Celebrity Travel Advisory Important update

[talljules1]

Also notable that whilst your passport gets stamped on entry to Singapore, since last year it is not stamped on exit.  So how will they know when you left?

[Edinburghgirl1]

When we boarded the NCL Jade in Hong Kong in January we did have to sign a declaration confirming our current health and where we had travelled to in last 15 days. The check in person also inspected every page of our passports looking for a Chinese visa and stamp. I believe 1000 people were refused boarding. 

[Fly and Sail]

Makes very little sense to me to include countries like Thailand in that list. Thailand has 37 cases of infections and most western countries are now approaching that number.

[rte]

2 hours ago, CruiserN1 said:

Limiting travel at this point is largely for show, so that people don't panic and so they feel like the authorities are doing something.  More and more mathematical models and infectious disease specialists are admitting that stopping the spread of this virus is nearly impossible.  What should be talked about more is that the vast majority of people who contract the virus will be fine. The mortality rate among known cases is around 3%. It's likely lower than that in reality because many people have had a mild case or no symptoms and so were never diagnosed. I'm  truly sorry for those who have lost a loved one. For relatively young and healthy people, this illness is no worse than influenza. I cruise Saturday on Equinox and will take reasonable precautions but am not worried.

Well said I had this same conversation with my wife.

[MarkusToe]

within EU we have free travel, without any borders / stamps, whatsoever

It's not possible to track if any EU person was within the nogo area at p.e. Italy - if they just say NOPE - done....no chance...

[Bo1953]

10 hours ago, ccp1740 said:

In the unlikely event that it would be necessary to quarantine the ship for 14 days, how would Celebrity handle things like personal hygiene (will the bathrooms be cleaned, clean towels, etc), passenger laundry, passenger medication (do we need to carry an additional 14 day supply) and meals (diabetic, food allergies, etc)? Will enough medical personnel be available to care for the sick? What about missed flights? These circumstances go beyond the normal. Is Celebrity prepared and trained in advance to handle the Corona Virus should an outbreak occur? What assurances do we have? 

The only assurances we have include that X will do their best to take care of every passenger who is quarantined on its' ships. As was done on The Diamond, the national government provided, at no charge, medications that passengers required.

 

On a thread here, someone indicated that they take a life-saving special drug, I recommended that they let X know in advance about this medicine through Special Services just in case and not wait until something actually happens and it cannot be acquired.

 

If the ship is out to sea, then the medical staff aboard will be stretched very  very thin, to be sure. If in a port then local medical staff will be on hand to help.

 

Missed flights, your third (3rd) party travel insurance will cover this situation, for sure OR the airline may provide some accommodation.

 

X is as prepared as they can be currently and I Am sure ramping up policies and procedures to prevent, curtail and/or contain the virus with health authorities in whichever country they happen to be either in or near. They may even have a procedure/policy in place to get their own medical people aboard to help out, as well.

 

I always think that those who think that what X may or may not have in place or prevention may want to seriously consider cancelling their sailing in lieu of worrying or kvetching that they did not when they could and blaming some one or X for not doing it for them, especially if they do not have travel insurance.

 

In health and bon voyage

Edited February 26, 2020 by Bo1953

[BandZloves5]

11 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

This topic has been discussed in the forum, yet I see you are relatively new here and Welcome.

 

Here goes...

 

It is up to you to decide what, if any risk (financial and health) you are willing to take in this case.

 

The T & C's for your booking dictate this, as well as for many others who are beyond final payment and have similar concerns.

 

Not sure of your travel insurance coverage in Ireland, yet here in the U.S. if the insurance was issued before 20 Jan 2020, you are covered, please check with your insurer to determine if it is the same timeline.

 

X is very 'pro-customer' if the sailing is cancelled, so be on the lookout at the website to see if there are any issues or changes with your sailing, it is the best source for this, currently.

 

As a last comment, if you take your sailing you will enjoy it, if not there is nothing anyone can really say except you exercised your best judgement in this case and remember if X cancels or curtails the sailing, you will be protected to the degree they determine.

