Caronavirus - effect on A/NZ cruise market

[ilikeanswers]

5 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I think they are more likely to relocate further afield and last time I looked Singapore was still in Asia and could probably handle the extra load. 

 

You may need to rethink Singapore. They have more confirmed cases than Japan:

 

Singapore confirms 3 new cases of Wuhan virus; total of 10 infected

 

And just to be clear the Wuhan Coronavirus is not classified as a pandemic:

 

Is the Coronavirus a Pandemic? Here's What Experts Say.

[MicCanberra]

8 hours ago, banzaii said:

Significant costs in running an empty ship out to sea too!

Yes but some lines are cancelling their cruises

[MicCanberra]

7 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

 

The only cancellations have been in China.

Of course, I didn't mean otherwise.

[MicCanberra]

7 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

 

Very significant as they're up for massive amounts of refunds as well if they do that. It's not  just the cost, but the loss of revenue. 

And yet some lines are doing just that.

[MMDown Under]

9 hours ago, banzaii said:

What are the port fees like?

I'd imagine that's not a long term option either.

 

Home port in Darwin and sail the West coast.  Choose from Fremantle, Esperance, Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton, Exmouth, Broome, Port Hedland, Busselton and Augusta

That is an excellent suggestion.  

Home port in Darwin and alternate with west coast of Australia and east coast of Australia, so passengers can do B2B cruises.

[MicCanberra]

7 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

You may need to rethink Singapore. They have more confirmed cases than Japan:

 

Singapore confirms 3 new cases of Wuhan virus; total of 10 infected

 

And just to be clear the Wuhan Coronavirus is not classified as a pandemic:

 

Is the Coronavirus a Pandemic? Here's What Experts Say.

I did rethink the Singapore option and said they are more likely to just cancel cruises (out of china) until the situation becomes clearer.

And as for epidemic/ pandemic, the epidemic was not contained to Wuhan, so I think it is a matter of time.

[MMDown Under]

9 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I doubt they will be alone

I agree.  No doubt the numbers would be down for people wanting to fly to mainland China.  

[Kiwi Kruzer]

It may not be possible to redeploy ships dowunder as they would have to get health clearance , which would mean all their International staff had not been in contact with anyone exposed to the virus.

Its been a long held horror scenario of mine that one day ,something would break out on a ship and thousands of passengers would be quarantined on board and unable to land ashore . 
Let’s hope that never ,never happens .

 

[Beanb41]

2 minutes ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

It may not be possible to redeploy ships dowunder as they would have to get health clearance , which would mean all their International staff had not been in contact with anyone exposed to the virus.

Its been a long held horror scenario of mine that one day ,something would break out on a ship and thousands of passengers would be quarantined on board and unable to land ashore . 
Let’s hope that never ,never happens .

 

It would be absolutely tragic if one was quarantined on a cruise ship for 14 days  especially if it occurred after one's cruise was due to end.   Yeah right

 

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

It may not be possible to redeploy ships dowunder as they would have to get health clearance , which would mean all their International staff had not been in contact with anyone exposed to the virus.

Its been a long held horror scenario of mine that one day ,something would break out on a ship and thousands of passengers would be quarantined on board and unable to land ashore . 
Let’s hope that never ,never happens .

 

If a cruise company wanted to re-deploy ships to Australian waters, they could carry out the quarantine on board. The coronavirus has been reporte4d as having a 14-day incubation. All the cruise company has to do is keep the ship at sea for 14 days with only crew on board while it sails to Australia.

 

By the way, during the Swine Flu outbreak, ships were not able to land passengers in several ports. Isle of Pines was one where no ships were able to land passengers.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

It may not be possible to redeploy ships dowunder as they would have to get health clearance , which would mean all their International staff had not been in contact with anyone exposed to the virus.

Its been a long held horror scenario of mine that one day ,something would break out on a ship and thousands of passengers would be quarantined on board and unable to land ashore . 
Let’s hope that never ,never happens .

 

I would hate to be quarantined on a ship unable to land ashore.  The designations are the main attraction for me.  

There must be a way to get health clearance because they redeployed ships to Australia/NZ during SARS.  I cruised on one Sydney to Darwin, on its way back to China.  

The problem with this new virus is things are moving so fast with people able to spread the virus before they know they are ill.

The Gold Coast hospital has a Chinese national, with the virus, in quarantine. Does NZ have any people with the virus?

China is building two hospitals in record time.  

[MicCanberra]

Quarantining does happen, last year a ship was quarantined in the Caribbean (off Castries, St Lucia) due to a measles outbreak aboard.

[ilikeanswers]

Wuhan Coronavirus Spread Map

 

The above map is as close to real time in documenting the spread of the virus

 

2 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Does NZ have any people with the virus?

 

So far none in New Zealand but 7 in Australia.

