Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[gottalovepluto]

I wonder if potentially that suggests 1 Hotel at DLR will stay closed indefinitely?

No. They make a bunch of money off all when times are good. I wouldn’t be surprised if they extend the closure of DLH until demand is there but it won’t be permanent. Fwiw they are giving a rebooking discount on GCH & PPH but you can’t use it at DLH you can only book rack rate- I think that’s a sign we won’t see DLH open this year.

And what would they do if they closed one? Demolition & parking lot? Can’t sell it to your competition being that close to DLR & the convention center.

 

[Farro]

You can if youve continually planned for the future.

So your plan is that Disney should have planned for an unprecedented pandemic that completely shut down all their parks all over the world (not to mention hotels, DVCs and movie production) for months by putting money aside to continually pay cast members who can't be called back to work for months on end?

And would you apply that across the board - to all the hospitals that had to let staff go due to closings/stopping elective surgeries, or all the restaurants/bars/hair salons/gyms etc. ?

 

[Pyotr]

I’d rather cruise lines look into having shorter cruises with no stops at ports as their initial offerings once cruising is safe to start up again. Like for Disney, offer 2 and 3 night sailings with stops only at Castaway Cay. I know this will decimate the tourism business for the Caribbean Islands, but it will allow cruises to have more control on the safety on b

Would a stop at Castaway Cay count as a port? Because DCL is based in the Bahamas, legally they can’t stop at 2 US ports in a row.

 

[jlwhitney]

You can if youve continually planned for the future.

This more shows the need for reserves/savings, but that is a lesson hard to learn for both individual and business. But right now, many are in survival mode. Disney has made a lot of poor decision and now its biting them in the butt, but I also believe that good can come and things could even be better.

 

[Eric Smith]

This more shows the need for reserves/savings, but that is a lesson hard to learn for both individual and business. But right now, many are in survival mode. Disney has made a lot of poor decision and now its biting them in the butt, but I also believe that good can come and things could even be better.

What exactly are the poor decisions that you're talking about? I don't think there's a company out there which was prepared for the effects of the pandemic...especially companies in the entertainment and travel sectors.

 

[skeeter31]

Would a stop at Castaway Cay count as a port? Because DCL is based in the Bahamas, legally they can’t stop at 2 US ports in a row.

How do they get around that when they sail out of Miami and stop at Key West the next day then Castaway Cay then back to Miami? Or stop at Key West the last day and then return to Miami? Or what about the 2 night cruises to no where that they have offered in the past (I believe out of NY but possibly out of Port Canaveral as well)?

And I would believe Castaway Cay would count as a port. It’s not part of the United States. It is a Bahamian island and it’s a port. I don’t see why it wouldn’t count.

 

[gottalovepluto]

... I also believe that good can come and things could even be better.

2020 cured me of that outlook for many years to come

 

[sullivan.kscott]

We cancelled our March 2021 cruise and rescheduled for December 2021/January 2022. I am fully prepared to cancel that cruise if the ports/excursions aren't really open.

I think the ports will have a testing site before embarkation. I can envision a staged entry where you submit a rapid test and then are put into a staging area awaiting your go/no-go results. I can also see a re-test area for potential false positive results. Obviously, this is not a catch-all situation, but short of having guests/crew put into isolation for 14 days prior to sailing, I'm not sure what else they can do for embarkation risk mitigation.

IF the program being tried at SFO and TIA work and are well received, I could also see rapid testing coming to more airports. The price would only go down if there is more demand. Maybe not by our next Thanksgiving trip, but definitely in the interim between now and a full deployment of a vaccine. And probably only to more major airports. While I'm unlikely to ever be able to get a test in my tiny 7-gate home airport, my family and I would be willing to go get tested during a layover in DEN, SLC, or DFW (our connecting ports) and carry our "card" in exchange for relaxed mask policies. Not only cruises and Aulani (via the HI requirement), but other major destinations like WDW and DL could really benefit from such a program. It would increase traveler confidence and bring in people who don't want to travel with restrictions in place.

