GrandmaAirplane

I'm not going to pretend to know the intricacies involved in clinical trials, but as a scientist I know the importance of getting good data and using strong analytical techniques to draw conclusions from it. The reason so many of us feel like we have whiplash regarding advice we've been given about the virus is because we're discovering new things nearly every day. You can see that born out in the falling mortality rate as doctors continue to zero in on a standard of care that works. 
The process may seem slow, but it is complex and despite all the shortcomings here in the States, history will probably judge the world's response to this as relatively rapid (and hopefully it gets us to lay the groundwork for future, faster response efforts).

It's a sad but deserved criticism of the US right now. We still have people who doubt the severity of what is going on, or question the reality before them. It's one of the ultimate injustices that we, as a country with all of the resources in the world to mitigate the spread within our borders but who lacked the political will and communal commitment to do so, will probably have early access to a vaccine while the countries that we exported cases to (who have a fraction of what we have in terms of medical resources) will have to deal with the mess that we hand delivered to them. 

Back to this issue of the Paul Gauguin.
It’s now been confirmed that the infected passenger is one of a few Americans who travelled earlier in the week to Papeete to board the cruise. She was tested negative 3 days before leaving home.
She was probably infected 0-5 days before leaving home. She could have been in contact with an infected person at a Home Depot or Walmart or Macy’s, doing last minute shopping. She could have been infected at LAX. Who knows... with the U.S. having uncontrolled COVID-19 community transmission, it’s really not important where or how she came in contact with the virus before arriving in French Polynesia.
However, it will matter to the French authorities, and to every other country who is considering allowing American tourists to return, that she very likely arrived already infected and pre-symptomatic before her second test was done.
Almost all of the ship’s passengers right now are residents of French Polynesia, which has literally been COVID-free for weeks, after having very few cases to begin with. Many onboard went to visit family members on Bora Bora. Some are just a couple of miles from home, stuck on the ship in Papeete right now, who at best will need to strictly self-isolate for 14 days if they are allowed to disembark in the next day or so and return to their homes.
Island nations do not have the medical resources to respond to large outbreaks. Tahiti has a large hospital, Bora Bora does not. Returning residents who go back to their homes on other islands than Tahiti, and those exposed residents and locals who may later develop a positive test or symptoms, or draw a losing ticket and become very sick with COVID, may not have quick access to adequate care.
This is what the rest of the world is looking at. So stop making any and every discussion about cruising and this pandemic a uniquely U.S.-centered problem. And stop making it a political issue.
All that the rest of the world is perceiving right now is that American tourists are covidiots. 
By reading many of the responses here, I’d agree.

It will be interesting to see what happens here. Also, with the long incubation period it is near impossible to know if a person is positive or not before they got on board. By the time symptoms show (if there are any) they could have been around hundreds or thousands of people even before boarding. If a person is found to be positive after a cruise, there is no way of knowing if they had it before the cruise or got it while on it. At some point everyone is going to have to stop and look at things from a different perspective. Unless the virus just basically disappears (which is possible but not probable) then we must look at it as we do other sicknesses. As in, yes you could get sick with it, but what is the actual recovery rate? In the US it is about 94% and that is without any kind of FDA approved medication/treatment if you aren't in a hospital. Worldwide the recovery rate is 90% and when you factor in that some of the places don't have good healthcare at all, it is still pretty good. I'm not saying we all jump on board now, but we need to realize that this is something to think about. Also, they need to start looking for treatments and not just a vaccine. A virus isn't like a bacteria or germ. A viral infection doesn't work the same. I wish people would drop the politics and just start clinical trials on certain medications that may help. Try meds that people use for the regular flu, SOMETHING! People are sick and playing politics is just cruel when some truly are dying.

Greece has officially reopened six ports to begin receiving cruise ships in Greek waters next month: Piraeus, Katakolon, Volos, Heraklion, Corfu and Rhodes.

The Paul Gauguin just restarted cruising with international passengers last Thursday, with a mix of resident, American and European passengers.
Both French Polynesia and the Gauguin (Ponant) had extensive arrival & embarkation testing & screening protocols.
See here: https://www.pgcruises.com/travel-advisory
it was as a result of the 4-day self-administered follow-up test that a female passenger was found to be positive late on Saturday. The ship returned to Papeete on Sunday, the passenger was retested positive, then taken off the ship with her companion to be placed into quarantine. All remaining passengers and crew were also retested on Sunday, with the results - and a decision as to what will happen next - to be announced later today. Passengers are now confined to their cabins.
This morning, there was more info available on French media, with little elsewhere - one English language source incorrectly identified the case as a crew member. The nationality of the infected tourist has not yet been disclosed.
Bora Bora, which had remained COVID-free up to now, had all passengers disembark for the day, before the results of the follow-up test came back. Extensive contact tracing will be undertaken there as well as in Tahiti, where the passenger spent a couple of days before boarding.
*This* is the one to watch, folks...

