Posted on 02/26/2021 10:49:10 AM PST by Capt. Tom
For months now, all of the major cruise lines have asked would-be passengers to be patient while they worked through everything from the implementation of protocols to dealings with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They’ve spoken to us in vague terms about what progress has been made, insisting that when they have answers, so will we.
Yet when it comes to actual, solid information, they’ve been incredibly reticent. Not one line has stepped forward to spell out, in detail, how their talks with the CDC are going. Not one line has offered a detailed, comprehensive explanation of exactly what we can expect when sailings begin again.
Instead, they’ve issued vague statements about progress alongside round after round of cancelations. They’ve launched new marketing campaigns in an effort to bolster future sales without providing anything resembling solid information as to when they really, truly expect a resumption of service.
It was late last fall that we first learned about the “virtual sailings” which each ship would need to undergo before being green-lit for revenue-generating voyages, yet neither the cruise lines nor the CDC has since issued firm information as to when even one ship will undergo this new process. Despite this, they continue to insist that they “hope” to be sailing within a few months.
This is, of course, an incredibly difficult time for the industry, and they are perhaps understandably wary about saying the wrong thing. Mention that vaccines might — emphasis on “might” — be required and message boards light up with people vowing not to cruise under those circumstances. The same goes for mask wearing in public spaces on board.
CDC RULE: Cruise Passengers Will Be Required To Wear Masks
Yet we also know that there are just as many people who will abide by whatever health and safety protocols wind up being put in place if it means they can cruise again.
Obviously, nobody wants things to return to normal more desperately than do those running the businesses which are losing millions upon millions of dollars a month thanks to the shutdown.
But it’s time for the cruise lines to put as much faith in their customers as those passengers are being asked to put in their businesses. They need to stop talking in circles and vagaries, and instead put all the cards on the table. In short, they need to answer the tough questions and do so with honest, unflinching answers.
Yes, the situation is fluid and information could change. But they should provide information that is accurate as of now and relevant to when they say they intend to sail, even if those return to service dates turn out to be (as they have been so often before) nothing more than pipe dreams.
Among the questions needing to be addressed:
What is the status of the “virtual sailings”? When will they begin and how will it be decided who is chosen to take part? Exactly what are they expecting life on board to look like? At what capacity do they expect to sail, what activities will reservations be required for, and what system will be put in place to assure that all guests are able to partake in all activities? Where do things stand when it comes to negotiations with ports they hope to visit? Bottom line: The industry needs to be far more transparent about their talks with the CDC. By continuing to keep everyone from travel advisors to passengers in the dark, they are doing potentially irreparable harm to those who have been the most loyal to them in the past.
This editorial is a sign of what I feel a lot of well intentioned Cruisers are starting to feel.-Tom
I’m not a fan of cruises, but what these companies supposed to do when the CDC and Fauci keeps changing their story? The cruise industry is another casualty of this COVID hoax.
There is no doubt Fauci and the CDC are in a position to severely cripple cruise lines operating from this country.
The Editorial thread is taking issue with the Cruise Lines Rosy Picture of the future of cruising in spite of over a year of no cruises for some of the lines, and how they keep booking cruises into cancelations after cancelations with upbeat predictions to keep the potential passenger money flowing to the Cruise lines.
I understand the Cruise Lines problems, but after awhile the old excuses need to be replaced with more real world talk. -Tom
I can't even imagine all the hoops the cruise industry has to jump through, and how many expensive policy decisions they have to make, and re-make, and re-make again, only to have the goalposts moved out from under them.
I understand the frustration the author feels, but his anger is misplaced.
“But it’s time for the cruise lines to put as much faith in their customers as those passengers are being asked to put in their businesses. They need to stop talking in circles and vagaries, and instead put all the cards on the table. In short, they need to answer the tough questions and do so with honest, unflinching answers.”
It would be more accurate to restate this as: “But it’s time for the CDC to put as much faith in the public as the public is being asked to put in the CDC. The CDC needs to stop talking in circles and vagaries, and instead put all their cards on the table. In short, the CDC needs to answer the tough questions and do so with honest, unflinching answers.
Sink one of those boats in the mouth of the port of Seattle or LA.
Transparency is _way_ too white.
Every large entity, public and private, is full of secrecy and lies now.
The cruise li es need to invite Dr. FRAUD on a cruise...AND the CDC director ALSO!! Put them on the best ship in the best suite....
If those cruise ships are really transparent, they will sink.
Why the cruise lines haven’t banded together and taken Deep State to court is beyond me.
The glass bottom cruise ship ?
Cruise companies and airlines are going under. At this point, the companies are just playing a shell game with customers’ money.
Well it's generally advisable not to comment during negotiations. Bureaucrats can be particularly petty so even more so when negotiating with the alphabet swamp.
Airlines like American, have been bankrupt before and bailed out, and will be bailed out again, by us taxpayers.
Cruise ships are registered in small foreign countries and won't get bailed out like the airlines, so the Cruise Lines have a bigger problem.
The ships are registered off-shore for legal and financial purposes, but both Carnival and RC are US Corporations.
So their finances will be dependent on their relationship with Democrat politicians.
In before a “petri dish” comment. (Stolen from another FReeper.)
They are not incorporated in this country so they don't pay Fed.Taxes. That is why they don't get bailed out. -Tom
“I can’t even imagine all the hoops the cruise industry has to jump through, and how many expensive policy decisions they have to make, and re-make, and re-make again, only to have the goalposts moved out from under them.”
And even if the CDC says GO! there are built in delays. -See article below. -Tom
My thoughts exactly.
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