'What if..' Ports are closed.

[HALrunner]

6 minutes ago, Wehwalt said:

Koningsdam was an hour late this morning being cleared in St. Thomas. But we were cleared. 

Thank you for the update. Waiting on pins and needles to board the Koningsdam on Sunday.

[Spire2000]

6 minutes ago, Wehwalt said:

Koningsdam was an hour late this morning being cleared in St. Thomas. But we were cleared. 

 

And we’re the only ship today so we have the island to ourselves. 

 

Speaking with an an officer in the Lido this morning, the upcoming K’dam cruise could be interesting. Seems they are already planning on missing multiple ports

[HALrunner]

15 minutes ago, Spire2000 said:

 

And we’re the only ship today so we have the island to ourselves. 

 

Speaking with an an officer in the Lido this morning, the upcoming K’dam cruise could be interesting. Seems they are already planning on missing multiple ports

How lucky that you were the only ship in St. Thomas....usually there are five or size ships there!

Please share any helpful tidbits you find about the next sailing. Three days seems like a world a way in these corona virus times! 

[ozzie0075]

Doesn't directly effect HAL but interesting none the less.  The Governor of Maryland has closed the Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal.  

https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-md-maryland-first-coronavirus-transmission-20200312-ry4vxcsyhvev5keusxznk3etae-story.html

[cruiseing marly]

What really concerns me is one person has it they are not letting the ship dock. I could easily stay an extra 14 days. What i don’t  want is being stuck in my room 14 days . Even if its a Neptune suit. Put in a plane then quarantined another 14 days. The ports are only going to look after them selves. If the cruise lines can’t get the ports to handle this differently cruising is not viable. We could live with having a cruise shorted by illness . That has never happened to us but you buy insurance for that. Even the medical evacuation is not being used. Love cruising 7 days at sea are okay with me but not without being pampered 

Edited March 13, 2020 by cruiseing marly

[kazu]

35 minutes ago, cruiseing marly said:

That has never happened to us but you buy insurance for that.

 

No insurance that I know of covers a pandemic.  Read your policy closely everyone.

 

HAL does have medical insurance on it’s platinum coverage but it is very limited and would be used up quickly.

 

We don’t rely on HAL for medical coverage.

Maasdam has been refused for the 5 upcoming ports which would have been a bucket list cruise for many.  Cruises to nowhere ad not knowing where and how you get off are no fun.

 

[Hlitner]

52 minutes ago, cruiseing marly said:

What really concerns me is one person has it they are not letting the ship dock. I could easily stay an extra 14 days. What i don’t  want is being stuck in my room 14 days . Even if its a Neptune suit. Put in a plane then quarantined another 14 days. The ports are only going to look after them selves. If the cruise lines can’t get the ports to handle this differently cruising is not viable. We could live with having a cruise shorted by illness . That has never happened to us but you buy insurance for that. Even the medical evacuation is not being used. Love cruising 7 days at sea are okay with me but not without being pampered 

You really need to read all the fine print of your insurance policy.  Look for exclusions for Pandemics or epidemics.

 

Hank

[fatcat04]

1 hour ago, cruiseing marly said:

What really concerns me is one person has it they are not letting the ship dock. I could easily stay an extra 14 days. What i don’t  want is being stuck in my room 14 days . Even if its a Neptune suit. Put in a plane then quarantined another 14 days. The ports are only going to look after them selves. If the cruise lines can’t get the ports to handle this differently cruising is not viable. We could live with having a cruise shorted by illness . That has never happened to us but you buy insurance for that. Even the medical evacuation is not being used. Love cruising 7 days at sea are okay with me but not without being pampered 

And a great many of those closed ports are in small countries, especially island countries, that do not have the medical capacity to deal with an outbreak in their own population much less a cruise ship. They have a right to their sovereignty, the right to say "no, you can not come" especially now. 

Edited March 13, 2020 by fatcat04

[cruiseing marly]

Just now, Hlitner said:

You really need to read all the fine print of your insurance policy.  Look for exclusions for Pandemics or epidemics.

 

Hank

i know it does not cover but it wasn’t a pandemic yesterday. And if was the day before and if your insurances will not cover you now the cruise line is negligent if they take you into that area .

[HAL4NOW]

11 hours ago, NordicPrince said:

Sadly Father, IMO you are being irresponsible in promoting the idea that it is totally OK for people to go on a cruise without being aware of all the possible things that could currently happen.

 

Does anyone really know "all the possible things that could currently happen"? There is uncertainty on land or at sea. 

[Vict0riann]

10 minutes ago, HAL4NOW said:

Does anyone really know "all the possible things that could currently happen"? There is uncertainty on land or at sea. 

 

Well, sadly, we have been told on the news that if we leave Canada, even just to go down to Bellingham, we will have to self-quarantine for 14 days when we return to Canada.

[LocoLoco1]

This is reminiscent of the 9/11 transport shutdown.

[digitl]

On 3/11/2020 at 2:20 PM, blackfoot said:

Sad, this is a media event- it's the latest version of the FLU! This flu season( 2019/2020) 19,000 have died( approx 120/day) in the USA- and this Flu season is considered to mild- These are the facts and not sourced by CNN!

Covid-19 is not flu. There is some immunity to flu in the population but Covid-19 is a novel virus and there is zero immunity to it. It is much more dangerous than flu and to downplay that is not helpful.

