Don’t go on a cruise!

[lenquixote66]

7 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

There is a lot of advance planning needed plus a lot of infrastructure. I really cannot see how you could do a last minute venue change.

The marathon has already been moved from Tokyo to Sapporo.

[Lois R]

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

The marathon has already been moved from Tokyo to Sapporo.

Oh.....wow....I would think if things get worse, they would cancel the games...…….so many events to move everything.

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, Lois R said:

Oh.....wow....I would think if things get worse, they would cancel the games...…….so many events to move everything.

In 1916 the summer olympics were cancelled due to the onset of WW1 and in 1940 both the summer and Winter Olympics were cancelled due to WW11.

[CoolNickname]

What most people don't understand is the real reason they're quarantining. They're trying to make the disease burn out so that it doesn't spread across the world to become yet another virus that is always with us just like the flu and the common cold.  If a cruise in the Med or the Caribbean becomes at serious risk from this new virus, going to the grocery store, for a night out to the movies, or to work would be of equal concern. 

[drsheryl]

Thank you, Know The Score, for your thoughtful response.

I called Norweigan Cruise Lines today and they have a full refund policy if you cancel more than 120 days before the cruise.  Well, I'm now 131 days out!! 

What was more than frustrating was the travel agent.  I am signed up with a continuing education group.  The travel agent handling the cruise for the university said to say to me "I wouldn't let you on the ship if I thought that it was dangerous".  When I retorted that the cruise lines are only letting people know that they are canceling due to the coronavirus a couple of days before sailing, she denied this.  I already have my airfare booked, so by cancelling now, I can plan a land  trip (I'm flying in and out of Rome).   My favourite was when she said to me, "If it's your time, it's your time".  So if I die on the ship, it was "my time"--according to her!  If the coronavirus goes away, I have no doubt that there will be lots of cabins available on the ship for me to rebook (and perhaps at a lower price).  (P.s. Know the Score, yes I am healthy and in good condition.  But being healthy doesn't stop your body from catching disease--of course you are right that the young and debilitated always suffer the greatest death rates--but being "healthy" is the line that anti-vaxers use.  They think that if you are healthy, you won't pick up a disease.  WRONG.

[bbwex]

If you were going to China on a cruise in the near term, it might be a good thought to consider canceling, but the cruise lines are staying away from Chinese ports, and other ports in Asia for the time being anyhow.  If you are going somewhere else in the world, i.e. the Med or the Caribbean, it would not seem that the risk is any higher than being in the middle of the country right now.  There are lots of worse diseases that you can catch, and yet we don't worry about them when we travel.  It would be ugly to be quarantined on a ship for a long period, but right now the chances of an outbreak in the Med or Caribbean look awfully remote.

 

It used to be that we didn't worry about the weather, now the television weather reports seem to be as dire as the day's crime stories.  We have always had weather and dealt with it.  The crime stories are just more amplified now.  My attitude is that you have to listen to the stuff on the television or radio and correspond that with our personal knowledge base.  If it snows, I have seen that before and lived through it every single time.  Crime isn't new, we just have way too many hours of news.  And the networks live on controversy.  I personally go on with my life as I have for years.

[bonsai3s]

We would cancel cruises on ships that have been quarantined.

If we were booked on Diamond Princess...we would cancel it.

Disclosure: One of our favorite sailings ever, was on Diamond Princess...Beijing to Anchorage.

 

Yokohama is our favorite cruise terminal.  We remember fondly, as we sailed into the Yokohama Cruise Terminal, we were welcomed by thousands of locals...waving international flags...and a choir singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow".  The cruise terminal is a stunning architectural design...and the most courteous, polite, and helpful people inside. 

During our sail-away, there was a dance group accompanied by Taiko drummers.  Again, a few thousand locals waving international flags watched our ship as we sailed away...breathtaking.

 

Regrettably, Yokohama will now be known for one thing...corona virus.

[Joebucks]

23 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

The virus is not going to be contained to China. 

