US Govt might consider ways to discourage some/all U.S. travelers from taking cruises

[fstuff1]

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/03/06/us-considering-discouraging-some-travelers-from-cruises.html

 

The officials, who asked to remain anonymous, said no decision has been made. 

 

The administration could advise some or all U.S. travelers to temporarily avoid taking cruises in the face of a growing number of coronavirus cases on cruise ships, officials said. 

 

Vice President Pence's office did not immediately comment.

 

 

I could understand limiting elderly and those with compromised immune systems to not cruise.

but ALL?

gulp for my NCL stock price if the latter happens 😞

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by fstuff1

[JamieLogical]

Just now, fstuff1 said:

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/03/06/us-considering-discouraging-some-travelers-from-cruises.html

 

The officials, who asked to remain anonymous, said no decision has been made. 

 

The administration could advise some or all U.S. travelers to temporarily avoid taking cruises in the face of a growing number of coronavirus cases on cruise ships, officials said. 

 

Vice President Pence's office did not immediately comment.

 

 

I could understand limiting elderly and those with compromised immune systems to not cruise.

but ALL?

gulp for my NCL stock price if the latter happens 😞

 

 

That is old news (from yesterday). Today cruise execs met with Pence and they announced plans for stricter screening for embarkation AND debarkation as well as onboard testing for COVID-19.

[fstuff1]

1 minute ago, JamieLogical said:

 

That is old news (from yesterday). Today cruise execs met with Pence and they announced plans for stricter screening for embarkation AND debarkation as well as onboard testing for COVID-19.

 

thx!

 

[All-ready2cruise]

Canadian govt. officials also discouraged vacationers from taking cruises as well..... had no impact on my plans.  My son is a tad upset with me but hey... I'm more afraid of not living than (I'll leave this to your imagination and say) cruising.... lol.  

I don't anticipate any issues; thinking positive is good in all life's challenges.  

 

Be well and prosper

Cheers

[podgeandrodge]

21 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

That is old news (from yesterday). Today cruise execs met with Pence and they announced plans for stricter screening for embarkation AND debarkation as well as onboard testing for COVID-19.

JamieLogical has, as I  have been consistently been reading over the past while, been the voice of reason here.  She has consistently quoted the FACTS. I really wish everyone would calm the f down and listen to advice, make their decision as to whether cruise or not and GOTS.(Get off the stage!).  Life goes on.  You've been given an out if you fear Armageddon, but for those of us that believe LIFE GOES ON,  myself and my wife intend to enjoy our cruise!  

[casofilia]

We are on the Spirit now and making the best of what we have so far.   We are not looking to what MIGHT happen in the future.   I would be gobsmacked if I were to be told I could not travel because of my age.   Age discrimination at its worst!!!

[jancl57]

20 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

JamieLogical has, as I  have been consistently been reading over the past while, been the voice of reason here.  She has consistently quoted the FACTS. I really wish everyone would calm the f down and listen to advice, make their decision as to whether cruise or not and GOTS.(Get off the stage!).  Life goes on.  You've been given an out if you fear Armageddon, but for those of us that believe LIFE GOES ON,  myself and my wife intend to enjoy our cruise!  

Where and when is your cruise?

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

 

The officials, who asked to remain anonymous, said no decision has been made. 

 

The administration could advise some or all U.S. travelers to temporarily avoid taking cruises in the face of a growing number of coronavirus cases on cruise ships, officials said. 

 

Vice President Pence's office did not immediately comment.

Vice President Mike Pence, along with Florida Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, and Governor Ron DeSantis, spoke at a press conference in Fort Lauderdale Saturday afternoon, addressing mounting concerns of the coronavirus and the effect it will have on the cruise industry.

"The American people deserve to know that the risk of contracting the coronavirus to the average American remains low," Pence said. "That being said we are going to lean into this effort."

Pence also announced a preliminary agreement he and cruise executives made to stop the spread of COVID-19 on ships. The Vice President said executives would work on ironing out the details over the next three days.

