Scott3:

 

Being one of only two cruise ships available to New Zealanders would have ment they could charge high prices. Likely sufficient to cover recruiting and paying NZ based staff (incl funding there 9 day ship basic training course). If they started this process a month ago, and offered the going wage for hospo workers in NZ I don't think there would have been any difficulty finding staff.

 

You could say that.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VE7P12lIQnsJ:https://www.houseoftravel.co.nz/hot-deals/deals/2021/01/08/southland-luxury-expedition-with-ponant+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz 

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Q9CkyP4TQlMJ:https://www.houseoftravel.co.nz/hot-deals/deals/2021/01/20/fiordland-snares-expedition-with-ponant+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz 

We're done with apparent downer stories now the Cruise one is cut and dry. Onto the next it seems..

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/124119442/us-tourists-on-expiring-visa-desperate-to-stay-until-they-can-get-vaccinated 

Scott3:

 

Re the Russian ship, it came in through the the same exemption refit or repair.

 

That RNZ article mentions that they will hire New Zealanders to work on the ship: "We will spend thousands provisioning the ship with food and supplies as well as hiring New Zealanders to work on the ship,"

 

I wonder why they wouldn't hire Russians who would fly in and go through MIQ like the fishermen?

frankv:

 

I wonder why they wouldn't hire Russians who would fly in and go through MIQ like the fishermen?

 

Slightly different I suspect, as that was to service the NZ Fishing supply sector. Not the 2nd step of chain/holidaying kiwis.

Pretty sure the Fishing Industry did a complex deal relating to the Russian Sailors as well. Promised to fund more training for Kiwi's etc in order to be able to employ more kiwis.

Meanwhile in Australia the difficulties of dealing with 600 or so people coming in for Tennis hits another bump.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-04/australian-open-lead-ups-thrown-into-chaos-covid-positive/13119702

""
The infected man last worked at the Grand Hyatt on January 29
Up to 600 players and officials will isolate until receiving a negative test result
Premier Daniel Andrews said the grand slam would go ahead
""
While Australians wait in queues to get repatriated, longer given reductions in numbers of hotel places after outbreaks last year.

ezbee:

 

Meanwhile in Australia the difficulties of dealing with 600 or so people coming in for Tennis hits another bump.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-04/australian-open-lead-ups-thrown-into-chaos-covid-positive/13119702

 

""
The infected man last worked at the Grand Hyatt on January 29
Up to 600 players and officials will isolate until receiving a negative test result
Premier Daniel Andrews said the grand slam would go ahead
""
While Australians wait in queues to get repatriated, longer given reductions in numbers of hotel places after outbreaks last year.

 

I love watching the Grand Slams, but many of them are getting a bit precious. Its not just Djokerman, its Alize Cornet as well, amongst others. One WAG had problems with her hair...

we're gunning for herd immunity

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300220032/covid19-nz-aiming-for-herd-immunity-later-in-the-year-dr-ashley-bloomfield-says

Batman:

 

we're gunning for herd immunity

 

That's pretty much the standard target for any immunisations.. so not exactly a revelation....

frankv:

 

Scott3:

 

Re the Russian ship, it came in through the the same exemption refit or repair.

 

That RNZ article mentions that they will hire New Zealanders to work on the ship: "We will spend thousands provisioning the ship with food and supplies as well as hiring New Zealanders to work on the ship,"

 

 

I wonder why they wouldn't hire Russians who would fly in and go through MIQ like the fishermen?

 

They already have the 22 who were the delivery crew. Only 8 crew berths remaining. Good bet the hiring New Zealand's means only 4 - 8 people. Some of which are local tour guides.

The fisherman were quite a special situation. Firstly there was a requirement for experienced workers in what is regarded as a demanding and challenging industry. Secondly the fishing companies lobbied the government and got a special exemption just for them. Thirdly the situation with the fishermen/woman went kinda bad with them bringing lots of covid-19 into MIQ. Not sure the government would be keen to repeat that saga.

My understanding is that the hotel staff on cruise ships basically require the same skills as hospo staff on land + a 9 day training course. Allowing hospo staff to come through our scarce MIQ spots at the same time as we have a excess of such staff would be a very bad look for NZ.

wellygary:

 

Batman:

 

we're gunning for herd immunity

 

 

That's pretty much the standard target for any immunisations.. so not exactly a revelation....

 

Yes, but it is going to be a very challenging goal to achieve given there are not yet any vaccines approved for childeren under 16 yr's.

Means we may have to not use the oxford vaccine, rather use more effective vaccine from other brands (That said, by the time our shots turn up we may have better data real world data than we do today).

Oblivian:

 

We're done with apparent downer stories now the Cruise one is cut and dry. Onto the next it seems..

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/124119442/us-tourists-on-expiring-visa-desperate-to-stay-until-they-can-get-vaccinated 

 

It is likely (but not certain) that visitor visa's will get another automatic extension.

In previous rounds there was little notice, just a couple of weeks from the expiry date.

Frankly we might as well let the few remaining tourists stay for another year if they want and have funds to support themselves. We currently have surplus capacity for tourists, so kicking the few that are left out seems wasteful.

The above said, if we do the above, expect sob stories when we re-open borders, and tourists who have made NZ their home for years are asked to leave with a 9 month stand down before they can enter again on a tourist visa.

[edit] - Not sure how we are going to handle vaccination's for tourists. If stocks are scarce I would expect NZ citizens, residents, and people on longer work visa's to be prioritized over those with short term visa's likely to depart soon. As a counterpoint, herd immunity doesn't care amount immigration status, and it is likley to become ethically dubious to travel without some form of covid-19 immunity in the future. It is possible that airline's will start requiring evidence of immunity (previous infection or vaccine for travel, possibly with a child and medical reasons exemption)