Don’t go on a cruise!

[drsheryl]

Yes, I am watching the news and I cancelled the cruise last week.  I still have my flights (non-refundable) to Rome and 3 nights in Rome non-refundable.  Let's see what happens, but all indications are for a full-blown pandemic.

[KnowTheScore]

The current mortality rate is approx. 3%

 

Would I take that risk?  Quite possibly.

 

But would I take the risk that if I cruise there may be a passenger or crew member confirmed with COVID-19 on the ship which would then result in a Diamond Princess "death ship" nightmare with all passengers confined to cabins for 2 weeks whilst everyone gets the virus ?   No absolutely not.    Not now, not ever.

 

Neither would I shell out £000s on a cruise where there is very reasonable possibility that one or more ports may turn the ship away due to the COVID-19 situation.

 

The cruise industry is heading for a complete impasse imho.  It has imho shown that it has little idea what to do when there is a confirmed case on board and that it is prepared to imprison passengers when it happens.   It has also thus far AFAIK failed to play ball and agree to compensate passengers for any ports missed due to Coronavirus protocols (correct me if this is wrong).

I appreciate the virus is not the fault of the cruise lines but they are now operating in a known risk sector and should thus "share the pain" instead of expecting the customer to take all the risk and pay all the money.

 

The industry now has to, as a matter of some urgency I would think, work with the ruling powers and so-called authoritative bodies like the CDC/WHO etc to agree some kind of relaxation of the rigid quarantining and response protocols that they have thus far imposed on everyone in relation to COVID-19.    Unless and until that happens it is likely pretty much Game Over for the entire cruise industry and a number of other travel related industries.  

 

Time is of the essence here and the current stock scripted responses from cruise lines to customer's emails and concerns are simply not going to cut the mustard.  It's no use saying "passenger safety is our primary concern" and "we will follow the advice and guidelines of the CDC/WHO or whoever".  That's simply a cop out which offers no guarantees to customers whatsoever and means they ARE very much still at the risk of a "Death Ship" style nightmare.

 

Cruise lines MUST imho find and agree with the CDC/WHO an acceptable way to respond to reported COVID-19 cases without going to Def Con 4 all the time and without turning the ship into a quarantine prison for all.  Simple as that.

 

If they don't . . . .  . well so long and thanks for all the fish !

 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2020 by KnowTheScore

[Aplmac]

19 hours ago, drsheryl said:

......., with a cumulative death toll of 2,592. ===> ..back then...

The majority of the new cases — 398 — were in Hubei province......

 

You have to wonder what public health conditions were/are like

in/around the Wuhan area. What sort of population density?

It's bang in the middle of the circle on this map!

 

[Justalone]

On 2/17/2020 at 3:29 AM, Fun4Us2013 said:

I was listening to Fox News this morning and they were discussing the virus. The guest was discussing how we got here and where they are in the process of coming up with a cure. At the end of her speech as she was telling everyone how to avoid getting this and she said “Don’t take a cruise”. I am booked on the escape in 76 days and certainly plan on going. Wonder how the cruise lines will react to this.

I am definitely  cancelling plans for cruising in 2020 and possibly 2021.  The Corona virus is spreading like wildfire worldwide.  I do not want to play Russian roulette with my life.  Just my luck I would be one who gets infected with the virus.  I do not want to die from contracting the virus on a cruise.  There is more to life than taking a cruise, especially now.
There are other types of travel I can take posing less risk.

[drsheryl]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/will-coronavirus-become-a-pandemic-1.5476256

"1 in 5 will become seriously ill", and of those, 1 in 5 will not recover from it".

[momofmeg]

On 2/24/2020 at 9:07 PM, Charles4515 said:

My neighbors were supposed to be going to Italy this week on a month long land vacation. They had paid up flights. They decided not to go. I think that was prudent. 

I hope they were smart and bought travel insurance.

