WHEN DO YOU BELIEVE HOLLAND AMERICA WILL START CRUISING FRM US PORTS

[silversneakers]

On 4/27/2021 at 5:08 AM, Mary229 said:

I think your question is a bit premature.  I was hoping for clarity from the authorities at earliest in May 2021 now that appears to be pushed back to July.  You will have your answer before you have to pay final payment.   If the Emergency Declaration in the US is lifted all of the extra layers of regulations will be removed

I'm hearing Canada may open for tourists in November.

[Mary229]

13 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

I'm hearing Canada may open for tourists in November.

I was curious about that.  I was scheduled for a gourmet/cooking tour through Quebec which I canceled but my group still thinks they are still going in July.  I don't think so?

[Heartgrove]

2 hours ago, MTAK said:

Do any of these cruises have US ports? If not, what make you think they are conforming with CDC requirements?

 

No, they do not have US ports as the CSO does not currently allow cruises from US ports. I

 

f you read the Federal Register regarding the Simulated Voyages, they meet the majority of the requirements stipulated. But if it is a plan in process, it will not have been formally submitted. Thus not available to the public.

[MTAK]

1 minute ago, Heartgrove said:

 

No, they do not have US ports as the CSO does not currently allow cruises from US ports. I

 

f you read the Federal Register regarding the Simulated Voyages, they meet the majority of the requirements stipulated. But if it is a plan in process, it will not have been formally submitted. Thus not available to the public.

It has to be submitted and approved before the simulated voyages are allowed, and you would certainly be notified, and I believe accept the terms of such, before booking the cruise. Sorry, I wish I could share your optimism for this. If true, it would be pretty groundbreaking news for the industry at this point.

[Heartgrove]

2 hours ago, MTAK said:

I guess I'm still unclear what leads you to believe they are complying with CDC requirements.  To do so would require a plan conforming to the CSO framework.  Without that it's pure speculation.  More than likely they are simply conforming to whatever Iceland and Bermuda require.

 

If you read the Federal Register and follow the 14 points regarding a Simulated Voyage, the only one  - so far as I know- that they may not have  met, prior to the voyage, is notification to the passengers. But the FR doesn't specify which passengers or how many need to be told so we may very well have volunteers aboard. All of the other points appear to have been met.

 

  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/04/2020-24477/framework-for-conditional-sailing-and-initial-phase-covid-19-testing-requirements-for-protection-of

[Heartgrove]

22 minutes ago, MTAK said:

It has to be submitted and approved before the simulated voyages are allowed, and you would certainly be notified, and I believe accept the terms of such, before booking the cruise. Sorry, I wish I could share your optimism for this. If true, it would be pretty groundbreaking news for the industry at this point.

 

I read it that the Simulated Voyage is done before a Conditional Sailing Certificate is issued. That means the Simulated Voyage needs to done somehow and demonstrated before the plan is submitted  Like I mentioned previously there does not appear to be a number associated with volunteers for the cruise.

 

Please do not believe I am an optimist about all of this! I am only tired of the negativity expressed towards the CDC, and happy to see a cruise company actually performing with what appears to be compliance.

[MTAK]

Hey I'm all for it.  It means that Celebrity and everyone else may be doing the same thing as we speak.  But I give it zero chance of being reality.

[idiebabe]

2 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Then add in the extra air fare cost   

Bingo on the Air Fare!  I checked into booking Celebrity from St. Maarten when Bookings first opened and the air is what stopped us.  At the time it was $1700 pp and that was through both Celebrity or on our own.  The flight time connections were not good either which was another turn off.

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

it is easier to take a vacation flying say to Hawaii  than cruise & be on American   islands where the  CDC officiates  the rules  

 

These Celebrity cruises are NOT under the advisement of the CDC; that is how they are managing to operate now, instead of becoming qualified to sail from the US.

[Taters]

IMHO, the CDC states that the order can be lifted once the US government declares the pandemic "over".  With the lack of communication from the CDC, my feeling is that they are not interested in the cruise industry's compliance, and are not going to freely open US ports to cruising anytime soon - Not until the pandemic is indeed over.  This may be in 2024 or so.  

 

I am more than willing to fly back and forth to Europe, Asia, or almost anywhere else to cruise.  With the recent announcement that Europe may allow vaccinated US citizens to travel there this coming summer, my hopes for a summer cruise are raised high!  

[nocl]

6 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

 

No, they do not have US ports as the CSO does not currently allow cruises from US ports. I

 

f you read the Federal Register regarding the Simulated Voyages, they meet the majority of the requirements stipulated. But if it is a plan in process, it will not have been formally submitted. Thus not available to the public.

Actually they do not

 

Prior to applying for test cruises they need to have their port agreements in place.  Then they need to submit their plan for such test cruises to the CDC.  No word on any completed port agreements.  No word on any plans submitted.  You would think that the cruise lines would publicize this because it would show progress towards getting back to sailing again out of the US.

 

The only action going on is a serious of technical meetings between the CDC and the cruiselines for the cruise lines to put forth their concerns concerning the CSO.

[Heartgrove]

10 minutes ago, nocl said:

Actually they do not

 

Prior to applying for test cruises they need to have their port agreements in place.  Then they need to submit their plan for such test cruises to the CDC.  No word on any completed port agreements.  No word on any plans submitted.  You would think that the cruise lines would publicize this because it would show progress towards getting back to sailing again out of the US.

 

The only action going on is a serious of technical meetings between the CDC and the cruiselines for the cruise lines to put forth their concerns concerning the CSO.