The Paul Gauguin just restarted cruising with international passengers last Thursday, with a mix of resident, American and European passengers.
Both French Polynesia and the Gauguin (Ponant) had extensive arrival & embarkation testing & screening protocols.
See here: https://www.pgcruises.com/travel-advisory
it was as a result of the 4-day self-administered follow-up test that a female passenger was found to be positive late on Saturday. The ship returned to Papeete on Sunday, the passenger was retested positive, then taken off the ship with her companion to be placed into quarantine. All remaining passengers and crew were also retested on Sunday, with the results - and a decision as to what will happen next - to be announced later today. Passengers are now confined to their cabins.
This morning, there was more info available on French media, with little elsewhere - one English language source incorrectly identified the case as a crew member. The nationality of the infected tourist has not yet been disclosed.
Bora Bora, which had remained COVID-free up to now, had all passengers disembark for the day, before the results of the follow-up test came back. Extensive contact tracing will be undertaken there as well as in Tahiti, where the passenger spent a couple of days before boarding.
*This* is the one to watch, folks...

We spent 30 days on a Tahiti to Sydney b2b on the Journey earlier this year. We loved the experience! Very relaxed atmosphere, good food, fantastic service. We invested in one of the upgrade packages, with gave us a wider range of included wines & spirits, Internet and onboard credit. We’ll definitely include the brand again in our mix... especially given their “itineraries” focus.
Ramdom observations:
There’s a relaxed dress code overall, with simply a general conscious effort to “look nice”. Daytime: Capris, skorts, nice jeans (colder days), Bermuda & hiking shorts, skirts, summer dresses for the women + Bermuda & hiking shorts, khakis, a few clean jeans, polo shirts, shirts, some t-shirts for the men. Evening: variable... far more classy than “flashy”... from nice dresses and trousers & blazers, to nice capris & summer dresses and khakis & polos. People tended to not dress up “fancy”, but at least took the effort to look nice... never saw shorts in the evening. The big dress-theme event is called “White Night”, with all the variations of clothes mentioned above, but colour-schemed. Never spotted those awful poly sport shorts that dangle to the knees, muscle shirts, tube tanks, pajama bottoms, etc. seen too frequently on the RCL ships. Pool attire is kept to the pool deck or spa pool. 
Dining is very good in all venues. The MDR was really excellent + one buffet and two specialty restaurants. We used a chunk of our OBC to book the specialties, but it’s really not necessary to ensure good food and a pleasant dining environment.
All three ships are the same class, so there isn’t a variability of cabin types and amenities across the ships. Only one of the three ships still has a sad & lonely casino, and that’s the Journey. Quest and Pursuit have successfully repurposed that space into a much more popular social space called The Den. Journey was supposed to go into dry dock this Fall to get its Den conversion, but it’s docked “cold” right now, so who knows when that’ll get rescheduled for.
Guests tend to be a mix predominantly from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Europe, Australia, N.Z. and a handful from elsewhere. Despite its older demographics, the brand tends to attract a narrower guest profile than on larger ships... mostly because the ships are older, smaller with less “play” amenities, and they definitely have some unresolvable accessibility issues due to the ships’ build.
Really interesting itineraries: the ships can include ports that the behemoths can’t reach, and they tend to dock much closer to the city centers, have more tendered ports of call, and almost always include a frequent free shuttle service to the heart of the tourist district.
The Captain and the Chef can, and do, exercise some leeway to make the most out of local conditions - that’s another plus. There’s always been that approach of bringing just a “little more” to the guest experience with the Azamara brand. It’s a ship-wide culture thing that I hope won’t gets lost in the post-COVID upheavals that will affect every level of the industry.

