Seabourn and the current issues surrounding the Corona Virus

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, rols said:

. . . but this is not the primary means of spread" and the fact most of the measures taken are to add hand sanitizers everywhere. 

I am assuming that everyone realizes that hand sanitizers are in no way as effective for washing your hands with soap and water for a good 20 seconds or even longer.  Also, take care, when possible, to use your own bathroom for hand washing while on board, instead of one of the public restrooms.  I've seen an article about hand washing with soap and water vs using a hand sanitizer and the differences (in terms of remaining bacteria/germs)  are remarkable.  

 

By the way, I do apologize for my part in diverging from the main topic of this thread, but I do believe that public health IS a part of the equation--wherever you might find yourself living or visiting.  

[Mauzac]

21 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I am assuming that everyone realizes that hand sanitizers are in no way as effective for washing your hands with soap and water for a good 20 seconds or even longer.  Also, take care, when possible, to use your own bathroom for hand washing while on board, instead of one of the public restrooms.  I've seen an article about hand washing with soap and water vs using a hand sanitizer and the differences (in terms of remaining bacteria/germs)  are remarkable.  

 

By the way, I do apologize for my part in diverging from the main topic of this thread, but I do believe that public health IS a part of the equation--wherever you might find yourself living or visiting.  

 

Totally agree, nothing beats proper hand washing, and I only intend to use antibac gel if I can't get to a bathroom for some reason.  

 

I think this sums it up and it was something I read from a person who works in scientific research...

 

'For the non Science people out there...Wonder why everyone is emphasizing hand washing? Sounds banal, but soap really IS an amazing weapon that we all have in our homes. This is because coronavirus is an "enveloped" virus, which means that it has an outer lipid membrane layer.
Basically, it's surrounded by a fat layer. Washing your hands with soap and water has the ability to "dissolve" this greasy fatty layer and kill the virus. I'm told singing "Happy Birthday" twice is approximately how long we should all be scrubbing our hands with soap.'

 

Apologies too for diverting from the subject matter

 

 

[3418ahl]

2 hours ago, Bobal said:

 

According to this post on the MSC boards Colombo are no longer allowing cruise ships to call. I would give this less credence if it weren't from someone actually onboard.

 

I realise it's some time before Encore is due in Colombo but just a heads up that this is what's currently happening. Please don't shoot the messenger.

The Ovation is due to embark from Columbo on March 10.  We took a FCC in lieu of this cruise.

[Bobal]

11 minutes ago, 3418ahl said:

The Ovation is due to embark from Columbo on March 10.  We took a FCC in lieu of this cruise.

 

Oh wow. I didn't realise I've been watching Encore as I'll be sailing on her. 😕

[Videopark]

9 hours ago, teamflames said:

Except Crystal haven’t been any better. They cancelled some mini legs and only offered an FCC until everyone kicked up such a fuss they finally agreed they are supposed to refund when they are the ones who cancel. Their information has been as abysmal as Seabourn.

On Seabourn I called to ask when do we need to notify them of our intentions of whether to still cruise or take fcc - no idea!

Can I book one of the affected itineraries- no idea! What happens if we fly thru Singapore but plan on visiting Qatar and Oman- no idea! Exactly what air fare changes are covered by SB? - no idea! Do you think our Gulf or European stops could be affected given Iran and Italy? -no idea.

Absolute waste of time.

We did have a nice discussion about the weather and the type of summer we have had this year in Australia.

Celebrity on the other hand, even though I am using a TA were happy to discuss some of the logistical issues we face due to uncertainty around our SB and Crystal cruises and even delayed final payment by 30 days.

Some airlines are helpingpful:

 

Waived change fees on new tickets 

We know customers are thinking carefully about purchasing future business trips and vacations. To offer customers more flexibility, we are pleased to announce that we will waive change fees up to 14 days prior to travel for travel purchased between March 1, 2020 (4:30 p.m. CST) and March 16, 2020 (11.59 p.m. CST). See details for waived change fees. 

The offer is available for any of American’s published fares. Additional updates on existing travel alerts can be found on aa.com/travelalerts.

 

[Catlover54]

9 hours ago, Thecat123 said:

I live in New Zealand and have a cruise leaving Saturday from Sydney

Its all good at the moment until maybe the Australian Government decides that the ship can not land so we can board

Nothing which Seabourn or any other cruise line can do about it

 

Typo: If you will be on the Encore, the cruise leaves Sunday March 8 7 pm from Sydney, not Saturday, hopefully corona-free.

[ab21au]

10 hours ago, rols said:

I personally find videos like that a little condescending. 

I think so also but I do admit that SB are dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t. I also cringe when I hear or read “the health of guests and crew are our highest priority”. But what else can SB say. I am watching CNN at the moment and Mike Pence just said “our roll is to ensure all Americans remain safe”. What else can he say.

