Coronavirus : general discussion focussed on the impact on the cruise industry

[Rob Lightbody]

I've just been reading that the Fred Olsen fleet is now laid up in Rosyth in Scotland - in the Babcock facility.

Does anyone know if they're in cold or warm layup?  Having followed QE2s layup for so long I find it interesting.  I'm guessing they must now be in minimal warm layup exactly like QE2 was?

[Rob Lightbody]

Queen Victoria providing a backdrop as people start to come out to play again

https://twitter.com/CoastalJJuk/status/1275741075693539328

[Twynkle]

All at Sea on ITV  (UK) at 9.00pm July 2nd,  evening  (this evening)

https://www.ft.com/content/465590e2-b49b-11ea-8ecb-0994e384dffe

Comment : This FT article is available to subscribers, and if you are lucky, you may be able to read it even if you are not a subscriber. Give it a try!

[Rod]

https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/200-000-seafarers-fear-there-s-no-plan-to-get-15396336.php

[cunardqueen]

Interesting to see Hebridean Cruises have just moved this years cruises forward to next year.
I do wonder just how many more Passengers and cruise companies  will consider more of around the UK cruises ?

[QE2forever]

https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/200-000-seafarers-fear-there-s-no-plan-to-get-15396336.php

Thanks for posting.

"It's sad we are treated this way, unrecognized, forgotten as second-class citizens"

I feel indeed very sad for all the crew members still waiting for repatriation. This is an inhuman and intolerable situation.

[Twynkle]

Rod - Thank you for posting - there have been several similar articles posted by the maritime press /media  regarding the concerns for the mental health of crew who have been stuck on ships for months over their due disembarkation dates.
Queen Victoria's remaining crew who were well over-due to return home, left during the last week of May - a skeleton crew with Senior officers remain on board.
I guess it will be several months before the ships are ready to take on passengers - the EU have released Guidelines for Post Covid cruise ships.
Some of the most inappropriate places to be at the moment - are the cruise line pages on Facebook - it seems as if the passengers can only think in terms of getting refunds, rather than taking time to spare good thoughts for the crew members yet to be repatriated after nearly a year at sea - with no port visits and no days off.
 

[Rob Lightbody]

Interesting to see Hebridean Cruises have just moved this years cruises forward to next year.
I do wonder just how many more Passengers and cruise companies  will consider more of around the UK cruises ?

I think cruises that only deal with one country's people will be popular.  You can see AIDA have started this already in Germany.

[Rob Lightbody]

Very sad news about CMV going into administration today.

A perfectly successful company, until this...

https://twitter.com/BBCDouglasF/status/1285289646667247616

[Rob Lightbody]

I was just thinking.

It really is a shame, because I think they stood a good chance of making a fairly quick recovery compared to others. Small ships sticking to a smaller region sounds perfect for these times. Compared to an oasis class ship with 6000 passengers which just fills me with horror

[Twynkle]

Cruise & Maritime Voyages Goes Into Administration
Jul 20, 2020

The British company South Quay Travel & Leisure Ltd. has filed for bankruptcy, this announcement affects the cruise operator Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), a brand of South Quay Travel. All planned CMV cruises have been canceled. Visitors on CMV website can find the following message:

%u201CWe are sorry to inform you that South Quay Travel Limited (%u201CSQTL%u201D) %u2013 which traded under the name Cruise & Maritime Voyages %u2013 was placed into administration on 20 July 2020. Paul Williams, Phil Dakin and Edward Bines of Duff & Phelps Ltd. were appointed Joint Administrators of SQTL. At present the Administrators are evaluating SQTL%u2019s financial position.

The information below sets out specific advice for customers who booked in the UK. This advice varies depending on which holiday and travel arrangements you have booked and how you paid.

SQTL sold mainly cruise packages which are protected by ABTA.

They also sold a small number of flight-inclusive packages which are protected by the CAA%u2019s ATOL scheme.

Please be aware that all bookings that have not taken place are cancelled.%u201D

One month ago Cruise and Maritime Voyages was in emergency talks with potential lenders and investors after a potential loan deal collapsed to secure funding to see it through the coronavirus pandemic. Last week the company made a last-minute rescue financing talks, which didn%u2019t work out. As for now the future of the six ships in the fleet is unknown.
This notice was posted on Crew-Center.com

The thoughts here also relate to the advisory involving British passengers that was issued  by the Foreign Office .
Last week they ( the FO) advised that All British passengers should not go on cruise ships. This also meant that no person holding a British passport could be insured for travelling on cruise ships either. CMV carried a great number of British passengers and many departures from several British ports .

[Rob Lightbody]

While out for my walk last night, I listened to BBC Radio 4's flagship "PM" program.

Once they got finished talking about Russia.... they moved onto COVID-19, of course.  Not to panic anyone, but they were basically saying this is going to be with us all for the rest of our lives - even the youngsters amongst us.  The most optimistic expert said 36 months, but they thought that was unlikely.   Successful vaccines will help, but they won't be a magic solution that makes everything go back to normal.

The program is well worth listening to.

As this "thing" has evolved, we've all evolved with it, and learned to cope in our own ways, bit by bit, day by day.  But taken as a whole, this is really gigantically huge.

The cruise industry will NEVER be the same.  There will be HUGE changes.  And it is unclear when they can properly restart.  The only thing I can possibly see working, is a ship doing trips out of a single country, and not visiting any other country, unless perhaps there is an "sea-bridge" agreement in place, similar to they are doing with the "air bridges" for airplanes - although it remains to be seen if that is a sensible idea or not.

So here's my "hot take"

• It won't just be small cruise lines that fail, big or even huge ones will too.
• It won't just be small and older ships getting scrapped, modern ones will too.
• New builds in process will have to be cancelled, even if underway.  Surely.
• There is the potential for the entire cruise industry to just become not viable at all, except perhaps the ultra luxury small ships
• Even if they get ships going again, many many people, myself included, will simply not want to be trapped in a steel air-conditioned box with thousands of other people.  I think for me I will probably not cruise again.
• Speaking as a Brit, I think Brexit is an utter disaster, however I am trying to think of ways to make the best of it now.  And one way would be for us to turn our hand to ship recycling pronto...

[Rod]

All I can say....with the virus, Carnival taking over, world security situation etc. etc..... I am glad I got out when I did!

This thing? will also affect tourism on land. I know from having 2 of my family working for " The Mouse" . My daughter is back at work in Disney World, at "Frozen" and it is a totally different experience. A lot of the shows are still not being put on because Equity and Disney cannot agree on safety items. I have been to DW since it reopened and it is just not the same!
Wife is still not back at work, but, she works at Disney Vacation Club, Disney's time share. When she does go back it will probably be from home.

[Rob Lightbody]

‘We were the luckiest people in the world’: our month on the last lockdown cruise

On 1 March, photographer Jon Tonks left New Zealand on a Pacific cruise. Twenty eight days later, the boat docked in San Diego, amid a pandemic. What happened in between?

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/jul/25/luckiest-people-in-the-world-month-on-last-lockdown-cruise

[Rob Lightbody]

Aboard the Diamond Princess, a Case Study in Aerosol Transmission

A computer model of the cruise-ship outbreak found that the virus spread most readily in microscopic droplets light enough to linger in the air.

The New York Times: Aboard the Diamond Princess, a Case Study in Aerosol Transmission.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/health/diamond-princess-coronavirus-aerosol.html