March 22 on the Bliss with two kids - should I cancel?

[tjmaxwell]

My kids (ages 8 and 9) and I are headed to New York from Colorado on March 21 to board the Bliss on March 22 for a Spring Break trip to Orlando and the Bahamas.  Like many of you, all my family are saying I should cancel.  I booked via a land-based casino cruise certificate that got me a free inside cabin.  I paid to upgrade to a mini-suite.  If I cancel, obviously I'll lose the "free" part of the cruise.  I believe I can cancel our flights (which were quite costly) for a credit, but not our $300 hotel room in NY the night before.

 

I'm part of a Facebook group for this cruise and saw an interesting post from someone.  They are not concerned about getting the disease or necessarily even being quarantined.  They are concerned with returning home and the stigma involved with returning to work/school.  I've heard about companies requiring employees that choose to cruise to stay home from work for 14 days after cruising.  I'm self employed, so this isn't an issue for me, but I'm worried about my kids at school.  God forbid anyone gets sick, but if my kids or I somehow got sick and spread it to others, that would be a hard thing to live with. 

 

I'm torn on what to do.  We've all been really looking forward to this, but I'm wondering if I'm being irresponsible by taking them -- especially with what's going on in NY too.  Anyone else in a similar situation?  Any advice?

[Mightyjoey1]

IMHO, there are two lines of concern...(1) getting sick with the virus and (2) All the peripheral that is going along right now.  As far as getting sick, the Surgeon General the other day noted that the regular flu is a much bigger threat to kids right now than Corona virus...for reasons they can't quite figure out at this point, this virus seems to mainly target old and sick people (I believe they said the median age for deaths right now is around 80).  Your greatest risk of getting sick is honestly the airplane ride there; screenings by airports is far less intense than it is by the airlines.  If it were me, and given the "freeish" nature of your cruise, I would go, assuming one big caveat....how financially devastating would it be if you end up getting stuck on the ship for a quarantine.  I suspect NYC would be a port that would tend to go overboard with regards to any crew member with a temperature of 100 degrees, and my bigger fears at this point is the uncertainty that goes with flying and just the current flu season.  As far as the stigma, I would stand up to any school system that tried to keep my kids out, especially if they are showing absolutely no symptoms of illness.  Tough call, especially with the normal nature of allergies and regular flu that is out and about.  If you do go....happy cruising!

[Isabella Benjamin]

The risks right now are than you could potentially be on a ship that isn't allowed into any port, having the ship quarantined, not having control over when you would return home, you getting sick and spreading the virus in your community when you do go home.  

 

You just have to weigh the positives and the negatives and see how things stack up for you and your kids.  

[Peachypooh]

We had a death in the family this week. A lot of my family is

in the New York area. I asked them to just stay home and just make

a condolence visit when all of this is over.

They felt badly but are not coming. I am so worried about them

cycling through the NY airports for their own sake mostly. A

couple of them have asthma and wouldn't do well with the

coronavirus.

Plus spreading it to elderly people here. I also worry that they would get caught

up in an Italy type containment situation where they could get

stuck somewhere. I am not saying what your decision should

be only that this is what we did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sanger727]

I would still go on the trip. If you feel nervous about bringing something back keep the kids home a couple extra days and take their temperatures regularly during trip and when you return. I guarantee that someone will bring coronavirus into your community within the next year whether or not you go on this trip. I strongly feel that the fears are overblown, we are way past the containment phase of this, so disrupting scheduled plans to prevent the virus from spreading is futile. I would probably stay away from nursing homes for the time being however; that seems to be the one population that is reacting worse to this than the flu. But I would do that whether you took the trip or not. If any child in your school system catches this virus (and it will happen eventually) it will spread like wildfire since kids are not great about washing their hands.

[ilovecrusin422]

We were on the same cruise, and torn between going and canceling.  We cancelled.  Same issue not wanting to make anyone else sick, as well as some health issues. while we wont get to go on the Bliss, maybe the Encore later this year.  Happy sailing to everyone who does go. 

