Grand Princess Coronavirus Discussion (retitled after merger of several topics)

[Comi.uy]

https://asiatimes.com/2020/03/thousands-held-on-cruise-ship-off-california/?fbclid=IwAR3LkKbT-FL9byTA9OKwMIy7hi9p9TXKMmqgzEppquiuV0XFdRy7IPnebq0

 

Wishing best of luck to all those on board.

[ghjohnson]

I just received this from Princess 3/4/20 ~

Grand Princess – Voyage A007

 

 

Dear Princess Guest:

 

We are very sorry to inform you that your Grand Princess cruise departing on Saturday, March 7, 2020 has been cancelled.

 

We have been notified by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that they are investigating a small cluster of COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases in Northern California connected to our previous Grand Princess voyage that sailed roundtrip San Francisco from February 11 to February 21. We are working closely with our U.S. CDC partners and are following their recommendations.

 

We anticipate that further review of the situation will be necessary when Grand Princess returns to San Francisco from her current voyage. As we cannot predict the length of the potential delay, in an abundance of caution we have regretfully decided to cancel your voyage.

 

We regret any disappointment this cancellation may cause. When we must cancel a voyage, regardless of the reason, we share in your disappointment and offer our sincere apologies.

 

All guests will receive a full refund of their cruise fare, Princess Air, Princess Cruise Plus pre- and post-cruise hotel packages, prepaid shore excursions and other prepaid items purchased through Princess, and taxes, fees, and port expenses. Your refund will be processed automatically via the method of payment used to pay for your cruise. As your cruise has been cancelled so close to departure, each guest will also receive a Future Cruise Credit equal to 100% of the cruise fare paid on this voyage. The credit may be applied to any future Princess booked by March 31, 2021 or any existing booking not yet paid in full and is non-refundable and non-transferable.

We understand this change may cause you to incur unexpected expenses, such as air change fees. Reimbursement of reasonable non-refundable out-of-pocket expenses will be considered on a case-by-case basis. A Refund Request Guide & Form is available at http://www.princess.com/refund-request; please complete and submit this form and any relevant receipts and documentation for our review. If you purchased Princess Vacation Protection or independent vacation travel insurance, please submit your claim through your carrier before submitting a reimbursement request.

Again, we extend our deepest apologies and hope we have the opportunity to exceed your cruise vacation expectations in the near future.

Kind regards,

Princess Cruises 

received this from Princess 3/4/20 ~

Edited March 5, 2020 by ghjohnson

[Geoffa30]

4 hours ago, shastatroy said:

So the question I have is, was a crew member from the Diamond relocated to the Grand?

Really?! It seems to have happened whilst the Diamond Princess was still under quarantine so how on earth could that have happened?

[Geoffa30]

4 hours ago, sailingskyward said:

It sure seems like the disinfection and cleaning measures in place onboard Princess ships is failing to keep the ship free of these pathogens.

I expect no amount of cleaning will offset the unhygienic passengers who fail to wash hands etc.

[kent9xxx1]

12 minutes ago, Geoffa30 said:

I expect no amount of cleaning will offset the unhygienic passengers who fail to wash hands etc.

 

It will offset plenty.  Ex: previous passengers with coronavirus left traces all over.   Cleaning removes coronavirus.  Unhygienic passengers come on.  They don't get sick from coronavirus.  

 

Hygiene or not, it doesn't create coronavirus.  So the crew must. clean and clean well.  

[trbarton]

7 hours ago, Justalone said:

Do you know how many passengers and crew on the Grand are infected with the Corona virus? Rumor is that one passenger on Grand died.  Any word on the ship passengers who test positive being quarantined?  When the ship arrives in San Francisco, I hope Princess do not let passengers debark out into the San Francisco community to possibly infect the public, until all are tested  and are free of the virus.

Now it is reported Corona virus has a deadlier death rate than the flu. Out of 154 identified as infected in USA, 18 have died so far.   I am terrible at math, but do not know the % of infection to death.   
Hope and pray there are not a lot of passengers in the high risk group with pre existing conditions.

 

FYI...It was a person that was on the previous cruise that went to Mexico. From the local reports their is nobody currently on the ship with the virus. The ship is being returned as a precaution because of the virus. It is presently out at sea until the CDC decides the next steps. 
 

Tom😀...I live in San Francisco & have been monitoring all of the local news reports. 

[chengkp75]

There are 11 passengers and 10 crew who have symptoms, but no one has been tested, nor found positive for coronavirus.

[ams cruiser]

58 minutes ago, flyguyjake said:

Email posted in the other thread

 

Dear Princess Guest:

 

We are very sorry to inform you that your Grand Princess cruise departing on Saturday, March 7, 2020 has been cancelled.

 

We have been notified by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that they are investigating a small cluster of COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases in Northern California connected to our previous Grand Princess voyage that sailed roundtrip San Francisco from February 11 to February 21. We are working closely with our U.S. CDC partners and are following their recommendations.

 

We anticipate that further review of the situation will be necessary when Grand Princess returns to San Francisco from her current voyage. As we cannot predict the length of the potential delay, in an abundance of caution we have regretfully decided to cancel your voyage.

