USA to discourage cruise ship travel

[BermudaBound2014]

More to come after tomorrow mornings meeting between Vice President Pence and cruise executives. I suspect MSC will respond soon.

 

”WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering ways to discourage U.S. travelers from taking cruises.....”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN20T29M

 

 

[WonderMan3]

There's a very easy way to solve that issue; don't allow cruise ships to board or debark any passengers at any U.S. ports for a month while this virus gets sorted out.

[BermudaBound2014]

That option appears on the table. I suspect they will go with something along the lines of... “we strongly discourage cruise travel” which, in turn,  could void trip insurance depending on level of warning issued. Might not effect insurance at all, but I’d want clarification.

Edited March 7, 2020 by BermudaBound2014

[Cruising89143]

Discouraging and banning. Two different scenarios. They will not ban cruise ship travel. 

[TrinaLC]

10 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

There's a very easy way to solve that issue; don't allow cruise ships to board or debark any passengers at any U.S. ports for a month while this virus gets sorted out.

as someone enjoying a wonderful cruise right now on Divina - no evidence of any illness on board - I agree!

[sidari]

11 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

There's a very easy way to solve that issue; don't allow cruise ships to board or debark any passengers at any U.S. ports for a month while this virus gets sorted out.

One Month ? I think you might need 3 or more.

[8420PR]

No point banning cruise ships until the US gets a handle on the ongoing community transmission (i.e. more testing capacity).   However I guess there will be advice that people over a certain age or with pre-existing conditions consider avoiding cruise ships at the moment.   

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by 8420PR
was too scary

[Cruising89143]

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22551-clia-responds-to-report-that-u-s-may-discourage-cruise-vacations.html

[Toofarfromthesea]

14 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

There's a very easy way to solve that issue; don't allow cruise ships to board or debark any passengers at any U.S. ports for a month while this virus gets sorted out.

 

So every ship now at sea that would disembark in the US is stuck there for a month?  Not my idea of a 'very easy way to solve the issue'.

[BermudaBound2014]

18 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

So every ship now at sea that would disembark in the US is stuck there for a month?  Not my idea of a 'very easy way to solve the issue'.

 

I don't see that happening. But I do anticipate strong language discouraging cruising and HOPE MSC will announce a consumer friendly cancellation policy soon. 

[cvg42]

15 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

There's a very easy way to solve that issue; don't allow cruise ships to board or debark any passengers at any U.S. ports for a month while this virus gets sorted out.

You will also close all your U.S. international airports???? and of course all commercial shipping to the U.S.????

 

[sidari]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I don't see that happening. But I do anticipate strong language discouraging cruising and HOPE MSC will announce a consumer friendly cancellation policy soon. 

Monday.

[mafig]

17 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

That option appears on the table. I suspect they will go with something along the lines of... “we strongly discourage cruise travel” which, in turn,  could void trip insurance depending on level of warning issued. Might not effect insurance at all, but I’d want clarification.

 

Hi, BB,

Are you saying that if a travel advisory is issued discouraging cruise travel and we choose to go anyway, our trip insurance might not cover us in the event of illness?  Never thought of that.!

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, mafig said:

 

Hi, BB,

Are you saying that if a travel advisory is issued discouraging cruise travel and we choose to go anyway, our trip insurance might not cover us in the event of illness?  Never thought of that.!

 

HI there! Unfortunately, I'm suggesting just that. Not all insurance plans will be effected, but I would highly recommend you contact your insurance company before just assuming you are covered. Insurance companies have lots of loop holes for 'epidemics' and 'travel advisories'. Best to be informed. 

 

I know you are sailing with Celebrity which has already published their newly revised cancellation policies, so that is a good thing for you. I think we need to wait until they publish the results of today's meeting between VP Pence, both Florida Senators, the Florida Governor, and cruise line executives. I'd LOVE to be a fly on the wall there. I wouldn't do any calling until the dust settles from this meeting.

 

PS: I also think that corona being confirmed in Broward county will come into play today.

[WonderMan3]

1 hour ago, cvg42 said:

You will also close all your U.S. international airports???? and of course all commercial shipping to the U.S.????

 

 

Where did I say that in my post?

[blueslily]

I worked most of today. So, what was the big mesaage today during that meeting? Did they tell everyone to stop cruising? No update here which is surprising since some folks on here seemed to be looking forward to the meeting, well the hoped for outcome of the meeting. I will scan other threads for info.

[cvg42]

11 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

Where did I say that in my post?

You didn't and that was exactly what I tried to point out:

Cruisers can fly to the U.S. and will not be stopped but they can not embark their cruise ship in your proposal so they will stay in the U.S. for the period of the foreseen cruise and than return by plane to there country if origin.

Unless there is a complete (air/sea/land) lockdown the virus will keep on spreading just like other viruses we were never told about.

