Swine Flu in Mexico, is it safe to go. (Merged Threads)

[Toto2Kansas]

I have a question regarding the OBC - since it is so large of an OBC - what happens if you don't spend it all while on the cruise - does it appear as a credit on your credit card?

 

Or if not spent on board - you lose it?

 

I might have to do a lot of drinking to spend all that OBC :)

 

Check to make sure the balance will be refunded to you. If you find out it won't be you can still receive it. Just go to the casino, open a slot bank with your cruise card (they will assist you if you don't know how). Take out the balance there of your shipboard credit. Then just walk over to the cashier's cage and cash out your bank. Very simple, takes only a few minutes, but you won't be loosing one cent of the money this way. ;)

[Dorset Cruiser]

This outbreak has only been going on for a little over two weeks. If we are all getting this fired up already then I hate to think what it will be like when the full effects of the anticipated pandemic are felt in the late summer, as has been predicted.

 

Already our newspapers are running headlines that the couple who tested positive in Scotland had left it so long before they got treatment and could have theoretically infected hundreds of people - I think they probably did not know anything about swine flu when they first returned from their honeymoon in Mexico and as soon as they did, they presented themselves at the hospital for investigation.

 

Also another headline that the UK is frantically racing around trying to source 37 million facemasks as we apparently do not have enough to even cover the nursing staff in the event of a pandemic, let alone the general public - I wish them luck with that as I suspect the whole of the world is racing around trying to buy them as well. I presume the 37 million facemasks are for those of us who will not be able to get hold of any Tamiflu (there is only enough in the UK for half the population:eek:)

 

I also think social distancing is the best option but it is not really practicable. My own DD lives and works in London and has to travel by public transport every day. There is already a case being investigated in London so I am keeping my fingers crossed there. DH and I are okay as we do not live in a large town or city, we are retired and can limit our socialising but the vast majority of people are not that lucky. If this flu escalates as it is predicted and goes on into the late summer, then I will cancel our upcoming cruise. A cruise ship would be the last place I would choose to be during a widespread flu epidemic. Whether our insurance would cover us is debatable. I think that unless the government advises someone not to travel to a particular area etc. then the insurance would not pay up if we arbitrarily chose not to travel.

[STLCruiser09]

This was posted last night at 6pm on Princess.com, just in case anyone missed this. The Mexican ports have all been cancelled......

 

 

News Article

 

4/28/2009

 

 

Statement on Swine Flu

6 p.m. PDT

 

In light of the travel warning issued yesterday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommending against non-essential travel to Mexico because of concern over swine flu, Princess Cruises has modified its itineraries to suspend calls to Mexican ports through the few remaining voyages of the spring season, which concludes next month.

Six Princess ships are currently scheduled for calls in Mexican ports through May, as they reposition to Alaska for the summer season. In total, eight itineraries and 22 calls in Mexico are affected, and passengers who are booked on these cruises will either visit alternative ports or spend an additional day at sea. Affected passengers will be advised of the itinerary changes once the new berthing arrangements have been confirmed.

We are sorry that circumstances beyond our control have caused these itinerary changes, and we recognize that these modifications may cause some disappointment among our passengers. However we hope our passengers will also agree that adhering to the recommendations of the CDC is the best course of action for the safety of our passengers and crew. Our ships and medical staff are already well equipped to prevent and contain the spread of contagious diseases, including swine flu. Even though the risk of contracting this illness is very low, we will be taking extra precautions, and will be guided by advice from the CDC and other health authorities.

[Georgeny]

I phoned Princess again late this afternoon and spoke with Tim, a customer service supervisor. He said it could be as late as Friday before they announce their changes! Completely unacceptable for a major corporation.

 

Nice I'll be in the air flying there Friday. Lot's of help.

 

George IN NY

[SeattleCruiselover]

Unfortunately that's the way it is with the way employers look at any time people take off from work due to being sick. There were many days when I went to work, only to spread around my cold because of the way my company tabulated the "occurrences" of sick days. Sure I could have taken a day off to recoup but if they really didn't seem to care, so why should have I. If I had gotten really sick later in the year I would have been denied my pay because of 2 days off previously for a cold. I didn't think so.

 

Then they wonder why everyone in the office is ill.

