Bahamas bans US travellers effective July 22nd-reversing July 1 reopening

[otten]

Certain ports are still rebuilding the last round of hurricane damage. And we're headed into Atlantic season now. COVID+hurricane would be pretty bad.

I hadn't even thought of that. You're absolutely right. I really don't think the Bahamian government took the decision to ban Americans lightly but they're probably looking at the situation in Florida in particular with real concern.

 

[sethschroeder]

The fact that CA, UK, and EU are all on the exempt list and the US is lumped in with the rest of the world is fairly telling and spells out there will be no DCL cruises to that country with out drastic changes to the state of things in the US. Won't likely matter anyways though since cruising is a ways off from being green lit.

 

[dvcdream4fld]

We are still holding out for an 8-day cruise at the end of November. There are rumors that they will do a double dip at castaway cay. To be honest, if DCL replaces ports with more trips to castaway cay, then I wouldn’t complain. We have a plan B and have DVC reservations at the Riveria and Poly, and I’m sort of interested in limited capacity at the parks. I hope Disney hasn’t slowed down the construction of the new ships, because I am pretty sure the demand will be pretty high after we get past this stuff.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

There are rumors that they will do a double dip at castaway cay.

CC is subject to Bahamian law, so as of right now no Americans would be permitted to dock or debark.

 

[otten]

We are still holding out for an 8-day cruise at the end of November. There are rumors that they will do a double dip at castaway cay. To be honest, if DCL replaces ports with more trips to castaway cay, then I wouldn’t complain. We have a plan B and have DVC reservations at the Riveria and Poly, and I’m sort of interested in limited capacity at the parks. I hope Disney hasn’t slowed down the construction of the new ships, because I am pretty sure the demand will be pretty high after we get past this stuff.

I actually think demand is going to be quite depressed for some time. There will be an initial jump in demand as people with cancelled cruises finally get to sail but the global economy is going to take a long time to recover. This will have an even larger negative impact on travel demand than 9/11 did.

 

[dvcdream4fld]

You may be right. Cruise demand may go down, which means pricing will also go down. Back in the last recession (2010-2012 or so), DVC resale prices were less than 1/2 of what they are now, and WDW package deals were really good. The more avid Disney fans may be able to travel for less.

 

[JM23457]

I actually think demand is going to be quite depressed for some time. There will be an initial jump in demand as people with cancelled cruises finally get to sail but the global economy is going to take a long time to recover. This will have an even larger negative impact on travel demand than 9/11 did.

This. The biggest long term effect of society's reaction to this virus will be the worldwide economic damage it produces, equal to or worse than the 2008 recession.

 

[dvcdream4fld]

CC is subject to Bahamian law, so as of right now no Americans would be permitted to dock or debark.

Understood, that is also why we have a plan B. I think in the long term more time at Castaway Cay is a smart move for Disney Cruise Line. Disney can provide better protection for their guests, guests will spend more on Disney activities, and castaway cay is a fan favorite and a highlight of the cruise. It seems to me that it would a win for Disney and Guests, so I’m hoping more time at castaway becomes the norm. To be honest, I would feel safer cruising if Disney limited the amount of ports.

 

[T & R]

CC is subject to Bahamian law, so as of right now no Americans would be permitted to dock or debark.

I've always wondered why the cruise ships can't cut a deal with the Bahamian Government to utilize their private islands only like Coco and Castaway Cay? If you read the Bahamian PM's latest ban, you can see there are different rules applied to different areas of the Bahamas (like Freeport), so it wouldn't be far fetched to add additional rules/exceptions to allow for cruise ship's private islands to be used. There is no risk to the Bahaman population from cruise ships utilizing their private islands. It's a private island, so locals can't just drive over and use it. Also, although normally a few local vendors are boated over to Castaway Cay to sell cruise passengers stuff, this practice can just be temporarily suspended so that locals are not exposed. It would be a win for all, the cruise ships could satisfy the PVSA requirement by visiting a foreign port and the Bahamian Government could earn millions in badly needed port fees during their tourism shutdown with no risk of locals being exposed. The Bahamas is one of the most tourist dependent economies in the Caribbean, so they really need to start thinking outside the box (like above for example) if they want to have revenue to sustain their government and provide basic services to their citizens.

 

[spiders]

This. The biggest long term effect of society's reaction to this virus will be the worldwide economic damage it produces, equal to or worse than the 2008 recession.

Oh, we're well beyond the 2008 recession.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

This is just getting more and more depressing. Sayonara May cruise. Looks like it's going to be a while and now that CC is out there's no reason to let DCL continue keeping my money.

 

[insureman]

Oh, we're well beyond the 2008 recession.

I guess that depends on who you talk to. Here's another side.
https://time.com/5861134/covid-19-recession-should-be-worse/

 

[randumb0]

This is just getting more and more depressing. Sayonara May cruise. Looks like it's going to be a while and now that CC is out there's no reason to let DCL continue keeping my money.

Did you rebook for May 2021?

 

[Joe Brig]

If Disney can't use their "private" island they should really look for alternatives to The Bahamas and reconsider their investment in Lighthouse Point.

 

[o&smom]

This is just getting more and more depressing. Sayonara May cruise. Looks like it's going to be a while and now that CC is out there's no reason to let DCL continue keeping my money.

What do you mean good bye May cruises?!? Did I miss an update somewhere. We are booked Concierge in April out of Port Canaveral.

 

[bcwife76]

This is just getting more and more depressing. Sayonara May cruise. Looks like it's going to be a while and now that CC is out there's no reason to let DCL continue keeping my money.

I'm kind of confused, too. May is 10 months away, you have no idea when the Bahamas will open to US travelers and to cruise ships, but if I had to guess I'd say it will be before your May cruise. Not sure I'd throw in the towel just yet.

 

[JM23457]

If Disney can't use their "private" island they should really look for alternatives to The Bahamas and reconsider their investment in Lighthouse Point.

What alternatives, exactly? The Bahamas are perfectly located for short cruises from Florida. There is no other country that could fill that gap. And the Bahamas isn't the only country limiting cruise ship entry right now. It would be incredibly short-sighted of Disney to pull out of its most popular port, Castaway Cay, due to a pandemic that will affect about one year of sailings. Castaway Cay is DCL's biggest draw, outside of the characters. They might as well as throw the Fab Five overboard, as ditch CC. And that's without going into the fact that they certainly can't afford to scout and develop a brand new private island at this financially difficult time.

 

[T & R]

We are still holding out for an 8-day cruise at the end of November

Looks like only 10/16/2021 if I'm reading it correctly.

 

[Joe Brig]

What alternatives, exactly? The Bahamas are perfectly located for short cruises from Florida. There is no other country that could fill that gap. And the Bahamas isn't the only country limiting cruise ship entry right now. It would be incredibly short-sighted of Disney to pull out of its most popular port, Castaway Cay, due to a pandemic that will affect about one year of sailings. Castaway Cay is DCL's biggest draw, outside of the characters. They might as well as throw the Fab Five overboard, as ditch CC. And that's without going into the fact that they certainly can't afford to scout and develop a brand new private island at this financially difficult time.

Short sighted is giving one small, and corrupt if you read the news, country the power to cancel most of your business. The Bahamas aren't the only islands in the world.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I don't believe Haiti is open wide for RCCL right now. Princess also is contracted with the Bahamas.

And it is all pretty academic when cruises from US ports are shut down until at least 10/1. Right now, the stronger piece of the Bahamian ban is on air arrivals. None of the lines are coming in.