From NCL: Will Holland follow policy?

[dockman]

 

from NCL email

 

 

Dear Valued Guest,

To help ensure the safety and well-being of all guests and crew worldwide, effective immediately, all guests who are 70 years of age and older must provide a Certificate of Medical Fitness to Travel form prior to embarkation.

This easy-to-complete form must be signed by a licensed medical professional and be dated no more than seven days prior to the date of embarkation or seven days prior to the start of a guest's travels if the guest is traveling for more than seven days before a voyage.

If you are 70 years of age and older, please bring the completed form with you as you will be required to present the form prior to embarkation. Those who do not present the form will be denied boarding and will be issued a future cruise certificate for the value of their cruise.

This update to our health and safety policies is being implemented immediately across our ships that embark or disembark in a U.S. port. While we apologize for any inconvenience, we are taking significant comprehensive preventative measures to maintain the safety and well-being of our guests and crew. We greatly appreciate your attention to this very important matter.

Thank you, as always, for choosing Norwegian Cruise Line. We look forward to welcoming you on board.

 

[AncientWanderer]

This appears to be the cruise line industry's circumvention of the current problem.  Obviously, the younger people who are allowed to cruise will catch and spread the virus to people at port stops and back home.  I see no civic responsibility to this tack they are taking, and find it disingenuous and, frankly, insulting. IMHO

[KidCruze]

It seems like every organization is playing follow the leader right now. No one wants to be accused of not taking every precaution. I’m guessing every line will implement a similar policy. 

ETA: this will be very difficult for people who are doing land based travel prior to the cruise, which is very common in some areas, such as Alaska. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by KidCruze

[PSR]

If you can't (or don't want to) get a MD ok, how do you get a refund for cash? Maybe you don't want a FCC.

Edited March 11, 2020 by PSR

[knittinggirl]

5 minutes ago, PSR said:

If you can't (or don't want to) get a MD ok, how do you get a refund for cash? Maybe you don't want a FCC.

Good point!  I'd have a pretty hard time getting an appointment w/ an MD.  Not to mention sitting in the doctor's office right before the cruise and catching everything.

 

I don't understand why they can't get the ship's doctor to check them. 

 

They're going to lose a lot of money.

Edited March 11, 2020 by knittinggirl

[VennDiagram]

Like the medical community needs THIS added to what is already going on, and what is likely to be going on .... what a waste of valuable time and medical personnel 😞

[FlaMariner]

I would think this policy would empty a Holland American Line ship faster than any virus.......

[Cruising-along]

12 minutes ago, knittinggirl said:

Good point!  I'd have a pretty hard time getting an appointment w/ an MD.  Not to mention sitting in the doctor's office right before the cruise and catching everything.

Exactly.  We've gone out of our way to cancel all non-urgent medical appointments just for those reasons. 

What about those who have already left on their travels, maybe they have extensive land travel before the cruise -- how will they get this done?  

[dot73]

13 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

I would think this policy would empty a Holland American Line ship faster than any virus.......

I was going to post the same thing but I was afraid of getting flamed.🤩

[shrimpboat123]

32 minutes ago, KidCruze said:

It seems like every organization is playing follow the leader right now. No one wants to be accused of not taking every precaution. I’m guessing every line will implement a similar policy. 

ETA: this will be very difficult for people who are doing land based travel prior to the cruise, which is very common in some areas, such as Alaska. 

 

It did say that if you plan to travel before your cruise, you would have to get the Form filled out no more than 7 days before your land tour or whatever you do before your cruise.

 

Why aren't they also requiring people of any age, who have respiratory issues like COPD or Asthma, to get a Certificate of Medical Fitness?

 

[towhee]

Talk about age discrimination!!!

[cruisegirl]

I will be surprised if HAL doesn’t follow suit with this. If so I hope they announce it soon and make whatever statement that needs to be signed available ASAP. Poor hubby was at the doctor’s yesterday. Now he will probably have to go back in. While it may be a wise thing to do it is bound to hit  HAL harder than some cruise lines. I imagine Carnival will hardly be affected. 

[drowelf]

1 hour ago, shrimpboat123 said:

 

It did say that if you plan to travel before your cruise, you would have to get the Form filled out no more than 7 days before your land tour or whatever you do before your cruise.

 

Why aren't they also requiring people of any age, who have respiratory issues like COPD or Asthma, to get a Certificate of Medical Fitness?

 

But it also said effective immediately. What if you are already on your pre-cruise travel? There needs to be some kind of grace period to account for those in transit already. And good luck to getting an immediate appointment with your doctor if you were leaving in the next couple of days. 

Edited March 12, 2020 by drowelf

[DanBoy]

1 hour ago, shrimpboat123 said:

 

It did say that if you plan to travel before your cruise, you would have to get the Form filled out no more than 7 days before your land tour or whatever you do before your cruise.

