Coral Princess Around Australia March 2022

[casofilia]

@OzKiwiJJ

 

If your PM will not set a date when "ALL" Australians will be vaccinated by then I cannot see any cruise lines "taking any chances".

They will need a deadline from each government for when each government will allow cruise ships to visit.   

I bet each government will have a number of demands, one will be that x% of their population has been vaccinated.   Supposedly the point of "herd immunity".

Edited April 13, 2021 by casofilia

[mimbecky]

Sad if the season doesn't open up.  Hurried up to get vaccinated and still can't go anywhere.  You would think both NZ and Australia would open to vaccinated people since it is looking more like the chance of transmission from a vaccinated person is rare. Lack of tourism has to hurt.

Oh well, glad we are doing well in the US.  Our state is opening 100 percent in 2 months.  I hadn't wanted to explore home until we were too old to explore outside of home.  Guess we will do it now.  

Tombstone this month, Sedona in May and Vegas in June.  Although I won't cancel until I know more at final payment, I am glad that the US is big and there are places to explore here for now.

 

[casofilia]

@mimbecky

 

You would think both NZ and Australia would open to vaccinated people 

 

I don't know about Australia but New Zealand is going to want a "guarantee" that it is not possible to buy, sell or counterfeit a vaccination certificate.

Many of our cases, that are caught at our border, are New Zealand citizens returning from India.  There are concerns about the certificates being used by some people to board planes in India.   For that reason flights from India have been stopped for two weeks.

 

Personally I would like to see an official addition in a passport like the visa we had to get for India or China.

Edited April 13, 2021 by casofilia

[srpilo]

1 hour ago, casofilia said:

@mimbecky

 

You would think both NZ and Australia would open to vaccinated people 

 

I don't know about Australia but New Zealand is going to want a "guarantee" that it is not possible to buy, sell or counterfeit a vaccination certificate.

 

 

 

Do you now speak for the government of New Zealand ?

I dont think there's a government anywhere  in the world that's going to exclude literally hundreds of millions of people who will  be vaccinated in the coming months because they cant come up with a system to validate ("gaurantee") their vaccination.

No body doubts your intentions here by helping to pass on local insights from NZ, but I think its incumbent on you not to portray your personal opinions as government facts.. Just saying.

 

 

 

.

Edited April 13, 2021 by srpilo

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, casofilia said:

@OzKiwiJJ

 

If your PM will not set a date when "ALL" Australians will be vaccinated by then I cannot see any cruise lines "taking any chances".

They will need a deadline from each government for when each government will allow cruise ships to visit.   

I bet each government will have a number of demands, one will be that x% of their population has been vaccinated.   Supposedly the point of "herd immunity".

It's not a case of "won't", it's a case of "can't". With the AstraZenica vaccine blood clot issue the government has decided it is now not recommended for people under 50, and quite a few people over 50 are refusing to have it also. So now we are reliant on getting vaccines from overseas instead of having a good locally produced one, and the supply of those overseas vaccines is erratic. 

 

However Australia is faring well with keeping Covid in check, the majority of cases are people in quarantine and any outbreaks from that are quickly dealt with. It would be possible for cruise lines to operate domestic cruises around Australia, with only local passengers, but our governments (federal and state) are resisting allowing this. Some very small expedition cruise ships are already operating, as are river cruise boats. We recently did a lovely five night Murray River cruise.

 

There are enough Australians who want to cruise to easily fill a few cruise ships during our peak cruise season, especially if those ships only operated at 50% capacity. Not as many ships as would normally homeport here during our season, but enough to allow passengers some choice - perhaps one ship from each of the major lines for example. And that would be a good way for cruising to slowly restart down here.

 

Of course we don't know when our international border will reopen. When it does it will probably be in "bubbles" such as the one just opening up with NZ. Regardless of how vaccinations are going in other countries the real criteria will be the number of locally transmitted cases. Remember the vaccines don't stop you catching the virus, they just reduce the severity of the infection. It is still possible for people to transmit the virus even if they have been vaccinated although the risk is much lower. So even if cruising does recommence down here passengers from overseas may still not be able to embark.

[Thrak]

We are booked for January 2022 - 26 days in Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. (Replacement for a 33 day that was cancelled this year.) I really don't expect our cruise(s) to happen. Those countries are being very cautious regarding infection. They are "behind" the US in vaccinations but "ahead" in compliance of their citizens. If the government of those countries feels the virus situation is still too "iffy" they simply won't allow folks from the US (or elsewhere in the world most likely) to visit their countries. We were sooooooooo looking forward to our 33 days in that area last November/December (2020). We knew this year (2021) would be a "no go" but had seriously hoped the world situation would be better by January 2022. These days I have very little hope we will sail January 2022. I hate it but can't really be angry with countries that are being careful. It's up to them when they allow outsiders to visit.

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 minutes ago, srpilo said:

 

 

Do you now speak for the government of New Zealand ?

I dont think there's a government anywhere  in the world that's going to exclude literally hundreds of millions of people who will  be vaccinated in the coming months because they cant come up with a system to validate ("gaurantee") their vaccination.

No body doubts your intentions here by helping to pass on local insights from NZ, but I think its incumbent on you not to portray your personal opinions as government facts.. Just saying.

 

 

 

.