 

Obviously. However, not going to the heart of the swarm gives would at least give you betting odds

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

The marathon has already been moved from Tokyo to Sapporo.

And the marathon is a 1 day event. And even the marathon was affected as I read that they cut down drastically on the number of participants only allowing elite runners.

[That sinking feeling]

15 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

We would cancel cruises on ships that have been quarantined.

If we were booked on Diamond Princess...we would cancel it.

Disclosure: One of our favorite sailings ever, was on Diamond Princess...Beijing to Anchorage.

 

Yokohama is our favorite cruise terminal.  We remember fondly, as we sailed into the Yokohama Cruise Terminal, we were welcomed by thousands of locals...waving international flags...and a choir singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow".  The cruise terminal is a stunning architectural design...and the most courteous, polite, and helpful people inside. 

During our sail-away, there was a dance group accompanied by Taiko drummers.  Again, a few thousand locals waving international flags watched our ship as we sailed away...breathtaking.

 

Regrettably, Yokohama will now be known for one thing...corona virus.

After all the great things you said above you really will only remember it for the temporary thing in the last sentence?

[That sinking feeling]

Most people will forget the name of this virus about a month after its killed off.

[mayleeman]

19 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

The marathon has already been moved from Tokyo to Sapporo.

 

The dangers of the coronavirus are real, but it helps to not make up things. The August Olympic Marathon move from Tokyo was finalized back in December because the new location offers a cooler venue, and has nothing to do with the virus.

 

www.runnersworld.com/news/amp30283314/olympic-marathon-course/

 

 

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

And the marathon is a 1 day event. And even the marathon was affected as I read that they cut down drastically on the number of participants only allowing elite runners.

Not the Olympic Marathon. That is the Tokyo Marathon, scheduled for March 1.

 

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html

 

Can people please check facts rather than creating rumors because they do not read carefully?

Edited February 19, 2020 by mayleeman

[mayleeman]

If anyone is waiting for a cure for any coronavirus to be developed, good luck ever travelling anywhere again!

[gashead]

18 hours ago, CoolNickname said:

What most people don't understand is the real reason they're quarantining. They're trying to make the disease burn out so that it doesn't spread across the world to become yet another virus that is always with us just like the flu and the common cold.  If a cruise in the Med or the Caribbean becomes at serious risk from this new virus, going to the grocery store, for a night out to the movies, or to work would be of equal concern. 

 

But if you want to the grocery store you probably wouldn't have a clue if the guy/girl 3 aisles down the shop had CV or developed symptoms a week or two later, go on a cruise and if somebody of the thousands on board develops CV then you could be quarantined on board for a fortnight plus, and also have a good chance of catching CV whils. As things stand unless you are cruise in Asia it's not an issue but nobody really knows how fast the virus will spread by the summer, it could have died out by then or by rife in the Med  regions etc.   

[Markanddonna]

I would get a new travel agent. Expect another outbreak when those now restricted begin to travel again. 

[Charles4515]

Two passengers who were on Diamond Princess have died from the virus. 😰

Edited February 20, 2020 by Charles4515

[ontheweb]

24 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Two passengers who were on Diamond Princess have died from the virus. 😰

Do you have a cite for this?

[K32682]

https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-02-20-20-intl-hnk/h_b534e7c687ea891487b919bb0342caeb

 

Quote

Japan's health ministry has just confirmed that two passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship have died from novel coronavirus today.

 

Both of them were in their 80s, although their identity and gender is not known at this time. More details are expected to be released later.

 

Edited February 20, 2020 by K32682

[ontheweb]

35 minutes ago, K32682 said:

https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-02-20-20-intl-hnk/h_b534e7c687ea891487b919bb0342caeb

 

I was hoping this was just a rumor. But thank you for the confirming link.

[mayleeman]

Diamond Princess victims were a man and woman in their 80s, both with underlying illnesses.

 

This site seems to be to be the most comprehensive source for hourly updates around the world (has ads that might be individualized--I get NFL Shops ads).

