If You're Old Stay Home

[estrawn]

Has there been any further news about whether Carnival is going to adopt the CLIA suggestion that anyone 70 or over is not allowed on the ship without a "Fitness to Cruise" letter filled out and signed by a doctor.  At the meeting on Tuesday Pence said his group would take it under advisement and make a decision "within 24 hours".  So far I can't find any more news about it other than the fact that NCL instituted the policy today.

 

My cruise is scheduled to depart on Monday and I'm running out of time to get a form filled out by my doctor because of the upcoming weekend.  I'm going to get a letter but if Carnival follows the example of NCL and produces a special form that has to be used that will be trouble

[beachbum53]

Why don't you give Carnival a call? I'm sure someone there should be able to give you up to date information. 

[Butterbean1000]

Calling Carnival isn't that easy right now.  All Need To Know info should be posted on their website. 

[coevan]

I have 70 year old friends who can run circles around out of shape 50 year olds, age is all relative

[WildBlueYonder64]

Yes, it's true.  Check out John Heald's Facebook page.

[estrawn]

I just got my email from Carnival about 3 minutes ago that says people 70 and up need to present a medical form that says they are fit to cruise

[VentureMan_2000]

13 minutes ago, estrawn said:

I just got my email from Carnival about 3 minutes ago that says people 70 and up need to present a medical form that says they are fit to cruise

Post the letter, please.

[teknoge3k]

28 minutes ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

Post the letter, please.

 

John Heald posted it. It's for sailings this weekend only.. For now.

 

NEW TRAVEL POLICY
ALL SAILINGS DEPARTING
03/13/2020 TO 03/16/2020
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION REQUIRED

March 12, 2020

Dear Carnival Guest:

Public health authorities believe older travelers with severe, chronic medical conditions are more susceptible to contracting coronavirus. Your health and well-being remain our highest priority. Effective immediately, we are proactively implementing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regarding cruise ship travel.

The following individuals will temporarily not be allowed to sail:
Guests who have been hospitalized in the last two months for, or have a history of, severe or chronic medical conditions.

Per CDC, chronic conditions are defined as an illness persisting for a long time or constantly recurring, such as diabetes, heart, kidney or lung disease, suppressed immunity (i.e., active cancer, taking steroids) or require oxygen for any reason.

Guests who are 70 years and older, will be required to present a doctor's "fit to sail' letter at check-in, confirming they do not meet any of the health/medical criteria.
If you are unable to present this letter, you will not be allowed to cruise.

Guests who have been to or traveled through China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Italy, Iran, Japan, Singapore in the last 20 days prior to embarkation.

Guests who have been in contact with another person diagnosed with or tested for COVID-19.
Anyone who meets any of the above criteria must cancel their reservation and may select one of the following options:

Receive a 100% Future Cruise Credit (FCC). In addition, guests will also receive a future onboard credit - US$300 per stateroom if you were scheduled to sail on a cruise of 5 days or less; US$600 per stateroom if you were scheduled to sail on a cruise of 6 days or longer - when you rebook your future cruise.

Receive a cash refund, to be processed to the original form of payment within 90 days.
Guests traveling in the same stateroom as the impacted party are also eligible for the compensation options listed above.

Any accompanying family or friends in separate staterooms who also wish to cancel will receive a 100% future cruise credit.

Since we are experiencing high call volume, please complete this form if you meet any of the above criteria for canceling your cruise. We will process your request and send you a confirmation. There is no need to call us.

Pre-purchased shore excursions, beverage and Wi-Fi packages, and Fun Shop purchases will be automatically refunded. If you elect a refund, please note it will be processed in approximately 90 days.

We recognize the impact of these new policies and sincerely apologize for any disruption to your vacation plans. We trust you understand these temporary policies reflect an industry wide agreement with the U.S. government that were made with your best interest at heart.

Edited March 12, 2020 by teknoge3k

[coevan]

not sure about your doc, but my docs office is 3-6 months behind on appointments

[bobsfamily]

15 minutes ago, coevan said:

not sure about your doc, but my docs office is 3-6 months behind on appointments

Go to a doctor in the box... seriously they have appointments all the time.

Or see if your insurance has a "tele-doctor".... they are usually available.