 

 

[ab21au]

8 hours ago, Mauzac said:

I have no idea if it's a regional thing in the UK but nowhere in my area has stock of anti-bac gel, or anti-bac handwipes.  I've given up looking for now, but market forces dictate it will come back in the shops at 5 times the price, as it has on Amazon!

Hand sanitizer (Dettol, the brand that I use) is not available here in AUS also. I went to 5 places yesterday and was told at the last pharmacy that the supplier did not have stock and they didn’t know when it would be available. 

 

(CDC is saying, nothing beats thorough washing with soap and water). 
 

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/supermarket-shelves-stripped-of-hand-sanitiser-as-coronavirus-panic-sets-in/news-story/5c281d75c72afff8370996c77a95f7e0
 

and apparently it is not only here. 

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/28/business/hand-sanitizers-wipes-cvs-walgreens-coronavirus/index.html

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by ab21au

[Covepointcruiser]

I am thankful it is not more deadly than it is.   We have a cruise scheduled for 15 days in April.   Right now I don’t care where Seabourn takes me as long as I receive the 15 days I am expecting.    We leave from the U.S. so airfare is a minor issue.   If we have to change our flights it will be $200 each and Seabourn will reimburse this charge if they change our embarkation location.   Luckily we booked Seabourn Air for our return so wherever we land, they have to get us home.

With that, if you are in the “at risk” group, it’s not a wise time to cruise.   If your health is already compromised you may want to stay home.

[rols]

7 hours ago, Bobal said:

 

According to this post on the MSC boards Colombo are no longer allowing cruise ships to call. I would give this less credence if it weren't from someone actually onboard.

 

I realise it's some time before Encore is due in Colombo but just a heads up that this is what's currently happening. Please don't shoot the messenger.

 

It's certainly true that MSC Spendida didn't go to Columbo (using the AIS data) however I take the 'no longer allowing any cruise ships' which is stated in that thread with a bit of a pinch of salt. As far as I can tell the Splendida didn't skip all S.E. Asia ports in the past few days and that is a possible reason it was denied docking. 

Knowing that facts spread and mutate faster than viruses I know that 'all ships are banned from X' can very easily be 2 generations of news spread away from 'we were denied docking in X'. 

I can't think any of this is a comfort to people who've just rearranged their flights for a 3rd time to fly into Sri Lanka. It wouldn't be if I was in that position. 

[ab21au]

4 minutes ago, rols said:

Knowing that facts spread and mutate faster than viruses

I like that .... so true.

[teamflames]

6 hours ago, Videopark said:

Some airlines are helpingpful:

 

Waived change fees on new tickets 

We know customers are thinking carefully about purchasing future business trips and vacations. To offer customers more flexibility, we are pleased to announce that we will waive change fees up to 14 days prior to travel for travel purchased between March 1, 2020 (4:30 p.m. CST) and March 16, 2020 (11.59 p.m. CST). See details for waived change fees. 

The offer is available for any of American’s published fares. Additional updates on existing travel alerts can be found on aa.com/travelalerts.

 

Thanks my flight is booked with Singapore who I have already called and won’t remove change feed but if/when we amend flights SB should cover at least the change fee.

We cancelled out refundable hotels along our journey and are not making any advance hotel/flight/transfer bookings until the very last minute. Celebrity delayed our final payment by 30 days.

Was looking at adding the Darwin to Colombo sea days only leg to save having to fly to Singapore but the per day rate on a 10 day cruise with no stops is higher than Colombo to Athens - explain that! Good one Seabourn - any thoughts they might make this a last minute unpopular cheapie - nup.

Seriously now considering cancelling, it Seabourn don’t want to play ball thinking of driving around Tasmania instead.

[zimflyer]

Yes thats what Sojourn will be doing... a 38 day "driving holiday" at very leisureky pace around Australia...!

 

Fuel bills will be lower as its almost one (uninspiring, unexciting ) port a day...

 

Really ?

[rols]

On 2/24/2020 at 7:00 AM, RustyRollock said:

ZERO cases in Indonesia? Seriously??

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-coronavirus-covid-19-patient-two-weeks-before-tested-12491484
I think that may shed some light on the limited number of cases found in Indonesia so far. 

[Thecat123]

7 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

 

Typo: If you will be on the Encore, the cruise leaves Sunday March 8 7 pm from Sydney, not Saturday, hopefully corona-free.

 

Yeah we leave here Saturday then catch the ship Sunday

Seeing the Encore has been sailing around this area for awhile so we should be right

Now if the Encore had come from Asia or similar I would be more concerned

Still thinking Australia could change their rules any day.  It seems every bit of travel these days is on a day by day basis . Never know what could happen tomorrow

Glad we did the Bali to Sydney cruise last year and not this year

Edited March 3, 2020 by Thecat123

[wingit]

1 hour ago, zimflyer said:

Yes thats what Sojourn will be doing... a 38 day "driving holiday" at very leisureky pace around Australia...!

