buckeyefrank

4 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Interestingly, we got an email from NCL saying they are planning to sail 4/12.  Guess Carnival is not the only bad guy.... 

This would somewhat coincide with Trumps statement over the weekend that the prevention can't be worse than the virus itself.  He said he will take a hard look at the end of the 15 day quarantine (in about a week) to see if lifting restrictions makes sense.  I would still be surprised if April sailings occur TBH.  

4 hours ago, robsmom said:

Buying stock does not keep a company afloat.   NCL gets none of the money.    Buy stock if you think it is a good buy right now.  That is fine, but buying or not buying stock will not help the industry.  

Absolutely correct.  The only time buying a stock is helping the company, it's when buying an IPO (initial public offering).  All the other transactions are between other investors.

And RCCL cancels for 30 days too.  Carnival is the last man standing of the big boys.

6 minutes ago, xostacylee said:

Where are you seeing this? Not finding the official news.

NCL has officially cancelled all cruises through 4/11/20 voluntarily.  RCI is rumored to be doing the same thing.  How long can Carnival hold out?

NCL cancelled all cruises through 4/11/20.  I'm sure Carnival will follow suit now.  Rumor is RCL is doing the same thing.

7 minutes ago, kaprin02 said:

Thanks for this. I was wondering if RCL and CCL were still taking bookings. 

CCL looks like it is.

Just now, GlamorousGirl said:

Have you not been watching the news? You’re probably safer on a cruise ship than on land at this point. There’s no more cruise ship cases on the news, while it’s spreading like wildfire on land, with state of emergencies, closures, and even whole-town quarantines. Probably because sanitizing is better controlled and cleaning more diligent on the ship. I will feel safer on the ship Sunday than I feel in NYC today pre-cruise.

I'm not worried about getting the virus either.  50% of the people on the Princess cruise that got the virus had no symptoms.  That's great, but also the problem.  It's not about you and me.  You can unwillingly transmit this to people without even knowing you have it.

Now a lot of companies (mine included) are making people wait 14 days to return to work if they've been out of the country.  

6 minutes ago, mysteryz said:

 

all we have is information thrown around that is guesses and not accurate or later proven to be incorrect

 

if the US wasnt ignoring testing folks, we'd have better data

 

apparently there are TWO strains, very little info about whats actually spreading around the USA

 

just the other day, a paper was published saying this thing is airborne and can float around in the air for three hours on average...

 

take anything with a grain of salt

Yes and a doctor on a major news organization said the 3 hours in the air was put there to scare people.  It can be airborne for 3 hours but is not infectious for nearly that amount of time in the air.  Bottom line is we will never know the number that contract this virus.

15 hours ago, njhorseman said:

 Merkel's 60% is at the extreme top end of the potential, and I won't accept even anything as high as the WHO's 3.4% because that's the current measurement when only a fraction of the actual infections are being detected due to inadequate availability of testing. That's not  me interpreting Merkel and the WHO, it's more in depth analysis of the number by experts in epidemics.

 

Try doing some research rather than reading sensationalistic headlines.

In Ohio, there are 5 confirmed cases of COVID-19.  The director of Ohio Dept of Health said she estimated 100,000 ohioans already have it.  If 100,000 ohioans have it, there's NO WAY a 3.4% morbidity rate exists.  It would be much closer to the flu rate.

Our booking is in the 50% penalty period right now and we paid mostly with GC.  If we cancel we would get half back (plus ppd tips) on a GC I assume and the 50% on FCC.  We found another cruise that's almost exactly the same price.  Doesn't seem fair to have to layout more cash..

Does anyone know if you cancel online whether you can use the FCC as a deposit on a future cruise or would cash need to be used?

9 hours ago, Joe817 said:

I will repeat what I have said and what Jimbo has said, and what Greg have said....we are sailing in uncharted waters...that is to say, we all have never experienced this kind of nasty bug before....at least not in my lifetime....This is now a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. I'm 72 years old and have NEVER experienced a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. Have you all?? I doubt it. I honestly do not think that TEOTWAWKI.  Folks we have many adjustments to make int the coming weeks, and months...possibly years. Damn. I hate those 'adjustments'. But I am a realist, and an optimist. When we adjust to the new lifestyle, we will survive, and all come out just fine. Hell, I still want to be around to sail when I'm 80 and even 90! 

 

Fair winds, and following seas. 🥂

 

 

Actually you have.  The swine flu in 2009 / 2010 is classified as a global pandemic.

We are sailing on April 20th and will likely rebook in August.  We are a little apprehensive about being quarantined as our son is graduation and we are moving right after we get back.  We are mostly concerned about the potential to bring it back to our elderly parents and I work in a nursing home.  Wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I happened to bring it back with me.

18 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Well of course they have other issues. That's true of flu deaths too. Healthy people don't die of the flu. And yes, coronavirus cases go unreported. But probably 95% of flu cases are unreported. Do you report it when you have the flu? Of course not. You stay and bed a day or two and go right back to work.

 

Stop spreading misinformation. For any of you confused about which one of us is right, here are some links so you can see for yourself:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/10/can-face-mask-stop-coronavirus-covid-19-facts-checked

"This would make Covid-19 about 10 times more deadly than seasonal flu..."

