Do you have concerns about cruising at this time? Onboard now?

[rabin1]

20 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Did you get 100% credit?

Yes I did all but the amount of the insurance and the $100 advance cruise deposit which I am going to send  both in as a claim.  I think total of about $379.

Good luck

Kathy

Edited February 28, 2020 by rabin1

[chickadee1]

Ok, everyone.  I booked my cruise through a travel agency and when I called them this morning I could only leave a message as all their customer service reps were busy. The only email address I can find is an email to sign up for marketing! Other than driving through three states to get to their office, what does everyone suggest that I do to cancel this cruise?? Could I call princess directly or is it better just to have some patience and wait for the agency to call me back, hopefully today! As you may remember, my last day to cancel penalty free is Sunday!

 

Thanks!

[rabin1]

1 minute ago, chickadee1 said:

Ok, everyone.  I booked my cruise through a travel agency and when I called them this morning I could only leave a message as all their customer service reps were busy. The only email address I can find is an email to sign up for marketing! Other than driving through three states to get to their office, what does everyone suggest that I do to cancel this cruise?? Could I call princess directly or is it better just to have some patience and wait for the agency to call me back, hopefully today! As you may remember, my last day to cancel penalty free is Sunday!

 

Thanks!

I personally would try again after the 9am rush i am EST and if no anser by midday call Princess and if they say no ask for a supervisor. I am not a patient person but be patient these travel people are probably going nuts.

Kathy

[chickadee1]

19 minutes ago, rabin1 said:

I personally would try again after the 9am rush i am EST and if no anser by midday call Princess and if they say no ask for a supervisor. I am not a patient person but be patient these travel people are probably going nuts.

Kathy

 

Kathy, I will give them another call later. Princess is on West coast so time would allow me to call later in day. I bet they are really scrambling today, too!! Sorry I didn’t get up earlier!! I will take a deep breath, or a glass of wine(LOL), and be patient!!

[rabin1]

1 hour ago, chickadee1 said:

 

Kathy, I will give them another call later. Princess is on West coast so time would allow me to call later in day. I bet they are really scrambling today, too!! Sorry I didn’t get up earlier!! I will take a deep breath, or a glass of wine(LOL), and be patient!!

I THINK there is a number to push when you call Princess if you are working with a TA. Just again be patient I have a feeling there are very long wait times. This is why I persoanlly never ever use TA. For the little amount you get in OBC from them not worth it. Plus I don;t think they watch pricing etc. Just my opinion. Mine was cancelled instantly and refunded within 5 days. I emailed my Princess Vacation Planner.

Good Luck

Kathy

Edited February 28, 2020 by rabin1

[Yehootu]

We have 18 days till we begin our B2B 25 days. We always carry sanitizers and practice good hand washing. This time we've upped our type of sanitizer. Wife has also bought masks as she says she could be high risk as a former smoker. Taking precautions is one thing, running from hysteria of the press is another.

On the 2nd segment FLL-LAX, more rooms open up everyday. Interior rooms now offered for $969.00, that's $62.00 a day. Probably doesn't cover canal transit cost. There are now 139 rooms open. Granted reserve guarantee rooms might not have been assigned, but numbers have been climbing.

I always carry duct tape and garbage bags, so I'll just tape our A/C vents closed and open doors. With sauna type heat, at least we'll lose weight. Everyones circumstances different. were in good shape and late 50's. Just hope they'll deliver 6 packs if quarantined , cause I don't know if I'll be able to hold out for 14 days stuck with my wife, even if we have a mini suite.

     Aloha

[npcl]

9 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

We have 18 days till we begin our B2B 25 days. We always carry sanitizers and practice good hand washing. This time we've upped our type of sanitizer. Wife has also bought masks as she says she could be high risk as a former smoker. Taking precautions is one thing, running from hysteria of the press is another.

