Light at the end of the tunnel - TUI starts initial cruise in Germany

[podgeandrodge]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/07/25/tui-cruises-mein-schiff-2-sails-return-voyage-1-200-people/5509762002/

[Gershep]

This is a good sign. I hope all stay healthy.

[RD64]

For German nationals -not international passengers.

[BermudaBound2014]

It's a short cruise to no where with German passengers only, but it is a START! :)

 

Aida was supposed to start sailing from Germany next week also, but that is looking doublful 😞 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article244474032.html

 

 

[podgeandrodge]

All eyes will be on the 2 week period after they return.  Hoping it goes well!

 

CDC inviting public comments on cruising too:

 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/21/2020-15812/request-for-information-related-to-cruise-ship-planning-and-infrastructure-resumption-of-passenger

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

10 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

CDC inviting public comments on cruising too:

 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/21/2020-15812/request-for-information-related-to-cruise-ship-planning-and-infrastructure-resumption-of-passenger

 

I started reading that yesterday, but it does seem geared toward those in the industry with some of the questions impossible for me to answer. 

 

 What I found very interesting is that they are gathering data until September 21, 2020. That's just 'gathering data'. I'd expect time to analyze another months (or two) and implementation time another 2-3 months (at best). I'm thinking spring 2021 from the USA. Hope I'm wrong.

[ziggyuk]

Maybe this is the way to start, I know it would need a change in law in the US but here in the UK, I would be happy to take a cruise around the British Isles with only nationals onboard and only stopping at UK ports, it would certainly stop any issues of not being able to dock in case of an outbreak.

[Laszlo]

The US is way behind Gemany

[pcakes122]

1 hour ago, podgeandrodge said:

All eyes will be on the 2 week period after they return.  Hoping it goes well!

 

CDC inviting public comments on cruising too:

 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/21/2020-15812/request-for-information-related-to-cruise-ship-planning-and-infrastructure-resumption-of-passenger

 

 

I thought those questions are being posed to the cruise lines to submit their plans, not the general public to submit opnions?

[steamboats]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Aida was supposed to start sailing from Germany next week also, but that is looking doublful 😞 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article244474032.html

 

First... AIDA is supposed to start Aug 5th which is not next week. The AIDAperla out of Hamburg is not affected at all.

 

Second... the other two ships are supposed to start Aug 12th and 16th out of Warnemünde and Kiel and as there´s still more than two weeks to go these cruises are currently not in danger either. Those are the ships which are affected. But the crew was supposed to go into a 14 day quarantine prior to the start anyway. All 10 people are isolated as well as the rest of those who arrived on the same plane (from Manila).

 

steamboats

[podgeandrodge]

28 minutes ago, pcakes122 said:

I thought those questions are being posed to the cruise lines to submit their plans, not the general public to submit opnions?

 

"

This Request for Information requests comments from the public that will be used to inform future public health guidance and preventative measures relating to travel on cruise ships

Any organization or members of the public are welcome to submit comments through a designated portal or via mail, as long as their submissions pertain to any of the 28 questions posed by the CDC.

The questions range from topics such as procedures for boarding and disembarkation to precautions on board and in communities visited to concerns over the well-being of crew and passengers."

[BermudaBound2014]

11 minutes ago, steamboats said:

 

First... AIDA is supposed to start Aug 5th which is not next week. The AIDAperla out of Hamburg is not affected at all.

 

Second... the other two ships are supposed to start Aug 12th and 16th out of Warnemünde and Kiel and as there´s still more than two weeks to go these cruises are currently not in danger either. Those are the ships which are affected. But the crew was supposed to go into a 14 day quarantine prior to the start anyway. All 10 people are isolated as well as the rest of those who arrived on the same plane (from Manila).

 

steamboats

 

I consider next week running from Sunday August 2- Saturday August 8th. I suppose others might calculate the dates differently. I don't share the same hope as you regarding Aida given that the crew tested negative twice in transit, but I do hope I'm wrong. As mentioned, we have to start somewhere.

 

 

 

[npcl]

3 hours ago, podgeandrodge said:

 

"

This Request for Information requests comments from the public that will be used to inform future public health guidance and preventative measures relating to travel on cruise ships

Any organization or members of the public are welcome to submit comments through a designated portal or via mail, as long as their submissions pertain to any of the 28 questions posed by the CDC.

The questions range from topics such as procedures for boarding and disembarkation to precautions on board and in communities visited to concerns over the well-being of crew and passengers."

Keep in mind that with RFI's of this kind for an answer to be considered to be relevant one does need to address their response to one or more of the specific questions.  General comments not addressing any of the specific questions would be considered to be non-relevant. 

 

 

[podgeandrodge]

17 minutes ago, npcl said:

Keep in mind that with RFI's of this kind for an answer to be considered to be relevant one does need to address their response to one or more of the specific questions.  General comments not addressing any of the specific questions would be considered to be non-relevant. 

 

 

Yep, definitely, as the quote says:  "as long as their submissions pertain to any of the 28 questions posed by the CDC."

