Coronavirus

[emmas gran]

Costa ship being held off shore in the Med as 2 passengers from HK have a fever according to newspaper report 30 min ago

[Markanddonna]

I just saw the news, and it has frightening implications for all travelers.  

[SirWolf]

Topic is in thread on “Ports of Call” “Asia” board with information about the situation:

 

Edited January 30, 2020 by SirWolf

[Beardface]

10 minutes ago, SirWolf said:

Topic is in thread on “Ports of Call” “Asia” board with information about the situation:

 

This is no longer contained to just China.  It has spread to Australia, Europe, Africa, Japan, the US and Canada.

 

I am scheduled to be on the Seaside for it's Feb 29th sailing out of Miami.  At the rate this virus is spreading, I am fully expecting that sailing to be canceled.

[BermudaBound2014]

45 minutes ago, Beardface said:

 

 

I am scheduled to be on the Seaside for it's Feb 29th sailing out of Miami.  At the rate this virus is spreading, I am fully expecting that sailing to be canceled.

 

You are expecting a February sailing in the Caribbean to be cancelled? Rational please? 

 

[Beardface]

4 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

You are expecting a February sailing in the Caribbean to be cancelled? Rational please? 

 

Hysteria and overreaction, mainly.

 

This thing has a 2 week incubation period where you are contagious but don't show any symptoms.  We just started learning about the first couple cases in the US late last week, which means there's a very real possibility this is out, spreading among people who have been sick for a week and haven't even known it.

 

With the possibility we start to see numbers in Australia and the US balloon over the next couple weeks, I would not be surprised if knee jerk reactions are made to start locking things down in the US, with a pointed effort to avoid gathering people in large crowds.  We've already had college basketball games canceled due to the possibility there might be an infection on campus.

[BermudaBound2014]

Just now, Beardface said:

Hysteria and overreaction, mainly.

 

This thing has a 2 week incubation period where you are contagious but don't show any symptoms.  We just started learning about the first couple cases in the US late last week, which means there's a very real possibility this is out, spreading among people who have been sick for a week and haven't even known it.

 

With the possibility we start to see numbers in Australia and the US balloon over the next couple weeks, I would not be surprised if knee jerk reactions are made to start locking things down in the US, with a pointed effort to avoid gathering people in large crowds.  We've already had college basketball games canceled due to the possibility there might be an infection on campus.

 

Thanks for replying. I guess I didn't see that possibility on the horizon. I do expect cruise stock is going to go into a bear market for awhile. In fact, this virus is effecting a lot of our stock at the moment. 

[floridian1]

1 hour ago, Beardface said:

This is no longer contained to just China.  It has spread to Australia, Europe, Africa, Japan, the US and Canada.

 

I am scheduled to be on the Seaside for it's Feb 29th sailing out of Miami.  At the rate this virus is spreading, I am fully expecting that sailing to be 

I highly doubt the cruises will be cancelled. Not even the ones in the med (and we sail soon in rome)

 

To put things into perspective.. over 8000 people have died in tthe US for the flu this season..and kills over 650000 people world wide every year!

 

I do hope the cruises are doing the maximum disinfecting procedures,  quarantines and perhaps bring in extra staff to serve in the buffets instead of everyone handling the food and serving spoons ..yuck.

[yankees111]

2 hours ago, Beardface said:

This is no longer contained to just China.  It has spread to Australia, Europe, Africa, Japan, the US and Canada.

 

I am scheduled to be on the Seaside for it's Feb 29th sailing out of Miami.  At the rate this virus is spreading, I am fully expecting that sailing to be canceled.

Cruise will not be cancelled but probably no Corona or Corona light beer on board.

[CruisinCrow]

42 minutes ago, floridian1 said:

I highly doubt the cruises will be cancelled. Not even the ones in the med (and we sail soon in rome)

 

 

I can see Asian cruises being cancelled.  Our company is telling people only essential travel to China right now.  But I don't think Caribbean cruises will be cancelled unless this really balloons.  More likely, passengers will cancel their trips out of fear.  We got a great price on a trip to Mexico 10 years ago after the swine flu problem.  That killed tourism to Mexico for a while.

[Beardface]

1 hour ago, floridian1 said:

I highly doubt the cruises will be cancelled. Not even the ones in the med (and we sail soon in rome)

 

To put things into perspective.. over 8000 people have died in tthe US for the flu this season..and kills over 650000 people world wide every year!

 

I do hope the cruises are doing the maximum disinfecting procedures,  quarantines and perhaps bring in extra staff to serve in the buffets instead of everyone handling the food and serving spoons ..yuck.

Let me be clear, I sincerely hope I am completely wrong on this.

 

But the difference between this and the regular flu right now is that we do not have a cure or a vaccine for this virus, yet.  Despite the best efforts around the world (we can debate how effective the 'best efforts' of China has been later) this thing broke containment and is spreading uncontrolled globally.  And the reason I say uncontrolled is because of the 14 day incubation period where you are asymptomatic but infectious.  They don't even fully understand how this is spreading right now, whether it is purely via contact, through bodily fluids, or if its airborne.  Keep in mind, this was first reported in China on January 7th.  We are only just now getting the numbers on people who were infected within a week of that first report.  We don't know how far this has already spread.