 

Why aren't they also requiring people of any age, who have respiratory issues like COPD or Asthma, to get a Certificate of Medical Fitness?

 

 

[DanBoy]

I leave for  Fort Lauderdale this Friday.. No way I would be able to get into a doctor, nor my girlfriend who is in her 70s as well.. This is crap.. I better not get down there and then find out it goes into effect on Friday for my sailing on Saturday!.. That is just not right!!!.. More than pissed.. They do it I will never sail with them again

[doctork]

I don't see how a doctor, even your personal physician who has known you for years, could possibly certify your fitness; it would be a huge liability risk.  Even healthy people get sick unexpectedly all the time.  For all you know, you might have gotten infected with Covid-19 on the plane en route to the cruise, one day after getting your "certificate of fitness."

[kazu]

2 hours ago, VennDiagram said:

Like the medical community needs THIS added to what is already going on, and what is likely to be going on .... what a waste of valuable time and medical personnel 😞

 

I SO agree with this.

 

While someone is doing this, someone who needs a physician for a real reason is denied.

I am not 70 but if I were the need to get this 7 days before and having it dated accordingly AFTER final payment is unfair and onerous.  JMO.

[cruisegirl]

I may wrong , and believe me I hope I am but I look for all major cruise lines to follow suit.  I might as well get my appointment set up now. I hope the cruise line provides some criteria for the decision. 

[kazu]

33 minutes ago, cruisegirl said:

I will be surprised if HAL doesn’t follow suit with this. If so I hope they announce it soon and make whatever statement that needs to be signed available ASAP. Poor hubby was at the doctor’s yesterday. Now he will probably have to go back in. While it may be a wise thing to do it is bound to hit  HAL harder than some cruise lines. I imagine Carnival will hardly be affected. 

 

They have. My friend got an email stating something similar.

 

Boy, between the virus worries, ships to nowhere, not getting home and now this, the cruise lines are better off to park (oops dock) somewhere and just not go.

IF our TA goes, I think it will be one dam empty ship based on my roll call (which was huge).  

 

[wyobean]

Honestly, now that flights from Europe have been cancelled I look for cruises to be cancelled, too. This may be a mute point.

[DanBoy]

5 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

They have. My friend got an email stating something similar.

 

Boy, between the virus worries, ships to nowhere, not getting home and now this, the cruise lines are better off to park (oops dock) somewhere and just not go.

IF our TA goes, I think it will be one dam empty ship based on my roll call (which was huge).  

 

Did they say HAL said "effective immediately??.. OMG if true.. I leave Friday.. Who is considered a Licensed medical Professional.. does a dentist or nurse count>> I am feeling ill and NOT from a virus.. If I can't get  a sign off I dont want to drive to  the Port  knowing I would be denied boarding... They have to let you cancel on phone... Good God

 

[cruisegirl]

No email from HAL yet but I’ll be hitting the email first thing in the morning. I fully expect the darn email to be there. 

[drowelf]

27 minutes ago, doctork said:

I don't see how a doctor, even your personal physician who has known you for years, could possibly certify your fitness; it would be a huge liability risk.  Even healthy people get sick unexpectedly all the time.  For all you know, you might have gotten infected with Covid-19 on the plane en route to the cruise, one day after getting your "certificate of fitness."

Without having seen the actual form, I think this would be similar to getting a medical release from your doctor to have a procedure. For example when my 75 year old Father had to have his Gall Bladder removed, the surgeon required the medical release for the operation. I had to have the same kind of thing for a surgical procedure after they discovered I had A-Fib during my pre-op setup. 

[cruisegirl]

If anyone gets a copy of the form the doctor is to fill out please post it here or give us an idea what it says. The fact that it is to be filled out no more than 7 days prior to your cruise leads me to think Drowelf maybe right. It may be more a statement about your health at that date rather than your medical history. But saying that I question why such a statement isn’t required for every single cruiser.  

[doctork]

Your primary care does a "pre-operative physical examination" and then pronounces you low, medium or high risk for the specific proposed procedure (open heart surgery is high risk, cataract surgery is generally low risk).  There are actually medical risk calculators to predict the risk quite accurately - how likely is each complication such as pneumonia or blood clot, or prolonged stay in rehab - and for most medical conditions, you know the relevant pre-op risks and how to optimize the patient's health prior to surgery.

 

Then there is also the consent to the surgery that the surgeon has you sign, reviewing the specific risks for you of that procedure.

 

The risk of sailing on a cruise and catching Covid-19 is unknown at this point, as is your specific risk of contracting it on the way to or during the cruise.

 

But as you say, I haven't seen the form itself and its specific wording.  It just sounds like another way for the cruise line to say it is someone else's fault, and if they can blame you or your doctor, less liability for them.  Various risk managers have likely told the lines to do this.