SWFLAOK

I'm with tracey7777.  Our April trip was cancelled, and we've postponed our PG cruise until December of next year. It isn't the Fiji to Bali trip that we had hoped to do, but it' definitely something we look forward to. We'll be used to wearing a mask by then, and we can't wait to go to French Polynesia again. The only thing we don't look forward to is flying through LAX. We first rebooked for January, but there's no way we can do a 72 hour negative Covid19 test when flying from Florida. We rebooked for December next year when a vaccine is almost a certainty.

On 5/20/2020 at 7:07 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I think it's appropriate to post that info here, although it could have been rolled into the Future of Cruising thread, since all these issues could be discussed within the context of what ocean cruising will look like.

 

And CC does have a river cruise board--just not boards for individual cruise lines, since the volume is just not there.

Yes, CC does have a river cruise board, and that's where this should have been posted. Just because there's not volume there isn't a reason to post it on a board for a cruise line that is totally unrelated, and therefore totally inappropriate.

8 hours ago, taxare said:

I know some of you strongly dislike when someone posts news about non Regent or non ocean cruises on this board. If you are not interested please don't read instead of torching the original poster. 😀

This is the operator of a number of river cruises including the Tauck river cruises. Since we can only speculate what the new procedures for Regent might be at this point,

I thought it was interesting to see something that has actually been posted by a reputable company.

I acknowledge there are significant differences between river and ocean cruising but I believe where logical these new protocols may be implemented for us as well.

 

In the past period, Scylla has been working hard to prepare its postponed season by installing procedures to make safe and carefree journeys happen again. While our ships were on pause, we started to create new dynamics, addressing our resilience. By restarting our activities, Scylla wants to take the first step in a new reality. This way we start our journey towards the new normal.

Detailed protocols are provided onboard, creating clear guidelines for crew and guests. In this statement, we want to summarize the main procedures and provide insights into the nature of the measures being taken.

Guest embarkation

• Scylla requests its tour operators to investigate the whereabouts and physical health of guests before boarding the ship by means of a questionnaire.

• Scylla AG requires a pre-boarding statement from the tour operator confirming the validated health checks for all passengers participating in the journey, ensuring all passengers being fit to travel.

• Only registered guests and crew are allowed to enter the ship, after performing safety/health checks such as measurement of body temperature and hand disinfecting.

• In case elevated temperature is measured, the passenger will not be allowed on board until the potential risk of a passenger has been defined by the local health authorities.

• Embarkation is arranged with respect for social distance and adapted procedures minimize the interaction between guests and crew.

• Every step of the check-in procedure is being revised to have a contactless experience.

• The main safety rules will be communicated to guests (verbal and in writing) before

  entering the ship the first time.

• The use of plastic screens and other protective gear is used for embarkation steps that

  require interaction.

• Before embarkation, the entire ship, including cabins is being cleaned/disinfected and

  ventilated.

  Guest interaction on board

• The use of mouth masks is mandatory onboard when walking around.

• Respect for 1,5-meter social distance or compliance with local guidelines with regards to

  social distancing is guaranteed and clearly communicated onboard.

• General safety measures such as coughing hygiene are requested and clearly

  communicated on board.

 

 

• When needed, meals and activities are being arranged in time slots to lower the used capacity of communal areas.

• When spaces do not allow social distancing, one-way movements are being installed and clear routing is defined onboard to exclude crossings without a safe interpersonal distance.

• All meals are being served and no buffet services are offered. 

• Onboard services and facilities-

• A doctor accompanies journeys to preform health checks with crew and guests, for onboard consultations and to assess the potential risks on a frequent basis.

• Quick tests for COVID-19 are available onboard. These can be used by the accompanying doctor in case of suspected risk.

• The temperature of every guest is being measured on a daily basis.

• Clear signage is provided onboard to make guests and crew comply with the defined

  routing plans.

• Services such as massage, hairdresser for which social distancing is impossible are not

  available.

• Services with a medium risk of spreading bacteria such as luggage handling are being

  minimized and performed with adapted procedures to limit risks.