[lazybeachbum79]

My mom, sister, eldest daughter, and I are going on a Western Caribbean cruise in a little over a week. All of my coworkers are telling me we should cancel, but is it bad that I am not worried and still want to go? I haven't had a vacation with my mom since, well, forever. This will be the first one and I feel like, since we aren't going to any areas where it has reported outbreaks (that I know of), the risk is low. Unless the cruise line itself cancels it, our plans are still to go and have fun.

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, lazybeachbum79 said:

Unless the cruise line itself cancels it, our plans are still to go and have fun.

Bon Voyage...🥂

[DarrenM]

Just go and enjoy it

[pacruise804]

On 2/25/2020 at 11:19 AM, Justalone said:

I am definitely  cancelling plans for cruising in 2020 and possibly 2021.  The Corona virus is spreading like wildfire worldwide.  I do not want to play Russian roulette with my life.  Just my luck I would be one who gets infected with the virus.  I do not want to die from contracting the virus on a cruise.  There is more to life than taking a cruise, especially now.
There are other types of travel I can take posing less risk.

 

If you would not be comfortable on a cruise then it is wise to cancel those plans.  I'm not sure with the way the virus is spreading that you don't have similar chances of contracting the virus on land (depending on location of both types of travel).  I sincerely wish you good health and enjoyable travel 🙂 

 

7 hours ago, momofmeg said:

I hope they were smart and bought travel insurance.

 

There are many schools of thought on travel insurance.  Unless they had Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR), which many don't view as a prudent expenditure, they likely wouldn't have been covered.

 

5 hours ago, lazybeachbum79 said:

My mom, sister, eldest daughter, and I are going on a Western Caribbean cruise in a little over a week. All of my coworkers are telling me we should cancel, but is it bad that I am not worried and still want to go? I haven't had a vacation with my mom since, well, forever. This will be the first one and I feel like, since we aren't going to any areas where it has reported outbreaks (that I know of), the risk is low. Unless the cruise line itself cancels it, our plans are still to go and have fun.

 

We each need to make our own decisions for travel.  I agree that your risk level is low on a Western Caribbean cruise and hope you have a fabulous girls vacation with your family 🙂 

[pacruise804]

7 hours ago, drsheryl said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/will-coronavirus-become-a-pandemic-1.5476256

"1 in 5 will become seriously ill", and of those, 1 in 5 will not recover from it".

For this 4% (20% of 20%), when you say won't recover, are you stating a new mortality rate or combination mortality and permanent compromised lung function?

 

Also, is this 1 in 5 of entire population or 1 in 5 of those who contract the virus (I didn't think it was declared 100% contagious yet)?

[momofmeg]

16 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

 

There are many schools of thought on travel insurance.  Unless they had Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR), which many don't view as a prudent expenditure, they likely wouldn't have been covered.

 

 

 

 I guess we  are not "many" then as we consider it a "prudent expenditure."

[Charles4515]

8 minutes ago, momofmeg said:

 I guess we  are not "many" then as we consider it a "prudent expenditure."

Most people have not been buying CFAR. Also since some date in late January or early February the policies don’t cover the Covid virus as a reason. 

[Markanddonna]

I think we need to be 

9 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Most people have not been buying CFAR. Also since some date in late January or early February the policies don’t cover the Covid virus as a reason. 

We need to be really clear how we word things.  I think you mean "Canceling because of fear of the coronavirus is not covered since late Jan or early Feb."  I believe they will pay if you become ill, right?  Coronavirus is not a preexisting condition. 

[Charles4515]

4 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

I think we need to be 

We need to be really clear how we word things.  I think you mean "Canceling because of fear of the coronavirus is not covered since late Jan or early Feb."  I believe they will pay if you become ill, right?  Coronavirus is not a preexisting condition. 

They will pay if you become ill. 

[pacruise804]

2 hours ago, momofmeg said:

 I guess we  are not "many" then as we consider it a "prudent expenditure."

