Corona Virus, and Crusing on March 8th on The Joy

[egcruise]

While I understand cruise line is (seemingly) taking precautionary measure, is it really safe / logical to take a 7 day cruise to Mexico with 4500 people in relatively close quarters during what seems to be a high stress developing epidemic?

 

If I have to cancel what are my options I chose the cheapest insurance method directly through NCL?

 

Thanks greatly,

 

Eric

Edited February 12, 2020 by egcruise

[luv2kroooz]

Insurance can be tricky with all the terms and conditions. You'd have to read and understand the terms of your policy. It is advisable to do that prior to purchasing the insurance, though.

 

I would rethink your decision to cancel. The crew is working hard to keep the ship clean. If you exercise good hygiene, you'll greatly reduce the likelihood of getting sick and greatly increase the likelihood that you'll have a good time and a safe cruise.

[MaryZ]

Read your insurance policy to see what they cover and reasons to cancel.

 

 

[Goldconnection]

Most of us try very hard to practice good hygiene. However, if others around us don’t, then all our efforts are in vain. When I see fellow passengers coughing and sneezing without covering their mouths, handling food in the buffet with their hands and totally ignoring the utensils or  not washing their hands after using the restroom I am always fearful of something running rapid.

[hftmrock]

I am going on March 9th on the Sky and I look at it like this? Would you have hesitated going in 2018? There was no Coronavirus so you wouldnt have thought twice

 

The 2017-2018 flu season was severe for all populations and resulted in an estimated 959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths.

[egcruise]

51 minutes ago, hftmrock said:

The 2017-2018 flu season was severe for all populations and resulted in an estimated 959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths.

Sure... But I had my vaccinations. If there was a corona vaccine, I'd worry significantly less.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, egcruise said:

While I understand cruise line is (seemingly) taking precautionary measure, is it really safe / logical to take a 7 day cruise to Mexico with 4500 people in relatively close quarters during what seems to be a high stress developing epidemic?

 

If I have to cancel what are my options I chose the cheapest insurance method directly through NCL?

 

Thanks greatly,

 

Eric

If you really chose the cheapest insurance through NCL, it would not cover your cancellation and you would lose 100% of your money. 

[egcruise]

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

If you really chose the cheapest insurance through NCL, it would not cover your cancellation and you would lose 100% of your money. 

 

I chose the non platinum booksafe, $100 per person plan.

[hftmrock]

13 minutes ago, egcruise said:

Sure... But I had my vaccinations. If there was a corona vaccine, I'd worry significantly less.

vaccinations are not even 70% effective.

[littlelulu01]

If you don’t get a refund on the fare you’ll still get port fees, pre paid dsc, service fees on any dining or drink packages refunded.  I’m also on the Joy - a couple weeks after you.  We’re booked in a Haven suite and have a very good insurance plan.  We are not covered if we cancel for Coronavirus fears.  I’ve also got non refundable airfare. Im booked with a travel agent who assesses a cancel fee on top of the 100% penalty phase so idk if I’d be better just not showing up for embarkation should we decide to stay home. I’m leaving the decision till the very end. No sense in making a knee jerk decision for a fear that could be over reactionary nor digging feet in sand and proclaiming there is no basis for fear of sailing during a potential world health crisis. I’m going to listen to my educated and sane self and see what happens. If things go south and Coronavirus starts up on another ship, I’ll cancel, take my losses and be thankful I’m not stuck in a situation like the diamond princess passengers.  Best of luck with your decisions. 

[egcruise]

1 hour ago, littlelulu01 said:

No sense in making a knee jerk decision

Fair enough, 26 days, until the cruise, I think I'll wait 25 days, instead of doing anything rash.

[mugtech]

Been a while since the Joy was in Asia.  USA spring break cruise this year not too different health wise than any previous year.

[hallux]

26 days until sailing?  Even if you consider the extended incubation period they're now finding, that still lies outside the incubation period.  When you consider the incoming travel restrictions that have been in place on people carrying China passports I have a feeling you should be pretty safe to take the cruise.  Just be sure to practice good hygiene as was noted by someone else.

 

I would think of it this way - if that ship had a Noro issue this week, would you reconsider sailing in a month? 

[poffles]

7 hours ago, littlelulu01 said:

If you don’t get a refund on the fare you’ll still get port fees, pre paid dsc, service fees on any dining or drink packages refunded.  I’m also on the Joy - a couple weeks after you.  We’re booked in a Haven suite and have a very good insurance plan.  We are not covered if we cancel for Coronavirus fears.  I’ve also got non refundable airfare. Im booked with a travel agent who assesses a cancel fee on top of the 100% penalty phase so idk if I’d be better just not showing up for embarkation should we decide to stay home. I’m leaving the decision till the very end. No sense in making a knee jerk decision for a fear that could be over reactionary nor digging feet in sand and proclaiming there is no basis for fear of sailing during a potential world health crisis. I’m going to listen to my educated and sane self and see what happens. If things go south and Coronavirus starts up on another ship, I’ll cancel, take my losses and be thankful I’m not stuck in a situation like the diamond princess passengers.  Best of luck with your decisions. 

