Canadians - what are you doing now that we're being advised not to cruise

[dpostman]

My wife and I are scheduled for a 7 day Western Caribbean departing Miami on March 28.  Sadly, we are probably going to end up cancelling.  Just waiting a bit in case something changes for the better (I doubt it).

 

We are both not at all worried for health reasons, but our kids would be staying home by themselves for the week for the first time, and we are OK with that, but if for some reason the ship were to be held up (quarantined) or we are held up, I would not want our kids home by themselves for maybe up to 3 or 4 weeks.

 

I work in a hospital, my wife in the school district, and here in NB, the Education Minister has already imposed a mandatory 14 day house isolation upon return for any school kids or employees that return from out of country as of march 9th.  So automatically my wife would be stuck home, and probably just a matter of time before I get the same guidelines.

 

I know much of the reaction in the population form this is hysterical and out of proportion, but nonetheless, we have to make our decisions based on what is best for us, and it looks like cancelling is the most appropriate one.  I wish we had no other responsibilities to anyone else and we could just chance it and go like others here can.

 

I do wish the best of luck to those that decide to go, and best of luck finding deals to those rebooking 😉

 

dp

[Chemical_echo]

7 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

Hawaii hasn't shut down their borders yet. "Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green and state Rep. Gene Ward are ASKING for a 60-day ship stoppage."

Good to know but it still worries me that they asked. 

If they're granted the request, it makes it that much easier for Alaska to ask and be granted the same. 

[archer_310]

Called OTIP today to confirm that outside Canada medical coverage is still in effect and the girl said that no changes have been made other than recommending no travel to Covid hotspots - which the Caribbean is NOT.  So we still have emergency medical coverage as far as I'm concerned.  We made the decision this morning that we are still going to go.  I'm still not worried about the virus - just that the government will do something stupid while we're away and screw us on our return.

[PastaNoodle]

Given the travel advisory we going to cancel our July cruise. We're not too worried about catching the actual virus but the potential of not having travel medical insurance is a deal breaker. That, plus, the risk of quarantine and everything that goes along with that - including time lost at work, potentially having to pay your own way home or pay for the quarantine, or who knows. None of which will likely be covered by insurance due to the travel advisory.

 

We will cancel before PIF rather than mess about with FCC's and all the pit falls that come along with that. IF things settle down by July and the travel advisory is lifted, we'll rebook then.

[Kevin's girl]

On 3/10/2020 at 10:14 AM, BeachChik said:

I find it amusing that cruises are being singled out as if shutting down would make any difference. 
 

Magic Kingdom at Disney has 50,000 -60,000 + people per day there. People in very close contact, more so than a cruise, and touching everything. Yet no calls to shut down theme parks. 🧐

I couldn't agree more!! Seems ridiculous to single out cruising as the threat but encourage flying everywhere and increase amusement park admissions and All Inclusive Resort stays.  

[Jesseslola2]

What happens if one person from my trip gets the virus, all will be quarantined and the government refuses to pick us up from the quarantined ship because  WE HAVE BEEN WARNED. ( I read this somewhere, I cannot find it now)

 

Are we just to stay in the ship for the full quarantine period? How do we get out?

 

If we are going to be picked up,  are we going to get billed for the Airplane and quarantine cost?

[snow00774]

4 minutes ago, Jesseslola2 said:

What happens if one person from my trip gets the virus, all will be quarantined and the government refuses to pick us up from the quarantined ship because  WE HAVE BEEN WARNED. ( I read this somewhere, I cannot find it now)

 

Are we just to stay in the ship for the full quarantine period? How do we get out?

 

If we are going to be picked up,  are we going to get billed for the Airplane and quarantine cost?

I quoted the travel advisory section that speaks to the lack of repatriation on the previous page. 

[Jesseslola2]

Oh Thank you,  snow00774.. now I know where I got it from....

[Pedro2400]

BTW

 

Air Canada Announced this morning, Free change or cancellation for all flights with Future travel credit...

 

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2020/change-fee-waiver-existing-bookings.html    

Edited March 11, 2020 by Pedro2400

[Littleone15]

On 3/10/2020 at 11:14 AM, BeachChik said:

I find it amusing that cruises are being singled out as if shutting down would make any difference. 
 

Magic Kingdom at Disney has 50,000 -60,000 + people per day there. People in very close contact, more so than a cruise, and touching everything. Yet no calls to shut down theme parks. 🧐

Lol, We were just at Universal Studios yesterday and it was crazy busy.  I’d be more concerned with the people visiting from all over the world there, than the fraction of people on a cruise ship.  And there was definitely more cleaning on our cruise last week than at the park. I tried to avoid touching railings as much as I could and washed or used sanitizer as often as possible.  My girls and I were singing the “wash your hands” song from the ship the whole day hahaha 😄  
 

I did notice there were a lot of purell stations though.  But at our huge hotel?  Not so much 🤷🏻‍♀️  Washy washy!

[rtazz17]

20 hours ago, finnegan5 said:

I was supposed to be on Anthem on Sunday. Given the announcement last night, I called my travel insurance company and was informed that since the announcement is a formal travel advisory for cruise ships, that my travel medical insurance would not be honoured. With that information, I had to cancel. That is just too risky, whether it be the virus or any other medical issue that may arise out of country.

Lol,risky? Better chance of the ship going down like the titanic then you needing nedical care in another country that week.

