Zambia-Zaire

Hmmm....I wonder if both options only apply to those whom cruises fit within the 30-day suspension or is it across the board for cruises up to the July 31st FCC date???

Geez, I certainly hope you are completely wrong about that. ?

I'm right there with you...we have two cruise coming up. One in several weeks the other later in the year...which will be our 1st experience, hopefully, of Coco Cay. We missed out on it this past September on Symphony, because of the Hurricane...it did not re-open before our schedule stop there; so, we missed out. Our biggest concern has now graduated from possible quarantine on a ship to possible 14-day force quarantine by employers....everything is fluid & unfortunate.

Hmmm....I dunno about that. There's no indication as of yet, that other lines are contemplating such measures; they trying increasingly hard to weather the circumstance. Princess on the hand has been hit with incident after incident after incident, that very difficult to recover from in the public eye, in the mist of a fluid situation. Their struggles no doubt may ultimately help precipitate the collapsing industry; but, it just seem other major lines are trying to better position themselves for the long haul. However, you may ultimately be proven right....there's a number of people who share that sentiment.

I agree....could have happened to any cruise line, at any given time. Remember, it nearly caught Holland

The Cruise industry are in a desperate state...their business, completely unexpected has taken a major hit, that some may time any amount time to recover from. It appear this guy zealous desperation prompt him to make an ill-timed statement, in his eyes wanting to put out to the public, what some percentage of people do feel, that warm weather & sunlight is toxic to viruses & that the Caribbean offer those conditions. Not defending his action; just understand the desperation behind it, when he's having to deal with his company bleeding stocks....70%+ drop in a matter of weeks.

I suspect China has been "more cooperative & transparent" than before....to what degree, who knows; yet still, I'm guessing, that's what prompting the WHO finally decree, governments putting more restrictive measures in place, & markets reaction to a more lasting effect on the world's economies. We, the world public are not getting the full scope, of what has happen there, in Wuhan, China, for a numbers of reasons; but, are left for us to deduce the seriousness of what happening w/o officials being completely forthcoming.

I'm guessing you mean: the "Dice is Cast" I don't see it as "irrelevant"; because, the fact stands, the President did not call for an all out ban on travel via the cruise industry. At some point, what you suggest, make eventually reach fruition and nations across the world could start a domino effect, banning cruises...things are very fluid, at the moment; so, I wouldn't attempt to say with any certainty. Obviously, certain lines are deciding to self quarantine their operation themselves...Viking and now Princess; but, as of this moment, there is no restriction, from our government. People are free to cruise, if they choose to do so, if those passengers meet guidelines that are currently in place.

I think the key thing here, no flat out ban on the cruise industry...that has to be promising in itself.

WHO(World health Organization) has just declared Covid-19 a Pandemic Outbreak....

I did not copy & paste...I did give a brief account of their article title, just to keep from having a long title for this thread. I understand your frustration with the media...there is no doubt the media is sensationalizing the situation; however, that does not change the fact, there is a "Real Situation" occurring around the globe...so it's not an "Exaggeration" at least, not to me. I would advise people to really try to keep their emotion down as best as possible(I know we all are different), and just look at thing as they are, and follow up with sound personal decisions & interpretation of information. When one let their emotions take over & rule the day, regardless of what side one stand on, is when panic & unfound chaos occurs.

Reasons why, if not the case, since the FCC is the course taken, Royal should either refund the remaining balance, should it occur after the newly replaced cruise is booked or provide an OBC on that newly replaced cruise....not double jeopardy in forcing passengers to have to book a 2nd cruise, for the sake of using all of the remaining FCC, one may have.

LoL...that's what a LoC is. It's just a revolving loan....reasons why I said "Expand/Increase"

Personally, from what I've been gathering for the last week, Cruise lines knew such "suggested" policy would come down pike, ahead of eventual government mandate....which is the reason why I suspect, cruise lines have take such measures, like what cruise lines are offering..."Cruise with Confidence" for an example. This allow them to get ahead of the curve & try to minimize some of their losses, before more draconian measures eventually goes in effect, as thing proceed to worsen. So yes, I do suspect cruise lines knew businesses, would start enforcing "self quarantine" of their employees if the travel abroad or not...which would lead to some percentage of cancellation. Airlines are facing the same situation, no doubt, reason why they had started reducing the number of flights in service since early February...less non-stop & more 1 & 2 stop flights. Also, they will be getting some assistance from the government, no doubt, in the form of "Government Backing"

That's very interesting....NCL is one of the smallest of the Major Cruise Line Corps; so, in many ways, they were probably the most likely to be the 1st, to leverage some of their holdings. I remember reading sometime ago, around 5 or 6 yrs ago, why NCL pull back on continue developing of the Epic class of ship...they were not happy with that class. I suspect the Epic was their largest holding, that they could leverage, that they was more than willing, to gamble & possible loose. I would have been completely surprise if Royal had take such a move...even with one of their most least profitable or older holding, outside of Empress, Majesty, & Enchantment, or some combination there of. Royal, Imho, no doubt, is in the best position to weather this storm...which in some ways is still surprising, they would expand/increase their loans by another $550Mil. Those guys are very business savvy & have a pretty sound assessment, of their strength and position in the market. This move maybe more about staying ahead of the curve, moving forward(futures market), than something more presently dire.