• Facilities with limited space or elevated infection risks such as elevators and public toilets

  are out of order.

• Our cleaning staff will be taking additional measures in disinfecting surfaces to minimize

  the spread of bacteria by cleaning handles, staircases, toilets, armrests, guardrails ... with cleaning solutions adapted to COVID-19 on an even more frequent basis than is usually done.

• Room service is being stimulated as one of the measures to limit the number of people in the restaurant.

• Non-essential items that would be touched by multiple people are not made available(newspapers/umbrellas/ ...)

• No orders can be placed at the bar, all services are based on table services at all times.

• All food and beverages will be served as individual portions with a minimal need for

  contact between the person serving and the food/drink item.

• Each cabin is being disinfected twice a day, without the presence of the guest. Cabins are

  cleaned by the same member of the housekeeping staff every time and all members of the

  housekeeping staff are obliged to wear a face mask and gloves during their activities.

• Al cabins will be provided with a bottle of hand sanitizer.

• Payments can be made by credit card only, except for tips which will be deposited in a tip

  box.

  Crew for hotel and nautical operations

• Every crew member will be officially tested on COVID-19 before boarding.

• The crew arrives onboard days before guests to guarantee a quarantine period, after being

  questioned about their past whereabouts and current and past health situation.

• Procedures are being put in place to ensure social distance between crew members in

  sleeping, recreational and mutual areas for the crew.

          All crew is being clearly instructed and trained to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.

• The onboard crew is obliged to wear protective gear during working hours and when interacting with guests.

• If it is determined by the onboard doctor that there is a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 disease on board, an outbreak management plan will be activated. The suspected case will be immediately instructed to wear a medical mask, follow cough etiquette, and practice hand hygiene; the suspected case will be isolated in a predefined isolation cabin with the door closed. Infection control measures will be applied in accordance with WHO guidance (2, 6). The disembarkation and transfer of the suspected case to an onshore healthcare facility for further assessment and laboratory testing will be arranged as soon as possible in cooperation with the health authorities at the port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes. The Regent forum should be about Regent cruises so your post is inappropriate, and should be deleted. And Regent doesn't have river cruises, so that's the second reason that your post is inappropriate.

However, I find it annoying that Cruise Critic doesn't really have a river cruise board that compares to the ocean cruise boards.  Does anyone know why? Maybe you should ask them for a new forum for your post rather than randomly choosing Regent's forum to post it since

We should be on our first river cruise today in the middle of a Viking Cruise. They contacted us a few months ago and offered us a one year delay on our cruise with our upgraded airfare, our pre and post stays, and the same cabin we had originally booked, with the same dates with no additional charge. They have already had our money for a long time now since there was a discount for paying in full. We still have their insurance if we cancel for any reason. We are still hoping to cruise next May, and we think it's likely that a vaccine will be available by then, and we'll get it as soon as it's available.

Since no tourists are allowed to enter French Polynesia, and there is no interisland transit allowed within French Polynesia, who would be staying at the small resorts? The only possible guests would be those who already live on their island. The restaurants could be doing OK, since we have seen many locals at the restaurants on Moorea in the past, but I wouldn't expect many stays at hotels.

Thailand and Indonesia (Bali) are still open to tourists coming from other countries, so they may still have some foreign tourism. Unfortunately some of it will be from China, which isn't something I would look forward to, having experienced it  last December. But the big difference is that Thailand and Indonesia both have large populations that can travel within their own country when they feel comfortable to do so, and their country allows it. I think smaller hotels  in Thailand and Indonesia will have a much easier time of it than in French Polynesia when it comes to tourism since they don't need to have tourists from other countries. 

Our PG cruise was cancelled by PG because of the closure of French Polynesian ports. Our cruise was from Fiji to Bali, but the ship was going to be stuck in Papeete for the foreseeable future.

Since most other islands in the South Pacific that we would have stopped at were also closed to non-residents, it would not have been the cruise we wanted to take. I don't cruise to be on a ship. I cruise to see the ports of the world that the ship visits.

