CDC No Sail Order extended to Sept 30?

[SteveinSC]

Stewart Chiron, on Twitter, stating CDC is extending No Sail Oder till Sept. 30. 

 

[DanielB]

https://news.yahoo.com/cdc-bans-cruises-u-waters-195654080.html

[USFFrank]

Just wait till they find out those Florida numbers are all wrong.

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/fox-35-exclusive-labs-directed-to-only-report-positive-covid-19-tests

https://www.mysuncoast.com/2020/07/15/is-floridas-covid-positivity-rate-accurate-labs-not-reporting-negative-test-results/

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/some-labs-only-reporting-positive-covid-19-test-results-to-florida-officials-report

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20200715/state-and-labs-including-some-in-northeast-florida-question-accuracy-of-covid-19-data

 

[KWong]

So what's next? Kangaroos on the loose in Fort Lauderdale?

[CruisinForABruisin]

Makes sense. There was no possible way to present the findings and new procedures to the CDC on Aug 31, have the CDC review and give instructions in how to proceed, restaff, clean the entire ship, stock said ship full of supplies, and get the ship into port by Sept 15th.

[Rene Desmarais]

Look on the bright side.    CDC has extended the ban for an additional 76 days and not another 100 days..  

[JimnKathy]

Not that I'm one bit surprised, but there goes our B2B Symphony sailing 9/19. 

[princevaliantus]

Would hate to be the bearer of bad news when No Sail Order is extended again till the end of the year. There will be alot of unhappy campers for the Holiday cruises including me!

[Scrumps]

I still believe that Oct 1st is going to be make or break for the industry. I know they have cash available until next year, but they are not going to wait until they run out. If the CDC refuses to hear their plans and just extends to 2021, and they lose all the holiday income too, at least 1 of the 3 will reorg, or worse. I just can't see status quo continuing through the end of the year.

What I do not understand is the mixed messages coming from the gov. They want kids in school and parents back to work, but have shutdown an industry that employees hundreds of thousands and brings in billions into the tourist industry. 

[princevaliantus]

1 hour ago, Rene Desmarais said:

Look on the bright side.    CDC has extended the ban for an additional 76 days and not another 100 days..  

76? I believe you meant 68 additional days from July 24th. (July - 7 + Aug - 31 + Sept - 30 = 68 days) Even one extra day of no cruise is bad!! ⛴⛴⛴⛴⛴⛴

[cruisellama]

1 hour ago, princevaliantus said:

Would hate to be the bearer of bad news when No Sail Order is extended again till the end of the year. There will be alot of unhappy campers for the Holiday cruises including me!

Us2

[Ampurp85]

Regardless if it is 68 or 77 days it is still possible for them to sail this year. I think about it this way....Canada isn't allowing ships to possible come in into port until Nov. So if the US doesn't start until October then maybe more ports will be open. More ports means that itineraries don't have to change too much. That means that Thanksgiving and Christmas cruises should be unchanged and roaring to go. 

[princevaliantus]

Here's an idea. Since cruising has resumed in Europe, and hopefully it continues to do so, how about cruising Europe for the Holidays?  Sounds tempting to me! Loved it when we did it a couple of years ago. Sailing from one European port to another and experiencing the different ways each country celebrates the Holidays. Was a blast and all that delicious Holiday cuisine.  Note to self: pack fat jeans!!

[Zambia-Zaire]

Drip drip drip...

[Cmaccullen]

Third cruise canceled. So over it

[TempoGL]

5 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Here's an idea. Since cruising has resumed in Europe, and hopefully it continues to do so, how about cruising Europe for the Holidays?  Sounds tempting to me! Loved it when we did it a couple of years ago. Sailing from one European port to another and experiencing the different ways each country celebrates the Holidays. Was a blast and all that delicious Holiday cuisine.  Note to self: pack fat jeans!!

Sure, if you can also quarantine in Europe for 14 days before you leave

[princevaliantus]

24 minutes ago, TempoGL said:

Sure, if you can also quarantine in Europe for 14 days before you leave

There are no quarantine orders for U.S. citizens considering we are currently denied entry into EU Member States, but hoping that changes in a few months.

[Joe01]

Damn, I guess that things are really bad, beginning to worry a bit for the cruise lines if they aren't back in service by the end of the year.

