Corona virus RCI policy

[mochuck]

6 hours ago, pineapple666 said:

Some of us are currently in China now, and they planned to fly from China to US right before the sailing. Due to the recent massive flights cancellation and travel ban, they are not able to enter US now. Even if they could , they will be denied boarding due to the 14 days restriction by RCI. 

 

Oh dear. You're going to have real problems getting out of China given the number of airlines that have stopped flying in and out of China. You probably need to contact your embassy for assistance.

[pineapple666]

10 minutes ago, mochuck said:

Oh dear. You're going to have real problems getting out of China given the number of airlines that have stopped flying in and out of China. You probably need to contact your embassy for assistance.

I think there is nothing to do with Chinese embassy. As long as RCI still deny boarding due to the 14 days restriction on sailings, and they can prove them to be hit by this, the refund policy should apply to them. 

[mochuck]

1 minute ago, pineapple666 said:

I think there is nothing to do with Chinese embassy. As long as RCI still deny boarding due to the 14 days restriction on sailings, and they can prove them to be hit by this, the refund policy should apply to them. 

So you're not actually in China? Its somebody else?

[pineapple666]

5 minutes ago, mochuck said:

So you're not actually in China? Its somebody else?

Not myself. We will go for the same cruise.

[mochuck]

22 minutes ago, pineapple666 said:

Not myself. We will go for the same cruise.

Are your friends Chinese citizens living in China?

[mochuck]

I wonder if they will quarantine the whole ship for 14 days now? And if they do will people be able to use public areas?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-05/coronavirus-on-cruise-ship-in-japan/11931688

[mochuck]

This article says: Princess Cruises said it has placed 3,700 passengers and crew under mandatory quarantine for two weeks after ten passengers aboard a cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan tested positive for the new coronavirus

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/princess-cruises-quarantines-3700-after-10-passengers-test-positive-for-virus.html

[kernow]

We have received another email this morning about our Quantum cruise in just over a weeks time. 

There is now an additional restriction

 

'After consultation with medical experts and public health authorities, we’ve decided that regardless of nationality, any guest or crewmember traveling from, to, or through mainland China or Hong Kong less than 15 days prior to their sailing will be unable to board any of our ships. Additionally, Singapore Authorities have implemented a new travel ban that regardless of residency, anyone with a Chinese passport that has been in close contact (6 feet or 2 meters) with an individual that has returned from mainland China 14 days prior to sailing departure, will be denied boarding. Both measures are precautions to help avoid the spread of the coronavirus, which has recently seen an increase in cases globally. '

 

 

The Singapore authorities bit is new, I guess it is mostly referring to Chinese people living in Singapore who may have family or friends recently returned from China.

[Sail n Snow]

11 hours ago, mochuck said:

I wonder if they will quarantine the whole ship for 14 days now? And if they do will people be able to use public areas?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-05/coronavirus-on-cruise-ship-in-japan/11931688

Here’s another one being quarantined but in Hong Kong. 
 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/05/coronavirus-almost-2000-passengers-held-on-cruise-ship-in-hong-kong.html

[TRUEBLUE66]

4 hours ago, kernow said:

Additionally, Singapore Authorities have implemented a new travel ban that regardless of residency, anyone with a Chinese passport that has been in close contact (6 feet or 2 meters) with an individual that has returned from mainland China 14 days prior to sailing departure, will be denied boarding. Both measures are precautions to help avoid the spread of the coronavirus, which has recently seen an increase in cases globally. '

 

 

The Singapore authorities bit is new, I guess it is mostly referring to Chinese people living in Singapore who may have family or friends recently returned from China.

Hi,

      We go on the Quantum towards the end of March {hopefully!}. As things stand I believe our chances of catching this virus are slim but we have made alternative arrangements in the event of the cruise being cancelled as we might only get a weeks notice and will already be in Asia by then. 

However, my two concerns would be firstly how could the local authorities police such a ban unless people come forward and volunteer the information. 

