Princess Chatter

Carnival’s Princess Cruise Lines Must Face Passengers’ COVID-19 Lawsuit
    By Robert Burnson

    InsuranceJournal
    November 24, 2020

    Carnival Corp.’s Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. failed to persuade a judge
    to dismiss negligence claims by 17 passengers who allege they suffered
    COVID-19 symptoms after being exposed to the coronavirus on a February
    voyage.

    Monday’s ruling doesn’t address the merits of the lawsuit but it may
    give plaintiffs momentum after legal experts predicted virus cases
    against cruise companies would be difficult to win. Federal judges
    previously have sided with Carnival in decisions dismissing suits.

    U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner in Los Angeles concluded that 17 of
    18 passengers made legally sufficient allegations to proceed — even
    though they were never tested for the virus, as was commonplace in the
    early days of the pandemic. They’re seeking punitive damages that
    could add up to millions of dollars.

    The one passenger dropped from the case only reported experiencing
    “fatigue and extreme anxiety.” The others claimed they developed
    “symptoms consistent with COVID-19” after coming into contact with
    passengers on the ship who had or appeared to have the disease.

    The Grand Princess left San Francisco for Hawaii on Feb. 21. Among the
    passengers were 62 who had been on the ship’s prior cruise to Mexico,
    including two with symptoms of coronavirus. The cruise line knew this
    yet failed to inform the new passengers, who might have chosen to skip
    the voyage, according to the suit.

    In July, the judge dismissed 14 consolidated suits making emotional
    distress claims on behalf of passengers who were in close contact with
    others on the ship infected by the virus.

    Princess Cruises didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment
    after regular business hours.


    https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2020/11/24/591817.htm

2 ships to leave Princess Cruises fleet
    By Richard Tribou

    Orlando Sentinel
    Sep 22, 2020 at 7:47 AM

    The coronavirus pandemic has forced another cruise line to sell its
    ships as Princess Cruises announced both the Sun Princess and Sea
    Princess were leaving its fleet.

    The announcement is the latest from cruise lines that offload older
    hardware that cannot sail as efficiently as newer, larger ships and
    would not be as profitable when cruise lines effort their return to
    sailing with reduced capacity to battle the spread of COVID-19.

    Princess Cruises' parent company Carnival Corp. announced earlier in
    September that it intended to sell or scrap 18 ships from among its
    multiple brands. Already announced were the scrapping of four older
    Carnival Cruise Line ships and the sale of four older Holland America
    ships.

    The two Princess ships were sold to undisclosed buyers, according to a
    company press release. While they both had once served the North
    American market and sailed from Florida’s Port Everglades, that had
    since migrated to Australia.

    “Both ships defined the premium cruise experience with Australians and
    New Zealanders spending close to 14 million nights aboard these
    ships," said Princess Cruises president Jan Swartz. "While it is never
    easy to say goodbye to any ship in our fleet, this will allow us to
    deploy newer ships enhancing our offerings for Australia cruisers and
    focus on bringing into service exciting newbuilds like the upcoming
    delivery of Enchanted Princess.”

    Customers booked on either ship’s itineraries, which ran into late
    2021, will be offered a refund or opportunity to rebook on another
    Princess ship.

    Sun Princess debuted in 1995, the first of the line’s Sun Class with
    about a 2,000-passenger capacity and weighing 77,441 gross tons. It
    migrated to Australia in 2007 and also was used by the line in its
    foray into the Japanese market in 2013.

    Sister ship Sea Princess debuted in 1998, but actually left the
    company for Carnival Corp.'s British line P&O Cruises by 2003, but
    Princess reacquired the ship in 2005.

    There were four ships in the Sun Class, and with these two now sold,
    Princess Cruises has no ship in that class, having previously sold off
    Dawn Princess and Ocean Princess.

    In comparison, the line’s newest ship, Sky Princess, comes in at
    145,281 gross tons and has a 3,660-passenger capacity based on double
    occupancy.

    The cruise line still has 16 ships in its fleet and four more on order.

    The cruise line, which was at the center of two coronavirus outbreaks
    in early 2020, has suspended sailing through mid-December. The deadly
    outbreak on Diamond Princess that was quarantined in Japan back in
    February was among the incidents that led to the global shut down of
    cruise lines in March.

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/travel/florida-cruise-guide/os-tr-cru-princess-cruises-sells-two-ships-20200922-esien7ek5jhltheho7sepexbi4-story.html?outputType=amp&fbclid=IwAR2tsW2OeVyV7t4PH5rVV59PwkmhsgQcebBTKfOB_9iQPzAyPsWm9FmnWds

Where is everyone these days?  There must be something to say or report?  Anyone out there close to thinking about yet another cruise?  Not for me...  Where are all the ships these days? 

As much as we would like to get back to cruising once again we'll be waiting for vaccine before we even think about venturing back again. 
Although they're expecting something to arrive in 2021, we'll still wait until they begin cruising without any incidents for many months. My thinking is that if an outbreak is to happen, it'll occur on a cruise ship since it's just about impossible to avoid contact with other people. 
I'm hoping that Princess will still be around in a few years but the way it looks I'm not sure they can hold out that long.

It's almost hard to believe that this many crew are still stranded on RCCL ships & cannot return home.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article243398711.html

After 80 days at sea, three transfers between ships, four canceled flights and one plane malfunction, Royal Caribbean Cruises music director Bruno Cruells finally touched down in his native Argentina on June 3, accompanied by 251 compatriots. Sitting behind the taxi’s new plexiglass on the way home from the airport with his hometown whizzing by out the window, he felt relief.

“I felt like I was finally safe somehow,” said Cruells, 30, “like continuing from where I left before all of this happened.”

As more countries loosen COVID-19 travel restrictions, crew members are slowly making their way home. About 3,000 Carnival Cruise Line workers got off in Croatia earlier this month to catch rides and flights home across Europe. Smiling behind their masks, they posed for a selfie on the pier.