We spent 30 days on a Tahiti to Sydney b2b on the Journey earlier this year. We loved the experience! Very relaxed atmosphere, good food, fantastic service. We invested in one of the upgrade packages, with gave us a wider range of included wines & spirits, Internet and onboard credit. We’ll definitely include the brand again in our mix... especially given their “itineraries” focus.
Ramdom observations:
There’s a relaxed dress code overall, with simply a general conscious effort to “look nice”. Daytime: Capris, skorts, nice jeans (colder days), Bermuda & hiking shorts, skirts, summer dresses for the women + Bermuda & hiking shorts, khakis, a few clean jeans, polo shirts, shirts, some t-shirts for the men. Evening: variable... far more classy than “flashy”... from nice dresses and trousers & blazers, to nice capris & summer dresses and khakis & polos. People tended to not dress up “fancy”, but at least took the effort to look nice... never saw shorts in the evening. The big dress-theme event is called “White Night”, with all the variations of clothes mentioned above, but colour-schemed. Never spotted those awful poly sport shorts that dangle to the knees, muscle shirts, tube tanks, pajama bottoms, etc. seen too frequently on the RCL ships. Pool attire is kept to the pool deck or spa pool. 
Dining is very good in all venues. The MDR was really excellent + one buffet and two specialty restaurants. We used a chunk of our OBC to book the specialties, but it’s really not necessary to ensure good food and a pleasant dining environment.
All three ships are the same class, so there isn’t a variability of cabin types and amenities across the ships. Only one of the three ships still has a sad & lonely casino, and that’s the Journey. Quest and Pursuit have successfully repurposed that space into a much more popular social space called The Den. Journey was supposed to go into dry dock this Fall to get its Den conversion, but it’s docked “cold” right now, so who knows when that’ll get rescheduled for.
Guests tend to be a mix predominantly from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Europe, Australia, N.Z. and a handful from elsewhere. Despite its older demographics, the brand tends to attract a narrower guest profile than on larger ships... mostly because the ships are older, smaller with less “play” amenities, and they definitely have some unresolvable accessibility issues due to the ships’ build.
Really interesting itineraries: the ships can include ports that the behemoths can’t reach, and they tend to dock much closer to the city centers, have more tendered ports of call, and almost always include a frequent free shuttle service to the heart of the tourist district.
The Captain and the Chef can, and do, exercise some leeway to make the most out of local conditions - that’s another plus. There’s always been that approach of bringing just a “little more” to the guest experience with the Azamara brand. It’s a ship-wide culture thing that I hope won’t gets lost in the post-COVID upheavals that will affect every level of the industry.

Wow, you're only on edge when Thanksgiving comes around? I've been on edge for at least 4 months now, and if we're still cooped up by Thanksgiving I'll be full-blown NUTS!!
 
This dad joke brought to you by your friendly Chief Science Officer, a proud dad for going on 20 years now.
 
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no they are not formal on dress code - some people are "country club attire" but that is the most dressed up I have seen.  I have never packed more than a summer dress or two so its much more relaxed than I expected as well.  really like it and the crew and staff
 

Ireland will be a great cruise

Great to read all of those things! When they release 2022 Ireland itineraries you'll be hearing from me (or if you hear of them before I do, let me know! lol)

I love Azamara and have sailed on the ships two times - One California Coastal and to Cuba
I love the small and intimate size of the ship the most and that the Capt. has the ability himself
to make decisions and change departure times if need which happened to us while in SFO.  He
delayed the sail out by 3 hours so guests could go the Chinese New Year Parade

The Cabins are nice and larger than on some ships.  I have stayed in Ocean View and Balcony rooms
And have seen the suites which are nice and big.

Very relaxed atmosphere and not "stuffy" which I was worried about - I became easy friends with
the staff because of this too.  you do get to know the staff well>
  Their Windows Cafe theme nights are great and we end up having dinner in here most nights
because of the more relaxed atmosphere.

If you are a fan of lots of entertainment then you may not like it  - small bands, singers, casino
are about all they have for nightly entertainment but remember on many itineraries, esp. in
Europe they stay in port longer or overnight even so you can enjoy the city you are in.

Most of all I love the all inclusive drinks, gratuities, meals etc. and based on your level
lots of internet minutes as well.  The Azamazing evening event we did in California was
to a private dinner at a Vineyard in Napa, really well done.
Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.



 

Haven't sailed them, but their ships are the smallest of all RCL's 3 main brands; from what I saw, none carries more than 600 or so passengers. That's going to make for much more intimate sailings and opportunities for the crew to get to know you well (and vice versa), which I would assume translates into higher levels of service and more positive experiences. Celebrity is already noted for having a higher level of service and staff involvement than Royal, and I would only expect Azamara to be higher yet.

Yes, I’m aware of that. The “loophole” is actually not a bad policy decision - it adds a layer of intent and commitment to travel. It also provides the means for the authorities to better vet, as well as more closely monitor the mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival.
This means that if the reason to travel is important enough, you can still travel across the border, but subject to strict conditions.
We really don’t want U.S. citizens to show up in cars at our border for a “cheap & safe” vacation, or for a sort-of longer “getting out of Dodge” stay. Montreal did end up with a couple of NYC residents show up at one of our ERs early on... 
It also prevents me from doing a short hop across the border, into a hot zone, and possibly bringing it back to my home community... sure I can fly, but I’d have to seriously consider the cost and quarantine conditions on the return.
There will always be people who will think that masking, safe distancing, and travel restrictions should not apply to them... at least we’re keeping most of those from coming up here right now. We’ve got plenty of our own covidiots to deal with anyway.