I'm on a train to go on vacation in London at the moment (I'm not leaving the UK but after London, the rest of my family are off to France), can't see how going there and being in a train for 4.5 hours is safe but a cruise isn't. We've managed in the UK to find ways to operate things with distancing so it sucks that the CDC are still banning any sailings. I'm sure they could do something if they thought out of the box more.

[jticarruthers]

10 hours ago, Cmaccullen said:

Third cruise canceled. So over it

Seven with 8 looking likely since its in October

[princevaliantus]

13 hours ago, Scrumps said:

I still believe that Oct 1st is going to be make or break for the industry. I know they have cash available until next year, but they are not going to wait until they run out. If the CDC refuses to hear their plans and just extends to 2021, and they lose all the holiday income too, at least 1 of the 3 will reorg, or worse. I just can't see status quo continuing through the end of the year.

What I do not understand is the mixed messages coming from the gov. They want kids in school and parents back to work, but have shutdown an industry that employees hundreds of thousands and brings in billions into the tourist industry. 

Yup....I agree whole-heartedly !! If they extend the No Sail Order to the end of the year or into 2021, I will be dumping the stock quicker than you can say John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt !! 

[Jill]

Interesting article about the no sail order: 

“In its last extension of the No Sail order, dated April 15, the agency asked all major cruise lines to issue a response plan to the order, stipulating precisely what that needed to entail. As of July 10, the agency said only one cruise line — Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line — has come up with a plan that adequately meets all the requirements. It added that the “difficulty of cruise ship operators in submitting appropriate [No Sail Order] response plans was compounded by several instances of potential non-compliance with the requirements of the April 15, 2020 Extension.” These include alleged improper disembarkations of crew and crew not adhering to social distancing on board.“ 

Almost appears the CDC is “punishing” the industry because of what happened early on. The disembark debacle (didn’t follow CDC) and the alleged partying by crew after ships were cleared of passengers. 
 

Full article here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cdc-extends-no-sail-order-210532606.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=ma

[Mrs. Thomas]

@Jill Looks like they are creeping closer to our Oct. SOS sailing. I wonder if the lines will take the initiative and cancel into October or just hang on as long as they can. They may wait until the end of next month so they can see if what they are doing with the panel will be in their favor. Do you know if you can get a refund after opting for FCC and that cruise you use FCC for is canceled?

 

@Rene Desmarais I'm glad someone is trying to find a silver lining.

[WAAAYTOOO]

11 minutes ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

Do you know if you can get a refund after opting for FCC and that cruise you use FCC for is canceled?

Cash can be turned into an FCC but an FCC can never be turned into cash....at least, that's the way I understand it.  Back in the good ol' days, you could apply an FCC to a Paid-In-Full cruise and receive a CC refund but not anymore.

So if a cruise is cancelled where an FCC was used, the only cash you can get back would be any additional "new money" that you added in addition to the FCC.  The FCC will be reissued as a new FCC.

[Mrs. Thomas]

26 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Cash can be turned into an FCC but an FCC can never be turned into cash....at least, that's the way I understand it.  Back in the good ol' days, you could apply an FCC to a Paid-In-Full cruise and receive a CC refund but not anymore.

So if a cruise is cancelled where an FCC was used, the only cash you can get back would be any additional "new money" that you added in addition to the FCC.  The FCC will be reissued as a new FCC.

I think there may have been some communication break-down between my TA and RC. This isn't what I was told. Either way, I'm going to just "roll the dice" as Matt says and hope for Oct. If it is canceled again, then I will hang onto my FCC and any refunds and look to next year. I won't book anymore until the "No-Sail Order" is over. I can't handle the back and forth of the monies. At least I never told my kids what we were doing. They won't be as upset about not going anywhere.

[Ian T]

8 minutes ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

I think there may have been some communication break-down between my TA and RC. This isn't what I was told. Either way, I'm going to just "roll the dice" as Matt says and hope for Oct. If it is canceled again, then I will hang onto my FCC and any refunds and look to next year. I won't book anymore until the "No-Sail Order" is over. I can't handle the back and forth of the monies. At least I never told my kids what we were doing. They won't be as upset about not going anywhere.

From the Q&A section on RCI's web site:

I am presuming that the "new Future Cruise Credit" can then be transformed into a refund as per the following:

[Katy H]

15 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Here's an idea. Since cruising has resumed in Europe, and hopefully it continues to do so, how about cruising Europe for the Holidays?  Sounds tempting to me! Loved it when we did it a couple of years ago. Sailing from one European port to another and experiencing the different ways each country celebrates the Holidays. Was a blast and all that delicious Holiday cuisine.  Note to self: pack fat jeans!!