 

We regret any disappointment this cancellation may cause. When we must cancel a voyage, regardless of the reason, we share in your disappointment and offer our sincere apologies.

 

All guests will receive a full refund of their cruise fare, Princess Air, Princess Cruise Plus pre- and post-cruise hotel packages, prepaid shore excursions and other prepaid items purchased through Princess, and taxes, fees, and port expenses. Your refund will be processed automatically via the method of payment used to pay for your cruise. As your cruise has been cancelled so close to departure, each guest will also receive a Future Cruise Credit equal to 100% of the cruise fare paid on this voyage. The credit may be applied to any future Princess booked by March 31, 2021 or any existing booking not yet paid in full and is non-refundable and non-transferable.

We understand this change may cause you to incur unexpected expenses, such as air change fees. Reimbursement of reasonable non-refundable out-of-pocket expenses will be considered on a case-by-case basis. A Refund Request Guide & Form is available at http://www.princess.com/refund-request; please complete and submit this form and any relevant receipts and documentation for our review. If you purchased Princess Vacation Protection or independent vacation travel insurance, please submit your claim through your carrier before submitting a reimbursement request.

Again, we extend our deepest apologies and hope we have the opportunity to exceed your cruise vacation expectations in the near future.

Kind regards,

Princess Cruises 

Would this apply to passengers who already cancelled this cruise out of fear of the possible spread of the virus?  Asking for a friend of a friend, (really), who cancelled this March 7th cruise just last week , because she would be considered high risk were she to contract the Corona virus. (I don't think her travel insurance was cancel for any reason.)  I don't know what Princess's policy is towards people in her situation, for example, those who cancelled their spring Diamond Princess cruises before Princess cancelled the entire cruise.

 

[caribill]

5 hours ago, sailingskyward said:

It sure seems like the disinfection and cleaning measures in place onboard Princess ships is failing to keep the ship free of these pathogens.

 

This likely has nothing to do with disinfection and cleaning methods. If the passenger had the virus and was contagious while on the ship, anyone near him when he coughed could get infected.

 

And if he infected one of the B2B passengers that were on the next cruise, then that person could  become contagious and infect those on the next cruise.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, cruiserchuck said:

 

I think the lesson Princess learned in Japan is get people off the ship as soon as possible, and get new paying customers on the ship.  Additionally, way back on February 21, almost no one in the entire Country was being tested (less than 500 people total, I believe.)  So Princess really had no way of knowing if the passengers just had the flu or had the Coronavirus.

 

There is, to my knowledge, no facility in the USA capable of holding the 3000+ passengers/crew for such a quarantine. 

[Lunalu]

2 hours ago, northcalgal said:

The Passenger that died did not come to the hospital till 2/27 so Princess had no way of knowing on the 21st there was anyone who may have had the virus. The other passenger  in Sonoma Co tested 1st again days after the 21st. I was on the Grand sailing  2/11-2/21 I did not know then of any problems. We got the Health Advisory early this am from Princess At that time they asked people who took the Sonoma Co Shuttle to call a number. Then soon after heard about the 2nd person who died later in the day We have been home 12 days with no illness so far.

We were also on the Grand and shuttle.  We called public health but haven't heard back.  We are voluntarily  quarantined and have no symptoms, but what about the prior 10 days before the newspaper articles and email from Princess.  The March 6 cruise to Hawaii has been cancelled, passengers were notified this evening.

[caribill]

5 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

Each test kit can be used to test 300 samples.

 

I do not know if all test kits are the same, but the local TV news just said that a test kit can be used for 700 samples which would mean using it two times for 350 people.

[ams cruiser]

43 minutes ago, ams cruiser said:

Would this apply to passengers who already cancelled this cruise out of fear of the possible spread of the virus?  Asking for a friend of a friend, (really), who cancelled this March 7th cruise just last week , because she would be considered high risk were she to contract the Corona virus. (I don't think her travel insurance was cancel for any reason.)  I don't know what Princess's policy is towards people in her situation, for example, those who cancelled their spring Diamond Princess cruises before Princess cancelled the entire cruise.

 

I just learned that this friend lucked out because her TA decided to hold off on canceling the cruise..  So she did receive the email with the offer for a full refund and future cruise credit.  

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by ams cruiser
Updated information.

[ShipFish]

5 hours ago, joeyancho said:

Supposedly they were all sent home,   but who knows.

 

The crew from the Diamond are still in quarantine at the moment, they haven’t made it home yet, let alone to another ship.

 

The only crew who could have moved between the two would be crew who left in ports prior to the quarantine on the Diamond; however in normal circumstances, with the exception of guest entertainers, it’s not that common for crew to be transferred between ships.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

Marine Traffic reports Grand Princess estimated arrival time destination SF will be 2pm (PST) local time.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Cruising Is Bliss

[caribill]

15 minutes ago, Cruising Is Bliss said:

Marine Traffic reports Grand Princess estimated arrival time destination SF will be 2pm (PST) local time.

