From MSC resuming cruising next week to some surprising protocols such as
corvid tests at the port
a brand new ventilation
system that can wipe out viruses.
To news from Norwegian and more.
We've put together all the best cruise news for you.
Well ahoy there cruisers.
We're Cruise with Ben and David and welcome to this week's cruise news roundup.
So all major cruise lines have cancelled
cruises now until november.
The cruise line international association announced that its members
which include almost every cruise line
including royal caribbean
norwegian, disney, holland america and carnival.
That they will voluntarily suspend cruisers until at least october 31st.
Virgin Voyages are also suspending sailing but have yet to name a new date
for the first sailing of their ship
scarlet lady.
This really isn't surprising news but it's really
sad nonetheless.
The disastrous start of some cruise lines over the last few weeks
Such as the Hurtigruten incident have
obviously had a big impact of when cruise lines are going to
start again.
We are beginning to worry about how long
cruise lines can last without any cruising.
They are legitimately bleeding money.
They did say that if conditions changed
shorter cruisers could resume actually earlier than this.
So that's a little bit of good news isn't it.
A little bit of light at the
end of the tunnel a little bit of positivity.
Well we need some positivity
don't we it's just been all bad news.
It's ah! It's so annoying guys.
It's so frustrating it's like.....
One step forward, two steps back.
Yeah that's how it feels like yeah that's
exactly how it feels.
But fingers crossed
things progress and that we are able to get to back to
cruising soon.
And talking about some good news we have some good news from
MSC cruises.
They've announced that they plan to
start cruising in just over a week Ben.
Amazing!
How good is that!
They will start cruising with just two ships the MSC Grandiosa and the Magnifica.
The Grandiosa will sail seven night voyages in the Western Mediterranean
visiting the ports of Malta and Italy.
MSC Magnifica will sail the Eastern Mediterranean
and include stops in Greece and Croatia.
But the bad news is that anybody from the UK or the USA or Ireland.
Don't get too excited guys because these cruises
are only open to residents of the Schengen zone countries within the EU.
So, what are MSC's plans to make the ships safe?
Well the most interesting aspect in is the boarding phase.
It will be a three-step embarkation process that includes
a temperature check, a health questionnaire and a rapid swab test.
Yes an actual test in port.
How effective these will be
is anyone's guess because as we know the rapid tests have proved to be
completely useless in some cases.
Coming back with false positives and
all of that jazz.
So people could get caught out when they don't have
or the other way around.
All crew members will also
be tested during the passenger boarding phase.
Passengers from high-risk areas will also be given a second molecular test.
A second molecular test. What a molecular test?
That sounds like some sort of crazy sci-fi thing.
And how quick are the results going to be as well that's the main thing.
At the moment they're coming back between sort of two and four days.
And to be honest for us we would not want to start a vacation
that includes testing.
The capacity of the ships will also be reduced
with a limited number of guests allowed in certain venues.
Guests who do feel ill will receive completely free
treatment in the onboard medical facilities.
Tere will also be
isolation rooms in case of an outbreak
and temperature checks will be carried out
on a daily basis all around the ship.
In different stations as well as when you return from a shore excursion.
And when it comes to port excursions
they're going to be strictly controlled.
Passengers will be unable to explore alone.
They must book one of the MSC shore excursions to enjoy the ports of call.
Excursions will depart in smaller groups
so it'll be wise to book early.
Wow that's a little bit different isn't it.
Very different!
That's going to you've got to think about the extra cost
involved with this as well because obviously doing all of the excursions in
the ports is going to cost a lot more money than it would be doing
a DIY like we like to do in port.
So we use local transportation.
The trains, the buses and just have a nice walk around.
We like to do it by ourselves because otherwise it feels a little bit forced.
Yeah, that really takes away from the cruise experience for us.
What do you guys think?
Let us know in the comments section below.
For us because we've missed sailing so much I think I would probably stay on board.
But I'd also be interested to see how much these excursions are
going to be and will they be more expensive?
Because they're going in smaller groups
which obviously means that they need more staff, more people to run the
excursions.
Absolutely.
Social distancing will obviously play a large part
with restaurants, bars and lounges all being reconfigured to maintain that space.
And restaurants and bars will also have guests ordering from their mobile devices.
As opposed to using actual physical
paper or card menus.
And the buffet will remain but with crew
serving passengers.
Just like the Holland America model
which we said would happen way back at the start.
But gosh that's a lot!
That is a lot of information but
you've got to expect all this information to make sure that people
feel safe when they're cruising.
They've obviously done a tremendous job
in putting this all together.
But would that make you feel safe?
Is it going to stop?
Other companies have done similar things.
And it still got through.
We don't think so unfortunately.
It will probably slip through the net somewhere.
No matter what you do this is ruthless.
So would you cruise on an MSC Cruise at this time?
Let us know in the comments section below we'd love to hear your opinion.
And we've got a poll up on our Facebook page that we put up every week.
And we always post things like loads of news and content there as well.
So make sure you give us a follow.
We're called Cruise With on Facebook.
Next, could a new ventilation system help make cruising safer?
Well an Italian company called Integra
has created an air sanitizer that works with ships ventilation systems.
This new system could be revolutionary in keeping cruises a safer cleaner place.
Basically the system would pump out a disinfectant
which the company says will combat most common airborne illnesses.
It's odorless, non-toxic and environmentally friendly.
The disinfectant would also help sanitize surfaces too.
Keeping everything very clean and hopefully virus free.
And the system's also able to pump out~ fragrances too!
Not sure why but then again they say it's alcohol-free and safe.
When you mentioned that
I just had this vision of...
Do you know when you see these contamination booths
where people walk in and they get like spritzed.