 

[gottalovepluto]

...short of having guests/crew put into isolation for 14 days prior to sailing, I'm not sure what else they can do for embarkation risk mitigation.

What we heard out of Europe was passengers were only allowed to do cruise line excursions and under no circumstances were they to wander away from the group. The idea was the line controlled the excursion from start to finish. This made international news when a family was denied return to their cruise in Italy after they left the tour group they were with.

It’s not my cup of tea but seeing as I haven’t cruised in decades anyway I’m not their target audience.

 

[New Mouse]

So your plan is that Disney should have planned for an unprecedented pandemic that completely shut down all their parks all over the world (not to mention hotels, DVCs and movie production) for months by putting money aside to continually pay cast members who can't be called back to work for months on end?

And would you apply that across the board - to all the hospitals that had to let staff go due to closings/stopping elective surgeries, or all the restaurants/bars/hair salons/gyms etc. ?

Yes, anyone running a business should have a disaster plan. Small businesses should be able to float 6 months of closure, large companies should be able to handle significantly more. If you dont have that, you are not running your business well and/or its just not a successful business.

I do think trimming the fat around the rest of your company...aka espn... is a better option to cutting loose 28000 people.

My issue is that these cuts arent yo stay solvent, they are to impress wall street. Years upon years of profit and the first time things go sour, you cut everyone loose and thank them because all cast members matter.

The pandemic also isnt unprecedented. Walt himself lived through one that was worse.

 

[Farro]

Yes, anyone running a business should have a disaster plan. Small businesses should be able to float 6 months of closure, large companies should be able to handle significantly more. If you dont have that, you are not running your business well and/or its just not a successful business.

I do think trimming the fat around the rest of your company...aka espn... is a better option to cutting loose 28000 people.

My issue is that these cuts arent yo stay solvent, they are to impress wall street. Years upon years of profit and the first time things go sour, you cut everyone loose and thank them because all cast members matter.

Well, maybe send Disney your resume.

 

[Eric Smith]

How do they get around that when they sail out of Miami and stop at Key West the next day? Or stop at Key West the last day and then return to Miami? Or what about the 2 night cruises to no where that they have offered in the past (I believe out of NY but possibly out of Port Canaveral as well)?

And I would believe Castaway Cay would count as a port. It’s not part of the United States. It is a Bahamian island and it’s a port. I don’t see why it wouldn’t count.

I think it matters when you embark and debark in the US. I believe you have to visit at least one foreign port between embarkation and debarkation.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

Would a stop at Castaway Cay count as a port? Because DCL is based in the Bahamas, legally they can’t stop at 2 US ports in a row.

Yes, Castaway Cay is a Bahamian port. Disney is the sole operator, but it falls under Bahamian jurisdiction, and their port authority is still in charge and they collect fees/taxes for each passenger brought to CC. It would be totally doable, though I think the Bahamian gov't is more likely to want an excursion bubble set up in Nassau to assist in any recovery to their islands.
In any case, I agree that the Dream 3 & 4 night cruise schedule makes the most sense for any DCL restart. Maybe the Magic sailings from Miami that hit Key West or Cozumel and Castaway Cay, as well. Those don't require calendar/port changes and are more organically set up for bubble situations if tour operators want to try something like what has been done in Europe.

 

[skeeter31]

I think it matters when you embark and debark in the US. I believe you have to visit at least one foreign port between embarkation and debarkation.

So if they can get around it with the 3 night cruises from Miami that only stop at Key West and Castaway Cay, I would assume a 2-3 night cruise out of PC only stopping at Castaway Cay would be allowed as well. Those Miami cruises are listed right now on the website.

 

[gottalovepluto]

IF the program being tried at SFO and TIA work and are well received, I could also see rapid testing coming to more airports. The price would only go down if there is more demand. Maybe not by our next Thanksgiving trip, but definitely in the interim between now and a full deployment of a vaccine. And probably only to more major airports. While I'm unlikely to ever be able to get a test in my tiny 7-gate home airport, my family and I would be willing to go get tested during a layover in DEN, SLC, or DFW (our connecting ports) and carry our "card" in exchange for relaxed mask policies. Not only cruises and Aulani (via the HI requirement), but other major destinations like WDW and DL could really benefit from such a program. It would increase traveler confidence and bring in people who don't want to travel with restrictions in place.

