Ebola making a difference in your next cruise?

[chrispb]

 

So I wonder if those that were being "overly cautious" have now changed thier opinions?

 

I very much doubt it. Worrywarts enjoy worrying.;)

 

I had one of those nuisance sales calls the other day, from someone who was called Ellen Bowler - bet she's had some stick.

Edited December 10, 2014 by chrispb
omission

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Now that the hysteria has died down in the USA, does anyone feel that there was an over-reaction?

 

Not really, since there didn't appear at first to be a cohesive plan in place to deal with it, nor a consensus on how it spread. When "experts" disagree, the public gets nervous.

 

Now that there have been designated treatment centers created, and survival rates in the US appear far higher than in Africa, I think fears have subsided domestically.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[cruisemom42]

Not really, since there didn't appear at first to be a cohesive plan in place to deal with it, nor a consensus on how it spread. When "experts" disagree, the public gets nervous.

 

 

I'm not sure one can say that the real scientific experts disagreed. Scientists have been studying ebola for at least 25 years. I remember hearing about it when I was in college (at Emory University, at a special CDC lecture at the medical school). I don't they were the one stepping forward to talk to the media though....

 

My more charitable side thinks the hoopla was partly a case of the media not understanding the fine nuances of what the experts were actually saying. For example, if you ask a scientist a question such as "Could the virus mutate and become more easily transmissible?" the scientist will answer affirmatively, because it isn't out of the realm of possibility. BUT the media doesn't listen to the subsequent context of "yes it COULD happen .... but it is extremely unlikely."

 

My less charitable side thinks the media were feeding the frenzy because they had hold of a news story that clearly interested and concerned people. Play upon peoples' fears = good ratings.

 

It may not be true of those who post here, but society in general seems to care less now than previously about making sure news sources are accurate and knowledgeable. Also there is less depth of knowledge -- people watch Headline News or get snippets of info from reading a paragraph online rather than wading through a long New York Times article, for example.

[sail7seas]

Not really, since there didn't appear at first to be a cohesive plan in place to deal with it, nor a consensus on how it spread. When "experts" disagree, the public gets nervous.

 

Now that there have been designated treatment centers created, and survival rates in the US appear far higher than in Africa, I think fears have subsided domestically.

 

I agree.

 

I also think the ebola 'scare' here in U.S. occurred at about the same time as we started to get more information and frights from Isil (Isis) and were horrified with their activities. Add that to the usual airline/airport misery and for some the downsides and inconveniences/concerns that accompany travel these days made some of us start to measure the pros and cons. When the cons seem more overpowering than the desire to go forward, one has to decide 'is it worth it'?

 

We are all at a different stage in our travel interests, prior experiences and desire for more and what works for one by no means will work for all.

 

Edited December 11, 2014 by sail7seas

[iancal]

We never considered it as an issue so it made no impact on us whatsoever.

 

I think the issue is that people make decisions or form opinions based on 15 second TV news sound bites or by reading the first paragraph of newspaper article. Or listening to their TA who does exactly the same.

 

There are times when informed travellers can take advantage of this and score some good offers.

Edited December 11, 2014 by iancal