Coronavirus

[rodndonna]

16 minutes ago, jono75 said:

I asked on Twitter if they could confirm and I'm afraid the operator I spoke to was wrong.

 

Sorry if I gave anyone false hope.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they still do. They may be waiting for a UK government travel advisory against cruise travel (following US and Canada), If there is, that may force them to cancel remaining cruises but they may then be covered somewhat financially through their own insurance (just a theory...)

Edited March 10, 2020 by rodndonna

[Jim The Scot]

1 hour ago, MX-Drew said:

The first point I totally agree with but the second, that just has to be wishful thinking. lol

 

I,m a glass half full type of character Drew🥃

[kevinyork]

5 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they still do. They may be waiting for a UK government travel advisory against cruise travel (following US and Canada), If there is, that may force them to cancel remaining cruises but they may then be covered somewhat financially through their own insurance (just a theory...)

I don’t see how we cannot follow the US and Canadian guidance soon. Even if not, it’s predicted we will be in the same position as Italy in two weeks in which case no port will want British passengers.  

[Vitalsign]

The one advantage of TUI Marella  cruises is that all passengers are British (except Canadians flying into Montego Bay) No other passengers are picked up at other ports having flown in from any where in the world All have been flown from a UK airport with TUI - only a few will have made their own flight arrangements and booked a cruise only.

For this reason I believe that's why there have been no cases of Coronovirus on board Discovery 1 which has been sailing in the Far East or any of the others in the fleet

My sister is due to join Explorer 2 next week in Barbados and she's happy to go but she has no underlying health problems and is 68

The problem is the advice given by Canadian Health Authorities says they will have to be quarantined on their return Will they want to do this?

[kevinyork]

But in two weeks the Uk will be like Italy, and probably menu other countries. No ports will allow us in and no cruise ships will allow boarding. 

[rodndonna]

38 minutes ago, Vitalsign said:

The one advantage of TUI Marella  cruises is that all passengers are British (except Canadians flying into Montego Bay) No other passengers are picked up at other ports having flown in from any where in the world All have been flown from a UK airport with TUI - only a few will have made their own flight arrangements and booked a cruise only.

For this reason I believe that's why there have been no cases of Coronovirus on board Discovery 1 which has been sailing in the Far East or any of the others in the fleet

My sister is due to join Explorer 2 next week in Barbados and she's happy to go but she has no underlying health problems and is 68

The problem is the advice given by Canadian Health Authorities says they will have to be quarantined on their return Will they want to do this?

 

I agree Marella and in particular Caribbean and South America cruises are safer bets ... but I think the US and Canadian government advisories against all cruises are attempts to try to limit potential for spreading which seems prudent with  the way things have been playing out. 

 

With regards to quarantining  on return to Canada- yes they will and they are doing that now  IF there was a diagnosis of anyone on the ship - so most would not be willing to play  those odds even when we think chances of getting the virus ourselves is small.

 

[jono mono]

4 hours ago, redsails9 said:

I have just come off the phone talking to someone on the tui coronavirus phone line about my cruise from Cyprus,

It goes to Israel for 2 days and no one in the office even knew about Israel being in lock down,

basically we have just got to wait until they get there act together so I hope this news about them cancelling all 

cruises is correct. 

On same cruise, does'nt suprise me that they didnt know !! .I to hope it is cancelled ,not got much confidence in Marella to organise anything much ! will defo reconsider who I book with in the future !!!

[jono mono]

3 minutes ago, kevinyork said:

You should see the Facebook Marella groups. You are instantly shot down if you say anything negative about Marella or their handling about this issue. 

STUFF EM !!!

[Daftlad]

Nearly time for bed.

Will await tomorrow's developments with interest. Maybe TUI will have something to say about the Israel situation. My seven day cruise has three of those days allocated to the Ashdod element. 

[Kirk2121]

2 hours ago, kevinyork said:

I don’t see how we cannot follow the US and Canadian guidance soon. Even if not, it’s predicted we will be in the same position as Italy in two weeks in which case no port will want British passengers.  

Fauci is either stupid (unlikely) or pressured to say keep cruising.  state department messaging came from Fauci then day later he reversed.  I canceled 15th & 22nd out of San Juan with SD warning. 

 

sister was saying how horrible it is in Italy hospitals with patients in hallways on respirators.  health care workers getting sick serving.  & US is saying if you're healthy, keep cruising WHAT?

 

It's contained NO IT IS NOT!  Where are test kits? oh wait some people might look bad if we knew how many cases & how fast it's spreading. 

 

CV is gonna run its course imo.  but bringing grandma back a special Carribean purse with some CV attached! no thanks.  Slowing the spread best course right now so medical isn't overwhelmed.   See graph. 

 

i ordered groceries on line & picked up.  pretty much gonna social distance best i can til little more is known. 

 

Stay healthy everyone.  

[Vitalsign]

Marella have had no cases of Coronovirus so far on their ships Why would they cancel cruises if they are still allowed in port? They will cancel them when the cruises aren't viable and that is all they can do They will refund if they cancel and those with underlying medical conditions can claim on their insurance if they can't travel 

Other cruise lines are cancelling cruises because their passengers come from numerous countries and wouldn't be allowed to board or are cancelling due to medical reasons Also they are unable to change their itineraries because people fly from numerous different country airports booked separately unlike TUI who have the capability of changing itineraries and airports as they have a package cruise Flight and cruise unlike other cruise lines P & O excepted 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Vitalsign

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, Vitalsign said:

The one advantage of TUI Marella  cruises is that all passengers are British …...…………...........

