Are you afraid of the coronavirus in your next cruise?

[Haoie]

Mine is in another 6 months, not immediately, so no concern.

Although it's putting a damper on my other vacation plans.

[clo]

15 minutes ago, Haoie said:

Mine is in another 6 months, not immediately, so no concern.

Although it's putting a damper on my other vacation plans.

Vaccine info:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/02/12/804628081/timetable-for-a-vaccine-against-the-new-coronavirus-maybe-this-fall

[jwattle]

23 hours ago, clo said:

Many decades ago - maybe from my CDC days - I learned (and have just now reconfirmed) that flushing a toilet without putting down the lid creates and aerosol that can spread cooties from urine and feces. And it seems rare that a public toilet has a lid. I try to turn my back as much as possible when flushing. PS: And I'm the farthest thing from a germophobe!

Don't all cruise ship toilets have lids that you essentially HAVE to put down to flush? 

[clo]

2 hours ago, jwattle said:

Don't all cruise ship toilets have lids that you essentially HAVE to put down to flush? 

Well, my warning was answered but I'm not sure I've ever used a public toilet on a cruise ship. Or I simply don't remember.

[KnowTheScore]

 

All the ships I have been on require you to close the lid before flushing as the flush button is purposely situated behind the lid

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by KnowTheScore

[Markanddonna]

4 hours ago, jwattle said:

Don't all cruise ship toilets have lids that you essentially HAVE to put down to flush? 

I suspect that was the old generation of toilets. No need for the newer ships. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

Sometimes cell phone apps of foreign countries deliver a message that's lost in translation:

On Philippine Airlines' app today, there's a one line notification in English that says:

 

"THIS is the sign you've been waiting for! Book that vacation today!" 👀

[KnowTheScore]

Back on topic

 

Number of cases on the quarantined Diamond Princess has now spiralled to 355

 

The USA are getting their people out of the ship.   Flying them home to the US to be placed into a military quarantine camp

Better late than never I guess.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/16/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html

 

 

[ldubs]

On 2/13/2020 at 9:47 AM, jwattle said:

Don't all cruise ship toilets have lids that you essentially HAVE to put down to flush? 

 

Every one I've been on does, including the newer ones.  The button is behind the lid.  

[ldubs]

On 2/12/2020 at 5:13 PM, Haoie said:

Mine is in another 6 months, not immediately, so no concern.

Although it's putting a damper on my other vacation plans.

 

We have a cruise booked for Sept.  Final pmt date is June.  We will be monitoring the situation closely and make a go/no go decision in June.   I hope we have some resolution by then.   

[lenquixote66]

14 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

We have a cruise booked for Sept.  Final pmt date is June.  We will be monitoring the situation closely and make a go/no go decision in June.   I hope we have some resolution by then.   

Same here re a December cruise.

[Ava79]

22 hours ago, KnowTheScore said:

Back on topic

 

Number of cases on the quarantined Diamond Princess has now spiralled to 355

 

The USA are getting their people out of the ship.   Flying them home to the US to be placed into a military quarantine camp

Better late than never I guess.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/16/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html

 

 

It's high time. Cause the way these poor people were left on a ship where the conditions for spreading of the virus are just perfect, such as general ventilation, adjacent cabins and so on... it's just inconceivable to the mind! What for?

 

UPD: number of cases has increased to 454 by now, unfortunately

[KnowTheScore]

1 hour ago, Ava79 said:

It's high time. Cause the way these poor people were left on a ship where the conditions for spreading of the virus are just perfect, such as general ventilation, adjacent cabins and so on... it's just inconceivable to the mind! What for?

 

UPD: number of cases has increased to 454 by now, unfortunately

 

Totally agree.

 

The number of cases is increasing at a very alarming rate day by day.  

 

Within about a week we've gone from 66 to 128 to 218 to 355 to 454

 

The Americans are fortunate to have been evacuated and returned to the USA even though they will now spend another 2 weeks in a military quarantine base.   It just seems utter madness to keep all these people cooped up together.  Empty the entire ship, put everyone in quarantine areas ashore and sterilise the whole ship imho.

 

 

 

 

 

[HowardK]

Is anyone else considering/ or cancelled a forthcoming cruise ? I am now on the fence about my Bermuda may cruise. Ironically, the news of it didn't even start until around 3 days after I made my final payment. 

I did take out insurance (would get a 90% credit but I am sure it would exclude some of the payment (taxes, etc.) but its more being forced to reconsider that is aggravating me. 

 

I did postpone when  Zika was a major concern a few years ago but that was because where I was staying and the port of Miami were near the epicenter of it then. 