 

Fuel bills will be lower as its almost one (uninspiring, unexciting ) port a day...

 

Really ?

I understand where this itinerary might be unappealing to someone from Australia.  Coming from the the US, having never been to Australia or New Zealand, we are very enthusiastic.  We will miss seeing some things in the Asian ports of course, but this new schedule is actually more to our liking.

I sympathize with all who are impacted one way or another by current conditions.

[ab21au]

13 minutes ago, wingit said:

I understand where this itinerary might be unappealing to someone from Australia.

It would not be unappealing to some from Northern Australia also. I am from Brisbane and would do it.  Although I can understand zimflyer not wanting to do it, I would not want to do a cruise up the QLD coast. 

[teamflames]

1 hour ago, Thecat123 said:

 

Yeah we leave here Saturday then catch the ship Sunday

Seeing the Encore has been sailing around this area for awhile so we should be right

Now if the Encore had come from Asia or similar I would be more concerned

Still thinking Australia could change their rules any day.  It seems every bit of travel these days is on a day by day basis . Never know what could happen tomorrow

Glad we did the Bali to Sydney cruise last year and not this year

Highly unlikely Australia is going to change its rules. We haven’t even banned travel from South Korea or Italy. Only Iran has been added and that was probably just a good political excuse anyway.

Not to mention how many extra cruise ships repositioned here from elsewhere which was obviously done with consultation from our ports.

[teamflames]

2 hours ago, rols said:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-coronavirus-covid-19-patient-two-weeks-before-tested-12491484
I think that may shed some light on the limited number of cases found in Indonesia so far. 

Similar to what happened in the US, refused to test for the virus until the evidence was overwhelming 

[ab21au]

10 minutes ago, teamflames said:

Highly unlikely Australia is going to change its rules. We haven’t even banned travel from South Korea or Italy. Only Iran has been added and that was probably just a good political excuse anyway.

Not to mention how many extra cruise ships repositioned here from elsewhere which was obviously done with consultation from our ports.

and the AUS Gov have been regularly saying that we as a country cannot keep stopping other countries from entering, like they have with people from Mainland China, Iran. 
 

ps: the surgery that DW works at just got an email from a Brisbane hospital saying that someone had presented at their emergency and tested positive. 

Edited March 3, 2020 by ab21au

[cruiser man 60]

The government has stopped all cruise ships disembarking in Sri Lanka

 

Literally just announced this morning.

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_20A/Mar03_1583219817CH.php

 

http://www.dailynews.lk/2020/03/03/local/213243/cruise-ship-passengers-will-not-be-allowed-enter-island

 

 

•  
•  

[penport]

So they're not stopping embarking - or at least not yet - from Sri Lanka.

We are booked on the Ovation 5 Apr from Dubai - the cruise after Mar 15 Sri Lanka - Dubai.

 

Currently employing a 'watch and wait' strategy but I can see a situation where lots more ports do this - and then there's very little point going on a cruise if it's just going from A to B with no stops inbetween

Edited March 3, 2020 by penport

[Flamin_June]

11 minutes ago, penport said:

Currently employing a 'watch and wait' strategy but I can see a situation where lots more ports do this - and then there's very little point going on a cruise if it's just going from A to B with no stops inbetween

 

There may not be any B's to go to!

Currently Sri Lanka has only had 1 case, though I find this statistic hard to believe for a variety of reasons.

This looks like Authorities trying to look tough and decisive, although they are still allowing air passengers in ( with the exception of Iran, Italy, S.Korea. Notably not China.), but then Sri Lanka has a very large expat Chinese community working on the new Colombo Port project, and at Hambantota.

Which is why I am a little bit dubiuous about their C-19 stats.

Edited March 3, 2020 by Flamin_June

[teamflames]

16 minutes ago, penport said:

So they're not stopping embarking - or at least not yet - from Sri Lanka.

We are booked on the Ovation 5 Apr from Dubai - the cruise after Mar 15 Sri Lanka - Dubai.

 

Currently employing a 'watch and wait' strategy but I can see a situation where lots more ports do this - and then there's very little point going on a cruise if it's just going from A to B with no stops inbetween

They are very limited reports but interpret it the same way. The ovation and Encore should still be able to start their itineraries but for those on b2b you would not be able to disembark.

I read earlier in the day an MSC ship was not able to disembark in Colombo.

This is the exact reason we are waiting until the last minute before we make any more changes to our Encore sailing. Seabourn has asked to be notified ASAP or our decision- yeah right it is likely to be within days of embarkation before we decide.

[teamflames]

8 hours ago, ab21au said:

and the AUS Gov have been regularly saying that we as a country cannot keep stopping other countries from entering, like they have with people from Mainland China, Iran. 
 

ps: the surgery that DW works at just got an email from a Brisbane hospital saying that someone had presented at their emergency and tested positive. 

I didn’t see your edit, definitely seems to have been a change in circumstances today in Australia. More cases and transmission within the community.