2021 Schedule

[Wendy The Wanderer]

5 hours ago, Guerncruising said:

@SusieQft

Well 24 hours later and we now have a further 20 cases. It’s the speed at which this has happened, when you relax it comes back to bite you on the bxm. 

I just hope that our health people manage to rein it all back in and carry on with the vaccine. 

 

 

I'm so sorry to hear this.  This new variant seems to spread much faster--any indication that it's involved? 

[SWFLAOK]

6 hours ago, Guerncruising said:

@SusieQft

Well 24 hours later and we now have a further 20 cases. It’s the speed at which this has happened, when you relax it comes back to bite you on the bxm. 

I just hope that our health people manage to rein it all back in and carry on with the vaccine. 

 

 

So sorry to hear that as well, but I'm just wondering what your flu situation is there in a normal winter. As an isolated place, do you all get flu shots, and do you have outbreaks with deaths among the elderly?

In the US, many of us older people get flu shots every year. And while it's worked for us, many people die of the flu every year. Last winter, there were many fewer flu deaths, and so far this flu season, the cases are much lower than usual. They say it's because of hand sanitizing and masks. But for some reason, that hasn't worked for Covid19, which makes no sense.

We've always encountered many sick people on cruises that should not have been allowed on board, or should have been offloaded at the next port. And on some cruises, we have seen people taken away by ambulance as we docked.

There have been vaccines available for the flu and Pneumococcal pneumonia, but they weren't required to prevent others from catching it. And cruisers were allowed to board even when ill when boarding. Is there anything different about Covid19? It's a corona virus just like SARS and MERS. Neither of these shut down all cruises for years, or for good, and no one bothered to even create a vaccine for them, assuming they would go away or become insignificant over time. At least we did much better than that this time.

[Guerncruising]

The belief is that the latest batch was brought in via an inbound essential worker. These people can only fly in from Southampton and it would be reasonably easy to contact them via passenger lists. The contact tracing group are on the case. 

SWFLAOK yes we do have flu vaccines (free for some) and reasonably well taken up by normal standards I believe. Deaths are fairly normal too although life expectancy is higher than UK. 

@lprpSamples are sent to the Uk to determine which variant it is and yes it may be the Kent variant (my daughter works for East Kent NHS Canterbury), we will be informed I am sure. 

I was tested along with 2 of the grandchildren and we got negative results within 7 hours. One of the grandchildren is a close contact of someone, it seems to have hit schools a fair bit. 

Many thanks to all for best wishes. 

[Guerncruising]

The belief is that the latest batch was brought in via an inbound essential worker. These people can only fly in from Southampton and it would be reasonably easy to contact them via passenger lists. The contact tracing group are on the case. 

SWFLAOK yes we do have flu vaccines (free for some) and reasonably well taken up by normal standards I believe. Deaths are fairly normal too although life expectancy is higher than UK. 

@lprpSamples are sent to the Uk to determine which variant it is and yes it may be the Kent variant (my daughter works for East Kent NHS Canterbury), we will be informed I am sure. 

I was tested along with 2 of the grandchildren and we got negative results within 7 hours. One of the grandchildren is a close contact of someone, it seems to have hit schools a fair bit. 

Many thanks to all for best wishes. 

[SusieQft]

7 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Last winter, there were many fewer flu deaths, and so far this flu season, the cases are much lower than usual. They say it's because of hand sanitizing and masks. But for some reason, that hasn't worked for Covid19, which makes no sense.

It is very likely that the hand sanitizing and masks are actually helping with COVID-19 as well as the flu, and that without them the number of COVID cases would be much higher than it already is.  COVID and the flu are two different diseases.  Even though there are some similarities, they behave differently.  I would not say it makes no sense.  I would say that COVID-19 is much more contagious than the flu, even with the extraordinary measures being taken to avoid spreading it.

[SWFLAOK]

17 hours ago, Guerncruising said:

The belief is that the latest batch was brought in via an inbound essential worker. These people can only fly in from Southampton and it would be reasonably easy to contact them via passenger lists. The contact tracing group are on the case. 

It's good to hear that you have contact tracing. In the US, I don't think it's being done effectively. It is disturbing that an essential worker brought it in. I suspect that they aren't looked at as closely as other travelers, and maybe a few days of quarantine should be required. Flying is still an extremely frightening thought to me. My sister-in-law passed away 3 weeks ago, after a long bout with cancer. We had booked flights to visit on her Birthday a few months ago, but we would have needed to quarantine with her after flying interstate from Florida to her home in a NE state. It wasn't a problem for us, and we would never have gone if we were ill, but she didn't feel comfortable with us coming. And now she's gone, with no service possible until some time in the future. And for the rest of us, life has to go on.