[zqvol]

7 hours ago, tjmaxwell said:

My kids (ages 8 and 9) and I are headed to New York from Colorado on March 21 to board the Bliss on March 22 for a Spring Break trip to Orlando and the Bahamas.  Like many of you, all my family are saying I should cancel.  I booked via a land-based casino cruise certificate that got me a free inside cabin.  I paid to upgrade to a mini-suite.  If I cancel, obviously I'll lose the "free" part of the cruise.  I believe I can cancel our flights (which were quite costly) for a credit, but not our $300 hotel room in NY the night before.

 

I'm part of a Facebook group for this cruise and saw an interesting post from someone.  They are not concerned about getting the disease or necessarily even being quarantined.  They are concerned with returning home and the stigma involved with returning to work/school.  I've heard about companies requiring employees that choose to cruise to stay home from work for 14 days after cruising.  I'm self employed, so this isn't an issue for me, but I'm worried about my kids at school.  God forbid anyone gets sick, but if my kids or I somehow got sick and spread it to others, that would be a hard thing to live with. 

 

I'm torn on what to do.  We've all been really looking forward to this, but I'm wondering if I'm being irresponsible by taking them -- especially with what's going on in NY too.  Anyone else in a similar situation?  Any advice?

 

Personally I would not hesitate to cruise. You can live your life, or you can live your life in fear. Unless there is some specific medical reason for you to cancel don't live in fear.

[Scott6428]

I would personally cancel, cruise ships seem to be quarantined  / miss ports due to fear and then you're stuck with kids.  In terms of the actual virus not much concern, I'd feel that the plane ride is the highest risk, you have no idea where travellers next to your have come from and you're all breathing the same air.   Live your life yes, but be cautious. 

[podgeandrodge]

there's an argument as this situation goes on, that you may catch it anywhere at this stage.  They are talking potential for 50% populations to get it, most of whom will get it mild, but if you're likely to get it anyway, what better way with a load of other cruisers!

[cscurlock]

I think its a tough call.  There are a lot of factors.

Can you afford to be out of work for 1 month if the ship gets quarantined?  If NCL decides to enforce their contract and charge you maintenance while under quarantine can you afford it?

What will you do if they delay embarkation 1 day due to someone getting tested on the previous cruise?  What if all the hotels are full and you can't get a room that night?

What will you do if they delay disembarkation 1 day due to someone getting tested on your cruise?

What will you do if someone is on board from Germany and all the ports wont let you dock because they just entered a ban list mid cruise?

Does your medical insurance cover you if you or any of your family get hospitalized because of the virus?

[BermudaBound2014]

I suggest you check with your school district too. Some school districts across the country have implemented a 14 day self-quarantine period upon return from spring break if international and cruise travel involved. Wouldn't surprise me if that policy gets extended to include all airfare travel. Parents in my area are pushing hard that this is implemented in my  personal school district. They do not want kids returning to school who have gone on cruises for spring break. We have only two cases in Michigan. Two.,

[CarolinaMamma]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I suggest you check with your school district too. Some school districts across the country have implemented a 14 day self-quarantine period upon return from spring break if international and cruise travel involved. Wouldn't surprise me if that policy gets extended to include all airfare travel. Parents in my area are pushing hard that this is implemented in my  personal school district. They do not want kids returning to school who have gone on cruises for spring break. We have only two cases in Michigan. Two.,

Very good points. Now that this has been declared a pandemic, all kinds of rules and policies are going to kick in. Quarantining people who have travelled to hot spots, such as New York, is reasonable. So another question is, would it be a hardship to home school your kids and stay home  for two weeks? In our case, no. I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband can work from home. I absolutely would not want to risk my kids infecting someone at school who is immune compromised, has asthma, lives with an elderly grandparent, etc. Also, teachers and staff are adults  and could have worse symptoms if infected.

[MamaToMany]

We would love to keep our 3/15 sailing on Joy, but our school district is implementing a policy that will not allow certain students to return to school if they have traveled during spring break.  We are waiting to hear exact what that policy entails before we make our final decision, but our drop dead date is tomorrow to cancel. There is no way we can travel and then keep kids home for a 2-week self imposed quarantine.  If that’s what the policy ends up stating, we will have no choice but to cancel.

