and mind boggling, I bet that the cruise lines have already done a lot of the legwork, have a lot of things ready to go, and  crew members on standby, waiting on the green light to report for their assignment. I can assure you that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about. 

[excitedofharpenden]

4 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Another question occurred to me today. Say you were a room steward from Goa, or a deckhand from the Philippines, or a bartender from Croatia. Would you want to come back to the United States and from there to a cruise ship?  Would you recommend it as a job if your cousin or neighbor asked, “should I go work for a cruise ship?”  How will the cruise lines ever get the staff they will need to operate?

Funnily enough I was chatting to an Azamara room steward from Goa just yesterday. He is desperate to get back on the ship, notwithstanding that all three of the Azamara ships are in Glasgow at present. 

 

He lives in the more rural part of Goa where work is not so easy to find and getting a job in the larger places will involve a long journey. His young brother has had covid, but is ok. The whole family had to go into isolation. He earns very good money on a ship compared to what he would make at home and supports his family on it.

 

Each individual is different and it very much depends upon their circumstances and  the sacrifices they are prepared to make, but I don't think the cruiselines will have difficulty in filling positions. 

 

As to the mechanism for getting the ships going again I think it depends on whether the ship is in warm or cold layup and what systems need to be restarted. What a complex issue it is!

 

Phil 

[jelayne]

The Apex should be ready to go since she just came across the Atlantic so probably getting a complete crew and supplies on board  would have her ready.  

[WestLakeGirl]

It has been reported that Celebrity ships are in warm layup.

[phoenix_dream]

2 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Can the Government  bodies in charge of visas and work permits work that quickly?

 

Potential new hires will all need passports.  Can their governments Quickly issue new passports?

Can USPH officials certify ships so fast?

 

of less importance, can entertainers get ready for shows in that amount of time?  

 

I don't know about the visas and work permits.  But I think it is incorrect to think that all new hires may need passports.   Many new hires already have passports.  Not sure what you mean by "new hire" but ones who worked for other cruise lines may be new hires to Celebrity but not new to the US.  If by new hire you mean they had been sent home or laid off, then the same goes - they likely already have passports.  For hires brand new to cruising, another story and there certainly could be some of those, although I suspect that initially there will be enough former crew to staff the ships appropriately for some time, as since the ships will be sailing at less than full capacity, the crew contingent will be less as well.

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

Another question occurred to me today. Say you were a room steward from Goa, or a deckhand from the Philippines, or a bartender from Croatia. Would you want to come back to the United States and from there to a cruise ship?  Would you recommend it as a job if your cousin or neighbor asked, “should I go work for a cruise ship?”  How will the cruise lines ever get the staff they will need to operate?

None of us can say for sure of course.  But I suspect many of the crew can't wait to get back on the ship.  Once the ships are allowed to sail, I suspect that they will be much more safe than many of the places the crew now lives (and for that matter, where many of us live!!).  And even if they are concerned, I have to think many of them have sadly suffered financial devastation since sailing was halted.  They may prefer not to have to travel to the US, but if that is the only good way they can support their families they may have little choice.

[NutsAboutGolf]

I would love to find out more about the MSC crew.  My best guess is that many crewmembers who wish to remain loyal to X (not many ships are sailing at the moment anyways) are dying to go back to work and that X has their pick of the litter of the crew they want.  If hope doesn't reduce their wages but if they do and some crewmembers do not accept the contract, there's a long line of talented crewmembers who will take the contact.  Also, most likely most cruiselines won't start sailing with all their ships and since they're all sailing at reduced capacity, not as much crewmembers are required.

 

Bottom line, when cruising resumes, they most likely be sailing with some of the most talented and well-seasoned crewmembers, very few will be new hires.

[SeaHunt]

Dunno, but I read this from Frank Del Rio (and FDR is usually very optimistic when talking to the press, so I'm not sure if that really means longer than 60 days in the real world LOL) 🙃

 

"Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, recently said that it will take at least 60 days to prepare a ship ready to sail again".

