Time to start fresh

[norm2002]

54 minutes ago, westmount said:

Insurance would be covered by cruise lines, as others won't touch it, but if you were get a positive result and could not board, then you would get cruise credit for another time.

 

 

I agree. I think Cruise lines should offer insurance to ALL passengers, although not included in the fare. Seabourn does not offer insurance to residents of my country of residence and, as I just passed 70, I had so far not been able to find insurance to cover us. I would not even object to an insurance questionnaire about pre-existing conditions to determine the premium or even exclude serious conditions at the time of booking. But insurance must be available to all and as long as I know the price at the time of booking, I can make a reasoned decision.

 

And with their purchase power, the premiums should not be extortionate.

Edited April 26, 2020 by norm2002

[norm2002]

1 hour ago, norm2002 said:

I think one thing that has been done right in the UK is that they have an app for their phones where people can record any symptoms they have. For example, some people have lost their sense of smell or taste but not have a cough or fever. So they are not appearing in any official statistics. They are likely to have a mild version of the virus but are still likely to be carriers. I read today that twice as many people have recorded some symptoms in the app than have been tested. It may not be scientific but I think it could give some better guidance as to the real progress of the virus.

 

This app also sounds interesting. Contact-tracing appears to be grossly undervalued in most countries.

Edited April 26, 2020 by norm2002

[ab21au]

22 hours ago, norm2002 said:

 

This app also sounds interesting. Contact-tracing appears to be grossly undervalued in most countries.

I will tell you whether it works. I downloaded it yesterday.
 

Because of the early shutdown, AUS  has done well. I hope it continues when things open up. I think that is the purpose of the app, not for now but for when thinks open up.

 

I think in the last 24hrs AUS only had 4 additional cases, and are testing over 20,000 test/million population which is very high. So I don’t expect the app to do much for now but from this weekend, when things open up, it may be totally different. 

 

[rols]

On 4/27/2020 at 6:48 AM, norm2002 said:

 

This app also sounds interesting. Contact-tracing appears to be grossly undervalued in most countries.

I think the Australian one is based on the one they released here in Singapore a month ago. However the take up here hasn’t been more than 20% as far as I have read so far and the estimate is you need about 80% to be effective. 
 

I’m assuming that if we ever get to the point the lockdown here is relaxed having a running contact tracing app on your phone is going to be mandatory before you’re allowed to enter a mall or anywhere else you may find other people. 

edited to note that if this is based on the current Singapore app, iPhone restrictions on background apps mean it’s not that useful unless the app is the front foreground app ie you switch back to it after using any other app. 
 

im waiting for the joint Apple and google framework which they are rushing out which should work much better on all devices and has pretty good privacy built in. 

Edited April 27, 2020 by rols
More info on the app when used on iPhone.

[JodiandFrank]

I'm not sure exactly where Westmount had hoped that this would go, but WOW....Talk about being all over the place!

I just wanted to add my two cents on the self serving in the Colonade.  In December, while on our cruise on the Ovation, I became ill and had to see the Doctor. It turned out I was just dehydrated (probably because I didn't drink enough of the disgusting water they gave us).  My husband and I complained to the Doctor about everyone handling the same serving pieces after coughing into their hands while standing on line.  He gave us some BS about cleanliness and staff and yada yada yada...honestly I nodded off half way through his oration which seemed to be taken directly out of the Seabourn Staff Handbook.  We were very disappointed by the attitude because he was a Doctor and should have recognized that it was not sanitary.  Looking back, I believe it is a monetary issue.  Seabourn just doesn't want to hire the extra staff it would take to have each dish served by a staff member.

That being said.  I am waiting since March 17 for my refund.

Stay safe fellow cruisers! 

[Covepointcruiser]

I always have my own hand sanitizer and carry my own salt shaker and have luckily never been sick on a cruise since 1962!   We avoid buffets, don’t use elevators and rarely use handrails.

 

Hopefully the cruiser waiting for a $160k refund took insurance.    We don’t spend as much and don’t cruise more than 5 weeks a year but we have insurance for any funds we can’t afford to lose.   Fortunately we love our home, volunteer activities, friends and church so we don’t want to be away from home for longer than 3 weeks.

 

We have been super busy working and running our local food pantry.   Fortunately we do get a day of rest on Sunday.    Certainly hoping our October cruise goes on as planned as we will need the rest!

[westmount]

there's a lawsuit going on from some restaurant operators that want business interruption insurance paid due to the pandemic, with even the president of the United States promoting the idea. The simple problem with any of us cruising going forward is insurance companies will not cover pandemics, as they cannot quantify the risk nor the expense in advance in order to price it. 

   If passengers cannot get coverage, and the cruise line or airline  can deny them boarding, due to "symptoms", then either there will be no more full payments in advance or there will be no more passengers. Once the insurance issue is solved, the cruise ship issue will be solved. 

When i started this topic, , the idea was to come up with ways to make our cruise experience a better one, and some of the responses have been great.  

[Fletcher]

10 hours ago, westmount said:

If passengers cannot get coverage, and the cruise line or airline  can deny them boarding, due to "symptoms", then either there will be no more full payments in advance or there will be no more passengers. Once the insurance issue is solved, the cruise ship issue will be solved. 

When i started this topic, , the idea was to come up with ways to make our cruise experience a better one, and some of the responses have been great.  

 

Yes, I can see how the 'cruise ship issue' might be solved.  What I cannot see being solved within a year is the flight issue, the health check issue, the port of embarkation and disembarkation issue, or the ports of call issue.

 

As for improvements to the Seabourn experience, my only real suggestion is to terminate the association with Thomas Keller.