30 Days + Test Cruises + 60 day wait? Is this still true?

[livingonthebeach]

16 minutes ago, PelicanBill said:

 

That has been NCL's plan for initial launch. It's expensive and extensive work to meet all the shipboard and port requirements, so their plan was to focus on one port and 3 ships to start. 

 

 

You really do get the best view possible here, albeit from multiple sources. There are people who are plugged in to news sources, cruise lines, and who read every page of the the CDC documents.  Just learn to separate fact from speculation.  Difficult, I know.   We know that test cruises were planned, and which NCL ships, but that they did not get scheduled.  We know that RCL says that they had trouble getting a response from the CDC about scheduling test cruises. We know the CDC does not want to authorize cruises but the Covid Task Force required them to issue guidance allowing them to resume, and they did issue that guidance. We know where ships are - and are not. We know many ships went into dry and wet dock for maintenance. We know ships are performing small crew rotations, but not massive rehiring - we saw notices to the Philippines that hiring is still on hold.  We know everything keeps slipping, with all NCL April cruises canceled now.  We know decisions get made month by month, and we don't get any news about anything out more than 60 days. I hope this helps!

 

I guess I should have added a smiley 😃 face or scarasm face to my post! Glad this hurricane season was a bust for my area! 

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

I guess I should have added a smiley 😃 face or scarasm face to my post! Glad this hurricane season was a bust for my area! 

I get how you feel. Last year we kept saying if only the cdc lifted the no sail order, let's go, those who feel safe. ...then they did the end of oct with conditions. Rcl has a sign up for test cruises as if they were imminent... and now nothing. I think I got ultra discouraged last dec. 

 

Tired of the talk, let's see some action. Dates when test cruises will start, some positive news.

[PelicanBill]

I have more foam for this fire.

 

Yesterday I saw the incoming CDC director interviewed. She was being grilled on travel restrictions - with Trump trying to lift restrictions as he leaves, and Biden promising to reinstate them immediately.

 

She said that travel presents a serious risk, that virus spread is a crisis, and that before we are done she expects to tighten travel restrictions even more than what will be going into effect.

 

She noted that the vaccine supply chain is making a mess and nobody should be traveling for leisure purposes - clearly had disdain for people heading to beaches right now.

 

I don't read that as anything but quite a few more months of delay for cruises.  I am working on my next booking with my cancellation bonus, and not looking at anything 2021 - only at 2022 now.

 

[hallux]

3 minutes ago, PelicanBill said:

I have more foam for this fire.

 

Yesterday I saw the incoming CDC director interviewed. She was being grilled on travel restrictions - with Trump trying to lift restrictions as he leaves, and Biden promising to reinstate them immediately.

 

She said that travel presents a serious risk, that virus spread is a crisis, and that before we are done she expects to tighten travel restrictions even more than what will be going into effect.

 

She noted that the vaccine supply chain is making a mess and nobody should be traveling for leisure purposes - clearly had disdain for people heading to beaches right now.

 

I don't read that as anything but quite a few more months of delay for cruises.  I am working on my next booking with my cancellation bonus, and not looking at anything 2021 - only at 2022 now.

 

As much as it might pain some to read it - the sooner and more restrictive travel restrictions are now, the sooner things can be less restrictive things later on.

[LB_NJ]

On 1/16/2021 at 8:41 PM, bouhunter said:

All this is meaningless.   The cruise lines and CDC have no idea what will happen or when.

 

This is probably the most correct statement I have seen anywhere 

[Teeara]

As an update to this thread, on January 21st the CDC has given RCI a green light to all her ships for commercial travel allowed for crew so this is a good sign.  Better than being in the red!  Keep the faith, folks!  Baby steps are being taken.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/crew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html

 

^¥Commercial Travel Allowed: Allowed for ships that are “Green” and have submitted a signed attestation to CDC for crew to travel commercially.

[Biker19]

15 minutes ago, Teeara said:

As an update to this thread, on January 21st the CDC has given RCI a green light to all her ships for commercial travel allowed for crew so this is a good sign. 

But for a couple of short term exceptions, RCI has been in the green with all her ships since this program started over 6 months ago.

 

Some updates and initial posts are in this thread:

 

What CDC Grading System Does & Doesn’t Mean For Cruise Ships - Royal Caribbean International - Cruise Critic Community

[Teeara]

On 1/26/2021 at 8:49 AM, Biker19 said:

But for a couple of short term exceptions, RCI has been in the green with all her ships since this program started over 6 months ago.

 

Some updates and initial posts are in this thread:

 

What CDC Grading System Does & Doesn’t Mean For Cruise Ships - Royal Caribbean International - Cruise Critic Community

Thanks.  I missed that thread.

[PelicanBill]

And now NCL, which had been staffing up a few ships, has reversed course and is sending all but essential crew back home. That is a bad sign.

[SeaHunt]

9 minutes ago, PelicanBill said:

And now NCL, which had been staffing up a few ships, has reversed course and is sending all but essential crew back home. That is a bad sign.

 

More info from Crew-Center:

 

"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. 

 

http://crew-center.com/all-ncl-non-essential-crew-be-repatriated-home-april-2021

[sandebeach]

24 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

 

More info from Crew-Center:

 

"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. 

 

http://crew-center.com/all-ncl-non-essential-crew-be-repatriated-home-april-2021

I just listened to the YouTube video of the Captain’s address/talk to the crew about non-essential crew being repatriated home. Sad news. 

[firefly333]

The news this morning said biden is reviewing covid testing for all domestic flights. .as if the airlines arent struggling enough. This would also hurt cruises imo.

 

Just no good cruise  news 

[smokeybandit]

Not good news, but it's not necessarily a sign that everything is getting shut down again.

 

No cruise line is going to start up with 100% of their fleet in service. 50% may even be a high numbers.

[smokeybandit]

4 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

The news this morning said biden is reviewing covid testing for all domestic flights. .as if the airlines arent struggling enough. This would also hurt cruises imo.

 

Just no good cruise  news 

 

This would be bad all around on many levels.  It'd hurt business travelers who fly on short notice. It'd hurt weekend getaway people who would end up getting tested twice in 3-4 days. 

[firefly333]

Just now, smokeybandit said:

 

This would be bad all around on many levels.  It'd hurt business travelers who fly on short notice. It'd hurt weekend getaway people who would end up getting tested twice in 3-4 days. 

Just as some getting vaccinated and less need for it imo. I'm looking at a condo in florida and its 2 hard days of driving both ways. Once I'm vaccinated I'd probably fly. ..but not if I have to undergo a covid test. 

 

I'm hoping we start seeing a dip in the numbers as the vaccine rolls out. Not more measures to stop travel. Hopefully it goes no where. But if he is considering it, doesnt sound to me like the cdc is anywhere close to approving cruises.

[smokeybandit]

We're already seeing a dip in numbers and it's too early to give the vaccine credit for that.

[Roger88]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Just as some getting vaccinated and less need for it imo. I'm looking at a condo in florida and its 2 hard days of driving both ways. Once I'm vaccinated I'd probably fly. ..but not if I have to undergo a covid test. 

 

I'm hoping we start seeing a dip in the numbers as the vaccine rolls out. Not more measures to stop travel. Hopefully it goes no where. But if he is considering it, doesnt sound to me like the cdc is anywhere close to approving cruises.

The number are already going down as some people are getting vaccinated, some people have already been sick with Corona, some are just hiding away. Not everyone will take the vaccine.. in any case, in a very near future it will be all over 

[Biker19]

15 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

We're already seeing a dip in numbers and it's too early to give the vaccine credit for that.

How about Israel?