On the 2nd segment FLL-LAX, more rooms open up everyday. Interior rooms now offered for $969.00, that's $62.00 a day. Probably doesn't cover canal transit cost. There are now 139 rooms open. Granted reserve guarantee rooms might not have been assigned, but numbers have been climbing.

I always carry duct tape and garbage bags, so I'll just tape our A/C vents closed and open doors. With sauna type heat, at least we'll lose weight. Everyones circumstances different. were in good shape and late 50's. Just hope they'll deliver 6 packs if quarantined , cause I don't know if I'll be able to hold out for 14 days stuck with my wife, even if we have a mini suite.

     Aloha

The transit costs are covered in the taxes and fees add on, not in fare.  The main reason it is higher on a canal cruise than most other cruises.

[chickadee1]

4 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

We have 18 days till we begin our B2B 25 days. We always carry sanitizers and practice good hand washing. This time we've upped our type of sanitizer. Wife has also bought masks as she says she could be high risk as a former smoker. Taking precautions is one thing, running from hysteria of the press is another.

On the 2nd segment FLL-LAX, more rooms open up everyday. Interior rooms now offered for $969.00, that's $62.00 a day. Probably doesn't cover canal transit cost. There are now 139 rooms open. Granted reserve guarantee rooms might not have been assigned, but numbers have been climbing.

I always carry duct tape and garbage bags, so I'll just tape our A/C vents closed and open doors. With sauna type heat, at least we'll lose weight. Everyones circumstances different. were in good shape and late 50's. Just hope they'll deliver 6 packs if quarantined , cause I don't know if I'll be able to hold out for 14 days stuck with my wife, even if we have a mini suite.

     Aloha

Sounds like you have a great sense of humor. Hope they deliver wine or other spirits to your cabin if quarantined-your wife has to put up with you, too!

 

By the way, I am still trying to get my cruise canceled for May. Today is day 78. I did take someone’s suggestion and called Princess directly. After waiting on hold I did speak with lovely rep Marisa who told me only TA can request cancellation. I called TA again and this time I spoke to lovely Mel of Guest Relations and she tells me that she knows my name from my calls and they are working on it. I feel a little better but will feel best when I get conf of cancellation!

[npcl]

15 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

We have 18 days till we begin our B2B 25 days. We always carry sanitizers and practice good hand washing. This time we've upped our type of sanitizer. Wife has also bought masks as she says she could be high risk as a former smoker. Taking precautions is one thing, running from hysteria of the press is another.

On the 2nd segment FLL-LAX, more rooms open up everyday. Interior rooms now offered for $969.00, that's $62.00 a day. Probably doesn't cover canal transit cost. There are now 139 rooms open. Granted reserve guarantee rooms might not have been assigned, but numbers have been climbing.

I always carry duct tape and garbage bags, so I'll just tape our A/C vents closed and open doors. With sauna type heat, at least we'll lose weight. Everyones circumstances different. were in good shape and late 50's. Just hope they'll deliver 6 packs if quarantined , cause I don't know if I'll be able to hold out for 14 days stuck with my wife, even if we have a mini suite.

     Aloha

Might be the worst thing you can do.  The systems are set up to create positive pressure in the rooms (this is for fire safety to make sure smoke does not get drawn into rooms in case of a fire).  Air goes from room into hallway and then outside.  If you leave your balcony door open then the pressure in the room is the same as outside and if you plug the AC vents then air gets drawn from the hallway into the room. So you would need to completely seal around your door to the hallway very difficult to do and even if successful every time you open the door the air would rush in from the hallway.  (I expect that many of you have seen the wind tunnel effect if you open your balcony door and hallway door at the same time).

 

So far most thinking that most transfer is by direct person to person, contact with an infected surface and then transfered to mouth, eyes, or nose, or by drop lets, for which the effective infection range of 3-6 feet.

 

While there have been some technical articles that talk about the limitations in filtering in cruise ships and hotels, etc. While there might be some fine particle transmissions, most professionals seem to consider that to be pretty low.

