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guitarcrazy
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Hello,

I was wondering if anyone with a booked cruise is considering cancelling theirs based on the current unknown, or are all full steam ahead with proceeding upcoming cruise?  Frankly, that fake scare in Italy recently spooked me.  We have an upcoming cruise.

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Hi, We are due to go on MSC Bellissima from Dubai in 2 weeks time and if we cancelled now we would lose the entire cost.  Just hoping things start to get better soon as I’m not looking forward to it anymore! Where is your cruise guitarcrazy? 

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We are going on a Paul Gauguin cruise end of February.  Hoping to have more information between now and then.  I read there were 300 Chinese tourists that had arrived a week or so ago to Tahiti-I presume none from Wuhan.  So, probability of an issue there should be small...but I am concerned about flight from LAX.  Should we proceed we plan to wear masks, carry disposable disinfectant wipes and throw away gloves.

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We're booked on the Fiji to Bali cruise in April, on the way to dry dock. We're hoping that all goes well, and the worst is over by then for corona virus. But PG had booked us on Cathy Pacific through Hong Kong on the way back to LAX. We contacted our TA last Sunday, and she found a flight through Sydney to LAX on the way back, and we booked that. She also arranged for a refund from PG, which we haven't seen on our credit card yet.

We stop twice in Papua New Guinea on our cruise, and they've already stopped ships from Asia from stopping in their ports. So those that come back on the PG from the dry dock may not be able to stop there if the epidemic isn't resolved by late May.

We don't stop in Tahiti this time, but if France isn't stopping Chinese tourists coming into Papeete,  they could have cases coming into the Papeete airport, and I'm not sure how well they would handle them.

But, on our 3 PG cruises, we have never seen any Chinese tourists on the Paul Gauguin. We have seen them on Moorea as tourists in  places that we went on PG excursions.

I would be cautious when you land in Papeete about touching anything, more so than from the LAX flight to PPT. I always bring Lysol wipes on planes, and wipe everything that I might touch, since I assume the last person sitting there touched all of them, and nothing was cleaned between flights.

 

 

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We leave for PPT (via SFO) this Thursday for the Feb 8 sailing. Not too concerned, as I don't think the risk is different than being in California, and if anything onboard the Paul Gauguin it may lower. That said I will definitely be extra vigilant in wiping down everything I can on the flight with Lysol wipes. 

 

At this point, there is probably more to worry about regarding the standard flu than coronavirus. Keep in mind that each year in the US between 12,000 and 60,000 people die from the influenza. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be diligent about coronavirus, but your chance of coming in contact with anyone who has it, especially now that that flights in and out of China have virtually stopped is very small. 

Edited by aururab
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  • 2 weeks later...

Apparently Tonga just closed its port to all cruise ships.  The big question will be if other Pacific islands follow suit.  Is the PG scheduled to visit Tonga in April or May?  If Fiji follows suit, let alone FP, then there's big trouble.

 

(BTW, I read about Tonga on the Seabourn board here on CC.)

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6 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Apparently Tonga just closed its port to all cruise ships.  The big question will be if other Pacific islands follow suit.  Is the PG scheduled to visit Tonga in April or May?  If Fiji follows suit, let alone FP, then there's big trouble.

 

(BTW, I read about Tonga on the Seabourn board here on CC.)

I read about Tonga on the Regent board on CC. The March 28th PG cruise from Papeete to Fiji is supposed to stop in Tonga, as it did in September when we took that cruise. We're supposed to board in Fiji on April 11th and sail to Bali. PG had booked us on a return flight through Hong Kong back to LAX, and few weeks ago, we cancelled that and booked a flight back through Sydney. We are much happier with that, but if we can't stop anywhere from Fiji to Bali, that would not be good. Our excursion booking just opened, and the excursions that were just added to our itinerary a few weeks ago, did not all become available. None of the excursions on Vanuatu have been confirmed by the local tour representative. I suspect that Vanuatu is considering banning the ship from their port.

I think that the ports are looking at what the cruise line requires for those who are boarding. Regent just cracked down big time, with no one with a passport from China, Hong Kong or Macau will be allowed to board, no matter what their country of residency. And anyone who has traveled to, transited through, or passed through the airport of China, Hong Kong or Macau in the last 30 days will not be allowed to board, and are asked not to come to the port. Full health screening will be done before boarding Regent ships, and those with a fever and/or respiratory symptoms will be subjected to additional tests, and possible denial of boarding, or quarantine onboard.

I haven't seen anything like this policy for Paul Gauguin. Many Chinese tourists fly into Papeete, and while most of them head to Moorea, or stay on Tahiti for their vacations, everyone boarding the Paul Gauguin should be subject to the same criteria as Regent is imposing.

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16 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Many Chinese tourists fly into Papeete, and while most of them head to Moorea, or stay on Tahiti for their vacations, everyone boarding the Paul Gauguin should be subject to the same criteria as Regent is imposing.