 

Of course it is not known if passengers will be allowed to disembark then.

[Farts]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Actually, the agent most frequently used on cruise ships for sanitizing is Virkon, which is applied in a fogger, and is equally as effective on soft surfaces as on hard surfaces.

Some infectious dz docs question if these foggers can truly disinfect from covid 19 (or anything really). Drs have stated that it is more for PR in China that anything else really all that useful. So I question the usefulness of on the Grand princess.

 

I am not an ID dr (I specialize in something else). So I defer to my colleagues on questioning the true utility of those foggers.  Patient is these folders conclusive

[trey420]

3 hours ago, kent9xxx1 said:

 

It will offset plenty.  Ex: previous passengers with coronavirus left traces all over.   Cleaning removes coronavirus.  Unhygienic passengers come on.  They don't get sick from coronavirus.  

 

Hygiene or not, it doesn't create coronavirus.  So the crew must. clean and clean well.  

There is only so much cleaning one can expect to occur during turnaround day.  Then you have people who cruise b2b if they get it during the first leg you pass it on the second.  Or crew in general who are always on each cruise.  I can't blame the cleaning crew so fast.  Many variables here, some we don't even know.

[luckyinpa]

7 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Right.  I think it's important to get more people tested. I travel a lot for work, would hate to spread this unknowingly.

 

but who will prevent you from getting it the day after you pass the test while you are at the store. so how often does everyone need to be tested. if you start thinking about this, theres almost no point to testing in a way.  unless you test everyone every day then successfully lock that person away for a while. 

[jknc]

4 hours ago, Geoffa30 said:

I expect no amount of cleaning will offset the unhygienic passengers who fail to wash hands etc.

Is their a higher propensity of Princess cruisers who don’t was their hands?

[debsjc]

5 hours ago, Geoffa30 said:

Really?! It seems to have happened whilst the Diamond Princess was still under quarantine so how on earth could that have happened?

 

Maybe some crew members disembarked the Diamond Princess before they even knew they had a problem on that ship, If not I would think at least some guest entertainers left at interim ports. 

[spyro1952]

On 3/3/2020 at 10:39 AM, LARGIN said:

The sky is not falling people..  We will be on the 3/7 & 3/22 cruises on the Grand.  My sister is currently on the ship and so far no cases except for seasickness as the ship was hit with a major storm Friday and was rock & rolling with rain and 60 MPH winds.  Just remember to wash your hands and try not touching your face.  See you all on the ship.

Princess has Just cancelled the 3/7 cruise.  They are holding the ship out of port, helicopter corona kits in and test B2B passengers and those showing symptoms that could be corona.  BTW corona symptoms and symptoms of sea sickness are totally different and should not be compared

[Reader0108598]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

There are 11 passengers and 10 crew who have symptoms, but no one has been tested, nor found positive for coronavirus.

Thanks ChengKp75 always appreciate your answers !

🙂

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Reader0108598

[Captain_Morgan]

Been wading through the posts and there's a lot of valid points being made, and rightfully so a lot of concern expressed as well for the current situation and future sailings, etc...

 

That said, and this is not meant to be disrespectful to those dealing with the situation onboard Grand or previously on Diamond but it seems clear that like any large company, profits drive all or most decisions.  If there were people who were symptomatic of a 'flu like' illness on a prior cruise, why was that not more strictly investigated?  Of course this is speculation and if we all knew the future we'd be making decisions accordingly but it seems to  me like the industry in general is too hasty to maintain their profit margins with timely departures/arrivals, etc. as opposed to using some due diligence to ensure the health and well  being of its passengers especially in such a climate where everyone with a sniffle is subconsciously seen as being contagious of something...

 

Plenty of comments about cleaning, fogging, etc. and as one post accurately described the measures in place in NY transit it would appear as those tasked with the job are just going through the motions with a spray and wipe approach.  Surely if a disinfectant of any kind is to be deemed effective then there needs to be contact time with the surface greater than a second or two?  We've all seen the mad dash that is turnaround day with the crew running around like headless chickens trying to make ready the ship for the next cruise which leads me to think that the hasty approach is no doubt a contributing factor to the current issues, hence the reason that cruises which are affected by outbreaks of Noro-virus tend to carry over in some way or another.

 

Hopefully this gets resolved with minimal damage,  but if the current numbers are accurate with 11 pax & 10 crew showing 'flu like' symptoms i'm certain that number will increase exponentially due to the close confines and varied onset times of symptoms.  Guess the positive is that they're at least going to be berthed in SFO as opposed to Japan as/when they're permitted entry.

[resistk]

36 minutes ago, Captain_Morgan said:

 

Hopefully this gets resolved with minimal damage,  but if the current numbers are accurate with 11 pax & 10 crew showing 'flu like' symptoms i'm certain that number will increase exponentially due to the close confines and varied onset times of symptoms.  Guess the positive is that they're at least going to be berthed in SFO as opposed to Japan as/when they're permitted entry.

 

The lines  IMO are placing short terms revenue over the long term health of the industry - the associations are already there according to polls.

Edited March 5, 2020 by resistk