 

In my case will leave AC on, will only open balcony door to go in and out, not leaving it open, to leave room positive pressure.

[Yehootu]

9 minutes ago, npcl said:

Might be the worst thing you can do.  The systems are set up to create positive pressure in the rooms (this is for fire safety to make sure smoke does not get drawn into rooms in case of a fire).  Air goes from room into hallway and then outside.  If you leave your balcony door open then the pressure in the room is the same as outside and if you plug the AC vents then air gets drawn from the hallway into the room. So you would need to completely seal around your door to the hallway very difficult to do and even if successful every time you open the door the air would rush in from the hallway.  (I expect that many of you have seen the wind tunnel effect if you open your balcony door and hallway door at the same time).

 

So far most thinking that most transfer is by direct person to person, contact with an infected surface and then transfered to mouth, eyes, or nose, or by drop lets, for which the effective infection range of 3-6 feet.

 

While there have been some technical articles that talk about the limitations in filtering in cruise ships and hotels, etc. While there might be some fine particle transmissions, most professionals seem to consider that to be pretty low.

 

In my case will leave AC on, will only open balcony door to go in and out, not leaving it open, to leave room positive pressure.

It was a joke. As a 35yr airline pilot, I've got a good handle on how A/C systems work.People think that turning off the recirculating fans on the jet will increase the quality of air in the aircraft when actually the recycled air goes through filters. Good advice for others that might not have realized I was joking.

[chickadee1]

4 hours ago, chickadee1 said:

 

Kathy, I will give them another call later. Princess is on West coast so time would allow me to call later in day. I bet they are really scrambling today, too!! Sorry I didn’t get up earlier!! I will take a deep breath, or a glass of wine(LOL), and be patient!!

Kathy, I did finally get in touch with TA and they sent form for me to request the cancellation. I think it is all going through now. I am so sorry to be missing this cruise. I certainly hope that all is well on the cruise and everyone returns hope healthy and safe! Maybe this itinerary (14 days RT from LA to Alaska) will happen again and we will be on that ship!! Or maybe we will just sail out of NY, NJ or MA and not have the same worries!  Hope this wasn't my last cruise....

[bluesea321]

Among the concerns about cruising at this time there is the reluctance of certain ports to allow ships to dock even if there is no evidence of coronavirus.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-02-27/cruise-ship-can-dock-at-mexicos-cozumel-amid-virus-fears

[npcl]

2 hours ago, Yehootu said:

It was a joke. As a 35yr airline pilot, I've got a good handle on how A/C systems work.People think that turning off the recirculating fans on the jet will increase the quality of air in the aircraft when actually the recycled air goes through filters. Good advice for others that might not have realized I was joking.

Have seen some people talking exactly about doing that, and being very serious about it, especially after the infections on the Diamond.

 

Just out of curiosity.  Do you have sufficient control over air flow, exhaust, and recirculation that you could seal off a section of a cabin make it slightly negative pressure, without the air there being recirculated into the rest of the cabin.

 

I know that it can be done on some military cargo planes.  Had to do it in a NBC exercise.

[rabin1]

1 hour ago, chickadee1 said:

Kathy, I did finally get in touch with TA and they sent form for me to request the cancellation. I think it is all going through now. I am so sorry to be missing this cruise. I certainly hope that all is well on the cruise and everyone returns hope healthy and safe! Maybe this itinerary (14 days RT from LA to Alaska) will happen again and we will be on that ship!! Or maybe we will just sail out of NY, NJ or MA and not have the same worries!  Hope this wasn't my last cruise....

Very Happy working out for you. You can always come visit us here in Florida we have no cases of the virus thus far in our state.

I am sure you will sail again. Stay positive

Blessings

Kathy

[Yehootu]

12 minutes ago, npcl said:

Have seen some people talking exactly about doing that, and being very serious about it, especially after the infections on the Diamond.

