Will QM2 still call at Hong Kong in Feb

[cruiseluvva]

To be honest what I think should happen is all cruises in S.E.Asia and the Orient should be cancelled altogether, until this is contained. But it won’t happen.

[ace2542]

On 1/26/2020 at 5:06 PM, cruiseluvva said:

My husband is getting very concerned - I was already - and when he gets concerned, I get mega concerned. 
 

He has already said if he considers it prudent nearer the time, and Cunard don’t change things, we’ll just cancel and take the (big) hit.

Cunard is posting status updates to the cruises on facebook. They current just plan to reroute the world cruise to avoid China calling at Singapore instead.I sure they will more updates as the situation progress. I am sure everything will be ok.

Edited January 30, 2020 by ace2542

[safarigal]

When we were boarding QM2 in Dubai today we were asked if we had recently been to China, if we had had recent flu symptoms, and if we were Chinese. Makes a change from the usual norovirus questionnaire.

[Windsurfboy]

I see Costa smerelda in lockdown due to suspected case , a woman who flew in from Macau last week. 5000 passengers locked on ship .

[rafinmd]

19 hours ago, durante said:

The other port change which was announced by Captain Hashmi  is that Bitung will be replaced by Bali.

How long will Captain Hashmi be on board and who is the Entertainment Director?

 

Roy

[Windsurfboy]

Thanks to air travel the prevalence of the virus in South East Asia, is not much worse than anywhere else out side China. Still pretty rare.

 

However if you look at the disruption caused by just one case on the costa smeralda will cruise ships soon be looking at passports and not letting anyone who's been to china in the past 2 weeks on board . A bit of an overreaction but so is the italian authorities locking down a ship of 6000 passengers. 

[ace2542]

31 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

I see Costa smerelda in lockdown due to suspected case , a woman who flew in from Macau last week. 5000 passengers locked on ship .

It is not too bad onboard apparently. The passengers can still move around the ship they are not all locked in the cabins. Everyone will just drink the ship dry I imagine.

[Bigmike911]

US Airlines have discontinued flights to mainland China, and the first cases of person to person contagion have been reported in Europe. It looks like this is going to be as bad as the SARs epidemic a few years back. Cunard is wise to move now and drop Hong Kong and Chinese port visits. Even though there will be people inconvenienced by the move, it is the right decision to take. 

[exlondoner]

Just out of interest, does anyone know if those masks, which everyone in the affected areas seems to be wearing, actually make the slightest difference?

[cruiseluvva]

Just now, exlondoner said:

Just out of interest, does anyone know if those masks, which everyone in the affected areas seems to be wearing, actually make the slightest difference?

They reduce the amount of face touching, and there is some evidence they reduce spray from others sneezing and coughing, but not a lot of protection.

[exlondoner]

Thank you. Yes, I can see the benefit of reducing had to mouth contact, which one does so unconsciously.

[cruiseluvva]

Apparently, about 23 times an hour.

[durante]

6 hours ago, rafinmd said:

How long will Captain Hashmi be on board and who is the Entertainment Director?

 

Roy

Roy, he said until Sydney. Amanda Reid is the Entertainment Director and she is also on until Sydney.

[Chelsea1]

I spoke to our finance team in Singapore this morning for our weekly team meeting. They are very worried about the virus and the number of visitors passing through Singapore. They told me thy hope all cruises calling at Singapore get cancelled to help avoid transferring the virus in.

[lissie]

This is a very helpful map of the spread - Australia has nearly as many cases as Singapore. I'm astounded that NZ doesn't have any yet -  we have a huge trade with China and lots of tourists and expats from China - apparently over 150 NZers are registered in Wuhan waiting evacuation 

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

[rafinmd]

4 hours ago, durante said:

Roy, he said until Sydney. Amanda Reid is the Entertainment Director and she is also on until Sydney.

Thanks.  It looks like I will miss them both unless they return in Southampton.

 

Roy

[navybankerteacher]

11 hours ago, Bigmike911 said:

US Airlines have discontinued flights to mainland China, and the first cases of person to person contagion have been reported in Europe. ...

...

Then there is the person to person transmission just reported in the US.  A couple of weeks after a woman returned from China her husband became infected. 

 

 Quarantines and flight, and ship port call, cancellations may subsequently prove to be an over-reaction - but until public health agencies get a handle on this infection with an unusually high mortality rate, they would be irresponsible if they did not make serious efforts to control spread.