With a large future cruise credit for an itinerary that we cannot take using that credit since it's not offered again in the timeframe we need,  we are doing the best we can with our rebooking. We definitely expect to enjoy it if French Polynesia is accessible next year.

While I'm not positive in my feelings for Ponant, I still hope for the PG being there in the future since I would love to go to French Polynesia one more time. If they go under, the huge financial loss we would experience from our cancelled cruise would not allow us to afford to go there again.

Yes, thank you so much for trying to bankrupt Ponant. Forgive me if I don't support your effort since I'm stuck with a very large future cruise credit on PG for the cruise that was cancelled. That FCC would be lost thanks to your  "effort".

Why don't you sue your trip insurance company? Allianz is a US company, and doesn't cover much of anything unless you die or are hit by a car on your way to your cruise. It's very expensive and worthless. They amended their coverage for those who went on their cruise when they shouldn't have and contracted corona virus, which is obviously only a small number of people. Most of those passengers were likely covered for medical expenses by their home country, as they were in the US.

I think I'm done with cruisecritic at this point, since it's really all criticism by people who have no interest in cruising again.

And cruisecritic should be done with posters who are trying to bring down the cruise industry by demanding cash refunds in a time when cruise lines are struggling to survive.

It's surprising how many people are booking cruises on upscale cruise lines and going to exotic places like the South Pacific, and are complaining about needing their money back. If you put Ponant out of business, you will not get your money back. If there's any money left to refund, it will be given to customers in France since that's where the company is based.

23 hours ago, GreatPyrs said:

We paid for a PG charter cruise along with a fully booked cruise due to sail May 20th, 2020. With Bali restricting travel, all other ports not allowing entry,  PONANT refuses to even cancel the cruise, or even talk with the travel agency. We've been on this wonderful ship before and truly felt as a VIP. Now PONANT has made us feel just the opposite. Ponant has made a number one cruise ship among the lowest rated ships of all time.     I'll book on the SS Minnow next time instead...

 

Because you booked through a charter, you will have a harder time getting anything back from PG cruises (which is still a US based subsidiary), and Ponant (who wants nothing to do with PG cruises at this point). Since the drydock was cancelled, you still have a chance that your cruise could go.  You need to track where the PG is, and if it isn't heading to Bali in time to make it to your May 20th sailing, then they need to refund something to your charter company. It will be painful to wait, but we were only offered a 10 percent cash refund for our Fiji to Bali cruise and decided to take a chance and go if it wasn't cancelled. Our cruise was cancelled shortly after that, and we got a 125 percent FCC and we rebooked for a cruise that we have done before, but it's better than nothing. Since you're going through a charter, you need to keep the pressure on them to make sure they get the best compensation possible from PG.

On our PG cruise that didn't happen, we rebooked our flights back to the US several months ago to avoid Hong Kong since we knew that was unlikely to happen. We were reimbursed at the time by PG for our original flights. We were just reimbursed  for the rebooked flights by Qantas which made us very happy since they had at first only offered us future flight credits that would have been hard for us to use.

Hope you can get something out of this, and I encourage you to keep working on it. I don't expect to ever do the Fiji to Bali trip in the future, and it makes me sad. But if we can salvage anything out of it for a future trip that will still be enjoyable, it's something to still something to look forward to.

We had bad vibes from the Ponant rep when he boarded the tender with us in the Cook Islands to travel with us to Fiji last September. But there were quite a few others on our cruise who were looking for Ponant cruises, especially to cold places, and the rep was really excited to speak to them about it. Those that engaged him were not from the US or Canada. I had a bad feeling about it, be we had already booked the Fiji to Bali cruise for a significant birthday, and had cleared the waitlist for it. We expected that cruise to be our last one on the PG. While we love the PG, and all of her crew members, the cost is a stretch for our budget, and we have done 3 previous cruises, as well as our original land based French Polynesia vacation 25 years ago. We wanted to experience new places, which is what we would have done on that cruise.