 

So I have read cancellation policy and are you saying that where it says 100% penalty (on fare?), you would still get back anything you paid for port fees, service fees on drink package and/or specialty dining packages no matter if in the penalty windows?  I've looked but don't see that break down anywhere ... is this listed somewhere I can look?

 

 

[littlelulu01]

30 minutes ago, poffles said:

 

So I have read cancellation policy and are you saying that where it says 100% penalty (on fare?), you would still get back anything you paid for port fees, service fees on drink package and/or specialty dining packages no matter if in the penalty windows?  I've looked but don't see that break down anywhere ... is this listed somewhere I can look?

 

 

By omission it’s refundable. It doesn’t say they keep the daily pre paid tips, port fees, service charges.  It just says the fare is 100% nonrefundable.  Actually I think it says something about airfare add on too. Anyway it’s a good chunk of a refund in my case if we cancel during the 100% penalty phase. I paid for internet upgrades, prepaid some excursions, prepaid service fees.... I think port fees are only $144 pp but those come back to us too if we canceled. If I cancel at the last minute- as in don’t get on the ship, the fare, my flights and the cost of my insurance policy are my sunk costs. I’ll get back a few hundred pp in Dsc, port fees, prepaid free at sea perk service fees, pre paid internet upgrade pkg and excursions. 
 

[cruiseagona]

I'm on the Joy right now. They take great precautions. Also Mexico is not a hot spot for the virus. Have fun.

[NoobCroozer]

On 2/11/2020 at 11:24 PM, hftmrock said:

vaccinations are not even 70% effective.

Still worth it IMO. All my life I got the flu almost every year. For the last 8 years I have gotten a shot, and have not had the flu (however on two occasions I did have a reaction to the shot where I felt crummy for about 8 hours, but still not all-out flu crummy). Probably boils down to a lot of factors..... hygiene, immune system, etc...

[ziggyuk]

 

I got to be honest I am more worried about travel disruptions than the virus.

 

In a few weeks we have friends traveling over from Hong Kong and then as a group we are traveling to Verona & Lake Garda in Italy, my only concern is disruption to our plans, everything was booked months ago.

[schmoopie17]

Are you avoiding your local grocery store or shopping mall? Are you avoiding restaurants? If you're a church-goer have you stopped going to church? Movie theater or sporting event? All of these places have lots of people in a contained space.

 

If you answered "no" to the above questions, there's no reason to cancel your cruise...unless you're concerned about catching the regular flu on the flight down.

[BirdTravels]

On 2/11/2020 at 11:19 PM, egcruise said:

 

I chose the non platinum booksafe, $100 per person plan.

So, that is not the cheapest NCL insurance. There are cheaper plans that NCL sells. 

 

You would get 100% of your port taxes and fees refunded. You would get 100% of any pre-paid expenses refunded (shoreex, pre-paid service charges, upgrade charges, dining charges). You would pay 100% penalty on your cruise fare. 

 

Once you cancel, you will get a receipt from NCL showing the 100% penalty on your cruise fare, you will file an insurance claim documenting why you cancelled. 

 

If the insurance company denies your claim, NCL will give you a 75% future cruise credit. 

 

Again, you need to double check on what insurance you purchased. 

[Lupush]

Coronavirus this year, like Zika from a few years ago.  There is always some kind of infection danger when going on a cruise ship.  Norovirus, common cold, flu, etc... 

 

It's always something....

[egcruise]

31 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

So, that is not the cheapest NCL insurance. There are cheaper plans that NCL sells. 

 

You would get 100% of your port taxes and fees refunded. You would get 100% of any pre-paid expenses refunded (shoreex, pre-paid service charges, upgrade charges, dining charges). You would pay 100% penalty on your cruise fare. 

 

Once you cancel, you will get a receipt from NCL showing the 100% penalty on your cruise fare, you will file an insurance claim documenting why you cancelled. 

 

If the insurance company denies your claim, NCL will give you a 75% future cruise credit. 

 

Again, you need to double check on what insurance you purchased. 

Thanks for that info! At this point everything seems to point to going!

[egcruise]

30 minutes ago, Lupush said:

Coronavirus this year, like Zika from a few years ago.  There is always some kind of infection danger when going on a cruise ship.  Norovirus, common cold, flu, etc... 

 

It's always something....

I mean sure... but while the numbers are growing at a fairly rapid rate it gets a bit scare, fairly fast. 

[egcruise]

2 hours ago, cruiseagona said:

I'm on the Joy right now. They take great precautions. Also Mexico is not a hot spot for the virus. Have fun.

At this point I'm planning on going!

 

Stupid question not relating to the original post, how's the food? Anything you'd 100% recommend / suggest avoiding?

[salty dingo]

I've read nothing that suggests going on a Caribbean cruise right now is any more dangerous than hopping on plane or going pretty much anywhere out in public.

 

That could change but until it does, no point in cancelling.