Caronavirus - effect on A/NZ cruise market

[MicCanberra]

5 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

We we are currently on Voyager of the Seas , joined in Sydney today , even met the famous GBenjo. We are no longer going to Mare , Port Vila, Lifou or Mystery Island. So far, we are still going to Noumea, Lautoka, Suva with a new overnight stop in Tauranga NZ, then onto Eden. It is a bit of a mystery tour. Cheers, Buzz.

Bon Voyage Buzz, hope you have a great cruise.

[ilikeanswers]

Interesting information about travel insurance cover:

 

Coronavirus means airlines are changing their plans — but will travel insurance cover your cancelled trip to China?

 

I am curious if travel insurance considers Taiwan part of China🤔.

[bazzaw]

Meanwhile - 10,000 people died in the US last year of influenza!

[LittleFish1976]

29 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

Interesting information about travel insurance cover:

 

Coronavirus means airlines are changing their plans — but will travel insurance cover your cancelled trip to China?

 

I am curious if travel insurance considers Taiwan part of China🤔.

China certainly considers it part of China! so I guess the insurance industry has to.

 

Waiting to hear from my insurance company as to whether my trip next week is covered - not to China but the cruise ships are dropping like flies as passengers bring it on board with them so we'll wait and see.

[bretts173]

1 hour ago, bazzaw said:

Meanwhile - 10,000 people died in the US last year of influenza!

 

What a ridiculous comment. Millions of people are exposed to influenza on a daily basis and 10000 dies in a year. This virus is mainly contained and the real death is rising rapidly in only a month. The mortality rate of this virus is running at 2% compared to 0.08 for influenza.

 

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

China certainly considers it part of China! so I guess the insurance industry has to.

 

Waiting to hear from my insurance company as to whether my trip next week is covered - not to China but the cruise ships are dropping like flies as passengers bring it on board with them so we'll wait and see.

I am puzzled at your comment about cruise ships dropping like flies. Do you mean cruise ships - or do you mean the passengers. Ten passengers on one cruise ship have tested positive to the virus, but we have had no indication that these people are seriously ill. They are quarantined in hospital.

[LittleFish1976]

26 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I am puzzled at your comment about cruise ships dropping like flies. Do you mean cruise ships - or do you mean the passengers. Ten passengers on one cruise ship have tested positive to the virus, but we have had no indication that these people are seriously ill. They are quarantined in hospital.

I've read, just today, about two cruise ships being quarantined. My comment was about the ships - not as a literal 'Aussie quantity' of 'dropping like flies' but more of a metaphor for how they seem to be increasing in number. Sorry if my casual use of language caused confusion. I am truly concerned for the situation especially as I am due to commence a cruise next week.

[Ondine]

5 hours ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

We we are currently on Voyager of the Seas , joined in Sydney today , even met the famous GBenjo. We are no longer going to Mare , Port Vila, Lifou or Mystery Island. So far, we are still going to Noumea, Lautoka, Suva with a new overnight stop in Tauranga NZ, then onto Eden. It is a bit of a mystery tour. Cheers, Buzz.

I am due to leave on Monday on Carnival Spirit for Noumea, Mystery Island, Mare, Isle of Pines, Lifou and Mare.  That's 4 of them closed.  Wonder where I will end up?  Carnival have only sent an email saying that check in will be more thorough and take longer but no mention of the itinerary.  Better rethink my wardrobe just in case.  A magical mystery cruise.

[ilikeanswers]

3 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

China certainly considers it part of China! so I guess the insurance industry has to.

 

They could still treat it as a seperate area but I guess that would be hoping for too much generosity on the part of the insurance companies😋.

[Cybella1]

To anyone who is on board any Princess ship which has not been quarantined, are they serving people in the buffet, or are they allowing people to use the buffet as normal? 

 

We are sailing in a couple of weeks and whilst I am looking forward to it, one can't help be a little concerned.

Edited February 5, 2020 by Cybella1

[ilikeanswers]

2 minutes ago, Cybella1 said:

To anyone who is on board a Princess ship at the moment, are they serving people in the buffet, or are they allowing people to use the buffet as normal? 