Edited March 12, 2020 by bobsfamily

[Joe817]

This letter is all good and well. Thanks for posting teknoge3k! Good info. But.....what about people like wife & I not sailing until Sept. 13?  And, we've not received any emails from Carnival. My hopes are quickly diminishing, and I'm mister optimism! LOL

[rotchill]

25 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

This letter is all good and well. Thanks for posting teknoge3k! Good info. But.....what about people like wife & I not sailing until Sept. 13?  And, we've not received any emails from Carnival. My hopes are quickly diminishing, and I'm mister optimism! LOL

You will not for awhile yet.They are dealing with couple of weeks to a month at a time. This is hopefully a temporary thing as said in letter..  Wait and see what happens with virus in next month or so . We are also sailing in Sept. It is a wait and see thing for now.

[Joe817]

43 minutes ago, rotchill said:

You will not for awhile yet.They are dealing with couple of weeks to a month at a time. This is hopefully a temporary thing as said in letter..  Wait and see what happens with virus in next month or so . We are also sailing in Sept. It is a wait and see thing for now.

Thanks rotchill for the encouraging words. Yes, we are in a holding pattern for several months. In fact exactly 6 months from tomorrow. A lot can happen between now and then.

[coevan]

2 hours ago, bobsfamily said:

Go to a doctor in the box... seriously they have appointments all the time.

Or see if your insurance has a "tele-doctor".... they are usually available.

 

 

what is a doctor in a box, like bubbly boy? How would "tele-doctor" (never heard of this either) know what your physical condition is?

[Bostwick girl]

4 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

what is a doctor in a box, like bubbly boy? How would "tele-doctor" (never heard of this either) know what your physical condition is?

I think he's probably talking about the urgent care centers, or minute clinic things. I doubt very seriously someone from there would do something like that if they didn't know you. I also agree with you on the teledoctor, if you do have one, they can't help you out with a letter! Telemedicine is catching on a little lately. Rather than going in to see your doctor, you can see him via internet.

 

[teknoge3k]

22 minutes ago, Bostwick girl said:

I think he's probably talking about the urgent care centers, or minute clinic things. I doubt very seriously someone from there would do something like that if they didn't know you. I also agree with you on the teledoctor, if you do have one, they can't help you out with a letter! Telemedicine is catching on a little lately. Rather than going in to see your doctor, you can see him via internet.

 

 

We haven't gone to a traditional doctors office in a few years, thanks to teledoc. There's several different apps out there. I've always used Doctor on Demand, up until last month when our insurance started using Teladoc which I will use from now on. Rather than getting dressed when you're sick, driving 45 minutes to a doctors office, sitting in a room full of sick people, waiting in a patient room forever for the MD to see you, then driving 45 minutes back home, it's much easier to open the app, talk to an MD via their app and then have an RX sent in to the local pharmacy. Then a work/school note is sent to you in a matter of minutes. From start to finish, the process has taken me 6 minutes at the longest visit. I know Teladoc has access to Epic which is a platform that's becoming pretty nationwide, so the MDs have access to your records. 

[2wheelin]

This is all BS. A person over 70 must have written proof they are healthy while anyone younger can just “overlook” their health issues. Age only enters the picture because older individuals—as a group—tend to have a tendency toward more issues. A young person with the same infliction as an older person will have the same response to the virus.

[scpirate]

5 hours ago, coevan said:

I have 70 year old friends who can run circles around out of shape 50 year olds, age is all relative

I knew a lady that was 74 that bragged about how great a shape she was in .she also dropped dead suddenly.noone knows when their time is up unless they make that choice.its your choice if you feel like you need to be on that carnival Cruise than go for it.im booked on msc this year.i got almost 2 years before I set foot on carnival again.but I'm 57 but I got weak kidneys due to that poison they prescribe to you for diabetes called metformin.im not getting on the ship  I don't need to spend $4000 that bad.cozumel will be waiting for me.

[2wheelin]

1 hour ago, scpirate said:

I knew a lady that was 74 that bragged about how great a shape she was in .she also dropped dead suddenly.noone knows when their time is up unless they make that choice.its your choice if you feel like you need to be on that carnival Cruise than go for it.im booked on msc this year.i got almost 2 years before I set foot on carnival again.but I'm 57 but I got weak kidneys due to that poison they prescribe to you for diabetes called metformin.im not getting on the ship  I don't need to spend $4000 that bad.cozumel will be waiting for me.

And I knew a 20 year old athlete who suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack. What’s your point? The point some of us are trying to make is that age alone should not be a trigger point.