[LMaxwell]

Your travel insurance won't cover medical emergency related to virus 

 

Your kids wont be able to go back to school 

 

What's the big deal about postponing for a bit ? 

[elwood_98034]

12 hours ago, tjmaxwell said:

 

I'm part of a Facebook group for this cruise and saw an interesting post from someone.  They are not concerned about getting the disease or necessarily even being quarantined.  They are concerned with returning home and the stigma involved with returning to work/school.  I've heard about companies requiring employees that choose to cruise to stay home from work for 14 days after cruising.  I'm self employed, so this isn't an issue for me, but I'm worried about my kids at school.  God forbid anyone gets sick, but if my kids or I somehow got sick and spread it to others, that would be a hard thing to live with. 

 

I'm torn on what to do.  We've all been really looking forward to this, but I'm wondering if I'm being irresponsible by taking them -- especially with what's going on in NY too.  Anyone else in a similar situation?  Any advice?

You think your schools will be open in three or four weeks? Really? Wow.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Respectfully, a CC thread can't make this decision for you.  You know the risks, weigh them carefully, make a decision. Best advice I can give.

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, MamaToMany said:

but our school district is implementing a policy that will not allow certain students to return to school if they have traveled during spring break.

Wow.  Sounds like a law suit in the making.

[elwood_98034]

7 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Wow.  Sounds like a law suit in the making.

Our schools are closed. But we have dead people.

 

Newsflash: Seattle Public schools are closing immediately.

Edited March 11, 2020 by elwood_98034

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 minute ago, elwood_98034 said:

Our schools are closed. But we have dead people.

Sorry to hear that.   Actually, I think closing schools is a better plan of action than banning entry for a certain subset of students who have traveled.  As a retired school principal, I can tell you that if our district imposed a restriction on the return to school for those who had traveled via cruise ship or some other questionable method/location, many parents would lie in order to avoid the quarantine.  Sad, but true...at least in my district.

[elwood_98034]

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Sorry to hear that.   Actually, I think closing schools is a better plan of action than banning entry for a certain subset of students who have traveled.  As a retired school principal, I can tell you that if our district imposed a restriction on the return to school for those who had traveled via cruise ship or some other questionable method/location, many parents would lie in order to avoid the quarantine.  Sad, but true...at least in my district.

A few weeks ago we had (I am 100% sure) patients that were lying about having returned from China. Now we treat everyone the same, and Chinese patients no longer come in to work. I don't know where they have gone, but the Chinese, Koreans, and drug addicts have all vanished from where I work. I am thinking it is the same as what happened in Wuhan, where people hid because they were scared of being quarantined. 

[elwood_98034]

Wife ordered 50lb bag of rice on Amazon on 3/5 to add to our store room. $50.

Price went up to $80.

Now sold out.

Is rice the new toilet paper?

[MrsKC08]

Only you can make this decision. I got off the Getaway this past Sunday (3/8/20) and would jump on another cruise ship tomorrow if I could. The ship was cleaner than any other cruise I've been on and they were everywhere with spray bottles spraying everyone's hands as they came and went off the ship. Quite honestly, you are just as apt to get this or any other type of virus from your local bank, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. The ships are definitely upping their policy for sanitation and cleaning.  

As for returning back to work and school. I've also seen this being reported by others, but it wasn't the case for me. Actually, we learned today that someone from the company two floors up from us has a confirmed case of this virus and the CDC and health departments both told us there was no need to close down the office and keep people away. FYI, that person hasn't been in our building since last week while I was cruising! So, everyone was concerned and giving me a hard time about coming back with something when it was actually here already!

[MrsKC08]

47 minutes ago, elwood_98034 said:

Our schools are closed. But we have dead people.

 

Some schools here have closed too, but quite honestly...they have closed in the past for flu too. I believe it is more for the peace of mind for the parents than anything.

[janetz]

It’s a hard call

I believe I would cancel, rebook for a later date 😊

[candycaramel]

I vote go on the cruise.