Current status? Ships being turned away in the Caribbean?

[The Fun Researcher]

I read about the MSC Meraviglia, and just talked to a colleague who happened to be on that particular cruise last week.  Interesting stuff.  I also know of the Braemar.  I haven't seen more port denials since.  Is there more information, or any agreements between cruise lines and the islands?  Anyone seen info lately on this?  Is it pretty much life as usual for the vast majority of the cruise ships going into port right now?  With it being flu season, there must be many confirmed cases on these ships.  Just wondering how they are handling it. 

 

Anyway, we have a cruise out of Galveston in just under 3 weeks and I'm interested to know if more cruise ships are being turned away?    For our family in particular, it wouldn't be the end of the world to miss port but it would still be a downer.

 

My bigger concern is being quarantined on a ship and stateroom if we somehow had Covid 19 diagnosed while on board, just because it would be a pain in the butt.  More importantly is if one of my parents (healthy early 70's) were to get it and start having real problems.  (We all have vacation medical insurance with med evac, medical coverage, etc...)

 

Dan

[SG65CB]

I think they learned their lesson with the ship in Japan that quarantine in place on the ship doesn't work. They'd probably bring you to back to Galveston and quarantine you off the ship. 

 

[Grandma Petania]

I haven't read anything about problems with the itinerary of seven-day Caribbean cruises.  Did I miss something?  We sail on March 21st with stops at CocoCay, St. Maarten, and San Juan.

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, Grandma Petania said:

I haven't read anything about problems with the itinerary of seven-day Caribbean cruises.  Did I miss something?  We sail on March 21st with stops at CocoCay, St. Maarten, and San Juan.

Ships have been denied entry in Jamaica, Grand Cayman and the Dominican Republic. While these have been limited so far, it’s not a stretch that additional ports in the Carribean could deny entry for ships in the future depending on the spread/severity of the coronavirus. 

[blueridgemama]

With the uncertainty of the status of the virus I'm not sure I would book a new  cruise today. We do have a cruise already booked in December.  If you are uncertain as you get closer to final payment or if the situation changes with the virus you can always cancel.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Our S Caribbean cruise has been denied entry to St Lucia. [Grandeur of the Seas leaving Baltimore on March 7, 2020] We have our fingers crossed everything else is good. 

[colesc15]

1 minute ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Our S Caribbean cruise has been denied entry to St Lucia. [Grandeur of the Seas leaving Baltimore on March 7, 2020] We have our fingers crossed everything else is good. 

Did royal send you an email or something? 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Just now, colesc15 said:

Did royal send you an email or something? 

Yes, on Monday.  I got an email last night outlining how they would reimburse us for the excursion we had booked. [ in 3-5 days to our form of payment--a cc in my case]  They are substituting Dominica.  We have not been there, so we are not too bummed. 

[time4u2go]

12 hours ago, Grandma Petania said:

I haven't read anything about problems with the itinerary of seven-day Caribbean cruises.  Did I miss something?  We sail on March 21st with stops at CocoCay, St. Maarten, and San Juan.

https://nypost.com/2020/02/26/cruise-ship-turned-away-from-caribbean-ports-amid-coronavirus-fears/

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/02/28/chaos-in-the-caribbean-as-ports-turn-away-cruises-on-virus-fears.html

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/cruise-lines-passengers-scramble-respond-coronavirus-69290531

[colesc15]

12 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Yes, on Monday.  I got an email last night outlining how they would reimburse us for the excursion we had booked. [ in 3-5 days to our form of payment--a cc in my case]  They are substituting Dominica.  We have not been there, so we are not too bummed. 

We're set to leave a week from Saturday out of Puerto Rico and includes st Lucia, Punta Cana and Tortola.. Curious if we get an email at all about any port. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

1 minute ago, colesc15 said:

We're set to leave a week from Saturday out of Puerto Rico and includes st Lucia, Punta Cana and Tortola.. Curious if we get an email at all about any port. 

This is the text of the email we got us below.  Royal Caribbean only excludes passengers/crew from those countries [below] if they have been there in the last 15 days. Otherwise they have enhanced screening. 

 

Dear Guest,

We look forward to welcoming you onboard Grandeur of the Seas for our March 7th, 2020 sailing. Before we begin our adventure, we have an important itinerary change to share with you.

