22nd August Coral Princess Conflict Islands Cancelled

[MMDown Under]

24 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We were very disappointed about not being able to go there when this cruise was cancelled but hopefully it will be on future itineraries.

I'm sure it will be on future itineraries once Auths and cruise lines have Covid worked out.  

[Auscruisefam]

28 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Is it 8 days or under?

Has the 8 days max been confirmed or is it speculation? Because if it’s true the September cruises will also need to be cancelled. The next ones after the cancellation of 22nd August cruise are 10 days QLD and 9 days South. 
Hopefully Princess don’t drag it out and give notice so we can make other arrangements. If the 10 day QLD is also cancelled I will just get a refund and fly somewhere. 

[MMDown Under]

4 minutes ago, Auscruisefam said:

Has the 8 days max been confirmed or is it speculation? Because if it’s true the September cruises will also need to be cancelled. The next ones after the cancellation of 22nd August cruise are 10 days QLD and 9 days South. 
Hopefully Princess don’t drag it out and give notice so we can make other arrangements. If the 10 day QLD is also cancelled I will just get a refund and fly somewhere. 

I know it is true for my girlfriend who has had her pending one cruise broken up to two cruises, with one day less. I can check the number of days with her if you wish  

[Russell21]

52 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Is it 8 days or under?

It's 12 days, is that Bad?

[MicCanberra]

No one knows yet

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I know it is true for my girlfriend who has had her pending one cruise broken up to two cruises, with one day less. I can check the number of days with her if you wish  

Her cruise in August I think was for 12 days.  Her replacement cruises from Brisbane are for 5 days and 7 days.  They haven't received any official paperwork yet.  

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Auscruisefam said:

Has the 8 days max been confirmed or is it speculation? Because if it’s true the September cruises will also need to be cancelled. The next ones after the cancellation of 22nd August cruise are 10 days QLD and 9 days South. 
Hopefully Princess don’t drag it out and give notice so we can make other arrangements. If the 10 day QLD is also cancelled I will just get a refund and fly somewhere. 

No confirmation, and no decision made on any cruises beyond August. So far, P&O has dropped a 10 night cruise to 8 nights, and Princess has split-up a pair of 11 & 12 night cruises.

 

Coral Princess is currently on a 7 night cruise, so lets hope they have favourable numbers when they return to Brisbane next Sunday.

 

[arxcards]

@Auscruisefam

On a more positive note, P&O has 10 night Barrier Reef cruises ex-Sydney that are currently intact for 25th July and 23rd August.

[MMDown Under]

2 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Her cruise in August I think was for 12 days.  Her replacement cruises from Brisbane are for 5 days and 7 days.  They haven't received any official paperwork yet.  

They have since received official paperwork answering their questions.  Missing Newcastle, but staying in Brisbane. Extra $50 pp per cruise

[Tikibird]

If crew and pax are all at least double vaxxed, preferably boosted, why are numbers even an issue? 

They didn't get this paranoid over gastro and I can recall cruises where like 1/3 the ship had gastro, hand sanitizer crew were outside the dining areas and crew served the buffets. 

[Auscruisefam]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

@Auscruisefam

On a more positive note, P&O has 10 night Barrier Reef cruises ex-Sydney that are currently intact for 25th July and 23rd August.

Fingers crossed. It’s a good sign if those cruises go ahead.

[arxcards]

41 minutes ago, Tikibird said:

If crew and pax are all at least double vaxxed, preferably boosted, why are numbers even an issue? 

They didn't get this paranoid over gastro and I can recall cruises where like 1/3 the ship had gastro, hand sanitizer crew were outside the dining areas and crew served the buffets. 

 

Perspective? One month ago, no large cruise ships were cruising here at all. As part of the initial steps the NSW/QLD/VIC governments have set a cap on infection numbers within a resumption framework. The cruise lines asked to be given the responsibility of managing covid aboard, and if they cant, the government may well park them again. 

[NSWP]

17 hours ago, arxcards said:

No confirmation, and no decision made on any cruises beyond August. So far, P&O has dropped a 10 night cruise to 8 nights, and Princess has split-up a pair of 11 & 12 night cruises.

 

Coral Princess is currently on a 7 night cruise, so lets hope they have favourable numbers when they return to Brisbane next Sunday.

 

Will never know the numbers Geoff, unless there are many and media get hold of it. The cruise line won't reveal, bad for business.

[JamMei]

On 6/27/2022 at 12:47 PM, NSWP said:

Will never know the numbers Geoff, unless there are many and media get hold of it. The cruise line won't reveal, bad for business.

You got that right!  Cruise lines don't want to get too specific on any issue for fear of bad publicity.  

 

I have asked this question on several other venues and never received an adequate answer:  Is PNG actually open to cruise ships?  I saw the announcement PNG opened to tourists, but entry by sea or cruise ship was not addressed.  Besides, several cruise critics threads, I contacted a cruise line with PNG itinerary in October.  They basically, walked around the question, with a non-answer.  Same on the visa issue.  PNG requires a visa.  Cruise ships have used on-arrival visa procedure(currently suspended) or some other "special consideration" in the past, but now don't want to even address the visa issue.  Almost like they don't plan on stopping in PNG, but is not going to notify pax until last minute.

Anyone have the straight scoop on cruise entry to PNG?