 

We are sailing in a couple of weeks and whilst I am looking forward to it, one can't help be a little concerned.

 

Apparently this guy has been doing video updates:

https://www.facebook.com/david.abel.75

 

And someone has posted on this thread claiming to be on the ship:
https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2730905-diamond-princess-passenger-tested-positive-for-wuhan-coronavirus/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-59322378

 

From what I have read and heard it seems all passengers are confined to their rooms and meals are delivered to their rooms

 

[MMDown Under]

7 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Apparently this guy has been doing video updates:

https://www.facebook.com/david.abel.75

 

And someone has posted on this thread claiming to be on the ship:
https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2730905-diamond-princess-passenger-tested-positive-for-wuhan-coronavirus/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-59322378

 

From what I have read and heard it seems all passengers are confined to their rooms and meals are delivered to their rooms

 

I wonder if they are being delivered meals or snacks.  One passenger, who has diabetes, was delivered a sandwich, as he hadn't eaten for too long.

 

Diamond Princess is now back in port so will be able to get fresh supplies.  

Edited February 5, 2020 by MMDown Under

[MMDown Under]

11 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

China certainly considers it part of China! so I guess the insurance industry has to.

 

Waiting to hear from my insurance company as to whether my trip next week is covered - not to China but the cruise ships are dropping like flies as passengers bring it on board with them so we'll wait and see.

Taiwan is a separate independent country.  China wants it to become part of China (like Hong Kong) but it isn't.

[ilikeanswers]

29 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I wonder if they are being delivered meals or snacks.  One passenger, who has diabetes, was delivered a sandwich, as he hadn't eaten for too long.

 

Diamond Princess is now back in port so will be able to get fresh supplies.  

 

One of the on board posters in the thread said they were not having snacks delivered. I suppose that makes sense as the ship is under quarantine so authorties would want to keep movement to a minimun which would mean room service on request would not be allowed. 

 

Here is another interesting account of life on board:

Trapped on a Cruise Ship

Edited February 5, 2020 by ilikeanswers

[Kiwi Kruzer]

28 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I wonder if they are being delivered meals or snacks.  One passenger, who has diabetes, was delivered a sandwich, as he hadn't eaten for too long.

 

Diamond Princess is now back in port so will be able to get fresh supplies.  

They are at anchor at the entrance to Tokyo Bay , so all supplies will have to be tendered out to them .

[MMDown Under]

5 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

One of the on board posters in the thread said they were not having snacks delivered. I suppose that makes sense as the ship is under quarantine so authorties would want to keep movement to a minimun which would mean room service on request would not be allowed. 

 

Here is another interesting account of life on board:

Trapped on a Cruise Ship

I meant a light meal in lieu of a full meal, e.g. passenger with diabetes had a sandwich delivered to him.  He said he could go in to a coma if he didn't eat soon.  

 

Whilst I have been happy to cruise in an inside cabin in the past, I would hate to be locked down in an inside cabin for a fortnight.  Surely masked crew could take passengers in inside cabins for a refreshing walk outside on deck.  I wonder if they will  be bringing masks on board for all passengers. 

[ilikeanswers]

2 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I meant a light meal in lieu of a full meal, e.g. passenger with diabetes had a sandwich delivered to him.  He said he could go in to a coma if he didn't eat soon.  

 

Whilst I have been happy to cruise in an inside cabin in the past, I would hate to be locked down in an inside cabin for a fortnight.  Surely masked crew could take passengers in inside cabins for a refreshing walk outside on deck.  I wonder if they will  be bringing masks on board for all passengers. 

 

The guy doing the FB videos has diabetes he did say at first they were not delivering food but after his FB video led to people emailing Princess someone seems to have told someone to deliver some food. 

[Aus Traveller]

8 hours ago, Ondine said:

I am due to leave on Monday on Carnival Spirit for Noumea, Mystery Island, Mare, Isle of Pines, Lifou and Mare.  That's 4 of them closed.  Wonder where I will end up?  Carnival have only sent an email saying that check in will be more thorough and take longer but no mention of the itinerary.  Better rethink my wardrobe just in case.  A magical mystery cruise.