Secondly, I have more fear of someone getting onto the ship with no signs, then developing even minor symptoms from the virus and us all being quarantined for 2 weeks, unable to go home etc. like the people on the Diamond Princess just now. I suppose there are worse places to be!

{on a more jovial note, do you think R.C. would honor the extra nights towards C & A? 😁} 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51381594

 

Edited February 5, 2020 by TRUEBLUE66
update

[kernow]

3 minutes ago, TRUEBLUE66 said:

 

{on a more jovial note, do you think R.C. would honor the extra nights towards C & A? 😁} 

 

I've already said that to DH earlier today ▫️

[The Grumpus]

12 hours ago, mochuck said:

This article says: Princess Cruises said it has placed 3,700 passengers and crew under mandatory quarantine for two weeks after ten passengers aboard a cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan tested positive for the new coronavirus

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/princess-cruises-quarantines-3700-after-10-passengers-test-positive-for-virus.html

If I were a cruise line owner, I'd have to give serious consideration to withdrawing from the Asian market until someone gets control of this virus, or it runs its course.  You can't be sending ships in this hot zone and have passengers getting sick, plus passing it to other passengers. I wonder if this ship had similar boarding controls as RCI has implemented and it failed to stop it?

[AshleyDillo]

12 hours ago, mochuck said:

This article says: Princess Cruises said it has placed 3,700 passengers and crew under mandatory quarantine for two weeks after ten passengers aboard a cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan tested positive for the new coronavirus

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/princess-cruises-quarantines-3700-after-10-passengers-test-positive-for-virus.html

 

There's a gentleman on social media who is live blogging from his quarantine on the ship.  If you Google david.abel.75 you can find him and follow along.

[Ourusualbeach]

23 minutes ago, The Grumpus said:

I wonder if this ship had similar boarding controls as RCI has implemented and it failed to stop it?

Very similar.

 

Measures we are implementing include:

• Guests who have traveled from or through mainland China (including Hubei Province) in the past 14-days* will not be permitted to board the ship. This does not apply to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
• Pre-Boarding medical evaluations, including temperature checks, for persons whom, for any reason, appear or identify as symptomatic (respiratory or fever symptoms); and
• For all guests, our standard pre-boarding health reporting advising of their reporting obligations for any illness or symptoms of an illness
• Medical screening for Coronavirus on all guests who visit our onboard Medical Center with symptoms of any respiratory illness
• Reporting to local and national health authorities of all cases of fever and respiratory illness, and any patients with suspected Coronavirus infection
• Crew members from mainland China will be delayed from joining any ship until further notice. Crew members from other regions of the world who may have been scheduled to connect on flights through China have been rerouted.
• Additional environmental disinfection onboard will be performed in addition to our regular stringent cleaning and sanitation protocols.

[Alter Ego]

20 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

 

There's a gentleman on social media who is live blogging from his quarantine on the ship.  If you Google david.abel.75 you can find him and follow along.

Wow - I just watched one of his videos.  Not sure how recent it was, but he commented that they stopped food service as they didn’t know if that’s what’s spreading the virus.  He hadn’t eaten from 7pm the night before to around noonish - and he’s apparently diabetic. I’m sure will get straightened out shortly and some food source will arrive, but what a horrible situation!

[kernow]

1 hour ago, The Grumpus said:

 I wonder if this ship had similar boarding controls as RCI has implemented and it failed to stop it?

The gentleman who first tested positive for the virus is from Hong Kong, he was on the ship before the boarding controls were in place and left the ship before he showed any symptoms. He must have passed it on to current passengers and crew.

[drac999]

Sailing to Bahamas on Feb. 14 on RC.  Received email a few days ago that anyone who was in mainland China or Hong Kong less than 15 days ago would not be permitted to sail.

[ARandomTraveler]

5 hours ago, kernow said:

Additionally, Singapore Authorities have implemented a new travel ban that regardless of residency, anyone with a Chinese passport that has been in close contact (6 feet or 2 meters) with an individual that has returned from mainland China 14 days prior to sailing departure, will be denied boarding. 