Some of the outlined rules included:

• Further enhancements on entrance and exit screenings.
• Establishing on-board coronavirus testing
• New quarantine standards which will be coordinated with the Center of Disease Control and Prevention.
• Developing a plan to move passengers who have contracted the virus to land-based facilities.

Cruise lines are a $45-billion industry, and South Florida is home to two of the three busiest ports in the United States. Nearly 6 million passengers set sail from Port Miami in the past year aboard more than 1,200 cruise ships that docked there.

Pence cautioned seniors with underlying health conditions to practice "common sense" in planning any cruise vacations.

[CruisinNewbie11]

I am 71 yrs old.  No ailments, no meds.  Are you telling me that I might not be able to cruise because of my age?  Will I have to carry my medical  records onboard when I want to travel?  That is ridiculous!    Age discrimination at its worst!

[ColeThornton]

3 hours ago, CruisinNewbie11 said:

I am 71 yrs old.  No ailments, no meds.  Are you telling me that I might not be able to cruise because of my age?  Will I have to carry my medical  records onboard when I want to travel?  That is ridiculous!    Age discrimination at its worst!

 

The article cited said absolutely nothing like that.  Read it and don't buy into all this hysteria.  They will and should ADVISE people who are at risk if they go on a cruise but they aren't going to stop them and make them bring medical records.

[david_sobe]

Lets all line up cruising passengers at the port and have their temperature taken the old fashioned way.  My only question is if Haven passengers will get priority or at least privacy in the lounge.

[seemoreroyals]

20 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Lets all line up cruising passengers at the port and have their temperature taken the old fashioned way.  My only question is if Haven passengers will get priority or at least privacy in the lounge.

 

Unfortunately if it is determined you have COVID19 you go from pampered Haven / first class treatment to isolation / quarantined treatment.  That is the reality we are all now faced with each time we decide to take a cruise until this virus runs its course.   

[seemoreroyals]

10 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/03/06/us-considering-discouraging-some-travelers-from-cruises.html

 

The officials, who asked to remain anonymous, said no decision has been made. 

 

The administration could advise some or all U.S. travelers to temporarily avoid taking cruises in the face of a growing number of coronavirus cases on cruise ships, officials said. 

 

Vice President Pence's office did not immediately comment.

 

 

I could understand limiting elderly and those with compromised immune systems to not cruise.

but ALL?

gulp for my NCL stock price if the latter happens 😞

 

 

The devil is in the details.  Waiting for more details.  

[bluesea777]

What about the screenings at the airports??? 

 

We would be okay going on cruises (screenings and clean ships) but what's stopping and worrying us is the air travel to embarkation ports.

 

We flew back from Dubai a few days ago and we were surprised to see lack of screenings at the airports.

 

 

[ColeThornton]

56 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Lets all line up cruising passengers at the port and have their temperature taken the old fashioned way.  My only question is if Haven passengers will get priority or at least privacy in the lounge.

 

 

The old-fashioned way?   Definitely not.  They can take my temp but it's going to be on the upper part of my body.  🙂

[susanf31]

I just don't understand "screening before boarding."  It seems useless since most passengers will have flown in the day of or the day prior.  It takes 2 weeks for incubation, so if anyone is carrying the virus, it won't show up on embarkation screenings or even on disembarkation screenings.  

 

People can take Tylenol to bring their fever down to normal temporarily and appear healthy while embarking/disembarking, so even temperature screenings are pretty futile.

 

What am I missing...it seems so simple that this is all for not.

[Scott6428]

51 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

What about the screenings at the airports??? 

 

We would be okay going on cruises (screenings and clean ships) but what's stopping and worrying us is the air travel to embarkation ports.

 

We flew back from Dubai a few days ago and we were surprised to see lack of screenings at the airports.

 

 

exactly we're quarantining cruise ships but not airplanes which are the source of the pandemic spread.  

[Ms BumbleBee]

Honestly I am not worried for me but I am worried for some of these countries that cruises go to that don’t have the infrastructure to handle the disease if a ship brings the disease to them. Some of these countries basically live off of cruise ships so they cannot say no but at the same time they cannot handle an outbreak.