But will we be allowed to fly to Europe?  We currently have a Transatlantic cruise scheduled out of Italy on Nov. 26.  We are holding out, just in case, but are fully expecting it will be cancelled.

 

[Ian T]

8 minutes ago, Katy H said:

But will we be allowed to fly to Europe?  We currently have a Transatlantic cruise scheduled out of Italy on Nov. 26.  We are holding out, just in case, but are fully expecting it will be cancelled.

 

I am a UK citizen due to sail on Anthem out of Southampton on 17th October, but I still don't know if I will be able to travel either given the recent UK FCO advice to simply avoid cruising indefinitely... whilst it is an advice rather than an order, if the advice does not change I wonder (i) whether RCI will bother to go ahead with the sailing given that a large proportion of the guests are likely to be UK citizens, and (ii) if the sailing does go ahead, how my travel insurer will feel about me sailing contrary to FCO advice! 

Much as I hate to admit it, cashing in my FFCs for refunds and sitting tight until all the wrinkles are finally ironed out is looking a more attractive prospect with each passing day. 

[Ray]

15 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Here's an idea. Since cruising has resumed in Europe, and hopefully it continues to do so, how about cruising Europe for the Holidays?  Sounds tempting to me! Loved it when we did it a couple of years ago. Sailing from one European port to another and experiencing the different ways each country celebrates the Holidays. Was a blast and all that delicious Holiday cuisine.  Note to self: pack fat jeans!!

Dont know why they dont move ships to European ports and stagger sailing days!

In Europe we are used to vacations starting on a Tuesday,  Wednesday or whatever day! So why not say oasis from Amsterdam, freedom from Southampton,  brilliance  from Stockholm etc on a Tuesday, then on the Wednesday same ports different ships and same again on the Thursday etc etc etc 

Even 50% capacity brings in revenue until US market opens up again and right now no one can predict or say when that will be 

[Ray]

24 minutes ago, Katy H said:

But will we be allowed to fly to Europe?  We currently have a Transatlantic cruise scheduled out of Italy on Nov. 26.  We are holding out, just in case, but are fully expecting it will be cancelled.

 

Depending where you come from you may have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival

[Mrs. Thomas]

4 minutes ago, crisgold52 said:

I already have bookings set for FEB and soon to be MAY which I will simply switch into should my NOV not go ahead. While it's good to be hopeful at this point it's a sense of remote hopefulness as one can't see the lines heading out of the US with cases spiking in most parts of the country compared to say Canada. 

Even though cases have went up, the death rate continues to go down. Which I think is fabulous. I don't know about Canada, but in the US we don't ever look at flu cases. We look at flu deaths (well that's what the media reports on). Is this different because it is new? I understand that this can be really bad, but why are we confining the healthy in fear instead of quarantining the sick? I have a Feb. sailing booked. If it is canceled due to all of this, then I will get a full refund and not cruise again until I know that this insanity is over. That means I may never cruise again, which is sad. I will adjust though. There are plenty of beautiful places in the US that I haven't seen yet.

[CruisinForABruisin]

2 minutes ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

but why are we confining the healthy in fear instead of quarantining the sick?.

Because you would literally need to test every single person in the world daily for weeks on end? It's an illness with a long incubation period.

[Ian T]

1 hour ago, Ray said:

Dont know why they dont move ships to European ports and stagger sailing days!

In Europe we are used to vacations starting on a Tuesday,  Wednesday or whatever day! So why not say oasis from Amsterdam, freedom from Southampton,  brilliance  from Stockholm etc on a Tuesday, then on the Wednesday same ports different ships and same again on the Thursday etc etc etc 

Even 50% capacity brings in revenue until US market opens up again and right now no one can predict or say when that will be 

I'm all for that! 

[PattiHere]

1 hour ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

Even though cases have went up, the death rate continues to go down. Which I think is fabulous. I don't know about Canada, but in the US we don't ever look at flu cases. We look at flu deaths (well that's what the media reports on). Is this different because it is new? I understand that this can be really bad, but why are we confining the healthy in fear instead of quarantining the sick? I have a Feb. sailing booked. If it is canceled due to all of this, then I will get a full refund and not cruise again until I know that this insanity is over. That means I may never cruise again, which is sad. I will adjust though. There are plenty of beautiful places in the US that I haven't seen yet.