I hope PG cruises can survive through this. The employees on the ship, as well as the office employees, are still the same as before Ponant bought them. I'm sure they wish they were still part of the Intercontinental Hotel Group, and so do I.

20 hours ago, Emdee said:

We have our bookings for  the Jan 2021 reunion which we still hope to enjoy. Almost booked the cruise before as a b2b just two months ago but time got away from us and then our stream of consciousness was taken over by Covid and its effect on a scheduled Regent cruise. 

 

Life after Covid will not be the same nor will the PG after the recent retirement/departure of it’s President of over 9 years , Diane Moore. When the ship moved from Regent to PGC it was clear that the new owner wanted to maintain the status quo providing the same service, ambiance and quality. Ponant culture is totally different so their policies would be expected to be different. It is a pity that they lack the graciousness and client centric policies of PGC when run by Ms.Moore.

 

While I don't like to be held hostage by a cruiseline it is ultimately only money ... the value you personally ascribe to it. In these very uncertain and scary times we could all be in a worse position.

20 hours ago, Emdee said:

We have our bookings for  the Jan 2021 reunion which we still hope to enjoy. Almost booked the cruise before as a b2b just two months ago but time got away from us and then our stream of consciousness was taken over by Covid and its effect on a scheduled Regent cruise. 

 

Life after Covid will not be the same nor will the PG after the recent retirement/departure of it’s President of over 9 years , Diane Moore. When the ship moved from Regent to PGC it was clear that the new owner wanted to maintain the status quo providing the same service, ambiance and quality. Ponant culture is totally different so their policies would be expected to be different. It is a pity that they lack the graciousness and client centric policies of PGC when run by Ms.Moore.

 

While I don't like to be held hostage by a cruiseline it is ultimately only money ... the value you personally ascribe to it. In these very uncertain and scary times we could all be in a worse position.

Emdee,  our reschedule from the Fiji to Bali cruise is for the Jan 21 reunion cruise. At this point, we wish we had rebooked for the December 2021 cruise instead since we don't feel confident about French Polynesia opening up again by then, but we're still looking forward to it.

I don't think about any of the money being a loss. I only consider it an experience that I hoped to have, but didn't. No one is forcing me to pay any additional money for the lost experience. And anything that I can salvage from the cost of the lost experience, and use for another great cruise experience is something good.

Hopefully we will both be on the Reunion cruise in January and have a great time, and maybe even meet. We're trying to stay safe in SW Florida, and hope you stay safe as well.

4 minutes ago, daetchief said:

Sorry SWFLAOK for leaving crumbs that won't amount to a full cookie...  YES, I planned on a PG cruise in 2021; put down a $5K (+/-) deposit.    Regent canceled a cruise, recently, you might have heard about it, it was on Splendor leaving San Diego...  The only similar itinerary of the cruise that was cancelled is offered in the fall 2021  I had $40K (+/-) of FCC to use.   I am choosing to delay the FP cruise and go on the Panama Canal cruise.  I choose not to do both cruises.  That's my choice. 

So Regent is also only giving a FCC for cruises that they cancel? If that's the case we need to see if we can cancel ours Regent cruise for late next year and get our deposit back. Who knows when we can or cannot cruise in the future, and apparently only cruises booked from now on have their new Regent Assurance policy that they are currently advertising in their weekly brouchures.

We cancelled our Silversea Panama Canal cruise for next January since Silversea offered us a full refund a few months ago. I was already doubting whether I wanted to do that cruise based on similar cruises that I was following on cruisecritic this year. Easter Island in February no longer seemed like a good idea, and the Caribbean can be pretty rough in January/February as well. I hate it when ports are cancelled, but going to Easter Island and not stopping there would be too disappointing for me. We did receive a full refund from them on our credit card, and then waited over 2 weeks for a check in the mail from our credit card company, and another week for the bank to clear the check from the credit card company.

We also were allowed to reschedule a Viking River cruise from this year to next year at no additional cost. We had purchased their insurance, and they made the offer to reschedule before we felt very pressured to do so. That reschedule has gone smoothly so far, and I hope that continues.

