Wehwalt

I think the "straight to the airport" part is to reassure Floridians and the important part to HAL is to have the passengers allowed to disembark.

They might. Or they might give ten cents on the dollar in coupons. My point was they don't have to stand behind them in bankruptcy. And given that CCL's major asset is foreign-flagged ships, it might be difficult to free up funds to pay off the passengers. I would not expect public opinion in the US to support the passengers. Go read the comments on any article on Zaandam open for comments in the media.

Not to mention the high-tech morgue and the great devices for detecting if you've opened your stateroom door a crack while under quarantine. Seriously, people are going to be very concerned about the premature termination of the cruise and repatriation and little things like that.

Unsecured creditors at best, if these FCC's have monetary value, which they may or may not. In other words, at the end of the line of creditors, or pretty close.

I suspect that HAL will announce the same today and the only reason they didn't before was the Zaandam situation.

Are you quoting from somewhere on this? I was previously unaware the Grand Africa would be given in 2021 and the websites I've seen say Amsterdam will end a 13-day repositioning from Montreal in FLL on 10/22/21.

This has some interesting coverage of some of the people on Zaandam. https://www.businessinsider.com/elderly-couple-on-coronavirus-stricken-ship-says-theyre-stuck-aboard-2020-3

I've done it seven times. It's always a thrill.

My understanding is they could go on excursions but not disembark/fly out. They couldn't stay behind.

This article which I previously posted says otherwise. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/passengers-die-aboard-cruise-ship-stranded-panama-200327190914188.html "On Wednesday, Panama's Health Minister Rosario Turner had said the Zaandam would be allowed to pass through the canal. But on Friday morning, Panama's seaway administrator Ricaurte Vasquez said the health ministry had denied access to the liner."

It could be. Of course, the ship had infectious disease Wednesday, too, when according to reports there was permission to transit the Canal. Still wondering why Panama would have changed its mind.

I suspect they don't want to have to sort out who needs them and who doesn't, given time constraints.

Or will be in nine months ... kinda like the NYC blackout in the 60s ...

That is the one I was referring to. I wonder if any new information came to the attention of the Panamanian authorities between Wednesday and Friday to cause them to change their minds.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/passengers-die-aboard-cruise-ship-stranded-panama-200327190914188.html That's an interesting article, as is the little squib discussing Zaandam some ways below the main story. If this is accurate, permission had been granted on Wednesday but that was contradicted on Friday, and the squib below says Zaandam was denied based on "sanitary conditions".