 

Myself, I'm not sure that Regent has it perfectly right, but the PG situation is perhaps unique.

 

I think that the PG's spring schedule is at risk.  It's too bad they're doing this drydock, which means they add the trips over to Asia.  The best thing for them right now would be to stay right in FP, and go nowhere else. 

 

We'll see how that plays out.  Sorry your cruise is in jeopardy.

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4 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Myself, I'm not sure that Regent has it perfectly right, but the PG situation is perhaps unique.

 

I think that the PG's spring schedule is at risk.  It's too bad they're doing this drydock, which means they add the trips over to Asia.  The best thing for them right now would be to stay right in FP, and go nowhere else. 

 

We'll see how that plays out.  Sorry your cruise is in jeopardy.

At this point, we will try to stop worrying and see what happens. It's too expensive to cancel. We have insurance, but it doesn't cover cancelling the trip for fear of catching a virus, or for a lack of ports to stop in.

 

And the reason we booked this cruise is to celebrate a milestone Birthday, with a cruise that stops in many small ports that we've never stopped at before, and will soon be too old to stop at in the future. If it was just the usual FP cruise, we would have chosen something other then the Paul Gauguin cruise since we've already done all of the other itineraries within the past 3 years.

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Paul Gauguin is being very pro-active   .... and I for one am glad they are  ....

 

New policy:

 

"In accordance with the recommendation of the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), for any passenger who has visited, or transited through an airport in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) or Taiwan, within 14 days prior to their embarkation (period of incubation) even without presenting a fever, and for all passengers that have stayed or transited recently through an airport in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) or Taiwan, and presenting a temperature higher or equal to 100.4F / 38C, will not be accepted for embarkation onboard the ship.

Accordingly, for the safety of you and all our guests, checks will be carried out prior to your embarkation. For any further information, we invite you to contact your Paul Gauguin Cruises Reservation Department or your Travel Advisor. We look forward to welcoming you aboard."

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2 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

Paul Gauguin is being very pro-active   .... and I for one am glad they are  ....

 

New policy:

 

"In accordance with the recommendation of the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), for any passenger who has visited, or transited through an airport in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) or Taiwan, within 14 days prior to their embarkation (period of incubation) even without presenting a fever, and for all passengers that have stayed or transited recently through an airport in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) or Taiwan, and presenting a temperature higher or equal to 100.4F / 38C, will not be accepted for embarkation onboard the ship.

Accordingly, for the safety of you and all our guests, checks will be carried out prior to your embarkation. For any further information, we invite you to contact your Paul Gauguin Cruises Reservation Department or your Travel Advisor. We look forward to welcoming you aboard."

Thank you so much TBK, this is what we were hoping to hear. 

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9 hours ago, FlightMedic555 said:

If they really want to be proactive they will announce what their plan is for the dry dock. It is unlikely it can go ahead as planned without jeopardizing the cruises scheduled after the dry dock.  It is likely that some itineraries will have to change. 

 

I'm afraid I agree. 

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Thank you for all of your comments to date.  Unfortunately, our information keeps evolving on this virus and it is not good.  Incubation periods of 5-12 days with rare super spreaders up to 24 days-and the virus surviving on surfaces up to 9 days.  All way beyond the normal parameters we see with flu.  The Holland ship that landed in Cambodia, and supposedly "safe" now is showing a passenger with Covid-19 (the name they are using for the novel Coronavirus).  The scary barometer is up yet another notch for me.

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It is now past time for PG to decide what they will be doing with their planned dry dock.  Windstar just cancelled all Asia voyages and many other cruise lines are doing so as well.  I am sure the challenges in cancelling or changing the dry dock are huge, including the time off that I’m guessing many crew are expecting.  I called PG and they did not have any update.  We are on the June 17 cruise which is the second cruise after the scheduled drydock.  

 

 

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I was on the Feb 8 cruise, they were screening passengers to ensure no one had recently travelled to china.

 

The two ships that were in the news both departed before the cruise lines started screening passengers and banning those that had recently been in China. I expect those changes will make a big impact. 

 

Also, I am confused as to why the dry dock would affect cruises going forward? There have been no cases in Indonesia, and I haven't seen travel restrictions coming from that country. 

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The screening of people using thermometers has already been shown to be ineffective in determining disease.  There have been a couple of cases of people who were diagnosed with the virus after returning from Indonesia (citizens of other countries-unknown if they had the virus while in Indonesia) and there is a lot of speculation (only speculation) that it is unlikely that there have not been cases in Indonesia.  All in all a lot is still unknown.  What is known is that Asia is the hotbed of virus activity and stopping the spread of the disease thus far has not been totally effective. 

