So, What About Mexico Now?

[sail7seas]

I had a dental appointment this morning and when I arrived I specifically asked if anyone there had been to Mexico lately. I also am considered 'at risk' and had no intention of staying if the answer had been yes.

 

Call that over-reacting? Maybe. But that was my comfort zone and that is how I feel about risking exposure. I don't intend to hide in the house but I will avoid any risks where possible.

[Nancyquilts]

If Carnival does change position shortly, what really is the alternative for a 7 day cruise? Seven days to nowhere is a bummer especially for those sailing on the Carnival Splendor. What would be the ports if they head north from Long Beach?

Monterey, San Francisco (with a tour to Sonoma, of course:D), Astoria and Victoria.

The cruise lines aren't going to take passengers to problem areas. They don't go to Mexico City, and if there is a problem along the coast, they won't stop at those ports. If we have more days at sea, so be it. There are a lot of worse places to be. Nancy

[Copper10-8]

From the west coast ports of L.A. and San Diego, there are unfortunately very few options for diverting from scheduled Mexican ports which, apparently from the latest press releases, some lines are now doing. Just about the only ones available are Avalon, Catalina Island and San Diego itself (from L.A.). Unless they decide to head north, sounds like there will be a lot of cruises to "nowhere" / sea days out here

[TMJplus1]

How bad this will all get remains to be seen but to bury ones head in the sand and call concerned people alarmist is a bit foolhearty IMO People have died in Mexico in considerable number. To date, it seems the cases in the U.S. have been mile and patients seem to be recovering nicely. No one can promise that will continue.

 

Use good sense and not hysteria but denial is not helpful IMO

 

Nobody is calling for denial; but over-reacting is also not helpful and merely feeds the hysteria. Yes, sadly, some have died in Mexico but the numbers are not staggering compared to the overall population. I'm sure many more Mexicans have died in the past two weeks of other ailments, traffic accidents, etc. but we are not seeing that on the news. As I stated before (and I am in healthcare, if that makes a difference) - wash your hands frequently (take along hand sanitizer while in port), if you see somebody coughing/sneezing/wheezing avoid them at all costs, cover your mouth/nose with your arm if you have to sneeze yourself, and should you feel sick yourself by all means get yourself to a doctor ASAP.

 

I hope and pray that this does not become a global pandemic; I think if we all take precautions we will minimize personal risk of exposure to this flu. If it gets worse in terms of the range of the outbreak, I'm sure we will see cruises cancelled. But let's not put the cart before the horse.

[Taxguy77]

Although I don't disagree with you, I don't believe either of these things you talk about (flu or automobiles) have an 8% mortality rate (last I calculated, based on figures from Sunday). Of course, thats the rate seen in Mexico, not the US. Why? No one knows at this point.

Personally, I do not want to get this, or any, flu. Nor do I want to get norovirus. I've had them both. You feel like a freight train ran over you and its very unplesant, risk of death or not. OTOH, I qualify as immunocompromised due to lymphatic cancer (even though I have been in remission for 5 years :D) and have lung damage from said treatments. Me? I'm not hiding in my house in fear, but you won't see me in Mexico City or near the school in NY, etc.

 

Where did you get the mortality rate? Probably need to move the decimal point to the right as the rate of sick people going to the hospital in Mexico is not high.

I thought the comparison with auto deaths adds a little perspective to the hysterical press. I don't want to minimize concern or efforts of professionals to keep us safe in the least, but the press tries to turn everything into "War of the Worlds" type panic. :(

You and the next poster (S7S) have legitimate concerns; stay in your comfort zone by all means. No need to stress out over something you can control. :cool:

[Twickenham]

One of the other cruiselines (I believe Princess) is going to San Diego and Catalina island instead of its normal Mexican ports.

 

Which brings up another issue - if the cruise departed from the US, this in clear violation of the PVSA. Will they make an exception for cruise ships eliminating Mexican ports of call?

[jhannah]

Couldn't they still make a service call in Mexico? Not a port call, just stop in for fuel or something and no passengers get off the ship. Much like they do on the Hawaii runs out of San Diego.

 

Forgive me if this has been posted and I've missed it ... but here's some info from the HAL website:

 

Under the circumstances, however, Holland America Line has decided to cancel the Tuesday, April 28, call aboard ms Ryndam in Mazatlan. We hope to have clarification from the CDC during the day Tuesday, April 27, at which time we will advise regarding the remaining port calls on ships cruising Mexico.

[prescottbob]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97RL0IG0&show_article=1

[HeatherInFlorida]

Couldn't they still make a service call in Mexico? Not a port call, just stop in for fuel or something and no passengers get off the ship. Much like they do on the Hawaii runs out of San Diego.

 

Forgive me if this has been posted and I've missed it ... but here's some info from the HAL website:

 

Under the circumstances, however, Holland America Line has decided to cancel the Tuesday, April 28, call aboard ms Ryndam in Mazatlan. We hope to have clarification from the CDC during the day Tuesday, April 27, at which time we will advise regarding the remaining port calls on ships cruising Mexico.

 

They could stop much the same as they do now in Ensanada in the middle of the night before returning to San Diego. So that could be handled.

 

I'm encouraged to be hearing that Carnival (and HAL) are beginning to cancel Mexican ports at least for the time being.

[waiting2retire]

This is the latest... I don't think it has been posted yet:

 

Holland America Line cancels calls to Mexican Ports

April 28, 2009 1:00pm PDT

 

In accordance with the recent travel advisory from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) recommending against non-essential travel to Mexico, Holland America Line, in an abundance of caution, has decided to cancel its upcoming calls to Mexican ports in April and

early May.

Of the line’s 14 ships, a total of five ships (and five sailings) are impacted by these changes. Four are the current sailings of the ms Ryndam, ms Statendam, ms Westerdam and ms Zuiderdam. The May 1, 2009 cruise of the ms Veendam will also be impacted,

The itinerary planning team at Holland America Line is developing alternate itineraries for these sailings and the new ports of call will be announced as they are confirmed.

If the CDC travel advisory changes prior to the conclusion of any of these five sailings, the cruise line may consider re-instating the original itineraries if possible.

[sizzle_sisters]

Unfortunately, I have been having a devil of a time with asthma this allergy season, so I will probably get the evil eye if I should happen to cough. So note to my fellow cruisers - please don't pitchfork the lady with the inhaler! It's just asthma! Maybe the sea air will clear it out for me. One can always hope

I can sympathize with you! My eyes look infected, DH has a post nasal drip cough, and my ears are full, along with the trees, grasses, and spring flowers and mold. The screeners will surely think we are sick..... when in actuality we are just sick of seasonal allergies!!!:mad:

If any screener asks if I've had a fever, I will have to answer "yes, about every 30 min along with profuse sweating".... put the knives away, here comes another middle aged woman!!:eek:

[Nancyquilts]

i can sympathize with you! My eyes look infected, dh has a post nasal drip cough, and my ears are full, along with the trees, grasses, and spring flowers and mold. The screeners will surely think we are sick..... When in actuality we are just sick of seasonal allergies!!!:mad:

If any screener asks if i've had a fever, i will have to answer "yes, about every 30 min along with profuse sweating".... Put the knives away, here comes another middle aged woman!!:eek:

 

lol