Not sure if we should book now...

[2BACRUISER]

Finally got DH to agree to doing a 7 nighter in May and found Ventura cruise N009 with ports we like the sound of (all Portugal and Spain) ...the deal is only good if booked before March 1st but since these Coronavirus cases in Italy DH has got cold feet and told me to hold off as with it been so close suspect we will have to pay in full at time of booking. 

Have any of you been put off booking late deals? 

[Harry Peterson]

Two very distinct schools of thought on this. Personally,  I wouldn't book any cruises until the present situation becomes clearer, but others feel differently. 

 

A lot of cancellations are being made at the three month before departure point, leading to downward pressure on prices, so you may well find even better prices later.

 

If Covid-19 spreads across Europe and the world, being on a cruise ship isn't necessarily where you'd want to be. 

[Adawn47]

Being in our 70s I don't think I would consider a cruise  just yet. Our med cruise is booked for November so we have some breathing space. At the moment I would wait it out for a while longer.

[indiana123]

We have decided to leave it for a while and see how things go. If things improve we will ring our Agent and ask them to find a last minute deal.

[KnowTheScore]

2 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

Finally got DH to agree to doing a 7 nighter in May and found Ventura cruise N009 with ports we like the sound of (all Portugal and Spain) ...the deal is only good if booked before March 1st but since these Coronavirus cases in Italy DH has got cold feet and told me to hold off as with it been so close suspect we will have to pay in full at time of booking. 

Have any of you been put off booking late deals? 

 

My advice is look after your health, sanity and life.   Money is not a consideration.  Don't put yourself in the undesirable position where you have fully paid for a cruise but don't really want to take it.  

 

As with Harry there is no way I would cruise at the current time. Too many risks.

 

I was due to sail in March and have fully paid for the cruise but there is absolutely no way we are going.

 

The situation in Italy is not good and one has to anticipate that the same will happen in Spain and Portugal soon enough and of course also in the UK.

 

I would also think carefully about the ship you choose.  If you did (God forbid) end up in a situation like the Diamond Princess then would you want to be on say the IONA with 6000 people, Ventura with 3000 people or Aurora with just 1500?

It's an easy choice for me.

 

In your situation I personally would hold off but you have to make your own decision.   Take solace in the fact that there will be a plethora of really cheap cruise deals as the virus situation progresses.  You make be able to pick up an absolute bargain later on.

 

ATB

 

[indiana123]

Wise words, I feel, from KnowtheScore.    Just my humble opinion.  

 

We all have to weigh things up and make our own decisions, with no regrets.

[jeanlyon]

Why do you think you would be less safe on a cruise than going to your local supermarket where a bloke has just returned from a skiing trip north of Milan?  I reckon you could catch it here just as easily, maybe more easily than on a cruise.

[Harry Peterson]

32 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Why do you think you would be less safe on a cruise than going to your local supermarket where a bloke has just returned from a skiing trip north of Milan?  I reckon you could catch it here just as easily, maybe more easily than on a cruise.

You could certainly catch it here.  But there's no risk of being confined to cabin in quarantine, and the medical facilities on a ship couldn't cope with a potentially large number of intensive care patients needing ventilators.  The NHS will stuggle, but it's impossible on a ship - which is why the sick passengers from the Diamond Princess were taken off to Japanese hospitals.

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Harry Peterson said:

You could certainly catch it here.  But there's no risk of being confined to cabin in quarantine, and the medical facilities on a ship couldn't cope with a potentially large number of intensive care patients needing ventilators.  The NHS will stuggle, but it's impossible on a ship - which is why the sick passengers from the Diamond Princess were taken off to Japanese hospitals.

Presumably very sick passengers would also be taken off any P&O ship  in fact towards the end of the DS saga they were taking confirmed cases off the ship as well. So there is every possibility that a more responsive system will operate in future. And our NHS as with any other health service will find ways to cope here, as they always do.

[Pentlands]

3 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Presumably very sick passengers would also be taken off any P&O ship  in fact towards the end of the DS saga they were taking confirmed cases off the ship as well. So there is every possibility that a more responsive system will operate in future. And our NHS as with any other health service will find ways to cope here, as they always do.