[lissie]

51 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

 Quarantines and flight, and ship port call, cancellations may subsequently prove to be an over-reaction - but until public health agencies get a handle on this infection with an unusually high mortality rate, they would be irresponsible if they did not make serious efforts to control spread.

 

Actually it has an unusually LOW mortality rate. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/wuhan-coronavirus-unnecessary-panic-experts-say-2020-1?r=US&IR=T Over-reaction may be the biggest killer 

[LittleFish1976]

54 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Then there is the person to person transmission just reported in the US.  A couple of weeks after a woman returned from China her husband became infected. 

 

 Quarantines and flight, and ship port call, cancellations may subsequently prove to be an over-reaction - but until public health agencies get a handle on this infection with an unusually high mortality rate, they would be irresponsible if they did not make serious efforts to control spread.

It has an extremely high transmission rate - as high as the Spanish flu of the 1918-1920 pandemic from the information I've read. Consequently, despite the fact that its death rate is lower than that of SARS, it has the capacity to kill quite a number of people due to the fact that it's easier to catch.

[maryann2]

On 1/30/2020 at 6:21 AM, safarigal said:

When we were boarding QM2 in Dubai today we were asked if we had recently been to China, if we had had recent flu symptoms, and if we were Chinese. Makes a change from the usual norovirus questionnaire.

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess are denying boarding for passengers who have visited or transited through Mainland China or Hong Kong within the last 15 days,

[maryann2]

January 30, 2020

Royal Caribbean International has added further screening measures due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"After consultation with medical experts and public health authorities, we’ve decided that regardless of nationality, any guest or crewmember traveling from, to, or through mainland China or Hong Kong less than 15 days prior to their sailing will be unable to board any of our ships," the company said, in a letter sent to booked guests. 

"We regret to have to do this, but due to the recent increase of coronavirus cases around the world, this precaution will help avoid the spread of this virus. We take this very seriously and have a responsibility to maintain a safe and healthy environment onboard our ships, as well as in the ports we visit."

The company also said it tightened its secondary health screening requirements and the following guests will need to undergo extra screenings to ensure safety at the cruise terminal; guests or crewmembers that have been in contact with individuals that have traveled from, to, or through mainland China or Hong Kong in the last 15 days; Anyone that holds a Chinese or Hong Kong passport – regardless of when they were there last. Anyone that feels unwell or demonstrates flu-like symptom.

"While these measures are conservative, our responsibility is to reduce the spread of coronavirus, in an effort to keep our ships safe and to ensure you are able to enjoy your time with us," the company said.

 

[maryann2]

• We are due to board tomorrow and just received an email from Princess as follows - at last
• We feel happier now there should be no pax on board from mainland China. It helps considerably.

CORONAVIRUS TRAVEL ADVISORY

We are closely monitoring the Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) situation and wish to reassure you that the risk to our guests and crew is low and our medical experts are coordinating closely with global health authorities.

As a precautionary measure, any guest who has traveled from or through mainland China within 14 days of the beginning of this cruise will be denied boarding. This does not apply to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. If this applies to you or your client, please contact us at 1-800-774-6237 (North America) or your country s office to provide proof of such travel and we will process a full refund of all amounts paid to Princess Cruises for this voyage.

In addition, all guests will be subject to pre-boarding health reporting and screening at cruise check-in, in addition to other precautions being taken. The above is subject to change based on the interests of health and safety of our guests and crew and any other requirements imposed by local authorities.

[maryann2]

MSC and Costa also denying boarding.

 

Copied

As of today, no guests, visitors or crew members of any nationality who have travelled from, to or through mainland China in the last 14 days will be allowed to board Costa ships. "

 

 

Seems that Royal is the only one so far including Hong Kong.

[cruiseluvva]

Presumably any passenger displaying ANY respiratory symptoms, including the “Cunard cough” “Princess cough” etc etc etc will be denied landing at any port. This is going to be a fiasco.

[LittleFish1976]

3 hours ago, cruiseluvva said:

Presumably any passenger displaying ANY respiratory symptoms, including the “Cunard cough” “Princess cough” etc etc etc will be denied landing at any port. This is going to be a fiasco.

Is that sort of cough accompanied by an elevated body temperature, though? Usually that's one of the key signs that you've got an active infection. I think it's good that the cruise lines are taking this seriously - both for the sake of passengers and crew but also out of consideration for the people living in the ports who have to come into contact with us passengers.

 

I'm sailing soon and I find it reassuring that they're taking precautionary measures.