We respect both Silversea and Viking for their efforts.

53 minutes ago, daetchief said:

I fully agree with all posts in regards to contract obligations.  I too have $5,000.00 tied up in deposits for a July 2021 PG sailing that we were expecting to forfeit only $200.00 by cancelling.  It is not fear of any virus or disease that lead us to request the refund - it's merely a scheduling issue with a Regent cruise that I already have $40,000.00 tied up in.

I'm not sure I understand this. Are you saying that you booked a PG cruise next year and paid a 5000 dollar deposit, and then booked a Regent cruise with a 40,000 deposit for the same time period? Those seem like very large deposits for cruises that are over a year away.

Booking multiple cruises that far in the future because the cancellation fee is minimal doesn't seem like a very ethical thing to do. Maybe someone really wants to go on that cruise, and has save for a long time to take it, and can't book it because you've put a 200 dollar non-refundable "hold" on it by booking 2 cruises for the same time.

16 minutes ago, Hutchinj said:

8 hours ago, FlightMedic555 said:

The other issue I see is that if you cancel with less than 30 days notice you forfeit everything.  I have a June 17 sailing booked and I was happy to wait until the week before to see what is happening.  I now have to cancel as I have no idea if flights will still be available from NY nor do I know if they will cancel the cruise.  If they do not cancel the cruise but I can't get there obviously I have an issue. 

 

I should add that the cruise fare for the June 17 sailing was highly discounted as I booked it on board my last cruise and they were have a 10th anniversary sale.  I am sure that if I move the date to the same itinerary that they will NOT honor the same fare and force me to pay the difference.

We had the same problem for our April 11th cruise since we needed to fly from Florida to get to our PG provided flight to Fiji from LAX.

We decided to wait until PG cancelled, and assumed that we would rent a car and drive to LAX if we needed to if there were no domestic flights available. But our cruise was cancelled, and we received 125 percent FCC which we will need to use for a cruise other than the one we wanted, but we can still use. Jet Blue gave us full credit into our Jet Blue account, which we hope to be able to use for our future PG cruise, or for other Jet Blue flights to other places to visit family.

It's not ideal since we can't use our FCC to take a PG cruise that we wanted to take, but any PG cruise is better than having them go out of business and losing everything that we paid.

 Interestingly enough there have not been any additional travel advisories out of PG since the March 27th update. The ship did a loop out to sea and came back in recently. I wonder if they went to make water, or exchange the water for something else, or just limbered things up a bit to keep the bottom growth off. 

 It is at least what 6500nm to Singapore from Papeete. Backing up from the 5/20 sailing date, and assuming 2 weeks for the drydock, that means they have roughly 22 days (not including Singapore to Bali return here) to get to Singapore. 
At 6500nm/22 that is about 300 nm/day or about 12 knots which is reasonable but, that is a 24x7 cruise. I don't know what the boat's range is and it is at least another 900-1000nm from Singapore to Bali where the BN cruise starts. 

Are things are looking kind of tight for the boat to cover all that ground and get the drydock done?

The flight was not hypothetical since we did have e-tickets for it issued to us through our reservations made by PG cruises. I was actually trying to make other cruise critic readers on our cancelled cruise feel a little because the weather would likely have had a large effect on our enjoyment of it.

Our cruise was cancelled back in March, around the time that the CDC said that no one should be taking cruises. We don't know when our flights were cancelled. They were definitely not cancelled at the time that our cruise was cancelled since PG cruises had to wait  a while to hear from Fiji Airways on the cancellation reimbursement  before they could tell us what our FCC was based on the flight they had included in the cruise, and our business class upgrade to it. And we still have only a ballpark figure for our FCC from PG cruises.

I agree with you that no one should be doing any leisure travel to Fiji, or almost anywhere else at this point, especially places with few cases and limited hospital beds. There's no way I would have wanted to fly from LAX to Fiji, board the PG, and stop at Vanuatu where there were no cases of Covid-19, as well as other ports beyond that. We've been staying at home except for essentials since March 13, and have had no symptoms during that time, but flying from FLL to Fiji through LAX would have exposed us to the risk of bringing it to all of the areas beyond that. I would not have wanted to do that even if they hadn't closed their borders. I just wish Florida could do the same to protect its residents.