Yeah... these programs aren’t about loosening the M requirements. They are about quarantines.

I never see it allowing loosened M restrictions as that would be absurdly hard to police. Literally carrying a fake license not to wear a mask was the first Covid document people forged.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

Yes, anyone running a business should have a disaster plan. Small businesses should be able to float 6 months of closure, large companies should be able to handle significantly more. If you dont have that, you are not running your business well and/or its just not a successful business.

I do think trimming the fat around the rest of your company...aka espn... is a better option to cutting loose 28000 people.

My issue is that these cuts arent yo stay solvent, they are to impress wall street. Years upon years of profit and the first time things go sour, you cut everyone loose and thank them because all cast members matter.

The pandemic also isnt unprecedented. Walt himself lived through one that was worse.

There are a lot of way smarter business people on here than myself, but I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. To think that any business in any town could survive six months without a single customer/client and not go through a period of layoffs if not complete closure is a bit pie-in-the-sky. There's a reason even major universities with their massive endowments needed students back on campus.
Specifically to TWDC and ESPN, they made huge decisions there and restructured most of their major contracts with the on-screen folks (aka big-dollar contracts) in order to keep as many behind the scenes people working as possible. They also probably started making money as an entity again even if NBA and MLS viewership was/is down. Now they have the NFL and NCAAF back which will help bring in advertising $, as well. Let's not forget they own controlling share of HULU and Disney+ is absolutely beating expectations. Even with all that, Parks & Experiences just isn't seeing the recovery they hoped it would. At this point, we're at the six months you mentioned as a disaster plan. Hotels and restaurants continue to sit empty throughout the parks. The Bob Jackson announcement last night got me in the feels the way the GF Orchestra hit a lot of others. Doesn't mean I fault WDW management for making a reasonable decision when Bob's home resort has no inkling of a reopening date.
Walt lived through Spanish Flu when he was, what, 17-20 years old? To say he was 6 months plus solvent then is laughable. He probably learned a few lessons about saving and preparing for a rainy day. But to think Disney wasn't over leveraged when they bought half the state of Florida and started breaking ground on WDW? That's a bit disingenuous.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

Yeah... these programs aren’t about loosening the M requirements. They are about quarantines.

I never see it allowing loosened M restrictions as that would be absurdly hard to police. Literally carrying a fake license not to wear a mask was the first Covid document people forged.

Fair point. I'm jumping ahead a few months, combining vaccine deployment and testing. Definitely didn't mean to imply we'd jump straight there by January or anything. Sorry for the confusion and being unclear. I need more coffee.

 

[yulilin3]

Im at MK now and the feel is very subdued, everything seems to be going in slower motion, could be the cooler temps but overall the feeling is very quiet, like when they announced the parks were closing

 

[Shelby Schroepfer]

Im at MK now and the feel is very subdued, everything seems to be going in slower motion, could be the cooler temps but overall the feeling is very quiet, like when they announced the parks were closing

This just made me so incredibly sad. Like a log on my chest. I don't have words but I am just so sorry to everyone involved. The decision makers at the top, all the way down to the bottom.

 

[Brianstl]

What exactly are the poor decisions that you're talking about? I don't think there's a company out there which was prepared for the effects of the pandemic...especially companies in the entertainment and travel sectors.

For eight years Iger was on the board of a company that entered the entertainment business while it stockpiled cash. It wasn't an alien concept to him. It is a good time to be a company like Apple or Microsoft. When all the dust from this settles their will be some very good buying opportunities if they decide to go in that direction. Heck, it is a great time to own shares of a company like Electronic Arts. EA is an entertainment company with a massive cash pile given it's size. In fact it has the highest cash to market value of any publicly traded company.