Unfortunately, we’ve had to. It really pains me to not be able to cross the border, but it’s necessary.
What pains me even more is knowing that the worst of this situation could have been avoided.

Perhap this is an example of why Canada has better control over the pandemic.  

I think themed cruises need a far higher capacity and maybe the cruise lines can't afford to third party the insurance. I wouldn't use this too as any barometer of where we will be in Q1 2021

I found this part interesting, and some smart thinking so that cleaning staff don't get overwhelmed every turnaround day:
And this similar bit around the child care center:
 

Yes all this great and a positive move forward but is not that great an indicator of how things could work in the states. Taiwan has a total of 15 active cases and have had a total of 460 since the start of the pandemic. The chances of a passenger bringing the virus on board is virtually nil so all the protocols and procedures are unproven. Obviously Germany is more of a guide but still until someone actually presents with the virus or is positive after boarding will we see what will really happen.

The testing and quarantining of the crew is much more interesting as they are coming from outside countries.

Sorry, also meant to comment on this in the prior post. I disagree strongly that the AIDA Explorer Dream cruise is the more important one to watch, purely speaking as an American in a country that's even less experienced than Germany at this point. If Explorer Dream goes without a hitch, the response from here, press and elsewhere, will be exactly your slant: "Of course! They deal with that sort of thing all the time!" Followed by, "Now get some Europeans on there and impress us."
If Germany's cruises continue to go without a hitch, first without port stops and then gradually adding those in, the reaction here as well as Europe will hopefully be more along the lines of, "Hmmm. They actually got it to work without ever dealing with this sort of thing before, ever. People were actually willing to go along with the protocols and they actually did the job. Maybe cruising can be done after all."

Finally, as promised, a recap of Schiffstester Matthias Morr's conclusion video:
- Boarding times were enforced (usually TUI Cruises doesn't assign boarding times). Masks had to be worn in the terminal and in the queue in front of the terminal. Health questionnaires & temperature check for check in. B2Bs are currently not allowed.
- Muster drill: when on board you went from your cabin to your muster station. Explanations were given in small groups.
- Ship sailed at around 40% capacity (= 1200 guests), max would've been 60% (=1400 guests), 800 crew. Possible difficulties in selling the cabins might've been short notice and comparably high pricing - there were no discounts and no interior or ocean view cabins, only balcony & suites.
- Crew was quarantined on ship 14 days prior to the first cruise. They were very happy to be back working. Crew have to wear masks or face shields while working in contact with passengers - irrespective of social distancing.
- Every passenger had to do a daily temperature check by infrared camera. Hand washing and use of disinfectant was enforced.
- Masks were only mandatory where you couldn't keep a distance of at least 1.5 metres (about 5 feet). Masks were provided in the cabin on arrival, people with medical exemptions had to use face shields (not provided).
- No seats at the bar - either service at a table or queuing with social distancing (TUI has waaaaay more waiters at bars compared to Royal, so not a problem). Buffet was available, but no self service. Also no full show ensemble, only solo performances. No party (sail away, pool party etc.). Sauna is currently closed but this might change soon. Whirlpools could only be used by members of the same travel group at a time.
- Audience: younger than TUI's normal average, apparently no first time cruisers, many regular customers of other cruise lines (mainly AIDA and MSC)
-  Staggered disembarkation times were enforced (usually no assigned times).
- Most important: no cases of COVID were reported!
 
"Fun" facts:
- A few German media companies contacted passengers to try and get pictures of passengers not obeying social distancing rules. That's the state of the German press for you... 
- Mein Schiff 2 met with Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 6 while at sea - a bit like the meeting of the 3 sisters (Oasis, Harmony and Allure). 
 
If you've got any questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to find an answer - might be easier for me as many sources are in German only and Google translate is a train wreck.
 
 
 
 

Just to clarify again - crew tested positive was for AIDA ships, not TUI. These cruises to nowhere are now starting for 3 German cruise lines: TUI  Cruises (50% Royal Caribbean, 50% TUI), AIDA Cruises (belongs to Carnival) and Hapag Lloyd  Kreuzfahrten (German luxury cruise line, owned 100% by TUI). Safety measures should be quite similar on all 3 lines as they were negotiated by the German branch of CLIA.
Looking forward to a conclusion video by one of my favourite Youtubers - he's on Mein Schiff 2's first cruise. The video is scheduled for tomorrow, 8.30 pm (CEST). I'll report back anything interesting.

A lot is riding on these early cruises.  If they can pull off a few without issue it will speak volumes to the world.  Inevitably there will be a case so we'll have to see how it plays out in the media.  Cruise ships didn't create CV-19 nor are they immune anymore than a land based movie theater, wedding, political convention, etc. yet a single case from an early cruise will garner attention that hundreds of cases from a rally or wedding wouldn't.