 

https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/03/03/flu-update

"Based on the latest data, the coronavirus appears to be deadlier."

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the 3.4% mortality rate for COVID-19 is higher than the flu's global mortality rate. "Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected,"

 

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

"Doctors and scientists are working on estimating the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be higher than that of most strains of the flu."

Minor point but there's no possible way the numbers produced by the CDC for the flu every year have 95% of the people who get it, not report it.  This year they have reported that at least 34,000,000 cases.  If 95% of the flu cases were unreported, there would be 680,000,000 cases in the US.  Almost triple the population.  The numbers they are reporting for the flu infections are a SWAG (scientific wild a** guess) and most likely include a large buffer for the 95% of unreported cases.  The numbers for the COVID-19 virus in the US are generally thought to be only those people tested and confirmed to have the virus.  That's a HUGE difference and an apples to oranges comparison.

I am not spreading misinformation.  At this point nobody knows the mortality rate of this virus.  Even the articles you mention above say "appears", "estimate", etc.  Almost every new virus when it comes out has a massive spike in deaths initially.  Once is starts spreading to the general population, the rate goes down.

At the end of the day, I am really confused as to why there is such widespread panic.  H1N1 was much worse than the current virus and there was no mass hysteria involved.  I'm in Ohio and we have 3 cases confirmed in the north-east quadrant.  Why are colleges and school systems closing down?  Why do we have no TP?  Why are people hording bottled water when we have running water delivered right to our homes the last I checked.

8 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Simple. if you feel sick or are sick. Do not go. If you have travel insurance great. Go to the doctor and ahve him confirm you are not to travel. Insurance will refund your cruise cost and the cruise line will refund everything else.

That is only for those that have travel insurance and even then some won't cover it.  

I read an article yesterday that mentioned Carnival is / has upped their benefit for proceeding with cruise plans.  I know the offer of $150 OBC but the article also specifically mentions drink credits and spa credits as well.  I have not seen anything regarding this other than that article.  Has anyone else seen or heard about that?

14 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

Well. It started with Wuhan. But now we are seeing several cities in Italy being shut down. 
 

 

Which by the way has a very large and well funded biological laboratory funded by the Chinese government.

11 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Not quite:  "The strict new quarantine measures affect a quarter of the Italian population and centre on the rich northern part of the country that powers its economy."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51787238

 

2,773 People Are Under Quarantines in New York City:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-cases.html

 

I'm 72 and have been a news junkie all my life, since age 14, and I've never heard of a disease having this much more of an impact on the world, much less the U.S. than this nasty bug.

My point is that cities are not quarantining people because of the flu.  There is no evidence that Corona is any more transmittable or dangerous than the standard flu at this point.  

We are likely canceling our April cruise but only because of the complete over reaction by the government officials.  My son is graduating this year and cannot afford to be quarantined for a couple weeks.  

10 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

 

You realize there is much more to this than just people dying. 
Entire cities are being shut down. When was the last time the flu did that? 
quarantines. States of emergency being called. 
 

I am not panicked. But you can’t say this is just the flu. 

Just because people are panicking doesn't make the actual virus any more dangerous.  But you are correct, let's stop calling this the flu because the flu is much more dangerous and yet, no cities are being quarantined for it.

11 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

That simply is not true. The mortality rate of coronavirus is at least 10 times the mortality rate of the flu.

 

The flu is much, much more prevalent however.

Not true at all.  Nobody knows the mortality rate of the corona virus because there isn't enough of a history.  Almost all the people that have died, have died WITH corono virus, not necessarily BECAUSE of corona virus.  Most had at least 2 pre-existing medical conditions.  Not to mention, there are plenty of cases that are unreported because the people have no or very minor cold-like symptoms.  It may end up being that way, but nobody knows.

It sounds like your friend might be in some need of therapy, honestly.

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

In my opinion, if you can’t afford a passport for all travelers, you have zero business traveling out of the country...

Are you OK with a passport card?

9 minutes ago, IrieBajan54 said:

 

Why is it that ordinary people from Third World countries can buy a passport but certain Americans who partake in the luxury of cruising refuse to do so?

Why is it that people smoke when the science says it's bad for one's health?  why....why...why?   Every one of us takes certain risks that other people  wouldn't dare take.  Some people pay money to mitigate some risk, others don't think it's worth it.  It is not the end of the world if a person gets left in a mexican hospital without a passport.  They will get home.  It'll take a couple days.

17 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

Seriously?

 

So you won't let the other poster take the cost of the 10-year passport and express it as a per year cost. However, you then turn around and have no problem taking the $150 cost and multiplying it by the number of people in a family so that you can have a HUGE number for your side of the argument??

 

Isn't that a little bit disingenuous??

 

No matter how many people are in the family, the per person and/or per year passport cost does not change.

Not disingenuous at all.  When you buy a passport, you pay for the entire cost upfront.  For a family of 4, that is $600 out of pocket right now.... plus the cost of the cruise.  My point was not to argue that a passport is not ideal because it is.  My point is 1) There are situations where it might not make sense to get passports and 2) the fee is upfront and can be cost prohibitive for some.