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Next Grand Princess cruise cancelled due to coronavirus check

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 05 March 2020 05 March 2020

After collaboration with and guidance from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC) and local authorities, Princess Cruises can confirm the following proactive measures to ensure the continued safety and well-being of our guests on board Grand Princess, the company said in a statement.

While there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 currently on board, the CDC has identified groups of guests and crew who will be tested before arrival into San Francisco.

There are fewer than 100 guests and crew identified for testing, including all in-transit guests (guests who sailed the previous Mexico voyage and remained on board for the current Hawaii voyage), those guests and crew who have experienced influenza-like illness symptoms on this voyage, and guests currently under care for respiratory illness.

To facilitate this testing, the U.S. Coast Guard will deliver sampling kits to the ship the morning of March 5 via helicopter. Our onboard medical team will administer the test and the samples will be sent in batches by helicopter to a lab in Richmond, California, across the bay from San Francisco.

Public health officials have advised that no guests will be permitted to disembark until all results have been received. Out of an abundance of caution, all guests who have been identified for testing have been asked to remain in their staterooms. We will continue to proceed under the guidance of the U.S. CDC and local authorities.

Princess Cruises can also confirm the cancellation of the upcoming Grand Princess Hawaii cruise departing on March 7. All guests will receive a full refund of their cruise fare, Princess Air, Princess Cruise Plus pre- and post-cruise hotel packages, prepaid shore excursions and other prepaid items purchased through Princess.

Unexpected expenses, such as air change fees, reimbursement of reasonable non-refundable out-of-pocket expenses will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Guests will also receive a Future Cruise Credit equal to 100% of the cruise fare paid on this voyage.

Saga retains outlook unchanged, 80% of cruise revenue target reached

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 05 March 2020 05 March 2020

Saga plc, the UK based listed cruises to financial services group that serves the over 50s market, has retained its earnings guidance unchanged until its 2019 results are due on 2 April and says its cruise operations had 80% of targeted revenue booked at the end of February.

“For our Cruise business, bookings until recently have been very strong, with forward sales for the current year of 80% of the full year revenue target as of 29 February. The remaining 20% of our full year revenue target is weighted towards Q3 and Q4 2020 cruise,” the company said in a statement..

“While we have seen a higher level of cancellations for departures in the near-term and more generally a lower level of bookings for departures further out, our two most recent departures had load factors of around 80%,” Saga said.

Its two ships only depart and return to UK ports and we have flexibility on destinations visited. Saga Cruises will take delivery of Sprit of Adventure, the second of two newbuildings of about 56,000 gross tons, from Meyer Werft this year. The 1981 built Saga Sapphire of 37,012 gross tons has been sold to Turkish buyers.

As at 31 January 2020, and based on unaudited financial information, the Ggroup's net short-term bank debt was around £110m, reduced from £148m as at 31 July 2019.

Since the end of January, the group has announced two disposals which are expected to generate net cash proceeds of around £37m in the first half of this year. The cash from disposals will be used to further reduce short-term bank debt, Saga said.

In line with many other travel stocks, shares in saga have suffered deep losses in the past few weeks.

Former MSC Opera passenger tested positive for COVID-19

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 March 2020 04 March 2020

Health Authorities in Austria today informed MSC Cruises that a passenger of Austrian nationality, who had cruised with on MSC Opera in the East Mediterranean from 17 to 28 February, tested positive yesterday, 3 March, for COVID-19. This passenger returned directly to Austria through northern Italy on 28 February immediately after disembarking from his cruise in Genoa, Italy.

"MSC Opera earlier today arrived in Piraeus, Greece, and we promptly informed the Greek Health Authorities about this reported case and asked for their guidelines. We requested at the same time that passengers, as a precautionary measure, remained on board while awaiting guidance from the local authorities," MSC Cruises said in a statement.

"We shared with the local health authorities the ship’s full medical records as well as the medical and travel history records of the former Austrian passenger.

The Greek health authorities gave MSC Opera permission around 13:00 CET to sail from Piraeus, Greece, and continue its journey to its next scheduled port in Corfu, Greece. No additional health measures were required to be taken and the ship is currently sailing as planned.

There are no passengers or crew members currently on board the ship who have reported any flu-like symptoms.

The health and safety of our passengers and crew will always remain our top priority."

Reunion police use tear gas to end violent protest against Sun Princess call, reports say

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 March 2020 03 March 2020

The police on the French island of Reunion have used tear gas to put an end to protests that had turned violent against the call of the Sun Princess cruise ship at Pointe de Galets on the island, the news media report.

The ship had not reported of a coronavirus or another kind of an infection onboard.

“About 30 protesters had gathered at the north-western port to demand health checks of tourists to avoid the virus taking root on their island. The locals tried to prevent visitors leaving the port, forcing the police to intervene. The protesters threw pebbles and bottles at the security forces, who responded with teargas,” The Guardian newspaper in London reports on its website.

The 77,400 gross ton Sun Princess belongs to Princess Cruises, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc. It is based in Australia and the majority of the about 2,000 passengers on the ship came from Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

The ship had already been refused entry to a port in Madagascar, some news reports say.

UPDATED : No coronavirus on AIDA aura

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 March 2020 03 March 2020

The two passengers tested for coronavirus on AIDA Cruises' AIDA aura did not have the infection, reports say. The ship has been able to resume its cruise, vessel tracking websites show.

Two passengers onboard Aida aura of Carnival group’s German unit AIDA Cruises have been tested for coronavirus and the ship has extended its stay at the Norwegian port of Haugesund as a result, the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reports on its website.

The two passengers in question had been in contact with a third person, who is not on the ship, who had later tested positive for the virus.

Neither of the two passengers had not shown any symptoms of an infection, a doctor cited in the report said, but as a precaution they had been quarantined in their cabins until the test results were ready, the report said.