[digitl]

On 3/12/2020 at 1:40 AM, dot73 said:

The U.K. is exempted so U.S. citizens will just fly to London from various parts of Europe and fly home. 

They don't need to. They are exempted from the EU/Schengen ban.

[fatcat04]

46 minutes ago, digitl said:

....but Covid-19 is a novel virus and there is zero immunity to it. 

Truth is, medicine doesn't know that. Some people are simply not getting it even after exposure. And science is scratching it's head, which is good. The CDC and many other research organizations all over the world have come up with tests they plan to use in hot spots not for diagnosis but testing the immune response of those closest to the disease in hopes of learning why there are these huge disparities in our immune system's infectious response and the severity of the illness. China has started this already. It will help in the development and deploying of a vaccine when one becomes available. 

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/11/cdc-developing-serologic-tests-that-could-reveal-full-scope-of-u-s-coronavirus-outbreak/

 

As a side note, here is a good article about a woman who unknowingly got Covid-19 and recovered. What I thought most enlightening was her major complaint was not coughing and respiratory distress which she had none of but a spiking moderately high fever and chills which parallels with the early Wuhan reports about the most common symptoms. 

https://nypost.com/2020/03/12/woman-who-survived-coronavirus-shares-her-early-symptoms/

 

 

Edited March 13, 2020 by fatcat04

[digitl]

16 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

Truth is, medicine doesn't know that.

 

 

It is a novel virus: it is new and so there can be no existing immunity to it. This is the clear advice from our experts who have long and distinguished experience of dealing with viral issues around the world.

[fatcat04]

4 minutes ago, digitl said:

It is a novel virus: it is new and so there can be no existing immunity to it. This is the clear advice from our experts who have long and distinguished experience of dealing with viral issues around the world.

Novel in this case means it is a completely new strain of an existing virus. Coronavirus in many forms (the common cold being one as are SARS and MERS) has been with us probably since viruses evolved to infect humans or did whatever viruses did to get here. If this disease had been brought to us on a meteor (think Andromeda Strain) and had been completely foreign to Earth, sure, we would have no immunity, no nothing, but the simple fact is some people are not getting the illness despite exposure and science wants to know why. Obviously if scientist are developing serologic tests and the WHO is saying do these tests now, they feel this information concerning the varied immune response inside hot spot communities is of great import to the treatment and management of this disease. You might try reading the article I posted from STAT.

[*Miss G*]

3 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

If this disease had been brought to us on a meteor

 

 

[fatcat04]

Lol Miss G. I needed a good laugh this morning. Hadn't seen that meme in a while.

[TiogaCruiser]

9 hours ago, LocoLoco1 said:

This is reminiscent of the 9/11 transport shutdown.

But without the added eerie sounds of armed fighter jets patrolling above....

[digitl]

23 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

Novel in this case means it is a completely new strain of an existing virus. Coronavirus in many forms (the common cold being one as are SARS and MERS) has been with us probably since viruses evolved to infect humans or did whatever viruses did to get here. If this disease had been brought to us on a meteor (think Andromeda Strain) and had been completely foreign to Earth, sure, we would have no immunity, no nothing, but the simple fact is some people are not getting the illness despite exposure and science wants to know why. Obviously if scientist are developing serologic tests and the WHO is saying do these tests now, they feel this information concerning the varied immune response inside hot spot communities is of great import to the treatment and management of this disease. You might try reading the article I posted from STAT.

It is a completely new strain, so effectively a new virus. Immunity to previous strains does not carry over. There is no immunity to Covid-19. That some have been exposed to it (to what extent?) without apparently being infected (there is a wide range in the way different people respond) does not mean they have immunity. That is the message from our government's experts.

There is no point in playing down just how serious it is.

I will leave the subject there.

[Kirsten T]

Onboard Zuiderdam - still doing the canal transit tomorrow but Panama will not allow shore ex. Skipping Colon. No word yet on Costa Rica. Captain just announced that HAL at this time is not planning to suspend ops like sister line Princess. Had no problem with docking in Aruba or curaçao, skipped half moon due to 50 knot gusts. Crew is sanitizing continuously, no self serving of any food, no salt pepper sugar on tables. But still a very enjoyable cruise so far. 

[puppycanducruise]

5 minutes ago, Kirsten T said:

Onboard Zuiderdam - still doing the canal transit tomorrow but Panama will not allow shore ex. Skipping Colon. No word yet on Costa Rica. Captain just announced that HAL at this time is not planning to suspend ops like sister line Princess. Had no problem with docking in Aruba or curaçao, skipped half moon due to 50 knot gusts. Crew is sanitizing continuously, no self serving of any food, no salt pepper sugar on tables. But still a very enjoyable cruise so far. 

Thanks for the update.

Hope the cruise continues to be enjoyable.

[kazu]

Another port is closing to cruise ships - Funchal Madeira.

 

I reached out to my guide to cancel our tour and was told we wouldn’t probably be there.

 

From her email to me:

 

Our Government has implemented serious measures in an attempt to keep Covi-19 away from the island. One of them is no cruise ships are allowed to dock in Funchal. Apart from that, all flight passengers are being monitured for their body temperatures. All schools, museums, day centers, swimmimg pools, nightclubs, etc are closed and all type of events including all religious celebrations are cancelled. At this point nobody knows when all this will end. Covid-19 has become a major catastrophe.

[puppycanducruise]

Canadian government just announced no cruise ships with over 500 people will be allowed in Canadian ports until July 1, then they will re-assess the situation.