Port Cancellations???

[HodgeNNicole]

My wife, 5 year old son and I are booked and paid for on the Caribbean Princess for May 9 sailing. We did just received our $200 OBC and are extremely happy with it.  Perhaps with all the hysteria and cancellations an upgrade will be in our future.  If no upgrade happens then we will enjoy our mini-suite as we watch the world go by from our balcony.

My question is has anyone CONFIRMED that ports in the Caribbean are denying entrance? We are going to Grand Caymen, Cozumel, Roatan and Belize.  I have not seen anything regarding closures so I was wondering.

Please don't answer if you have heard a rumor,  your cousins hair dresser knows someone from Belize or think that we are terrible parents for even thinking about keeping the booking and bringing our son with us.  I am just interested in personal experience.  The only reason we would not go is if Princess cancels or the ports begin denying entry since that was one of the factors in choosing this itinerary.  

 

[bluesea321]

20 minutes ago, HodgeNNicole said:

My question is has anyone CONFIRMED that ports in the Caribbean are denying entrance? We are going to Grand Caymen, Cozumel, Roatan and Belize.  I have not seen anything regarding closures so I was wondering.

Please don't answer if you have heard a rumor,  your cousins hair dresser knows someone from Belize or think that we are terrible parents for even thinking about keeping the booking and bringing our son with us.  I am just interested in personal experience.  The only reason we would not go is if Princess cancels or the ports begin denying entry since that was one of the factors in choosing this itinerary.  

 

Well, Grand Cayman has denied some cruise ships.  Don't know about the other ports but this is a very fluid situation. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by bluesea321

[rabidstoat]

That's two months away, two months ago a lot of things were different. Even if people knew the status now there is no way to predict what it will look like in two months. You're best off being flexible with a 'wait and see' approach, I think.

[Colo Cruiser]

29 minutes ago, bluesea321 said:

 

Well, Grand Cayman has denied some cruise ships.  Don't know about the other ports but this is a very fluid situation. 

So Grand Cayman has denied Princess visits?

Wow.

[Astro Flyer]

CC posted current port closures as of today:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5097/

[Astro Flyer]

9 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

So Grand Cayman has denied Princess visits?

Wow.

As of today based on the CC article:

 

Cayman Islands: On February 26, MSC Meraviglia was barred from entering the Cayman Islands; a scheduled by Carnival Freedom was also denied.

 

Cayman Islands: As of February 28, the Cabinet of the Cayman Islands Government issued regulations to control the entry of persons to the Cayman Islands who have a travel history to mainland China under the Public Health Law (2002 Revision). Visitors who have been in China in the preceding 14 days will be denied entry; At this time, the Ministry of Health recommends only essential travel between Cayman and the following countries because the World Health Organization reports that they have had five or more cases where exposure to COVID-19 has occurred within country: France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, Japan, Macau, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Astro Flyer

[KevintheIrishDJ]

I speak from experience.  THe medical facilities aren't even close to our standards.  They can't handle an outbreak.  They would be overwhelmed. 

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

As of today based on the CC article:

 

Cayman Islands: On February 26, MSC Meraviglia was barred from entering the Cayman Islands; a scheduled by Carnival Freedom was also denied.

 

Cayman Islands: As of February 28, the Cabinet of the Cayman Islands Government issued regulations to control the entry of persons to the Cayman Islands who have a travel history to mainland China under the Public Health Law (2002 Revision). Visitors who have been in China in the preceding 14 days will be denied entry; At this time, the Ministry of Health recommends only essential travel between Cayman and the following countries because the World Health Organization reports that they have had five or more cases where exposure to COVID-19 has occurred within country: France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, Japan, Macau, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

Thanks Frank.

Too many vague posts.

[npcl]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

CC posted current port closures as of today:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5097/

Looking at the way cases are climbing in several other countries it may not be long before Germany, France, the US and several other countries get added to their restriction lists.

[HodgeNNicole]

I really appreciate the link to the post about what ports were closed.  We are absolutely in the wait and see group.  I was just wondering if any ports were closed as of now.  I believe the hysteria will be done by the time we cruise in 60 days as the end of traditional flu season winds down.

[LDVinNC]

9 hours ago, HodgeNNicole said:

I really appreciate the link to the post about what ports were closed.  We are absolutely in the wait and see group.  I was just wondering if any ports were closed as of now.  I believe the hysteria will be done by the time we cruise in 60 days as the end of traditional flu season winds down.

 

Hysteria?  When the State Department and Dr. Anthony Fauci say don't get on a cruise ship?

[Esprit]

I hope those islands that were helped by the cruise lines when severely damaged by hurricanes don't forget that fact when considering ship calls. The cruise lines came to their aid with urgently needed medical supplies etc 

[dennism]

Just now, Esprit said:

I hope those islands that were helped by the cruise lines when severely damaged by hurricanes don't forget that fact when considering ship calls. The cruise lines came to their aid with urgently needed medical supplies etc 

These islands are poorly equipped to deal with a health crisis. They have no other choice. 