[Jesseslola2]

Here is another one:

[Radar boomer]

New notification from work today, along with several countries on the list, those returning for a cruise are to self isolate for 14 days..our cruise is on May 21 as already paid, will wait for a while to see what happens,,we we’re diving to port vs flying already so no airports Work has no time line. Until  notified otherwise if cancel no biggie, already have another cruise in feb booked..only sad part would be loosing the great deal we got for premium drink package...

[flyguyjake]

The federal government is close to making a decision to delay the cruise ship season, a move that could hurt the tourist economy on both coasts but may be necessary to protect Canadians from the spread of COVID-19, according to senior government officials.

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ottawa-nears-decision-on-delaying-cruise-ship-season-in-canada-due-to/

[timbopat]

6 hours ago, Pedro2400 said:

BTW

 

Air Canada Announced this morning, Free change or cancellation for all flights with Future travel credit...

 

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2020/change-fee-waiver-existing-bookings.html    

Be careful of Air Canada's fine print, if you do cancel and rebook using future travel credit it must be used by Dec 31, 2020. Does not leave alot of flexibility especially if you rebook your cancelled cruise past the Dec 31 2020 date

[flyguyjake]

https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/03/11/canadian-cruise-ship-passenger-under-quarantine-in-ontario-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

[copter]

We are set to sail on March 28 and have checked with both my wife's and my own insurance carriers through work and we are both fully covered (they've even relaxed some rules with respect to documentation that needs to be submitted).  We will make the decision on whether we go or not about a week prior to cruising and it will be based on the spread of the virus and apparent risk associated with cruising at that time.  If we were set to sail this weekend, we would definitely be going.  We will see what the next two weeks brings.

 

 

 

 

[cheeriomom]

On 3/10/2020 at 6:27 PM, finnegan5 said:

I was supposed to be on Anthem on Sunday. Given the announcement last night, I called my travel insurance company and was informed that since the announcement is a formal travel advisory for cruise ships, that my travel medical insurance would not be honoured. With that information, I had to cancel. That is just too risky, whether it be the virus or any other medical issue that may arise out of country.

 

This is where my worry lies. *IF* you choose to travel right now and get sick, what is covered? What will fall under "you knew about this before you hopped the border for a cruise" too bad. 

 

We don't cruise out of Italy until October, so I am being cautiously optimistic, quarantine wouldn't be good for me as we're away for two weeks as it is. That would be a month of me with no income as I am self employed. 

[Ourusualbeach]

This is direct from Manulife today.  Other policies I have heard about are the same.  Medical coverage continues as normal except in the event of Covid 19 related medical claims.  

 

[copter]

12 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

This is direct from Manulife today.  Other policies I have heard about are the same.  Medical coverage continues as normal except in the event of Covid 19 related medical claims.  

 

 

 

 

My wife has Manulife for her group plan at work and they have stated that all medical attention (and costs associated with travel/accommodation/quarantine/etc) are fully covered (and they were specifically asked about COVID-19 related illnesses resulting from cruise ship travel).  Perhaps it's because the policy was in effect prior to the travel advisory being issued?  My company (Sunlife) has stated the same.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by copter

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, copter said:

 

 

 

My wife has Manulife for her group plan at work and they have stated that all medical attention (and costs associated with travel/accommodation/quarantine/etc) are fully covered (and they were specifically asked COVID-19 related illnesses resulting from cruise ship travel).  Perhaps it's because the policy was in effect prior to the travel advisory being issued?  My company (Sunlife) has stated the same.

 

 

 

 

Some of the annual plans also take into account whether the trip was booked before or after the warning was issued.  While I won’t guarantee it for all policies I am fairly confident for the majority of plans illness unrelated to Covid 19 would be covered. 

[irun5k]

5 hours ago, Littleone15 said:

Lol, We were just at Universal Studios yesterday and it was crazy busy.  I’d be more concerned with the people visiting from all over the world there, than the fraction of people on a cruise ship.

 

I do think that the cruise industry got singled out on this given the risks but I think they are easier to pick on and nobody would think of making a "first move" against someone like Disney (I realize they operate a cruise line but that is minimal compared to their mid-sized city ownership in Orlando.)

 

 All that being said, it is possible the entire country will be shut down in a month and it won't matter much that the cruise industry got a "head start."

[MainerRN92]

7 hours ago, Pedro2400 said:

BTW

 

Air Canada Announced this morning, Free change or cancellation for all flights with Future travel credit...

 

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2020/change-fee-waiver-existing-bookings.html    

I live in Maine, but I'm booked on an Air Canada flight out of Montreal to San Juan April 18 for my cruise on Freedom leaving the next day, so I've been following what Canada is doing regarding travel restrictions closely as I'll have to cross into Canada (and then back to the US on the other end). Not to mention flying into and out of Canada. I'm hoping we'll still be able to go, that's our current plan, but things have the potential to change in either direction. This either gets a lot worse, or it starts going away. But it's good to know we have options with our flight in addition to our cruise fare!

[Pedro2400]

 

[Magicat]

On 3/11/2020 at 9:40 AM, Jesseslola2 said:

What happens if one person from my trip gets the virus, all will be quarantined and the government refuses to pick us up from the quarantined ship because  WE HAVE BEEN WARNED. ( I read this somewhere, I cannot find it now)

 

Are we just to stay in the ship for the full quarantine period? How do we get out?

 

If we are going to be picked up,  are we going to get billed for the Airplane and quarantine cost?

I just made friends with the Counsel General here in Mexico.  I have some one to call.