NCL ship held for Cholera testing in Mauritius

[cruisemom42]

I just read this story about the NCL Dawn not being allowed to port in Mauritius due to suspected cholera aboard ship. It turns out there was no cholera (after passengers were tested), but disembarkation was delayed for two days while testing was carried out and many people missed their flights home. 

 

The reason cholera was suspected was that the ship originated in South Africa, where there have been recent cholera outbreaks. 

 

With more ships offering Africa itineraries -- especially those looking to sail around Africa rather than through the troubled Red Sea/Suez Canal area -- this is somewhat concerning. Both the prospect of an ACTUAL cholera outbreak (cholera is nothing to mess around with), and the potential for ports to not allow or delay ships from entering are factors that could cause a lot of disruption for cruise ships and passengers.

 

Anyone else considering either a world cruise or a cruise in this neck of the woods concerned about this?

 

[edinburgher]

13 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Both the prospect of an ACTUAL cholera outbreak (cholera is nothing to mess around with), and the potential for ports to not allow or delay ships from entering are factors that could cause a lot of disruption for cruise ships and passengers.

This was widely reported here, also reported that   the illness was noro, but whether correct or not I do not know.

 

Most countries in "Africa" have some horrible diseases, and the more we read about them the more we wanted to avoid catching them.  As some of them are fairly easy to catch  we took a conscious decision many years ago to avoid S, W and E African countries either on cruises or land trips  due to the risks.

 

We did though, venture to countries in N Africa several times and were "vacced to the max"

 

Does anyone know what happened with flights that were missed, any reimbursement for rebooking these, or were additional flight expenses covered by travel insurance?

[leaveitallbehind]

35 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

The reason cholera was suspected was that the ship originated in South Africa, where there have been recent cholera outbreaks. 

 

With more ships offering Africa itineraries -- especially those looking to sail around Africa rather than through the troubled Red Sea/Suez Canal area -- this is somewhat concerning.

Thank you for posting this as the information is noteworthy and should be considered, in particular, with any itinerary that would originate, as you indicate, in South Africa.

 

But if the itinerary is one originating elsewhere but, such as a repositioning itinerary as an avoidance to the Red Sea / Suez Canal area, is simply sailing around Africa with no ports of call there, wouldn't the concerns be very limited, if not moot?

 

I say this not as a challenge to your post but as question of clarification of the risks.  Again, thank you for this information.

Edited March 2 by leaveitallbehind

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

But if the itinerary is one originating elsewhere but, such as a repositioning itinerary as an avoidance to the Red Sea / Suez Canal area, is simply sailing around Africa with no ports of call there, wouldn't the concerns be very limited, if not moot?

 

Probably so. But the changed itineraries I'm seeing so far do include ports of call in Africa. It would be a pretty long transit for passengers if they eliminated all ports in Africa. 

 

I suppose they could always take a decision to sail the ship around Africa with no passengers, but I would bet dollars to doughnuts that cruise lines are highly reluctant to do that due to the loss of revenue. 

 

Unfortunately, I have come to look at these decisions with a jaundiced eye, given recent situations with some cruise lines. 

[wcook]

Cholera is certainly scary, but it’s really unlikely to show up on a cruise ship. From an overall risk standpoint, I don’t think it adds much to the current risk profile of noro/Covid/flu. Not to mention the risks from driving to the port and what not. 

[ontheweb]

There was an ongoing discussion about this in the NCL boards while it was evolving. And as the OP noted that the testing for cholera proved negative.

 

Not that norovirus is not a real problem, but it is not as serious as cholera.

[cruisemom42]

22 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Does anyone know what happened with flights that were missed, any reimbursement for rebooking these, or were additional flight expenses covered by travel insurance?

 

It's a good question. I'm sure flights from Mauritius are not as easy to schedule as from larger ports commonly used for embarkation and disembarkation...

 

I looked on the NCL board and did not find the discussion there (first few pages). If @ontheweb saw something about it, perhaps could post a link here?

 

[edinburgher]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I looked on the NCL board and did not find the discussion there

I was thinking about pax who had booked flights independent of the cruiseline.

[GeezerCouple]

22 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Does anyone know what happened with flights that were missed, any reimbursement for rebooking these, or were additional flight expenses covered by travel insurance?

 

At least some third party travel insurers provide reimbursement for any such extra costs.  One would need to double check the terms of the specific policy one has or is considering getting.

 

Our travel insurance policy definitely would cover this, assuming the underlying reason is not excluded (and this case would almost definitely *not* be excluded).

It would be covered, in our case, as "travel INTERRUPTION", not "travel CANCELLATiON". And out policies include coverage of 150% of the regular trip cancellation coverage, at least in part because often these last minute airline tickets can be much more expensive than what one paid months earlier.

 

Also, this type of interruption may include a few (or many?) days of hotel and meal expenses that were never planned or included in original trip estimates (and certainly not it "pre-paid, non-refundable" payments).  It this type of case, some of the original costs may not be recoverable, and then there are yet additional expenses being added...

Yes, we have had claims for this type of situation.  In our case, no change in flights were needed (but that almost did happen), but we needed almost a full week at a 5* hotel in a major foreign city.  We had only planned to stay there one night. but I got sick, and the hotel called for an ambulance, at the direction of the physician that the hotel had previously called to come see me... twice, before he decided hospital care was needed.

We also then got private transportation to the final part of our trip, which we were VERY fortunately able to recover!

 

All of our claims were paid promptly, without any quarrel.

[We get travel insurance through www.TripInsuranceStore.com - and it has been the vendor Travel Insured who has had the best coverage for our particular needs.  We would NEVER rely upon travel insurance sold by the travel vendor, be it cruiseline, hotel, or tour group.  Our coverage starts the moment we step out our front door, and does not stop until we walk back inside at the end of the trip.]

 

Also browse through the Travel Insurance section of CC, or ask other questions there:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

GC

[edinburgher]

14 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

At least some third party travel insurers provide reimbursement for any such extra costs.  One would need to double check the terms of the specific policy one has or is considering getting.

Thank you for all that information.  It is always worth spending time researching the Ts and Cs of different policies to find the most suitable/best one,  and paying for it too, as the best or most suitable usually is the most expensive, but for peace of mind alone, IMHO in the event of something going wrong,  it is usually money well spent.

Edited March 3 by edinburgher

[ontheweb]

@cruisemom42, I believe this is the thread: 195 replies, and then shut down by the mods.