 

For some it is a good use of money - even if just for peace of mind.  We always had it on early cruises since we had concerns about family members health and felt it was a reasonable purchase, today it is more of a case by case basis.  Others prefer to only insure the catastrophic expenses of medical and evacuation, and are content to self-insure the trip cost.  (I'm actually fine being different and not part of the "many" 😉 I'm sorry if I offended you.)

 

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

Most people have not been buying CFAR. Also since some date in late January or early February the policies don’t cover the Covid virus as a reason. 

 

Are you stating that the virus isn't covered as a general cancelable reason since it is a known event, or that it is precluded as an "any" reason for CFAR?  

[Roger88]

Even if you take into consideration the amount of people already sick with the virus (lets take the maximum of 100,000 emong wich 80000 are only in China in like one region) these numbers are SUPER low. I dont get all the hysteria. Dont be fulled by sneaky politicians and enjoy life. Just be a little more carefull. That would be my initial piece of advice

[Charles4515]

36 minutes ago, pacruise804 said:

 

Are you stating that the virus isn't covered as a general cancelable reason since it is a known event, or that it is precluded as an "any" reason for CFAR?  

 

It is not covered as a cancelable reason for policies purchased after January 21. But as a work around if you have a CFAR policy purchased after that and want to cancel because of fear of the virus give them another reason. 

[Charles4515]

33 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

Even if you take into consideration the amount of people already sick with the virus (lets take the maximum of 100,000 emong wich 80000 are only in China in like one region) these numbers are SUPER low. I dont get all the hysteria. Dont be fulled by sneaky politicians and enjoy life. Just be a little more carefull. That would be my initial piece of advice

 

The problem with that is that they may not let us enjoy life. They can impose quarantines. 

 

As for the number of cases it may be a lot more than that. Not everyone gets tested. And this morning I read that they have not been testing in the US. They have not sent out testing kits. There could be a lot more infections than reported in the US.

[Toofarfromthesea]

3 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

 

For some it is a good use of money - even if just for peace of mind.  We always had it on early cruises since we had concerns about family members health and felt it was a reasonable purchase, today it is more of a case by case basis.  Others prefer to only insure the catastrophic expenses of medical and evacuation, and are content to self-insure the trip cost.  (I'm actually fine being different and not part of the "many" 😉 I'm sorry if I offended you.)

 

 

I'm with you. 

 

Travel insurance should be looked as two different things.  Medical and evac insurance cover virtually open ended risks that literally can run to tens of thousands or more.  Very few people can afford to self-insure that. 

 

Cancellation/interruption insurance, OTOH, involves a risk that has a fixed knowable cost.  Many of us are comfortable not buying insurance for these risks because the exposure is limited, we get some coverage from our credit card, and for any difference between what the credit card covers and what separate insurance would cover, the insurance is very expensive.

[MicCanberra]

It seems to have got out of asia in a much bigger way. Time will tell how serious these breaches are.

[pacruise804]

7 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

It is not covered as a cancelable reason for policies purchased after January 21. But as a work around if you have a CFAR policy purchased after that and want to cancel because of fear of the virus give them another reason. 

 

Thank you for the explanation.  We purchased our insurance last year so we should be good either way - although we currently have no plans to modify our travel unless the travel provider or government prohibits it.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, pacruise804 said:

 

Thank you for the explanation.  We purchased our insurance last year so we should be good either way - although we currently have no plans to modify our travel unless the travel provider or government prohibits it.

Cruise lines may have to allow close in cancellations without penalty until this epidemic runs its course to get new bookings. Already some airlines are doing refunds and waiving change fees. 

[MicCanberra]

11 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Cruise lines may have to allow close in cancellations without penalty until this epidemic runs its course to get new bookings. Already some airlines are doing refunds and waiving change fees. 

I think they will only pay out where they have too cancel the cruise themselves.

[Charles4515]

52 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I think they will only pay out where they have too cancel the cruise themselves.

I am theorizing that they might have to make an adjustment to that if bookings drop precipitously and stay down. Not permanently but until the “crisis” is over. I am not predicting they will end up modifying their policies only raising it as a possibility. 
 

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by Charles4515