Don’t go on a cruise!

[KnowTheScore]

21 hours ago, drsheryl said:

I'm debating cancelling my cruise.  So far, I have only paid a $500 deposit.  I have a solo cabin booked.  I don't want to be quarantined for 2 wks in a solo cabin.  The virus seems to be spreading even with the quarantine.  My flights are booked for Rome.  I can just do an Italy trip.  Thoughts?

 

Likewise have those concerns and the bigger concern that regardless of any actual Coronavirus on-board, a number of ports will turn ships away if there are people on-board with basic cold/flu symptoms.   Such people would need to be tested to see if they have Coronavirus and whilst that is happening you may not be allowed to disembark at whatever port you're going to.

Gibraltar have issued such protocols and I'm sure plenty of other ports will do likewise.  The Costa Smerelda denied passengers in the port of Civitavecchia because people on the ship had basic cold/flu symptoms.

 

So in then end you have 2 decisions to weigh up.

 

First what's the personal state of health of you and anyone travelling with you and is your immune system likely to be strong enough to get through a bout of Coronavirus should it appear on-board.   And if it is strong enough are you prepared to be cooped up quarantined in your cabin for 2 weeks like the passengers on the Diamond Princess if there is an outbreak?

 

Second, are you happy to shell out £000s for a cruise which in the current environment may well see you miss a number of ports even if there is no Coronavirus on-board? 

 

It's a personal choice for all.

 

My choice is simply to cancel the cruises I currently have booked in 2020, even one I have already paid for.  Just not worth the risk imho nor the stress of seeing people coughing and sneezing every 5 mins and thinking "is this it?  do we have Coronavirus on-board" and will I need to get off quick and fly home before we all get quarantined and so on.    That's not what I would call a relaxing holiday.

 

On a side, it's worth realising that because of all this Coronavirus situation there will undoubtedly be a great many cheap cabins offered going forward as people like myself cancel in significant numbers.   Thus if you've only paid a deposit thus far you will likely, imho, save yourself a load of money by cancelling now and losing that deposit and then re-booking later, nearer the time when I predict the cruise line will bite your hand off to get you on the ship.   The world has changed irrefutably at the moment.  Why would you pay a ticket price that was set before the Coronavirus situation developed?  Would you be happy getting on board and finding that loads of people paid far far less than you did?    Just a no-brainer for me personally.  Each to their own though.

 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by KnowTheScore

[Joebucks]

The most I'll take into consideration here is that I'm not going to cruise to China.

[Charles4515]

3 hours ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

It's a personal choice for all.

 

My choice is simply to cancel the cruises I currently have booked in 2020, even one I have already paid for.  Just not worth the risk imho nor the stress of seeing people coughing and sneezing every 5 mins and thinking "is this it?  do we have Coronavirus on-board" and will I need to get off quick and fly home before we all get quarantined and so on.    That's not what I would call a relaxing holiday.

 

 

 

I think your choice is the smart choice for the reasons you enumerated.  I am not going to book any cruises right now. Has nothing to do with Fox News. I don’t watch it. Cruise ships are one of the major spreaders. Cruise ships have suffered major impact. Even in the Caribbean an island prohibited a cruise ship from docking. Common sense is not to cruise right now. Luckily I don’t have any current bookings to cancel. 
 

I know this won’t be popular but the cruise industry needs to suspend sailings for everyone’s safety. 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

The most I'll take into consideration here is that I'm not going to cruise to China.

The virus is not going to be contained to China. 

[navybankerteacher]

22 hours ago, davekathy said:

We would never book or not book a cruise, itinerary or a ship based on another person's experiences or opinions. 

This sounds  great -but would you pay attention to the “...experiences or opinions...” of passengers currently on HAL’s Westerdam?

 

”never” is a very long time.

[DirtyDawg]

Normally I wouldn't bother with the opinions of the talking heads on cable news outlets but I wonder what may answer would be if my cruise just happened to be the first post quarantine cruise on the Diamond Princess?  Sure, the ship would have been scrubbed clean and some talking head at the cruise line would insist it was safe, but.......?

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by DirtyDawg

[leaveitallbehind]

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

The most I'll take into consideration here is that I'm not going to cruise to China.

...neither are most of the cruise lines - at least through April. You would have a tough time getting there by air as well.

[zqvol]

On 2/17/2020 at 6:29 AM, Fun4Us2013 said:

I was listening to Fox News this morning and they were discussing the virus. The guest was discussing how we got here and where they are in the process of coming up with a cure. At the end of her speech as she was telling everyone how to avoid getting this and she said “Don’t take a cruise”. I am booked on the escape in 76 days and certainly plan on going. Wonder how the cruise lines will react to this.

 

I give the advice as much weight as the source warrants.

[KnowTheScore]

2 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

 Diamond Princess?  Sure, the ship would have been scrubbed clean and some talking head at the cruise line would insist it was safe, but.......?

 

 

 

but . . . . .

