Diamond Princess returns to Yokohama 3 years after mass COVID outbreak

Who cares

Who cares

You cared enough to post about it.

And now I cared enough to reply.

And now there are two extra hits and interactions on this page, which JT can use as page counts to justify advertising fees to advertisers, motivating them to want to post more Diamond Princess stories, that you supposedly don't care about.

Great news !!..

Who cares

It does matter, because this moves the economy more and the world continues to recover from the crisis..

(facepalm)

Ahh the memories! First it stopped here in Okinawa before it went to Yokohama, at the start of the pandemic. The way the media played it up, and for literally months afterwards, kept a separate running count of the number of infections that came from the ship.

Then the JSDF in HAZMAT suits, and the media praising them for no one catching it, and all the finger pointing and blaming that COVID was due to "foreigners".

How soon things changed!

nosukeToday 06:55 am JST

Who cares

Who cares nosukeToday, I'm pretty sure those that were lucky enough to have made it off the Diamond Princess do and it must be painful for them to see her back in port after all they went through being imprisoned in tiny one room cabins during the mandatory quarantine period and having loved ones pass away before their eyes.

And my wife and I care! We were on one of the last cruises just prior to the start of the pandemic. We had done a cruise to Taiwan and one to Russia aboard the Diamond Princess and both were wonderful experiences. I will say this however I think it was a mistake for Princess Cruises to send her back to this region after "thousands being quarantined and left 13 of the over 700 infected crew and passengers dead." It would have made more sense for Princess Cruises to have rotated another ship to Japan instead and let bygones be bygones.

Ahh the memories! First it stopped here in Okinawa before it went to Yokohama, at the start of the pandemic. The way the media played it up, and for literally months afterwards, kept a separate running count of the number of infections that came from the ship.

Then the JSDF in HAZMAT suits, and the media praising them for no one catching it, and all the finger pointing and blaming that COVID was due to "foreigners".

How soon things changed!

THIS!! Well said mate!!

@nosuke

Who cares

It does make one wonder why Princess(Carnival) is sending its one of its oldest ships, especially with a tarnished name like Diamond Princess.

If the Japanese market is small enough that only a small, old ship like Diamond Princess make financial sense, it's better to just abandon homeporting in Japan. Princess should home port its latest ship in Singapore or Korea instead then sail to Japan. Home porting in Shanghai is out of question at the moment since China's still closed to cruising.

I remember following the story of this disease pressure cooker of a ship.

""Who cares""

Downers do exist in every society.

@englisc aspygend

I remember following the story of this disease pressure cooker of a ship.

COVID outbreak is a problem associated with single cruise line, Carnival. If you are afraid of a disease outbreak, then avoid Carnival cruise line ships. They are Carnival, Princess, Holland America, P&O(UK and Australian markets), Coasta(Italian market), AIDA(German market), Cunard(UK market), and Seabourn(Ultra luxury line), although it's primarily Carnival and Princess brand ships that have had the most of problems within Carnival corporation.

The other two major cruise lines, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, handled COVID outbreak very well.

So if you avoid Carnival and Princess brand ships, you will be mostly safe and have an enjoyable vacation.

https://people.com/travel/over-300-passengers-crew-members-fall-sick-on-ruby-princess-cruise-ship/

Over 300 Passengers and Crew Members Fall Sick on Ruby Princess Cruise Ship

An investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is underway into the cause of the outbreak

By Ingrid Vasquez Published on March 9, 2023 12:43 AM

We took the Diamond Princess to Hawaii before the pandemic, and had a really good time. Beautiful 15 days at sea, wonderful shipmates, wonderful food, delightful heated pools, lots of entertainment.....what's not to like?

BTW, the Diamond is not a small ship, at over 100,000 tons.

@1glenn

Diamond is not a small ship, at over 100,000 tons.

1) 100K ton is small by cruise ship standard. Current flagships are 160~230K tons, soon to be 250K tons(Icon class by Royal Caribbean entering service next January), 130K ton is considered medium-size, 100K ton or under are considered small ships. Diamond Princess is an old ship from a different era where the ships didn't have all the bling bling and amenities of today's flagships.

2) Diamond Princess was built by Mitsubishi in Japan, so it has "Japanese quality" and that's not a good thing in cruise world, where "European quality" is the standard to go by.

If you want to understand what the current Princess flagship looks like, watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ED4EsSHiI

Great to welcome all these fully vaxxed and masked tourists to wonderful Yokohama! I'm sure they'll have a fabulous vacation.

Nobuyoshi Shiratori, a local resident who was taking pictures of the Diamond Princess, said, "It is a large and beautiful ship beyond my expectations. While I hope that (its arrival) will not lead to spreading the coronavirus, I am glad that liveliness has returned to the port."

This quote is living proof of the fact that Covid-19 lives rent free in the brains of Japanese people. They simply cannot move on from it.