Edited July 5, 2022 by JamMei
spelling error

[orphaned]

On 6/23/2022 at 5:51 PM, JohnGc said:

I would love that as a 12 day cruise.

us too

[Tikibird]

Who or what is the key to future PNG cruises going forward? 

I think the actual ports/islands want the ships, they are a good source of income and if they haven't been vaccinated by now they are accepting the risks. 

Looks like we will get a 4th dose soon.  So I can't see Covid being a huge issue.  Pax and crew will be vaccinated. 

[Sparky74]

34 minutes ago, Tikibird said:

Who or what is the key to future PNG cruises going forward? 

I think the actual ports/islands want the ships, they are a good source of income and if they haven't been vaccinated by now they are accepting the risks. 

Looks like we will get a 4th dose soon.  So I can't see Covid being a huge issue.  Pax and crew will be vaccinated. 

Unfortunately vaccination only offers partial protection. DW and I were SO SICK when we caught it in January. We were double vaxxed which was the most we could get at the time. We’ve now had 1 booster and I'll be getting my second one before our next trip. 
We’re just back from 7 nights on the Coral Princess. Auntie travelled with us and got sick while on the ship despite having had 2 boosters (4 shots in total). She didn’t test positive until she got home. Several on our still active Roll Call have also now tested positive as well as a couple, friends of Auntie, who were on the ship but not on CC. Someone on the Roll Call has said there were quite a few people confined to their cabins on our cruise. 
I would IMAGINE that the cruise lines are going to take a cautious approach towards visiting know hotspots. I can IMAGINE the media getting hold of a story and sensationalising about it running rampant on cruise ships, swaying public opinion, and the government having knee jerk reaction of reinstating a cruise ship ban. JMHO

[Porky55]

7 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

. I can IMAGINE the media getting hold of a story and sensationalising about it running rampant on cruise ships, swaying public opinion, and the government having knee jerk reaction of reinstating a cruise ship ban. JMHO

This would be just what some of the Premiers would love ………… being able to lock us down and bring back mandates 😳😤

[Tikibird]

I just want them to make up their minds.  If it won't go ahead in Nov 2022, I would rather be put on the Dec 2023 cruise (with price protection, same cabin) sooner rather than later and make alternate plans for this Nov. 

I was planning to use a rewards card to pay the balance.  If I have to cancel the cruise after full payment due to change of itinerary, and it goes back to the credit card, they may claw back the bonus points for the spend. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by Tikibird

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, Porky55 said:

This would be just what some of the Premiers would love ………… being able to lock us down and bring back mandates 😳😤

 

I don't understand the rationale. All the Premiers lifted restrictions as soon as they could, probably sooner than they should have. There's no benefit for Premiers going back to lockdowns and mandates except to slow down the death rate. Which was the only reason they existed in the first place. Every indication is that you'd have to drag them kicking and screaming to implement new lockdowns.

[arxcards]

5 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

I don't understand the rationale. All the Premiers lifted restrictions as soon as they could, probably sooner than they should have. There's no benefit for Premiers going back to lockdowns and mandates except to slow down the death rate. Which was the only reason they existed in the first place. Every indication is that you'd have to drag them kicking and screaming to implement new lockdowns.

Correct. To prevent inundation of hospitals which would have seriously restricted emergency treatment of all illnesses and injuries, as well as deaths by covid. The original rationale - flatten the curve. That was the strategy that was held in place until whatever % could be protected via vaccination.

 

The thing they didn't count on, was they expected vaccination to also significantly reduce transmission as well. That is why the ships have a % number of infections to adhere to. The protocols are purely about transmission numbers, and that they are considered under control. The risk of serious illness from covid is less than the flu, but the odds of catching it are still high - as mentioned above.

[arxcards]

41 minutes ago, Tikibird said:

I just want them to make up their minds.  If it won't go ahead in Nov 2022, I would rather be put on the Dec 2023 cruise (with price protection, same cabin) sooner rather than later and make alternate plans for this Nov. 

I was planning to use a rewards card to pay the balance.  If I have to cancel the cruise after full payment due to change of itinerary, and it goes back to the credit card, they may claw back the bonus points for the spend. 

Sadly, their minds will be made up month by month. I am facing the same concerns for an 11 night domestic cruise in late October. Final payment is next week. It is not about PNG, even that that was part of the reason given, but about the length of the cruise. I will cross the bridge when it comes, but either way, I doubt a decision will be made before final payment. 

 

A key cruise is a 12 night P&O Fiji cruise that leaves in a month or so. If that remains in place as is and they don't have scary infection rates, we might both be lucky to get the cruises we have been waiting for.

[MMDown Under]

Currently 700 hospitalised with covid in Queensland hospitals.  Qld. Govt. is warning of an escalation in the number of health and hospital staff unable to work due to covid with 2016 currently off sick in the state's growing covid wave.  

Health and hospital staff are requesting eligibility to receive the booster vaccine. This covid wave is more serious than the previous waves. 

[Tikibird]

Is the gov't forcing longer cruises to cancel or be broken up?  Or are the cruise lines doing it on their own?
 

People understand the risks of taking a cruise.  Many are choosing not to take the risk and are not cruising.  Their choice.  I understand the risks and am willing to accept it as part of living and enjoying life.  I like exotic cruises, would be bored stiff on a 7 day domestic cruise. 

[Porky55]

1 hour ago, SinbadThePorter said:

Every indication is that you'd have to drag them kicking and screaming to implement new lockdowns.

Lockdowns perhaps? Time will tell I guess