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Edited February 20, 2020 by mayleeman

[KnowTheScore]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 1:46 AM, bbwex said:

There are lots of worse diseases that you can catch, and yet we don't worry about them when we travel.  It would be ugly to be quarantined on a ship for a long period, but right now the chances of an outbreak in the Med or Caribbean look awfully remote.

 

The point you are making is entirely irrelevant.  Sure there are lots of viruses you could pick up like Influenza which has killed far more people every year than Coronavirus.   However when you get a cold or flu on a cruise ship you don't get quarantined, the entire ship doesn't get quarantined and ports across the world don't refuse you entry.

 

There is the VITAL DIFFERENCE between the current Coronavirus situation and the prospect of catching any other virus.

 

Where you travel is of increasingly less relevance too.

 

The Costa Smerelda ship was refused permission for passengers to disembark when it called in at Civitavecchia (the port for Rome).  Permission was refused because there were passengers on board with symptoms of cold and flu.  So no Coronavirus on board and yet the cruise was affected for all passengers purely because of the current Coronavirus situation. 

 

Other ships have been refused entry at various ports around the world including the Caribbean.

 

So one can not compare Coronavirus with things like Flu or any other virus.  The world is currently massively focussed on Coronavirus and because of that lots of cruises are going to be impacted whether or not there is any Coronavirus on board.  It's because of the medical protocols being enforced worldwide which you can not escape.

 

Additionally the authorities have no clue whatsoever how many actual cases of Coronavirus there are worldwide.  They ony know about the number of REPORTED CASES which are those where the victims were seriously impacted and struggling to breathe.   The ACTUAL number of cases will be magnitudes more than the number of cases being reported.

 

Therefore this entire situation will not be able to be contained and will likely get a great deal worse than it is now.

 

It is unlikely that many local GP surgeries and hospitals will have enough intensive care facilities to cope with the mass numbers of infected people as they grow.   Once those beds fill up, all the people needing intensive care for other conditions will struggle.

It's a bad situation all round.

 

I most certainly will not be cruising anywhere during this entire situation and doubt whether I will cruise for at least a year or more.   The situation will need monitoring as it develops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ldubs]

On 2/18/2020 at 5:46 PM, bbwex said:

 There are lots of worse diseases that you can catch, and yet we don't worry about them when we travel.  It would be ugly to be quarantined on a ship for a long period, but right now the chances of an outbreak in the Med or Caribbean look awfully remote.

 

 

3 hours ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

The point you are making is entirely irrelevant.  Sure there are lots of viruses you could pick up like Influenza which has killed far more people every year than Coronavirus.   However when you get a cold or flu on a cruise ship you don't get quarantined, the entire ship doesn't get quarantined and ports across the world don't refuse you entry.

 

 

It may be more relevant that we think.  Looks like ports outside of Asia are starting to take a harder look at viruses beyond Coronavirus.  Cruise ships are not being allowed in some ports because of noro outbreaks on board.  It would not be surprising if this spreads to other ports.  

[ldubs]

On 2/18/2020 at 5:46 PM, bbwex said:

 

It used to be that we didn't worry about the weather, now the television weather reports seem to be as dire as the day's crime stories.  We have always had weather and dealt with it.  The crime stories are just more amplified now.  My attitude is that you have to listen to the stuff on the television or radio and correspond that with our personal knowledge base.  If it snows, I have seen that before and lived through it every single time.  Crime isn't new, we just have way too many hours of news.  And the networks live on controversy.  I personally go on with my life as I have for years.

 

"I personally go on with my life as I have for years."

 

Except for cruises in Asia because of the virus outbreak you heard about on the news.  

[That sinking feeling]

Hahaha

[gashead]

I couldn't believe that an Italian port would stop a Costa cruise line from docking but the story is true: 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/30/6000-people-in-lockdown-on-italian-cruise-ship-over-coronavirus-fears.html

 

So what was the plan if the Chinese woman had actually been diagnosed as suffering from CV, quaratinued  all 6,000 passengers similar to the Diamond Princess in Japan, with a chance if your elderly with an underlying illness then you might never see home again?