Tag Archives: new york

Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady Leaves Portsmouth for New York

Posted on by
Reply

The Scarlet Lady has set sail from Portsmouth, England, after spending the summer in the UK. According to a press release, the 2,800-passenger Virgin Voyages ship is now heading across the Atlantic to New York.

Portsmouth International Port said that over 8,000 passengers enjoyed the Summer Soiree Series, which saw Virgin Voyages launch its world’s first commercial sailing from Portsmouth.

A pop-up terminal was created to host passengers while keeping strict COVID-19 health protocols in place after the CDC cruise restrictions in America curtailed plans for stateside launch, guests instead enjoyed a season sailing in domestic UK waters.

Portsmouth port said that the Scarlet Lady brought a “much-needed boost to the city after a challenging year.” and it felt honoured to receive an open letter of thanks from the Virgin Voyages team.

“(Y) you’ve welcomed us to your home and you will forever have a place in our heart. We couldn’t be more grateful for your support as we sailed for the first time,” the letter read. “While the Scarlet Lady is saying Bon Voyage after a brilliant Summer Soiree season, we can’t wait to see you next year when our second ship, the Valiant Lady, makes her debut, right here. She’s quite the head-turner too, and there’s nowhere else we’d rather start her off.”

Mike Sellers, Portsmouth International Port’s director said: “Seeing the Scarlet Lady in the port has been the result of years of hard work, from securing investment to extend our cruise berth to accommodate larger ships, to building confidence with the Virgin Voyages’ team that we could look after their world-first sailing … Everyone at the port stepped up, during the most challenging time, to make sure this was a success and I’m so proud of their hard work and professionalism.”

Sellers noted that it has also been impressive to see the Virgin team in operation with some spending months in the city to make sure “everything went smoothly, becoming very fond of Portsmouth in the process.”

“We want to become the port of choice for luxury, boutique cruises, and with plans for a terminal extension underway we’re on our way there … We’re looking forward to seeing Virgin’s new build Valiant Lady in the city next year, and welcoming back the team. In the meantime, the hard work continues as we continue to build our position as a major player in the cruise industry,” Sellers said.

NCL UNVEILS NORWEGIAN DAWN’S EX-UK PROGRAMME FOR 2023

Posted on by
Reply

Norwegian Cruise Line has released the programme of itineraries for Norwegian Dawn when the ship homeports in Southampton in 2023.

NCL will offer a range of eight to 14-day voyages on Norwegian Dawn from Southampton in 2023, as part of its partnership with Associated British Ports to open a new cruise terminal at the Hampshire port from 2021 onwards.


The 2023 itineraries on Dawn will include a 14-day transatlantic trip from New York to Southampton, departing on 20 April, and a series of 10 and 11-day cruises around the British Isles, as well as voyages to the Baltics and Northern Europe.


Eamonn Ferrin, NCL’s vice president and managing director in the UK, Ireland, Middle East and Africa, said: “We’re seeing strong demand for closer to home sailings in 2021 and beyond. Looking ahead, British holidaymakers are excited to explore Europe, with endless destinations to suit all types of travellers.


“At NCL, we will expand our itineraries out of Southampton onboard Norwegian Dawn in 2023 and have some fantastic trips available across the British Isles, the Baltics and Northern Europe. We can’t wait to welcome guests onboard again.”

Hospital Ship USNS Comfort to Start Accepting COVID-19 Patients

Posted on by
Reply

The USNS hospital ship Comfort is seen docked at Pier 90 on Manhattan’s West Side as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in New York City, New York, U.S., April 7, 2020. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

The U.S. Department of Defense has opened the hospital ship USNS Comfort to patients with COVID-19 in order to relieve pressure on New York area hospitals, the Northern Command announced Tuesday.

“Effective immediately, USNS Comfort will accept trauma, emergency and urgent care patients without regard to their COVID-19 status,” the Northern Command said in a statement.

The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrived in New York on March 30, 2020, bringing with it 1,000 hospital beds and hundreds of medical staff in support of the nation’s COVID-19 response efforts. Its intention was to serve as a referral hospital only for non-COVID-19 patients admitted to shore-based hospitals.


The USNS Comfort passes Manhattan as it enters New York Harbor during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, U.S., March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Despite the extra capacity that the ship brings, the government has come under fire for it being underutilized with only about 20 patients admitted on board as of last Thursday, the New York Times reported.

A makeshift hospital set up at New York’s Javits Center continues to serve as the U.S. Department of Defense’s primary facility for treating COVID-19 patients. It is now also accepting COVID-19 patients.

“For the Comfort to really … be a part of the relief for the pressure on the New York City hospitals, we have to be able to do this,” said Navy Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, Commander of the U.S. 2nd Fleet, during a telephone news conference. “This is where there are a tremendous number of patients in hospitals, most of which are COVID-positive.”

Comfort is planned to focus high severity COVID patients, with more mild cases being handled by Javits Center.

“The ability to take COVID-19 patients onboard USNS Comfort provides increased capability to care for high severity COVID-positive cases, allowing the Javits New York Medical Station to focus on lower severity COVID-positive patients,” the Northern Command said.

Crew Member Sick

Also, onboard Comfort is over 70 civil service mariners responsible for operating the ship and navigation. On Monday, Politico reported that one of those crew members had tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently being isolated along with others on the ship.

Allowing COVID-19-positive patients onboard raises further questions about the safety of workers, both medical staff and its crew members.

Vice Adm. Lewis said that to ensure the ship’s crew remains healthy, the ship has been divided into a “red zone” where patients are located and a “green zone,” where the ship’s non-medical crew operates.

“We’re fully transitioned,” Lewis said. “We’ve done some minor configurations on ship, and there is no risk to any of the patients that are non-COVID at this time. We were able to isolate within the ship non-COVID patients from the COVID-positive patients.”

Lewis also added that there are currently no plans for the hospital ship USNS Mercy, now in Los Angeles, to make the same transition.

U.S. Northern Command is leading Defense Department operations against COVID-19 in the United States.