Except the Irish!

[Vitalsign]

Sorry for that omission Dave Apologies to our cruisers across the water

[helengp]

Vitalsign. We are not on a package....we booked our hotels and flights separately as we are slotting the cruise in to a longer trip in Italy. As are others I’m sure. So we need clear guidance from Marella. We do not want to cancel, and still hope the cruise goes ahead. We want to explore some of the areas around Naples first...but given Marella’s new boarding criteria, will that still be possible? When I called them last week, and pointed out that everyone getting on the ship will have been through at least one Italian airport in the preceding 14 days, their response was rather ambiguous. If we know the cruise is going to be cancelled now, we could at least reschedule the rest of our trip. They need to offer more clarity.

[helengp]

Davecttr.....I really hope the passengers are not all British! How dull would that be! I have only done 1 cruise before...a Greek line....and the best part was the huge multinational mix of people we met on board.....fascinating. Americans, Canadians, Greek, Mexicans, Brazilians, Spanish, Irish, Australians, Italians, Chinese.....I could go on. Actually very few British. I am sure there will be at least some Italians. 🤞

[kevinyork]

1 hour ago, helengp said:

Davecttr.....I really hope the passengers are not all British! How dull would that be! I have only done 1 cruise before...a Greek line....and the best part was the huge multinational mix of people we met on board.....fascinating. Americans, Canadians, Greek, Mexicans, Brazilians, Spanish, Irish, Australians, Italians, Chinese.....I could go on. Actually very few British. I am sure there will be at least some Italians. 🤞

Yes overwhelmingly British, sorry.  A few Irish, occasional ex pat Aussie and apparently some Canadians in the Caribbean but otherwise Brits all the way.  

[2BACRUISER]

2 hours ago, helengp said:

...and the best part was the huge multinational mix of people we met on board.....fascinating. Americans, Canadians, Greek, Mexicans, Brazilians, Spanish, Irish, Australians, Italians,Chinese.....I could go on. Actually very few British. I am sure there will be at least some Italians. 🤞

Marella only sell their cruises in the UK/Eire so 99.9% will be Brits or Irish. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by 2BACRUISER

[Jim The Scot]

4 hours ago, helengp said:

Davecttr.....I really hope the passengers are not all British! How dull would that be! I have only done 1 cruise before...a Greek line....and the best part was the huge multinational mix of people we met on board.....fascinating. Americans, Canadians, Greek, Mexicans, Brazilians, Spanish, Irish, Australians, Italians, Chinese.....I could go on. Actually very few British. I am sure there will be at least some Italians. 🤞

 

Dont find it dull in the slightest if the majority if not all of passengers are from UK.Might seem controversial but thats my preference.Its equally as good mixing with others from different parts of the UK 

[rodndonna]

Ironically enough from the Canadian booking perspective now  -

even if we decide to stay on our Panama cruise  (Mar 24), we would still cancel which would get back about 80% of our booking cost on our insurance since there is a Canadian advisory against cruise travel. Then we would rebook at the current incredibly low pricing (about 50% of our booking pricing). So even If we decided to take the risk (mostly concerned about being quarantined) we would be way ahead financially to cancel and rebook.

 

My preference would still be just to get a future travel credit for 100% of the cost .. so going to wait it out to see if that is offered before cancelling outright.

[vwgolf]

6 hours ago, helengp said:

Davecttr.....I really hope the passengers are not all British! How dull would that be! I have only done 1 cruise before...a Greek line....and the best part was the huge multinational mix of people we met on board.....fascinating. Americans, Canadians, Greek, Mexicans, Brazilians, Spanish, Irish, Australians, Italians, Chinese.....I could go on. Actually very few British. I am sure there will be at least some Italians. 🤞

I agree. One of the reasons we enjoy sailing on American cruise lines is that the dinner table conversation seems more interesting than on all British ones. That's perhaps because Americans seem to love bashing us with questions about our culture and way of life and are surprised to find we do have McDonalds and KFCs over here!

[PJ's]

I notice that P&O have released new cancellation terms. Everyone seems very pleased with what they have put in place if passengers want to cancel their cruise from now until end of August 2020.

[davecttr]

3 minutes ago, PJ's said:

I notice that P&O have released new cancellation terms. Everyone seems very pleased with what they have put in place if passengers want to cancel their cruise from now until end of August 2020.

Yes, they have eventually done something to preserve their customer loyalty and market share. Only for cruises before September though.

 

Meanwhile Marella seem to be sitting on their hands!

[MX-Drew]

1 minute ago, davecttr said:

Yes, they have eventually done something to preserve their customer loyalty and market share. Only for cruises before September though.

 

Meanwhile Marella seem to be sitting on their hands!

Cunard are offering new terms on cancellations and also extra onboard spend if a guest keeps their booking.

[rodndonna]

3 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Yes, they have eventually done something to preserve their customer loyalty and market share. Only for cruises before September though.

 

Meanwhile Marella seem to be sitting on their hands!

 

To be fair - someone always has to be last to the party - so I am still holding hope this is the case with Marella. It is the only cruise line I can think of now to not allow for rebooking  or cancellation .....

[PJ's]

4 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Yes, they have eventually done something to preserve their customer loyalty and market share. Only for cruises before September though.

 

Meanwhile Marella seem to be sitting on their hands!

Yes I agree that Marella should be thinking ahead. Unfortunately I do not have a P&O cruise booked at the moment as just returned home last month from cruising on Oceana but do have a Marella cruise booked for end of May. I would be pleased if Marella did something similar and gave OBC and FCC for any cancelled cruises.