New health guidelines for Princess; is HAL next?

[cbr663]

On 4/25/2020 at 4:19 PM, JT1962 said:

 

Here is a link to a story about one option being proposed:

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/icu-pods-backed-hospital-ships-proposed-caribbean-cruise-ports
 

 

 

Interesting article.  The consultant's idea though is to shift responsibility away from the cruise ships to the ports of call instead.  And, imagine every port of call screening every passenger as they disembark a ship and then the ship screening every passenger as they embark at the port again.  The logistics would be a nightmare when multiple ships are in port at the same time.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

21 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

 

Interesting article.  The consultant's idea though is to shift responsibility away from the cruise ships to the ports of call instead.  And, imagine every port of call screening every passenger as they disembark a ship and then the ship screening every passenger as they embark at the port again.  The logistics would be a nightmare when multiple ships are in port at the same 

It might happen.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Gail & Marty sailing away

[AryMay]

After reading through the guidelines, I took note at this statement:

 

Cruisers will also be required to fill out a new health declaration prior to boarding specifically designed to screen for COVID-19. During the cruise, anyone found to have falsified their answers will be disembarked at the next port of call. 

 

I can't imagine ports are going to be welcoming ships if the plan is to dump off any  passengers who might be at risk of being infected. 

[Roz]

11 hours ago, AryMay said:

After reading through the guidelines, I took note at this statement:

 

Cruisers will also be required to fill out a new health declaration prior to boarding specifically designed to screen for COVID-19. During the cruise, anyone found to have falsified their answers will be disembarked at the next port of call. 

 

I can't imagine ports are going to be welcoming ships if the plan is to dump off any  passengers who might be at risk of being infected. 

 

I wonder how they would find out a passenger lied on the health declaration?  For instance, suppose a co-worker was infected.  I'm showing no symptoms when I board, but on the form I indicated I hadn't been in contact with anyone with COVID-19.  I get sick onboard.  Will the cruise line hire a PI to track down my contacts in the 2 wks. before I got on the ship?

[swin26]

If someone knew they had been in contact with someone with COVID-19, why would the risk their health and the health of the entire ship by boarding?

[European_CruiseGirl]

Ah this type of screening never works. Why? Because people mainly care about themselves. What will happen is what has happened at schools for years and years. You know the ”you cannot bring your ill child to school”. So what do some of the parents (of younger children) do? ”There you go honey, have some painkiller that will reduce your slight fever so you have a normal body temperature.” ”Aaaaa you have a runny nose too, well here you are, some nasal drops etc to clear your nose...if not for the day then at least so long that you get to school and nobody can say you were ill when I dropped you off”. 
 

This is exactly what would happen at cruise ship ports. People taking over the counter medicine to make sure their body temp is normal at screening. Use nasal sprays. Etc etc. If they exhibit symptoms then during the cruise who can say ”for sure you had the illness already while you boarded, you lied to us”. 
 

So this whole health screening is completely useless nonsense and just a way for the cruise lines to make you feel more comfortable cruising as you know ”they are doing their best to protect you”. Unfortunately, as people tend to lie (cue Dr House) , it does not really help. 

[Tampa Girl]

49 minutes ago, European_CruiseGirl said:

Ah this type of screening never works. Why? Because people mainly care about themselves. What will happen is what has happened at schools for years and years. You know the ”you cannot bring your ill child to school”. So what do some of the parents (of younger children) do? ”There you go honey, have some painkiller that will reduce your slight fever so you have a normal body temperature.” ”Aaaaa you have a runny nose too, well here you are, some nasal drops etc to clear your nose...if not for the day then at least so long that you get to school and nobody can say you were ill when I dropped you off”. 
 

This is exactly what would happen at cruise ship ports. People taking over the counter medicine to make sure their body temp is normal at screening. Use nasal sprays. Etc etc. If they exhibit symptoms then during the cruise who can say ”for sure you had the illness already while you boarded, you lied to us”. 
 

So this whole health screening is completely useless nonsense and just a way for the cruise lines to make you feel more comfortable cruising as you know ”they are doing their best to protect you”. Unfortunately, as people tend to lie (cue Dr House) , it does not really help. 

 

I completely agree.  

[iancal]

My guess is that the cruise line corporate lawyers and their respective outside counsel are extremely busy with two things.

 

The first is obviously the deluge of litigation that is coming their way. 

 

The second will be to do a much as possible to make the future cruising contracts as watertight as possible when it comes to health based litigation. That includes the health sign offs etc.  Their goal will be to push all responsibility, duty of care, and resulting liability  to the individual,  to the various  port authorities, and to just about anyone else other than their corporate bodies.  

 

Man years of work for the these folks.

[Roz]

1 hour ago, swin26 said:

If someone knew they had been in contact with someone with COVID-19, why would the risk their health and the health of the entire ship by boarding?

 

Why do people lie about anything?  To protect their own self-interest.  

[RMLincoln]

I doubt if we will set foot on a cruise ship again until we have a vaccine- for us and the rest of the world - and maybe not even then. 

 

It was already getting dicey for us on long cruises - the usual cruise crud plus noro depressed DH's immune system enough that he developed a deep cough and was diagnosed with the beginning of pneumonia.  They gave him an antibiotic (not a lot of selection of anitibiotics for him in the infirmary as he developed an allergy to the Z-pack Azithromycin after he was given that on a ship some years ago for a cough).  If the antibiotic they gave him didn't work we would have been put off in maybe Sardinia, Gibraltar or Morocco as we came home from the Med on the Altantic Adventurer in 2017 (that was a 7 week cruise, FT Lauderdale to Ft Lauderdale which was a nice option for us without long flights, but maybe too much of a good thing? 

 

We did enjoy a B2B in the Caribbean for 21 days on Koningsdam, loved the Lincoln Center Stage, and made the trip without any serious illness, but I had a cold that started the day before we debarked and had it for a month.  I'm very cautious, washing hands, plus many other defense attempts, and it's not always successful.  So maybe we'll try other types of travel after vaccine is available.  In 2018 we did an 8 week car trip with a 2 week houseboat rental in Ontario, had a grand time, saw a ton of friends and family!  We're generally healthy, active, strong; we work with a fire department and as EMS responders in our rural area, but we're not as willing to fight illness on cruise ships anymore.   And I'm not convinced that the cruise lines can really screen for ill passengers.  

 

We might consider another river cruise (smaller boats, fewer people, closer to medical facilities)  or other tours (loved our rail tour of Switzerland), or maybe "all inclusives" in the islands for lots of kayaking and snorkeling fun, or maybe even small cruise ships, Viking perhaps.  Lots of options but HAL has been our preference, and that may be ending.  We've had a good run with some exceptional itineraries.  Life changes and we'll look forward to more adventures, just maybe different ones.  m--