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Repatriation Plans Announced for Crew Members to get home

suzyluvs2cruise
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Cruise a holic

Cruise a holic

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Posted

How can people really think that cruises will be going this summer?  The crew hasn't even left the ship.  Then the ships will have to be thoroughly cleaned, new staff trained and quarantined for a few weeks-  Surely this process will take months.

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robtulipe

robtulipe

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Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, Coralc said:

Darn. Can't read it. I am maxed out on Miami Herald articles. Something about crew members going on a hunger strike unless they are sent home? 

Below is that MH article.

 

 

Fifteen crew members on Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas cruise ship say they are on a hunger strike until the company agrees to send them home.

After nearly two months stranded at sea since the industry halted operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic on March 13, the crew members, who have not eaten since Thursday afternoon, told the Miami Herald they are desperate. The group of 15 from Romania does not want their names used for fear of retaliation from the company, which they say has threatened to punish workers if they talk to journalists.

“My mental health is degrading,” one said. “We do not have any more hope.”

 

A spokesperson for the company, Jonathon Fishman, said the company had fixed the situation. “The situation was resolved this morning after an amicable discussion between our captain and our crew members,” he said via email on Friday.

 

But fasting crew members told the Herald they have no plans to stop their hunger strike until the company provides proof that they are going home.

After telling crew members for weeks that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had banned crew repatriation flights, Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley reversed course on Sunday, saying the company would sign the required agreements with the agency to repatriate crew as soon as possible. The CDC requires the company’s executives to sign a legal agreement holding them accountable for following the agency’s rules, including providing disembarking crew members with masks and using only private transportation to send them home.

Royal Caribbean has allowed 16 people, all U.S. citizens, to go home using the CDC process. The Navigator of the Seas, where the fasting crew members are now, is scheduled to dock in PortMiami on May 10 and stay until May 11. The workers are asking to be flown home from Miami then.

Carnival Corporation has signed the required CDC form to repatriate 582 people to the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Peru, and Ecuador. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has signed the form to repatriate 2,463 people to the U.S., Philippines, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Greece and Honduras.

Crew members transfer from the Anthem of the Seas to the Navigator of the Seas at Royal Caribbean’s private island on May 6, 2020. ROYAL CARIBBEAN CREW

Royal Caribbean transferred the Romanians, who originally worked on the Anthem of the Seas ship, to the Navigator ship at the company’s private island in the Bahamas on Wednesday ahead of a planned charter flight from Miami to Romania on May 16. But on Thursday, Bayley announced in a letter to employees obtained by the Herald that the Romanians would be transferred to a different ship, the Enchantment of the Seas, and flown from Barbados to Romania on May 21.

The crew members said the company did not provide an explanation for the delay, the most recent of several since they were first told they would be going home on March 30.

Fishman said Royal Caribbean Cruises has repatriated 14,000 of its 70,000 ship employees (around 100 per ship are needed for operations with no passengers).

The decision to go on a hunger strike did not come easily, the crew members said. “We started this hunger strike because someone needs to do something,” one said. “The point is our mental health. The mental health is dropping down.”

Last week, a Royal Caribbean crew member went overboard from the Jewel of the Seas ship near Greece; his body was never found.

In a letter to employees this week, Bayley said the company has counseling services available. “Crew life has unique stresses and pressures,” he wrote. “Just recently,we suffered the tragic loss of a colleague aboard Jewel, and our hearts go out to his family, friends and colleagues.“

One of the fasting crew members said his father in Romania is ill, and his concerns for his father are wearing on him as he remains stuck in the Caribbean.

“Only thinking about something happening to him, I can barely get out of bed in the morning,” he said. “This ship will be for two days in Miami. Why can’t they send us in an airplane?”

 

Edited by robtulipe
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Nauty

Nauty

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I’m a pilot and flew into Manila the other day. On the flight out just after takeoff, we saw all the ships anchored in Manila Bay, waiting for their turns to dock and offload crew members. I asked the first officer to capture it on his camera that was mounted. Unfortunately we were making a turn so we were not able to include the many more ships to the left of the aircraft’s nose. Didn’t get a chance to count the total number either. I think there were a few RC ships there.

4F0D6D21-A8B5-468B-92CC-D9B8D0101670.jpeg

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Jack McGowan

Jack McGowan

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Posted
Just now, Biker19 said:

AIS shows Anthem heading to Labadee- not sure what’s going on there. 

Not sure, it’s quite odd. Originally announced was Anthem meeting with Jewel, but maybe they’ve switched that out with Celeb Infinity

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Biker19

Biker19

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1 minute ago, bigeck said:

Vision and Adventure are also heading to Labadee

Did RCI pay off the Haitians to allow charter flights from there?

 

Biker, who is still confused about the need to sail Anthem to India. 

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bigeck

bigeck

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Posted
Just now, Jack McGowan said:

I think Adventure has always been Going to Haiti hasn’t she?

Not sure.

If Anthem is going to Southampton with crew before the 5 year check, they better hurry up. 14 day self isolation will come into force at the end of the month.

Depending on how many are going to India and what ever is cheapest, only they know.

Can it get the 5 year check in Singapore as it's missed the slot in April for obvious reasons

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Jack McGowan

Jack McGowan

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1 minute ago, bigeck said:

Not sure.

If Anthem is going to Southampton with crew before the 5 year check, they better hurry up. 14 day self isolation will come into force at the end of the month.

Depending on how many are going to India and what ever is cheapest, only they know.

Can it get the 5 year check in Singapore as it's missed the slot in April for obvious reasons

Is anthem supposed to be going to Southampton before India then? Seems like a bit of a d-tour. And apparently the UK 14 day isolation is only for arriving air passengers

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Biker19

Biker19

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16 minutes ago, Jack McGowan said:

Are you confused about the use of Anthem specifically or sailing crew home to India?

Both. Some flight charter should have a better deal to fly those folks home rather than sailing all the way there. 

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Jack McGowan

Jack McGowan

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Posted
Just now, Biker19 said:

Both. Some flight charter should have a better deal to fly those folks home rather than sailing all the way there. 

I thought I saw that you couldn’t fly into India even with charter flights? And I can only assume the use of anthem because of size needed?

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Biker19

Biker19

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10 minutes ago, bigeck said:

Can it get the 5 year check in Singapore as it's missed the slot in April for obvious reasons

This is about the only reason I can see sailing Anthem to India - RCI got a better deal on the dry dock in Singapore- Quantum was just done there in November. 

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