St. Lucia's travel restriction for certain nationalities differs from ours. They prohibit ships from visiting that have guests or crew from Italy, Singapore, and Japan. As a result, we are replacing our call there with a visit to Dominica. We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change, but we’re confident you’ll have a great time in Roseau. Below, please find our revised itinerary.

[Tatka]

21 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Yes, on Monday.  I got an email last night outlining how they would reimburse us for the excursion we had booked. [ in 3-5 days to our form of payment--a cc in my case]  They are substituting Dominica.  We have not been there, so we are not too bummed. 

 

Check with these guys http://www.bumpiingtours.com/

 

We did Champagne reef, TiTou Gorge and Trafalgar Falls (Excursion was ROSEAU VALLEY TREASURES) and it was one of the best tours in Caribbeans we ever took (and we had many)

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Just now, Tatka said:

 

Check with these guys http://www.bumpiingtours.com/

 

We did Champagne reef, TiTou Gorge and Trafalgar Falls (Excursion was ROSEAU VALLEY TREASURES) and it was one of the best tours in Caribbeans we ever took (and we had many)

Thank you--I have started to research the island.  This company is often mentioned. 

[Tatka]

1 minute ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Thank you--I have started to research the island.  This company is often mentioned. 

 

We paid something like $55 in cash after the tour. It is really worth it. Quality is similar to Cosol Tours in St Lucia.

Four years ago we did ship tour which included Emerald Pool (beautiful!) and Mero Beach. Mero beach is the only beach that is somewhat close to the port, and it does have a black sand, but otherwise nothing really special. I would say it is for starters... but one with Bumpiing tours is just amazing!!! If you are not up to snorkeling at Champagne reef (it is really easy though) you can just go into the water while other people snorkeling. Just have water shoes as there are some rocks.

 

There are more interesting places on that snorkel,  I just wanted to show bubbles 

 

 

Swimming at TiTou Gorge

 

Trafalgar falls

 

[Tatka]

We are sailing on Lady G in April so we are watching situation. We visited all islands many times so just hope we do stop somewhere rather than days at seas (we have 6 of them)  🙂

[Midwestgal]

I know there is one confirmed case in Dominican Republic 

[Grandma Petania]

Thanks to all for your information/opinions.  I remain optimistic about our cruise out of Miami on Symphony in 17 days.  If RCCL has to change any of the ports, I will roll with it.  Will do my best to avoid touching surfaces that could harbor virus droplets.  Even more important---I will try to keep my bare hands away from my nose, mouth and eyes, and will wash them as frequently and thoroughly as possible.  Happy Cruising!!!

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, Midwestgal said:

I know there is one confirmed case in Dominican Republic 

 

 I confirmed case of them turning away a cruise ship, or a confirmed case of corona virus? 

 

Dan

[Ocean Boy]

There is a new thread on the board about the Grand Princess now being on lockdown. Just Sayn'.

[PrincessPatti]

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 I confirmed case of them turning away a cruise ship, or a confirmed case of corona virus? 

 

Dan

Confirmed case of Coronavirus.

[Midwestgal]

2 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 I confirmed case of them turning away a cruise ship, or a confirmed case of corona virus? 

 

Dan

Yes , a confirmed case of COVID-19 in DR

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

There is a new thread on the board about the Grand Princess now being on lockdown. Just Sayn'.

Princess is not having any luck.   Sounds like some b2b cruisers and crew that were last cruise may have virus.  Coast guard getting some test kits to the ship while at sea.  I read San francisco does not want them to dock at this time.   We all knew it was just a matter of time for another ship to have a problem.  Too many travelers to come in contact with at airports etc.  

We are suppose to leave on cruise this month.    Closely monitoring news and how ships will handle this.  I cannot imagine them doing another quarantine if someone does test positive 

I read an Aida ship had 2 passengers they dropped off at a port in norway.  The 2 passengers got an email from employer that other workers tested positive so they did the right thing and told someone on the ship and agreed to get off at next port in norway.  Of course the ship had to make arrangements with whichever port it was.  Hopefully all will work out for everyone on board.

Stay healthy!!

 

[plank]

15 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Yes, on Monday.  I got an email last night outlining how they would reimburse us for the excursion we had booked. [ in 3-5 days to our form of payment--a cc in my case]  They are substituting Dominica.  We have not been there, so we are not too bummed. 

Do the Champagne reef and snorkel excursion. So pretty.