 

How can they possibly enforce this? Are they gonna have a question on the set sail pass that says “have you been within 6 feet of someone who has visited mainland china in the last 14 days?” And more importantly, do they actually expect people to check yes on that box, knowing that they’re about to be turned away from their vacation with nowhere to go? I hope they offer some incentive for people to be truthful on that, like paying for their hotel so they’re not stuck in Singapore holding their luggage watching the ship sail away without them, and giving them a refund and helping them fly home. Otherwise, people are gonna lie. It’s also a somewhat flawed question as it assumes people know where everyone they come in contact with has been. 

[kernow]

9 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

How can they possibly enforce this? Are they gonna have a question on the set sail pass that says “have you been within 6 feet of someone who has visited mainland china in the last 14 days?” And more importantly, do they actually expect people to check yes on that box, knowing that they’re about to be turned away from their vacation with nowhere to go? I hope they offer some incentive for people to be truthful on that, like paying for their hotel so they’re not stuck in Singapore holding their luggage watching the ship sail away without them, and giving them a refund and helping them fly home. Otherwise, people are gonna lie. It’s also a somewhat flawed question as it assumes people know where everyone they come in contact with has been. 

I agree. We will have been in Singapore for 3 days before we board and cannot possibly know where everyone we will come into contact with has been. I assume they are really asking about close friends and family members and are hoping people will be honest.

[nigel_ht]

On 2/3/2020 at 7:51 AM, lr657 said:

 

A respirator mask is definitely NOT necessary, as the coronavirus is currently not classified as being airborne.  No problem with people wearing a mask if they feel safer wearing one, but readjusting them can cause you to touch your face more than you would if you were not wearing one. In addition, the outside of the mask is exposed to the droplets. Since you seem to have a lot of knowledge on this topic, have you seen any information on the length of time that the infectious agent in the droplets remain active? 

 

 

 

N95 respirator is necessary for Health Care Providers in close contact and China is putting people into negative pressure isolation quarantine.  CDC recommends patient placement in negative pressure isolation and N95 masks (or PAPR).

 

Close contact is defined as—

a) being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a 2019-nCoV case for a prolonged period of time while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment or PPE (e.g., gowns, gloves, NIOSH-certified disposable N95 respirator, eye protection); close contact can occur while caring for, living with, visiting, or sharing a health care waiting area or room with a 2019-nCoV case – or –

b) having direct contact with infectious secretions of a 2019-nCoV case (e.g., being coughed on) while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/clinical-criteria.html

 

That said, even for HCPs with training and fitting, masks are often not worn correctly reducing their effectiveness.  

 

There is currently no guidance (from the CDC) on how long the virus remains airborne but treat as if highly infectious. 

 

For surface contamination the virus is active for hours or days.  They found active coronavirus sample on the door handles an infected patient's house.

 

Some interviewed doctors say the expectation is it may stay airborne around 30 seconds.

[ReneeFLL]

On 2/3/2020 at 11:34 PM, pineapple666 said:

Thanks for sharing. Is the future cruise credit good for one year or even longer? 

 

On 2/4/2020 at 9:39 AM, xxHadleyxx said:

One year

 

On 2/4/2020 at 10:14 AM, pineapple666 said:

Thanks for checking!

The way to get around that is to book it within 1 year and then change it to another cruise which can be past the 1 year mark.

[bearette]

I was on that Explorer cruise!  My grandma freaked out over the shoe bomber that happened while we were in the air. I joked it was the last time I would keep my shoes on!

[Ourusualbeach]

Updated today to include Macau

 

1. Regardless of nationality, we will deny boarding to any individual who has travelled from, to or through mainland China or Hong Kong, or Macau in the past 15 days.

[TRUEBLUE66]

I suppose it was too hopeful to think that Singapore wouldn't get dragged into this sooner or later.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51398039

 

Just got to keep fingers crossed it doesn't get any worse and it is a one off.  

[LMaxwell]

What about the China based cruiselines that are not name brands in the US?  Aren't there some mid-size ships that sail full time from China?