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23616-del-rio-at-least-60-days-to-get-a-cruise-ship-ready.html

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23745-latest-look-at-when-the-major-cruise-lines-plan-to-restart-service.html

[NutsAboutGolf]

I was reading one potential hurdle, say the US allows cruises to resume on Dec 1st (or pick whichever date) everyone will be a mad rush to get their ships re-certified by inspectors and that there are only a very limited amount of inspectors.

 

[jelayne]

56 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I was reading one potential hurdle, say the US allows cruises to resume on Dec 1st (or pick whichever date) everyone will be a mad rush to get their ships re-certified by inspectors and that there are only a very limited amount of inspectors.

 

Whatever the start date only a few ships from each line will be sailing.  So it’s not like Celebrity will need to get the 8 or 9 ships idling off the US re-certified within  30 days. They will start with the Edge & Apex.  

[spencerdrivecruiser]

Wondering how many more applicants will be applying for ship employment from Captains, HD, Chief Engineers displaced from the 10-15 ships recently sold?   The market will be flooded with the thousands of this particular group of former workers.  The more supply, the less benefits and $$$s will be negotiated.  Such a sad situation.

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, SeaHunt said:

Dunno, but I read this from Frank Del Rio (and FDR is usually very optimistic when talking to the press, so I'm not sure if that really means longer than 60 days in the real world LOL) 🙃

 

"Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, recently said that it will take at least 60 days to prepare a ship ready to sail again".

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23616-del-rio-at-least-60-days-to-get-a-cruise-ship-ready.html

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23745-latest-look-at-when-the-major-cruise-lines-plan-to-restart-service.html

 

I read the links, interesting part is "numerous new onboard technologies would need to be installed".  Somewhat surprised they (NCL) don't do that now to the ships they expect to resume sailing first.

[bouhunter]

4 hours ago, Tapi said:

 I can assure you that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about. 

Maybe, for a couple ships at each cruise line.

[NutsAboutGolf]

23 minutes ago, spencerdrivecruiser said:

Wondering how many more applicants will be applying for ship employment from Captains, HD, Chief Engineers displaced from the 10-15 ships recently sold?   The market will be flooded with the thousands of this particular group of former workers.  The more supply, the less benefits and $$$s will be negotiated.  Such a sad situation.

 

Another dynamic is how many at corporate have been either laid off and simply resigned; most likely a tremendous loss of talent.

[spencerdrivecruiser]

In a discussion group this weekend we tried to estimate the number of affected people JUST from the retirement of 10-18 ships.  An average of 1000 crew on and off per 6-8 month contracts.  Thats a huge amount of competition for upcoming jobs.  Plus as stated above, the 1000s of laid off/terminated land based corporate workers.  Not sure if things will ever normalize.

 

if the CDC/Govt postpones cruising until 1/1/2021,  add 3 to 4 months for contracting  with Crew, logistics, passing annual medical physicals in their respective countries, obtaining work VISAS, plane flights, hotels.  Then 30 days of mock cruise training.

 

My best guest is May 1, 2021 when USA major cruise lines resume business assuming the vaccine comes out in December as promised by some officials.

Edited October 25, 2020 by spencerdrivecruiser

[Arizona Wildcat]

Friend from the Phillipines has been offered employment.  At two weeks and counting he is still waiting for permits to leave.  International travel is difficult with travel bans and/or guarantees in place for many countries.

Once a crew is assembled then you have training with the new guidelines - some ideas also likely will require modification - for at least a couple weeks AFTER the new crew members are quaranteened on board.

Seems a couple ships can be up and in operation within 60 days.  Most crew will want to return.  Celebrity has many many long time crew.

You also still have the politics of the White House and CDC.  The no sail order expires shortly, but will politics intervene?  The CDC was saying February.  What will local and state government do as COVID cases continue to steadily increase?  Will ports be willing to accept cruise ships?  The issues of even cruise ship shore excursions are huge.