 

Just out of curiosity.  Do you have sufficient control over air flow, exhaust, and recirculation that you could seal off a section of a cabin make it slightly negative pressure, without the air there being recirculated into the rest of the cabin.

 

I know that it can be done on some military cargo planes.  Had to do it in a NBC exercise.

No , you'd have to have a separate pressure bulkheads that airline category aircraft don't have. The Diamond evacuees were put into a separate loaded containment unit on Kaletta Cargo.

[Comi.uy]

3 hours ago, rabin1 said:

this is on CNN today on line. I cut and paste a small part and I think pretty much answers the questions about traveling. It is by some health officials not the CDC

 

Since where the virus will turn up is quite unpredictable, he has accepted that every place comes with some degree of risk.

But if the risk were no larger than it is now, he said, the probability of dying is "very, very low" and the probability of getting sick is "vanishingly small."

The probability of being seriously inconvenienced -- stranded by a closed border or quarantined in a hotel or ship -- is "considerably higher," Fischhoff said. "Right now it's still pretty low in absolute terms, and it's not clear how quickly it's moving."

Fischhoff will continue to assess the situation as his trip approaches, he said, but he is willing to walk away from sunk costs if he decides not to go.

He encourages the same framing for other travelers: Would you be better off going or not going, regardless of the cost?

 

Kathy

CNN is not a reliable news source.

The probability of dying (getting proper health care) is indeed low but only if you are under 65. For older folks, which is the main pool of people both for cruises and this forum, there is significant risk.

Once this gets to everyone, and believe me it will, chances of getting decent health care will plummet as hospitals will saturate.

[chickadee1]

10 minutes ago, rabin1 said:

Very Happy working out for you. You can always come visit us here in Florida we have no cases of the virus thus far in our state.

I am sure you will sail again. Stay positive

Blessings

Kathy

 

You are sweet-thank you for your encouragement and blessings!! Same to you. 

 

Barbara

[Pushka]

A virologist in Australia said yesterday that Covid19 may become one of those virus that we have to deal with every year, just like the common cold for which there is no vaccine nor cure. Some will do poorly, others will be unwell for a couple of days. Until we get to that acceptance we are having to deal with massive fallout, to pretty much everything in our lives likely for the next 6 months. In the next month given the rapid change of the last month, this season will become clearer and I suspect many cruises just won't happen in the places they are currently planned to happen. I'm not expecting our July Med cruise to actually happen. 

[NorthwestCruiser]

My take on it is that if you are worried about sealing off your cabin, then don't take the cruise.    You could put on a suit, mask, and goggles, keep 3 feet  away from everybody else when boarding, bring your own sanitizers to wash your hands, seal off your cabin with plastic, bring your own food and water and crouch in your cabin all day and wonder why you are paying thousands of dollars for the experience!    There are *possibly* a lot of different ways of getting infected by the virus and the air vents are in my opinion one of the less likely ones.   (If you get it from cabin air then you got it on the flight to the port.)

 

So realizing that taking a cruise is a risk, one can decide to do it regardless of the risk and just have fun.   Doing it while not having fun is pointless in my opinion.  The odds are that Covid19 won't kill you and won't even send you to the hospital*, and if what we think we know about the virus is true the odds are that you will get it anyway.   This is not to make light of a serious situation, because the minority of people who need care and the smaller minority who die would still add up to a very large number if this thing reaches the %70 of the population that some virologists think that it can (it is much worse than the flu) and that will have worldwide effects that won't be very nice.   How we all chose to deal with this situation is up to our values and responsibilities.   As humans we have a responsibility not to infect other people, so follow all directions, advice, and if you end up in a quarantine situation follow the rules realizing that you knew the situation going into it and have no regrets. 

 

*If you are very old or already have health issues then you should do your utmost not to get infected and probably should wait for the situation to resolve before doing any kind of travelling.

[rabin1]

CDC put out a travel advisory that all nonessential travel to Italy should not go.