16 hours ago, Friscorays said:

Your flight into Nadi was not cancelled due to weather. 

 

On March 20 Fiji Airways announced suspension of all international flights until at least the end of May, with the exception of twice-weekly services between Singapore and Nadi due to COVID 19.  On March 24, they announced suspension of the Singapore flights as well.

 

A few days later, Nadi Airport was completely shut down, again at least until the end of May, except for a few repatriation flights.

 

https://www.fijiairways.com/en-us/flight-information/travel-alerts/?utm_source=browser

 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/412658/fiji-s-airport-closes-and-authorities-investigate-covid-19-breaches

 

 

 

 

You might have noticed that I started my post with "If not for Covid-19".  So I was saying that if Covid-19 had never occurred, our flight would not have occurred. They did not have a repatriation flight from LAX that night, and waited until the storm passed for that flight. Why there are enough Fijians in the US at this point that they need flights home, I don't know. I wouldn't still be in the US if I were them.

I also saw that flights from Hong Kong were arriving until the end of March, and flights from Singapore were arriving until the arrival of the cyclone. Maybe no one was onboard, or maybe it was Fijians that returning home after traveling to places with Covid-19.

We lost a lot of money on this cruise, and we will not be able to replace it with the same itinerary on the PG. I was trying to point out that if this cruise had gone off as scheduled, it would not have gone well because of the cyclone. And we still would have wasted a lot of money because we would not have had the cruise we wanted, with Fiji hotels being damaged, and storm damage at our stops in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. I'm confident that our "insurance" would not have covered anything because it was caused by bad weather, just as it covers nothing for a pandemic.

And Nadi airport is not closed down at all since there have been many international arrivals, as well as domestic arrivals and departures.

If not for Covid-19 which caused our PG Fiji to Bali cruise to be cancelled, we would have been scheduled to land early this morning at Nadi in Fiji for 3 nights before boarding the Paul Gauguin. From what I could see on Flight Aware, our flight was cancelled and did not leave LAX, and may have been one of the Fiji Air planes that was sent to a safe airport for avoid the storm. There was much damage reported in the tourist area of Fiji, south of Lautoka which is we where supposed to stay. The storm already hit the Solomon Islands a few days ago and sank a ferry in high seas, and caused serious damage on the Northern Island of Vanuatu, which is where the PG was scheduled to stop on our cruise. Harold is now devastating Tonga before continuing on to the SE where it will hopefully miss the rest of the South Pacific Islands. This is very late in the cyclone season, and when I booked the Fiji to Bali cruise over a year ago, I didn't anticipate a major cyclone in that area, let alone a global pandemic.

It looks like the PG took a sanitary cruise out to open water today and returned to the dock in Papeete. It will be interesting to see if they head for Singapore for dry dock or not, since they will have to avoid Harold by taking a route to the north rather than the route they would take otherwise if they want to avoid stormy conditions.

23 hours ago, daetchief said:

My TA is saying that PG Cruises are not refunding any cruises - merely giving 100% FCC.  This isn't IAW their cruise contract terms nor legal policies.  Can a cruise line retroactively change the standing terms of a contract without due notice?   Can they withhold a full [or partial based on accepted terms] refund based on "because of [xxx] we're kind of stretched here..."?   

"RSSC Splendor (Panama Canal) - March 2020"

Since this cruise was cancelled, I'm wondering if you received a cash refund for it from RSSC? Just curious since we often cruise RSSC when we're not going to the South Pacific, and we have one booked for next year. We're already worried about having to reschedule that cruise, and whether we would only get a FCC rather than getting our money back once we pay in full.

How far out is your PG cruise? Have you already paid in full? As someone who has been on the PG 3 times in the last 2 years, and had our cruise cancelled this month, I would rather have them stay in business and keep all of the crew that we have come to know be still employed when we use our FCC which we found to be generous enough in these times.

