Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

[RSD]

'Cruising choices with an active Pandemic'

Kangaroo Island ferry might be an option?

 

[RSD]

Beginning to ponder a cruise I have booked along the Nile in April. Final payment due in a week.

Tossing up between the risks of anyone on board having it (smaller population on a river boat, none in the country reported so far) against if someone does have it, what the "isolation" and medical facilities in Egypt would be like?

I think you would be fairly safe in April as the preventing people who have been to mainland China going anywhere will stop the spread of the problem in other parts of the world.

Egyptian medical facilities have thankfully come a long way since I lived there 30 years ago so that won't be a huge issue.

 

[luxury-lizard]

We have a cruise booked on Ponant commencing mid-March from Cape Town up the coast to Durban then onto (back-to-back) Mauritius and the Seychelles. We're not concerned at this stage - far too late to change/cancel cruise and/or other plans.

However, what does surprise me is that the daily deluge of marketing e-mails from at least 6 cruise lines continues to hit my inbox with all the usual offers dressed up as special deals but really just regular pricing - some include cruises with Asian ports-of-call. Surely they are aware that people are very concerned about cruising at the moment but no mention of contingency plans / alternate itineraries. (Now I know I can just un-subscribe from these mailing lists but 'you never know' when the deal of the century may come in!).

 

[Pushka]

We have a cruise booked on Ponant commencing mid-March from Cape Town up the coast to Durban then onto (back-to-back) Mauritius and the Seychelles. We're not concerned at this stage - far too late to change/cancel cruise and/or other plans.

However, what does surprise me is that the daily deluge of marketing e-mails from at least 6 cruise lines continues to hit my inbox with all the usual offers dressed up as special deals but really just regular pricing - some include cruises with Asian ports-of-call. Surely they are aware that people are very concerned about cruising at the moment but no mention of contingency plans / alternate itineraries. (Now I know I can just un-subscribe from these mailing lists but 'you never know' when the deal of the century may come in!).

Triple Agree!
Yes - we’ve been swamped too! However when I click on the search function I don’t see any change in pricing. Not that I’ve clicked on Asia. Who on earth would risk that!

 

[QFflyermelbourne]

A solo row across the Atlantic might be good. The virus thing might be over by the time you land, or alternatively, you'll be the last man standing.

I imagine all this is leading you to be even more glad you are out of the flight deck!

 

[tgh]

Vietnam has refused entry to the Silver Spirit which is now heading for Bangkok docking on the 11/2

This cruise chaos is likely to get much worse as the virus spreads, what sensible country would allow entry to a floating incubator ?

As an aside, have a look at the ships at sea on the home page of marine traffic and then have a look at your flight app and ask yourself this question.

How can an emerging disease be contained with the current level of marine and aviation traffic ?

I opine that it cannot and the inevitable result is that we all going to get a dose of the bug.

The black part of this scenario is that exactly the same result will occur when a truly devastating killer bug eventually surfaces.

Eat drink and be merry folks , I can hear the violins and smell smoke …

 

[bPeteb]

I’m certainly not a doctor (calling drron) but why are people worried about cruises on the other side of the world, in months? Maybe I’m missing something but I wouldn’t even consider cancelling and I have what could be politely described as a compromised immune system - crohns and no spleen. Everyone is OK flying long distances? It’s just ships?

 

[Pushka]

I’m certainly not a doctor (calling drron) but why are people worried about cruises on the other side of the world, in months? Maybe I’m missing something but I wouldn’t even consider cancelling and I have what could be politely described as a compromised immune system - crohns and no spleen. Everyone is OK flying long distances? It’s just ships?

Im not worried about getting sick and I’m immune compromised too through treatment for SLE but I’m worried about getting stuck on a ship because someone develops a cough and temperature that raises a corona flag. And that can happen anywhere in the world.

On Cruise Ship Quarantined In Japan, New Cases Could Reset The Isolation Clock

If the Diamond Princess were a country, it would now have the second-highest number of coronavirus cases outside of mainland China.

www.npr.org

Another factor is that cruise lines require full payment a long time out - a minimum of 90 days. Who knows the future.

 

[bPeteb]

Im not worried about getting sick and I’m immune compromised too through treatment for SLE but I’m worried about getting stuck on a ship because someone develops a cough and temperature that raises a corona flag. And that can happen anywhere in the world.
Another factor is that cruise lines require full payment a long time out - a minimum of 90 days. Who knows the future.

Ah, ok Pushka. I still wonder how people would still be infectious and freely travelling in a number of months. SARS seemed better contained but maybe that was a reflection of the Chinese not travelling the world like they do now.

I received an email from Oceanwide Expeditions this morning. It detailed how people would be refused boarding, and receive no compensation, if they flew to their embarkation city via a long list of Asian cities.

 

[Pushka]

Ah, ok Pushka. I still wonder how people would still be infectious and freely travelling in a number of months. SARS seemed better contained but maybe that was a reflection of the Chinese not travelling the world like they do now.

I received an email from Oceanwide Expeditions this morning. It detailed how people would be refused boarding, and receive no compensation, if they flew to their embarkation city via a long list of Asian cities.

A few cruise lines are now banning people with Chinese, Hong Hong (?) and Macau passports onboard regardless of the last time they were there.

 

[tgh]

Interesting article, fast testing is a real need atm.