But DS was in port, what if they had not been allowed to berth or to ship passengers off when at sea?

[Harry Peterson]

5 hours ago, Pentlands said:

But DS was in port, what if they had not been allowed to berth or to ship passengers off when at sea?

That's precisely my concern.

[Harry Peterson]

9 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

And our NHS as with any other health service will find ways to cope here, as they always do.

Several years ago I'd have agreed with you about the NHS, but it's been so run down by lack of investment and failure to maintain staffing over recent years that there's not even the capacity to handle things now - let alone Coronavirus on top:

 

Many of the most seriously ill patients are waiting for hours on trolleys and in corridors as the NHS struggles to find them beds:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51565492
 

[davecttr]

For P&O and other cruises from ports in the UK there is less worry about being trapped on the ship, after all, in the worst case the ship can sail back to the UK and the authorities here can handle the situation.

 

I have a cruise booked departing from the UK in June, not P&O but the following dated yesterday is worrying

 

To help us ensure the health and safety of our guests and crew, Marella Cruises will deny boarding at vessel check-in to anyone who is unable to complete the following screening:

• I have not experienced vomiting or diarrhoea within the past 48 hours
• I have not had any of the following symptoms – fever (38⁰c or higher), feel feverish, or have chills, a cough, cold, sore throat, runny nose or difficulty breathing
• Travelled from, visited or transited, in China including Hong Kong and Macau in the last 28 days
• Had close contact with, or helped care for anyone suspected or diagnosed as having Covoid 19 (Coronavirus) in the last 28 days
• Had close contact with, or helped care for anyone who is currently subject to health monitoring for possible exposure of 19 (Coronavirus) in the last 28 days

 

The second point is the worrying one. Lots of cruisers will have those symptoms. before COVID19 if you answered yes you would be further screened. Now it appears you will be denied boarding, that's it, bye bye, no cruise

 

I have to pay the balance in about 3 weeks. It looks increasingly like the best option is to cancel as age and medical issues put me in the at risk group, heck my nose runs at the drop of a hat and I frequently display coughs and sneezes.

[2BACRUISER]

This is one of the reasons I posted as like Jean I am pretty stoic about these events, as in previous post I have varying degeees of snots and coffs right thro winter. 

I wish the powers that be would release some actual data about this outbreak instead of the wishy washy lack of info we have at present. 

They say x amount of people have died but there is very little telling us the age groups, underlying health factors, conditions etc.  So we can make an informed choice. All we have at the moment is rampant scaremongering and knee jerk reaction driven by social media frenzy.  Our local papers death column is double page spread at mo full of people popping off with complications of regular flu, happens every year at this time, no pandemic warnings about regular flu. #justsayin 🤔🤔

 

[Haworth]

12 minutes ago, davecttr said:

For P&O and other cruises from ports in the UK there is less worry about being trapped on the ship, after all, in the worst case the ship can sail back to the UK and the authorities here can handle the situation.

 

I have a cruise booked departing from the UK in June, not P&O but the following dated yesterday is worrying

 

To help us ensure the health and safety of our guests and crew, Marella Cruises will deny boarding at vessel check-in to anyone who is unable to complete the following screening:

• I have not experienced vomiting or diarrhoea within the past 48 hours
• I have not had any of the following symptoms – fever (38⁰c or higher), feel feverish, or have chills, a cough, cold, sore throat, runny nose or difficulty breathing
• Travelled from, visited or transited, in China including Hong Kong and Macau in the last 28 days
• Had close contact with, or helped care for anyone suspected or diagnosed as having Covoid 19 (Coronavirus) in the last 28 days
• Had close contact with, or helped care for anyone who is currently subject to health monitoring for possible exposure of 19 (Coronavirus) in the last 28 days

 

The second point is the worrying one. Lots of cruisers will have those symptoms. before COVID19 if you answered yes you would be further screened. Now it appears you will be denied boarding, that's it, bye bye, no cruise

 

I have to pay the balance in about 3 weeks. It looks increasingly like the best option is to cancel as age and medical issues put me in the at risk group, heck my nose runs at the drop of a hat and I frequently display coughs and sneezes.