On 3/30/2020 at 6:08 PM, Foggyzx9r said:

Our cruise is for Jan 2021 Bora Bora beaches. As it is my DW’s birthday 2 days after we disembark we will continue our stay on Moorea.

Now having read through this I expected that we would looking at mid April I.e 270 days out before we could book flights with a deviation.

Well far from it. Outbound was booked last month Upper Class with Virgin to LAX and then Delta to Honolulu. Now we had confirmation today inbound Air Tahiti Nui to LAX then Virgin Upper Class to Heathrow. Not complaining, far from it. Yes paid the one deviation cost @ £99 each with an upgrade to Upper Class of £1499.00 ea.

Has anybody else had their flights booked so early in advance?

 

No, we just had to rebook our cruise on Paul Gauguin from April to next January. We have not been able to book airfare on our own, or through PG with Air Tahiti Nui. We were told that it's not currently available. If you have it booked, good for you. We might need to rebook further into the future.

AIS shows that the PG is still docked in Papeete. Hopefully the staff and crew are still onboard, unless they've been able to send them home on flights to somewhere else safe.

I'd rather be onboard the PG right now than in my condo tower is SW Florida, where everyday there are more people from the NYC metro area, and from Miami, coming to stay in the rental condos and those left empty by their friends and relatives who have gone further north to safer places such as Canada, Minnesota and Maine. The new arrivals don't do social distancing,  have restarted water aerobics in the pool, and they get together for happy hour at the pool every afternoon.

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

There is no need for the signed medical form for people over 70.  People are dying in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and beyond!  And, has been discussed, and this remains true, you could go to the doctor 7 days prior to your cruise and be fine ...... be in contact with someone on the plane or airport and not show symptoms until you are on the ship.  

 

The only way to be sure that passengers do not have Covid-19 is to test them all with the new testing kit.  Unfortunately, there are not enough kits for people in the U.S. and there likely will not be enough available to test every cruise ship passenger.

By the time cruise ships start cruising again, the new Abbott testing machine, which takes 5 to 11 minutes, with a simple nasal or throat swab, should be available at all ports. They were approved last week, an have already been deployed in some of the hardest hit areas in the US, including Washington state and NYC, so we should have some confidence in the test by then.

I agree that testing for Covid-19 7 days before the cruise is worthless. I read today that in some places, health care workers have been tested daily with the existing kits, and confirmed that with someone who works in a hospital. I'm not sure how many kits are left for patients, but if the new machine works it should eliminate that problem.

What hasn't changed is that before boarding a ship, you have to fill out a medical form, and sign it, making you legally responsible for your answers. This a requirement for international marine transit, and always has been, for many, many years.  It doesn't just apply to cruise ships, and predates cruise lines. The ship needs to present this information to the next port, so the passenger needs to provide it on embarkation, and the ship needs to be able to stand by it.

We took our boat to the Bahamas for many years and spent the winter there. On arrival in the first port in the Bahamas, we had to clear customs and immigration. We had to fill out a form that was obviously written for a larger vessel, asking many questions about the health of those onboard. It includes a question about any deaths that have occurred at sea since our last port, and their cause. This is the form that your cruise ship needs to provide before entering a port. They need the passengers to answer some of these questions (which include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. within the last 72 hours). And they need to attest that the information is correct by the time they reach the next port. This has nothing to do with any laws in the US. They don't apply to international travel by ship. Maritime laws have existed for a very long time, and take precedence over other laws when it comes to ships.

5 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

I could be quite controversial but I have seen this coming for a while now, irrespective of the covid-19 crisis. On some of our cruises at the muster drill you realise how unfit/ ill a number of passengers are.. They find not using the lifts a challenge in daylight, ship not listing or rolling and the stairs are difficult to negotiate.

Other medical conditions despite the doctor/ nurse being brilliant and the facilities on a small ship top class you realise how limited they are for a serious condition. I had the misfortune of being unwell on the Navigator 4 years ago was superbly treated but even 10 unwell would swamp their resources / possibility to cope.