[Jacqueline]

The situation is so dynamic that it’s hard to know what will happen next week let alone months from now. There is no ability to predict the future.

look, the US is barely letting ships dock. Given that people can be asymptotic and still spread the virus, it’s nearly impossible to have any certainty about anything at all.

These islands need and rely on tourism. It’s hurts everyone when tourist dollars evaporate. There will be pressure to stay open for business.

That said, at some point they will may need to measure an increasing risk against their less than robust healthcare systems. First world countries are struggling to manage this. 

[Tapi]

2 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

the US is barely letting ships dock...

Barely? Let's put things into perspective. How many cruise ships are sailing from US ports every week, and how many are being prevented from docking? 

 

Things may change dramatically overnight, but as of right now, the overwhelming, vast majority of cruises from US ports are proceeding as planned. Obviously, the ones making the news are the handful that aren't. 

[Guindalf]

2 hours ago, Esprit said:

I hope those islands that were helped by the cruise lines when severely damaged by hurricanes don't forget that fact when considering ship calls. The cruise lines came to their aid with urgently needed medical supplies etc 

 

I sincerely hope this is a joke.

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 minutes ago, Guindalf said:

 

I sincerely hope this is a joke.

Sadly, I don’t think it was. My concern is far more that some island ports, heavily reliant on the money cruise ships bring in and walking a tightrope between financial health and physical health might continue to allow ships when perhaps they shouldn’t.

[Jacqueline]

I stand corrected. It’s true, absolutely that most ships are entering and exiting US ports without incident. But all it takes is for one person in 2300 to be sick and what follows is unpredictable.
( BTW The word quarantine derives from the Venetian practice of holding ships in the harbor for 40 days before allowing them to dock during times of communicable diseases). 

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, Guindalf said:

 

I sincerely hope this is a joke.

It sincerely wasn't a joke. This is not a joking matter. I know for a fact many islands have disaster recovery plans in place which include the cooperation of cruise companies.

I imply from your comment you think every cruise ship must be carrying the virus. I have faith that the cruise companies are doing all they can to ensure the passengers and crew are virus free and the ports they visit will acknowledge that before making a hasty decision.

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, Jacqueline said:

I stand corrected. It’s true, absolutely that most ships are entering and exiting US ports without incident. But all it takes is for one person in 2300 to be sick and what follows is unpredictable.
( BTW The word quarantine derives from the Venetian practice of holding ships in the harbor for 40 days before allowing them to dock during times of communicable diseases). 

Thank you for that, I didn't know that's where the term originated. It makes sense now, I've been reading Italian articles about it and the Italian word "quarantena" struck me as linked to the Italian word for 40, which is quaranta.

[Guindalf]

4 minutes ago, Esprit said:

It sincerely wasn't a joke. This is not a joking matter. I know for a fact many islands have disaster recovery plans in place which include the cooperation of cruise companies.

I imply from your comment you think every cruise ship must be carrying the virus. I have faith that the cruise companies are doing all they can to ensure the passengers and crew are virus free and the ports they visit will acknowledge that before making a hasty decision.

 

How can you imply that from seven little words? You have a very vivid imagination, my friend.

 

The risk of getting deleted again prevents me from telling you what I really think of this selfish attitude, but implying that every cruise ship is carrying the virus is insane. It only takes one undiagnosed passenger to infect a whole island and prevention is way more important than protecting your idealistic cruise!

[HodgeNNicole]

Thank you all for your OPINIONS! Clearly I stumbled upon all the lunatics hoarding toilet paper and bottled water for absolutely no reason. 

I didn't ask about what the word quarantine meant, nor do I care about what the government says about getting on a cruise ship. Having sailed dozens of times, every single cruise has some sort of Nurovirus on it, as well as some other sort of transmittable sickness, as does every airplane currently in the sky.  

So why does the government not say, "whatever you do don't fly anyplace??"

 

 I was just wondering if ports were being closed.  Thank you AstroFlyer for answering with facts.  

 

I am not going to put my family in harms way, nor am I going to panic.  I do understand about the medical facilities on some of the Islands in the Caribbean and am not judging them for keeping the ports open or closed I was just wondering if there was a central place to determine what is currently going on.  

 

I apologize if I offend anyone but it is just frustrating to try and gather factual information so that I can make a decision and everyone immediately becomes an expert in opinions and if my opinions are not aligned with yours I am a bad person.

Sorry about the rant.  

I am going back to watching Youtube videos of the ships, sailing into beautiful harbors in far away lands with amazing sunsets and families enjoying their well earned vacation time with each other as we count down the days until we hopefully set sail on another adventure......

Que the theme to the Love Boat......

 

 

[Greg4502]

All Princess ship cruises have been cancelled until May 12, 2020 as of this morning. Check Princess web site.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, Greg4502 said:

All Princess ship cruises have been cancelled until May 12, 2020 as of this morning. Check Princess web site.

 

https://www.princess.com/news/pdfs/voluntary-60-day-pause-of-global-ship-operations.pdf

[heidikay]

Panama is not allowing any cruise ship passsengers to de ark according to the Captain of the Island Princess.  Curious if anyone knows about Limon, Costa Rica and Grand Cayman?   Those are the ports we have left.