 

The fact a cruise ship in the Mediterranean is being quarantined right now with 6,000 passengers on it because 2 people (0.03% of the ship) is a really big deal for the industry.  That should be a huge warning flag to anyone who has a trip scheduled in the near future.  Governments around the world aren't messing around with this virus, and they're already showing they are prepared to act quickly and drastically to prevent this from spreading.  When you're talking about mixing thousands of people from all over the globe together in a confined space for upwards of a week, it makes sense that the cruise line industry will be one of the first to be temporarily shut down if this continues to spread.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Beardface

[Beardface]

And to further complicate things, we are now seeing reports of people in Germany, Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam with confirmed cases of infection who had never been to China.

[sidari]

Last night two people from China were taken into quarantine in York England along with at least one person in London, these people flew in last week.

Why are airlines still carrying people who may well be infected ? At least 2,000 Chinese who entered the UK over a week ago are being sought by the authorities, Hong Kong and Singapore have around 10 confirmed cases each with more countries being added by the day.

[CruisinCrow]

12 minutes ago, sidari said:

Why are airlines still carrying people who may well be infected ? At least 2,000 Chinese who entered the UK over a week ago are being sought by the authorities, Hong Kong and Singapore have around 10 confirmed cases each with more countries being added by the day.

 

I think it won't be long before we hear reports that the cruise lines are making people sign a medical waiver that states they haven't recently traveled to China.

[js]

19 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

I think it won't be long before we hear reports that the cruise lines are making people sign a medical waiver that states they haven't recently traveled to China.

 

I certainly would be honest but some may not be.  If I was in China last week and got on a cruise next week and signed a waiver I wasn't there, how would they even know?  It's just like when people sign a waiver that they don't have any stomach bugs or had a fever.  They sign it but who the heck knows for sure.

[jkgourmet]

25 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

I think it won't be long before we hear reports that the cruise lines are making people sign a medical waiver that states they haven't recently traveled to China.

 

You expect them to tell the truth?  LOL.  

Better solution:  nobody gets on board without a passport which is carefully examined for visa stamps for China.

Edited January 30, 2020 by jkgourmet

[CruisinCrow]

2 minutes ago, js said:

 

I certainly would be honest but some may not be.  If I was in China last week and got on a cruise next week and signed a waiver I wasn't there, how would they even know?  It's just like when people sign a waiver that they don't have any stomach bugs or had a fever.  They sign it but who the heck knows for sure.

 

Yeah, I'm sure people lie on those all the time.  I guess they could check your passport to see recent travels.

[js]

Just now, CruisinCrow said:

 

Yeah, I'm sure people lie on those all the time.  I guess they could check your passport to see recent travels.

 

All don't use a passport for travel to the Caribbean and Bermuda.

While this may cover the cruiseline, it really doesn't help.

 

[CruisinCrow]

Just now, jkgourmet said:

 

Better solution:  nobody gets on board without a passport which is carefully examined for visa stamps for China.

 

We posted at the same time. 🙂

 

[CruisinCrow]

1 minute ago, js said:

 

All don't use a passport for travel to the Caribbean and Bermuda.

While this may cover the cruiseline, it really doesn't help.

 

 

True but it's better than a self-report waiver.

[jkgourmet]

Just now, js said:

 

All don't use a passport for travel to the Caribbean and Bermuda.

While this may cover the cruiseline, it really doesn't help.

 

 

Simple:  if this is a health emergency, it's simple.  require it.

 

[js]

 

1 minute ago, jkgourmet said:

 

You expect them to tell the truth?  LOL.  

Better solution:  nobody gets on board without a passport which is carefully examined for visa stamps for China.

 

That would be great. My family and I have passports but there are many who don't have a cruise booked next week/month and will say they weren't expected to get one and should not be denied boarding.  Should be done but I can't see this happening either but perhaps, this will be a new way to travel and all eventually will need passports regardless of the port/locations.

[js]

Just now, jkgourmet said:

 

Simple:  if this is a health emergency, it's simple.  require it.

 

 

I fully agree. I hope it happens.

[jkgourmet]

3 minutes ago, js said:

 

 

That would be great. My family and I have passports but there are many who don't have a cruise booked next week/month and will say they weren't expected to get one and should not be denied boarding.  Should be done but I can't see this happening either but perhaps, this will be a new way to travel and all eventually will need passports regardless of the port/locations.

 

They can complain all they want.  A pandemic has higher priority.  (And anyway, I've NEVER understood why people don't have passports.  But that's another discussion for another day.)

Edited January 30, 2020 by jkgourmet

[js]

Just now, jkgourmet said:

 

They can complain all they want.  A pandemic has higher priority.  (And anyway, I've NEVER understood why people don't have passports.)

 

Ditto!