Mein Schiff is cruising - what do you think?

[KashasMom]

I'm happy they didn't do away with the buffet and actually love that it's not self-service (even if it's a little slower). I'm surprised to hear that the big cruise lines are considering sailing at lower capacity but honestly just don't see Disney doing that, at least not by 60%. I do like that they are taking temperatures daily and I do like that deep cleaning is being done by rotating rooms. I guess we'll all adjust if it means we can get back to cruising.

https://cruiseradio.net/with-cruisi...gA0NpUUHphviDa3JIfj-OS8ckdembMHvNpRwDRD06ppnc

 

[CrawfordMomof3]

This makes me so happy. We have our first cruise booked for May, and I’m very anxious about all of this. Thanks for sharing the link!

 

[BartmanLA]

A Dream Cruise (Taiwan) ship departed this week as well for a 4 or 5 night domestic port cruise as well, apparently it's a test to see how the public can handle the new restrictions and also if there will be any resulting exposure or infections from ports or personnel on board the ship. Only time will tell.

 

[Husker Mike]

FWIW, the research I've seen suggests that deep cleaning and temperature checking are not as necessary as social distancing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/scourge-hygiene-theater/614599/
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/tsa-questions-temperature-check-effectiveness-airports-coronavirus
However, reduced capacity definitely hits the #1 criteria, and that probably requires limiting capacity to well under 40% of capacity.... (Maybe down to 20%-25%.) Perhaps that will eliminate all of the profit from a cruise, but that's not the point. The question is whether it costs more to let the boat sit moored off of Port Canaveral (generating zero revenue) than it costs to operate the boat at limited capacity.

 

[sethschroeder]

FWIW, the research I've seen suggests that deep cleaning and temperature checking are not as necessary as social distancing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/scourge-hygiene-theater/614599/
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/tsa-questions-temperature-check-effectiveness-airports-coronavirus
However, reduced capacity definitely hits the #1 criteria, and that probably requires limiting capacity to well under 40% of capacity.... (Maybe down to 20%-25%.) Perhaps that will eliminate all of the profit from a cruise, but that's not the point. The question is whether it costs more to let the boat sit moored off of Port Canaveral (generating zero revenue) than it costs to operate the boat at limited capacity.

Yup plus doing lower capacity cruises can buy you some good publicity long term in addition to have you losing less money now.

 

[T & R]

I do not understand why we have that law that we cannot do cruises to nowhere like Mein Schiff is doing. What is the reasoning behind making the cruise ship have to stop at a foreign port? Wouldn't it actually be safer from a contraband, invasive insects/animals, disease, etc point of view to not require a cruise ship to stop at a foreign port? Does somebody know what the rationale is behind the requiring a foreign port thing?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

What is the reasoning behind making the cruise ship have to stop at a foreign port?

It is part of the 1886 PVSA. The only ships allowed coastwise passenger transit are those with US flags.

A cruise line could do cruises between US ports. If they register their ship here and abide by US labor and registry rules.

Thus, why NCL created a US subsidiary to do Hawaii cruises. US flagged vessels can do.hawaii-only itineraries.

 

[T & R]

It is part of the 1886 PVSA. The only ships allowed coastwise passenger transit are those with US flags.

A cruise line could do cruises between US ports. If they register their ship here and abide by US labor and registry rules

Yes, aware it’s part of the 1886 law, my question is more a why? If it’s a labor law thing, we’re there many labor laws in 1886? Also, how does visiting a port matter? I just don’t get it.

 

[mousefan73]

I am actually thinking of booking one of these cruises seeing I wont be heading back home to the US anytime soon
Meinschiff is also all Inkl... so drinks are included... beer, wine and kids under 14 I believe sail free.. You do pay a bit more than Aida as its the more premium brand, but still cheap compared to Disney... I believe August sailings are booking very well as my TA friend said there are many Meinschiff repeat customers who are sailiing just to get away and support the cruiseline.

I would love a 3 night disney sea only if it was a super deal....

 

[Sconny]

Yes, aware it’s part of the 1886 law, my question is more a why? If it’s a labor law thing, we’re there many labor laws in 1886? Also, how does visiting a port matter? I just don’t get it.

I am with you...just got a DIS board education on this topic...It seems really out dated.

My guess it had something to do with the Railroads at the time (only way to travel from city to city over a long distance) or foreign ships talking people from city to city that for some reason the USA was worried about...

Most laws like this have some sort of $$$ behind them as opposed to logic...also having to go away from basically all of North America to make that "Foreign Port" count seems like it was a way to keep people from using ships to move people from place to place inside the USA

Of course I know nothing and simply like to guess...

As for Returning to cruising in Europe, I am hoping this is a good sign for the USA to return sooner than later...time shall tell but better then no ships cruising any where...

 

[auntlynne]

Yes, aware it’s part of the 1886 law, my question is more a why? If it’s a labor law thing, we’re there many labor laws in 1886? Also, how does visiting a port matter? I just don’t get it.

Protectionism. Especially for the railroads. If you had to go to a distant port, that trip on a foreign-owned ship which had to travel to Aruba / Bonaire / Curaçao or farther would not be a viable alternative to either the US-flagged ship or the railway.