Well yeah I don't know how I feel about
disinfectant being sprayed out of an air conditioning system all the time.
I know they say it's safe
but what if you're allergic to chemicals or different types of sanitizers.
Will that have an effect?
Yeah, but you always see the sprays in the bathrooms.
Like the automatic room fresheners.
So it's really just the same thing I guess.
Yeah one of the benefits is that
Integra said the technology can be installed on ships
easily and quickly and this stated it can be installed in just 15 minutes.
That's crazy and the system only needs cleaning every year so it's really low maintenance.
The company says that three cruise lines are close to signing a deal.
But they didn't say which cruise lines they are.
So coming back again to the chemicals and disinfectants being used.
What if you're allergic to them?
Well, the company has said given all of the chemicals that are going to be used
in order to combat the virus.
It's going to be the same everywhere.
No matter what kind of device is used.
Yeah, essentially so these chemicals are
already going to be used on board ships anyway.
So let's have a look at some news from Norwegian Cruise Line.
Norwegian have reported a net loss of 715 million US Dollars
in the second quarter.
With revenue plunging to less than 17 million dollars.
Down from the 1.7 billion a year ago.
I mean this news is not unexpected at all.
But that's a massive 99% loss
compared to last year.
That's a huge hit!
But CEO Frank Del Rio admitted on the latest earnings call.
That he was astonished how well bookings are coming in.
Given that the industry is suspended.
Norwegian already reported a $1.2 billion of advanced ticket sales as of June 30th 2020.
But 800 million of that is coming from future cruise credits.
Norwegian has raised a total of 1.5 billion in July to bolster their liquidity
and cover their losses.
Which they believe positions them to withstand a scenario
of prolonged voyage suspensions.
That's good to hear.
They did say that if cruising was cancelled past November 2020
That it would likely lead to a further negative impact.
So what does that mean?
They're going to have to start selling ships?
Or other things have to go?
Norwegian have also said as soon as they are given the green light to start cruising again.
It will only take them three or four weeks
to restaff their ships to be ready to go.
So that's really good to hear that they'll be ready to go really quickly
once they're given the green light by the CDC and the FCO and people like that.
Yep and they said that they've been working really hard to make cruises
better when they do return.
They also said that their next
new ship the "Leonardo class" will be ready and delivered on time
in 2022.
It's going to be a smaller ship than the "Breakaway class"
so that's going to be a nice change.
And the ship will be different with a
completely different decor scheme.
There'll be new restaurants as well as
new entertainment.
President Harry Sommer said;
"I thought the Encore was beautiful. I think the Joy and Bliss are beautiful...
But this ship is just off the charts fantastic"
So that's some really good news we cannot wait to see what the Leonardo class ship looks like.
Something to look forward to and it's
nice that it's a completely different type of ship.
Because again some of the Norwegian ships are very very similar.
You already know what they're going to look like essentially don't you.
So it's nice that it's something completely new.
So it looks like they're moving away from their current design
scheme and look of the ships to something completely different.
Next up guidance has been issued for resuming
safe cruise operations in the European Union.
The European Maritime Safety Agency and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control
have worked together to develop a plan.
This coincides obviously with the start of MSC cruising in just a week's time.
The International Maritime Organization has circulated the information
meant for any ship that visits the EU irrespective of the flag that they carry.
This guidance includes a management plan and tailor-made risk assessments by each company.
Detailed plans as well as carrying out
drills and exercises on board for preparing for outbreaks.
Information for ports
and what measures should be put in place.
And established procedures and plans made by cruise lines and ports in case
of an outbreak.
In the event of an outbreak.
The ship should divert to the closest port for testing.
Next up an update on the outbreak on the Hurtigruten ship last week.
If you haven't watched our last video yet please check it out now.
It has all the information in there.
At least 21 passengers and 41 crew now have tested positive.
Hundreds more passengers remain in quarantine until test results come back.
All the passengers have now been contacted and told to self-isolate for 10 days.
So this is worrying news.
Norway's government has announced that it will stop
all cruise ships with more than 100 people on board from disembarking
passengers for at least two weeks.
Yeah so this is a step back on the progress that we were seeing in getting back to cruise.
When we last talked to you there was just 36 crew who were contaminated.
Now it's 21 passengers as well.
Police are also investigating if any laws have been broken by the cruise line.
Saying that "we found grounds to open a case".
Hurtigruten has suspended its leader of maritime operations
after the outbreak as well.
And finally some more bad news for the first cruise line to return to
cruising in the USA.
The very first cruise ship to return to cruising in the USA.
Has had to turn back after just three
days after a passenger tested positive.
The 60 passenger "Wilderness Adventurer" had set off from Juneau for a cruise to Alaska.
The 'UnCruise Adventures' ship was under
halfway into its week-long voyage.
The cruise was stopped after a passenger
received a phone call from the State of Alaska with
notification of a positive test.
All passengers were then confined to cabins and fed in their cabins before
arriving into Juneau.
Then passengers were brought to a local hotel
to begin a state mandated quarantine.
Like all other passengers before they
got on the cruise the passenger had to take a test which
actually came back negative.
A second test was taken before boarding
and then that came positive once they were on the ship.
The company said that the guest is showing no symptoms
and nor the guests and crew are showing outward symptoms of any kind.
But again another ship with loads of procedures and protocols.
Again being hit.
We really don't see cruising
really starting properly again until there's at least a vaccine.
What do you think?
Yeah, we'd love to hear what you think
please let us know in the comments section below
your thoughts on everything that we've covered in this video.
Thank you so much for watching this video and thank you so much to all
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Our captain of the week is Amy so Ahoy!
That's it till next time Happy Cruising.