[JoJo79]

Seriously they need to make decisions and COMMUNICATE them with the passengers NOW! We can't all wait by our computers until the last minute trying to figure out what kind of clothes we will need to bring. Princess needs to really step it up here, like NOW!!!!!!!

[Woobstr112G]

I agree. Like Princess stated it's beyond their control.

 

Mexican ports of call aren't worth the risk.

 

I hope all those whose itinerary changed get over it and just plan on having a great time on your cruise.

 

Well said.......:)

 

Bob

[STLCruiser09]

YES THEY DO!!! If they would decide what they are going to do we could make other arrangments. If they wait till the last minute, the airlines wont let us transfer our flights to KEY WEST and go to JAMIACA, where its warm!!!!!!

[STLCruiser09]

Well said.......:)

 

Bob

 

 

It is beyond there control, BUT, its how they handle the situation and the options, yes I said OPTIONS, they give the passengers. Not giving us any options is not good business practice, they should offer a partial refund, a re-booking, something other than, "here you go, have fun in Cali, sorry most of you live there".....

 

Royal Carribean, Carnival, and a few others have already issued announcements that they are offering refunds and re-bookings, what is the problem with Princess? They are supposed to be leaps and bounds above the rest, pffffff.

[JoJo79]

It is beyond there control, BUT, its how they handle the situation and the options, yes I said OPTIONS, they give the passengers. Not giving us any options is not good business practice, they should offer a partial refund, a re-booking, something other than, "here you go, have fun in Cali, sorry most of you live there".....

 

Royal Carribean, Carnival, and a few others have already issued announcements that they are offering refunds and re-bookings, what is the problem with Princess? They are supposed to be leaps and bounds above the rest, pffffff.

 

 

I agree completely!!! Other people need to stop telling people to get over it as well! Everyone here has a right to their opinion and how they want to feel and react. Just because you don't agree with it does not make it wrong so get off your high horse already!

[wrp96]

I'm hoping that Princess will come through with something for those on Sapphire Princess today similiar to what Carnival and RCCL have done for their passengers.

 

When RCCL first announced the changed itineraries, they didn't give full details on the itinerary. Then they announced the full itinerary but didn't give any details on being allowed to cancel or on compensation. It was only this morning that the info on compensation or refunds was released. So hopefully Princess got to work this morning (3 hours behind RCCL's headquarters on the East Coast) and realized they need to do something to make their passengers happy and is currently working on it.

[Cozzette2]

I too would be bummed about doing the Pacific Northwest as I already live here and it is cold right now. The reason we plan for Mexico is the warmth. I would rather go south, stay on the ship but be in warmer water for a few days atleast you could enjoy the pools.

I don't understand if they are trying to avoid the Swine flu in Mexico why they are going to California where it also is a problem.

I am so sorry for the Mexican people who count on tourist $$$ and sorry for those who are sick and have lost loved ones. Nothing in my life is as horrible as that even if I did end up missing my cruise.

[Stellaglide]

This outbreak has only been going on for a little over two weeks. If we are all getting this fired up already then I hate to think what it will be like when the full effects of the anticipated pandemic are felt in the late summer, as has been predicted.

 

Already our newspapers are running headlines that the couple who tested positive in Scotland had left it so long before they got treatment and could have theoretically infected hundreds of people - I think they probably did not know anything about swine flu when they first returned from their honeymoon in Mexico and as soon as they did, they presented themselves at the hospital for investigation.

 

Also another headline that the UK is frantically racing around trying to source 37 million facemasks as we apparently do not have enough to even cover the nursing staff in the event of a pandemic, let alone the general public - I wish them luck with that as I suspect the whole of the world is racing around trying to buy them as well. I presume the 37 million facemasks are for those of us who will not be able to get hold of any Tamiflu (there is only enough in the UK for half the population:eek:)

 

I also think social distancing is the best option but it is not really practicable. My own DD lives and works in London and has to travel by public transport every day. There is already a case being investigated in London so I am keeping my fingers crossed there. DH and I are okay as we do not live in a large town or city, we are retired and can limit our socialising but the vast majority of people are not that lucky. If this flu escalates as it is predicted and goes on into the late summer, then I will cancel our upcoming cruise. A cruise ship would be the last place I would choose to be during a widespread flu epidemic. Whether our insurance would cover us is debatable. I think that unless the government advises someone not to travel to a particular area etc. then the insurance would not pay up if we arbitrarily chose not to travel.