[nikkiw60]

The latest person in the U.K. to have passed away is said that have returned from a Caribbean cruise. The news article I have read doesn’t say which ship or cruise line however.

[Bobal]

1 hour ago, nikkiw60 said:

The latest person in the U.K. to have passed away is said that have returned from a Caribbean cruise. The news article I have read doesn’t say which ship or cruise line however.

 

I am wondering about this one. Multiple news outlets saying this - including TV stations -  but to my knowledge there have been no reported cases on Caribbean cruises. Surely they should be more transparent and name the cruise.

[BermudaBound2014]

8 hours ago, blueslily said:

I worked most of today. So, what was the big mesaage today during that meeting? Did they tell everyone to stop cruising? No update here which is surprising since some folks on here seemed to be looking forward to the meeting, well the hoped for outcome of the meeting. I will scan other threads for info.

 

The meeting is available on Youtube. They didn't ban cruising, but strongly recommend those over 60 to reconsider. Not much came directly from the press release. However;  several hours after the meeting the CDC canceled two cruise ships for this weeks sailing (Regal and Royal Princess), one Carnival ship was delayed debarkation by an full day waiting on test results, and the Grand Princes passengers are going to be transferred to quarantine for 14 days. Coincidence?

Edited March 8, 2020 by BermudaBound2014

[blueslily]

10 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

The meeting is available on Youtube. They didn't ban cruising, but strongly recommend those over 60 to reconsider. Not much came directly from the press release. However;  several hours after the meeting the CDC canceled two cruise ships for this weeks sailing (Regal and Royal Princess), one Carnival ship was delayed debarkation by an full day waiting on test results, and the Grand Princes passengers are going to be transferred to quarantine for 14 days. Coincidence?

 

Im guessing that the meeting was a letdown for some of the posters on here who have been going back and forth and back and forth with one another for days. 

 

Have a good Sunday. 😊

[Beardface]

30 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

They didn't ban cruising, but strongly recommend those over 60 to reconsider.

 

Honestly, this should probably be the case for this age range during any given flu season if we are really taking pandemics seriously.  And anyone with a weakened autoimmune system should reconsider ever stepping foot on a cruise ship again (or go to a theme park, attend large conferences, take long flights, live in a secluded community, attend any large gatherings, etc). But something tells me that the lessons learned here will be quickly forgotten once the Coronavirus paranoia settles down.

[Danny61231]

Without trying to start a fight or offend anyone, I think people need to stop creating excess fear or drama with this situation. In my opinion, the meeting yesterday was a step forward in making cruising safer and having the cruise industry work with the CDC to create plans to limit the impact or quarantines should a guest (or guests) become sick on a cruise. We don't have a ton of details right now on what else came out of the meetings but I did read at least one article quoting Vice President Pence stating that they still want people to enjoy traveling and cruising but elderly people (which according to google is 65 plus) WITH SERIOUS UNDERLYING HEALTH PROBLEMS should possibly avoid it. Nothing that I have read says that a healthy person in their 60's should stop traveling or have serious worries. Also, the Carnival Panorama has disembarked since the test came back negative so that was a false alarm. As far as I'm aware right now, the only current issues involve the Princess ships that have shared crew members between ships. All I'm saying is let's not create extra panic just for the sake of having something to talk about....

[BermudaBound2014]

@Danny61231 I absolutely agree with you and accept responsibility for some of the things you have suggested. We don't need false alarm. 

 

However;  I believe the current happenings are fair game for discussion. Personally, I'm not frightened of corona, I'm concerned about situations which happened with the Carnival Panorama and Royal Princess (and what is ongoing currently with the Regal Princess). This isn't to mention Diamond Princee and Grand Princess which are very much in a different category.

 

On vacation, I don't want to 

A) Be stuck on the ship an additional day (or 14).

b) Be stuck waiting in the terminal for hours and hours only to be told my ship would sail tomorrow.

 

Absolutely, none of these are issues to panic over, but they aren't hassles I want to deal with on vacation. I like my vacations stress free, and if they can't be stress free, I want to go in with as much information as possible.

 

My group wants to cancel. I'm the only person who wants to still sail in April. Largely because I feel informed. I can only speak for myself. I am remaining both calm and optimistically waiting to hear what MSC policy is tomorrow.

 

I do absolutely appreciate what you are saying :)

[jhaagens]

2 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

On vacation, I don't want to 

A) Be stuck on the ship an additional day (or 14).

b) Be stuck waiting in the terminal for hours and hours only to be told my ship would sail tomorrow.

 

 

 

This is the sticking point for us as well, and if they adjust their cancellation policies, we will probably take advantage of them.  I'm not worried about getting sick --  I AM a little worried about getting STUCK on a cruise ship or in a subsequent quarantine, unable to return to our family for a lengthy period of time.