Crew Departures 5/22 from San Diego

[ddr]

Millennium and Eclipse each docked briefly on Friday, 5/22 in San Diego.  Apparently to disembark crew members -- local chartered buses were then seen at San Diego airport driving directly to 3 iAero (formerly Swift Air) chartered 737-800s.  The last of these departed at 11:30 pm PDT for MIA, with an eventual destination of Bridgetown, Barbados, where one has already landed and the other two are in flight, due to arrive soon, according to FlightAware.

Once in Barbados, I believe the crew members will be transferred to other ships (RCI?) for voyages home.

 

[hcat]

Long journey..wish them all good luck!

[Mr. Click]

Marinetraffic.com shows the Reflection arrived in Barbados early this morning from Miami.

[jelayne]

Captain Leo posted he signed off after 250 days on the Eclipse and was on the Reflection heading home.

[phoenix_dream]

If it is taking this long to get the crew back home I can't even imagine how Celebrity can possibly expect to sail anytime soon.  How will they handle a possible situation where people onboard get the virus - which is inevitable until a good vaccine is developed and is widely released?  Perhaps they will build quarantine areas/hospital facilities at the sites of their main ports of embarkation?  Would that satisfy the CDC?  I guess time will tell.

[radarcruiser]

I maybe understood some of the onerous CDC restrictions dealing with flying after disembarking when we had few COVID cases in the US.  But it makes no sense now - when we lead the planet in infections.  If crew is disembarking from a ship with NO reported cases in the previous 14 days there should be no restrictions on them flying commercial (if they can find a flight).  If they are coming from a ship that had cases, test them, and if negative, then allow them to fly commercial.

 

The CDC has almost solely created this repatriation crisis by continuing the senseless restrictions.  

 

[jelayne]

It is taking this long because many countries have closed their borders even to their own citizens, international flights are all but stopped and the CDC will not let ship crews travel on commercial flights, enter commercial airports, use public transportation to get to or from airports.  And to top it off the CEOs of the cruise lines had to sign a guarantee that no one would use public transportation from departing the ship until they reached their home-penalty of fine and/or prison.  

[radarcruiser]

3 minutes ago, jelayne said:

It is taking this long because many countries have closed their borders even to their own citizens, international flights are all but stopped and the CDC will not let ship crews travel on commercial flights, enter commercial airports, use public transportation to get to or from airports.  And to top it off the CEOs of the cruise lines had to sign a guarantee that no one would use public transportation from departing the ship until they reached their home-penalty of fine and/or prison.  

There were still a few international flights running, and they are starting to increase now.  Way past time for the CDC to back off on this BS.  Thanks for keeping us safe from those evil cruise ship crews, that stopped the spread!  Maybe they should have been focusing on limiting transmission in NYC instead, and better protected our loved ones in nursing homes.

 

[wrk2cruise]

I thought I read somewhere a couple of weeks ago that they were arranging charter flights from Barbados to Philippines.    Are these crew who are converging on Barbados going to be sailed home now or did they sail crew from the ships moored in the Miami area to Barbados to get those charter flights?   When I read the initial story I thought it was odd that flights were going to be from Barbados rather than Miami.   Maybe Barbados was the friendliest government involved?

 

[Doubt It]

This situation is likely behind the numerous articles I have read globally about an 8 month process to repatriate crews back to cruising.

 

The various authors noted that many crew may not choose to return to cruising leading to recruitment drives with impact on wages (upwards I would think) depending upon the source of new crew.

 

I can certainly see that happening.

[Banjo]

2 minutes ago, Doubt It said:

This situation is likely behind the numerous articles I have read globally about an 8 month process to repatriate crews back to cruising.

 

The various authors noted that many crew may not choose to return to cruising leading to recruitment drives with impact on wages (upwards I would think) depending upon the source of new crew.

 

I can certainly see that happening.

 

Could be a reverse. If the globe moves into deep recessation and unemployment spikes (which it's already doing), cruise jobs can become very desireable. 

[LXA350]

17 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

If it is taking this long to get the crew back home I can't even imagine how Celebrity can possibly expect to sail anytime soon.  How will they handle a possible situation where people onboard get the virus - which is inevitable until a good vaccine is developed and is widely released?  Perhaps they will build quarantine areas/hospital facilities at the sites of their main ports of embarkation?  Would that satisfy the CDC?  I guess time will tell.

 

IIf for X as of August we might see the operation of APEX as of August and 2-4 Vessels for RCL it should be possible to source the crew during July given that air travel will be more open again. But then again who knows, this might not happen after all.

[jelayne]

I can understand those who have been stuck on the ships for over 2 months with the uncertainty of when/if they can get home not be anxious to return soon.  However there  are crew members around the world that were on their vacation when this started, so they have been without income longer than they anticipated. I think Many of those would be ready to return and make money assuming they can get to a ship.

 

As mentioned there are many crew members who have chosen to stay on a ship Without pay rather than be repatriated.  Captain Kate said a few days ago that there 

were 332 that had chose that option on the Edge and more were arriving.  She didn’t mention if any of the other ships were also being used to accommodate crew that chose not to be repatriated.

 

 

[Sam.Seattle]

Godspeed to all...……..

[hcat]

9 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

I thought I read somewhere a couple of weeks ago that they were arranging charter flights from Barbados to Philippines.    Are these crew who are converging on Barbados going to be sailed home now or did they sail crew from the ships moored in the Miami area to Barbados to get those charter flights?   When I read the initial story I thought it was odd that flights were going to be from Barbados rather than Miami.   Maybe Barbados was the friendliest government involved?

 

Are ships registered there?

Glad there is progress being made...

[wrk2cruise]

All Celebrity ships are registered in Malta.   When I read the article a couple of weeks ago it seemed that Barbados was a country that was going to allow the charter operation.

[Covepointcruiser]

Good for Barbados, I have always liked that island.   I will be sure to spend money there the next time I visit.

[DAllenTCY]

Thanks for the photo of the chartered flights lined up.  The Alaska plane was a last minute addition having been added due to an issue with one of the Swift Air planes.  

 

It hasn't been an easy job getting 300-500 crew from the Millennium and Eclipse to Barbados every few days lately.

 

Most of the transfers have resulted in a minimum of 14 hours in transit.....and a few in almost 24 hours.

 

The aircraft fly to Miami to refuel and then the pilots and flight attendants change out.

 

The crew do not get meals onboard.

 

Next time you sail, just remember how dedicated these crew are, and what they have to endure whether it be 5 weeks stuck on board or many hours transit to another ship or to get home.  No thanks to CDC.....but props to our local CBP and Harbor Police who make it happen.....often until 3 am when the flights were scheduled before 9 pm.

 

David

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by DAllenTCY

[luvabargain]

On 5/23/2020 at 5:36 PM, radarcruiser said:

There were still a few international flights running, and they are starting to increase now.  Way past time for the CDC to back off on this BS.  Thanks for keeping us safe from those evil cruise ship crews, that stopped the spread!  Maybe they should have been focusing on limiting transmission in NYC instead, and better protected our loved ones in nursing homes.

 

I can't disagree.