 

If (a big if) the virus spreads to Indonesia (as it appears to be doing in South Korea and Japan) it could potentially result in a 14 day quarantine period which would effect the crew and therefore subsequent cruises.  I am not trying to say the sky is falling but we are entering uncharted territory with this disease.  I question at what point in time “better safe than sorry” enters the picture and tough choices are made.  

 

Even hospitals in the US (including mine) have implemented strict additional screening procedures for all patients presenting in the emergency department and clinics. 

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7 hours ago, FlightMedic555 said:

The screening of people using thermometers has already been shown to be ineffective in determining disease.  There have been a couple of cases of people who were diagnosed with the virus after returning from Indonesia (citizens of other countries-unknown if they had the virus while in Indonesia) and there is a lot of speculation (only speculation) that it is unlikely that there have not been cases in Indonesia.  All in all a lot is still unknown.  What is known is that Asia is the hotbed of virus activity and stopping the spread of the disease thus far has not been totally effective. 

 

If (a big if) the virus spreads to Indonesia (as it appears to be doing in South Korea and Japan) it could potentially result in a 14 day quarantine period which would effect the crew and therefore subsequent cruises.  I am not trying to say the sky is falling but we are entering uncharted territory with this disease.  I question at what point in time “better safe than sorry” enters the picture and tough choices are made.  

 

Even hospitals in the US (including mine) have implemented strict additional screening procedures for all patients presenting in the emergency department and clinics. 

Which cruise are you on that's affected by this? I'm more worried about flying through LAX than taking the Fiji to Bali cruise on PG. In fact, I'm more worried about our neighbors coming back from Hong Kong after several months there since we live in the same building, and touch the same handles and buttons.

The South Korea and Japan cases have come from China. I don't know if Indonesia has cut off flights and cruises from China. But having just been in Indonesia on a cruise back in December, there were not a lot of Chinese tourists as there were in Viet Nam, Thailand, and Singapore, or even Australia. The same was true for Malaysia which has had minimal cases. Who knows how many Chinese visitors have come to the US during this time, and just disappeared into our country.

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None of us know if this will affect any cruises but the concern is real.  I would have a concern with ending a cruise in Bali but not overly concerned at this time.  Unfortunately it appears the situation will get worse before it get better. I believe the cruise after drydock is June 6 and I am on the one after that (10 night).  

 

Best case scenario is that the spread of the virus slows and does not spread to additional countries.  Probable scenario is that it continues to spread albeit at a moderate rate.  Worst case is that the spread extends and expands to many other countries which may greatly curtail international travel. 

 

I am not that concerned with exposure at an airport as it is relatively easy to stay 6 feet from others and wearing a mask is an option if one has a high level of concern.

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I am spouse of SWFLAOK and lurk here LOL. I think the closer one is to the Equator, the less likely the virus is to spread because the virus is sensitive to higher temperatures and humidity. Both Fiji and Bali, are humid and 90 at this point. So hopefully this virus does not explode in those areas close to the Equator and that spares cruises within that area as long as they take preventative measures.

 

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2 hours ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

I don't think SWFLAOK's idea of warmer climate rings true. I, personally, am not worried at this point. I can think of worse places to be "quarantined" than on the Paul Guaguin! That said, I would bring my cold and flu medications with me.

I'm not sure what you think about my idea doesn't ring true. The warmer climate that the PG cruises operate in at this time of year are detrimental to the virus spreading, and that's a good thing.

Right now in China, it's cold and dry, just as it is in Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea. That's when viruses spread. Dried out noses and sinuses pick up viruses more easily, and being chilled depresses the immune system.

High temperatures (mid 80's and higher) don't allow the virus to live for any length of time on surfaces, and humidity keeps noses working well as virus filters.

All of the upcoming PG cruises are South of the equator, where it's summer. It's hot and humid, which will hopefully slow the spread of the virus. Singapore has been able to control their cases, despite them being a popular place for business travelers from China, bringing corona virus with them. It's always hot and humid in Singapore.

We've paid 40K for our upcoming PG cruise since we added hotel stays on each end, upgraded to business air, and have to get to LA and back from Florida. If this was just a Society Islands cruise, I wouldn't be worried, but we really have no chance of doing this cruise again, since it's only been offered every 3 years. If this cruise sails, we'll be onboard, but spending the whole time onboard is not what we want to do since we'll never pass through these ports again.

In addition, we have a European River cruise on Viking in mid May that we would not be allowed to board if we were quarantined in April. We have "cancel for any reason" on that cruise,  but we booked and paid for that trip almost 2 years ago, and got the last suite onboard. Another 2 year wait might not work for us.

We always bring a large supply of cold and flu medications, and I wipe down our airline seats, and every touchable surface in our cabin when we embark with Clorox wipes. There always seem to be a lot of people with respiratory problems on cruise ships (and we only take cruises on smaller ships). On this trip, if anyone is coughing uncontrollably, I will be calling them out, and then pointing them out.

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