 

Check the website or check around the forum to see what others have been offered for this situation, thus far. Please know what has been offered in the past may not replicate the future in terms of compensation and cancellation offers.

 

bon voyage

 

[Bo1953]

11 hours ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Pushka,

 

you made a good point in that we do not always know the true infection  rate of those who contacted the virus so hopefully the mortality rate is less. However less than the common flu...I think not.  I have never seen Any, Any, Any.... did I say any common flu get this much attention from the CDC. 
 

That was point I was trying to make 😏

 

 

Covid is not common, yet, nor, hopefully, an annual infection which will make its' rounds around the world....

 

As such at this time, the common flu is not getting the 'headlines' here in the U.S. as it might otherwise.

 

I do see a great number of print adverts and get emails to make sure I get my 'annual' flu shot, which may or may not work prevent contraction as lauded to do so.

 

Thus a difference, to me.

 

In health and bon voyage

[Bo1953]

6 hours ago, talljules1 said:

Also notable that whilst your passport gets stamped on entry to Singapore, since last year it is not stamped on exit.  So how will they know when you left?

Electronically....

 

bon voyage

[BandZloves5]

My husband and I canceled our May 10 cruise on Celebrity Apex last night.  We lost 25% of our cruise cost and our insurance will not cover that cost.  We have spoken to immunologist, internist and rheumatologist regarding the Corona virus.  ALL feel it is unnecessary to run into harms way and this virus is no where near done.  We could not enjoy a trip at this time and put our health at risk.  All that go safe travels

[zitsky]

Mind if I ask about that 25% you lost?  Was that a deposit, airfare, etc?

[paphoslady]

37 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Covid is not common, yet, nor, hopefully, an annual infection which will make its' rounds around the world....

 

As such at this time, the common flu is not getting the 'headlines' here in the U.S. as it might otherwise.

 

I do see a great number of print adverts and get emails to make sure I get my 'annual' flu shot, which may or may not work prevent contraction as lauded to do so

The common flu in the UK gets lots of press and an annual campaign to get vaccinated!! The annual flu is no joke and can kill or make people critically ill. I caught the flu almost 20 years ago and due to a pre-existing lung condition I was really unwell. Since then I have never missed a flu vaccination. This coronavirus is the new kid on the block and there is no proof at the moment that it does have a high mortality rate. I was told by a colleague that the new coronavirus is far less infectious that some common childhood illnesses!!

[Silkroad]

30 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Mind if I ask about that 25% you lost?  Was that a deposit, airfare, etc?

I would guess they have CFAR insurance, which would reimburse them for 75% of their total trip costs that are not refundable. 

[4774Papa]

8 hours ago, CruiserN1 said:

Limiting travel at this point is largely for show, so that people don't panic and so they feel like the authorities are doing something.  More and more mathematical models and infectious disease specialists are admitting that stopping the spread of this virus is nearly impossible.  What should be talked about more is that the vast majority of people who contract the virus will be fine. The mortality rate among known cases is around 3%. It's likely lower than that in reality because many people have had a mild case or no symptoms and so were never diagnosed. I'm  truly sorry for those who have lost a loved one. For relatively young and healthy people, this illness is no worse than influenza. I cruise Saturday on Equinox and will take reasonable precautions but am not worried.

Agree, the mortality risk is low.  I am 72, but in great health, and likely not to  have a problem, but I would hate to be quarantined for two weeks.

[CruiserN1]

13 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

Agree, the mortality risk is low.  I am 72, but in great health, and likely not to  have a problem, but I would hate to be quarantined for two weeks.

 

I think a quarantine aboard ship is unlikely at this point. We are sailing Equinox out of FLL and I don't see an American port refusing to allow American citizens off the ship. And given the Diamond Princess debacle, I think it's clear that quarantines in close quarters is a terrible idea. Nevertheless, I'm bringing my work laptop in case we are quarantined on land and not allowed to return home. I do think we will be just fine and are more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the airport than to contract coronavirus and have severe complications.