 

I think this is just an awful situation and I think we need to be understanding of all options and all situations.  It’s not just about me and my cruise and my vacation - it is about containing a virus

[JPL1966]

you have  more of a chance of getting more sick from a Nora Virus outbreak on a ship should there be one ....   (I'm highly suspecting ships are there cleanest right now!)

 

The Media & Government  has cause huge hysteria -   Lets put it in prospective -- Amongst all the other disease in the last 40 years that have come out there have only been two Pandemics  HIV and the H1N1 (Swine Flu ) in 2009.  

 

The flu is more dangerous then the COVID-19.  -  With the FLU over 600,000 people in U.S Hospitalized 10,000 deaths this season.   Mostly elderly and Children.   COVID 19 for whatever reason at the moment children are vectors.

H1N1 - 2009. 57,000 U.S Citizens infected 11,000 Died   - Low - Moderate official pandemic   - A fraction of news coverage! 

COVID19 is not new but it's the first time its spreading human to human .  it lasts on the surface for up to 9 days making it more contagious then the flu.   The majority of those infected are ""A" symptomatic, do not know they have it or fail to report it .   Current death rates majority are affecting those over 60 years with previous respiratory medical or immune issues .   They are starting to revise the death precentage with age groups to lower numbers because they are not taking in account those cases not reported. Death rates in the single digits...   This virus will be around for a few years if not here to stay.   

 

I have been dealing with the hysteria and potential cases first hand and this virus of all my experience in emergency service is the least of my worry ....  So no I am not canceling, My Family will continue practices such washing hands frequently covering over mouths when coughing and sneezing etc to stay from any virus or illness .. So Washy washy! 

#stopthepanic!

[njhorseman]

11 minutes ago, JPL1966 said:

you have  more of a chance of getting more sick from a Nora Virus outbreak on a ship should there be one ....   (I'm highly suspecting ships are there cleanest right now!)

 

The Media & Government  has cause huge hysteria -   Lets put it in prospective -- Amongst all the other disease in the last 40 years that have come out there have only been two Pandemics  HIV and the H1N1 (Swine Flu ) in 2009.  

 

The flu is more dangerous then the COVID-19.  -  With the FLU over 600,000 people in U.S Hospitalized 10,000 deaths this season.   Mostly elderly and Children.   COVID 19 for whatever reason at the moment children are vectors.

H1N1 - 2009. 57,000 U.S Citizens infected 11,000 Died   - Low - Moderate official pandemic   - A fraction of news coverage! 

COVID19 is not new but it's the first time its spreading human to human .  it lasts on the surface for up to 9 days making it more contagious then the flu.   The majority of those infected are ""A" symptomatic, do not know they have it or fail to report it .   Current death rates majority are affecting those over 60 years with previous respiratory medical or immune issues .   They are starting to revise the death precentage with age groups to lower numbers because they are not taking in account those cases not reported. Death rates in the single digits...   This virus will be around for a few years if not here to stay.   

 

I have been dealing with the hysteria and potential cases first hand and this virus of all my experience in emergency service is the least of my worry ....  So no I am not canceling, My Family will continue practices such washing hands frequently covering over mouths when coughing and sneezing etc to stay from any virus or illness .. So Washy washy! 

#stopthepanic!

Your interpretation of the statistics is wrong. Your understanding of epidemiology seems to be lacking.

 

Seasonal influenza typically has a death rate of 0.1%...that's one tenth of one percent. Currently COVID-19 has a death rate of about 3 to 3.4% , 30 to 34 times higher than the seasonal flu. It's recognized that the COVID-19 death rate will drop dramatically once there's more widespread testing for the disease, which will identify all the mild to moderate cases that are not being counted currently, but best estimates are that the  COVID death rate will still be far higher than the  seasonal flu's, perhaps ultimately settling into 0.5% to 1% range...5 to 10 times higher than seasonal flu. 

 

With the widespread vaccination against seasonal flu in the US  a substantial percentage of the population is protected against the flu, or at worst if they become ill from it the infections are often far milder than they would be in  people who are not vaccinated. NOT ONE one person on planet earth is protected against COVID-19 because no vaccine exists. Therefore there is the potential for rapid, explosive wider spread of COVID-19 given that no one is protected against it. That's why health officials are so concerned. It's not media or government hysteria. In fact the US government has refused to imposed some air travel restriction recommendations made by the CDC and other government health professionals. 