Let's hope this virus fades into the background as so many others have, and the vaccine helps it on it's way.

[D C]

On 1/24/2021 at 1:29 PM, Guerncruising said:

@SusieQft

Well 24 hours later and we now have a further 20 cases. It’s the speed at which this has happened, when you relax it comes back to bite you on the bxm. 

I just hope that our health people manage to rein it all back in and carry on with the vaccine. 

 

 

Best of luck!  Cases did pop up quite suddenly, didn't they?  I saw the lockdown news on FB before I saw any news of cases.  

 

The funeral of the wife of a cousin was today on GSY.  10 people limit.  I feel so very sad for the family that had to pick and choose who would attend.  Gutted.

[Guerncruising]

@D C Sorry to read of the funeral of a relative on the island.

 Our numbers shot up after Friday of last week when we had 4 new cases taking the total to 10. As of 1600hrs today the total is 62, so quite an increase. We’re now in strict lockdown again and so long as no selfish person behaves irresponsibly hopefully all be under control again. 

A pub in St Peter Port is attracting interest by the authorities. They will have a handle on it. 

[lprp]

@Guerncruising Your track and trace seems much more effective than in the UK. Hopefully, as you say, people will abide by the rules and not be selfish, or think they’re only seeing x-person so it’s fine.....

While our Government have made many, many mistakes, there are also too many who think that the rules don’t apply to them. We hear about the big house parties and such like, but it’s the myriad single infringements that get through.

Stay safe.

[Guerncruising]

@lprpYes it is great to know that our track and trace system works well. Our MoH is a virologist and has a close handle on things. 

The chief minister has warned against rumour spreading which in a small community is bound to happen. The pub still continues to be a place of interest by the medics and police so let’s hope that they get to the bottom of it. 

Case numbers still rising but slowly and somewhat unusually a fair number in schools (30).

We all need to remember that it only takes one bad apple in the barrel to spoil the lot. 

[mrlevin]

Crew heading back home:

 

[quote]

Norwegian Cruise Line will return all crew members that joined recently and isn't part of the skeleton crew back home. The difficult decision was announced in a meeting yesterday and the crew on board received a letter with all the details regarding the latest repatriation process. 

In hopes that the company will return to service, NCL boarded thousands of crew members back in November and December 2020, to prepare the cruise ships for a possible restart and compliance with the CDC regulations. However with the latest announcement and further suspension of operations issued by Norwegian Cruise Line on January 19, that they will delay the start of cruising through April 30, 2021, the company realized they are not going to be starting anytime soon.

Two months ago 1000+ crew members boarded Norwegian Escape in Mumbai, India, while Norwegian Joy set sail from Manila, Philipines with 1216 returning crew. Back then NCL was also working on a deployment plan for crews to join Norwegian Spirit in Europe and assigning them to the Encore and Bliss.

 

The repatriation process will take place on two appointed ships. The Norwegian Joy which is in Aruba will gather non-essential crew from the ships stationed in the Caribbean and will proceed to the Philippines.

The Norwegian Encore which is in Southampton will make a few different stops along her journey back to Asia. The repatriation process will be similar to the one that took place last year with crew transfers to the appropriate vessel, before the crew finally sails to their homes in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, with anticipated arrival to the final destinations in late March or early April 2021.

This will be a long and sad journey for all the crew onboard as their hopes and dreams to be the first to set sail with guests onboard will not materialize at this point. They have made countless sacrifices, PCR tests, and quarantines to join the ships again to serve guests and ultimately provide for their family.

This decision did not come easy and the repatriation of the crew once again was not in the company plan. However, with the further cancelations of cruises, NCL believes that the crew will be better off from the comfort of their home and loved ones before re-joining once again for successful return to cruising. Norwegian Cruise Line promised that the repatriated crew will be prioritized for new assignments as much as possible, but with the long journey back home, ship-to-ship transfers, and other rules and regulations from their home countries these crew members will need much longer time to re-energize for their next sign-on. [/quote]

Edited January 27, 2021 by mrlevin

[Snore42]

Consolidation in the cruise industry is coming, it's unavoidable.  To me, this is the first steps in that process.  The cruise product we have all been accustomed to will be dramatically changed, when ever we do board a luxury cruise again.    

[flossie009]

2 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Two months ago 1000+ crew members boarded Norwegian Escape in Mumbai, India, while Norwegian Joy set sail from Manila, Philipines with 1216 returning crew.

A valiant effort by NCLH to be ready for a Spring restart but in the event it turned out to be a very costly corporate decision.

 

In hindsight the company would have been in better shape had it put at least  half its fleet in cold lay-up as soon as it was realised that last year’s summer season was a no-go.

