After bumping into many sensationalist articles, I felt the need to get some trustworthy information from my ship mates to share with everyone what's really going on in the industry.
This post comes as a bit of antidote from all the articles attempting to shed negative light onto the cruising industry. Let's dispel some rumors and appease cruisers and crew. Shall we?
We've all heard that "not everything you read in the news is true", but to be more specific there is a lot of true information in these articles, just sometimes the headlines are tricky and can cause confusion, or are sometimes outright misleading. I won't deny that some cruise lines have sadly succumbed to the pandemic's pressure. But we needn't spread fear when it's uncalled for. Let me shed some light over some of the articles that have gotten many confused just by reading the headline and share with you what my shipmates have confirmed from the inside, as I myself worried reading these headlines, being an employee waiting anxiously to return to sailing.
Extra!
Just in, a crew member from MSC Grandiosa has been reported to test positive for coronavirus and has remained on land in Italy as the ship sailed.
But worry not! This crewmember was precisely going through the routine screening prior to joining the vessel workforce, and this is precisely why the procedures are in place, she could be isolated and the threat for the rest of the vessel contained!
Some sad news that are actually correct:
Both Carnival Fantasy and sister-ship Carnival Inspiration had been sold. Fantasy Class fleetmates Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination would be placed in long-term layup, with no immediate plans to rejoin the fleet.
Pullmantour has filed for bankruptcy and two of theirs have been sent to the scrapyard.
Costa has confirmed a temporary salary cut for its employees.
Addressing the picture for the Royal Caribbean fleet in particular:
Ships up For Sale!?
The oldies, yes. It's true that a couple of older ladies from the fleets can be found on online vessel-sale websites -yes just like cars, it's a weird sight!
Smaller and older ships like Enchantment OTS or Grandeur OTS might be among these listings but it's important to note that this is not an effect of the pandemic. Selling a ship doesn't happen overnight, it's not an everyday thing for a cruise line to be looking to purchase new vessels you can imagine it's a big investment, so these ships have been listed for a very long time now and even if a buyer comes up, it still takes a long time for the process to be completed, from deal makings, schedules for passing on the ownership; remember cruises are scheduled 2 years in advance so a company couldn't just cancel all it's sailings just like that, also a newer ship needs to come in it's place as the cruise line will only improve it's capacity not reduce it. But we can imagine that a forceful halt in operations is a good opportunity to finally say goodbye to the older members of the fleet. As they might incur in higher maintenance costs or are simply outdated.
Precisely Grandeur of the Seas, with plans to moving into the Pullmantour line up has been confirmed to remain with it's original fleet
given that recently, the Spanish speaking brand of the group, has filed for bankruptcy. So as you can see the fact that this vessels are up for sale doesn't necessarily impact directly on their current business or sailings. In-house brands can be flexible and accommodate them where they are needed most.
Let me point out it's not like smaller ships generate loss, quite the opposite some of the more lucrative Royal Caribbean ships are the smaller ones! Simply classics!
Ships to the Scrapyard?
Sadly, yes. Sending a ship to the scrapyard is similar to selling it. Manufacturers will use parts of the vessels to obtain certain materials and parts from them, they are bought, precisely as scrap.
Once more there's quite an important note to make, I've seen many articles stating things like "Royal Caribbean's, Monarch and Sovereign of the Seas to be Scrap!" makes it sound like the group has to let go of their ships, but this ships haven't been part of the fleet for a long time now! At least not directly under the crown & anchor logo, they had long been passed on to Pullmantour cruises, but I guess they are less well-known for the headlines...
Similar to my last point, some of these ships might have still had some nautical knots ahead of them still but having to pause operations might come as a good time to finally push on their sale and liquidation, not a bad moment for some cash influx we could say. While a sad sight with no doubt, it was probably coming their way rather sooner than later. Nothing in this colossal industry happens overnight, this was probably in the companies' future plans and simply pushed forward due to the scenario.
Empress of the Seas has been spotted sailing in the vicinity of Turkey, where ships sail to for the last time, if you get my meaning...
But Royal Caribbean has strongly confirmed there are no current plans to sell this old lady quite yet!
Empress of the Seas, had left the Royal Caribbean fleet to join Pullmantur in 2008, only to be welcomed back into the fleet in 2016 to be the first to sail to Cuba
Ships Being Emptied and Left at Docks?
It's a possibility, the choice of temporarily de-commissioning a ship is not simple, especially for cruise ships, but some have confirmed they will.
Just to quickly touch base, this option is only viable if a ship will remain inactive for several months, as not only getting it ready for a nap but also bringing it back to operation takes some time. Royal Caribbean hasn't made any official statement as of right now but this might be an option for some of the smaller vessels that where originally scheduled to sail out of US in the near future, as this region will be dominated by the bigger ships at the start of the return.
Technical talk ahead -sort of-
It might seem that having a ship sail around consuming fuel wouldn't be cost-effective, in addition to the up-keeping of all the necessary crew to be safely at sea, both from the Marine, Engineering & Department Department as well as the basic Security, Medical, Food and Cleaning staff, making it a crew of around 100 depending on the vessel. But on the other side the cost of having a ship docked can be substantial, depending on the destination, that's wht we've seen ships sailing to and docking in the most unusual ports some of which have never seen a cruise ship before. Plus ships need to sail to open waters to discharge it's processed grey waters and stock up on new water for different necessities.
If a cruise ship is to go into a cold lay-up all it's internal power supplies along with the engine are to be shut down, requiring a land-based power supply for minimal safety and maintenance systems, it's crew can be now reduced to a true bare minimum but the trickiest thing about a cold lay-up is it can take it's toll on the ship itself. Non essential systems like the air conditioning could be powered off if the weather is good enough for the remaining crew sure, but the internal ventilation systems also help keep the ships interior in good shape fighting off the humidity and salty air of the ocean. Not only on the hotel side but even as deep in the hull as the water treatment tanks rust and other formations could occur if unsupervised.
On top of this re-fitting a ship for duty after a long period of inactivity could take up to a month, if the pause is substantial, even longer too. A considerable option is having ships go into what we could call a warm-lay up, while more crew are to stay on board the vessel can be kept in shape while running and staying at anchorage as much as possible to avoid port expenses, most powered systems can be shut off like portions of the electric supply and ventilation system. This is how most of the ships are waiting it out at the moment, in fact.
My ship mates have confirmed that some ships will indeed be reduced to their minimum possible capacity in the upcoming months as they wait for their turn to return.
Majesty of The Seas has also worried some cruisers, being one of the oldies of the fleet making many wonder if she will be sold or scrapped too...
It is true that it looks like the plan for her is to go into a cold lay-up temporarily in Greece. Just like some other smaller sisters from the fleet since, as I explained on a recent post, only the bigger ships will resume operations at first in the US and the Caribbean while only the smaller ships that already had itineraries in other regions like Europe, Asia or Australia will still carry on with those plans if and when they are allowed to.
Norwegian Cruises has announced that the majority of it's fleet will go into cold lay up temporarily.
My Takeaway
As a Royal Caribbean crew member, I couldn't be happier to be part of the better standing company of them all during this trying times. I can't imagine the shock of loosing your job so suddenly, let alone your entire cruise line. And the thought does keep me up at night I'll admit.
Some brighter news help me calm those worries, signals of the health and strength of the company. This giant is not going anywhere, as a matter of fact it's still growing stronger even during this difficult times, turning hardship into a good opportunity in fact.
Royal Caribbean Group has purchased the entirety of Silversea Cruises.
As always, thanks for reading, I hope you found some useful information among all the sensationalist headlines of the times.
Stay Curious!
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