And I don’t believe the CDC mandated this as some suggest. They made recommendations and the cruise lines pounced on it.

[Joe817]

16 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

And I knew a 20 year old athlete who suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack. What’s your point? The point some of us are trying to make is that age alone should not be a trigger point.

And I don’t believe the CDC mandated this as some suggest. They made recommendations and the cruise lines pounced on it.

Bad analogy, man. I knew a 17 year old high school football player that dropped dead during summer drills here in Texas. Don't mean nothing. BUT, elderly people, who have lived out most of their lives(me included) are much more susceptible to chronic illnesses, diseases, maladies,  physical breakdowns, etc. I am MUCH more prone to getting my hip broken than someone who is, say, 40 or 50 years old. And at my age, that is a SERIOUS thing to confront. So take that argument somewhere else. That dog don't hunt. 

 

The point IS, that elderly people are more susceptible, with suppressed immune systems, that these draconian measures ARE justified, considering the circumstances. As much as I hate to admit it, I must...because they have a valid point. I wish it were different. 

 

70 years old seems to me a good delineation point, as much as I don't want it. I'm 72. 

 

Ok. Off my soapbox. Sorry folks, I had to say this. 

[2wheelin]

7 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Bad analogy, man. I knew a 17 year old high school football player that dropped dead during summer drills here in Texas. Don't mean nothing. BUT, elderly people, who have lived out most of their lives(me included) are much more susceptible to chronic illnesses, diseases, maladies,  physical breakdowns, etc. I am MUCH more prone to getting my hip broken than someone who is, say, 40 or 50 years old. And at my age, that is a SERIOUS thing to confront. So take that argument somewhere else. That dog don't hunt. 

 

The point IS, that elderly people are more susceptible, with suppressed immune systems, that these draconian measures ARE justified, considering the circumstances. As much as I hate to admit it, I must...because they have a valid point. I wish it were different. 

 

70 years old seems to me a good delineation point, as much as I don't want it. I'm 72. 

 

Ok. Off my soapbox. Sorry folks, I had to say this. 

Many people over 70 do not have any of those maladies you mentioned just as many under 70 do have them. Let them say any people with specified health problems cannot board but to make age alone a justification to deny boarding is just wrong. I participated in a study which confirmed my immune system was no more suppressed than people under 50. I have not even had a cold in years. Some elderly are more susceptible but many are not. Did you suddenly become a larger risk the day you turned 70 than you were at 69?

[beshears]

OK, what is a "fit to sail" letter?  Is it a form that Carnival is putting out for anyone over 70 that plans to cruise?  All I can say is I am over 70, most people don't think I look/act my age as was mentioned earlier about some of us this age. All i can say is I went to my doctor's office today, and he had a two line written up that I would be able to cruise.  Just wondering if that will work?

[Joe817]

6 minutes ago, beshears said:

OK, what is a "fit to sail" letter?  Is it a form that Carnival is putting out for anyone over 70 that plans to cruise?  All I can say is I am over 70, most people don't think I look/act my age as was mentioned earlier about some of us this age. All i can say is I went to my doctor's office today, and he had a two line written up that I would be able to cruise.  Just wondering if that will work?

IMHO, all you can do it submit it when you board. Who knows? I sure don't. We are sailing in uncharted waters. Nobody knows for certain. All I can say is go for it. I would.  And face and accept the consequences. 

[Joe817]

30 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Many people over 70 do not have any of those maladies you mentioned just as many under 70 do have them. Let them say any people with specified health problems cannot board but to make age alone a justification to deny boarding is just wrong. I participated in a study which confirmed my immune system was no more suppressed than people under 50. I have not even had a cold in years. Some elderly are more susceptible but many are not. Did you suddenly become a larger risk the day you turned 70 than you were at 69?

We could could go on with this meaningless debate for hours. I'm not willing to do that, as this is not a debate forum. We both have made our points. I sure don't want the Mods to lock this thread because we are arguing. Let's just end this. It is a circular firing squad with no winners. Thanks for your opinion. 🥂

[dave_k58]

6 hours ago, Joe817 said:

This letter is all good and well. Thanks for posting teknoge3k! Good info. But.....what about people like wife & I not sailing until Sept. 13?  And, we've not received any emails from Carnival. My hopes are quickly diminishing, and I'm mister optimism! LOL

I am cruising March 28 on Panorama and haven't received any letter from Carnival.  TA said she hasn't received any eitherfor me

.