[Ellie_daisy]

I was looking at the statistics. It looks like more elderly or people with comorbidities/compromised immune system are at a higher risk getting sick with the virus. So, far we are planning to go on our 11 days Solstice in April. We are 34, 39 and 5yo. The mortality rate among 0-9 yo is 0 cases so far. Getting back to work might be the biggest nightmare in case of quarantine. 

If I was at a higher risk group, I would probably cancel the cruise. 

[4774Papa]

5 minutes ago, Ellie_daisy said:

I was looking at the statistics. It looks like more elderly or people with comorbidities/compromised immune system are at a higher risk getting sick with the virus. So, far we are planning to go on our 11 days Solstice in April. We are 34, 39 and 5yo. The mortality rate among 0-9 yo is 0 cases so far. Getting back to work might be the biggest nightmare in case of quarantine. 

If I was at a higher risk group, I would probably cancel the cruise. 

Well said.  I have always said that the highest risk that Americans take is getting in our cars and driving on the roads and highways.

[jelayne]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

Mind if I ask about that 25% you lost?  Was that a deposit, airfare, etc?

 

With a sailing date of 5/10 they may be within the 89-76 day cancelation window which has a loss of 25% if you cancel.

Edited February 26, 2020 by jelayne

[Hllb]

15 hours ago, Pushka said:

We don’t know the true mortality rate because we do not know the true occurrence rate. I believe it’s much more widespread in China than official figures state. Not everyone will get tested for it. Many just have minor symptoms and not consult the Dr and shrug it off as the flu. 
 

The real issue is this virus getting into communities that have poor medical services like Africa. 

The same is true for the flu - many more cases than have been officially diagnosed. Of course, there's no way to know if the ratio of undiagnosed cases is the same between the two illnesses, but all we can go by are the mortality rates we know, and this has a much higher mortality rate than the flu. 

[az_tchr]

2 hours ago, paphoslady said:

The common flu in the UK gets lots of press and an annual campaign to get vaccinated!! The annual flu is no joke and can kill or make people critically ill. I caught the flu almost 20 years ago and due to a pre-existing lung condition I was really unwell. Since then I have never missed a flu vaccination. This coronavirus is the new kid on the block and there is no proof at the moment that it does have a high mortality rate. I was told by a colleague that the new coronavirus is far less infectious that some common childhood illnesses!!

Measles, mumps and scarlet fever agree indeed far more contagious. They also are more serious than Corona. With lung issues sure seems avoiding viral pneumonia like Corona a good idea.

However, disagree that a 2% fatality rate is not high. The "flu" has a rate of about .1%. And yes we all probably have some partial immunity to the flu.

[clojacks]

2 minutes ago, az_tchr said:

Measles, mumps and scarlet fever agree indeed far more contagious. They also are more serious than Corona. With lung issues sure seems avoiding viral pneumonia like Corona a good idea.

However, disagree that a 2% fatality rate is not high. The "flu" has a rate of about .1%. And yes we all probably have some partial immunity to the flu.

At 2%, the mortality as currently estimated for Coronavirus is 20 times higher than the flu. That is significant!

[zitsky]

If I walk away before final payment the most I'll lose is my deposit yes?  I do have a CFAR policy.

[wrk2cruise]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

If I walk away before final payment the most I'll lose is my deposit yes?  I do have a CFAR policy.

 

If you have a NRD you will lose $100 pp and the remainder of your deposit will be returned to you as a Future Cruise Credit which can be applied to a new cruise within 1 year.  (Generally sailing date can be beyond 1 year).

 

 

[peck]

On 2/24/2020 at 8:59 PM, CruiserMickey said:

Wow...this is an interesting development considering our final payment for our Med cruise out of Venice is due in a week. 😳

If you are denied boarding by Celebrity, will they give a 100% refund. 

[CruiserMickey]

16 minutes ago, peck said:

If you are denied boarding by Celebrity, will they give a 100% refund. 

 

I believe so, but then what do you do when you’re in a foreign country with no booked accommodations? Not sure I am willing to risk that.