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/royal-caribbean-increases-borrowing-capacity-by-550-million-to-stay-afloat It make much more sense now, why they raised prices for cruises after the "Cruise With Confidence" deadline of July 31, 2020 in conjunction with Future Cruise Credit(FCC).

I suspect Mr. Azar feel pressure to do something...not necessarily from the President(he feels the risk to America remains low), but from public opinion...which is not a sound reason to take action. Action should be taken based on hard numbers & facts...given that members of the WH Staff don't agree with Mr. Azar suggestion, is enough to say, the President does not agree with those measures either. I can't get over the fact that there appear to be some debating of those measures; so yes, it was considered. I personally, don't see shutting down the cruise industry will help alleviate the spread of this virus. Subway & Airlines are more culpable; and, I don't see a need to shut them down either. I think people are starting to take the onset of this virus much more serious, and are take measures to ensure their own behalf. Is it enough, are there still cracks in the defense...yeah sure; but, it appear more & more people are aware & taking personal measures....that's a good thing. Think Mr. Azar may be moving a little fast, if he enact those measure...I suspect he won't, given the latest press conf. by the President & VP.

This may not be good..... https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/09/azar-cruise-ship-shutdown-coronavirus-124645

One thing I have notice, Royal's prices on cruises pass the July 31, cruise with confidence ffc date has significantly gone up; so, expect to pay more, be it a new booking or a booking using cruise with confidence full fare credit.

Evacuating people would be ideal; but, I'm not so sure that would be practical. People may be getting evacuated numerous times a day, which would place undue strain on the system. So although that sound good; I personally don't think it practical. Unfortunately, quarantine is probably the best course of action, until test results returns of those suspected & game plan can be soundly implemented.

Exactly....that's the biggest concern out of them all, with the group I'm cruising with.

I like & appreciate your assessment...I try to attain as much factional & real number/ratio as possible myself. I have stated a little time ago, in one if these thread, the reason why I'm torn between the official report from many of these media outlets(whom just regurgitate what other outlet spit out) versus leak information that is unverified or not being reported. So yes, I do appreciate your assessment. With that said...and I state again...until we get real/true numbers from China...I suspect things are much worse. There is a reason, imho, why China sought the need close down 60+ million people, so quickly, 3 major cities & adjacent areas, as those quarantine areas steady has been increasing...given the known viral research/medical/military facilities in that area....and now we have Northern Italy doing the same. We don't know the real numbers of infection to fatality ratio in China, other than what state media release to the world. I have qualms with accuracy & forthcoming with China on such things. This virus is very contagious...that doesn't mean it very dangerous/deadly...just that it easily spread. This is where we need to take some responsibility & caution ourselves, on individual basis. Some number of people are infected, whom don't know they are carriers, propagating the rate of infections, because of lack of understanding how reduce one's risk or being very apathetic. That is my level of concern...nothing to do with the media...I see what what happening & quite capable of assessing steps I need to take, in safeguarding myself & family/friends. I have two cruises coming up, on each side of Royal new "cruise with confidence" cancellation policy. As the official numbers stand to, minus real numbers from China...no, it does not look as deadly as the media makes it out to be. I'm personally don't like the real possibility of being stuck quarantine on a ship...that is an unnecessary inconvenience that I don't have to place myself into...a terrible situation to be in, when one could just wait it out, let things subside, & resume from there. So yes, I am closely monitoring both the airline & cruise industry & reported case in those areas. Not as concern about an outbreak at some office/business that I don't frequent, so nursing home, I dont visit, or hotel or city I'm not going to presently. I can't say that about air travel & cruising; because, those area will directly affect me, if a situation arises when I am abroad somewhere.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article240956451.html

That Reuter article suggest, the U.S. State Dept. "ARE" encouraging people not to take cruises in the Asian area, no such thing in the U.S. or American areas. The U.S. & American areas are under review....I suspect a clear decision on the wording/recommendation, won't be made, at least at a minimum, until after VP Pence meets with the Cruise Industry CEO's.

With that said, keep in mind, the demographic of elderly people, make up a pretty significant population on many cruises; those that many point out are the most susceptible to the virus.