[lenquixote66]

6 minutes ago, HowardK said:

Is anyone else considering/ or cancelled a forthcoming cruise ? I am now on the fence about my Bermuda may cruise. Ironically, the news of it didn't even start until around 3 days after I made my final payment. 

I did take out insurance (would get a 90% credit but I am sure it would exclude some of the payment (taxes, etc.) but its more being forced to reconsider that is aggravating me. 

 

I did postpone when  Zika was a major concern a few years ago but that was because where I was staying and the port of Miami were near the epicenter of it then. 

I never cancelled a cruise because of Zika.In fact,I did not even use insect repellant.

[Harry Peterson]

3 hours ago, HowardK said:

Is anyone else considering/ or cancelled a forthcoming cruise ? I am now on the fence about my Bermuda may cruise. Ironically, the news of it didn't even start until around 3 days after I made my final payment. 

I did take out insurance (would get a 90% credit but I am sure it would exclude some of the payment (taxes, etc.) but its more being forced to reconsider that is aggravating me. 

 

I did postpone when  Zika was a major concern a few years ago but that was because where I was staying and the port of Miami were near the epicenter of it then. 

I cancelled a little while back for other reasons, but I'm very glad I did - it's a decision for each person though, depending on how much is at stake.  Bookings are down 40% apparently, unsurprisingly - how late can you make the decision?

[KnowTheScore]

8 hours ago, HowardK said:

Is anyone else considering/ or cancelled a forthcoming cruise ?. 

I did take out insurance (would get a 90% credit but I am sure it would exclude some of the payment (taxes, etc.) but its more being forced to reconsider that is aggravating me. 

 

Yes.  I am cancelling a cruise that I have already paid for that I would have taken in Mar/Apr.   Also cancelling other cruises I had forward booked in 2020 and will see how the Coronavirus situation develops in 2020 and take stock.  I have other cruises booked in 2021 and may well cancel those too if the virus becomes a full on pandemic.

 

I seriously doubt whether your insurance would pay out on the basis of cancelling due to Coronavirus fears.  Check the small print.

 

Either way, my philosophy is that my health and life are worth more than bits of paper in the form of money and I wouldn't want to be on any cruise where I'm likely to miss multiple ports on the itinerary and end up with loads more days at sea.

[babs135]

I'm just back off a Caribbean cruise which we only booked a week before we flew out.  Obviously the coronavirus was already big news when we booked but it never entered our heads not to book anything.  However, we had been thinking of another cruise in October of this year to New England and Canada and slight doubts are creeping into my mind as to whether we should do it or not.

 

We need to make a decision sooner rather than later as it is booking up rapidly, probably with people who may have normally gone to Asia but who now prefer to sail in the opposite direction!!  

 

My concern is that if we book anything now and the trip is cancelled (it's with Cunard) will we lose our money?  Our Insurance Company is excellent (first hand knowledge of refunds for medical reasons) but would they cover us for a cancellation of a trip we booked knowing that, however slight a chance there was, it may be cancelled.  It's not a cheap cruise and money we could ill afford to lose.

 

 

[KnowTheScore]

4 minutes ago, babs135 said:

I'm just back off a Caribbean cruise which we only booked a week before we flew out.  Obviously the coronavirus was already big news when we booked but it never entered our heads not to book anything.  However, we had been thinking of another cruise in October of this year to New England and Canada and slight doubts are creeping into my mind as to whether we should do it or not.

 

We need to make a decision sooner rather than later as it is booking up rapidly, probably with people who may have normally gone to Asia but who now prefer to sail in the opposite direction!!  

 

My concern is that if we book anything now and the trip is cancelled (it's with Cunard) will we lose our money?  Our Insurance Company is excellent (first hand knowledge of refunds for medical reasons) but would they cover us for a cancellation of a trip we booked knowing that, however slight a chance there was, it may be cancelled.  It's not a cheap cruise and money we could ill afford to lose.

 

 

 

 

Lots of countries including the USA now have confirmed cases of Coronavirus and it would be naïve imho to believe that the virus won't spread throughout each country as it has in Asia.    Remember the numbers of cases you are hearing about in the media is vastly understated because they are only the KNOWN CONFIRMED cases, i.e. the one's where infirm people have struggled to cope, had serious respiratory problems and so went to hospital of GPs.   There will be lots of other people who just got regular cold/flu symptoms and fevers who have no idea if they have Coronavirus or not and who just stay home for a few days and sweat it out.  That's what the vast majority of us do when we get cold/flu type viruses.  Many of those people may well have got Coronavirus and not realise it and may be spreading it to many other people.