 

I wonder what these cruise lines are going to do now?

 

I am soooooo glad I cancelled my TA from FtL to Barcelona & then on to Rome. I was only going as far as Barcelona. Between the propulsion problem with the ship and now this. I would not go now if it were Free.

 

Kathy

Edited February 28, 2020 by rabin1

[villauk]

33 minutes ago, rabin1 said:

CDC put out a travel advisory that all nonessential travel to Italy should not go.

 

I wonder what these cruise lines are going to do now?

 

I am soooooo glad I cancelled my TA from FtL to Barcelona & then on to Rome. I was only going as far as Barcelona. Between the propulsion problem with the ship and now this. I would not go now if it were Free.

 

Kathy

 

 

Yes, I said that I doubted those ships would leave FL when you commented on waiting for them to go on their TAs, and now the raised travel advisory.

[Mackenzie1]

2 hours ago, villauk said:

 

 

Yes, I said that I doubted those ships would leave FL when you commented on waiting for them to go on their TAs, and now the raised travel advisory.

 

Hi Villauk,

 

I'm still on the same Crown Princess cruise that you were on from Ft.  Lauderdale to Rome, and have not cancelled yet.  I was thinking about taking the cruise, but flying back from Barcelona and skipping Rome, but each day the situation just keeps getting worse.  I keep wishing that Princess would announce a change in itinerary, but they have not said anything yet.  What to do?  This was from a long time ago, but during the first Gulf War, the cruise lines brought all of their ships to sail the Caribbean during that time, so maybe something like that will happen now.  I just wish Princess would address these terrible issues now.  Instead, they are not saying anything, which leaves such a feeling that maybe the best thing to do is just to bail on the cruise.  What to do?  I'm sure many others are asking the same question. 

[npcl]

16 minutes ago, Mackenzie1 said:

 

Hi Villauk,

 

I'm still on the same Crown Princess cruise that you were on from Ft.  Lauderdale to Rome, and have not cancelled yet.  I was thinking about taking the cruise, but flying back from Barcelona and skipping Rome, but each day the situation just keeps getting worse.  I keep wishing that Princess would announce a change in itinerary, but they have not said anything yet.  What to do?  This was from a long time ago, but during the first Gulf War, the cruise lines brought all of their ships to sail the Caribbean during that time, so maybe something like that will happen now.  I just wish Princess would address these terrible issues now.  Instead, they are not saying anything, which leaves such a feeling that maybe the best thing to do is just to bail on the cruise.  What to do?  I'm sure many others are asking the same question. 

you are now starting to see local transmission talking place in Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland. Not nearly as bad as Italy but could also be problem areas in a couple of weeks.

[Mackenzie1]

4 minutes ago, npcl said:

you are now starting to see local transmission talking place in Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland. Not nearly as bad as Italy but could also be problem areas in a couple of weeks.

 

Yes, thanks.  It's all very concerning.  I keep thinking that someone at Princess is working on what to do about all of this, but day after day goes by, and we hear nothing.  Is Princess really planning to sail to Europe despite the outbreak of this virus?  I was planning on waiting to the last moment to decide, but when Princess is saying nothing, cancelling may be the only option.  It makes me very sad, because I was so looking forward to this cruise.

[wishIwascruising]

We are now 43 days out from our Mediterranean Cruise on the Crown.  We've basically decided we are not going to be going on this cruise but like many of you, I've been waiting to hear from Princess about perhaps moving my booking to later in the year or even Spring of 2021 but they've been silent.  Every time I call they try to convince me that it's all systems GO even though now the CDC has advised against non-essential travel to Italy and we all know it's a matter of time before it includes all of Europe.  I haven't cancelled because I am hopeful Princess will contact me.  If I cancel (we have Platinum insurance) I might just hold on to my travel dollars and see what cruise line offers the best incentives to travel in Spring of 2021.  I know they will all be working hard to get their cruisers back on their ships.