 

I think this thing is being blown way out of proportion.

 

And the above account from the couple in Scotland makes my point: How many are supposedly sick in Scotland at the present time? This couple likely came within 6 feet of hundreds of people after their return from Mexico. If only 10 were infected, it is likely that those 10 would have infected 10 more and so on and so with exponential growth in the numbers infected. Yet that is not what we are seeing. The incubation period is 2-7 days and the first case was sometime in February in Mexico. In an area of 20 million less than 2000 cases have been confirmed, about 0.01%.

 

Many peolpe are sick at any one time but of those how many actually have swine flu. Just last friday my wife came home from work with a fever of 100.5F with body aches, cough and sore throat. Had she gone to the doctor it would have been recorded as a possible case yet within 36 hours she back to 100% - not swine flu.

 

People are not socially distancing themselves and we aren't seeing rapid increase in confirmed cases.

 

Princess has their hands tied with the CDC and WHO travel warnings, they did what they had to do. I think options would have been better but that is their choice.

 

Hopefully I will be correct and this won't turn out to be any worse than your typcial seasonal flu outbreak - which I read somewhere that about 36,000 died last year or the year before from the normal season.

 

Let's hope for the best but I'm very skeptical of the media and the medical pundits in the news are doing just Princess is, covering their rears.

[AKKarl]

Give 'em a break. This is a huge endeavor. Imagine if you were on the old fashioned family driving vacation and the Grand Canyon closed for the week. You would have a heck of a time trying to reschedule things for yourselves and a couple of kids. Now multiply that times 2900 people times eight trips. It must be hard enough in the Caribbean during hurricane season and you can see that coming and have zillions of islands to choose from. It's not so easy in SoCal there are not many alternatives. Some people would love to do a Pacific costal. Some snow birds would rather see San Diego etc. Some sun lovers would rather have a cruise to nowhere as long as it went south.

 

As to those who want to cancel without penalty, that's ridiculous! Princess can't stop paying the crew, not pay moorage or fuel fees or skip a loan payment on the ship. Or would you rather they have overcharged everybody else just to have a big cash reserve to cover your refund? Sounds a bit greedy to me.

 

In this life we al must take risk. The threat of a pandemic and the unpleasantry of trying to prevent one are just risk you must take if you want to exist in this world. If you don't like that try suing the pig. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

As for us, we depart on the Sea Princess 5/9 FLL to SFO. I will miss Huatulco but I'm glad to miss Cabo. Maybe we will get an extra day in Panama out of this. That would certainly be a silver lining in all this.

[jetwet1]

Karl, how come RCL, HAL and Carnival can figure it out then ?

 

As I posted 2 pages ago, think of it like this.

 

You live in Ft Lauderdale, you book a cruise to the Caribbean.You board the ship in Ft Lauderdale, go out to sea, the next day you dock in Miami, board the ship, go to the Bahamas, but can't get off, back out to sea and the dock in West Palm Beach, back out to sea and then dock in Ft Lauderdale.

 

That is what it is like for the people that live here, if you book that trip going in fine, you know what you are getting and you are paying the rate for that cruise, however what has been speculated at as the itinerary is nothing like we booked and the rate (for us) is 4 times what we can get that cruise for, do you see our point of view ?

[Woobstr112G]

Karl, how come RCL, HAL and Carnival can figure it out then ?

 

As I posted 2 pages ago, think of it like this.

 

You live in Ft Lauderdale, you book a cruise to the Caribbean.You board the ship in Ft Lauderdale, go out to sea, the next day you dock in Miami, board the ship, go to the Bahamas, but can't get off, back out to sea and the dock in West Palm Beach, back out to sea and then dock in Ft Lauderdale.

 

That is what it is like for the people that live here, if you book that trip going in fine, you know what you are getting and you are paying the rate for that cruise, however what has been speculated at as the itinerary is nothing like we booked and the rate (for us) is 4 times what we can get that cruise for, do you see our point of view ?

 

This is also a very good point. While it is a huge endevor to change itineraries in mass, Princess could do a better job of it.....

 

Bob

[jetwet1]

And it is now 10 after and nothing from Princess.

[STLCruiser09]

OK, I feel a little better about going and coming home to my newborn, our Doc. perscribed us both Tamiflu to prevent, and yes, she said it will prevent if taken within 48 hours of possible exposure and for 10 days after the fact.