[Gracie115]

15 hours ago, jelayne said:

The Apex should be ready to go since she just came across the Atlantic so probably getting a complete crew and supplies on board  would have her ready.  

 

My contact at Celebrity states that Edge & Apex will be the first to come back, which makes sense...bring back the newest, brightest first!  He also stated ships like Infinity & Connie will probably be last to be brought back...also makes sense to me since they are the oldest, non renovated X ships. 

 

[NCTribeFan]

Just saw my DD's BFF on Friday.  She's worked on NCL in the past and done short-term stints on HAL (entertainment dept).  She was on Virgin's Scarlet Lady for several weeks as she was getting ready to launch and was crushed when sailings were cancelled. 

 

She said she just talked to a friend who had been told by NCL to report to Miami on Dec 1.  Don't know what ship or when she's supposed to sail, but they were discussing the cost involved (and this gal is in the US) to "muster" the crew when they aren't even sure when sailing is going to resume.  The cruise lines have already lost so much money and now they have to spend to get people to the ships without any firm idea of when they'll sail.

[TeeRick]

11 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Friend from the Phillipines has been offered employment.  At two weeks and counting he is still waiting for permits to leave.  International travel is difficult with travel bans and/or guarantees in place for many countries.

Once a crew is assembled then you have training with the new guidelines - some ideas also likely will require modification - for at least a couple weeks AFTER the new crew members are quaranteened on board.

Seems a couple ships can be up and in operation within 60 days.  Most crew will want to return.  Celebrity has many many long time crew.

You also still have the politics of the White House and CDC.  The no sail order expires shortly, but will politics intervene?  The CDC was saying February.  What will local and state government do as COVID cases continue to steadily increase?  Will ports be willing to accept cruise ships?  The issues of even cruise ship shore excursions are huge.

All true.  It is possible that the date changes after the election depending on the outcome.  But let's say the No Sail expires the end of this week.  Who can say whether the CDC will put it back in place at a later date?  Why do we think that once it expires it will never come back?  The virus surge, the outcome of vaccine trials, the election in the US will all be variables to watch closely.  

[phoenix_dream]

27 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

All true.  It is possible that the date changes after the election depending on the outcome.  But let's say the No Sail expires the end of this week.  Who can say whether the CDC will put it back in place at a later date?  Why do we think that once it expires it will never come back?  The virus surge, the outcome of vaccine trials, the election in the US will all be variables to watch closely.  

All true.  I am not sure the election itself will immediately change the dates, but certainly whoever is in office in January could make a difference.  At the same time, if the no sail expires now and if (a very big if I realize) the ships are sailing and handling any issues effectively, even if a more cautious president gets elected it might be a pretty big political risk to cease sailing again.  It would mean angering a lot of cruisers, as well as putting hundreds of US jobs at risk once again.  Might not be something he would be willing to do. 

 

I do agree though that the CDC could very well reinstitute a No Sail if cases continue to surge and especially if the first cruises sailing encounter too many issues.  Unfortunately, much like what happens with norovirus outbreaks, cruise line illnesses become front page fodder long before sickness in other situations.  The media hounds will be circling the ports just waiting for something bad to happen so they can get it on the front page or top social media feed and make it sound like Armageddon is right around the corner.

[phoenix_dream]

2 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

My contact at Celebrity states that Edge & Apex will be the first to come back, which makes sense...bring back the newest, brightest first!  He also stated ships like Infinity & Connie will probably be last to be brought back...also makes sense to me since they are the oldest, non renovated X ships. 

 

Without being specific, can you give us an idea how far up in the food chain this contact is?  Is it someone who would honestly have a good idea of what is happening?  I have an upcoming sailing on Connie and while I suspect what you are indicating is true, any more valid information regarding the possibility of her sailing might help me convince DH once and for all to lift and shift like I've been trying to get him to do for awhile now🙂