 

 I stand corrected. Thank you. I am sure that our Viking cruises will provide some relevancy to obtaining the Conditional Sailing Certificate. On a positive note, Viking late last year hired Dr. Racquel Bono, USN Medical Corp, Ret., as the Chief Health Officer.

 

AGREEMENT WITH PORT AND LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES

(a) As a condition of obtaining or retaining controlled free pratique for conducting a simulated voyage or obtaining and retaining a COVID-19 Conditional Sailing Certificate, a cruise ship operator must document the approval of all U.S. port and local health authorities where the ship intends to dock or make port during a simulated voyage or a restricted passenger voyage. Such written approval must include the following:

(1) A medical care agreement between the cruise ship operator and health care entities, addressing evacuation to onshore hospitals for passengers and crew in need of care, in accordance with CDC technical instructions and orders.

(2) A housing agreement between the cruise ship operator and one or more shoreside facilities for isolation and quarantine of COVID-19 cases and close contacts, respectively, identified from the day of embarkation through disembarkation for each voyage, in accordance with CDC technical instructions and orders.

(3) A port agreement between the cruise ship operator and port authority to determine the number of cruise ships at any single port in order to not overburden the public health response resources of any single jurisdiction in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak.

[cruiserchuck]

According to this article, the CDC wrote that cruising might begin by mid July.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/04/28/cdc-cruises-could-restart-july/4883450001/

[cruisingrob21]

10 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

According to this article, the CDC wrote that cruising might begin by mid July.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/04/28/cdc-cruises-could-restart-july/4883450001/

That might bring back summer caribbean cruises but anything to canada (Alaska or NE) is probably not happening.  Perhaps a few voyages to iceland will be possible.

 

Maybe hawaii voyages will pick up this summer also.  I'm sure NCL is ready to get the pride of america going.

[nocl]

13 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

What does CSO mean  ??  Here is a link   :https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/CSO

 

 I can't see the connection to the CDC . Thus ,imo others won't understand either  what CSO means  in  regards to cruises

CSO stand for conditional sail order. it is the name of the CDC issued order providing the framework that the cruise lines need to comply with to resume cruising.

[nocl]

19 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

According to this article, the CDC wrote that cruising might begin by mid July.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/04/28/cdc-cruises-could-restart-july/4883450001/

The CDC has indicated that most of the passengers at least 95% and at least 98% of the crew is vaccinated they could bypass the test cruise requirement, but the other elements of the CSO remain intact with a couple of small modifications. The cruise lines still need to complete their port agreement, supply their protocols to CDC for approval and submit the required documents signed by senior management for cruising to resume.

 

Basically the cruise lines could get that done and be able to start in July, but only if they do those steps as required by the CSO.

[CruiserBruce]

7 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

That might bring back summer caribbean cruises but anything to canada (Alaska or NE) is probably not happening.  Perhaps a few voyages to iceland will be possible.

 

Maybe hawaii voyages will pick up this summer also.  I'm sure NCL is ready to get the pride of america going.

It will take a little extra for Pride of America...Hawaii will have to pretty fully open up. They are inching towards it. And the POA crew is all US citizens, so more thorough vaccination is possible. July is not out of the question.

[Worldcrzr]

We just booked a 45 day cruise "Tales of the South Pacific" on the Zuiderdam to  in October 2023. I am hoping all will be normal by that time. It goes from San Diego to Hawaii to Tahiti and islands in the Pacific and then back to San Diego. It is a lot of sea days but that is ok. I'm taking my sewing machine and a couple of quilt tops to put together. We have been to the South Pacific before in 1995 and look forward to visiting the islands again.

 https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollandamerica.com%2Fen_US%2Ffind-a-cruise%2FH2S45A%2FU272B.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3MYI94HwsgYYl_8FfKEUKwDrOr9v7fHJd9kBluPMD4CwW2Gm2UJec8LPs&h=AT2EvU8WQH6FjIT4L91bqoPwUmww-o-V0Xmse7PVQDNmgvjPUGpEOQ8d5gdjaqbFpLNczs2aN36SD3s7iNedo0U4lzffWBqX3mZs7hI-6hud6gf5qZAq0cNzlT3_VfGLKhnXjA

Edited April 29, 2021 by Worldcrzr

[iancal]

From our perspective there could be a vast difference between when cruising starts from US ports, or any other port for that matter, and when we will feel comfortable cruising and when we feel that it is worthwhile.

 

So for us, the start up date is somewhat meaningless.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

On 4/28/2021 at 11:51 PM, cruisingrob21 said:

That might bring back summer caribbean cruises but anything to canada (Alaska or NE) is probably not happening.  Perhaps a few voyages to iceland will be possible.

 

Maybe hawaii voyages will pick up this summer also.  I'm sure NCL is ready to get the pride of america going.

 

19 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

It will take a little extra for Pride of America...Hawaii will have to pretty fully open up. They are inching towards it. And the POA crew is all US citizens, so more thorough vaccination is possible. July is not out of the question.

NCL updated their list of suspended sailings earlier this week.  POA is suspended through 7/31/21. August is the earliest she might begin operations at this point. 
https://www.ncl.com/suspended-sailings

[mcrcruiser]

10 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

NCL updated their list of suspended sailings earlier this week.  POA is suspended through 7/31/21. August is the earliest she might begin operations at this point. 
https://www.ncl.com/suspended-sailings

Hmmm what is really going on in the cruise industry  ???