[BirdTravels]

The US and big cruise lines should take note on how to operate with manageable risk. Note, I did not say "risk free" or "no risk" since there will be COVID on cruises and it is a matter of how your minimize the risk of spread and react when it happens. 

[steamboats]

14 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I consider next week running from Sunday August 2- Saturday August 8th. I suppose others might calculate the dates differently. I don't share the same hope as you regarding Aida given that the crew tested negative twice in transit, but I do hope I'm wrong. As mentioned, we have to start somewhere.

 

Even when considering "next week" with your time table... the cruise starting Aug 5th is on AIDAperla which is not affected at all. Affected are AIDAmar and AIDAblu which do not start until Aug 12th and 16th.

 

steamboats

[podgeandrodge]

The restart is done - Mein Schiff 2 successfully completed the first short cruise after the Corona break today.

All eyes have been on TUI Cruises and its newest ship Mein Schiff 2 in the last three days. The ship started its first cruise from Hamburg on Friday and returned to the port of Hamburg in the early morning hours. The goal of the 3-day trip was the sea, because there were no shore excursions on this first short cruise. Mein Schiff 2 made a technical stop in Kristiansand, Norway, for about an hour on Saturday evening, but passengers could not go ashore here.

After the return of Mein Schiff 2, you can definitely say that TUI Cruises has made a successful start here, which gives hope for the entire industry. The weather also played a large part during the trip and delighted the 1,200 passengers who took part in the trip, mostly with sunshine.

Three more Blue Voyages are now still planned for Mein Schiff 2 from Hamburg, these are also short trips from / to Hamburg without a port stop. Mein Schiff 1 is also set to go on August 3, 2020 again, but this is also a short trip from Kiel. Longer cruises with the two ships are planned again from 07.08.2020. The one-week panoramic trips go into the Norwegian fjords, but initially without any further port stops. Depending on the decisions of the respective authorities in the countries concerned, TUI Cruises hopes to go to other ports as soon as possible to make cruises with the Mein Schiff fleet even more attractive.

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, podgeandrodge said:

The restart is done - Mein Schiff 2 successfully completed the first short cruise after the Corona break today.

All eyes have been on TUI Cruises and its newest ship Mein Schiff 2 in the last three days. The ship started its first cruise from Hamburg on Friday and returned to the port of Hamburg in the early morning hours. The goal of the 3-day trip was the sea, because there were no shore excursions on this first short cruise. Mein Schiff 2 made a technical stop in Kristiansand, Norway, for about an hour on Saturday evening, but passengers could not go ashore here.

After the return of Mein Schiff 2, you can definitely say that TUI Cruises has made a successful start here, which gives hope for the entire industry. The weather also played a large part during the trip and delighted the 1,200 passengers who took part in the trip, mostly with sunshine.

Three more Blue Voyages are now still planned for Mein Schiff 2 from Hamburg, these are also short trips from / to Hamburg without a port stop. Mein Schiff 1 is also set to go on August 3, 2020 again, but this is also a short trip from Kiel. Longer cruises with the two ships are planned again from 07.08.2020. The one-week panoramic trips go into the Norwegian fjords, but initially without any further port stops. Depending on the decisions of the respective authorities in the countries concerned, TUI Cruises hopes to go to other ports as soon as possible to make cruises with the Mein Schiff fleet even more attractive.

Let's wait and see what happens in about 3 weeks to see how many passengers are infected.

[podgeandrodge]

Just now, zqvol said:

Let's wait and see what happens in about 3 weeks to see how many passengers are infected.

 

Love your optimism 😄

But yes, they are a bit quick to call it a success.

[GA Dave]

3 minutes ago, zqvol said:

Let's wait and see what happens in about 3 weeks to see how many passengers are infected.

I do not expect it will be any more than they would have seen from the same group of people if they had stayed in Germany and went out to eat, shopping, etc.  The ships themselves are not carriers of the disease.

Edited July 27, 2020 by GA Dave

[podgeandrodge]

1 minute ago, GA Dave said:

I do not expect it will be any more than they would have seen from the same group of people if they had stayed in Germany and went out to eat, shopping, etc.  The ships themselves are not carriers of the disease.

 

Tend to agree with you.  Perhaps the fact that they are going to be with each other for a few days might technically increase chance of contamination.  I hope this works out for TUI.  I read that they were not requiring masks unless you were in an area where you could not maintain 6ft/2m distance.  Seems reasonable.

[CruiseMH]

2 hours ago, GA Dave said:

I do not expect it will be any more than they would have seen from the same group of people if they had stayed in Germany and went out to eat, shopping, etc.  The ships themselves are not carriers of the disease.

 

I do think the same,but even if the no. of infected is exactly the same as it would be on land, for a big part of the media this will be the door to hell.

Cruises are the devil anyway,so if only 3 or 4 are infected then cruises ships will be called superspreaders. Of course this is rubbish, but thats what the reactions will be. So i really hope that there will be no infected people after all these cruises.

[podgeandrodge]

The first major cruise ship to sail in months departed this weekend, and passengers on board have provided the world with a glimpse into what it was like.