I think casofilia has summed up the situation quite correctly. Our governments - NZ, Australian federal, and Australian states - will be quite happy to exclude those "hundreds of millions" of vaccinated people if there is still a high risk of community transmission in the countries they come from. And even when the transmission risk is reduced to an acceptable level there will have to be a way of ensuring vaccination records are legitimate otherwise our borders will remain shut.

[OzKiwiJJ]

6 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We are booked for January 2022 - 26 days in Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. (Replacement for a 33 day that was cancelled this year.) I really don't expect our cruise(s) to happen. Those countries are being very cautious regarding infection. They are "behind" the US in vaccinations but "ahead" in compliance of their citizens. If the government of those countries feels the virus situation is still too "iffy" they simply won't allow folks from the US (or elsewhere in the world most likely) to visit their countries. We were sooooooooo looking forward to our 33 days in that area last November/December (2020). We knew this year (2021) would be a "no go" but had seriously hoped the world situation would be better by January 2022. These days I have very little hope we will sail January 2022. I hate it but can't really be angry with countries that are being careful. It's up to them when they allow outsiders to visit.

Yes, it is looking unlikely for January 2022, Thrak, much as I hate to say that. I hope you will be able to visit sometime in the future but how long that will be isn't clear yet.

 

Even travel within Australia is tricky, with some state borders closing to areas that have had minor outbreaks. We were very lucky to be able to do a month through South Australia and Victoria from NSW recently but it was a close call. The SA border opened to Sydney residents four days before we were due to leave, meanwhile the SA border closed to Victoria due to a new outbreak there. Luckily we could leave a day earlier than planned as it took an extra day to drive to SA without going through Victoria. Later on in the trip we weren't sure whether we would be able to visit Melbourne as planned but luckily the outbreak was contained early enough for us go to there.

[Thrak]

17 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, it is looking unlikely for January 2022, Thrak, much as I hate to say that. I hope you will be able to visit sometime in the future but how long that will be isn't clear yet.

 

Even travel within Australia is tricky, with some state borders closing to areas that have had minor outbreaks. We were very lucky to be able to do a month through South Australia and Victoria from NSW recently but it was a close call. The SA border opened to Sydney residents four days before we were due to leave, meanwhile the SA border closed to Victoria due to a new outbreak there. Luckily we could leave a day earlier than planned as it took an extra day to drive to SA without going through Victoria. Later on in the trip we weren't sure whether we would be able to visit Melbourne as planned but luckily the outbreak was contained early enough for us go to there.

 

It's sad. We were so excited about or visit to Oz in December of 2020. That went by the wayside. We skipped 2021 because, like many, we didn't foresee this stuff going on so long. Now it seems pretty certain that January 2022 is still too soon. (I have thought this was the case for quite some time but my wife tended to get a bit "testy" when I voiced my opinion so I have continued to hope.) Now my wife is starting to agree with me that our January 2022 cruises are "not likely" to sail. In another couple of months, if things don't change, I think she will agree with me that the cruises are almost certain not to materialize.

 

It's still sad though. We have enjoyed interacting with the folks from your part of the world on our cruises. Most have been fun and interesting. We are still looking forward to a future cruise to your part of the world regardless of when it actually happens.

[OzKiwiJJ]

18 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

It's sad. We were so excited about or visit to Oz in December of 2020. That went by the wayside. We skipped 2021 because, like many, we didn't foresee this stuff going on so long. Now it seems pretty certain that January 2022 is still too soon. (I have thought this was the case for quite some time but my wife tended to get a bit "testy" when I voiced my opinion so I have continued to hope.) Now my wife is starting to agree with me that our January 2022 cruises are "not likely" to sail. In another couple of months, if things don't change, I think she will agree with me that the cruises are almost certain not to materialize.

 

It's still sad though. We have enjoyed interacting with the folks from your part of the world on our cruises. Most have been fun and interesting. We are still looking forward to a future cruise to your part of the world regardless of when it actually happens.

Still, you have much more options for cruising locally than we do, at least in normal times, so even if Down Under is off the agenda for a while you might be lucky to get some cruising in while we're still waiting on our governments to let cruise ships return.

[mimbecky]

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

there will have to be a way of ensuring vaccination records are legitimate

 I don't think there is a chance of this ever happening.  Too huge of an undertaking especially now when just getting everyone vaccinated is task enough. Of course unless the government contracts this out, but then others will find a way to falsify.  I think other then the UK, this will be the same for the EU in the coming year- borders will remain closed for the most part.  Possibly even Canada. Dummy me, I believed in an immediate recovery.

[Yehootu]

5 hours ago, mimbecky said:

 I don't think there is a chance of this ever happening.  Too huge of an undertaking especially now when just getting everyone vaccinated is task enough. Of course unless the government contracts this out, but then others will find a way to falsify.  I think other then the UK, this will be the same for the EU in the coming year- borders will remain closed for the most part.  Possibly even Canada. Dummy me, I believed in an immediate recovery.

Hawaii is working on a vaccination passport with "Safe Travels", the app company that now assists in the Covid test requirements to enter our state. We are "hoping" for a May roll out of Interisland travel on a vac passport, and transpac by June. No mention of a international passport for now. I know here in Hawaii, the economy is begging for the passport( children will still need a valid 72hr Covid test). People will always find a fix around no matter what you do. Heading back today to Long Beach for shot #2.

  Aloha