You mention that your cruise is supposed to go to Noumea, Mystery Island, Mare, Isle of Pines, Lifou and Mare. I heard that Lifou is closed and I expect that Isle of Pines is also closed. Which other ports are closed?

[LittleFish1976]

46 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Taiwan is a separate independent country.  China wants it to become part of China (like Hong Kong) but it isn't.

My understanding is that China 'insists' that Taiwan is referred to as part of PRC. In any case, insurance companies will always see matters in whatever light is to their own advantage. This has certainly always been the case in my experience.

[MMDown Under]

6 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

My understanding is that China 'insists' that Taiwan is referred to as part of PRC. In any case, insurance companies will always see matters in whatever light is to their own advantage. This has certainly always been the case in my experience.

I understand the dilemma for insurance companies.  Surely it is not too difficult to say China and Taiwan, if they are referring to both countries.  Hong Kong has been treated differently to mainland China, in relation to the virus, in many instances. 

China has been putting pressure on South Pacific Islands to change their support from Taiwan to China.  

[mr walker]

15 hours ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

We we are currently on Voyager of the Seas , joined in Sydney today , even met the famous GBenjo. We are no longer going to Mare , Port Vila, Lifou or Mystery Island. So far, we are still going to Noumea, Lautoka, Suva with a new overnight stop in Tauranga NZ, then onto Eden. It is a bit of a mystery tour. Cheers, Buzz.

 

Well that looks interesting. We are on Voyager 30-Mar, so a little ways off yet.

It will be ironic if something like that happens for us. In 2018 on Explorer OTS we didn't get to Fiji due to cyclone & went to Vila & Mare instead. Maybe it will be the opposite this time 🙂 

 

How is the mood onboard? At what point was the revised itinerary disclosed? Your post seemed quite upbeat about it, but I'm sure there will be unhappy cruisers.

 

Bula & Kia Ora 🙂  

[Jintymac]

10 hours ago, Cybella1 said:

To anyone who is on board any Princess ship which has not been quarantined, are they serving people in the buffet, or are they allowing people to use the buffet as normal? 

 

We are sailing in a couple of weeks and whilst I am looking forward to it, one can't help be a little concerned.

We are on the Ruby Princess now, heading to Sydney after going around NZ......buffet has been operating as normal.

[Cybella1]

1 hour ago, Jintymac said:

We are on the Ruby Princess now, heading to Sydney after going around NZ......buffet has been operating as normal.

Thanks for responding.

 

[BuzzBuzzen]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

 

Well that looks interesting. We are on Voyager 30-Mar, so a little ways off yet.

It will be ironic if something like that happens for us. In 2018 on Explorer OTS we didn't get to Fiji due to cyclone & went to Vila & Mare instead. Maybe it will be the opposite this time 🙂 

 

How is the mood onboard? At what point was the revised itinerary disclosed? Your post seemed quite upbeat about it, but I'm sure there will be unhappy cruisers.

 

Bula & Kia Ora 🙂  

Most passengers are just happy we are going somewhere at least. Have overheard a number of other passengers complaining about everything ! One thing we have had issues with is the pre cruise Royal Gifts purchases. So far 2 of my purchases have not arrived. I had to join the massive queue at Guest Services to enquire. Yes my purchases are in the system but they had no idea where they were. They reordered my champagne and truffles. They were delivered after 730 pm while we were at dinner.i have orders for our anniversary on the 16 th , they too are in the system but I am not hopeful of their arrival.I had also prepaid for lunch atChops Grille on Friday but they are not open for lunch so I cancelled that and was refunded.I will look for dart boards later today for you. Cheers, Buzz.

[BuzzBuzzen]

They emailed the revised itinerary on Tuesday which included Luganville as an overnight stay. This was revised again yesterday to the current itinerary. As of today no shore tours available yet for Tauranga or Eden. There is also some issue with shore tours for Suva as no tickets have been delivered yet for pre purchases. They say they haven’t printed them yet but will deliver them when ready. Tickets were delivered for Noumea and Lautoka. We will see. We are enjoying the Deluxe Beverage Package any way !