 

All very sad for NCLH/Regent staff & crew ☹️

[Pcardad]

Not so sad for those guys - they got paid and many/most still will as they are going to work on the ships that require crew even with no passengers. Sad for the ones at home with no income. These are not good times for people with little.

[flossie009]

On 1/27/2021 at 9:47 PM, mrlevin said:

The repatriation process will take place on two appointed ships. The Norwegian Joy which is in Aruba will gather non-essential crew from the ships stationed in the Caribbean and will proceed to the Philippines.

The Norwegian Encore which is in Southampton will make a few different stops along her journey back to Asia.

 

CrewCenter Blog

 

Captain's announcement

 

 

It is now 10 days after the decision and announcement regarding repatriation.

However neither of the two ships (NCL Joy & NCL Encore) scheduled to be taking crew back to Asia have moved from their moorings  🤔

[DaveFr]

4 hours ago, flossie009 said:

 

CrewCenter Blog

 

Captain's announcement

 

 

It is now 10 days after the decision and announcement regarding repatriation.

However neither of the two ships (NCL Joy & NCL Encore) scheduled to be taking crew back to Asia have moved from their moorings  🤔

According to the CrewCenter Blog:

 

The repatriation process will take place on two appointed ships. The Norwegian Joy which is in Aruba will gather non-essential crew from the ships stationed in the Caribbean and will proceed to the Philippines.

The Norwegian Encore which is in Southampton will make a few different stops along her journey back to Asia. The repatriation process will be similar to the one that took place last year with crew transfers to the appropriate vessel, before the crew finally sails to their homes in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, with anticipated arrival to the final destinations in late March or early April 2021.

 

Apparently, crew gathering is still ongoing. Most likely, the two ships will begin sailing to Asia sometime in March.

 

Dave

[spindrift]

I believe the ships are being held hostage. Airplane passengers sit seat to seat to seat. All other forms of transportation are being allowed to move about. Let the ships sail again.  

[pingpong1]

53 minutes ago, spindrift said:

I believe the ships are being held hostage. Airplane passengers sit seat to seat to seat. All other forms of transportation are being allowed to move about. Let the ships sail again.  

Spindrift....Absolutely Agree!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Anyone care to hazard an opinion about a fall TA?  Mariner, Rome to Miami, October 2021?

 

(Asked this before, hope I'm not repeating myself too badly.  It just looks like the kind of wonderful consolation prize to get us on our favourite ship.)

[mrlevin]

2 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Anyone care to hazard an opinion about a fall TA?  Mariner, Rome to Miami, October 2021?

 

(Asked this before, hope I'm not repeating myself too badly.  It just looks like the kind of wonderful consolation prize to get us on our favourite ship.)

 

Wendy, I don't think so; even if it did they might ban Canadians in a "tit for tat."

[Wendy The Wanderer]

3 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

 

Wendy, I don't think so; even if it did they might ban Canadians in a "tit for tat."

Why would they do that?  By that argument they could ban Americans because of the darned CDC!

Edited February 6, 2021 by Wendy The Wanderer

[mrlevin]

Just now, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Why would they do that?  By that argument they could ban Americans because of the darned CDC!

Which is why I don't think it will sail.

[johng75370]

57 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Anyone care to hazard an opinion about a fall TA?  Mariner, Rome to Miami, October 2021?

Just an opinion, but seems like Mariner transatlantic and the following Caribbean sailings could be done by replacing Miami with Barbados or another island that would avoid touching US or CDC regulations.  So long as there isn’t a barrier to entering EU or Caribbean countries, seems like it could allow Americans or Canadians to sail.  

Edited February 6, 2021 by johng75370

[GOARMY]

Spouse and I have signed-on to Mariner's October 31st Barcelona TA crossing segment to Miami (with early arrival at Barcelona).  

 

Have "floated" the concept to our TA as to possibility Regent would/could/might make a slight alteration in itinerary to end that cruise at Bermuda--currently shown as the last stop before Miami.  Have another day at sea and/or another day at Bermuda.  In that vein, just firmed-up flight itineraries utilizing Regent Air.  Given the current uncertainties, better to have Regent deal with fall-out if changes are made.   

 

Frankly, here again, put our chances of being on a Lufthansa 747-400 (upper deck) flight from SEATAC to Frankfort on the 29th as intermediary stop en route to Barcelona at about 40%.   We still have several more months before having to make a decision as to final payment.   

 

Hope for the best; but anticipate another cancelation.  

 

Stay safe. 

 

GOARMY!

 

 

[Ladys Mom]

I am hoping our Nov 7, 2021 TA from Athens to Miami on the Splendor will be a go because it is after   The current CDC seven day cruise end date of No. 1.  Only time will tell.