Great to welcome all these fully vaxxed and masked tourists to wonderful Yokohama! I'm sure they'll have a fabulous vacation.

As a resident of Yokohama, I can tell you I feel absolutely zero enthusiasm about a bunch of tourists further clogging up the streets of Motomachi and Chinatown, especially while unnecessarily donning silly face-coverings outside in broad daylight. I get that they probably had to be vaxxed in order to get on the cruise ship but the masks are an eyesore.

i dont mind came or not.

I'm glad to see it back. Japan has to move on.

Size is relative, I guess. The Titanic was a huge ship for its day, but was small by today's standards, at around 50,000 tons. We crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2, at 150,000 tons, and the size was mind boggling, at least to me. Most of the time we have gone on cruise ships between 50,000 and 60,000 tons, and had a great time.

Whoever translated the ship photographer's comment deserves a medal. That is precisely how ship photographer's in Canada and New Zealand speak, but more eloquent.

Why wasn't the Diamond Princess scuttled?

I would love to go on a cruise boat. It cost ¥500000 to go on a flight to Italy with accommodation according to an ad in the Nikkei newspaper this morning. A cruise liner mini joy city seems a much better option.

Never wanted to tom cruise. Not my idea of fun. A small yacht or even a small cruiser minus all the entertainment stuff.

@Rodney: Then wear a cloth one! Yes, mate. Trips to Europe are expensive now and will remain so. Travel full stop is expensive. If you can't afford to live in Japan (which seems to be a common complaint from you), have you considered somewhere else with a more affordable standard of living.

I too, like @wallace have zero interest in going on a cruise but each to their own, if you are a little older or with a large family it is probably a very good way to keep everybody occupied.

@wolfshine: You just HAD to make this an issue about masks, didn't you? I'm sorry 'tourists' are spoiling your life, but it's a boon for local businesses which have suffered for so long. I've not worn a mask in months now, but if people wish to then just respect it. Not everyone buys your loony conspiracy theories.

One of "symbol" of innumerable failures of response of Japanese authorities to Covid19.

They who never admit failure and never learn from lessons continue to increase Covid19 deaths year by year unlike other countries.

But Japanese society easily forget soon whatever happen, it's very convenient to regime.

BTW, the Diamond is not a small ship, at over 100,000 tons.

I worked for 2 years with P&O the Princess Cruise line Sun Princess, smaller than the Diamond, but still an impressive ship overall. I would say Princess Cruise out of all the Cruise liners is the best.

Diamond Princess arriving in time for the anniversary of the tsunami. Two monumental periods of Japanese history collide.

Which means obliterated, or deleted. Must all commenters favour cruising on cruise ships? Is the other side of the coin not important? Or not more important?

Cruise ships are not for everyone, that’s for sure. I know a lot of people even within my own family that would never set foot on any cruise ship.

Never wanted to tom cruise. Not my idea of fun. A small yacht or even a small cruiser minus all the entertainment stuff.

Elderly usually feel like that about noise and entertainment, I personally love it and it gave me a great opportunity to travel and make a lot of money.

I like music, loud music, and rock music. I just don't think I would enjoy being in a floating hotel or theme park world. Nothing to do with being elderly. I have felt like that all my life. Ex-navy so I did spend time at sea and enjoyed the experience.

I would enjoy a smaller craft and making my own amusement.

So you worked on tom cruises, what playing music?

Working and passenger are very different worlds.

I like music, loud music, and rock music.

Which the cruise ships do offer.

I just don't think I would enjoy being in a floating hotel or theme park world. Nothing to do with being elderly.

Hmmmm

I would enjoy a smaller craft and making my own amusement.

Like?

So you worked on tom cruises, what playing music?

“Princess Cruise“ mostly.

Working and passenger are very different worlds.

That is the privilege you have when you are a DJ/Sound Engineer, best of both worlds, during the day I’m a passenger, at night I’m an employee.

Windstar cruises with less than 350 passengers. Especially the flagship

https://www.windstarcruises.com/ships/wind-surf/

Cruising on a tall ship.

No DJ's required.

They also have DJ’s as well

I can choose my own music. There is live music on the Windstar not sure about DJ.

I can choose my own music.

All Cruise ships you can choose your music, just go to your room and all the amenities are there as well.

There is live music on the Windstar not sure about DJ.

They also have a DJ because there are people that want to dance regardless of size unless it’s a small yacht and even then they might have some musical entertainment.

Tom cruising on a clipper with Johnny Depp.

https://www.starclippers.com/us-int/

What?

So many losers said 'they'll never let us stop locking down' and 'once they put up the new rules, they'll never bring them down'.

Here in Canada, they just dropped the last vaccine mandate for civil servants. It's been over a year since mask requirements were in place. No requirement of vaccines for entry nor travel.

Turns out the losers who predicted all that were just wrong.

So next time a pandemic happens, I'm putting on 3 masks, taking whatever jabs they give me, and locking down again if necessary for the necessary time to flatten the curve.