 Two days ago it was reported that two Covid testing labs in the Orlando area were recording very high positives, This is a quote from an Orlando news source/station:

 

For at least the past 11 days, the Florida Department of Health coronavirus report shows hundreds of laboratories are reporting 98 to 100% of COVID-19 tests are coming back positive and according to the DOH those statistics are because some private labs aren’t reporting their negative results at all.  Some of the private laboratories are not reporting any negative tests but hundreds of positive COVID-19 tests.  When asked about the 98 to 100% positivity rates on the report, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health said the reason was due to some “smaller, private labs” not reporting negative test results to the state.

 

A spokesperson with Advent Health said they were told by FDOH to only report positive cases. The hospital said it would make any changes to their reporting if requested by the state.

 

Guess those high numbers for Florida are not accurate.

Sadly even taking a driving vacation through the states will be a challenge with some states putting restrictions in place for people coming from "high risk" areas of the country, even staying in my own state has challenges.   I hope there is a cure/treatment, so many people (friends and family) are trying to follow the guidelines, but we never hear that the end is in sight, and nothing but bad news from the media.  Then we see the above news, when we are trying so hard to follow the recommendations, and see there is false reporting.  How can we believe what we hear.  We need hope!    People are struggling financially, losing their businesses, cannot see family members, cannot say good bye to loved ones (a nephew passed away a week ago suddenly, cannot have a funeral), the elderly can not be with family or friends or go to activities that help them socialize, so needed when you are older, many going through depression and isolation from friends and family.   And sadly this virus is also turning friends and family against each other, so sad when we are in this together.    We need some uplifting news, not constant bad news.   I want to dream about going on a cruise, I miss the excitement of planning and looking forward to my sail day, counting down the days.  I need something to look forward to, not to constantly hear that it is not going to happen.   

[Bigbob7777]

22 hours ago, JimnKathy said:

Not that I'm one bit surprised, but there goes our B2B Symphony sailing 9/19. 

I had b2b2b on Harmony.  Oh well...

[Mrs. Thomas]

2 hours ago, CruisinForABruisin said:

Because you would literally need to test every single person in the world daily for weeks on end? It's an illness with a long incubation period.

Which makes testing 48hrs before you go pointless or even temp checks. Temp check before boarding? Sure! However, if a person is in the middle of incubation period (asymptomatic or not) then you won't know if they are sick. There still isn't enough data to know how contagious a person could be at that point. If they are, then they don't know it. Quarantine the most vulnerable and the sick. If the rest of us get it then we should be fine.

@PattiHere I agree. We need more good news. Unfortunately, the media (and some in this forum) only want to talk about the negative or pour out any glasses that are half full. It is horrid that they padded the numbers so bad in Florida. I wonder if those will be taken out of the total number of national cases. There is proof that numbers in other states are padded too. I know going state to state can be a problem, but seeing as how flying isn't being demonized, I may just be able to fly somewhere. However, I'm probably better off driving. I have family in other states that I wouldn't mind seeing. All of this is getting very heavy, but I don't think those in power (at least not many of them) actually care. We must continue to search out the unbiased truth and lift others up.

[Katy H]

3 hours ago, Ray said:

Depending where you come from you may have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival

We would be coming from Michigan.  Quarantine for 14 days prior to a 15 night cruise won't work for us.

[BarbieBell]

Ok 5 cruises cancelled for this year, 2 pending, one Oct 25, TA Nov 1 from Barcelona so yup I agree this is disheartening and expensive. One olive branch that could be offered by RCI would be reducing the 90 day final payment policy. It would be helpful to us and reduce their accounting nightmare issuing FCC and refunds. I think more and more folks are opting for refunds now days, so faith is definitely dwindling. There’s a couple of lines that have gone with 60 day final pays and again I think it would be nice

[JimnKathy]

2 hours ago, Bigbob7777 said:

I had b2b2b on Harmony.  Oh well...

Just did a L&S on our cancelled B2B Symphony cruise to Sep 2021...we'll be celebrating 21 years of marriage instead of 20!

[cruisellama]

Any guesses on which cruise line(s) will be the first to have their back to sail plan approved by the CDC?  

[princevaliantus]

2 hours ago, cruisellama said:

Any guesses on which cruise line(s) will be the first to have their back to sail plan approved by the CDC?  

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line already does.