“Good morning from the Mein Schiff 2,” reads the caption on this Instagram pic from @cheesecakecruises. “What a wonderful blue sky over the North Sea!”

What We’ve Learned So Far
On Friday, the Mein Schiff 2 departed from Hamburg for a three-night sailing. Several passengers on board posted on various social media platforms about how moving the experience was.

Popular German cruise blogger Pam was one of those on board for the sailing, and posted to her Instagram story videos of the sailaway, dubbing it perhaps unexpectedly emotional.

The journey itself is a three-day sailing to Norway, with no ports of call.

So what do we know about the health-and-safety protocols which were put in place? (And which might serve as an early glimpse into what cruising will look like when ships begin sailing out of U.S. ports again.)

Right off the bat, Mein Schiff 2 is sailing at a reduced capacity of about 60 percent.

Already, this is something we know is likely to happen on U.S. ships, given that the top executives from lines such as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival Cruise Lines have all repeatedly said that this is their intention.

In what the caption describes as a “goosebumps moment,” three of the ships in the TUI Cruises fleet crossed paths during the sailing of Mein Schiff 2. 

Sister ship Mein Schiff saw her return to sailing postponed due in part to staffing issues, and several aboard Mein Schiff 2 have noted that there are a few issues in that regard. One noted on Twitter a “longer than one might expect” wait for service in the dining room, but added that it wasn’t “a big deal.”

Speaking of dining, the ship has largely moved to a contactless ordering system. Rather than a traditional menu, guests order via QR-code on their smartphones.

After scanning the appropriate code, the menu is presented on a guest’s phone, making it easy for them to peruse without ever needing to touch an actual menu. (Those without smartphones — and apparently, such people do still exist! — are provided with a more traditional menu by the waitstaff.)

Much talk has centered in recent months around buffets, and while the buffet is open on the Mein Schiff 2, there is no self-service.

As was seen on several ships out of U.S. ports in the final weeks of cruising, staff members are serving guests. While a few people have said it slows things down a bit, most seem happy with the process.

Each morning, every passenger must have their temperature checked via a thermal scan. Stations are located around the ship at which this can be handled quickly. (The device looks much like a smartphone on a stand, so that the temperature-taking process looks almost like taking a selfie.)

 

Without a doubt, the biggest question cruisers have been asking is whether or not they will have to wear a mask in public spaces when cruising returns. If the Mein Schiff 2 is an example, the answer is yes and no.

While all crew members wear masks, guests are asked to wear them in a situation where they can not maintain social distancing.

 

Instagrammer @kreuzfahrtulauber.de wrote, “In the bars, restaurants and other public areas, the chairs and tables have been optimally distanced and in places where this was not possible, certain places have been blocked off by signs. So I’ve never had the feeling that other guests are getting too close somewhere on board.”

They added, “If it is not possible, such as in the [cabin hallways], the guests wear [masks] in a very disciplined manner.”

One area which has received little attention in discussions about the resumption of cruising is elevators.

On Mein Schiff 2, only four guests are allowed in an elevator at any one time. There are distinct markings on the floor of each elevator car dividing it into four squares, and passengers are asked to remain in their square during the duration of the ride.

Tables have been moved farther apart and social distancing is being maintained wherever possible, according to this Instagrammer. 

Because the ship is sailing at reduced capacity, this allows them to use the staterooms on a rotational basis. In other words, staterooms that house guests on one sailing will not be used on the next.

This allows time for additional deep cleaning between occupancies.

Currently, the ship is also only booking staterooms (or suites) with balconies so that all passengers have access to fresh air.

Various ship services are largely open and available, but often with limited capacity.

For example, the gym is only allowing 20 people in at a time and it’s on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Only 10 children are allowed in the childcare program at any given time, and the various toys and equipment are used every other day, again allowing for thorough cleaning.

Although the first day’s weather was a bit cloudy, things cleared up by day 2. “The guests on board are very well distributed,” says this Instagram caption, in part, “which is extremely pleasant and you could get used to it easily!” 

Pam, the German blogger mentioned above, reported on Instagram that massages are available in the spa. While the masseuse wears a mask the entire time, guests can take theirs off while lying face down, but must wear it when lying on their backs.

Other ships will be sailing out of German in the very near future. Carnival Corporation’s Aida brand has three vessels — Aidaperla, Aidamar and Aidablu — expecting to welcome passengers during August.

 

 

From:  https://cruiseradio.net/with-cruising-back-what-we-know-about-masks-capacity-more/

Edited July 28, 2020 by podgeandrodge
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[roger001]

I'm happy for them.  But...I gotta tell ya.  That's just not for me.   As regemented as it is, and necessarily so I guess...just takes the relaxed fun right out of it.  Standing on an X, masks on and off, socializing in bars restricted, etc...nope.  Just not the cruise that I enjoyed.  But...happy for those that are enjoying it.  

[pcakes122]

On 7/26/2020 at 8:32 PM, BirdTravels said:

The US and big cruise lines should take note on how to operate with manageable risk. 

I would think Royal Caribbean is well aware since they own 50% of TUI.  Richard Fain talked about the new process and their first German cruise in his latest video.