”As stated above, the intent of the coastwise laws, including the PVSA, was to protect U.S. shipping interests by providing a “legal structure that guarantees a coastwise monopoly to American shipping and thereby promotes development of the American merchant marine.” Autolog Corp. v. Regan, 731 F.2d 25, 28 (DC Cir. 1984); see also The Grenada, 35 F.Supp. 892, 893, 1940 AMC 1601 (DC Pa 1940) (stating that the legislative aim of section 289 [now 55103] was the creation of a practical monopoly of coastwise and domestic shipping business for United States ships). The PVSA was enacted to advance the United States merchant marine and fleet by restricting the use of non-coastwise-qualified passenger vessels in United States territorial waters.”

Source: “What Every Member of the Trade Community Should Know About The Passenger Vessel Services Act, April 2010, US Customs and Border Protection Service”

And now it is to the advantage of the cruise lines to let it continue - they can hire employees from around the world and not be subject to various labor laws.

And no, labor laws were practically non-existent before 1900.

 

[DisneYE]

However, reduced capacity definitely hits the #1 criteria, and that probably requires limiting capacity to well under 40% of capacity.... (Maybe down to 20%-25%.) Perhaps that will eliminate all of the profit from a cruise, but that's not the point. The question is whether it costs more to let the boat sit moored off of Port Canaveral (generating zero revenue) than it costs to operate the boat at limited capacity.

I'd absolutely LOVE to sail on a reduced capacity cruise.. I hate the insane crowds, ppl constantly stampeding cabanas like food is gonna run out, no pool chairs/lounges by 10 am etc..
A 50% reduced capacity cruise? Sign me up..That'd be heaven for me... I'd totally pay a premium for that.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The history is pure protectionism, but the reason there has been no move to change it is as well. Just different eras and things protected.

 

[xavier2001]

I'd absolutely LOVE to sail on a reduced capacity cruise.. I hate the insane crowds, ppl constantly stampeding cabanas like food is gonna run out, no pool chairs/lounges by 10 am etc..
A 50% reduced capacity cruise? Sign me up..That'd be heaven for me... I'd totally pay a premium for that.

You would love the Panama Canal cruise, most staterooms only have 2 passengers so even when fully booked the ship feels half full. Hands down our best trip!

 

[Intr3pid]

Paul Gauguin's first 10-night cruise is starting in two days (July 29) if you fancy French Polynesia.

Reduced capacity will come with higher prices, but I think the cruise industry has now realized it really has to do its own bidding. No one is coming to the rescue.

Although we aren't fans of these cruises to nowhere, they are a good start. Baby steps first. Start with cruise-friendly countries or ports, and then gradually bring more pieces online. No regulator anywhere will want to be the first to take the risk of allowing cruises to resume. Show them progress - and make their job easy.

 

[mousefan73]

My TA friend and I were discussing last night again. We both work in the industry and are very upset on how different industries are regulated/ and how governments are right now controlling how businesses are run. With these Meinschiff cruises for example. They are sea only. Yet other travel is promoted within Europe. You can drive, train or fly from Hamburg to many other EU ports, but cruise ships aren’t docking. 1000s head south to party on the Med but a ship with 1500 won’t dock in Northern Europe. We just get how they couldn’t figure out allowing a port stop somewhere on Europe under the same controlled environment.

Hamburg to Copenhagen or Amsterdam for example. 1500 cruises pax are a risk. Yet millions are through/ stopping this summer now heading up to Sweden - Finnland - France etc.

 

[DisneYE]

You would love the Panama Canal cruise, most staterooms only have 2 passengers so even when fully booked the ship feels half full. Hands down our best trip!

That was the last cruise we took... the WBPC this past March while the pandemic hit... it was a fully booked cruise and though you're right that it did feel less crowded, being a smaller ship it still felt a bit crammed. the fantasy or the dream at 50% capacity those would be amazing.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Don't underestimate the challenge lines are going to have staffing ships. I know everyone keeps saying "but the money is better" for a lot of the foreign nationals, but they have to get into the US, quarantine, embark, etc. And the industry as a whole - yes, including DCL - definitely got a black eye with the crew repatriation, outbreaks, and sometimes not paying crew for the time they were stuck on ship but also not working. Proposed guidelines for resuming cruising include not allowing crew to have days off in ports (this is related to the DCL survey about being allowed off ship in port only on DCL excursions - it's about controlling flow so the port allows docking), which is a huge deal to the onboard crew.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes, aware it’s part of the 1886 law, my question is more a why? If it’s a labor law thing, we’re there many labor laws in 1886? Also, how does visiting a port matter? I just don’t get it.

Cruises to nowhere are NOT illegal under the PVSA.

The reason that foreign flagged ships don't do them out of US ports is a ruling that on such cruises the crew must have a different type of work visa. One required for foreign nationals to work in the US. Since a cruise to nowhere out of a US port would be considered "working in the US". And that visa has more paperwork and cost that the typical visa that foreign flagged ships doing "regular" cruises (with port stops), are required to have.

Most cruise lines have opted to drop cruises to nowhere out the US so they don't have to deal with the added cost/paperwork.

 

[T & R]

Strange. I wonder why the foreign crew would matter to ships and not planes? Back in early 2000's we used to fly Aer Lingus from Chicago to NYC back before they were bought by IAG. It was foreign owned company and vessel, staffed by foreigners (Irish).