Therefore ships maybe have to have a more rebust medical screening in place, even if this affects the 70's or older age group demographics of some of the passengers.

Post covid it will be a different world with different rules, if you are not fit to travel Regent will not take the risk.

 

I'll be controversial with you. On our back to back Singapore to Singapore, and Singapore to Sydney last December to mid January, we experienced the same with unfit/unwell passengers onboard. We overheard dialysis patients complaining that the line was so long in the morning that they didn't always make it to the dining room for breakfast. A woman who actually looked quite healthy, said that she had never had dialysis before, and her first time was onboard. Her doctor told her that cruise ships could handle it. I guess her doctor would have signed that form But they should not have been onboard.

People onboard our ship had pneumonia, and coughed uncontrollably. They seemed to believe that it was not contagious. I don't know if the doctor onboard told them that, or if they had it before embarking and their doctor at home told them they could travel with it. They went to the dining room for meals, and coughed all over the tablecloth. Tablecloths aren't always changed between diners on Regent if it still looks clean. The condiments are almost never changed on a table between guests.

We found it very scary while we were onboard, and a number of countries, including Singapore, were taking temperatures back in December.  But it you stayed on the ship when they announced the requirements for going ashore, which the husband of a pneumonia patient admitted to us, then you could just stay onboard and spread your illness, especially if you don't stay in your cabin with room service.

I've been a proponent for a while now of having separate cruises for the elderly, with more doctors, more assistance, and excursions that are accessible for the mobility impaired. They would need to pay for the extra assistance and medical care, but they would have a better chance to enjoy their destinations.

Meanwhile, those of us who are still healthy and have no mobility issues can't enjoy our cruise. We're are in our mid 60's, and are having a hard time enjoying our excursions on Regent because of the mobility impaired. But the fact that so many of them were ill while onboard makes us afraid to take the extended cruise that we've reserved next year.

Rangiroa and Raiatea are 2 of the few places we've never been in on the Paul Gauguin. Maybe next time.

21 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

I think you all need some more happy pictures   ...

 

Taken on March 18, 2020 from the Intercontinental Tahiti Resort

We've stayed at the Intercontinental Tahiti quite a few times at the beginning and ending of cruises. I really like it. I felt a little sad that we wouldn't be staying there on our Fiji to Bali cruise. I love both pools, the view of Moorea, the great breakfast, and the lagoon. But now I have it to look forward to again next year.

And we've always enjoyed our lunches on Motus, especially with Patrick's tour; lobster, champagne, and delicious Tahitian dishes like chicken and greens, and banana cassava pudding.  We've experienced lunches on small islands in the Caribbean that were not always enjoyable, especially the time that rats came out of the brush to join us when the food was served.

Thanks again for the pictures.

Beautiful pictures as usual TDK. We stayed 3 nights post cruise at the IC a few years ago, and rented a car for the day. We drove around Tahiti and stopped at the Water Gardens. It was very peaceful, with some beautiful flowers, that you've captured much better than I did. We drove out to Tahiti Iti, as far as we could on both sides, as well as to the highest point of Tahiti Iti which has a spectacular view. I would love to take an excursion on the roads that you can't drive on to the far coast of Tahiti Iti, as well as to the top of the highest part of Tahiti, which we were afraid to try.

We hung in until our Fiji to Bali trip was canceled, hoping that something would change for the better, and that we could still go. We were even expecting to be quarantined in Australia or LA on the way back, and were hoping it would be Sydney and not LA. We'll be booking another cruise with our FCC, and are looking forward to another PG cruise. We'll have some work to do to figure out how we can use air and hotel credits for Bali when we won't be going there, but we'll try to work out something. Currently, there's nothing open in Florida except for grocery stores, and they don't have much to sell. We're staying in our condo as much as possible as requested by our governor, so as soon as we hear what our flight and hotel credits are, we have plenty of time for planning.

It's good to know that PG took care of those of you who were on board the last cruise to sail, and that you were able to get home safely in these hard times.