I am sorry to those who think this should only be given to the people that are already sick, I am NOT putting my newborn daughter at risk because Princess will not refund our money....

 

The California Gov. has now issued a "State of Emergency" in Cali, and we have to be on 2 flights in and out of there and apparently port there also.

[flyingnole]

I live in Florida and if I was set to go on a Cruise to the Carribean and had my ports switched to Port Canaveral and and Ft. Lauderdale without any options or refund I would be livid. These people have a right to be upset and Princesses lack of information is probably making matters worse.

 

I'm a business owner and Princess is a business but sometimes you wonder who is making a business decisions for them. We recently had someone in our group have to cancel the within 40 days of the cruise. The smart thing for Princess would be to not refund their money but to penalize them 10-20% and put the remaining amount already paid into an escrow account to count towards a future cruise. That way Princess keeps the money puts it in the bank makes interest off of it or invests it and is also guaranteed a future booking where they make money off of onboard/offshore items. All the while keeping a customer happy. Instead they just take the $6000 and lose out on all the rest. So don't just assume Princess is making smart business decisions because they obviously do not.

[Sincity]

The California Gov. has now issued a "State of Emergency" in Cali, and we have to be on 2 flights in and out of there and apparently port there also.

 

Sorry, but what do you mean, "State of Emergency...... we have to be on 2 flights in and out and apparently port there also?"

[STLCruiser09]

Sorry, but what do you mean, " we have to be on 2 flights in and out and apparently port there also?"

 

 

We have to fly into LAX, and out of LAX and if they change the itinerary to the same one that the did on the Sapphire that is at sea now, our Ports will be San Diego, and Catalina.

[jetwet1]

Well it looks like all other Carnival owned cruise lines are letting pax cancel without penalty.

[STLCruiser09]

Well it looks like all other Carnival owned cruise lines are letting pax cancel without penalty.

 

 

I sure hope Princess follows suit!!! and soon....

[jetwet1]

I'm trying to find where saw it, I can't find the darn link now :eek:

[sartracker]

The Governor declared it yesterday to make it easier to free up assets, resources and people to deal with the situation. It's been in lots of news reports, here is just one I located:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-swine-flu-california,0,5721691.story

 

STL, glad that worked out. After reading the behind the scenes reports that I've been getting for 2 days now, it seems like we are gearing up for a mass something. It can't be vaccinations because there isn't one but stockpiles of the antiviral drugs, personal protective gear and respiratory protection devices are moving towards all 50 states and US Territories. I'm getting regular emails keeping us informed of the situation and the feeling I'm getting is that there is much more concern about this than just a little less than a week ago.

 

Princess is putting it's customers in a hard position. Not go and lose all their hard earned vacation money but possibly protect themselves and others by not putting themselves at risk of being exposed. Or go, be exposed to someone who slipped under the radar screen and is passing the illness along, then get sick and have to deal with that.

 

Someone, probably many people are still passing this illness around. There has not yet been a case confirmed in AZ or NM, two border towns of Mexico that see people crossing unprotected borders everyday which seems a little strange to us. Yet CA is in a State of Emergency because of 14 confirmed cases. NY has 51. TX has 16 and 1 confirmed death of a toddler from Mexico who crossed the border at Brownsville and was taken to Houston.

 

When you look at the map of confirmed cases it seems, as is the case in NY, it was brought back with the kids from their trip to Mexico. The Kansas couple, same thing, hubby was in Mexico, returned, infected wife.

 

I think the airlines and cruise lines are the ones most at risk for passing it on right now. That risks lessens if everyone who was in Mexico before they quit stopping there is well screened and free of the illness. If not and they are on your cruise ship, they are continuing to pass it on. That's a real danger Princess is taking by not just parking the ship for the last week and losing a little money.

 

What choice do the passengers have? Other cruise lines are giving more options. Like someone else said, Princess is probably just trying to ride this out as it's toward the end of their season but I agree they are hurting their public relations by taking their time making a decision. I'm sure it's a difficult decision but they really do need to step up to the plate and hit a home run for their passengers.

 

Most people cruising will be fine, the ships have the antiviral drug onboard and are supposedly screening everyone really well. At least I sure hope they are!

 

But if I lived in CA I would not be happy with an expensive cruise of the CA coastline.