Floridiana

Thank you for your report, always interesting. We were in Tonga-tapu over 10 years ago, many changes in the meantime.

I don't quite understand what passengers mean by saying they may not be allowed back on the ship from private tours. If the ship is not going to those canceled ports, there will be no tours, of course. 

I am following the blogs of Regent world cruisers. They are in the same situation with cancelled ports and a totally reconfigured itinerary south around Australia instead of north.

On 2/25/2020 at 10:21 AM, Jacqueline said:

When you return, please let us know all about it!

I will write a review.

On 2/26/2020 at 5:40 PM, cruiserchuck said:

 

The reports that I read indicated that when the ship first arrived in Cambodia, only about 20 passengers were tested for Coronavirus.  I believe the ones tested had flu like symptoms.  

One passenger came back to this thread after he was home. He said they were all tested with nose and throat swabs by people in hazmat suits. That was done in the hotel in Phnom Pen.

10 hours ago, geegeecruiser said:

Leave it to the Germans to be organized, orderly and on top of things. We were recently there....everything, including roads, train stations, main Blvds. were spotless!  No surprise they have already published an article

All the organization doesn't help in the end. After everybody thought things were under control, people came back from skiing in Northern Italy carrying the virus unknowingly. One man was out and about including at a carnival event. He thought he had a cold. He is one of the rare cases that now fight for their life. 

Before there were social media, in the fifties and sixties, other waves of a corona type virus came through. I remember one called Hongkong flu. Nobody panicked at that time.

Who knows whether the wipes work, but they are known to kill other bugs. I always take hand wipes with me because I prefer them to gels. We always wash our hands diligently and often, will do more so on our next cruise. 

2 hours ago, BBWC said:

Note that for all flights to Germany passengers now have to fill out an arrival card

The website of the German Federal Department of Health says for flights from China, Iran, South Korea, Japan, and Italy. Doesn't say anything about all flights.

The first German patients have recovered. All were connected to Wuhan. There are new cases connected to travel in Northern Italy. Several patients have minimal symptoms, 1 or 2  cases are serious. Germany recorded all the early cases immediately and physicians have published an article about it.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMc2001899?articleTools=true

Today's e-mail adds the Veneto, Lombardy, South Korea and Iran to the list of countries where you can't have been within the last 30 (!) days before the cruise. They now also include 'close contact' with someone who was in a place on the exclusion list. 

We start in Buenos Aires, finish in Iquitos and fly back Iquito - Lima - Miami.

So far, people who have been in China, HongKong and Macao can't board, maybe the ship will add Lombardy and the Veneto. The newest cases in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are connected to northern Italy.  

17 minutes ago, syesmar said:

I found this statement interesting: “I’m thinking they must have some information from the testing laboratory in Malaysia that would give the C.D.C. confidence in saying yes, that was a false-positive result,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.  “Obviously, if it was a true positive, you would keep all those people in self-monitoring.”  

Who knows what kind of test was available to Malaysia. In a different article, Hawaiian authorities complained that the CDC had sent faulty tests. Germany keeps the returning passengers from the Diamond Princess AND from the Westerdam in self- monitoring quarantine at home. Maybe somebody who is in that situation can confirm. 

Website of the Federal German Department of Health: 

https://www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/en/press/2020/coronavirus.html

General rule already mentioned before: no gold or gold look alike jewelry that can be ripped off your body, no obviously expensive finger rings, no expensive watch.  Put your camera away between taking pictures. We never had a problem exploring on our own or in tour groups in any of the places where some other passengers said they were mugged. 

I am glad your trip was wonderful. Thank you for your good wishes.

1 hour ago, bobpatj said:

Yes, in the private Malaysian Arlines Club.

Oh dear!

What will you do in case Florida should ever report a Covid-19 virus case? Self-quarantine? Use the Publix food delivery service? 

It's true, German ships tend to be warmer than American ships where I always need a pashmina scarf or even sweater indoors. I'll let you know what the lowest temperature in the cabin can be. We don't go for the cryogenic chamber ourselves.

It's got nothing to do with the Covid-19 virus or non virus case. It looks like usual Malaysian politics.

https://www.nzz.ch/international/mailand-coronavirus-epidemie-begann-in-spital-ld.1542330

This article in the reputable Swiss newspaper Neue Zuericher Zeitung has a map of the region around Lodi that is under quarantine. It covers several towns south of Milan. As a precaution, the entire province of Lombardy has universities and schools closed, sports events canceled and asks people to avoid too much contact and to stay at home with colds until tested. Another small town in the nearby Veneto province has Covid-19 cases after one person visited a cafe bar in the first cluster and returned home. So far it is unknown who infected Italian patient 1.

No known connection to China or to the two Chinese tourists who are in a Rome hospital with the virus. Rome is not affected, at least no cases are known. The day the tourists were diagnosed, Italy stopped all air traffic to and from China.

According to the paper, Italy now has over 200 patients, all of them in these localized places which have been totally cut off. Police watch entry roads, trains don't stop. Only food and medical services are delivered by people who need passes. Residents are asked to stay indoors as much as possible.

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

But the big cluster in the North was traced to an Italian who had been repatriated from Wuhan, China and later found to been carrying the virus.

According to the  reputable Swiss newspaper Neue Zuericher Zeitung, the person came from Shanghai and did not carry the virus. "Patient 0" is still an unknown entity; nobody knows so far who infected the first Italian patient, called Patient 1. He, however, was out and about and infected many others, especially since he had no symptoms and no idea he was carrying the virus. When he went to the hospital, nobody suspected Covid-19 until medical personnel and other patients were infected. There is no link to cruises or cruise lines.

https://www.nzz.ch/international/mailand-coronavirus-epidemie-begann-in-spital-ld.1542330

1 hour ago, bobpatj said:

Our overnight stay was not pleasant

Did you have to stay in the airport?

On 2/21/2020 at 12:53 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Maybe we should add some N95 masks to our lists?

Who knows what's next.

15 minutes ago, garykool81 said:

Minor inconvenience, but that is their policy company-wide. 

Since when? They did not in 2014.

Have you checked whether this cruise is going to happen in May? I have been following cruises in Asia, and several lines are pulling out their ships including the transpacific routes to Japan.

On 2/6/2020 at 11:52 PM, Jacqueline said:

Getting ready to board the Aqua Mekong in Phnom Penh this afternoon.

Enjoy? Will you also do the Amazon cruise with H-L? Tight schedule, maybe impossible.

resistk,

I think the medical form is ridiculous for a transatlantic cruise. Must be a mistake. Did somebody read 91 instead of 61? Or did they send out the wrong form when they meant to send the one where you have to confirm that you haven't been to China, Hong Kong and Macau within the last 2 weeks? 

7 minutes ago, Alphen said:

Maybe it has to do something with incoming our outgoing crew and or maybe they have to order the fuel if this is a small port where not everything is easily available? Just guessing.

You are probably guessing correctly.