 

It would make little difference because in a short while the number of people with Coronavirus is going to be pretty huge.  In addition we have heard today of David and Sally Abel on the Diamond Princess being told they have the virus yet having no symptoms so cruise lines aren't going to know who has the virus during embarkation and who has not unless they do full CV tests on everyone which seems unlikely.  So as we go forward we can expect more and more ships to get cases of CV on-board imho.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by KnowTheScore

[Toofarfromthesea]

3 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

The virus is not going to be contained to China. 

 

True, but in the absence of the secrecy and denial with which the Chinese initially reacted to their outbreak, containment will be far better in other countries than has occurred in China in all likelihood.

 

And it is very likely that as soon as the weather warms up it will fade away.  

[ducklite]

Two cases in Orlando, so nobody should come to Disney or Universal, either given this logic.

[KnowTheScore]

34 minutes ago, ducklite said:

Two cases in Orlando, so nobody should come to Disney or Universal, either given this logic.

 

 

Two KNOWN cases.   Cases which were serious enough for the victims to report to a hospital I guess.  The number of

actual cases will be far more.   And yes, I think mass public spaces where virus contamination could be rife should be shut down for the time being.  Remember the virus has at least a 14 day incubation period, possibly much more.

[That sinking feeling]

Imagine you cancel your cruise and during the period that you would have been away you contract coronavirus anyway?

 

That's a lose lose.

[ducklite]

45 minutes ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

 

Two KNOWN cases.   Cases which were serious enough for the victims to report to a hospital I guess.  The number of

actual cases will be far more.   And yes, I think mass public spaces where virus contamination could be rife should be shut down for the time being.  Remember the virus has at least a 14 day incubation period, possibly much more.

So shut down the WalMarts.  got it.

[LittleYiaYia]

26 minutes ago, ducklite said:

So shut down the WalMarts.  got it.

 

And all schools, churches , movie theatres, sporting arenas, concert venues, subways, trains and all airline travel etc.  Basically anywhere where more than 10 people at a time gather.  Better head to the grocery store before they shut down too. 

[davekathy]

5 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

This sounds  great -but would you pay attention to the “...experiences or opinions...” of passengers currently on HAL’s Westerdam?

 

”never” is a very long time.

If I'm reading about someone's experiences or opinions or listening to someone of course  I'm interested and I also respect what they are saying. It doesn't matter if it's posted on social media or having a face to face conversation with someone. Bottom line their experiences and opinions still would not influence our decision to book or not book that same cruise line, itinerary or ship. We've been cruising for a long time and our method to our madness works great for us. If something was to go wrong, bummer but we' would only have ourselves to point the finger at. 

 

Never is a very long time. That's why the both of us agree and can say without a doubt, "never".  

Edited February 18, 2020 by davekathy

[Charles4515]

48 minutes ago, LittleYiaYia said:

 

And all schools, churches , movie theatres, sporting arenas, concert venues, subways, trains and all airline travel etc.  Basically anywhere where more than 10 people at a time gather.  Better head to the grocery store before they shut down too. 

If the virus is spreading in your area that could happen. They did that in parts of China. 
 

Also several International conferences have been cancelled. 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Charles4515

[LittleYiaYia]

45 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

If the virus is spreading in your area that could happen. They did that in parts of China. 
 

Also several International conferences have been cancelled. 

 

Charles, I am certainly not belittling your concern, but I simply do not share your panic.  I am old enough to remember the Asian flu (maybe the late 50's-that was a nasty bug) the Swine flu (yes it made it's way through our household), Ebola, the Bird flu, Sars, and recently the Zika virus, etc. The media made it sound like doomsday was right around the corner.  Until my Doctor advises me to stay in my home and not go out in public, I will continue on with my life as usual.  We are leaving the country on this Thursday....hope you are wrong and  we are allowed back in when returning in middle March. 

[ducklite]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

If the virus is spreading in your area that could happen. They did that in parts of China. 
 

Also several International conferences have been cancelled. 

Chinese don't have the overall freedom of movement that we do in the US.  

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

If the virus is spreading in your area that could happen. They did that in parts of China. 
 

Also several International conferences have been cancelled. 

You have to wonder if the Summer Olympics in Japan will go on as scheduled or will be cancelled or postponed.

[lenquixote66]

2 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

You have to wonder if the Summer Olympics in Japan will go on as scheduled or will be cancelled or postponed.

I read that the Olympic committee will not cancel or postpone.

[ontheweb]

6 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I read that the Olympic committee will not cancel or postpone.

Let's wait and see what happened when the date for the games gets much closer.

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

Let's wait and see what happened when the date for the games gets much closer.

I would think that it would be more likely that they would change the location with generating revenue to Japan.

[ontheweb]

4 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I would think that it would be more likely that they would change the location with generating revenue to Japan.

There is a lot of advance planning needed plus a lot of infrastructure. I really cannot see how you could do a last minute venue change.

[Lois R]

7 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

There is a lot of advance planning needed plus a lot of infrastructure. I really cannot see how you could do a last minute venue change.

I agree 100%....they start "new infrastructure" years before.....(well, normally as soon as they awarded the particular

games)..to change venues at the last minute? No way.  If anything happens to the negative I would think they would

cancel them---not move them.  Too many issues to move stuff.  (in my opinion).