Unless people are quarantined in their own homes it would not work, the NHS simply does not have the capacity to hold 3000 people in quarantine for 14+ days, its the equivalent of 3 large hospitals, this being I suspect the major reason why people were kept on the Princess ship for so long.

[Adawn47]

How on earth can you differentiate between COVID 19 and a cold or the sniffles? I would have thought just a high temperature, breathing problems and/or a bad cough. That could also possibly be flu as well so maybe not a good idea for those to board either. If you go by the parameters that Marella are setting that would eliminate 70/80% of the country. I tend to think a lot like Jean about this but I have to honestly admit,  as this progresses, that way deep inside I have just the tiniest little niggle trying to emerge.

Edited February 26, 2020 by Adawn47

[Harry Peterson]

2 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

How on earth can you differentiate between COVID 19 and a cold or the sniffles? I would have thought just a high temperature, breathing problems and/or a bad cough. That could also possibly be flu as well so maybe not a good idea for those to board either. If you go by the parameters that Marella are setting about that would eliminate 70/80% of the country.

You can't. Marella are just covering their backs with that wording so that they can claim, in the event of legal actions, that they took all reasonable precautions.

 

In reality, of course, people wanting to board ship will just lie. But Marella will have asked the questions, so they're in the clear.

[oxygenbanditnot]

Other cruise lines will get round to the same,no doubt !

[AnnieC]

12 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

You can't. Marella are just covering their backs with that wording so that they can claim, in the event of legal actions, that they took all reasonable precautions.

 

In reality, of course, people wanting to board ship will just lie. But Marella will have asked the questions, so they're in the clear.

And, perhaps, this gives people not wanting to board a ship, but unable to get reimbursement for an insured reason, the opportunity to lie about having had a cold, sore throat etc; presumably at that point, as you cannot meet the cruise lines criteria for boarding, they will have to refund?

[oxygenbanditnot]

In the main corona thread, I pointed out as 2BA has mentioned that seasonal flu kills many thousands around the world every day.

Spanish Flu which started in 1918 killed many millions !

It seems that, like a little bit snow; everything has to cause no end of bother these day's !

[comcox]

I've paid in full for my 3 short cruises in May/June (two on CMV (Baltics & Northern Isles) and one on P&O (Italy/Croatia) as well as all my travel arrangements surrounding those cruises.  Not sure what to do at this point.  But I also think the Covid-19 virus is getting so much press whereas the flu kills many people every year and hardly anyone blinks.  It's really difficult to accurately access the personal health threat as opposed to the response threat of quarantine and closures.

[jake 26]

8 minutes ago, AnnieC said:

And, perhaps, this gives people not wanting to board a ship, but unable to get reimbursement for an insured reason, the opportunity to lie about having had a cold, sore throat etc; presumably at that point, as you cannot meet the cruise lines criteria for boarding, they will have to refund?

I can't see the cruise line refunding if you cannot meet their medical criteria for boarding. They will just give you a letter stating their reasons and tell you to claim from your travel insurance.

[KnowTheScore]

13 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Why do you think you would be less safe on a cruise than going to your local supermarket where a bloke has just returned from a skiing trip north of Milan?  I reckon you could catch it here just as easily, maybe more easily than on a cruise.

 

Why?  I guess because on a ship, they could quarantine all the passengers to their cabins as per the Diamond Princess scenario and keep them there 1-2 weeks.  

 

At a supermarket I catch the virus from say a trolley, get sick, stay home, treat myself like I would do any other ailment, with all my home comforts, all my chosen remedies, able to make and cook my own meals with immune boosting ingredients and so on. 

 

No comparison.

 

 

[Adawn47]

It could be that flu is old news and covid19 is more newsworthy. I wish we would get some real solid news about this  from an official NHS source because all we seem to get is whatever the papers and news channels want to give us, and we all know how they shy away from sensationalism of any kind😉

[KnowTheScore]

What kind of news or info are you wanting Adawn47?