 

In terms of booking you generally first pay a deposit only.  If you cancel you generally just lose that deposit provided you haven't at that point paid the full amount.  So if you are prepared to lose that deposit then it maybe worth booking and then take stock of the situation later on.  Do check the contractual details though on this with your cruise line.

 

In terms of insurance, no, I doubt that any insurance would compensate you if you cancelled due to fears of Coronavirus.  It will likely come under "acts of God" and the like.   So be sure you want to take the risks if you are going to book.

 

 

 

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

7 minutes ago, babs135 said:

I'm just back off a Caribbean cruise which we only booked a week before we flew out.  Obviously the coronavirus was already big news when we booked but it never entered our heads not to book anything.  However, we had been thinking of another cruise in October of this year to New England and Canada and slight doubts are creeping into my mind as to whether we should do it or not.

 

We need to make a decision sooner rather than later as it is booking up rapidly, probably with people who may have normally gone to Asia but who now prefer to sail in the opposite direction!!  

 

My concern is that if we book anything now and the trip is cancelled (it's with Cunard) will we lose our money?  Our Insurance Company is excellent (first hand knowledge of refunds for medical reasons) but would they cover us for a cancellation of a trip we booked knowing that, however slight a chance there was, it may be cancelled.  It's not a cheap cruise and money we could ill afford to lose.

 

 

I’m afraid there’s no alternative to reading the actual policy wording to see what’s covered and what isn’t.

 

The issue isn’t really that there’s a chance of cancellation (there always is, because there are plenty of existing risks out there besides this one - flu for example).  It’s whether there’s cover for cancellation involving some element of choice by the policyholder, which might be the case here.  Usually there’s no such cover.

[Toofarfromthesea]

6 hours ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

 

Lots of countries including the USA now have confirmed cases of Coronavirus and it would be naïve imho to believe that the virus won't spread throughout each country as it has in Asia.   

 

Given the secrecy and denial with which the Chinese first reacted to the outbreak I think almost every other country the virus makes it way to will do a much better job at containing it.  I doubt it makes sense to use the progress of the disease in China as an example or projection of what the spread will be like elsewhere.

[royal girl]

I just asked my TA what our options are if we decide to not take our August Royal Caribbean cruise (NJ/Bermuda/NJ).   Even with trip insurance we can either move the date or pay a 15% penalty to cancel.  There are four of us cruising and the other three don't want to go anymore.  I'm on the fence but I'll cancel if that's what they want.   Part of me says by August this will be all over with.... but then that little part of me says don't go.

[Christine13020]

On 2/17/2020 at 4:57 PM, KnowTheScore said:

 

Totally agree.

 

The number of cases is increasing at a very alarming rate day by day.  

 

Within about a week we've gone from 66 to 128 to 218 to 355 to 454

 

The Americans are fortunate to have been evacuated and returned to the USA even though they will now spend another 2 weeks in a military quarantine base.   It just seems utter madness to keep all these people cooped up together.  Empty the entire ship, put everyone in quarantine areas ashore and sterilise the whole ship imho.

 

 

 

 

 

Day one I said it was crazy to try and quarantine on the ship... There even was a crew member preparing or serving meals that came down with it. No wonder, the crew was all crammed together in the bottom of the ship! Probably many caught it from the crew. In no way was that a real quarantine. They (eg Japanese government, cruise company) did not have the passengers safety in mind or they would have handled it differently. Hopefully everybody learned from this botched experiment. 

[K32682]

9 hours ago, Christine13020 said:

Day one I said it was crazy to try and quarantine on the ship... There even was a crew member preparing or serving meals that came down with it. No wonder, the crew was all crammed together in the bottom of the ship! Probably many caught it from the crew. In no way was that a real quarantine. They (eg Japanese government, cruise company) did not have the passengers safety in mind or they would have handled it differently. Hopefully everybody learned from this botched experiment. 

 

It was a very successful quarantine if the objective was to contain the virus in one place and not have it spread to Japan.  The Japanese authorities were quite successful in protecting Japanese civilians at the expense of the hapless cruisers and crew on the boat. 

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by K32682

[kito42]

We love cruising.  We often book kinda last minute and a couple of weeks back were getting ready to book a cruise in April for our anniversary but have decided against cruising for the foreseeable future.  After watching how this has played out I don't think we will go on another cruise for many many years!   

 

I wonder how this will effect cruising long term?  Or will it make much difference?  I guess we will have to wait and see.