[MMDown Under]

8 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

Wuhan Coronavirus Spread Map

 

The above map is as close to real time in documenting the spread of the virus

 

 

So far none in New Zealand but 7 in Australia.

The map doesn't show the one case on the Gold Coast yet.

I'm surprised that NZ has none.   I was surprised to see a Chinese Airline, which I hadn't heard of, flying in to Auckland.  A local said didn't you know NZ is China's retirement destination?  No, I didn't.   

[lissie]

47 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

The map doesn't show the one case on the Gold Coast yet.

I'm surprised that NZ has none.   I was surprised to see a Chinese Airline, which I hadn't heard of, flying in to Auckland.  A local said didn't you know NZ is China's retirement destination?  No, I didn't.   

Sichuan airlines - flew with them Oct - direct to Chengdu - about a  12 hour flight ex Akl - highly recommended and a quick way into an interesting part of China. 

 

Its just a numbers game - we have a relatively large number of Chinese migrants and visitors - but that's still not very many compared to Australia. 

 

Apparently there are about 50 kiwis stuck in Wuhan who maybe evacuated. 

[The_Big_M]

6 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Yes but some lines are cancelling their cruises

 

Only a week or two out when there's no viable alternative.

[The_Big_M]

6 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

And yet some lines are doing just that.

 

Because there's no viable alternative e.g. operating in China, a couple of weeks out, so that they can't run it and can't create a new cruise somewhere else.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, lissie said:

Sichuan airlines - flew with them Oct - direct to Chengdu - about a  12 hour flight ex Akl - highly recommended and a quick way into an interesting part of China. 

 

Its just a numbers game - we have a relatively large number of Chinese migrants and visitors - but that's still not very many compared to Australia. 

 

Apparently there are about 50 kiwis stuck in Wuhan who maybe evacuated. 

Good to know re Sichuan Airlines.

I wonder if Kiwis will be brought out with Aussies?  Too small a number for a special flight I would think. 

[lissie]

15 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Good to know re Sichuan Airlines.

I wonder if Kiwis will be brought out with Aussies?  Too small a number for a special flight I would think. 

I'm pretty sure they will come out on the same plane - talk here that our nationals will not go to Christmas Isl - they will come to NZ 

 

ETA - just annouced we're chartering a  Air NZ plane - spare seats offered to Aussies and Pacific Islanders https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/408500/air-nz-plane-chartered-to-evacuate-citizens-from-wuhan

Edited January 30, 2020 by lissie

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, lissie said:

I'm pretty sure they will come out on the same plane - talk here that our nationals will not go to Christmas Isl - they will come to NZ 

 

ETA - just annouced we're chartering a  Air NZ plane - spare seats offered to Aussies and Pacific Islanders https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/408500/air-nz-plane-chartered-to-evacuate-citizens-from-wuhan

Well Done, NZ!  

[gbenjo]

Not trying to downplay the seriousness of this situation but there have been about  8000 cases of corona reported and around 170 deaths ( influenza deaths per year, I believe, are in the thousands )  so about 2 % of those who contract the corona virus die.  I have not read or heard anywhere how the other 7830 cases are doing. Have they recovered or how long are they ill  for. True we should be cautious but is it really as “ serious” as they say. I would really like to know. As I said, not denigrating the situation, just curious.

[MMDown Under]

Genting Dream, full of Chinese passengers, not allowed to dock in Subic Bay Philippines.  National Government Health cleared ship to dock.  However, Local Mayor and Chairman of Freeport Zone said no.  Makes interesting reading the power of locals over big government and big business to look after local interests. 

Ports of Call - Asia 

This mightn't be the only place refusing entry to ships with Chinese passengers. 

[MMDown Under]

Eight people are now in isolation at the Gold Coast Hospital, pending virus concerns.  Four of the eight are now ill. The group flew to Melbourne on 22/1 until 27/1, when they flew to the Gold Coast on Tiger Air. 

Authorities are seeking fellow passengers.

Brisbane Times

I was in Melbourne during this period and flew home 28/1 with Virgin.  Seems the bushfire smoke haze in Melbourne was a minor concern for the Australian Tennis Open, compared to this virus which is spreading throughout the world. 

Edited January 30, 2020 by MMDown Under

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Good to know re Sichuan Airlines.

I wonder if Kiwis will be brought out with Aussies?  Too small a number for a special flight I would think. 

Differing planes, the Aussies are set to go to Christmas Island,  the Kiwis to NZ.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

Genting Dream, full of Chinese passengers, not allowed to dock in Subic Bay Philippines.  National Government Health cleared ship to dock.  However, Local Mayor and Chairman of Freeport Zone said no.  Makes interesting reading the power of locals over big government and big business to look after local interests. 

Ports of Call - Asia 

This mightn't be the only place refusing entry to ships with Chinese passengers. 

I doubt it will be the last to do that.

Subic Bay is a port with not a lot to offer cruise guests apart from the Seaworld type park.