 

COVID-19 is new as a human disease...hence the "19", which means its first identification in a human was in 2019. The first case was identified in China on December 31, 2019. The source of that person's infection is unknown . 

 

Since relatively few people in the US have been tested, you can't say that the majority of those infected are asymptomatic (not "A" symptomatic, which is not a real term). Right now, with very few test kits available, you would only test asymptomatic individuals if they they had known exposure to an identified COVID-19 case. Actually right now you may not test them immediately regardless. They may be asked to quarantine for 14 days and they'll only be tested if they become symptomatic.

[Fartlek]

a number of cases that have originated came from people that came off a cruise ship.  No sign of the virus but since have tested positive and have infected people around them.  Need more testing and quarantine the people that get off a cruise 

[Cruisercl]

41 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Your interpretation of the statistics is wrong. Your understanding of epidemiology seems to be lacking.

 

Seasonal influenza typically has a death rate of 0.1%...that's one tenth of one percent. Currently COVID-19 has a death rate of about 3 to 3.4% , 30 to 34 times higher than the seasonal flu. It's recognized that the COVID-19 death rate will drop dramatically once there's more widespread testing for the disease, which will identify all the mild to moderate cases that are not being counted currently, but best estimates are that the  COVID death rate will still be far higher than the  seasonal flu's, perhaps ultimately settling into 0.5% to 1% range...5 to 10 times higher than seasonal flu. 

 

With the widespread vaccination against seasonal flu in the US  a substantial percentage of the population is protected against the flu, or at worst if they become ill from it the infections are often far milder than they would be in  people who are not vaccinated. NOT ONE one person on planet earth is protected against COVID-19 because no vaccine exists. Therefore there is the potential for rapid, explosive wider spread of COVID-19 given that no one is protected against it. That's why health officials are so concerned. It's not media or government hysteria. In fact the US government has refused to imposed some air travel restriction recommendations made by the CDC and other government health professionals. 

 

COVID-19 is new as a human disease...hence the "19", which means its first identification in a human was in 2019. The first case was identified in China on December 31, 2019. The source of that person's infection is unknown . 

 

Since relatively few people in the US have been tested, you can't say that the majority of those infected are asymptomatic (not "A" symptomatic, which is not a real term). Right now, with very few test kits available, you would only test asymptomatic individuals if they they had known exposure to an identified COVID-19 case. Actually right now you may not test them immediately regardless. They may be asked to quarantine for 14 days and they'll only be tested if they become symptomatic.

All speculation on your part based on the little knowledge of the exact numbers known.

Exactly the alarmist information the media has put out.

 

Not really convinced you are knowledgable about epidemiology; the statistics are inferential and therefore not considered significant, too many variables that bring bias to any determination of the numbers.

 

Are you even in healthcare?

[dennism]

3 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

All speculation on your part based on the little knowledge of the exact numbers known.

Exactly the alarmist information the media has put out.

 

Not really convinced you are knowledgable about epidemiology; the statistics are inferential and therefore not considered significant, too many variables that bring bias to any determination of the numbers.

 

Are you even in healthcare?

How many cruise ships have been quarantined for influenza this year? How many people? How many regions of Italy? 

Edited March 8, 2020 by dennism

[njhorseman]

3 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

All speculation on your part based on the little knowledge of the exact numbers known.

Exactly the alarmist information the media has put out.

 

Not really convinced you are knowledgable about epidemiology; the statistics are inferential and therefore not considered significant, too many variables that bring bias to any determination of the numbers.

 

Are you even in healthcare?

As a mathematician and retired actuary I understand the statistic quite well, thank you. 

 

[turtlegirl2]

Dr. Fauci has been all over the TV today saying older ppl and ppl with high risk health conditions should stay off cruise ships at all costs. Maybe not just because you might get it but because of the risk of quarantine if someone else onboard has it.