Test for Novel Coronavirus Approved for Wide Deployment

The US Food and Drug Administration authorizes the distribution of the 2019-nCoV diagnostic to state health departments and other facilities.

www.the-scientist.com

Until this week, healthcare providers in the US who suspected a patient might have the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV needed to send samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing. But on Tuesday (February 4), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use declaration that allows the newly developed test to be distributed as a kit to any CDC-qualified laboratory.

“This continues to be an evolving situation and the ability to distribute this diagnostic test to qualified labs is a critical step forward in protecting the public health,” says FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn in the agency’s announcement.

As of today, 2019-nCoV has killed 565 people and sickened more than 28,000. Since an epidemic of the virus began in Wuhan, China, in December, researchers in China and elsewhere have raced to sequence and analyze its genome, devise tests for it, and develop vaccines and treatments.

Wired notes that the test for 2019-nCoV was approved for emergency use much more quickly than assays for other epidemic illnesses of the past decade, such as an Ebola test in 2014, which was rolled out about seven months after an outbreak in western Africa began. “Outbreaks have become the new norm,” Catharina Boehme, chief executive of the Geneva-based nonprofit Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, tells the magazine. She adds that as a result, health organizations and governments have laid the groundwork for sharing viral samples early on in outbreaks: “There’s been a real cultural shift in how we deal with outbreaks toward more transparency and sharing.”

Meanwhile, despite the quick construction of new hospitals in Wuhan for people with the virus, the city still lacks the beds needed to care for all of those infected, Caixin reports. According to The New York Times, officials in the city have nevertheless been ordered to round up infected people and quarantine or hospitalize them

 

[OATEK]

We have paid in full for our 7 day cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean starting 28/3, including visits to Cairo & Jerusalem. I think at this stage MERS would be the biggest threat, not that we feel at all threatened. Our biggest issue has been to re-book flights to improve our chances of transiting successfully through Asia.

 

[Pushka]

This poster who is onboard the stricken Princess Diamond now is brilliant. He’s just updated his blog a few minutes ago and has the captains announcement of the day Just made. I know many dont do Facebook but he is very compelling. It’s worth it.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

And today more have tested for a raised temperature. Could mean anything or could mean more cases.

Post automatically merged: Feb 8, 2020

We have paid in full for our 7 day cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean starting 28/3, including visits to Cairo & Jerusalem. I think at this stage MERS would be the biggest threat, not that we feel at all threatened. Our biggest issue has been to re-book flights to improve our chances of transiting successfully through Asia.

It’s probably safer to go now than in a couple of months once you’ve sorted the transits.

 

[I love to travel]

I am not a cruiser but thought you guys might find this interesting.

Hmmm: Royal Caribbean Bans Chinese Passport Holders (And More)

Different travel companies are dealing with the coronavirus in different ways, though Royal Caribbean's policy is perhaps the most controversial.

onemileatatime.com

 

[Pushka]

I am not a cruiser but thought you guys might find this interesting.

Hmmm: Royal Caribbean Bans Chinese Passport Holders (And More)

Different travel companies are dealing with the coronavirus in different ways, though Royal Caribbean's policy is perhaps the most controversial.

onemileatatime.com

Yep. That’s the cruiseline I was referring to upthread. It is very drastic. We are cruising on that cruiseline in July. I’d have thought a 14 day exclusion but the recent issue with Princess in Japan was caused because someone with one of those passports boarded with symptoms. And had arrived from China. So unfortunately honesty may have gone out the window as you are required to fill in a Health form on boarding.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Our next cruise is not till October 2020 - so we will either all be dead from this 'pandemic' or hunky dory by then.

 

[OATEK]

This poster who is onboard the stricken Princess Diamond now is brilliant. He’s just updated his blog a few minutes ago and has the captains announcement of the day Just made. I know many dont do Facebook but he is very compelling. It’s worth it.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

And today more have tested for a raised temperature. Could mean anything or could mean more cases.

Post automatically merged: Feb 8, 2020

It’s probably safer to go now than in a couple of months once you’ve sorted the transits.

We were originally transiting through HKG with a stop over, but BA agreed to re-book on same PNR to go via Singapore straight through. They were incredibly helpful. The cruise will be mostly US and European passengers based on previous experience with them.

 

[offshore171]

Now apparently 4 ships stuck at sea.

One has been turned away from 4 different ports and is now sitting in international waters trying to find a country that will accept it.

Horror scenes from floating virus prisons

Horrifying pictures are emerging from a number of cruise ships stranded due to the coronavirus.

www.news.com.au

 

[Tamerton]

We are booked on Diamond Princess (the quarantined ship) for the 15 March. We are waiting to see if they cancel it. They have cancelled others up to the 4 March.
We don’t know what to do if they don’t cancel it. I think they will as they could be up for a lot of money if the ship sails and people get the virus during the cruise. They could be liable.

 

[Pushka]

We are booked on Diamond Princess (the quarantined ship) for the 15 March. We are waiting to see if they cancel it. They have cancelled others up to the 4 March.
We don’t know what to do if they don’t cancel it. I think they will as they could be up for a lot of money if the ship sails and people get the virus during the cruise. They could be liable.

Best wishes. I’d expect cancellation. It will need to be thoroughly cleansed and possibly new soft furnishings fitted? Time will tell.